Appleseed Alpha

''Appleseed Alpha'' (also styled as ''Appleseed α'') is an animated military science fiction cyberpunk film. The English version's voice cast includes Luci Christian (Deunan Knute), David Matranga (Briareos) and Wendel Calvert (Two Horns). This film does not follow the previous '' Appleseed'' film canon; it is an alternate version of the story's origins. Briareos, for example, is already a cyborg and did not become separated from Deunan to be later reunited in Olympus to join ESWAT. A two-volume prequel manga by Iou Kuroda was published in ''Morning Two'' in 2014.

It was announced on February 11, 2014, that Sony Pictures Worldwide and Lucent Pictures Entertainment would be making a new CG-animated film. ''Appleseed Alpha'' had an advance digital release on July 15, 2014.

Plot

In the 22nd century, after a devastating world war, veterans Deunan Knute and Briareos are living in the ruins of New York doing jobs for a cyborg and wants to use Iris to take control of these weapons. When Two Horns finds and attacks them, Iris and Olson are captured by Talos. After brutally extracting the location of a prototype superweapon from Olson's memories, Talos murders him and takes Iris with him. Briareos and Deunan find Olson's body, recover the information they need, and follow Talos and Iris to the weapon's location.

In a secret underground bunker, Talos activates the superweapon - a giant, heavily armed mobile fortress - using Iris' retinal pattern. Deunan and Briareos fight their way into the complex, supported by Two Horns, who is now out for revenge against Talos, and Mattews, who presents Deunan with a power armor suit. Briareos duels and kills Nyx, but Deunan is too late to save Iris; the fortress makes its way to the surface, but instead of following Talos' commands, it is hardwired on a suicide bombing mission against New York. With Two Horns and Briareos' help, Deunan boards the superwalker and kills Talos, but in order to destroy the weapon, Briareos must snipe its power core. To prevent countermeasures, Iris remains on board and evicts Deunan from the fortress after revealing that she is a bioroid specifically created for this mission. Briareos takes the shot, destroying both the fortress and Iris inside it.

After regrouping, Deunan and Briareos depart for Olympus, with Two Horns absolving them of their debts and Mattews gifting them the restored exosuit. Unknown to them, they have been closely observed by Olympus Officer Hitomi, Iris' human template. When asked whether Deunan and Briareos should be brought to Olympus for their help, Hitomi explains instead: "They're like apple seeds. Wherever they go, hope will sprout. Others who are worthy are sure to follow."

Voice cast

Reception

Zac Bertschy from Anime News Network called it "the most visually stunning ''Appleseed'' movie yet". Hollywood Outbreak website wrote that "thanks to the extensive motion and facial capture work on the project, the animation is a perfect balance of realism and science fiction-esque fantasy". ''Appleseed Alpha'' was selected for screening at Fantasia Festival on July 19, 2014.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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{{Sola Digital Arts

2014 anime films
American computer-animated films
2014 films
2010s American animated films
2014 science fiction action films
American animated science fiction films
Animated action films
Appleseed (media franchise)
2014 computer-animated films
Animated cyberpunk films
Films directed by Shinji Aramaki
Sola Digital Arts
Japanese films set in New York City
Films set in the 22nd century
Japanese animated science fiction films
Military science fiction films
American science fiction action films
Japanese science fiction action films
Films using motion capture
Japanese computer-animated films
2010s English-language films
Foreign films set in the United States
English-language science fiction action films
Animated films based on works by Masamune Shirow