One hundred miles south of Los Angeles, a reckless biker named Marcia and her newfound acquaintance Noera crash their vehicles after getting caught in the explosion of a semi truck. In the resulting confusion, Marcia manages to sneak off with a briefcase containing a mysterious dark orb. When Marcia and Noera touch it, they experience a vision of Death Valley. Taking this as a sign that the ball needs to be brought to Death Valley, the pair set out on the road, chasing their version of the American Dream, all while evading those who seek to take the elusive object back from them.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
Armitage87
There's not much to say about this OVA. It's an anime that tries to recreate a 70s-80s american action movie (a bad one), and for the most part it does a pretty good job. Story: Well, there's just enough story to justify the action scenes. Basically a boy and a girl discover some UFO fragment and they're chased by government agents who try to recover it. Characters: There's no character development. After watching it I can't even remember the names of the main characters. There's not a single moment where you might actually feel something for them. Art: For the most part it's okay (keep in mindthat it's an anime made in the 80s). The only problem that I had was with the shading style witch was horribly done.
Sound: The whole movie has just 3 or 4 tracks. They're the same type of songs you'll find in old action movies. Some of them are pretty good, they fit the mood of the story well. They're definitely the best part of this anime.
So, if you're bored (like I was) and have nothing better to do, you might wanna give it a try. The whole thing's about 45min long and it will keep you interested till the end.
bitchassdarius
We finally learn the girl's name after 18 minutes, more than a third of the way in. Not that the main characters' names matter anyway, nor does the plot nor the characters' backgrounds nor really any of the specifics. In this way, California Crisis reminds me of Monte Hellman's sun-baked road movie classic, Two-Lane Blacktop; that is, there is a story, one about a road trip, but that story also happens to be the aspect of least interest. Forget the story, and the focus is now what is being presented on screen. You've got the really striking art style reminscent of Patrick Nagel, with itsbold colour palette on clean yet detailed line art and two-tone shading that gives a strong sense of directional lighting; the wonderfully '80s boogie soundtrack delivered by city pop singer Miho Fujiwara; the '80s Hollywood movie staples of SoCal, dive bars, diners, and car chases.
But even looking at the plot, certain familiar threads pop up, like the optimistic sci-fi elements tying outer space to the domestic life (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was also released in 1986) or the highly idealized sexual freedom of American women (think of all those provocative coming-of-age sex comedies the '80s is known for). Yet at the core of California Crisis is a novelly foreign critique of the American Dream. Here we have Noera, the male protagonist who claims he cares about his job, his car, his wallet, etc. but whose actions say otherwise; he is barely coerced by a complete stranger to take a road trip to Death Valley and during said trip ends up totaling two cars on unpaid loans. There is no hesitance in this adventure, the brakes never pulled to sit and wonder what the point of it all is, only the impulse to move forward to the next leg. Reflected is an attitude that pervaded America's, and Japan's, economic prospects of the time. During a reunion scene between Noera and his old classmate Jack Varo, his friend unwittingly sums up the mood of the trickle-down era while reminiscing about their high school basketball days: "Those times were great, weren't they? We all just did what we wanted." Still, California Crisis is even more explicit. The trip to Death Valley is initially decided on a whim when, after receiving a vision from the mysterious orb at the diner, Marsha dazedly blurts "American Dream" out of the blue. This tenuous association, along with Marsha's suspicious lack of a past, gives the impression that she's running from, or towards, something. But their arrival at Death Valley is met with a final car chase, after which they end up breaking the "Space Mind" after falling into a river. What's left is a transparent glass ball leaking river water. And then the OVA abruptly ends, their journey as fruitless as the American Dream.
California Crisis is a document of what director Mizuho Nishikubo and his production team saw and felt on their location scouting trip to California. The sum total is a time capsule of a certain era of American pop culture, which is a bit odd coming from a Japanese animation, but the accuracy is undeniable. There's a chase scene set to a neon-lit night club performance whose storyboard could have been taken straight out of a classic '80s action movie (I'm thinking Beverly Hills Cop?). Captured is not just the decade's aesthetic but also the dead-ends of its materialism. And how fitting for this idiosyncratic, Western-facing production, which could only have been born out of the '80s anime boom from a studio that almost immediately went out of business.
