From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Burn-Up Excess is an animated Japanese television
series, directed by Shinichiro Kimura and produced by AIC. It aired from 1997 to
1998, ran for 13 episodes, and 4 volumes of videos were released on
VHS and DVD in North America by ADV Films.
The series is a tongue-in-cheek look at a special operations
unit in the Tokyo police force called "Team Warrior", with large
amounts of fan
service thrown in for good measure.
Plot
summary
The story revolves around Rio Kinezono, a buxom member of the
team who consistently overspends her paycheck, but is also a
top-flight martial artist and a valuable member of the
team. In the field, Rio is usually flanked by Maya Jingu, the
green-haired team sniper who
appears to have a serious lust for ranged weapons (specifically
assault rifles). Their antics are backed up by the inventions of
Nanvel Candlestick, the exotic team engineer whose job is to devise and implement
special combat and surveillance hardware for the team's use.
Lilica Ebett, the sprightly pink-haired girl who's a computer expert, can pretty
much crack into any information system, and Yuji Naruo, a
perverted, camera-toting voyeur, always serves as Warrior's
drop-operation pilot and driver. Maki Kawasaki, the mysterious,
bespectacled superintendent, is charged with commanding Warrior in
the field and administering their various missions as they
arise.
The series chronicles the team members' adventures as they
slowly track down a sinister city plot.
It was preceded by the OVA Burn-Up W, although there are some
inconsistencies with several elements, the most notable of which is
the malignant and calculating Ruby, who seems to be a completely
different character altogether in Burn-Up Excess, despite
the two anime being considered canon.
Main
Characters
- Rio Kinezono
- This busty blonde is the main character of the series. She's
trained in martial arts and is always the person leading an attack.
She likes to look good and loves buying pretty things.
Unfortunately, her spending habits keep her in eternal debt, so
she's always looking for good-paying jobs to support her lifestyle.
She has a desk job working for the police in Policetown and counts
on work with Team Warrior to pay her bills. Always trying to find
the easy way out, she tries to hook up with any rich guy she can
find in the hopes that he'll be able to buy her all the pretty
things she desires.
- Voiced by: Yuka Imai
(Japanese), Amanda Winn Lee (English)
- Lilica Ebett
- The computer expert of the group, Lilica is usually seen in a
control room. With her pink hair done up in bows, she hacks into
computer systems and gives intelligence support to the rest of the
group.
- Voiced by: Sakura
Tange (Japanese), Kimberly Yates (English)
- Maki Kawazaki
- Team Warrior's commander. A no-nonsense type of leader, she
does remember one of the reason's she was awarded the command...
which would later come back to haunt her.
- Voiced by: Mami
Kingetsu (Japanese), Beth Wernick (English)
- Maya Jingu
- Maya loves her guns and treats them like her men. She has green
hair and is almost always seen wearing a headband.
- Voiced by: Maya
Okamoto (Japanese), Lani Minella (English)
- Nanvel Candlestick
- Team Warrior's resident engineering wizard. She is the one
responsible for creating a lot of the high-tech gadgets the team
uses. But she has a bad habit of coloring her creations either
purple or pink, for example a recon device constructed as a pink cockroach.
- Voiced by: Yuri
Amano (Japanese), Allison Keith (English)
- Yuji Naruo
- Yuji is the guy of the group and the team's vehicle expert. He
is constantly hiting on Rio, much to her chagrin, and as we find in
episode two, is a lover of female legs and undergarments. He is a
great example of a hentai (pervert). He also has a bad habit of
showing up in the girls' locker room while they're either changing
or taking a shower (which gets him beat up a lot).
- Voiced by: Ryotaro Okiayu
(Japanese), Jason Lee
(English)
Minor Characters and
Groups
- Bob
- The redheaded member of the Jingu crime syndicate in Osaka
- Episode 4
- Chi Mama
- The leader of a group of transvestite thieves, although
definitely not the brains behind his group's operation. Generally
refers to Rio by a pet name for her, "Stephanie"
- Episodes 2 and 8
- Drone bugs
- Used by the Ruby and the Dawn Mirage to take over Neo Tokyo
Tower
- Episode 1
- Gondo Construction
- A crime syndicate in Osaka bent on taking over the Jingu crime
syndicate
- Episode 4
- Henry
- An advanced strategic tank with artificial intelligence and
multiple forms of advanced weaponry, from standard machine guns to
a large pulse cannon capable of destroying an entire division of
standard tanks in seconds. One of Team Warrior's missions is to
escort Henry from Japan to Switzerland, during which Rio
accidentally triggers Henry's VIP guard system.
