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"C-TAC and tech ninjas? This is the worst job ever."
Takeshi Kovacs

Altered Carbon: Resleeved is an animated Spin-Off of Altered Carbon (made while season 2 was still in development) and operates as a Prequel to the events of Season 1. It was written by Dai Sato & directed by Jo Nakajima at studio Anima. The film was released worldwide on Netflix on March 19, 2020.

Takeshi Kovacs returns, this time in a new body on the planet Latimer, and is hired by the brother of a yakuza boss to investigate the latter's death while also protecting a young tattooist. He is accompanied by an elite CTAC operative, and the two become involved in a violent, bloody skirmish between the Yakuza and an army of augmented ninja mercenaries.


The film provides examples of:

  • Adaptational Heroism: Justified as this is a prequel. Reileen hasn't developed the sociopathic contempt for "fireflies" she'll get after becoming a Meth, so acts to protect Holly despite her orders. Her genuine love for her brother also contrasts with the twisted obsession she'll develop over the centuries.
  • Abnormal Ammo:
    • The hail of arrows fired at the tech ninjas by Gino's Sentry Guns appear to be a No-Sell thanks to their armor. Then they start burrowing inside and explode.
    • Takeshi has a special load for his revolver that can penetrate armor.
  • Ain't Too Proud to Beg: The Kumicho begs Tanaseda, his son, to help him as he lay dying. Tanaseda "obliges" by giving him a bullet to the head and stack, instead of leaving him to a slower death.
  • And the Adventure Continues: Takeshi still has more work to do for Tanaseda before his criminal record can be cleared.
  • Annoying Laugh: A distinctive quality of the soon to retire boss Genzo. Or rather that of the founder himself. It's what ultimately clues Tanaseda in on the true perpetrator behind it all when Takeshi briefly brings it up.
  • Archnemesis Dad: Hideki Tanaseda's dad is the founder of the Mizumoto syndicate and the one who had been jumping into the bodies of each boss to stay in power, one of which being his other son.
  • Bait-and-Switch: The movie opens with Holly apparently being chased by a couple of Yakuza thugs. Turns out they're actually her bodyguards and they just want her to return safely to headquarters. Then they both get killed by tech ninjas, showing why she has bodyguards in the first place.
  • Big Damn Heroes:
    • Takeshi is resleeved literally minutes before he intervenes to save Holly from a tech ninja.
    • Tanaseda pulls one by showing up in person when his father is about kill Holly whilst supplying Ogai with the information to turn the A.I. to their side since he was programmed to have Undying Loyalty to the current boss.
  • Brain Uploading: An already natural part of the setting, the succession ceremony for the Mizumoto syndicate's new leader strictly averts this with the previous boss dying permanently, stack and all. Except that the very founder of the clan has been uploading himself into the body of each new boss anyway and that the body of the previous boss becomes an Empty Shell.
  • Chekhov's Gun: The tattoo on Holly's hand is shown in close-up in the opening scene, and then is covered up for most of the rest of the movie. Eventually it's revealed that the tattoo contains tech which plays a vital role in the Mizumoto's succession ceremony, and is used to kill the villain at the end of the movie.
  • Death Faked for You: Gena, having been assigned to kill Holly after the case was done, lies to CTAC about completing said mission.
  • Foreshadowing: At the start of the movie, the DJ quotes "All the world's a stage" from Shakespeare's As You Like It. The final confrontation takes place on a stage where the succession ceremony takes place.
  • Gatling Good: Like Poe, Ogai is equipped with lobby-mounted rotary guns. However, instead of bullets they shoot burrowing explosive arrows.
  • Hallway Fight: The tech ninjas hide behind fake holographic walls, then ambush everyone after they've walked past.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Each time the Mizumoto changes leaders, the former kumicho commits RD via as a symbolic gesture of showing the clan is more then just one man. Except this is all bullshit. In actuality, the founder of the clan hijacks the stack of his successor, kills the old sleeve, and repeats the cycle so that he can rule the clan for eternity.
