Audience reviews
19 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
TapeRot
Mad Bull 34 is four episodes of guns, sleaze, absurdity, enormous heart and an absolutely fantastic soundtrack, all crammed into one gloriously trashy OVA.
Sleepy is big-hearted, immensely likeable, seemingly unstoppable and built like a brick shithouse, while Daizaburo is small, slight and still more than capable of kicking arse when it counts. Their chemistry is fantastic, and the fact that there’s no tedious manufactured conflict between them makes their friendship and partnership feel like the real heart of the OVA.
New York is a filthy fantasy hellhole full of depraved criminals, questionable character decisions and trigger-happy cops. The action is fast, tense and gloriously excessive, with gunfights, beatings and explosions all pushed just far enough into cartoon insanity to make…
Read at the sourceBensonas
I'll be honest there isn't much positive I can say about this show. Considering I've seen this appearing in a number of 'top X animes' lists my expectations definitely weren't met.
Animation wise is OK. For the time however, it wouldn't have been unreasonable to expect a little more. It's all quite basic. It's not horrible, it's just ok. There is quite a lot of gore here and though I'm not opposed to gore, I feel what's presented in here is a little unnecessary. Some people may think that gore can never be unnecessary, but those people are massive fans of Hostel, and that film is diabolical. For gore to work it either has to shock you, scare you or make you feel uncomfortable. For me, I felt none of these things. Another issue I had here, given the district Mad Bull works in, number 34, w…
Read at the sourceliteraturenerd
I knew I had to review at least one anime over the holiday season. Maybe I could review Tokyo Godfathers, the best Christmas movie ever made? Nah. Maybe I could review Akiba Maid War…but it’s just so hard to talk about that show without spoiling the fun. So, I decided to do something completely different and just re-review my favorite “So bad it’s awesome” anime of all time. I wrote a quick, shitty review back in 2014 or 2015 but I did NOT do this series justice. Now it’s time that I fully commit to spreading the gospel of the Mad Bull!
It's difficult to talk about Mad Bull without first bringing up the man responsible for it. That man being the legendary Kazuo Koike whom we lost back in 2019. Koike is best known for Lone Wolf and Cub, which is considered one of the most influential works…
Read at the sourceKamuiX1999
Imagine if the most sleazy, trashy director you can think of made a buddy cop film set in NYC in the '80s, and you'll have an idea of what Mad Bull 34 is like. This is genuine exploitation excess in anime form, and it's awesome! Apparently it's considered one of the worst anime OVA's released back in the '90s, possibly due to the English dubbing (I watched it in Japanese with English subs), possibly due to the subject matter, possibly due to the misogynistic undertones, but they're all wrong, and anyone that has any experience with bad films or exploitation cinema will see through all of that and enjoy the insanity Mad Bull 34 puts on display. I don't want to ruin any of the madness, but I will just say if you've ever wanted to see a cop go undercover in civilian clothes and hide like 20 g…
Read at the source92rael_
I was looking for older and more free of censorship anime, I found Mad★Bull 34 in a slightly more isolated category, I was surprised by this show, honestly it's a lot of fun and very "politically incorrect" this show is definitely underrated, the protagonists and characters are really cool and interactive with each other, each episode is an explosion of adventure, comedy and sex, it's really a really good show and I recommend it mainly for men (although it's funny in general and can be seen by anyone) , also not a "complete" show I think there could be more episodes, for sure there could be told several stories around these protagonists.
Read at the sourcerobddoo
Mild Spoilers
I decided I'd stick this trashy OVA on for some mindless entertainment, going in with absolutely no expectations or knowledge of what to expect besides the worst, and maybe because of that I came out almost pleasantly surprised. Almost. Yes I did give it a 3, because it is still mindless, filled with inconsistencies, and is trashy in every aspect, but so long as you don't go into it expecting anything of substance its a pretty entertaining piece to point and laugh at.
The story is set in New York's worst precinct, so naturally it'd be safe to be expecting obscene violence and gang related crime, and you'd be correct, but nothing will prepare you for the actual level of crime presented. Chinese suicide bombers, a cyborg mafia don, and a cop killer in a Predator-style robot s…
Read at the sourcealbertbrown
If there was a word to describe Mad Bull 34’s creation, it would be “gritty”. It would also be foolish to not say that as far as early 90’s anime go, it set the standard as to what Police anime (with exception to A.D. Police, Goku Midnight Eye and You’re Under Arrest! which would come years later in that era) could do.