- Episodes 9 and 10
- Jingu Syndicate
- A crime syndicate in Osaka run by Maya's father
- Episode 4
- Ken
- A chubby guy who wears glasses and is a member of the Jingu
crime syndicate in Osaka
- Episode 4
- Maya's father
- The boss of the Jingu crime syndicate in Osaka
- Episode 4
- Mecha Cops
- The Mecha Cops are robotic police of mysterious origin being
sold to the Neo Tokyo police. They have advanced artificial
intelligence with black diamond CPUs, and are impervious to most
normal weaponry. They are designed to subdue criminals using non-lethal force. They have many other
features, including the ability to run faster than speeding cars
and interface directly with computer systems in Police Town for
quick data retrieval.
- Episode 11
- Miriam Bardo
- A famous designer who visits Tokyo to host a fashion show
- Is actually Ruby in disguise
- Episode 12
- Miyuki
- Miyuki is Rio's friend from the police academy. She works as a
traffic cop.
- Episodes 6 and 7
- Miyuki's boss
- Just like Rio, Miyuki constantly gets in trouble with her boss.
She shows up in a police car and yells at Miyuki if she starts
slacking for even a second.
- Prince Hasan
- The heir to the most powerful oil company in the Middle East.
Shows up in Tokyo and requests protection from the Warriors. Rio
hoped to marry him and get him to pay off her debts until she found
out that he is a crazed pervert.
- Episode 3
- Ramen shop owners
- The couple that owns the ramen shop next to Policetown
- Have two kids, a boy and a girl
- Appear throughout the series
- Rio's boss
- Rio's always getting in trouble with her boss for not finishing
her work. She often uses her sexual charm to get him to let her off
the hook.
- Appears throughout the series
- Ruby
- Ruby is the woman that coordinates much of the criminal
activity against which Team Warrior fights. It is apparent that she
has a considerable amount of funding for her operations; although
her motives are initially unclear. She is also very adept in hand
to hand combat.
- Appears throughout the series
- Ruby's boss
- A mysterious guy with scars on his face and hand. He goes under
the name of Harry, although this is not his real name.
- Episodes 1, 12 and 13
- Shiguru Tomoyama
- Former prime minister of Japan who becomes involved with the
production of mechanized police and military personnel
- Episodes 11, 12 and 13
- Thunderstorm
- A group that wants to kill Prince Hasan to cause disorder in
the middle east
- Episode 3
- Tommy
- A member of the Jingu crime syndicate in Osaka
- Episode 4
- Underwear thief
- A masked thief who travels around Tokyo, stealing women's
underwear
- He's actually a cram
school student
- Episode 2
- Yamada
- A tall guy who wears glasses and is a member of the Jingu crime
syndicate in Osaka
- Episode 4
Nanvel's
Inventions
As the group's electronics expert, Nanvel's job is to design and
build machines that will help the team achieve its goals.
- Pinel
- Pinel is a giant pink elephant that Nanvel advertises as a diet
machine. It's able to project a hologram over someone to make that
person look slimmer. People that want to change their looks wear
receptors shaped like flowers on their heads and Pinel transmits
the new images to those receptors which are then projected over
their wearers. Chi Mama and her group of thieves realize that they
can use the machine to disguise themselves while they carry out
crimes. They force Nanvel to build them their own Pinel. In the
end, she builds 3 versions of the machine, each smaller than the
last. The final version is so small that it can be carried around
by one person.
- Episode 8
- Pink Cockroach
- A pink device the size and shape of a cockroach, designed to
sneak into inaccessible locations and transmit audio and video back
to the team. It can also be used as a communications device. Nanvel
also states that if the cockroach's wings are opened, it can be
used as a hand grenade; although this function is never
demonstrated.
- Episodes 2 and 13
- Pink Rabbit
- This is a giant pink robot shaped like a rabbit. Nanvel rides
in a large glass bubble that makes the rabbit's head. It doesn't
have any weapons, but it has heavy armor and is able to punch,
kick, and shoot its hands off like pop guns. She uses the rabbit to
help fight the super androids in the last episode.
- Episode 13
Episodes
- Warrior Team Deploys (WARRIOR出動, WARRIOR
shutsudou
?, [WARRIOR Marching Out])
- The first episode begins in a ramen shop next door to
Policetown. It's the only place Rio eats because it's the only
place she can afford. The owners have had to drop their prices to
draw in business because just down the street, a giant structure
called Neo Tokyo Tower has opened. Suddenly, the tower is attacked
by a swarm of robotic insects. At the same time, a mysterious woman
and a terrorist group called Dawn Mirage takes its occupants,
including the governor, hostage. Team Warrior is summoned to rescue
them.
- Undies, Go! (下着でGO!, Shitagi de GO!
?, [GO with Underwear!])
- A series of jewelry thefts have been terrorizing Tokyo. Rio's
in need of some money to pay her debts, unfortunately, the jewelry
theft case has not been handed over to Team Warrior. Instead, Rio
has to take a job tracking down a thief who's been stealing women's
underwear. As she reaches the bottom of the underwear thefts, she
believes she may have stumbled upon an even bigger case.
