Megazone 23

What does it mean to be young a the end of the world?

The year is 1985--at least, Shogo Yahagi thought it was. A few days ago, the young biker was out living it up on the streets of Tokyo--listening to the latest Eve tape, running around with his friends, and trying to flirt with the girl he almost ran over! But everything changed when a deadly encounter with a mysterious motorcycle sent him speeding into danger. With a shadowy cabal now hot on his heels, Shogo quickly realizes that he's stepped into the deep end of a conspiracy that's about to tear his reality asunder.

A sci-fi trilogy that set the stage for the OVA revolution

Making its debut in 1985, Megazone 23 ignited the Japanese Original Video Animation (OVA) boom. It proved there was a market for direct-to-video anime films, and paved the way for anime to become not just a niche genre, but a world-wide phenomenon. It was soon joined by a visually mind-blowing sequel, and a 2-part spinoff that takes place centuries later.

​

The team that created Megazone 23 includes a Who's Who of anime legends, including (just to name a few) Noboru Ishiguro (Macross, Yamato), Ichiro Itano (creator of the “Macross Missile Massacre”), Miyao Gaku (Devil Hunter Yohko), Haruhiko Mikimoto (Macross, Gunbuster), Hideaki Anno (Evangelion), Kenichi Yatagai (Bubblegum Crisis), Shinji Aramaki (Appleseed), Hiroyuki Hoshiyama (Dirty Pair), Emu Arii (Bubblegum Crash), Shiro Sagisu (Evangelion), Koji Morimoto (The Animatrix), Nobuteru Yuki (Vision of Escaflowne), Narumi Kakinouchi and Toshihiro Hirano (Vampire Princess Miyu), Yasuomi Umetsu (Kite), and Hiroyuki Kitazume (Gundam).

Don't take our word for it...

"An important and influential anime, responsible for starting the anime boom of the 80s."

– Ollie Barder, Forbes

"The level of detail is such that every distinctive trademark and label is not only reproduced, but fully animated as people pick them up and set them down."

– Anime News Network

​

"All three entries have that quality of raw life that’s unique to OVAs of the period. So much exhaustive and meticulous work went into the animation of the most mundane details."

– Otaku USA

Blu-ray Version History

v2.0 - The Complete Trilogy (MediaOCD, 2024)

Based on v1.1 disc

• Video re-encoded to remove crud in black bars visible on some TVs

• UK dub of part III added

• Packaging drastically re-designed

• Gilles Portrais' liner notes included as on-disc gallery

• Japanese trailers now soft-subtitled, presented in original form

• ADV Films, Manga UK trailers added (incl. recap for Part III)

• Subtitles and credits modernized

• "Secret History" moved to YouTube

v1.1 - Mass Market Edition (2022)

Re-authored from scratch by MediaOCD

• 1 disc, all three installments plus "Part 2 - International Version" (via seamless branching)

• Re-designed menus, packaging

• Original Japanese trailers (still hard-subtitled) as bonus rather than menu background

• Art galleries re-designed to be navigable rather than video tracks

• "Secret History" video essay removed

v1.0 - Kickstarter "Omega Edition" (2021)

• 2 discs, all three installments plus "Part 2 - International Version"

• Includes ADV English dub in 5.1 and 2.0, Japanese in 2.0

• Multi-color subtitles, SDH subtitles (incl. for commentary)

• Original Japanese trailers, recut in HD/English, as menu backgrounds

• ADV Films historical commentary track (Part 1)

• Streamline Pictures dub (Part 1)

• "Secret History" video essay

• Color and line art galleries

Note: Kickstarter version contained additional physical goods