Appleseed is an anime film, directed by Shinji Aramaki and originally released in Japan on May 17, 2004. It is based on the characters created by Masamune Shirow in the original Appleseed manga series that was published in 1985. Although it shares some characters with the original series, this film's storyline is not connected to it.
SummaryAppleseed takes place at the end of World War III in the year 2131, where most of the world has been devastated by non-nuclear weapons. Deunan Knute, a powerful and highly skilled soldier is still fighting, unaware that the war has already ended.
During a battle, Deunan is rescued by her former lover Briareos (whose body was turned into a cyborg after an accident that nearly left him for dead) and taken to the gigantic metropolis of Olympus, a utopia on Earth where humanity and artificial humans called "Bioroids" live in peaceful coexistence. Most of the city is also maintained by the Supercomputer "Gaia" and the Seven Elders. At Olympus, she begins a new life as a member of the police force E-SWAT and befriends a Bioroid named Hitomi.
However, the coexistence between Humans and Bioroids is an uneasy one, and a brewing conspiracy threatens the existence of Humans and Bioroids worldwide. The only hope against this crisis lies with "Appleseed." However, it lies in a painful and buried part of Deunan's past. Deunan also has an uneasy time dealing with her relationship with Briareos. Will Deunan finally face her past and find the key to end the turbulent Human/Bioroid conflict?
Athena AreiosAs prime minister of Olympus, Athena Areios has a very tough job... but then again, she is a VERY tough woman. A first-generation Bioroid, she doesn't have the emotional limitations that other Bioroids have, so she has more latitude to pursue unconventional avenues, like the finding of Deunan Knute. But she has to be careful, for not only are the seven elders are watching her, but so is General Uranus, and she cannot afford any missteps.
There was another reason that Athena was so obsessed in finding Deunan. A long time ago, she had worked closely with the creator of the Bioroids, Deunan's mother Dr. Gilliam Knute, and had also taken care of the young Deunan, so finding her is a personal one, mostly out of honor to her creator.
After Dr. Knute's death, Athena had lost track of Deunan, as her father had taken her and trained her as a soldier. Athena knows that Deunan has in her possession the secrets for reactivating the Bioroid's reproductive cycle, also known as 'Appleseed', so she has to make sure that Deunan can recover the lost information... or all Bioroid life is doomed.
Briareos HecatonchiresBriareos Hecatonchries was originally a soldier fighting a non-nuclear war for which almost the whole of the world was devastated. He was also the lover of "the Goddess of War", Deunan Knute, and the two often fought and watched each others backs.
A year before Deunan's arrival at Olympus, Briareos was gravely injured in North Africa... so much so that when he was rescued by ESWAT, over seventy-five percent of his body had to be totally replaced in a cybernetic shell.
Briareos, along with ESWAT, and the Bioroid Hitomi, was instrumental in rescuing Deunan after her platoon was wiped out by mercenaries, and brought her to Olympus. However, Briareos is hiding something. Does it happen to be related to General Uranus' planned coup against the Bioroid? And why rescue Deunan... unless it happens to relate to the secret of Deunan's past.
Colonel HadesCol. Hades works closely with Gen. Uranus in Olympus' regular army. Like Uranus, he has a great disturst of Bioroids. However, his distrust twisted itself into an all-consuming hatred, which made him construct a secret army of landstrider mechas to launch an attack on the Bioroid Care Center, not to mention inlist the help of Briareos as a spy.
In his youth, Hades was a member of Los Angeles' S.W.A.T. team. However, his rash manner caused him to be kicked-out of that team by Carl Knute, Deunan's father. Since then, he hated the Knute family, and regreted that he wasn't the one who killed Carl. That hatred is intensified by the fact that part of Carl's D.N.A. is in everyone of the Bioroids created.
Deunan KnuteFor most of her life, Deunan Knute had fought a war that was, for the most part, over. She only knew that the war was over when she was captured by her former lover, Briareos (who was now a cyborg) and the Bioroid Hitomi, who had taken her away from her bleak existence to the utopia that was Olympus.
For someone who had known a hard life, life in Olympus seemed a dream to Deunan. For the first time in her life, her heart had known peace. She was placed in the ESWAT team along with Briareos, which valued her combat experience. However, a rose like utopia did have it's thorns. General Uranus, head of Olympus' army, a human and Bioroid hater, was planing a coup-de-etat of Olympus, and the key to stopping this was something called "Appleseed', which has something to do with Deunan's past.... but what was it?
General Edward Uranus IIIGeneral Edward Uranus III is the supreme commander of Olympus' regular army. He greatly distrusts the Bioroids, so much so that he is willing to start a coup de etat in order to wipe them out!
However, unlike Col. Hades, Uranus is not ruled by irrationality. He was a good friend of the Knute family, especally Deunan's father Carl, and deeply regretted the death of Dr. Gilliam Knute.
HitomiHitomi has the unique duty of finding soldiers who had survived the last war on Earth, so that they may be able to defend Olympus and its citizens as part of E.S.W.A.T..
Hitomi's emotions may be suppressed, but some of those emotions arouse her curiosity - especially love. In fact, when she's not on duty, she often wonders what it would it be like to be in love. Hate, however... especially exhibited by Olympus' all-human regular army towards the Bioroids, disturbs and annoys her.
But now, Hitomi's life may be threatened. During Col. Hades' attack on the Bioroid Care Center, the section which also attended to the Bioroids' life extension treatments was also destroyed. Because their reproductive systems were inhibited, Bioroids require periodic life extension treatments. Without them, they would face rapid ageing and death. Hitomi was three days late for hers and now she faces death... unless her new friend Deunan Knute can find Appleseed.
NikeWorking closely as Prime Minister Athena Areios' chief of staff, Nike also commands Olympus's E.S.W.A.T. division. Unlike her older superior, Nike's emotions are carefully regulated by the seven elders. However, her loyalty to the Bioroid's cause - the preservation and salvation of humanity - still remains very strong.
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