Battle for Moon Station Dallos Movie Review

Confusing but well rendered cartoon feature from Ghost in the Shell director Mamoru Oshii about a rebellion waged by slave-like colonists’ on the moon against their heartless Earth masters. Dallos is a mysterious (alien?) lunar city the freedom fighters worship as a god. Surprisingly sober-minded (no comic-relief robots, cowboy sidekicks, or talking animals) and somewhat reminiscent of the works of popular Golden Age sf authors like Robert Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, pic ends with too many unanswered questions; this was supposed to be chapter one of an ongoing saga, but viewer disinterest stifled any sequels. Despite its relative obscurity, Dallos is notable as the very first OVA (original video adaptation), a species of direct-to-video japanimation that has become a booming marketplace for fantastic anime artists and enthusiasts – this one was just too ahead of its time. U.S. release is English-dubbed. AKA: Dallos.

1986 84m/C JP D: Mamoru Oshii; W: Hisayuki Toriumi; M: Ichiro Nitta, Hiroyuki Nanba. VHS, Beta JFK, WTA