Back to anime reviews after a hiatus, it's time to get into Dominion Tank Police.
In 2016, the Japanese town of Newport is surrounded by toxic air and packed full of crime, to combat this, the Government reluctantly forms a Tank unit to combat these threats, titular character Leona Ozaki whose dedication to her job leads her on the path to the Tank Police, despite having problems at first, Leona manages to fit in with her own Tank creation Bonaparte, a mini tank no more bigger than a real life Smart Car. Leona is just as destructive as her contemporaries as she helps defeat corrupt weapons manufacturers, terrorists, two catgirls of whom were considered rare in anime at the time of release and a terrorist working for a fictional Greenpeace that has nothing to do with real life Greenpeace.
This anime is pure fun, it uses it's comedy well, it's action is a major selling point and it's lead character is one of the strongest women in anime culture. Under normal circumstances this anime would be ignored as it's part of an era where most of the shows that weren't Ghost in the Shell or Akira were really terrible or forgettable, yet Dominion Tank Police even in this era still holds up remarkably well considering the anime it has to go up against, and that's a testament to Masamune Shirow's creativity in making these Cyber Punk worlds as he also lists as his works Ghost in the Shell, a fan favorite among the older anime fanbase and Appleseed.
It's not without problems, the orginal OVA's second plot is not very well written and in the newer six episode series it ends on a rushed note as the villain were expected to follow gets written out awkwardly and the plot kind of unravels in the last 20 minutes as Leona resolves the case by being in the right place at the right time. It's also a time sensitive anime as it takes place in 2016 as evident from a still image of a gravestone, I say this because it can't be considered a futuristic anime anymore and more a product of it's time, if it thought 2016 would be a crapsack world packed with police riding in Tanks then you'll be left disappointed much like the hoverboards Back to the Future promised us.
Apart from that, Dominion Tank Police is an excellent watch and well recommended for any anime night.
In a rare moment of dubbing, there is an English Dub but it was made in the UK so it's rightly referred to as a British Dub which is good to watch.
Final Verdict: Great fun to watch and packed full of strong well defined characters with the comedy and action more than enough to get the blood flowing and leaving you asking for so much more.
Dominion Tank Police Review
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