  • Homage: There's an obvious Bladerunner influence in the opening scene.
  • I Don't Want to Die: Tanaseda's father Ain't Too Proud to Beg his son for mercy. He gets a Mercy Kill instead.
  • It's Personal: The hatred 'Gena' has for Yakuza, due to being sold to them as a child. Of course she's also protecting her brother as well.
  • Ludicrous Gibs: The result of any fight with the augmented ninjas, especially the many, many yakuza mooks they slaughter.
  • Loophole Abuse: What allows Ogai to turn on the Kumicho. The official Kumicho is the chosen successor Shinji and while the clan founder has stolen Shinji's (and all previous successors) identity, he is not actually Shinji himself. Thus, Ogai is not beholden to him.
  • Must Have Nicotine: The new sleeve Takeshi has been placed in is a very avid smoker, to the point where his body is still smoking a cigarette while talking in VR.
    Takeshi: The hand always remembers.
  • Never Grew Up: Holly, deliberately so. Despite being so old that she is the one who invented the tattoo program for the Mizumoto syndicate's succession ceremony, she insists on staying in a young body while hoping to reunite with her parents. After her parents' stacks are destroyed and the founder is killed, she ultimately opts to grow up in her current body rather than move into a new one.
  • The Not-Love Interest: Gina becomes Takeshi's closest ally and the two end up co-"parenting" Holly. Despite this and Kovacs' womanizing habits, their relationship stays purely professional. And a good thing too, seeing how she's his sister.
  • Out-of-Character Alert: Tanaseda's suspicions are aroused by the Heroic Sacrifice code established by his father, saying he was too selfish to believe in Honor Before Reason.
  • Powered Armor: The Founder possesses a samurai-themed one and puts it to use during the climax.
  • Power Tattoo: The tattoos given by Holly to the Mizumoto bosses are not only symbolic but are what kills them when the succession ceremony occurs. Holly also has power over them and attempts to activate the destruction program on Shinji's sleeve after the founder has taken over him.
  • Sibling Team: What Ken/Takeshi and Gena/Reileen are for most for the film, though Takeshi remains totally unknowing of this fact.
  • Show Some Leg: Gena lures the head of security into her room which some judicious display of cleavage so she can kill him and steal his all-access pass.
  • Silence, You Fool!: While conducting Takeshi's virtual reality Mission Briefing, Tanaseda keeps muting Holly who's objecting loudly to being The Bait.
  • Space Age Stasis: Takes place 250 years before the bulk of Altered Carbon and there's no notable differences in technology. The main societal difference is that the Meths are just now rising to power like the main villain.
  • Sudden Sequel Heel Syndrome: Inverted, with the soon-to-be Big Bad Reileen serving as one of the heroes in the prequel film.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitutes: Ogai, the AI hotel host, is basically just a Japanese Poe. He's even voiced by the same actor.
  • To Be Lawful or Good: When Gena is given the choice between obeying orders from C-TAC to kill Holly and continuing to help Takeshi protect her, she chooses to help.
  • Used to Be a Sweet Kid: We get to see Reileen before becoming a Meth and she's a far cry from the sociopathic Yandere of Season 1. Despite retaining some blood-thirstiness, she's overall a much more stable and friendly person who expresses disgust for child abuse, a code of honor, and. Her decision to part with Takeshi, content to know he's alive and well, would be unthinkable to her future self who sought to obsessively eliminate every personal connection he had to anyone but her.
  • You Know Too Much: Once his secret is out, the Founder decides to just kill them all and start over.
  • You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: Gena shouts "TAK!" as her brother is about to be killed, giving Takeshi a Heroic Second Wind. As Gena shouldn't know his real name, he's later shown giving her a suspicious look as she leaves him.
  • Yubitsume: As his Establishing Character Moment, Shinji chops the finger off an annoying minion, then tucks the severed finger into the man's pocket when Takeshi refuses to accept it. The man's such a Butt-Monkey he later gets killed by Shinji's minions just for getting between them and their target (and our heroes don't even bother to warn him).

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