Parasite Dolls

Parasite Dolls (パラサイトドールズ, Parasaito Dōruzu) is a three-part original video animation produced by AIC and Imagica Entertainment, and written by Chiaki J. Konaka and Kazuto Nakazawa. The series is set in the Bubblegum Crisis universe and takes place after the events of the original OVA series, from 2034 to 2040. It is set in the city of Megatokyo, and focuses on a division of A.D. Police known as Branch. They are tasked with stopping terrorist activities as well as Boomers (androids) that have become harmful to society.

Parasite Dolls
Parasite Dolls DVD cover in North America
パラサイトドールズ
(Parasaito Dōruzu)
Genre
Original video animation
Directed by
StudioAnime International Company
Licensed by
Released May 22, 2003 – July 24, 2003
Runtime30 minutes each
Episodes3
Related works

Plot

Parasite Dolls is set in the original Bubblegum Crisis universe, taking place shortly after the events of the original OVA series. It focuses on a division of A.D. Police called Branch that is tasked with stopping terrorist activities and destroying Boomers that are a threat to society.

Characters
Basil "Buzz" Nikvest
Lieutenant Basil "Buzz" Nikvest is a member of the Branch special task force of the AD Police. He was transferred to Branch five years before the story for shooting a child he thought was a boomer. Due to his mistake he is reluctant to carry a sidearm, despite being a gifted marksman. He was made a widower when his wife was killed by a rogue boomer.Ep. 1, 3
Reiko Michaelson
Sergeant Reiko Michaelson is the heavy weapons and vehicles expert in Branch. She flies a helicopter and is usually at the front lines for fighting Boomers.Ep. 1
Kouji Takahashi
Kouji Takahashi is the Inspector in charge of Branch operations.Ep. 1
Rod Kimball
Sergeant Rod Kimball is a Boomer who serves alongside Buzz in Branch.Ep. 1 While he cannot hold an official rank, he is treated as a Sergeant. He was also able to identify Reiko's romantic feelings for Buzz. He was killed while saving Reiko from a helicopter assassination.Ep. 3
Elza "Angel" Lynch
While technically a member of Branch, Lieutenant Elza "Angel" Lynch spends most of her time undercover, investigating the Genom Corporation. She has silver hair and a dark complexion.Ep. 1
Bill Myers
An electronics and computer hacker, Bill Myers serves as the Branch's Boomer expert. The only person he seems to get along with is Buzz.Ep. 1

Cast
Major cast
Character Japanese English
Basil "Buzz" Nikvest Kazuhiko Inoue Mike Vance
Reiko Michaelson Akemi Okamura Monica Rial
Rod Kimball Soumei Uchida Eric Chase
Kouji Takahashi Masaru Ikeda Mike Kleinhenz
Elza "Angel" Lynch Kikuko Inoue Heather LeMaster
Bill Myers Toshio Furukawa Mike McFarland
Minor cast
# Character Japanese English
1 Chieko Ai Orikasa Shelley Calene-Black
Caine Kouji Tsujitani Lew Temple
Corbin Tooru Ookawa Rob Mungle
Buzz's wife Rie Saitou Tiffany Grant
Police Dispatch 1 Jay Hickman
Police Dispatch 2 Victor Carsrud
HQ Dispatch Kevin Charles
Helicopter Pilot John Gremillion
Thug Boomer Rob Mungle
2 Eve Mako Hyoudou Stephanie Nadolny
Puppet Master Jouji Nakata James Reed Faulkner
Little Girl Sasha Paysinger
Factory Manager David Born
Detective Gene Tognacci
Pimp Mark Laskowski
Prostitute in Rain Nancy Novotny
Boomer Prostitute Shawn Taylor
Older Worker John Swasey
Younger Worker Robert Anderson
Bellhop 1 Jovan Jackson
Bellhop 2 Mark Laskowski
Bellhop 3 Victor Carsrud
Prostitutes Tiffany Grant

Sasha Paysinger

Eve's Client 1 Jay Hickman
Eve's Client 2 John Swasey
Police Dispatch Nancy Novotny
3 Kenji Sorime Yukimasa Kishino Mike MacRae
Kojima Toshihiko Nakajima John Tyson
TV Interviewer Tiffany Grant
Boomer Sex Slave Nancy Novotny
TV News Anchor Shawn Taylor
Pork Chop DJ Koran Daniels Kevin Charles
Police Chief Gene Tognacci
Reporter Matt Culpepper

Additional voices

Japanese: Kouichi Kuriyama, Hajime Iijima, Hiroaki Yoshida, Kenji Nomura, Mitsuru Ogata, Tadahisa Seizen, Toshitaka Shimizu, Yuko Kagata, Yuna Iwaki

English: David Born, Gene Tognacci, George Manley, James Reed Faulkner, Jay Hickman, John Gremillion, John Swasey, John Tyson, Jovan Jackson, Kevin Charles, Mark Laskowski, Matt Culpepper, Mike MacRae, Nancy Novotny, Rob Mungle, Robert Anderson, Sasha Paysinger, Shawn Taylor, Tiffany Grant, Victor Carsrud

