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Armitage III | |
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Cover art for Funimation's 2013 DVD release of the OVAs and films
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アミテージ・ザ・サード (Amitēji za Sādo) | |
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Genre | Action, cyberpunk[1][2] |
Original video animation | |
Directed by | Hiroyuki Ochi |
Produced by | Hiroaki Inoue Kazuaki Morijiri Yasuo Hasegawa |
Written by | Chiaki J. Konaka |
Music by | Hiroyuki Namba |
Studio | AIC |
Licensed by |
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Released | February 25, 1995 – November 25, 1995 |
Runtime | 28–47 minutes (each) |
Episodes | 4(List of episodes) |
Manga | |
Written by | Zarae Otana Tatsuya Ikegami |
Illustrated by | Hiroyuki Ochi |
Published by | Tokuma Shoten |
Magazine | Monthly Shōnen Captain |
Demographic | Shōnen |
Original run | February 1995 – November 1995 |
Volumes | 2 |
Anime film | |
Armitage III: Poly-Matrix | |
Directed by | Hiroyuki Ochi |
Produced by | Hiroaki Inoue Kazuaki Morijiri Yasuo Hasegawa |
Written by | Chiaki J. Konaka |
Music by | Hiroyuki Namba |
Studio | AIC |
Licensed by |
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Released | 1997 |
Runtime | 90 minutes |
Anime film | |
Armitage: Dual-Matrix | |
Directed by | Katsuhito Akiyama |
Produced by | Hideki Gotō Hiroe Tsukamoto Hisao Fuke Kōhei Kawase Satoru Yoshida Yasuo Hasegawa |
Written by | Nahoko Hasegawa Hideki Kakinuma Satoshi Wada |
Music by | Julian Mack |
Studio | AIC |
Licensed by |
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Released | March 22, 2002 |
Runtime | 90 minutes |
Armitage III (アミテージ・ザ・サード, Amitēji Za Sādo) is a 1995 cyberpunk original video animation series. It centers on Naomi Armitage, a highly advanced "Type-III" android. In 1996, the series was edited into a film called Armitage: Poly-Matrix (アミテージ POLY-MATRIX, Amitēji Pori Matorikkusu).
The series was followed up in 2002 with a sequel, Armitage: Dual-Matrix (アミテージ DUAL-MATRIX, Amitēji Dyūaru Matorikkusu) set some years after the original story.
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This section's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (May 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
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In 2046, the overpopulation of Earth has led to the colonization of Mars. Using "first type" androids, humans began terraforming the unfriendly environment of Mars and built the city of Saint Lowell. Some time after the start of colonization, the city was completed and inhabited with humans and "Second type" robots (improved versions of the "First types"). Ross Sylibus, a middle-aged policeman from Chicago, travels to Saint Lowell to meet his new partner Naomi Armitage. He joined the Martian Police Department to escape his past trauma of his previous partner being killed by a robot.
As Ross exits the shuttle, he bumps into a mysterious man with a big suitcase and two robotic guards, and Armitage orders the men to stop. Ross notices a few drops of blood spilling from the mysterious man's suitcase. The two robot guards are killed by Armitage and the mysterious man is wounded, but flees. However, he leaves his suitcase behind—inside of which is the dead body of Kelly McCanon. To everybody's surprise and horror, McCanon turns out to be a robot: a new, never-seen-before "Third type" android that is superficially identical to humans.
Later, the mysterious man hacks into the public television system and replays the security camera footage. The tape shows the man killing Kelly McCanon and reveals the fact of her being a robot to the entire city. The mysterious man, René D'anclaude, reveals that the Third types have been among the regular people for a long time and nobody can tell them apart from humans. He also reveals a list of Thirds—and it turns out that a lot of well-known people are actually robots. Riots begin in the city as people start to capture and burn all the Thirds they can find. Meanwhile, René D'anclaude proceeds with his extermination of the Thirds. The two main characters start their investigation and eventually realize that the victims are women.
One of the dying victims, Jessica Manning, sends out a message with the list of Thirds to save them from being slaughtered. Armitage receives it and pursues D'anclaude. Armitage is eventually revealed to be a third and goes into hiding as the police hunt for her. Ross seeks her out as she enlists the help of a male third named Julian Moore. D'anclaude then attacks them and is revealed to be a second.
While the police drop the case with D'anclaude's supposed capture, Armitage and Julian search a databank for information on her origins. Armitage eventually defeats D'anclaude, but is too late to stop Julian from being killed. She and Ross break into the hospital D'anclaude was recovering in, branding themselves as criminals after the rescue.
Armitage and Ross later go off in search of her "father", Dr. Asakura, only to learn he had lost his mind, as explained by a gentler, reprogrammed version of D'anclaude, living with delusions of creating "Fourths". They learn that the Thirds were originally "assassinroids" - deadly robots with organic components, capable of infiltrating secure facilities by masquerading as humans. This project was re-purposed to bolster the low Martian birth rate, itself a result of Earth's strongly feminist society encouraging the immigration of males and discouraging the immigration of females. However, Earth's discovery of the Thirds incensed its leadership, forcing Mars to reverse its plans; Earth demanded that the Thirds be annihilated, offering female immigrants as a reward - and threatening war if not obeyed. The assassinroid program was thus re-activated to hunt and destroy the Thirds, which had vanished into the Martian population after their creation.
These revelations shock and dismay Armitage, leading her to seek comfort in Ross, who affirms her value as a living being before consummating their relationship. The next day, after Asakura deactivates Armitage so he can install angelical wings and particle cannons on her chassis, the military kills Asakura, and Armitage and Ross eventually finish off the military. Months later, Ross returns to Mars, using false IDs, however Armitage throws hers away after Ross Sylibus' arrival. Armitage tells Ross that she is pregnant with their child.
