The year is 2808. Three criminals, housed in a prison which orbits the earth, are given the opportunity to reduce their multiple-century sentences by tracking down other bad guys. The ever present threat of the explosive collars around their necks keeps them in check, but so does their steadily reducing sentences, ticking down as their arrests continue to stack up.

Cyber City Oedo 808 is a classic slice of Japanese cyberpunk from the absolute heyday of the genre. Having been popularised in different mediums since the early 80s, with Blade Runner being the most obvious starting point, and books such as William Gibson’s Neuromancer kicking the genre off from a literary standpoint, cyberpunk proved hugely influential on multiple generations of Japanese creators.

John Carpenter’s Escape from New York also seems to have played a part in influencing Cyber City Oedo 808, with its tale of badass anti-heroes, forced to wear instant kill devices, sent to do the dirty work that no one else can, or will.

There are three episodes of this short lived series, and that’s all there ever was. Which seems crazy now, with anime series running for hundreds of episodes, or more. Back in 1990 though, this was a very early export from Japan, at a time when all we saw was the edgy, action-oriented anime and the occasional Studio Ghibli film, for the most part.

Cyber City Oedo 808 has aged pretty well, with its icy blue, steel and glass aesthetic still looking really cool, and its trio of profanity-spewing anti-heroes being an amusing group of badasses. Each of the three episodes focuses mainly on a single member of the crew; wiseass Sengoku, hulking hacker Gogul and androgynous fighter Benten.

Though we don’t get a great deal of development from any of them over the course of the series, character-wise, with only three episodes it’s perhaps not surprising.

There’s some genuinely nostalgic cyber-jargon and a nice line in tech-horror too, with the reveal of the first episode’s big bad being a particularly strong example of the latter. There are some poignant moments amidst the action too, and there’s little of the very problematic elements of some anime which made its way West in the late 80s and early 90s.

The striking visuals, particularly of the city and its technology, are complemented very well by an excellent soundtrack; interestingly, the British score is missing from the US and Japanese versions of the series, yet is widely regarded to be the stronger version of this anime’s music. UK composer Rory McFarlane provides a much darker soundtrack than the upbeat, mostly synth-led Japanese score; elements of metal and electronica make for an appropriately punchy, occasionally melancholy accompaniment to the visuals.

Both versions are included on the Blu Ray disc, so you can check each out at your leisure. Though the voice acting is particularly of its time, there’s no denying how good the British version of the music is!

This kind of edgy, ‘mature’ anime was instrumental in popularising the art form in the West, and felt absolutely mind-blowing at the time. It’s aged really well too; well over three decades on, Cyber City Oedo 808 is a fantastic series that’s well worth a watch. It’s such a shame that there isn’t more of it, but what we do have is excellent, and stands up to repeat viewing too.

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