Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01 (review)

A simulated field test is conducted in an abandoned urban area with the prototype slave trooper MADOX-01 facing off against Type 72 tanks. Thanks to its small size, the MADOX-01 is able to outmaneuver the tanks in a confined area and destroy them all in three minutes. Lt. Kilgore, one of the tank pilots, is furious at the loss. Following the simulation, an American general briefs other officials on how the MADOX-01 has overwhelming combat capability. He notes that it can be deployed from a UH-60 helicopter and is ideal for anti-terrorist and anti-guerrilla operations. The general then introduces the test pilot, Eriko “Ellie” Kusumoto, who is also the lead developer of the Tankbuster software. Kilgore fumes from the sidelines and crushes a soda can. Later, Ellie supervises the loading of Unit 1 on a military truck bound for Ichigaya, with Unit 2 needing an overhaul. Kilgore congratulates Ellie on her victory and she counters that tanks just can’t beat the MADOX-01 in street warfare. Kilgore vows that he’ll get his revenge on the MADOX-01 next time when it’s a real battle. As the convoy drives on a Tokyo highway, the lead car has its tire explode, causing an accident that leads to the MADOX-01’s shipping container to fall off the side of the highway and land in the back of a civilian truck belonging to the Onose Motors repair shop. The next morning, a young mechanic named Koji Sugimoto daydreams while working on a car. Fellow employee Haruo Onose criticizes him for daydreaming and brings him over to the MADOX-01 container in the back of the truck. Koji looks at the label on the side of the container, which in English says “Okawasaki Heavy Industry” and “U.S. Army.” Koji decides to take charge of the container and thinks it must just be junk that someone threw away. Elsewhere, an American officer is furious that the JSDF lost the MADOX-01 in transport during such a stupid traffic accident. A JSDF officer tries to explain, but the American is convinced it was a terrorist attack by the Eastern Bloc. Company president Okawasaki expects reimbursement if the Eastern Bloc does have the MADOX-01, but the American warns that they could also blame him for the accident as a publicity stunt. Another American thinks that this is the worst time for this to have happened because they were just about to begin real field tests. He then rides in an elevator with Ellie and can’t believe that the top brass are still in a panic 14 hours after the incident. Ellie comments that she’s to blame for leaving the MADOX-01 in scramble mode during transport, but she vows to take it down if it’s activated. The general says that it’s best to leave it to the Army to recover, especially since the MADOX-02 is undergoing overhaul. In the command center, the general receives a sitrep and is informed that the JSDF still hasn’t found the container yet. A recovery unit is being formed under the command of Kilgore, and he answers Ellie’s surprise by noting that he’s the only person with experience fighting the MADOX-01. Ellie thinks that’s too dangerous but Kilgore tries to reassure her that his goal is to recover it, not explain it. She counters that it’s too dangerous for Kilgore, not the MADOX-01. He comments that she’s awfully confident in herself and boasts that he has a trump card. After he leaves, another officer comments that Kilgore is a dangerous man but is the best tank driver in the Army. Elsewhere, Onose helps Koji move the container to his rundown apartment and is worried about the heavy container falling through the floor. He then spots a framed photo of Koji with his girlfriend, Shiori Nagura, but he’s confused because he thought they broke up. Onose comments on how cute she is and that Japanese men will be miserable when she leaves to study in England. Koji asks how he knows any of that, and Onose explains that Shiori called this morning and left a message. Koji is upset that Onose didn’t deliver the message earlier, which was for him to meet Shiori at 8:00 p.m. at the observation level of the NSR Building in West Shinjuku. Onose leaves to do other work and asks Koji to let him know if anything interesting is inside the container. Koji opens a side panel on the container and finds an operating manual inside. He thumbs through the manual and follows the instructions to open the container, revealing the MADOX-01.

Koji is amazed by the power suit and keeps reading the instructions to open it up. He searches the manual for info about an escape mechanism and wonders if he can make the thing move. He steps into the MADOX-01 and the slave trooper encloses around him and activates its engines. A helicopter flying over Tokyo detects the MADOX-01’s activation signal in the Nakano district. The MADOX-01 speeds toward Shinjuku out of control and smashes through a bath house. Koji is able to figure out how to brake, but only after crashing into a conbini. Koji then hands a takeout meal to the cashier and asks her to warm it up in the microwave. Outside, he’s able to open the helmet portion of the MADOX-01 but struggles to grip chopsticks with the suit’s hands until he finally gets a piece of shrimp tempura in his mouth. Koji is frustrated that he can’t get out of the MADOX-01 and recalls Shiori telling him that she’d be doing foreign exchange study in England for three years. Koji asked what they would do for three years, and Shiori answered that she wanted to discuss it with him. She said that her father was making her go, and Koji assumed that it was because didn’t want her dating a poor student. Shiori said she was leaving in four days, and Koji answered that it meant they were finished. Koji wonders what Shiori wants and decides he’s still going to meet with her despite being stuck in the MADOX-01. At an American military base, Kilgore’s unit prepares to depart and he tells someone over the radio that the JSDF should be limited to directing traffic. Ellie asks Kilgore if he intends to start a war by using the prototype airborne tank Tarantula and tells him not to turn Tokyo into another Vietnam. Kilgore aims the Tarantula’s cannon at Ellie and says it’s all the same battlefield to him and the perfect environment to destroy the MADOX-01 in. The Tarantula is then loaded into a transport plane and takes off, accompanied by Apache attack helicopters. Ellie briefs her superiors and changes into a pilot suit so she can use the MADOX-00. Koji stops at a gas station and asks an employee to fill him up with diesel fuel. He then takes off down the street to head for the building, while Shiori rides the subway. A car full of punks crashes into the MADOX-01 and knocks Koji off the road. He then catches up with them and uses the MADOX-01’s wings to slice off their roof. Koji then moves through a crowded area in Shinjuku and spots several men in black suits following him. He realizes that they must want to take back the MADOX-01 and tries to get away, but his path is blocked by a military jeep. Bystanders watch the confrontation and wonder if it’s all part of a TV show. Koji rips the engine out of a taxi and tosses it at the jeep, which sends the soldiers scrambling. An Apache approaches from above and opens fire on the MADOX-01, which automatically responds by firing a Gatling gun. The helicopter explodes and crashes onto the ground, and Koji is shocked by what the MADOX-01 has done on its own. Two more Apaches open fire on Koji, and he protests his innocence while trying to speed away. Ellie is briefed on the situation and launches from a cargo helicopter in the MADOX-00. A tank blockade forces Koji to change course, so he ends up crashing through a subway entrance down into the station. He opens the helmet to catch his breath and thinks about time spent with Shiori. Koji wonders which way the NSR Building is and looks at the station map to find a route. The MADOX-00 smashes into the station and Koji falls back before the MADOX-01 turns and fires its Gatling gun at Ellie. He then tries to exit the station because the NSR Building is in front of him, but his path is blocked by an attacking Apache. He heads back into the station and is shot twice by Ellie, causing the MADOX-01 to fall to the ground. Ellie calls Koji over the radio and asks what he’s trying to accomplish with all this chaos, but he accuses them of causing the chaos. Ellie orders him to surrender because there’s no escape, but Koji counters that he won’t know until he tries. He fires his Gatling and hits a power box, plunging the corridor in darkness. He’s able to spot the MADOX-00 on infrared and open fire on it, but Ellie dodges his attack and returns fire. Koji falls back before charging in and slamming into the MADOX-00 and knocking it through the wall into an underground parking garage.

Elsewhere, the transport plane prepares to drop Kilgore’s Tarantula in front of the NSR Building. The plane flies low and drops the Tarantula in front of the building, which Kilgore thinks is the perfect venue for a rematch with the MADOX-01. Koji gets up and finds that he’s in the garage under the NSR Building. Koji tries to walk away, but Ellie fires a grappling hook at the MADOX-01 and starts reeling it in. Koji uses the MADOX-01’s right pincer hand to snap the grappling hook line and break free, which allows him to attack Ellie at close-range. She comments that she thought he was just a civilian but decides she doesn’t need to treat him like one anymore. She knocks Koji into a car and he responds by firing his Gatling gun, but she dodges and hides behind a concrete pillar. The Gatling gun finally runs out of ammo, so Ellie emerges from cover and tells Koji that playtime is over. She tries to stab Koji with a spike, but he grapples onto her arm to keep her at bay. She then uses a manipulator hand to open a hatch on the MADOX-01 and turn off the power. The helmet opens as the MADOX-01 hits the ground and Ellie is surprised that Koji is so young. She opens her hatch and asks Koji who is and what he’s doing, and he gives his name and says that he’s a sophomore at the Kanto Institute of Technology. He also says he’s trying to meet a girl at the top of the NSR Building and that it’s the MADOX-01 causing all the problems. He explains that he got stuck inside it and that it shot down a helicopter all on its own. Ellie tells Koji that he’s been very irresponsible but that she’s also to blame. Kilgore calls Ellie and she tells him he won’t get to fight. He watches her over the surveillance video from the camera in the garage and tells her to pull back so he can make the pickup, but she refuses to hand Koji over to him. Kilgore reluctantly agrees to let Ellie do what she wants and asks his men where the civilians are in the building, and he’s told only on the top floor. On the top floor, Shiori calls Koji’s apartment and gets no answer. Ellie and Koji get into a service elevator and he asks if she can take him up to the 50th floor for a moment. Ellie asks what’s so important and Koji wonders why he’s so frantic. The elevator door opens on the first floor where a bunch of waiting American soldiers fire machine guns and bazookas, one of which hits the MADOX-00 in the leg. A soldier reports back to Kilgore that they took out the MADOX-00 and asks if that was the right thing to do. Koji asks Ellie if she’s okay and what’s going on, and she answers that Kilgore is intent on destroying the MADOX-01. She tells Koji that he’ll have to defeat Kilgore if he wants to live, but he thinks that’s impossible. Ellie can’t help because the MADOX-00’s left leg was destroyed, but she thinks Koji can win because he did well in their fight. Ellie gives Koji a few quick pointers as he ejects his Gatling and takes her rifle as replacement. He exits the elevator in a parking garage level and comes under fire from Kilgore’s Tarantula. The tank slams into the MADOX-01 and tries to push it off the side of the building. Koji knocks the Tarantula on its side and tries to escape in a passenger elevator, but his weight is too high. An Apache then opens fire on him, forcing him back inside the garage, where the Tarantula has righted itself. Kilgore opens fire again and gives chase, using the Tarantula’s mobility to climb stairs. Koji walks through a corridor and wonders what floor he’s on. He then reaches a window and spots Shiori several floors above, but just then Kilgore fires multiple blasts at him. Koji gets up with the damaged MADOX-01 and uses his sensors to locate Kilgore in the garage. He smashes through a wall and rushes toward Kilgore, ripping out one of the tank treads and firing his rifle. Kilgore follows Koji to an interior bridge and opens fire. Since Koji’s shots can’t penetrate the Tarantula’s armor, he instead starts shooting at the floor to destroy the bridge. Kilgore fires two grappling hooks onto the MADOX-01 and clings to the side of the building as the bridge falls away. Koji then turns a handle to eject himself from the MADOX-01, causing it and the Tarantula to fall nearly 50 stories. Koji then limps over to Shiori and falls to the floor. She asks if he’s okay and he says he’s pretty beat up. He apologizes for making her wait so long and says he has something to tell her.