It had been several years since the events of the previous OVA. Naomi Armitage and Ross Sylibus, now living under assumed identities, are living in St. Lowell on Mars, along with their daughter Yoko. Ross now works for a company seeking to restore oceans to Mars by using ice asteroids. However, a new effort to restore the Third project prompts Naomi to travel to Earth to figure out what is happening. Meanwhile, Ross saves a facility from a group of terrorists and is declared a Martian hero.
When Armitage arrives on Earth, she confronts Colonel Strings, hero of the First Error, which was a suppression of a robot uprising, which in reality, was to cover up the existence of the Thirds. But then he is shot by agents of an Earth Robotronics Corporation. Its vice president, Demetrio Mardini, asks Armitage to give the data on how Thirds can conceive so humanity can create a race of beings who exist to serve. She refuses so he resorts to force and unleashes a robot that scrambles her eyes. She manages to use her telepresence abilities to hack into its system and overload it. She then escapes but is damaged and is found by a repairer third named Mouse, who prides himself on his skill and frequently brags that he's a "genius". However, Mouse is also an informant to Demetrio and presents the data he found on Armitage; but he only got the recent data and Demetrio wants the conception data. Mouse claims that he did not know about the conception data, and also that if it existed it would be with what he gave him; but Demetrio refuses to believe either of these and tries to brutally force it with two clones of Armitage, who severely injure Mouse. He does not get anything and throws Mouse in the trash. Mouse swears revenge.
Back on Mars, prime minister Fredrick O'Hara sends Ross to Earth to represent the planet in the support of robot rights, promising amnesty from the charges against them. However, Demetrio's agents captured Yoko while Ross was away from the hotel, and is threatened that he will not see Yoko again if he votes for the Rights Bill. With a little reluctance, Ross remains neutral on the bill. Demetrio's agents, however, reveal that they were planning on killing Ross from the start, contrary to their deal. After a car chase, Armitage is able to save him at the very last moment. Together, they vow to rescue their daughter.
They storm Demetrio's compound; Armitage deals with Demetrio while Ross saves Yoko. The same robot Armitage encountered earlier had been upgraded to withstand her telepresence attack. Meanwhile, Ross manages to locate Yoko in a freezer. Elsewhere, Demetrio demands the secret in exchange for forgetting the damages they committed against him and his company. Armitage lures him closer, presumably to tell him what he wants to know; but she ends up kicking him in the crotch and telling him that Third conception is not simply data, it is about true love. With that she escapes again, forcing Demetrio to unleash the clones on her. She manages to evade the two and meets up with Ross and Yoko. Yoko is overjoyed to see her mother but recoils when she sees Armitage's metal shoulder that was scraped off by the clones. Just then, they attack. While Armitage holds them off, Ross and Yoko make their way to an unused space elevator. It is here that Yoko shows that she has a photographic memory, leading them to the space elevator whose location she determined from a map she saw minutes beforehand (Ross comments that she is "quite a genius"). Soon, Armitage flees to Mouse, who repairs the damage and gives her a program that will allow her to go beyond her limited fighting abilities. He tells her that the password is "Heaven's Door"; but that if she exceeds more than her internal battery can handle, she will "be knocking at the Pearly Gates for real". She also has him do her one more favor: broadcast the footage of the Third massacre attempts all over Earth and Mars. This compels Demetrio to command the clones to prevent the family from leaving. After both clones are beaten, Demetrio tries having the elevator's defenses fired on their shuttle only to be killed by the last remaining clone, who is at the time controlled by what was left of Poly-Matrix's Julian Moore. Without Demetrio's authorization, the turrets do nothing. A hologram of Julian Moore then appears, wishing the family goodbye. The movie ends with the family enjoying a day at the beach on Mars, on Naomi's birthday.
In a post-credits scene, Mouse salvages one of the Armitage clones for himself.
In the text notes on the English DVD edition of Poly-Matrix, Chiaki Konaka, the script writer, says that Armitage III was influenced by H. P. Lovecraft's story The Dunwich Horror, one of Lovecraft's best known works and a key text in the Cthulhu Mythos; one of the main characters in the tale is a Dr. Armitage.
Armitage III was originally released as a four-episode original video animation (OVA) in Japan between February 25, 1995, and November 25, 1995. Pioneer USA released an English-dubbed version of the OVA series in VHS & LaserDisc format in North America in four volumes, each containing a single episode, between March 29, 1995, and December 5, 1995. The Region 1 DVD from GeneonofPoly-Matrix was one of the few releases from the company to feature THX-certified audio and video, and it was digitally remixed and remastered for superior picture quality and optimum audio presentation. Poly-Matrix was later aired on TechTV's anime block Anime Unleashed in 2002.[3]
No. | Title | Japanese release date | English release date |
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1 | "Electro Blood" | February 25, 1995 (1995-02-25) | March 29, 1995 |
2 | "Flesh & Stone" | April 21, 1995 (1995-04-21) | June 27, 1995 |
3 | "Heart Core" | June 25, 1995 (1995-06-25) | September 5, 1995 |
4 | "Bit of Love" | November 25, 1995 (1995-11-25) | December 5, 1995 |
Helen McCarthyin500 Essential Anime Movies claims that the image quality of Armitage III: Poly-Matrix "isn't up to big screen standards, though it still holds well on home screens". She praises the design and scripts, while saying that the "basic plot is simply a retelling of Pinocchio - the toy that wants to be real, or, in science fiction terms, the robot yearning for love and acceptance as a person, not just a product".[4]
Anime International Company theatrical features
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AIC |
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AIC ASTA |
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