In a
post-apocalyptic future where the Earth has become a desert, humanity is
divided into the genetically-engineered Ideal Children of Theseus, who
reproduce through cloning, and the Natura, who do things the old-fashioned way.
While out in
the wastes one day, a young Natura named Sam spots a girl being pursued by
sand-ships from Theseus. Like most young male protagonists in this type of
story, he wastes no time with trifles like not knowing what the situation is
and dives in to rescue the girl, whose name is Maya. During the pursuit
everyone suddenly spots the legendary sand whale Ozma, whom Sam’s older brother
Dick vowed to capture, only to disappear when he set out to hunt it.
Teaming up
with his childhood friend Mimay and a group of sand pirates, Sam agrees to help
Maya, who is also seeking Ozma. Pursued by the mysterious Captain Gido of
Theseus, they head out into the desert aboard their ship, the Bardanos, to find
the great whale, which holds the key to the truth about Maya and, perhaps, a
brighter future for Earth.
Thoughts
Despite
having a renowned anime and manga creator like Leiji
Matsumoto attached to it, Ozma is
a thoroughly unremarkable work. It’s a basic post-apocalyptic story about human
folly and the need to protect the environment that deals with its themes in a
cursory manner, opting to focus more on the pursuit of the Bardanos by Theseus.
This is actually kind of interesting, because the civilizations in this setting
has developed technology that allows ships to travel both over and under the
sand as if it were an ocean, leading to a number of submarine vs. submarine and
submarine vs. cruiser style confrontations, only in the desert, and with more
obstacles (in the form of outcrops and rock columns) to contend with. But,
while interesting, it’s still only a novelty that comes at the expense of
things that could have made the show stand out. As a result the story is a
basic ‘race to beat the bad guys to the MacGuffin’.
There are a few twists, but you’ll either see them coming a mile away, or
they’re so generic you probably won’t care. The setting doesn’t stand out at
all. possessing nothing to distinguish it from every other post-apocalyptic
setting out there. Even its signature element, Ozma, isn’t utilized very well,
with no hints or element of mystery built up around it to hook the viewer.
Of course, a
generic setting and story can be excused by interesting characters. This
doesn’t have any. Sam’s more or less a blank slate who does what the plot
requires, Mimay’s the spunky childhood friend who exists to give him the proverbial
kick-in-the-ass when he’s down and glare jealously whenever he gets too
friendly with Maya, who’s the stock-standard ‘Girl With a Mysterious Past’. The
crew of the Bardanos get basically zero characterization, which could be
forgiven in a six-episode series where space for more important things like the
plot and the main characters is at a premium, but even Captain Bainas – Dick’s
former girlfriend and presumably something of an adoptive big sister to Sam and
Mimay (which is mostly speculation on my part because the pasts of these
characters aren’t explored at all) – isn’t given much. The villains are just as
bad, and while they are shown to be doing a particular thing that is quite
despicable, they otherwise suffer from a lack of menace or anything that makes
them a credible threat beyond having superior numbers.
Visually,
it’s the same story. Hope you like indistinguishable desert landscapes, because
you’ll get a lot of them here. And again, that would be fine if there’s
something else interesting to look at, but the sand ships have generic designs
that could easily pass for naval or space ships in a different setting (which,
to be fair, is probably the point), and the villains have an equally bland
military appearance, complete with mooks wearing face-concealing visors. The
sand pirates get a little more flavor in their designs and look like they might
actually be an interesting bunch to base a show around, but that’s really it.
If you’re even passingly familiar with Matsumoto’s other work (which is all I
am), many of the designs of the main characters will also be recognizable.
If you’re a
devoted fan of Matsumoto’s work or if you have two-and-a-half hours to kill and
nothing better to do it’s probably worth a watch; otherwise don’t bother. It
isn’t bad, just forgettable.
Final Score: 5/10
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