PurePureHeart
Aside from the character designs and music, this anime has little to offer. The animation is minimal and badly directed, with many scenes confusingly edited together and at times barely comprehensible. Most of this OVA consists of an uninteresting chase scene that leads up to a very unsatisfying conclusion. The plot is practically non existent, with the mystery presented halfway through the OVA having zero payoff in the end and what few characters are introduced are uninteresting and pointless. I've seen many describe this OVA as "underrated" but it's better described as something that's obscure and boring. Overall, I'd say the only enjoyable way toexperience this anime is to listen to the OST or watch vaporwave/city pop/future funk videos that use clips from this OVA. Viewing this anime on it's own isn't an engaging experience.
johnbradshaw
This 45 minute OVA right here is the most American thing I've ever seen in anime. It's so inconceivably silly. It's like watching a 80s Hollywood action movie with no plot but it's one thing it did right and boy I have an entertaining time watching this one. So some Alien's object has been stolen by the Russian. It happens to be held by 2 civilian after a trailer's accident. Now the US government has to sent troops out to retrieve the object. That leads to some hilarious and exciting action sequences that fill the runtime of this OVA. There's really not much I can sayabout this. See it for yourself, the 80s is really something else in term of entertainment.
matthigh
The very first thing you are going to notice is the distinctive art style. Either you are going to like it, or hate it. Just so happens, I like it. Very heavy on the line work, stark shadows, flat colors, which are all things that are rarely seen in anime. Too bad, however, that the animation can't match up. While the art is interesting to look at, the animation is very stilted and janky, poorly storyboarded, and that just lessens the experience. Getting away from the art, and you are left with the story.Well, what passes for a story at least - which is to say, not much. Slacker Boy runs into Irrepressible Spirit Girl (a la "Who's That Girl"), they get their hands on some mysterious orb that the government goons are trying to recover, and they end up on a chase across Southern California. But it's not a very interesting chase, and there really isn't much of a payoff at the end, and there really isn't a growing chemistry between the two misfits. Probably because this is just 45 minutes long, which doesn't present much of an opportunity for any sort of serious character building or story development.
So, in the end you are left with looking at the interesting artwork style (probably this might have worked better as a manga, methinks), and commenting on how well (or not) the Japanese did in referencing the look and feel of SoCal.
Riilu
A weak story with a good presentation. California Crisis has a striking style which looks like someone took an Eizin Suzuki painting and animated it, and to go with that striking visual style it has a strong "city pop" score that really ties well with the visual presentation. but in terms of the actual plot, it's short, underdeveloped, and ends abruptly. It feels like it's the first half of something bigger, however there is no sequel. It's a pretty time capsule of the Japanese perception of America in the 1980's, but should be regarded more as a beautiful painting in a museum rather than a compelling storyyou can sit down and read.
Sapphireloid
If you're a fan of all the American 80s action movie cheese that checked every box on the stereotypes of those movies at the time, this is the anime for you. Or if you just came around for the art and its aesthetic. Everything about this anime made me feel like I was watching some b-movie from my dad's collection, albeit not in English without all the slang. Aliens, car chases, Coca Cola, California, hot rods, the fashion, it checks all the boxes for me. The story and characters are very flat and lacking. There isn't really anything spectacular about this anime outside of it beinga love letter to the cheesy action movies in somebody's dad's cabinet, but it might be nice if you're bored or looking for a certain artistic vibe. A lot of aesthetic kids have slowly been looking into this anime, so even if it's lame and unfinished, at least the art style is nice.
CentralUnplan
Incredible "vibes" OVA - California Crisis commits fully capturing the summer haze and glitzy shine of 80's Los Angeles as seen in fashion magazines & music videos. Which is a great thing to capture, but combining it with a military/spycraft chase for a lost alien artifact is a zany enough premise to elevate this work above being simply good YoutTube playlist background art. The OVA's bright spot is the Patrick Nagel-esque animation style, where everything is heavily solarized; it does not always work - most particularly for the female lead Mashrea - but when it does it creates a unique aesthetic for anime, and onethat really "sells" the LA vibe it is so invested in. Additionally, since I saw some comments on it, I think the ending is great. This is not a complicated story, and characterization is done through visuals and actions over dialogue; the simple, abstract ending creates a small-but-real level of thematic depth to the tale.
If you want some retro-80's American pastiche through the eyes of an outsider, it doesn't miss.
