California Crisis: Tsuigeki no Juuka

Incredible "vibes" OVA - California Crisis commits fully capturing the summer haze and glitzy shine of 80's Los Angeles as seen in fashion magazines & music videos. Which is a great thing to capture, but combining it with a military/spycraft chase for a lost alien artifact is a zany enough premise to elevate this work above being simply good YoutTube playlist background art. The OVA's bright spot is the Patrick Nagel-esque animation style, where everything is heavily solarized; it does not always work - most particularly for the female lead Mashrea - but when it does it creates a unique aesthetic for anime, and one ... that really "sells" the LA vibe it is so invested in. Additionally, since I saw some comments on it, I think the ending is great. This is not a complicated story, and characterization is done through visuals and actions over dialogue; the simple, abstract ending creates a small-but-real level of thematic depth to the tale.

If you want some retro-80's American pastiche through the eyes of an outsider, it doesn't miss.

If you're a fan of all the American 80s action movie cheese that checked every box on the stereotypes of those movies at the time, this is the anime for you.

Or if you just came around for the art and its aesthetic.

Everything about this anime made me feel like I was watching some b-movie from my dad's collection, albeit not in English without all the slang. Aliens, car chases, Coca Cola, California, hot rods, the fashion, it checks all the boxes for me.

The story and characters are very flat and lacking. There isn't really anything spectacular about this anime outside of it being ... a love letter to the cheesy action movies in somebody's dad's cabinet, but it might be nice if you're bored or looking for a certain artistic vibe. A lot of aesthetic kids have slowly been looking into this anime, so even if it's lame and unfinished, at least the art style is nice.

Aside from the character designs and music, this anime has little to offer.

The animation is minimal and badly directed, with many scenes confusingly edited together and at times barely comprehensible. Most of this OVA consists of an uninteresting chase scene that leads up to a very unsatisfying conclusion. The plot is practically non existent, with the mystery presented halfway through the OVA having zero payoff in the end and what few characters are introduced are uninteresting and pointless. I've seen many describe this OVA as "underrated" but it's better described as something that's obscure and boring.

Overall, I'd say the only enjoyable way to ... experience this anime is to listen to the OST or watch vaporwave/city pop/future funk videos that use clips from this OVA. Viewing this anime on it's own isn't an engaging experience.