n 1999, a mysterious cataclysm known as the Silent Crisis made 90 percent of Earth's surface unfit for human habitation. The survivors of the catastrophe crowded into the remaining areas, which became densely overcrowded, crime-ridden dystopias haunted by interdimensional invaders known as Lucifer Hawks. These giant biomechanical monsters come in several varieties--the silent, animalistic "Type Threes," the more intelligent "Type Twos" and the mysterious, sophisticated "Type Ones." All three types shrug off conventional weapon attacks, and all three exhibit weird powers, including the ability to move through solid objects, hover and fly without visible propulsion, or reconstitute themselves when damaged. All three types also apparently hunt and eat humans, leaving grisly carcasses scattered behind them.
In 2024, the Tokyo Police Department reluctantly funds an autonomous anti-Hawk force called the Attacked Mystification Police Department. This small group of women with special abilities investigates Hawk attacks and fights the Hawks when they manifest. As the series begins, the AMPD's enigmatic backer, Rally Cheyenne, invites a young secretary named Katsumi Liqueur to Tokyo, promising information about Katsumi's mother, who disappeared three years ago under odd circumstances. As Katsumi's plane descends towards Tokyo, a Hawk attacks it, and she finds herself inexplicably alive amid the burning wreckage on the ground. The Hawk comes after her, proclaiming her to be "the key to Nemesis," and she flees in terror. When cornered, however, she displays an uncanny power over the Hawk, and a strange knowledge of arcane mysticism with powerful effects.
Both Rally and the Hawks clearly know more about Katsumi's power than she does. While the AMPD tries to recruit her, Katsumi plays the traditional role of the reluctant anime messiah, whining that she never asked for this power and that she just wants to be normal. Meanwhile the Hawks make their own efforts to recruit her, as one of the intimidating Type Ones manifests in her hotel room and promises to show her the full truth about who and what she is--and how her father created the Silent Crisis and brought the Hawks to Earth.
Prim bullies, speedboat noses
In both plot and tone, Silent Möbius is perched precisely between Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040 and Neon Genesis Evangelion; both the mysterious, diverse invaders and the all-women team who nominate themselves to deal with the problem seem drearily familiar. Silent Möbius adds a few new faces to the lineup, but otherwise sports the accustomed Crisis roster: the mysterious silver-haired group founder; the promising secretary-turned-supercop who needs emotional adjustment; the cute, empathetic youngster who compensates for everyone else's grouchiness; and the growling, antisocial maverick who deliberately hones her insensitivity. Not that any of them except for the youngster come across as friendly. The worst offender is the maverick, Kiddy, a superstrong weapons expert with a nose like a speedboat's prow and the attitude of a schoolyard bully with a rocket launcher. But her teammates are nearly as hostile, in a prim, self-righteous sort of way.
At least the character look is distinctive; designer Masaki Tanaka's grim, hatchet-faced women are an improvement over Bubblegum Crisis 2040's kewpie-doll-like protagonists. Animation director Nobuyuki Takeuchi pulls off some intriguing effects with glowing light, particularly in the complex, beautiful mystical pattern that forms around magic-workers.
But too many of the most impressive effects are as familiar as the stock characters. A particularly memorable shot, where Katsumi's power engulfs a Hawk, closely resembles similar moments in Akira, while the lanky, armored Hawks look like amalgams of Bubblegum Boomers and Evangelion Evas. Visual cues from Wicked City are scattered throughout. At times, Möbius resembles a scrapbook of anime history (except for Episode 3, which instead packs the entire plot of Escape from New York into a choppy, rushed 20 minutes).
Although this TV series initially seems reconstituted from other, more original works, its creators have picked solid material to imitate, resulting in a fast-moving, dramatic conflict. The exploration of Katsumi's secret heritage seems like a promising chance for the series to eventually find its own feet and its own idiom. Silent Möbius has just gotten past the awkward introductory phase, and there's no telling yet what it will become, but with luck it will be something worthy of the material it's patterned after.
