Assemble: Insert (DVD)

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The DVD According to Eddie:
Back in 2001, The Right Stuf released "Assemble: Insert" on DVD in the United States. The company is giving the title a second chance at discovering an audience with a new price point (lower than the original one), new DVD keepcase cover art, and a new glossy booklet in the keepcase. Apparently, the title has also lost its colon, too. At any rate, the DVD is well worth a look if you're a fan of Japanese animation and have a sense of humor about being a fan. :-)

If you've visited the website regularly, then you probably noticed my reviews of "Sakura Wars", "Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040", and the original "Bubblegum Crisis". In each of those shows, young women with extraordinary physical/spiritual capabilities don power suits to take on outsized enemies. These shows don't portray women as the equals of men--women are better than men, for they're the only ones who can save civilization from the forces of evil. One of the characteristics of these shows is to have the female characters do a lot of singing and acting. As if they wouldn't be busy enough with training and fighting, these poor girls have to perform in variety shows.

Made in 1998, the program "Assemble Insert" is a send-off of that particular sub-genre of anime. In "Assemble Insert", the Demon Seed gang terrorizes Tokyo at will. Gang members wear hard suits that enable them to beat back whatever the police throw at them. Out of desperation, the police department creates the Anti-Demon Seed Squad (like the AD Police in both "Bubblegum" series), but this unit is just as helpless as the regular police at fighting the Demon Seed gang.

Maron Namikaze, a young blond with super powers, is chosen to fight the Demon Seed gang. Since she's a girl, she is given a form-fitting power suit that provides an electric force field to protect her and to enhance her powers. The funny thing is, unlike Priss in either "Bubblegum", she can't sing at all. Yet, the Anti-Demon Seed Squad make a push for her to become the next IDOL of Japanese pop culture.

"Assemble Insert" is all about references to other anime series and Japanese pop culture. It makes fun of the Japanese fascination with musical variety shows and pop acts. It even makes fun of the cheesy commercials that appear on Japanese TV!

The show can get rather meta-theatrical as well. The self-conscious script has the characters saying, "I forgot my lines", as if everyone was in on the joke. Also, in one scene, two kids walk in front of a dark, brooding building, and they talk about the possibility that the place might be the secret hiding place of the Demon Seed gang. Immediately afterwards, the main villain is seen chuckling, saying that "not even the gods know where my secret base is".

Other funny bits include a cheesy, live-action commercial for a vitamin/power drink (the characters are shown consuming the beverage right after the commercial) and a YAMOHA brand, not YAMAHA, accordion. I had to laugh out loud when I saw it.

Like "Bubblegum Crisis", the title "Assemble Insert" has no apparent relation to anything in the story. What "bubblegum"? What "assemble"? What "insert"?

"Assemble Insert" skewers more than just anime's obsession with sexy crime-fighting girls who sing. It also addresses a problem that shows like "Bubblegum Crisis" ignore--our heroes usually do much damage when fighting the bad guys, but no one ever says anything about it. Here, the police, private interest groups, investors, etc. always complain about Maron's destructive sprees every time she fights the Demon Seed gang. Good and funny stuff, indeed!

The DVD According to Olen:
What an odd, entertaining little title, and coming in at less than an hour total of play time, I do mean little. It´s tough for me to say whether or not you should bother to watch "Assemble Insert". On one hand, it made me laugh, but on the other hand, it´s far too short to allow for little more than gags that pay off right away.