Customer Reviews

Variable Geo

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I don't know anything about the game this video is based on. I bought the video because there was a buxom babe on the cover and it said "17+". (If this makes me a pig, so be it.) After a few minutes I learned the basis of the movie, namely, waitresses are fighting in a tournament. The winner gets money; the loser has to take off her clothes. My first thought on learning this was the intelligent and well-thought-out query: "Whut the--?!"

As I watched more, I can't say the premise made a whole lot more sense, but the movie was decent. The animation was surprisingly good and the fights were cool, though nowhere near the level of Street Fighter II: TAM. The story was actually pretty good, too, better than SF2 or Fatal Fury: TMP. The movie also benefitted from who I consider a very cool villain. This was Damien, the long-limbed, misshapen psychopath whose drug-induced speed and strength make him more than a match for the fighters of the tournament. My only real complaint (and here comes my piggishness again) was that there was not as much nudity as I might have hoped. The main character, Yuka, is absolutely gorgeous but never takes it all off. Bummer.

Still, this was a good title and I would recommend it to anyone who doesn't need anime to be as thoughtful as Akira to enjoy watching it.

I have no clue why someone could give this video less than 4 stars. It's one of the best action flicks I have ever seen. The dubbing was EXCELLENT and the animation was super smooth. The fight seens were incredible especially the special moves. They were bright and spectacular and the story was also cool. There is drama in this video but can be really funny at times. This video is well worth a look. Especially since its so cheap and its 90min! Can't beat that. Think about it...Scantily clad waitresses fighting, and the loser has to take it all off. I'd recommend it to 17+ since it does have mature situations. Great video! BUY IT!

The characters are very cool. The concept is different. Nobody wants to watch the same type of anime all the time. This is like Sailor Moon with the seriousness and fighting style of Dragonball Z. It is hardcore kickbutt action. Anybody that likes fatal martial arts action, this is for you. Beware, the moves and powers they use rips of their opponents clothing to reveal some mature parts of the body.

Variable Geo is based on a fighting game, and for that reason alone I was unsure about how to aproach this video (anime based on fighting games don't have that great of a track record). The character designs in this video helped to enhance a story that sometimes pushed the bounderies of believability, providing the characters with an extreme amount of personality. The fights between characters were good, but be advised that there is a lot of skin shown (gratuitious fan service). This isn't an anime you should watch for a serious plot, but for those days when you want to watch something silly. Overall, a good video game translation, and worth looking into if lighthearted action is your genre of choice.

Variable Geo is a fighting anime mixed with fan service. Waitresses compete in a martial arts tournament in hopes
of earning the title as...(get this)..the "strongest waitress in the world". Yup, you heard it right. Yes it's true, low paid waitresses aspire to beat up other waitresses and be known as the world's strongest. The winner of the competition wins $10 million dollars and a piece of real estate. The losers have to strip off their clothes and bear their shame to the audience.
Yuka, is the main character here and we get to follow her around as she competes in the many boring battles. The action in the fighting sequences are average at best, the martial arts moves
do not look very realistic and were poorly animated. Granted that the series is fantasy based as some of the fighters have powers and can shoot energy beams from their hands or eyes, but the actual physical fighting is weak. The story of course is non-existant. So you might be thinking that at least you'll enjoy the fan service. Let's face it we want to watch anime like this for fan service and you will be disappointed to find out that it is brisk, and far apart. They did NOT include enough topless shots of the female characters and rarely will you see them completely nude! I don't understand why this anime got a "17+" rating when the fan service and violence is very minimal and disappointing. I suggest you watch other fighting anime like "Battle Angel Alita" , "Street Fighter II" and even better "Ikki Tousen" "Fist Of The North Star" and a bunch of others better fighting anime with fan service too. Variable Geo is a rental at best. It is not worth owning.

All I can say is... this anime was good! If you have played Advanced V.G. 1 or 2 you will definitely like this anime! There needs to be a sequel!

The anime isn't that bad. The fights are fun, lots of special attacks used. There isn't as much nudity as I would like for a +17 story, and what there is, is pretty much censored.

