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.
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