Manga / Venus Wars
The Venus Wars (ヴイナス戦記 Vinasu Senki) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. It was serialized in the Gakken magazine Nora Comics from 1987 to 1990. In 1989, The Venus Wars was adapted into an anime film directed by Yasuhiko, co-written by Yuichi Sasamoto and Yasuhiko, and produced by Bandai Visual. Gakken, and Shochiku.
The manga was translated into English by Dark Horse Comics in the early 1990s. The anime was localized in the United Kingdom and the United States by the Central Park Media subsidiary Manga Entertainment. gaining recognition when it aired in heavy rotation on the Sci-Fi Channel "Saturday Anime" movie block in the late 1990s. The film is currently licensed by Discotek Media. who've re-released the movie on DVD.
In the year 2003, a comet designated Apollon collides with the planet Venus and disperses much of the planet's atmosphere, adding enough moisture to form acidic seas, and speeding up its rotation to give it a day that matches its year. This event enables humanity to terraform Venus after sending the first manned ships in 2007 and begin colonizing it in 2012. By the year 2089, Venus has a population in the millions and is divided into two separate nation states, the northern continent of Ishtar and the southern continent of Aphrodia. The two countries are on the brink of war just as an Earth reporter, Susan Sommers, lands on Venus looking for her big story on the tension that has arisen from the two nations. As Ishtar suddenly invades Aphrodia's capital city of Io and war breaks out, the team of a Battle Bike Tournament called the Killer Commandos lead by Miranda and hotshot biker Hiro Seno are also drawn into the mayhem. They eventually run into Sue as they look to escape the war-torn city. Venus Wars follows the struggle of members of the team trying to survive the war after forcefully being drafted into the Aphrodian army and Sue navigating through the chaos to get her scoop.
Both the Manga and the Anime movie provide examples of:
- Action Survivor. Sue and Maggie in the manga.
- Ambiguously Brown. Rob
- Armor-Piercing Slap. Miranda to Hiro as her Establishing Character Moment in the manga and then again to Sue in the movie.
- Arms Dealer. Gary
- Badass Biker. Hiro, Miranda, Kurtz
- Badass Driver. Will
- Biker Babe. Miranda
- Bishōnen. Hiro, Kurtz
- Blind Alley. How Hiro ultimately escapes from the cops with help from an explosion. He falls through a side alley door as the police believe he's blown up with the bike.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead. The three main women in the series being Sue, Maggie and Miranda respectively.
- Car Fu. Gary drives a truck and tanker full of oil into a tank in hopes to blow it up.
- Chase Scene. Several in the manga and the movie.
- Colonel Kilgore. Donner is revealed to be this.
- Cool Bike. The battle bikes but especially the monobikes from the movie.
- Cool Shades. Kurtz sports a pair.
- Demoted to Extra. Lieutenant Helen Macluth doens't appear in the movie.
- Dub Name Change. Hiro's name was changed to Ken in the Dark Horse Comics release of the first manga series.
- Expy. Hiro is the spitting image of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's Arion from the manga and film of the same name.
- Fiery Redhead. Miranda
- Genki Girl. Maggie
- Hell-Bent for Leather. Miranda, Hiro
- Hiro Stole My Bike
- Hot-Blooded. Hiro and Miranda to a lesser extent.
- Intrepid Reporter. Sue
- Japanese Delinquents. Members of the Killer Commandos team.
- Licensed Game. For the Famicom
- Lovable Alpha Bitch. Miranda
- Lovely Angels. Maggie and Miranda for a while in the manga.
- Majorly Awesome. Kurtz
- Medium Blending. Some of the Venusian landscape we see is actually live action footage.
- Monowheel Mayhem. In the anime movie.
- Mr. Fanservice. Hiro
- Ms. Fanservice. Miranda and Sue.
- Nobody Calls Me "Chicken"!. Hiro to Kurtz which Kurtz was counting on.
- Not with the Safety on, You Won't. Happens to Sue.
- Pimped Out Bike
- Plucky Girl. Maggie
- Ramming Always Works. Subverted because it doesn't.
- Ramprovisation. Hiro is being chased by police and surrounded. So he lifts the monobike onto the side of the highway guard rail to make an escape.
- Reckless Gun Usage :
- In the anime, after getting weapons some of other Killer Commandos are improperly holding them. One is pointing a rifle at another member, and several have their fingers on the trigger. Despite falling over and one playing around with a weapon, no accidents occur.
- Rob and then Sue forgets to remove the safety lock from her gun before shooting recklessly at Donner and missing.
- La Rйsistance. The Commandos form a small one and Kurtz's Freedom Force
- She's Got Legs. Sue
- Tank Goodness. Plenty of battles featuring tanks.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl. Miranda and Maggie. Particularly in the manga.
- True Companions. The Commandos make an odd sort but they prove to be this since they always back each other up.
- War Is Hell
- White Hair, Black Heart. General Donner
- Zettai Ryouiki. Sue is Type B.