Black Magic M-66

Have you ever heard of someone called Masamune Shirou? No? What about Ghost in the Shell? If the answer is yes, well, you should also know that Black Magic M-66 is the first and only OVA directed by Masamune in 1987 (and based on his manga from 1983).

The animated adaptation has a short runtime of 45 minutes so, as always, the watcher has to realize that something has to be sacrificed in order to wrap up the story. The "confusing plot" that most critics point out it's just their inability to piece together a story without the media telling them every single bit of information ... so don't pay too much attention to those who point out such a silly statement.

I found the direction very straightforward and easy to understand but once again, people are mistakingly pairing Black Magic M-66 with James Cameron's movie The Terminator, which is quite silly if we consider that the original story and manga came earlier, in 1983. Yes, probably the story presentation was mildly influenced later on, but the core story of the killer robot is already in the manga which is earlier. Don't fall for false narratives that try to downplay the production.

Animation wise it's pretty well made, fluid and detailed, especially the mechanical aspects of the robot, as you would expect from Masamune Shirou. I just have to say, though, that what I loved most was the soundtrack, with the ending song "Finally" by Yuki Kitahara that's forever stuck in my brain and brought me to tears (manly tears, mind you!) for its 80s essence. A must watch.

Story: 1/2
Direction: 1.5/2
Animation: 1.5/2
Characters: 1/2
Music: 2/2
Bonus points: 1/2

Final score: 7/10

"My favorite anime of 2021 is Osama bin Laden Ranking."
- Neimaj, 2022

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I saw the cover art and the title for this OVA. Black Magic M-66 is gonna be the name of my new indie metal band; talk about a sick name.
Very straightforward anime here. Sexy, naked, tanned, anime lady Sybel is hoping to get a new big story or scoop for whatever news channel she's working for. It's never really clarified who she works for, but it doesn't matter. She discovers that the military is hiding some kind of secret weapon and tries to get more ... information out of the situation by spying on the military. She does this with the help of her not so helpful partner in crime. He's not important at all and you don't need to remember his name. Turns out, the military was hiding these robot assassins that go on an insane killing spree once they escape, and it was fascinating to watch. The fight choreography and animation of the robots were pretty damn good. The military stood no chance and it was a solid gold ass whooping.

If I could describe this entire OVA in one phrase it would be, "Discount Terminator." The robots have a specific target they must kill, which is the granddaughter of the man who created them. I can't remember why they're after her, but Sybel encounters her and protects her for the entire episode. It was a fun 48 minutes. If you just want to watch a stone-cold, cybernetic killing machine causing a lot of collateral damage to kill a single girl for 40 minutes with above-average animation, be my guest. It was cool. The robot is absolutely terrifying because of the amount of resources and tricks they had to use to actually put the thing down. Other than that, it doesn't have that much substance and is lacking a real story. It has no real rewatch value and everything I said in this review is the OVA. The OST is mediocre, nothing special. I'm not sure what compelled me to write this review. Definitely one of my shorter ones.

I would give Black Magic M-66 a light recommendation. 6 out of 10.

Well, the isn't much that can be said about Black Magic M-66. It's very short. One of those older little stories of the Golden Era. Do I think it's any good though? Well, not really.

My first point, animation is lovely. It's really difficult though to look at this Golden Era of animation style without unrelenting love. Every movement, every shade, every frame is just chefs kiss lovely. Is it as good as Demon Slayer? No. On a technical level it's not even close. But it's like comparing the raw analogue production of Led Zeppelin to the crisp digital production of Periphery. We know what ... technically sounds better, we don't have an issue with it, but we all know which we prefer deep down

Now then, onto the rest. It's really poor. There is barely any story whatsoever. You are taking into the story abruptly, so read the synopsis first, you'll need it more than ever. Something happens, two deadly androids are on the loose and their target needs to be saved. On paper, sounds great. In a series, probably would work, on a feature film, would also likely work. In this anime episode? Is it an episode? Or is a film? Who knows, in this....thing, it doesn't work at all, despite what it could actually have been. Now I've not read the Manga, but I'm very certain it could have been more.

Our main character Syble, we know nothing about at the beginning which is normal for any form of storytelling. We quickly learn she's a journalist, great, we are making progress. When the 'thing' finishes, we know literally no more than we did in the first 5 mins. This type of character writing applied to every other character, in most circumstances with less attention. As a result I had no connection with any characters and didn't care about any characters.

All in all, this is a poor piece of work and sadly, no amount of great animation and visuals can save it.