Dominion Tank Police HQ
The Manga
Dominion is a manga series created by Masamune Shirow, who also created
the Appleseed, Ghost In The Shell, Orion and Black Magic manga. Dominion
was translated into English by Studio Proteus, and appeared in Manga Mania,
between issues 12 and 21. It's easily Shirow's most accessible and entertaining
work, having both a comic and a tragic side to the story. Well worth getting,
especially if you're looking for a good introduction to manga.
A second manga series, entitled Dominion Conflict was released
in Japan recently, and has been translated by Studio Proteus for release
by Dark Horse.
The Anime
Dominion has been turned into two anime OAV series: Dominion Tank Police
and Dominion Crusher Police. The first, 4 part series was made in 1989
and released in the UK by Manga Video and in the US by US Manga Corps,
in late 1992. The second, 6 part series was made in 1994 and has been released
as New Dominion Tank Police. (Episodes are numbered 5-10 following on from
the first series in the UK, 1-6 in the US. Complicated, isn't it?)
The first series is a bit rough and ready with some rather weak animation,
at least by Japanese standards, but a good plot and the constant stream
of one-liners make it very entertaining. The new series has much better
animation, and the character designs have been given a major overhaul.
It's also much more action oriented, and is largely unrelated to the events
of the first series. Both series are highly recommended, especially the
new series.
The Plot
Oh, right! I'm sure there's one in there somewhere... um. OK. In a possible
future world, huge amounts of pollution has made the air unbreathable,
and everyone must wear masks to avoid breathing toxic bacteria. Criminal
activity has also risen to levels where the normal police are incapable
of maintaining the peace. As an answer to this, the police of Newport City
are equipped with tanks. Whilst this enables them to combat crime very
effectively, their extreme methods do cause a lot of trouble for the city
authorities.
However, a new gang appear, led by the mysterious cyborg Buaku.
Equipped with weapons that even the Tank Police would flinch at, they soon
turn Newport City into a warzone. However, they Tank Police are not going
to take things lying down...
Well, things sort of diverge from there onwards, depending on
whether you read the manga or watch the anime, but I'm sure you get the
general idea. For more info, read the synopses.
Local Stuff
Remote Stuff
Warning: These are on other people's sites and might not work.
Other Shirow pages on the WWW
Coming Soon
...as soon as I can get around to typing them in, that is. Um... Please
do bear in mind this has been coming soon for nearly five years now. :-)
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Synopses for manga episodes.
This document was last updated on 25th March 1999
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