Japanese anime or Manga (which is roughly Japanese for "dirty pictures"), can be one of those hit or miss things. While I watch some of it, I try to watch only ones I've heard good reviews of. And even those can be cheesy. So watching new manga can be one of those Pandora's box type of viewings: you may watch a great piece or hate it.
Case in point: Black Magic M-66. It was on the Action Channel on cable so I taped it to watch later. It is only about 70 minutes long but you get a lot in that time. I was pleasantly pleased and actually caught myself wondering if this was part of a series.
One of the IMDB reviewers hit it right: just like Terminator really. A cyborg thing gets loose and comes after the inventor's daughter. Somehow, the standard anime girl reporter gets in the way and protects the girl.
The animation was actually quite stunning. I really felt a film quality to it. This is one of those where if it were live-action, I think the digital effects they would use would get in the way. Using animation lets it all flow together. I mean, even in The Lord of the Rings, Gollum sometimes looks like CGI, even though it is excellently done. Yoda in the Star Wars prequels looks like CGI. Know what I mean? Animation lets it all flow together as part of the same world. That's the benefit of animation for some stories.
I won't obsess over this movie but it was well worth my time. I quite enjoyed it.
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