My main problem with this tape, is that the dubbing, stinks. Even with the volume of my TV as hi as it would go, I could barely understand what they were saying over the sounds of the special effects.

My suggestion, get either the subbed version, or the DVD. That way, you'll at least be able to understand what they're saying.

After reading some of the reviews of it here I had high hopes for this show and bought the DVD. I like watching good fighting shows with girls fighting, I was hoping this would be one of them. But after watching, this 3-part OAV series (like a movie, essentially) wasn't that great. It was roughly about the quality of the original, old Street Fighter 2 anime movie, or some of the other older anime fighting-game based movies (Fatal Fury, Battle Arena Toshinden, etc). The story proceeds in a similar fashion to those shows, namely being some rigged-up story that doesn't necessarily have to do with the game (I've never played the Variable Geo games but I wonder if the same story dealing with reincarnation and technological body-possession existed in them). Then the various fighters appear one-by-one and fight briefly, then lose and go away never to be seen again. This is the fate of most of those fighting-game anime movies because there are too many fighters in the original game and it is hard to cram them all into a single movie.

After watching, I totally agree with the following earlier review:

"Fatal Flaw: Takes a Silly Concept Seriously, April 3, 2000

I thought 'Variable Geo' sounded like a hoot, so I picked up up. The first ten minutes are the tone I would have expected... but after that, the concept of warrior waitresses is started to be taken seriously not only by the story, but, the episodes assume, by the viewer as well. It's a flaw that turns what could have been a fun romp into a rather excrutiating 80 minutes."

I also thought fighting waitresses sounded hilarious. I was hoping for both good fighting sequences and also a hilarious story revolving around waitressing and funny conversations. But instead, the waitress element pretty much doesn't come into play in the movie at all, the only thing it does is define their clothing as they go around fighting each other in the street. Again, it makes me wonder if the video games are the same way or was some weird insidious crime-organization plot cooked-up just for the movie (as is usually the case for fighting game movies).

There are much better serious girl-fighting animes out there. Metal Fighter Miku is pretty good, still one of my all-time favorite animes after more than 10 years. Natsuki Crisis is another girl-fighting classic, but it was never released in the USA!! I really hope someone eventually remembers to pick this 2-episode OAV series up for domestic release.

Anyway, my ratings for Variable Geo are:

Directing - 2 of 5 stars. The serious tone was a mistake and the show feels kind of cheesy in a bad way. Not terrible though for an anime made 10 years ago.
Story - 2 of 5 stars. Plot was about some weird criminal organization and a bad woman trying to live forever, and stuff. Not about waitresses, boo.
Drawings - 4 of 5 stars. I like Takahiro Kimura's (Godannar) style of people but he didn't draw as good 10 years ago as he does now.
Animation quality - 4 of 5 stars. Excellent but I was expecting more from Takahiro Kimura who usually creates shows with great animation. Fight choreography-wise, Variable Geo is somewhat lacking as well.
Music - 4 of 5 stars. Not bad at all. Not amazing, but still a positive.

Oh yeah, the voices. Watch the sub version, the pink-haired little girl is Pikachu!! Hahaha! And she does sound exactly like Pikachu. I never knew Pikachu could talk, it's very funny.

Although the visual quality was good, the story line was poor to non-existent at points. There was little combat and what there was ran by very fast and without and sort of challenge. This was not what I expected from a combat show.

I was very very disappointed in this video, and would recommend NOT BUYING it to everyone.

In 'Variable Geo,' waitresses who are also experts in exoteric martial arts styles battle in a series of matches to be named the world's battle queen. There's a darker side to the Variable Geo tournaments... and our heroines end up running headlong into it.

I thought 'Variable Geo' sounded like a hoot, so I picked up up. The first ten minutes are the tone I would have expected... but after that, the concept of warrior waitresses is started to be taken seriously not only by the story, but, the episodes assume, by the viewer as well. It's a flaw that turns what could have been a fun romp into a rather excrutiating 80 minutes.

To make matters worse, the first three episodes end on a cliffhanger. I imagine this means there's a 'Variable Geo II' on the horizon. It's a sequel that I at least will be ignoring.

On the techincal front, the animation was average and the voice acting (in the English dubbed version) was slightly above average.