# cyber city oedo 808 ![[cybercityoedo808-coverfr.jpg|300]] cover of the european dvd サイバーシティ oedo 808 genre: cyberpunk action tech noir created by: jûzô mutsuki original video animation directed by: yoshiaki kawajiri produced by: makoto seya yasuteru iwase written by: akinori endo music by: kazz toyama rory mcfarlane (uk version) studio: madhouse licensed by: aus: manga entertainment (expired) madman entertainment (current) - na: u.s. manga corp (expired) discotek media (current) - uk: manga entertainment (expired) anime limited (current) released: june 21 1990 - october 4 1991 runtime: 45 minutes (each) episodes: 3 cyber city oedo 808 (japanese: サ イバーシティ oedo 808) is a 1990 cyberpunk original video animation series created by madhouse and directed by yoshiaki kawajiri. set in the year 2808 in the city of oedo (tokyo) it tells the story of three criminals who are enlisted into fighting crime in exchange for reducing ir sentences to the point where they are able to earn ir freedom. the three criminals are sengoku shunsuke an anti-social maverick gogl a mohawk wearing hacker and benten an androgynous bishōnen the uk release of the ova includes a completely new score by rory mcfarlane to combat computerised crime more effectively the cyber police unit of the future japanese city of oedo has restarted the feudal practice of hōmen (放免) employing hardened criminals―w/ a history of high-tech offenses and other crimes such as murder―as officers themselves three such criminals are sengoku gogul and benten who are serving ir 300-or-more year sentences in an orbital penitentiary. for duty served each criminal will receive a reduction in ir prison time. desperate to get away from the boredom and monotony of jail life they half-heartedly agree to the deal. they answer to police chief juso hasegawa who keeps them in check with explosive collars that they wear around ir necks. hasegawa has the ability to blow ir collars remotely and they will also explode if they fail to complete ir missions within an allocated time period. each one is also armed with a jitte (the traditional weapon and symbol of authority of the ancient edo police) although they also have access to more powerful weaponry although there are no specifics to what kind of society the series is based in it is presented as very high-tech but with a rather dystopian feel. in the first episode a man under pressure confesses to a murder (which ey did commit) and which is responsible for the present crisis. this is enough for hasegawa to order sengoku to execute ir without charge or trial. when sengoku fails to obey orders ir sentence is increased # : title: english titles: original release date 01: "memories of the past" transliteration: "inishie no kioku" (japanese: 古の記憶): "virtual death" (uk) "time bomb" (us): june 21- 1990 sengoku is sent to save 50-000 people trapped in oedo's largest skyscraper after its central computer is mysteriously taken over. along the way ey finds that the only suspect is a dead man 02: "the decoy program" transliteration: "otori no kikō" (japanese: 囮の�構): "psychic trooper" (uk) "the decoy" (us): december 28- 1990 gogul's investigation of a murder pits ir against an experimental military cyborg as ey tries to rescue ir ex-partner. of note is that during this episode at least one other cyber-criminal is depicted trying (unsuccessfully) to remove ir collar so it is known that there are more than the three anti-heroes being employed by the cyber police unit 03: "crimson media" transliteration: "kurenai no baitai" (japanese: 紅の媒体): "blood lust" (uk) "the vampire" (us): october 4- 1991 the freak murder of three geneticists leads benten to investigate one man's quest for immortality as well as finding a young woman transformed into a vampire with telekinesis because of this quest character: japanese: english (manga uk/cpm 1994) shunsuke sengoku: hiroya ishimaru: bruce martin gabimaru "gogl" rikiya: tesshō genda: seán barrett merrill "benten" yanagawa: kaneto shiozawa: daniel flynn juzo hasegawa: norio wakamoto: bob sherman kyōko "okyo" jōnouchi: mitsuko horie: julia braams varsus: kyousei tsukui: nigel greaves dave kurokawa (episode 1): takeshi aono: marc smith mishiba (episode 2): osamu saka sarah (episode 2): yoshiko sakakibara: tamsin hollo kazuo shiroyama (episode 2): banjō ginga: eric flynn remi masuda (episode 3): emi shinohara: teresa gallagher shūzō saionji (episode 3): unshō ishizuka: marc smith kelley takakura (episode 3): ako mayama: lorelei king novels cyber city oedo 808 volume 1 rebellious lone wolf (beowulf) (電脳都市oedo808〈1〉反逆の孤狼(ベオウルフ) first published in december 1990 cyber city oedo 808 volume 2 magnificent fallen angel (lucifer) (電脳都市oedo 808〈2〉華� - なる堕天使(ルシファー) first published in march 1991 cyber city oedo 808 volume 3 warrior of the evil eye (hercules of the evil eye) (電脳都市oedo 808〈3〉魔眼の� - �士(まがんのヘラクレス) first published in july 1991 written by akinori endō and illustrated by yoshiaki kawajiri (w/ the exception of volume 1 which features illustrations by hiroshi hamasaki) the novels were published only in japan and are currently out of print cyber city oedo 808: attribute of the beast (cyber city oedo 808 獣の属性 saibāshiti ōedo hachimaruhachi: kemono no zokusei) is a graphic adventure garme released on march 15 1991 for the pc-engine cd-rom² by nippon computer system exclusively in japan. the storyline is completely original and not an adaptation of any episode cyber city oedo 808 ![[417x0kckqfl.jpg|300]] soundtrack album by rory mcfarlane released: 30 january 1995 !(cyber%20city%20oedo%20808/flagoftheunitedkingdom.svg.jpg|300]] genre: alternative rock synthwave ambient progressive length: 46:56 label: demon records (out of print) dscd-808 producer: rory mcfarlane the original british and australian vhs release (released in 1994 and televised on channel 4 in 1995) features a more rock-centric 23 track score composed by rory mcfarlane not present on the us or japanese versions. mcfarlane's score combined metal electronica and ambient styles. it has been out of print for years and as such is very rare to find on cd but it is known to be available on the internet. the uk soundtrack has a considerably different tone than the original (more pop-like) japanese score. due to manga entertainment uk losing the rights to the cyber city series this edition of the score was unavailable on western dvd releases and remained available only on the old vhs versions from the mid nineties until anime limited released the movie on blu-ray in the uk with the uk dub and soundtrack cd included in the release no.: title: length 1.: "space prison": 2:40 2.: "kill you": 1:25 3.: "car chase": 2:07 4.: "elevator": 1:59 5.: "murder": 3:10 6.: "amachi": 1:32 7.: "amachi dies": 1:00 8.: "diving": 1:05 9.: "gogol": 0:56 10.: "trucking": 2:03 11.: "arena": 2:16 12.: "body snatchers": 0:36 13.: "body vault": 1:22 14.: "top secret": 1:16 15.: "sarah": 1:05 16.: "duel": 2:32 17.: "molcos dies": 2:39 18.: "stars": 2:37 19.: "search": 1:44 20.: "cryogenics": 1:22 21.: "big cats": 3:47 22.: "vampire": 4:30 23.: "closing theme": 3:13 critical reception of cyber city oedo 808 has been generally positive and has received a cult following over the years hemanth kissoon of filmulation.com reviewed the series in 2007 saying that the series "was released 17 years ago yet still stands up as a gripping take on japan's potential future" stig høgset of them anime reviews gave the series a rating of 4 out of 5 stars with ir only criticism being very little character development. ey states that the series "rounds off a nicely paced trilogy of stories starring an intriguing cast of different characters and set in a gray leaden metropolis. it goes from action-filled to conspiringly suspenseful and ends with a legendary battle ballet culminating in a beautiful and melancholy ending." // republic of bob