MD Geist is a one-shot
OVA that was virtually ignored during its original Japanese release in 1986, but acquired a cult following among American anime fans when it was dubbed in English by
Central Park Media during the early 1990s. It still has a small following of fans who enjoy the anime's pervasive nihilism. And a few other fans enjoy it for being
So Bad, It's Good.
MD Geist was an experimental
Super Soldier known as an MDS (most dangerous soldier) locked away in suspended animation on a satellite hovering over the planet Jerra. After making his escape, Geist is involved in a few violent skirmishes in which he slaughters everyone who has attacked him in a spectacular, over-the-top fashion, before being recruited by a group of Commandos and asked to go with those commandos to Brain Palace to prevent the Death Force from being released. Once the mission has been completed, Geist decides that he will release the Death Force himself upon the hapless citizens of Jerra.
MD Geist was followed by a sequel, MD Geist II: Death Force, in which creator Koichi Ohata (credited in the original as co-director due to his inexperience, despite having actually directed the OVA) takes full directorial control. It picks up some time after the conclusion of the first
OVA, in which most of the people of Jerra have been wiped out, with the few remaining survivors holed up in a sanctuary, protected by the warlord MD Krauser. MD Geist and MD Krauser do not like each other, so naturally they have a
Final Battle.
There were also two
OEL Mangas written partly by Koichi Ohata himself. The first one was a vastly
expanded adaptation of the first OVA while
Ground Zero was a
Prequel, showing Geist's very first assignement and why he was locked away on a satellite.
MD Geist contains examples of the following tropes:
- The Abridged Series: MDA Geist: Most Dangerous Abridged
- A God Am I - This happens in the sequel where the antagonist/villain protagonist MD Krauser displays extraordinary combat abilities when fighting the Death Force wearing angel-like armor. He is looked up to as a savior of humanity and is thus worshiped like a god. In his own words: "In their eyes it is certainly true. I have become a god incarnate..."
- All Love Is Unrequited - Vaiya tries to seduce Geist in bed during the first OVA, but he pushes her out of bed, rejecting her under no uncertain terms. "Get out of here; I'm done with you now". He still continues to follow her during the OVA until he betrays her by releasing the Death Force.
- Anti-Hero - Geist either fits into Type IV or Type V, depending on your viewpoint. MD Krauser in the sequel.
- Art Evolution - The art style in MD Geist is completely different from the art style of MD Geist II, which is not surprising considering the sequel came 10 years after the original.
- Bittersweet Ending - Weirdly enough. Vaiya, Eagle, and other survivors managed to escape the massacre, with the "MD"s dead or possibly missing
- Black and Gray Morality
- Blood Knight - Geist
- Cyborg - Eagle
- Crapsack World - The planet is locked in civil war between the Regular Army, and the rebelling Nextrum. Taken Up to Eleven in the sequel where the Death Force rampages through the planet, leaving only one human stronghold left
- Evil Is Visceral: The final boss' second form is introduced with a lot of strange fluids, and pulsates and breathes in an organic manner.
- Final Battle: The sequel's climax.
- Gainax Ending - Maybe not totally nonsensical, but certainly bizarre unless you watch the second OVA.
- Gorn - Plenty of it in both OVAs, though in the first one the gore is a washed out orange hue.
- Human Popsicle
- Humongous Mecha
- Infant Immortality - Averted in the second OVA. This causes a Heroic BSOD from Krauser.
- Jerkass - Geist is a dick.
- Mutilate The Shaggy Dog's Owners With The Shaggy Dog, Then Shoot The Shaggy Dog And Walk Away Into The Sunset
- Names to Run Away From Really Fast - "MD" stands for "Most Dangerous" and the self-replicating robot swarm is named Death Force.
- Never Found the Body - Done twice in the sequel. Once after Krauser throws Geist off a building, and after the credits, only Geist's helmet is shown.
- Hey, It's That Voice!!- Norio Wakamoto is Geist himself in the 1986 version. He got darrin'd later by Kazuhiro Nakata, who would reprise the role in Death Force.
- Speaking of Death Force, Vaiya is portrayed by none other than.....Sailor Venus. Hard to believe huh?
- Off Model - The series is quite possibly the poster child Anime for this Trope.
- Only Sane Man - In the sequel, MD Krauser claims he is this saying that he was the only MDS who could control himself because only he had normal judgment. He contrasts himself to Geist whom he claims was "an absolute failure and an insane beast incapable of controlling himself." Then again, he tends to show violent outbursts as he happened to be explaining all this while grabbing a guy's face. Not to mention, he seems to be nutcase on power trip. Plus, given the nihilist nature of this short 2-part OVA series...
- To be fair, Geist's entire motivation is that he's an asshole. Krauser, as unstable as he is, is a fair margin better than that.
- Powered Armor - Worn by Jerran soldiers, and a black one is doned by Geist after he acquires it from a dead soldier. In the sequel, they can fly and Krauser wears a white colored armor.
- Robot War - Triggered intentionally by Geist.
- Rocket Punch - The final boss' third form does this.
- Slasher Smile - Geist has a tendency to do this.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism - Extremly cynical to the point of being nihilistic, which a few people find appealing.
- Sliding Scale of Silliness Versus Seriousness - Very, very serious, despite the horrible acting; some people feel it should have taken itself less seriously whereas others prefer its extremely high level of seriousness.
- Super Soldier
- Trauma Induced Amnesia - Vaiya experiences this during the sequel to some extent. She has horrific flashbacks of Geist and is incredibly frightened by them, but is unable to decipher coherently what they mean.
- Villain Protagonist - Geist is either this or a Sociopathic Hero. You can make a case for MD Krauser in the sequel too; he's the designated villain, but at least he's "less evil" than Geist and there are points where the OVA suggests "shifting protagonistim" onto him..
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: MD Krauser has good intentions (more or less) but he's still not much better than MD Geist, if at all.
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