Agent Aika

Agent Aika (stylized and known simply as AIKa in Japan) is a Japanese OVA series animated by Studio Fantasia and directed by Katsuhiko Nishijima. The series follows Aika Sumeragi, a salvager for hire who gets caught up in a plot for world domination. The series was released in Japan from 1997 to 1999. The anime was initially licensed by Central Park Media, but was later licensed by Bandai Entertainment. The series is well known for its copious amounts of fan service, specifically the camera angles on panties of the many female characters who populate the show. On April 25, 2007, the first volume of the three-part prequel OVA AIKa R-16: Virgin Mission, detailing Aika's time when she was 16 years old, was released in Japan. A remastered version of the original series was released also, along with a special live-action edition of Agent Aika. In 2009, the sequel OVA AIKa ZERO with 19-year-old Aika was released.

Plot

Following a catastrophic earthquake twenty years prior, Tokyo, along with most of the world, has sunk into the ocean during a large-scale land subsidence. Aika Sumeragi is a salvage agent, a person who digs up submerged artifacts from the cities below. She works for a small company run by Gozo Aida, and takes on fairly dangerous jobs. In the first story, she and Gozo's daughter Rion, search for material called the Lagu. However they are captured by Rudolf Hagen, an effeminate but over-sexed man who wants to use the Lagu to transform the world, destroying its inhabitants, and replacing them with an army of young women called the Delmo Corporation who will carry his progeny. Alongside Rudolf is his obsessive sister Neena Hagen, who is jealous of Aika when Rudolf desires to have Aika for himself. Aika has a special bustier that, when activated, transforms into a battle bikini that gives her extraordinary fighting powers. Following the defeat of the Hagens, the Delmo Corporation girls seek other methods to foil Aika in episodic stories.

Characters

Protagonists

: She admires Aika,

Antagonists

The Delmo Corps, also referred as the ,

: Hagen is the evil mastermind in the first story. He was contracted by the military to find the Lagu, but desires it for his own reasons. He believes that Lagu is something the Earth produced to destroy the humanity that polluted it. He plans to repopulate the Earth with his own progeny which includes his Delmo staff. It is later revealed that Hagen was born as a genetically altered test tube baby, in the process he received superior genes. Because of that he yearns for superior women to impart the genes to his next generation. () is a young operative with long black hair in Operation Silver Wild Grapevine who tries to study Aika and how she fights. She pretends to be the conductor of the physical examination in episode 6, but after her disguise is foiled, she continues to gather Aika's fighting data by sending her underlings against her and then taping the entire battle.

Release

The first four episodes were released from April 25, 1997, to January 25, 1998. The opening theme for the first four episodes was "Silent City", performed by Mari Sasaki, and the closing theme was "More Natural" by Hiroko Konishi. Each episode is numbered as a Trial.

The next three episodes were released from August 25, 1998, to April 25, 1999. The animation was redone to include the new characters such as Michikusa. The opening theme was by Mink, and the closing theme was "Dance with Me Tonight" by Punky Fruites.

Episode list

Reception

In reviewing the first volume, Chris Beveridge on Mania.com wrote that he had to put his brain in a certain mode, likening the experience to watching Dumb and Dumber where "Instead of idiot humor we're watching this for the sheer amount of fanservice." with its "four gajillion panty shots" and that it was a "great deal of mindless fun". He described Michikusa as "a waifish goofy ass boy who serves only one purpose: to be on screen and take time away from panty shots."

Stig Hogset of THEM Anime Reviews wrote that the show should have been a guilty pleasure but ends up being more of an overdose: "EVERY action scene seems to end up with unconscious females lying with their butts poking up into the air." He called the villains the creepiest he has ever seen, but recommended the show only to those with a panty or ass fetish.

Several reviewers for TokyoPop magazine gave it mixed reviews.