The first time watching Mad Bull 34, you’re immediately struck as to how much NYC is nailed on the detail aspect, where everything from the Red Light District to grand larceny to even homicide and street gangs run amok. The fact that we have a main character who’s been sent from Tokyo’s police division to team up with NY’s rough and tough detective makes the buddy cop aspect look even more interesting to see. Considering that the 90’s managed to make buddy cop comedies more…
Read at the sourcektulu007
I've looked at a lot of OVAs this year. And most of them have been awful. I kind of hope this is an exception because there are already a lot of contenders for Ye Olde Hall of Shame, but I also kind of hope it continues the trend because it would be kind of hilarious. This is by the studio Magic Bus, which has never made a worthwhile anime as far as I can tell. Seriously, their stuff I've reviewed was Dragoon, Phantom Yuusha Densetsu & Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu. The highest scoring being Dragoon with a sub-par performance at 4/10. Yikes.
Story:
Our narrative starts with a large cop blowing the heads off of some attempted rapists. Now that's an acceptable use of excessive force. We cut to a young Japanese American officer being brought into the precinct where he's partnered with the large cop…
Read at the sourceSkow
This is a glorius product of its time. It is a 90s ova through and through it is unapologetically over the top gratuitous, vulgar and silly.
If you are not looking for a history lesson in early anime/ova that were imported. It is worth a watch. If you like so bad it is good, it is worth a watch. If you enjoy violence and vulgarity for the sake of violence and vulgarity. That is only interrupted by some meandering plot or a pair of bouncing sweater puppies that were unleashed by a light breeze, then give it a watch.
If you don't fall into the mentioned groups, likely best you avoid this relic from animes early days. It will most likely be one of your worst experiences watching anime to date. I do recommend seeing it if you are in this camp, but only if you go in thinking mystery science t…
Read at the sourceunimportantuser
Mad Bull 34 is one of my favorite bad OVAs. It's stupid as hell, a very inaccurate representation of what New York is like, it's CRAZY, over the top, makes one go WTF, but about all else, it is NOT boring. I'll attempt to explain why Mad Bull is a work of bad art. Oh & btw, there will be massive spoilers in this review. Read at you own risk
Story:
The "plot" of Mad Bull basically consists of Sleepy & Daizaburo going around New York "upholding the law". There really isn't an overarching plot to Mad Bull, rather it's an episodic 4 episode OVA. But honestly that was for the best, as the episodic format helps lead into the crazy shenanigans that ensue throughout Mad Bull 34.
Episode 1 is the set-up episode, it gives us some establishing shots of New York, introduces us to Daizaburo Dipshit,…
Read at the sourceHarryRambod22
In a world where filth such as Umaru Chan and Eromanga Sensei Exist and are allowed to be shown on tv. It's important that we take a look back on a forgotten anime classic from way back in the day. Of course I'm talking about the classic Mad Bull 34. The main character for this show is of course John "Sleepy" Estevez. He is a true man who teaches you how to enforce the law and how to protect it. Hence Sleepy is the law of the city.
Sleepy’s partner is an immigrant named Daizaburo “Eddie” Ban who is clearly an allegory for the regressive left we find in today’s society. For example Mad Bull kills two robbers in the name of justice by blowing them apart with his shotgun for stealing from a convenience store. While Eddie says things like “you can’t just kill criminals like that” and “this is…
Read at the sourceFear_the_Reefer
Daizoburo Edi-Ban Is a young American-born Japanese man, descended from immigrants and raised to uphold a strict sense of morality. He joins the New York city police force, precinct 34, intending nothing less than to enforce the law, punish evil, fight crime and defend the innocent. His idealistic nature is stressed to the breaking point when he finds out that his partner, whether he likes it or not, is a veteran cop named Johnny Estes, who carries two nicknames... Sleepy, probably for his chill and laid back nature when he’s off the clock, and Mad Bull, for his violent, uncontrollable nature that he slips into whenever he slips on the badge. A long time loose cannon who would rather spend his time making the rounds with every prostitute in the tri-county area than patrol his assigned area…
Read at the sourceFluffologica
An anime that was only possible back during Japan's bubble economy. Shockingly dirty and funny, a real surprise when you're used to modern anime. Obviously they couldn't accurately capture what New York City is like, but their TV-trope educated, over-the-top version of the city is far more entertaining.
The English dub is fantastic, though the main character's long ass name: Daizaburo, gets distracting when he insists over and over that no one is allowed to refer to him by nicknames. Yet at the same time he's more than happy to refer to his partner as "Sleepy".
The show jumps the shark in the last episode with a complete tone change and sci-fi without any precedent in the last 3 episodes. But the rest of it is great.
Read at the sourcelawlmartz
Time to dust off the VCR and take a trip back to 1990, 'cause today I'm talking about that glorious ultraviolent cheese called Mad Bull 34! Break out the Nike Cortez, Power Shoulders, and the grunge flannel- frost your tips, mute Will Smith and eject your Lion King VHS... we've got some 90s to cover.
For the uninitiated: Mad Bull 34 was made by a company called Magic Bus... who've done *checks* literally nothing else of note. They even made some hentai once, it looks like. Amazingly, this studio has been around since the early 80s, and somehow has generated enough revenue off their titles to continue to exist in 2015.
In 1996, Manga Entertainment took it upon themselves to make a gag dub for this ridiculously ultraviolent and unapologetically profane show- and created perhaps the ulti…
Read at the sourceSartana
Ahh yes, good ol' early 90s anime. As violent as politically incorrect as it gets. When anime was this wild unpredictable beast that made other forms of animation look bland. Before the moe days, before the waifu invasion. Mad Bull makes zero apologies in what it wants to be, a pure exploitation show with violent killings and boobs. The comic relief is a hit or miss, but then again, if you are already watching this is because you have the right sensibility for the material. Unless you are one of those bored millenials hipsters who watch "bad" stuff to go online and try to do some MST3K/redletter media hacky "funny" review. In which case, you should consider another use for your spare time. Also, probably killing yourself.
Read at the sourceLuquillo
Well… Mad Bull 34, I never thought the day would come when this 4 episode OVA hit DVD shelves, and it’s not because this series is some hard to find masterpiece. Instead, Mad Bull 34 embodied all of the negative clichés found in early 90’s anime. It’s over the top violent, exploitive, and gross. The series is totally shameless in what it wants to be, but to its credit though; the series does a fine job in setting out what it wanted to be. There are a small group of anime fans out there whom hold this high as some type of classic, but it’s definitely far and away from that.
This series follows the two cops as they combat muggers, rapist, gangsters, and eventually the mafia. The first volume is a plot-less and sex-filled blood bath, with some type of story coming around towards the end. How…
Read at the sourceEhrgheiz
I had to write a review about this OVA because the difference between the first 3 episodes and the 4th and final episode is gargantuan. In the first three episodes, the character development is pretty decent. You get to understand the individuals and I specifically liked Mad Bull the most. Kindhearted, but over-the-top with violence, too. He was extremely fun to watch. Furthermore, the antagonists of the first three episodes were explained and introduced in a way that made sense. In the fourth episode, the idea of character and plot development were thrown out the window. It is difficult to express how terrible that episode was compared to the first three. If you want a zany cop show with sex and violence, then this is a gem. Just do yourself a favor and skip the last episode.
Read at the sourceanimegorey
I was so happy I was able to find this on dvd ( if you can't, let me know and I'll help). This is funny, with good action and interesting stories. Each episode is about 45 minutes. Violence is great and explicit. Profanity flies like there's no tomorrow and it fits this anime. Animation is typical of early 90's. Some nudity that also has it's explicit moments. Pretty good cop anime that is not afraid to be over the top wether it's violence or comedy. Very enjoyable and rewatchability is high. If you like cyberpunk, I would recommend you check this out. I don't think I would classify it as cyberpunk, but it has it's moments.
Read at the sourceKain
Really weird no one has written a review of this anime yet. Well anyway its actually a ok anime and its and old anime from 1991 if am not mistaken and as all animes fans know, old animes are usually good dubbed. Well anyway if you are little bored and want to watch a 4 ova anime take a look at this. Besides from a couple of sex scenes and heads splashing everywhere its an ok anime.
Check it out. Its good dubbed so do check it out dubbed. Just go to youtube and search for mad bull 34 and enjoy!
Read at the source