Watch the Insanely Cool 1987 Cyberpunk Anime BLACK MAGIC M-66
Outside of Robotech, my first real introduction to the world of anime was a film called Black Magic M-66, which was released in 1987. I remember watching it at a friends house when I was around 13 years old, and I was completely blown away! I had never seen anything like it before. I was used to the Saturday morning cartoons and Disney stuff, but seeing an animated film like this just melted my brain. From that moment on I was always on the hunt for great anime. It obviously led me to Akira, which was actually the second badass anime film that I watched.
I don’t know how many of you are familiar with Black Magic M-66, but if you’ve never seen it today is your lucky day! Just for the hell of it, I did a search online to see if I could find it, and there it was in all its glory on YouTube! I never bought it for myself because the only store selling it when I was growing up was the Suncoast Motion Picture Company store, and they had one copy they were selling for like $90, which I couldn’t afford. That store was way overpriced!
The film is a cyberpunk story that centers on a freelance reporter who discovers that two killer androids are on the loose and hunting down a little girl that they are going to kill. It kind of has a Terminator-type vibe to it. It’s a brutal animated film in which these androids cause all kinds of bloody destruction while carrying out their mission.
The movie was directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo and Masamune Shirow, who is also the creator of the 1985 manga.