M.D. Geist
A genetically engineered soldier returns to a war-torn planet.
M.D. Geist is a Japanese anime and comic book series set in a post-apocalyptic world. The title character, a genetically engineered soldier known colloquially as the Most Dangerous Soldier, was placed in suspended animation after his ferocious fighting methods proved too extreme. He awakens years later when his stasis pod crashes back onto the war-torn planet Jerra.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Adventure, Mecha
Facts from the source article.
Synopsis
On the colonized planet Jerra, the Negsrom Army rebels against the Jerra Regular Army. Geist, commander of Jerra special forces, was created through a process called Bioclone theory and proved so violent in combat that he was placed in suspended animation aboard a stasis satellite and launched into orbit. Years later, the satellite crashes and Geist awakens. In a ruined city, he witnesses a bandit leader kill a soldier in a powered suit. Geist fights and kills the bandit for the suit, then takes over the group. Paia, the former leader's mistress, is drawn to Geist's strength, but he shows no interest in her beyond her knowledge of army movements. Geist spots the Regular Army land battleship Noah Guards under attack by Negsrom forces and negotiates an alliance with its commander, Colonel Crutes. Together they attempt to stop the Regular Army's doomsday device, Death Force, which was activated after a high-ranking official's assassination and will annihilate all life on Jerra. Geist customizes the powered suit and joins an assault on the Brain Palace, where the controlling computer is housed. Crutes activates a security robot and reveals his intent to kill Geist, then deactivates Death Force. When the robot fails to eliminate Geist, Crutes is killed. Paia arrives to find Geist has reactivated Death Force.
Production notes
The project was not originally conceived as a video. The initial draft, titled Death Force, involved an unstable soldier named Patrick Murphy imprisoned on a drifting spaceship who is rescued by allies in powered suits to stop a computer program killing survivors. Koichi Ohata developed the project for creative freedom as a mechanical designer. His inspiration for the armoured suits came from a conversation with Nippon Sunrise Inc. staff about the functionality of giant robots and armour relative to a human character. The project became a video when the production company president noticed Ohata's suit concept. Ohata was influenced by Mad Max, The Terminator, and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, believing video technology could produce similar results in Japanese animation. The initial script was 45 minutes, but Hayato Ikeda encouraged Sanjō to write as much as possible, resulting in up to 200 pages of manuscript. Ohata, Ikeda, and unit director Hiroshi Negishi agreed to focus on action scenes, cutting numerous plot points. A later working title was Sokihei Billion Buster, with differences such as the biker gang name Metal Cetus. Another draft explored the demanding conditions of the powered suit combined with the uncontrollable MDS. Ikeda, new to mecha and OVA, acted as mediator while Ohata handled creative decisions. Ohata's inexperience as a 23-year-old director made work difficult for animators. Animation director Kenichi Onuki noted that both character and mechanical designs contained many lines, causing contention among animators.
Release
M.D. Geist was originally released in Japan by Nippon Columbia and later re-released under the Denon label. In 1988, a trailer under the title Thunder Warrior was produced by Gaga Communications for the North American market. Central Park Media released the OVA in North America in 1992; two years earlier, the company had used Geist as the logo for its U.S. Manga Corps label. Fan curiosity about the logo boosted domestic sales and led Central Park Media to collaborate with Koichi Ohata on a sequel. In 1996, Central Park Media released M.D. Geist - Director's Cut with roughly five minutes of additional footage, including a new introduction and epilogue. Months later, CPM released M.D. Geist II: Death Force. The Sci Fi Channel premiered both parts during its Ani-Monday block in September and October 2008. It is currently available for digital download on iTunes via Manga Entertainment.
Adaptations
In 1995, CPM Comics contracted Tim Eldred to produce a Japanese-American collaboration comic book adaptation of M.D. Geist and a prequel edition, based on CPM's English translation of the 1986 OVA. The adaptation followed several misattributions of dialogue in CPM's release, with naming conventions such as Paia rendered as Vaiya, Negsrom as both Nexrum and Negstrom, and Colonel Crutes as Kurtz. In June 1995, Koichi Ohata produced a written outline under the working title M.D. Geist Zero, with additional mechanical designs for Negsrom characters. The outline was developed with CPM Comics personnel, Eldred, and Ohata, and released as M.D. Geist: Ground Zero.
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