Gall Force: The Revolution

Gall Force: The Revolution is the last addition to the sci-fi (ecchi) legacy series, and—in my opinion—it’s hands-down the best. The visuals are a weird culmination of Star Wars, Neon Genesis Evangelion, & Saber Marionette J. Referentially, ‘The Revolution’ has a Death Star, anti-matter cannons, organic robot heads (that are smashed and gush out blood), & a vat of clones in orange liquid. Since this OVA is only four episodes long, there will be spoilers! You have been warned! • When I first began this OVA, I hated the character designs. Lufy, Catty, Pony, & the sadomasochist antagonist with an electric whip—yes, that was a thing—wereparticularly egregious. Every character had the same body type, there weren’t any male characters but every female character was drawn with a male body-type: the torso was like an upside-down triangle (with large olives attached, as breasts), there was no curvature in the hips, and their legs looked like long, spindly noodles. —In her original design, Lafy was one of the more colorful characters—she was dark-skinned, had violet eyes, a star tattoo on her face, & a multi-colored afro. The Lafy in ‘Gall Force: The Revolution’ looks like a sleazy, biker-bandit. She has leather, booty shorts and a halter top (with gaudy red, triangle tattoos under each of her eyes). Her hairstyle is even more atrocious: she wears a large black bandana on her head and has thin, rat-tail hair that goes down to her thighs. Ken'ichi Sonoda’s Lafy often wore a (full-coverage) pilot suit and was still an enigmatic ‘80s icon. —Catty was the all-knowing idealist with a light purple, swing bob. In ‘Gall Force: The Revolution,’ she has the ugliest side burns in the world. They practically envelope her whole face. I have seen snow yōkai—often referred to as ‘yuki-onna,’ in other series, have the same blue side burns (i.e. Yukiko-Hime in Dororon Enma-kun and Oyuki in Urusei Yatsura) but Catty is an android that is the leader of a resistance organization and, subsequently, the martyr of the group—it doesn’t fit her personality. Catty has never been the ‘ice queen’ type of character. —Pony, originally, was a dark-skinned woman with short, wavy, lilac hair. In ‘Gall Force: The Revolution,’ Pony is a flamboyant, bohemian blonde with fair skin & large flowers in her hair. The first iteration of Pony was deathly shy and brainy, but none of that is conveyed in the re-imagining of her character. The only part of Pony’s character that remains faithful is her bond with android children in ‘Conch’ because of her meek nature, she often bonded with androids and AI systems more than humans. •Obviously, from many series from in the ‘90s (a prime example being Sailor Moon), anatomy was seen as more of a stylistic choice than a guideline. Even in earlier shows, like Rose of Versailles (1979), this was apparent—Riyoko Ikeda gives all of her characters tall, ostrich necks. I don’t mind improper anatomy in anime and cartoons, as long as it’s not noticeable or ‘blends’ into the mangaka’s world. The designs in this DO NOT, especially if you have seen the first Gall Force OVA series prior to this one. •Despite how wretched the characters look, this and ‘Rhea Gall Force’ have the best stories in the franchise. A big issue that I had with the previous script writers, was that 90% of each OVA would be filled with exposition, ‘The Revolution’ doesn’t suffer as much from this issue. And while the previous installments were Ridley Scott-like escapades of surviving *alien attackers and stopping them from subsequently destroying the Earth. In ‘The Revolution,’ it gets more political and focuses on the folly of war. *the aliens are referred to as ‘Paranoids.’ •In the beginning, Rabby and the girls are in a ‘*Solanoid’ civil war in space. The two factions are called The East and West Force. Since this is a Japanese show, naturally, the girls are stationed on the side of The East Force. The leader (Commander Pfizer) is a buxom, green-haired woman who leads The East Force with an iron fist. After she reveals to Eluza (a pilot) that she has been developing an anti-matter cannon, Eluza’s apprehension is immediately quelled by Pfizer’s kiss and the two of them become lovers. Toward the end of the first OVA, Rabby discovers a rebel organization, led by Catty, called ‘Conch.’ It’s similar to To Terra’s rebel group, lead by Solider Blue—perhaps this is another reference, since Catty and Solider Blue both have pale blue hair. *Solanoid: what’s left of humanity, after the galactic war with the aliens. •After fighting breaks out amongst the factions, Catty sacrifices herself to save the rest of the cast and Pfizer reveals that there were never two factions and that the entire war was orchestrated by the puppet masters of both sides, referred to as ‘*The Executive Committee.’ When confronted, Pfizer says that sacrifices must be made to maintain order and tries to get Eluza to join her. Eluza refuses, but then it is revealed that Pfizer has mind-controlled Patty and makes her attack her friends. In the end, Rabby and the others hack the control system and use the aforementioned anti-matter cannon to kill Pfizer, ending her tyranny once and for all. The group then decides to return to Earth and start over, a parallel to the end of the Gall Force 1: Eternal Story. *more or less a one world government. •Gall Force has never been known for having strong characters but it was a relief that Eluza had a small character moment in the last OVA. Despite how solid the story was—the other characters were more or less props to move the plot along. It like that in Eternal Story, too. In that one: there was fanservice, one of the girls would get picked off, and then another plot twist would come around—like clockwork. I know that fans love the ‘aesthetic’ of the original Gall Force OVAs but strip them of the pretty visuals and there’s nothing more than a mirror of every other American sci-fi, action flick from the ‘80s. •Gall Force: The Revolution has a solid plot, minimal exposition, and a good soundtrack. I would say that it’s worth a watch if you’re not completely repulsed by the ugly character designs. It’s considered obscure because it never got licensed in the US and had a limited release in Japan but it’s something worth looking into. I give it a 6/10.