Silent Möbius (1991)

The future police has a unique division: the Attack Mystification Department. The operatives have unique training... and talents! Set to stop the weird happenings going on in the city, and ... See full summary »

Directors:

Kazuo Tomisawa, Michitaka Kikuchi

Writers:

Michitaka Kikuchi (creator) (as Kia Asamiya), Michitaka Kikuchi (manga) (as Kia Asamiya)

Stars:

Naoko Matsui, Toshiko Fujita, Gara Takashima

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Naoko Matsui	...	Katsumi Liqueur (voice)
Toshiko Fujita	...	Rally Cheyenne (voice)
Gara Takashima	...	Lebia Maverick (voice)
Hiromi Tsuru	...	Kiddy Phenil (voice)
Chieko Honda	...	Nami Yamigumo (voice)
Maya Okamoto	...	Yuki Saiko (voice)
Masako Ikeda	...	Fuyuka Liqueur (voice)
Kiyoshi Kawakubo	...	Grospoliner (voice)
Kôji Nakata	...	Lucifer Hawke (voice) (as Kouji Nakata)
Tarô Arakawa	...	Second-Grade Monster (voice)
Shin'ichirô Miki	...	Policeman (voice)
Tina Gushiken	...	The Other Katsumi (voice)
Iona Morris	...	Katsumi Liqueur (Streamline Pictures dub) (voice)
Alexandra Kenworthy	...	Fuyuka Liqueur (Streamline Pictures dub) (voice)
Joyce Kurtz	...	Kiddy Phenil (Streamline Pictures dub) (voice)

Storyline

The future police has a unique division: the Attack Mystification Department. The operatives have unique training... and talents! Set to stop the weird happenings going on in the city, and discover whats behind the unknown.

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Plot Keywords:

all girl team | policewoman | attack | police | tough woman | 

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Taglines:

The psychic police face the unknown!

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Drama | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

17 August 1991 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Silent Möbius

Company Credits

Production Co:

Anime International Company (AIC), Kadokawa Publishing Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

There is two English dubs to this film: the original Streamline Pictures dub directed by Carl Macek and the more familiar Ocean Group dub from Canada.

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Quotes

Lebia Maverick: [about Katsumi] Who is she, Chief? Why all the interest?
Rally Cheyenne: She could end up...as one of us, or she could turn out to be our worst enemy.

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Crazy Credits

After the end credits, a title card appears that says in English: 'Silent Möbius Now, The Story Has Just Begun.'

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Connections

Referenced in The Memory of Robot Carnival: A Look Back at the History of the Classic Anthology (2018)

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Soundtracks

Sailing
by Tokyo Shounen

User Reviews

All-woman team in occult-tinged sci-fi anime

"Silent Mobius," a popular Japanese manga by Kia Asamiya, originally published in 1988, dealt with a special all-woman uniformed police squad known as AMP (Attacked Mystification Police) whose job is to combat a plague of demonic entities invading near-future Tokyo (2028 A.D.). The six young women all have some kind of occult or psychic training or background that gives them talents suitable for their job. In 1991, "Silent Mobius" was adapted into a 53-minute movie with a 58-minute sequel produced the following year. Both were released to theaters in Japan, playing on double or triple bills with other short animated features.

The two movies focus primarily on one of the women, young Katsumi Liqueur, whose parents were powerful "mages," one of whom, father Gigelf Liqueur, was supposedly instrumental in releasing the demonic entities--bizarre misshapen asymmetrical creatures who speak in soft male voices. In the movies, the other AMP women meet Katsumi for the first time, gradually learning of her extraordinary innate powers and then trying to recruit her for their mission. Much of the story is told in flashback, with all of Movie 2 simply continuing a flashback begun in Movie 1. Katsumi resists AMP's efforts, for the most part, wanting to live the ordinary life, fearful of her powers and what such powers did to her late parents. (Her mother plays a key role in Movie 1.)

While explosive battles with grotesque demons in contemporary or near-future Tokyo are quite commonplace in anime, the difference here is the overwhelming emphasis on character and emotion. Katsumi's state of mind is front and center in both movies and we experience a steady stream of her dreams, flashbacks and memories. She clearly doesn't welcome her destiny and has to be forced into it by events and forces beyond her control. The all-female cast is dead-serious throughout. Young team member Yuki Saito is a little perkier than the others, but they're all about as no-nonsense as women in anime can get. There's little of the flippancy or endearing frivolousness we get in similar fare like "Bubblegum Crisis" or "Dominion Tank Police."

The futuristic details of Tokyo in the 2020s are clever and imaginative and presented rather subtly, without hitting us over the head with them. The occult details are doled out sparingly, unlike the vaguely similar "Peacock King" series (also reviewed on this site), which was awash in vividly rendered occult lore. There is action here but it takes a back seat to the drama. Since these movies seem to have been made with the manga audience in mind, not a lot is explained. We don't really learn enough about the intriguing demon enemy to make the conflict suspenseful enough. However, for those who like their anime challenging and dramatically compelling, the patience required by these two movies will be rewarded. A TV series based on the manga was released in 1998 with some different designs and the focus on the whole team and is quite good in its own right.