Episodes
No. Title[lower-alpha 1] Directors Screenplay Original release date
1"A faint voice"Naoyuki Yoshinaga, Yoashiro Geshi (unit); Naoyuki Onda (animation)Chiaki KonakaMay 22, 2003 (2003-05-22)[4]
Set in 2034, Buzz Nikvest is an A.D. Police officer in the secret division called Branch. He is called in on his day off to look at a package, where he and Branch tech analyst Bill Myers discover there will be an exchange at a strip club. There, Buzz discovers a dead body and a bag of capsule drugs, and is nearly killed by an attacking Boomer until Kimball, his Boomer partner, stops it. Despite orders from their boss to stop investigating, Buzz and Kimball discover the drugs were designed to prevent Boomers from going "rogue", or out of control. Michaelson, who has been tracking down rogue Boomers on the highways, discovers that the Boomers have been transmitting information to a mysterious client. Meanwhile, Chieko, a sultry-voiced radio personality is confronted by her Boomer audio engineer Caine on her way home. Caine proposes to her but when she refuses, he becomes very agitated, chasing her to her apartment and pushing her down. Buzz and Kimball arrive and in the ensuing struggle, Chieko shoots Caine with Kimball’s gun.
2"Dreamer"Hitoshi Saga (unit); Koichi Hashimoto (animation)Chiaki KonakaJune 25, 2003 (2003-06-25)
In 2035, Branch is assigned to investigate a series of murders of Boomer prostitutes. Eve, a high-society Boomer prostitute, starts having recurring visions of a young girl in a red dress. Michaelson goes undercover as a hooker to look for the Hooker Boomer Crusher. Angel tells Buzz that the Boomer Crusher's master may be tied to Genom. Michaelson follows Eve on her next job to a hotel. After interrupting Eve and her client, Michaelson discovers the murdering Boomer is actually a stray cat she picked up on the streets which changes form into a larva and insect-like Boomer. Although Michaelson fights and defeats the Boomer, Eve is called away by the young girl and walks off a ledge to her death.
3"Knights of a roundtable"Kazuto Nakazawa (unit); Naoyuki Onda (animation)Chiaki Konaka, Kazuto NakazawaJuly 24, 2003 (2003-07-24)[4]
In 2040, the A.D. Police are still investigating a rash of Boomer murders. Kenji Sorime, the Minister of Justice and a presidential candidate, tells Chief Takahashi that he intends to destroy all Boomers, claiming they are the cause of society's problems. Takahashi goes missing shortly after. Buzz then has Michaelson and Kimball search for him while Myers and Angel dig up information via hacking. As Michaelson and Kimball are driving they are attacked by a helicopter. Only Michaelson survives as Kimball sacrifices himself to protect her from an oncoming missile. Then, hundreds of bombs detonate in Genom City, killing over 10,000 people and shutting down 90% of Boomer production. Buzz is framed for the attacks, the reason being that he submitted a paper in college on a domino theory on how to exploit Megatokyo’s emergency power system to trigger a chain reaction explosion, which Sorime read. Sorime has Angel, Takahashi and Myers killed, and Branch HQ destroyed. Sometime later, Buzz confronts Sorime in his apartment, telling him video footage of the conspiracy will be revealed on the news. Sorime plans to kill him, knowing Buzz won't shoot back as he accidentally killed a young girl before and vowed to never use a gun again. However, Michaelson shows up and kills Sorime. Buzz then honors his fallen partners by taking Michaelson’s Glock 17 and shooting Sorime’s corpse four more times.

Reception

Critical reception of Parasite Dolls has been generally positive. Nicoletta Christina Browne of THEM Anime Reviews gave the series a rating of 3 out of 5 stars. She found the installment to be "a good series that doesn't pull many surprises but does make a satisfying if sometimes a bit graphic watch. If one comes in without expectations of greatness and prepared for the violence, you'll likely enjoy it just fine." Browne recommended it for fans of cyberpunk, and also that it would be for mature teens and adults for its graphic violence and implicit sex.[1]

Chris Beveridge of the Fandom Post found the audio and video for the collection to have no major issues, but disliked the cover artwork. He liked that the series featured some of the "dark underbelly" of the Bubblegum Crisis universe and without the bubblegum or the pop of the previous series and OVAs. He wrote: "This is a cop drama of a sort set in the future that tells three engaging tales and lets the third one really play with the world we’ve come to know. This is the kind of show I want to see as a series, not that other AD Police TV series. This is the good stuff."[5]

Notes
  1. Titles for this series are in English.[3]

References
  1. Browne, Nicoletta Christina. "THEM Anime Reviews 4.0 - Parasite Dolls". themanime.org. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  2. "ADV Films Announces Parasite Dolls". ADV Films via Anime News Network. September 9, 2004. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  3. "PARASIDE DOLLS [劇場版]". mediaarts-db.jp. Archived from the original on January 10, 2017. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  4. "PARASITE DOLLS". mediaarts-db.jp. Archived from the original on January 10, 2017. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  5. Beveridge, Chris (July 26, 2012). "Parasite Dolls Complete Collection Anime DVD Review". fandompost.com. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
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