Armitage III: Difference between revisions

AnA four-episode [[OVA]] miniseries written by [[Chiaki Konaka]], ''[[Armitage III]]'' is tightly plotted and action-packed, yet does not stint on philosophical questions and quandaries. It is old enough to have been created entirely with traditional hand-drawn animation; quality control is high, though, and there is no sign of "rushed" or careless work. Both characters and backgrounds are crisp and detailed -- the Martian cityscapes are a joy to behold at times, as are the main players in the drama, particularly Armitage herself.

''[[Armitage III]]'', as brief as it is, spawned a sequel movie called ''Dual Matrix''. It is somewhat less compelling, plotwise, than the original series, and a switch from traditional animation to computer-assisted methods resulted in some unappealing changes in character designs -- Armitage, for example, went from looking cute-sexy in a leather-Loli way to looking like a psychotic housewife. (thoughThough in all fairness, she sort of was a psychotic housewife, and with good reason!)

A spoilerificspoileriffic note on the title: {{spoiler|1=The title is often read, incorrectly, as ''Armitage 3'', which might lead some viewers to wonder as to the whereabouts of the nonexistent "first two" Armitage OVAs. The title is correctly read as if it were the name of a person--''Armitage the Third''--which rather spoils the big reveal regarding Naomi's true nature. One imagines the creators might have selected the title intentionally, such that the viewer reads it differently before and after seeing the series.}}

{{quote| "Surely the ironic humor of this hasn't escaped you?"}}

* [[Lady Land]]: On earth, the average human female is super-privileged, so few want to immigrateemigrate to Mars, which keeps the colony from establishing the population it needs to declare independence. {{spoiler|So Mars started building robots human enough to [[Uterine Replicator|conceive children.]] When Earth finds this out, they pretty much declare [[The War of Earthly Aggression]] - scrap the baby machines and we'll send some real women, or you can all die. This is the reason female androids are targeted for assassination; it's because they're not "real" women.}}

* [[Non -Standard Character Design]]: The Second-type androids, along with {{spoiler|Naomi and Julian}}, are designed and drawn in a traditional, big-eyed Anime style. The humans, D'anclaude, and the Third-type androids are designed in a more realistic style (and with [[Mukokuseki|more visibly European facial features]]).

{{quote| "It's a little too ''angelic'' for my taste."}}

* [[Robotic Spouse]]

* [[Spiritual Successor]]: ''Armitage III'' clearly takes inspiration from [[Isaac Asimov]]'s ''[[The Caves of Steel (Literature)|The Caves of Steel]]''. Though {{spoiler|Naomi Armitage}} is most probably cuter than R. Daneel Olivaw.

* [[Straw Feminist|Straw Feminists]]: Earth's government. The [[Backstory]] is given in snippets, but a key plot element is that feminists have become political powerhouses equivalent to Greens. It is implied by the presence of an Earth "observer" that on Earth, women have gained status equivalent to modern-day South African whites - and few are willing to give that up just because [[Mars Needs Women]]. Space has been colonized, and Mars has been partially [[Terraform|Terraformed]], but has thus been unable to draw enough women to the planet to breed new Martians. Androids known as "[[A Mech Byby Any Other Name|Seconds]]" were created first as a source of labor, then upgraded to [[Ridiculously Human Robot|Ridiculously Human Robots]] as a immigration draw; come to Mars and leave the shrews behind for a [[Extreme Doormat|sweet, willing]] [[Mega Corp|conCeption]] [[Sex Bot]]! The long term solution was to {{spoiler|''build'' fertile women - the titular "Thirds"; robots so human that they can be '''impregnated''' -- and actually raise the children they give birth to. When the Straw Feminists find out about the plan, the threat to their power base pisses them off to no end, resulting in an ultimatum; scrap the baby machines or Mommy will come do it personally, [[The War of Earthly Aggression|along with as much of the landscape as necessary]].}}

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