Overview: Go Nagai’s ‘LION-GIRL’ is a new superhero for a new era. In the year 20XX, humanity has almost come to an end. A tsunami of meteors bombarded the entire planet. There were a very small number of survivors. They kill each other for more food, more power, causing 30 years of bloody civil war.

The meteorites contain a mysterious ray inside the rock. If a human being is exposed to this ray, the cells in the body mutate and destroy themselves, causing certain death. But in very rare cases, some humans survive the exposure.

Those who get exposed to the space ray and survive undergo a metamorphosis into horrific ‘meteorite beasts’. People call them ‘ANOROC’. ANOROC hunt and kill human beings for their lifeforce. ANOROC are the true enemy of humankind.

Now, the Earth has the last defender of humanity against ANOROC; her name is ‘LION-GIRL’, a superhero Yakuza fighter and a true pursuer of Ninkyo.

Blu-ray Verdict: In a quite marvelous combination of flirting around its obvious celebration of anime and manga, whilst at the same time tinging all its cinematic edges with some delicious, self-defacing humor, the film might go on a wee bit too long, sure, but my goodness, you most certainly get value for money.

Indeed, the set up, which opens on 20XX, and features mysterious meteors bombarding the Earth and which then usher in an age of horrific beasts known as ANOROC, which are hunting and killing humans for their life force, does take a while to fully reveal itself, but when we finally get to the point where the Earth has one last defender against them, her name being Lion Girl, well, we are most assuredly off and running.

Featuring a slew, a veritable tidal wave of gratuitous nudity, veined seamlessly throughout with some barely there gore, personally, yes, I would have liked a few more fight scenes, but the ones we get are rather dutifully choreographed.

The camera, as well it should do, focuses a lot on our heroine, both in and out of her superhero costume, and also manages to give us a thoroughly invested back story on how she was trained in all forms of martial arts and fighting styles.

This means you get to become involved in the heartbeat of the film, of the character, so much so that you really feel like it is building up to an epic fight scene to come somewhere in the film. The fact that no such BIG and/or EPIC fight scene does show up, well, the glowingly special effects and everyone staring at one another until one of their heads explode makes up for it in my book!

BONUS MATERIALS:
Directors Commentary (audio option), Interviews with Cast
A conversation with Japanese Manga Legend Go Nagai
Q&A with Key Cast Members at the Hollywood Theatrical Premier of Lion-Girl
The Making of Lion-Girl Documentary Feature Film

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