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Miami Guns
マイアミ☆ガンズ (Maiami Ganzu)
Genre	Parody
Manga
Author	Takeaki Momose
Publisher	Kodansha
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Magazine SPECIAL
Original run	1997 – 1999
Volumes	4
TV anime
Director	Yoshitaka Koyama
Studio	Kodansha
Licensor	AN Entertainment
Network	TBS
Original run	5 February 2000 – 20 May 2000
Episodes	13
Anime and Manga Portal

Miami Guns (マイアミ☆ガンズ, Maiami Ganzu ^?) is a manga and anime series. The anime takes place in Miami City, which is similar to Miami, Florida, except for several locale changes. It's mainly about the life of two female Miami City police officers having to stop crimes before they get worse. The setting thus has some similarities to that of the popular TV show Miami Vice.

Characters

Yao Sakurakouji (桜小路 妖, Sakurakōji Yao ^?)

Yao is the daughter of one of the richest people in Miami City and seems to ask for his money a lot. She is part of the Miami City Police and sometimes is unaware of what danger she's in. She has a love for senseless violence, not to mention a desire to be the center of attention to whatever her whim is. To her, being on the police is just an excuse to shoot people and blow buildings up. She just doesn't care about anyone else... except herself and her partner Lu.

Voiced by: Megumi Toyoguchi (Japanese), Nicole Gibson (English)

Lu Amano (天野 ルウ, Amano Rū ^?)

She is part of the Miami City Police and is a lot more calm and aware of things than her partner, Yao. She seems to always be on top of things. Her father is the Chief of the Miami Police. One of her hobbies is wealth management, and sometimes whenever Yao's dad would cut her off, Lu would lend Yao money... but at a high rate of interest. But otherwise, Lu cares about Yao a lot, and although she doesn't show it, often worries about her.

Voiced by: Yukari Tamura (Japanese), Suzanna Willard (English)

Kaken Masume (科 研 娘, Masume Kaken ^?)

Kaken Masume is a scientist and part of the Miami City Police, but doesn't usually go on missions. She does come with Yao and Lu in episodes like "The Sea! Bikinis! Ghosts!" and "Princess Nokemono". Her clothes features a dart gun in her bow tie, helpful for subduing distraught bystanders... or when used by Yao, to knock out the chief so that she could do her grandstanding.

Voiced by: Rie Tanaka (Japanese), Mary Evans (English)

Chief Amano (署 長 ^?)

He's the Chief of the Miami City Police and is the father of Lu. He's a bit tight with money, especially when payday comes at the department. He also gets a lot of flak about his dated afro hairdo, and would like nothing more than to get rid of Yao.

Voiced by: Mitsuru Ogata (Japanese), Charles Dee Rice (English)

Nagisa Tojo (東條 ナギサ, Tōjō Nagisa ^?)

Believed to be a major player in "the Organization", Nagisa Tojo has been awarded many honors in the past until Yao ruined one of her hugest plans yet. She now plans to take revenge on Yao, but Yao believes her to be her greatest friend and sometimes Nagisa takes advantage of this to find a way to get rid of Yao.

Voiced by: Chiaki Osawa (Japanese), Crystal Waters (voice actor) (English)

Julio Peacemaker (ウォーターメロンマン フリオ, Furio ^?)

A freelance bounty hunter. He refers to himself as a "Messenger of Peace" and travels around with his pet alligator Al. He runs into Yao and Lu in several episodes of the 13-episode series. He seems to sometimes get into Yao's personal space, but she usually treats him as some sort of gigolo.

Voiced by: Akira Ishida (Japanese), Bill Munoz (English)

Al (アル, Aru ^?)

Julio Peacemaker's pint-sized pet alligator. Originally, Al was a test subject in the Tojo Conglomerate's animal-testing labs until he escaped. As a result of the experiments, Al possesses human-level intelligence, for which he uses to help out Julio. He is also very fascinated with panties.

Voiced by: Yukari Tamura (Japanese), Nozomi Shikauchi (English)

Jii (ジ イ ^?)

Jii is Yao's assigned bodyguard. Not much is known about this man: his birthday, country of origin... even his real name. But whatever, he is a loyal servant to the Sakurakougi family, also serving as a butler, mechanic, even a mercenary. He also has a side-job as a professional wrestling trainer.

Voiced by: Tomomichi Nishimura (Japanese), Ralph Redpath (English)

George and Anthony:

They're two gay lovers/commandos who seems to pop up in episodes including "The Sea! Bikinis! Ghosts!" and "Spy! Miami Girls School". It is rumored that they are major players in "the Organization". However, they seem to be more interested in each other than in what vague plans that are in store.

George: Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yokoo (Japanese), Frank Marshall (English)

Anthony: Voiced by: Hiroki Takahashi (Japanese), Josh Batenhorst (English)

Kosuke, Haruki, and Taruko

These three are officers of the Miami Police and seem to get into trouble sometimes.

Kosuke: Voiced by: Hiroki Takahashi (Japanese), Jess Wells (English);

Haruki: Voiced by: Norihisa Mori (Japanese), James Morasso (English);

Takuro: Voiced by: Masaya Takatsuka (Japanese), R.K. Roberson (English)

Mr. Sakurakouji (妖の父, Yao no Chichi ^?)

He is the mysterious father of Yao and doesn't want her to be in the Miami City Police. He'll become angry at Yao from time to time, usually either because of her money problems or because the city is being destroyed because of something she did. He would like to see her off the Miami City Police, but realizes it just get her out of his hair.

Voiced by: Shingo Horii (Japanese), Scott Bailey (English)

Anime episodes

The approximate time is 25 minutes per episode without commercials.

Theme songs

Opening

"SEEDS" by Lastier

Ending

奇蹟の城 (Kiseki no Shiro, Castles of Miracles ^?) by epidemic

DVDs

Miami Guns has been released on DVD by AN Entertainment. The first volume consists of the first four episodes and the three remaining DVDs each have three.

Parodies

Miami Guns parodies and references to other anime and such, like Initial D, Friday the 13th, Saturday Night Live, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Speed Racer and Die Hard with a Vengeance.

Comparing Miami Guns' Miami to the real Miami

While the series takes place in "Miami", there are some things in the anime's Miami that don't fit in with the real Miami, Florida. Such as:

• Many of the signs are in English and Japanese, though the most predominant languages in the real Miami are English and Spanish.

• Majority in the anime Miami are of the Yamato people, and most have Japanese names. The real Miami is mostly composed of Caucasians, Cubans and Caribbean Creoles (generally from Haiti).

• The anime Miami has its own currency, complete with city seal (which resembles that of the real Miami's seal).

• The anime Miami is close by to the desert and mountains, while the real Miami is close by to the Everglades, with the nearest mountains in Cuba and north Georgia, and desert in the western US. Even though an alligator was featured in the series, the Everglades were never featured.

External links

• (Japanese) Official site
• (English) Official site
• AN Entertainment's official Miami Guns site
• Miami Guns (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Miami Guns (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia