Goku Midnight Eye: The Complete OVA Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.5

Goku Midnight Eye: The Complete OVA Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Goku: Midnight Eye is an exceptional action-drama with an irresistible style. Based on the manga by Buichi Terasawa, Goku: Midnight Eye features animation production by Madhouse (Trigun, A Wind Named Amnesia). These direct- to-video OVA specials were originally released on January 27, 1989 and December 22, 1989 respectively. Produced by Naoko Takahashi (Crying Freeman, Doomed Megalopolis) and Tomiro Kuriyama (New Cutey Honey, A Wind Named Amnesia), Goku: Midnight Eye features voice-performances by Jūji Matsuda, Mami Koyama, and Norio Wakamoto. Goku: Midnight Eye is an incredible action OVA series and is one that fans of grittier anime won’t want to miss.

Gokū Fūrinji (Jūji Matsuda) is a detective working on a series of investigations into deaths ruled as suicides. The deaths were all of police officers within Tokyo. Even though the police officer deaths were reported as suicides could it be true? Gokū suspected the deaths weren’t caused by suicide. After all, in a futuristic Tokyo technology has shaped the city and dangerous villains hide in the shadows.

Using his cybernetic left eye, Gokū is capable of accessing a wealth of information almost instantly while doing his detective skills. Gokū soon meets the mysterious woman behind the deaths of the police officers. The deaths are piling up and the investigation has even further to go into the well of the underworld.

Gokū is no ordinary detective. Gokū have a rare gift with his cybernetic eye. The eye helps Gokū to more easily access information than a typical detective.

As the mystery unfolds, Gokū also finds trouble with a diabolical man of incredible wealth who has used his massive fortune to build a weapon capable of mass murder. Gokū has a lot cut out for him ahead. Not only does Gokū need to balance out his detective work with his personal life, Gokū tries to avoid having relationships with women. Yet despite these priorities, sexy women might be irresistible to Gokū even if his cybernetic eye can’t read them.

Gokū is an incredible character for the series. The suave style of Gokū adds a lot of sophistication to the series. Gokū is certainly a cool character and one that audiences will find engaging. A great character leading the OVA series. The character designs by Hiroshi Hamasaki (Cyber City Oedo 808, Ai Monogatari) are impressive and also help the anime to excel. Gokū is such a well-drawn character and the design has an outstanding cool factor.

The animation on Goku: Midnight Eye is both brilliant and breathtaking. The art style is stunning and easily amongst the best OVA productions. Goku: Midnight Eye features art direction by Akira Yamakawa (Galaxy Express 999). The series animation direction by Hiroshi Hamasaki (Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Ai Monogatari) and Yutaka Okamura (Jikū Bōken Nūmamonjaa, Barefoot Gen 2) makes a stunning impression, too. The art style is incredibly cool and has the style of the best 80s/90s anime series.

The cinematography by Kinichi Ishikawa (Cyber City Oedo 808, A Wind Named Amnesia) is a nice element of the production, too. Goku: Midnight Eye is visual wonder to the eyes. A masterful cinematographic style.

The score composed by Kazz Toyama (Cyber City Oedo 808, A Wind Named Amnesia) and Yukihide Takekawa (Galaxy Express 999 for Planetarium, Unico: Short Story) is exceptional. The music is mesmerizing. The score is the perfect accompaniment to the anime OVA series. The scores for both OVA episodes are incredible.

Written by Buichi Terasawa (Space Adventure Cobra - The Movie, Cobra The Animation: Time Drive) and Ryūzō Nakanishi (Highschool Baseball Ninja, A Little Princess Sara), Goku: Midnight Eye has such cool vibe and energy that it is impossible to not be impressed. The writing is solid and capably helps the storytelling to unfold.

Directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Cyber City Oedo 808, Ninja Scroll), Goku: Midnight Eye is arguably an OVA masterpiece. Goku: Midnight Eye is stunning and the animation is hypnotic. Director Kawajiri is one of anime’s best visual artists. No anime fan with an appreciation for sophisticated classic hand-drawn anime will want to miss Goku: Midnight Eye.

Goku Midnight Eye: The Complete OVA Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Discotek Media, Goku: Midnight Eye is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original video aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full frame. The high-definition presentation is impressive and features outstanding clarity and detail. The animation looks breathtaking. Both line art and background animation look stunning. Film based animation – hand-drawn – looks exceptional. It certainly is essential to the presentation and helps to showcase the fine grain and detail in the image.

One of the best qualities of the Blu-ray disc format is the superior video encoding. This has always been one of the essential ingredients of the format – long before streaming even existed. Now in an age of streaming, Blu-ray is better than ever – providing exceptional picture- quality and clarity that goes beyond what streaming services provide. For home theater enthusiasts wanting the best picture possible, Blu-ray offers an incredible advantage over streaming. Streaming also cannot reproduce fine grain in an image as well – a significant difference for film-based anime and films.

Goku Midnight Eye: The Complete OVA Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with English subtitles). The sound direction by Masafumi Mima (Cardcaptor Sakura, Macross Plus) is preserved on the release. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand. The impressive score composed by Kazz Toyama and Yukihide Takekawa is beautifully reproduced. The clarity is outstanding and the soundtrack is immersive. The Japanese language version will be preferred by purists wanting the original language version. English subtitles are provided. The English subtitles are free from egregious spelling or grammatical errors.

The Blu-ray disc format provides lossless audio encoding. Lossless audio provides a more immersive and spectacular sound experience. For audiophiles and home theater enthusiasts seeking the best possible audio presentation, Blu-ray rewards with superior clarity and detail. These differences are especially important for home theater enthusiasts with expensive home entertainment gear – often costing thousands of dollars. (I myself use a high-end A/V receiver with bit-for-bit perfect audio reproduction with a reference grade DAC chip).

Goku Midnight Eye: The Complete OVA Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Blu-ray release comes with a nicely designed o-card slipcover. The slipcover features impressive key artwork and the release looks great in hand. The set also comes with beautiful additional key artwork underneath the slipcover. The dual artwork adds a nice element of collectability to the packaging. It makes it an even nicer collectable for fans. Discotek Media continues to impress as one of the best distributors for classic anime.

On disc supplements include:

Discussion with director Yoshiaki Kawajiri and creator Buichi Terasawa (SD, 2:25) exploring Goku: Midnight Eye. The supplement provides insights from the makers of Goku: Midnight Eye.

Making-of featurette (SD, 2:35) explores the making-of Goku: Midnight Eye. Even though the supplement is brief fans of making-of featurettes will certainly want to check it out.

Goku Midnight Eye: The Complete OVA Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Goku: Midnight Eye is a masterpiece. The OVA classic is an essential gem of hand-drawn animation. With outstanding animation and brilliant artistry, Goku: Midnight Eye is a feast for the eyes. The cool factor is abundant and Gokū is a terrific lead character. Fans of director Yoshiaki Kawajiri's classics Cyber City Oedo 808 and Ninja Scroll won't be able to resist. Newcomers will also delight in a must-see gem.

The Blu-ray release features a stunning high-definition presentation of the OVA series and an immersive lossless audio encode. The release also includes a beautiful o-card slipcover with unique key artwork. The set also includes an interview with director Yoshiaki Kawajiri and Goku: Midnight Eye creator Buichi Terasawa. The bonus features also provide a making-of featurette – although brief it makes for a nice addition to the release. Goku: Midnight Eye is a must-own for classic anime fans. Highly recommended.