- From the Desert With Love! (砂漠より愛をこめて, Sabaku
yori ai wo komete
?, [From the Desert With All One's
Love])
- A middle-eastern prince visits town and is in need of some
protection. A group called Thunderstorm is planning to kill Prince
Hasan to cause chaos in his country. Rio's excited about the job
because she hopes that she can marry him for his money and pay off
her debts. She takes him away, in secret, to a favorite spot of
hers, Gasolinetown, where thieves and miscreants rule. While there,
the two of them are enjoying their time alone, they're attacked and
it's up to Rio to get the prince to safety.
- Rogue Father
- Maya travels to Osaka to visit her sick father, the boss of the
Jingu crime syndicate. When she arrives, she finds that the family
is in desperate need of some money.
- An Idol Never Sleeps!
- Rio is given the mission of protecting the pop star Anna
Katagowa from a stalker, while Ruby attends a conference and loses
a special pen.
- Rambo Bravo! Rio Bimbo! (ランボ! ブラボ―! 利緒ビンボ―!, Ranbo!
Buraboo! Rio binboo!
?, [Rambo! Bravo! Rio Bimbo!])
- This episode is a flashback to Rio's first days with Team
Warrior. Maki first meets Rio working behind the counter in a
convenience store to earn extra money for her debts. She witnesses
her fighting skills as Rio takes down a thief who's trying to rob
the store. After putting Rio through some tests, Maki asks her to
join. Rio refuses. What can Maki do to convince Rio that Team
Warrior is the best place for her?
- Short Vacation (ショ―ト・バケ―ション, Shooto
Bakeeshon
?, [Short Vacation])
- Maki goes to the airport preparing to take off on her annual
vacation. As luck would have it, at the same time she's gone, the
police run into trouble in Policetown. While in the station's
locker room getting dressed, Miyuki discovers evidence of a murder
in the bathroom. The same day, Lilica finds evidence of a hacker who's been in the
police's computer system, erasing data. Over the next few hours,
officers throughout Policetown discover that many of their personal
possessions are missing. Rio begins an investigation into what's
behind the recent events, but with an old lady constantly bothering
her about her missing little one, "Ta", will she be able to
concentrate on finding the culprit of the recent crimes?
- Nanvel Kidnapped!
- Nanvel has won the prize for Inventor of the Year—again.
Walking home from a celebratory dinner, she and Rio are kidnapped
and threatened to force her to construct an invisibility machine to
enable the transgendered gang to carry out bank robberies.
- Slam Tank Part 1
- Rio is given the task of guarding a "United Nations ViP"--who
turns out, to her disappointment, to be a tank rather than a
handsome man. The plane they are travelling in crashes, and Rio and
the tank are the only survivors.
- Slam Tank Part 2
- Rio and the tank are stranded in the Desanian desert and must
find their way to the border while evading capture.
- Watch Out for the Mecha Cop! (メカコップに御用心, Mekakoppu
ni goyoujin
?, [Take Caution from the Mecha-Cop])
- A bank robbery takes place in Neo Tokyo. To avoid being
captured by the police, the thieves raid a local school and take
hostages. The police are trying to handle the situation when a
business man arrives and sends in a robot police squad. They quickly subdue the
criminals using non-lethal force.
Over the next few days, the robotic police show their many other
skills, including the ability to interrogate captives, rescue
kittens from trees and run really, really fast. The human police
force now faces new competition, humanoid robots serving as
policemen! Nanvel and the rest of Team Warrior have their
suspicions. The robots seem to be too advanced to be real.
- Invitation from the Past (過去からの招待状, Kako kara
no shoutaijou
?, [Invitation from the Past])
- Maki dresses the girls up in school uniforms and sends them
into the Mecha Cop factory, claiming they're on a field trip. Using
hidden cameras, they take pictures of everything, hoping to find
the secret behind the malfunctioning robot police. They don't find
much from their search, but they do discover that some very
important people, including the former prime minister, Shiguru
Tonoyama are involved. In the process, Maki discovers that a part
of her past is not as dead as she believed it to be. Miriam Bardo,
a famous fashion designer arrives in Tokyo to put on a fashion
show. It gets cut short, though, when a group of extremely advanced
killer androids attack.
- The Last Stage of Goodbye (訣別のラストステ―ジ,
Ketsubetsu no Rasuto Suteeji
?, [The Last Stage of Partings])
- Harry and Rose introduce the new android weapons to the world.
They have amazing agility, speed and power and can even heal
themselves during battle. Nanvel brings out a new toy, a big pink
rabbit that she rides in and uses to help fight the androids. Team
Warrior must end the terrorist threat, but at what cost?