奥美蒂III

《奧美蒂III》及《多重矩陣》

2046年，地球的人口問題造成了火星的被殖民化——在「一類」 機器人的幫助下，人類開始能夠將火星的不友好環境地球化並將聖洛厄爾市建成。殖民開始的七十年後城市建成，裡面還居住著大量的人類和「一類」機器人的大幅改進版本——「二類」機器人。來自芝加哥的中年警察洛斯·塞里巴斯乘太空梭來到聖洛厄爾。塞里巴斯之所以主動要轉業到火星公安局是因為他要逃離他的過去以及那陰魂不散的記憶——他的上個搭檔被機器人所殺。在聖洛厄爾空間港，他遇見了其新搭檔——名為納奧米·奧美蒂的年輕女子。
凱莉·麥克坎農——「宇宙間最後一位鄉村歌手」與塞里巴斯乘坐的是同一架太空梭。當太空梭接近航站樓時，一個謎之男子進入了貨物區；不久，入侵者被發現而警鈴亦隨之響起。
不久，當洛斯下了太空梭時，他目睹了空港的駭人一幕。那男人和他所拖著的那個大行李箱以及他的兩個警衛裝上了他。那之後不久，奧美蒂命令男人們立即停下，舉手投降。洛斯注意到幾滴血從謎之男子的行李箱裡滲了出來。之後兩個機器人警衛由奧美蒂殺死，不過儘管謎之男子受傷了，但他還是跑掉了。然而，他把行李箱落在了機場——箱子裡是凱莉·麥克坎農的屍體。令所有人吃驚且恐懼的是，麥克坎農事實上是台機器人：一種外表與普通人類完全相同的、新型的、之前從未被人所見到過的「三型」機器人。
後來，謎之男子侵入公共電視系統並重放了監控錄影。錄影展示了男子殺死凱莉·麥克坎農的過程並揭示了她是個機器人的事實。謎之男子勒內·丹克勞德透露，三型機器人很久以來一直表現得像是普通人一樣，而沒人能把它們和人類區分開來。他也發布了三型機器人的列表，該列表證明，許多名人事實上都是機器人。當人們開始了捕捉所有他們所能找到的三型機器人並將其付之於火後，城內的暴動也就隨之而開始了。與此同時，勒內·丹克勞德繼續獵殺三型機器人。而兩位主角也開始了他們的調查，調查發現受害者均為女性。
其中一個受害者為了使它們從屠殺中被拯救，在死前給奧美蒂發出了條消息，裡面有三分之一的「三型」機器人名單。奧美蒂收到消息之後便開始追蹤丹克勞德。之後，奧美蒂是個三型機器人的事實被發現，而隨著警察對她的追捕，她開始隱藏其行蹤。在名叫朱利安·摩爾的三型男機器人的幫助下，洛斯找到了她。丹克勞德之後襲擊了他們。
警察以丹克勞德的捕獲為由、結束案件後，奧美蒂與朱利安在數據中心搜索有關其起源的信息。奧美蒂最終擊敗了丹克勞德，但那已太遲了，朱利安還是被殺了。她和洛斯闖入醫院，發現丹克勞德已經康復，而二人則亦已成了罪犯。
不久，奧美蒂與洛斯去找尋奧美蒂的「父親」——朝倉博士。但卻發現其已失去理智，正如一個紳士的、被重編程版本的丹克勞德所解釋的那樣，生活在其所創造的「第四」妄想之中。他們了解到剩下的三分之二的三型機器人原本上是「殺手機器人（Assassinroids）」——具有有機成分的致命機器人，通過偽裝成人類來滲透進安全施設。此計劃目的是重構並增強火星居民的低出生率，計劃其自身便是地球的強女性主義社會的男性移民鼓勵及女性移民阻止之政策所催生的結果。然而，地球側對三型機器人的發現激怒了其領導層，這使火星改變其計劃；地球需要火星消滅三型機器人、而使其女性移民——若不遵守，則地球方將威脅開戰。因此，「殺手機器人」計劃被重激活來獵殺三型機器人，這些三型機器人自其被造出來後便以普通人類之身份生活於火星。
此事實令奧美蒂震驚且沮喪，這讓她從洛斯那裡尋求安慰。而洛斯在在肯定她作為生命的價值後完善了其關係。翌日，在朝倉博士使奧美蒂行為無效化之後，他在奧美蒂的機架上安裝了天使羽翼及粒子炮。之後軍隊將朝倉和奧美蒂殺死，而洛斯最終幹掉了軍隊。數月後，洛斯使用偽造ID返回火星，然而奧美蒂在洛斯·塞里巴斯到達前便甩了他。奧美蒂告訴洛斯說她已經懷上了洛斯的孩子。

已隱藏部分未翻譯部分，歡迎參與翻譯。

Dual-Matrix

It had been several years since the events of the previous OVA. Naomi Armitage and Ross Sylibus, now living under assumed identities, are living in St. Lowell on Mars, along with their daughter Yoko. Ross now works for a company seeking to restore oceans to Mars by using ice asteroids. However, a new effort to restore the Third project prompts Naomi to travel to Earth to figure out what is happening. Meanwhile, Ross saves a facility from a group of terrorists and is declared a Martian hero.
When Armitage arrives on Earth, she confronts Colonel Strings, hero of the First Error, which was a suppression of a robot uprising, which in reality, was to cover up the existence of the Thirds. But then he is shot by agents of an Earth Robotronics Corporation. Its vice president, Demetrio Mardini, asks Armitage to give the data on how Thirds can conceive so humanity can create a race of beings who exist to serve. She refuses so he resorts to force and unleashes a robot that scrambles her eyes. She manages to use her telepresence abilities to hack into its system and overload it. She then escapes but is damaged and is found by a repairer third named Mouse, who prides himself on his skill and frequently brags that he's a "genius". However, Mouse is also an informant to Demetrio and presents the data he found on Armitage; but he only got the recent data and Demetrio wants the conception data. Mouse claims that he did not know about the conception data, and also that if it existed it would be with what he gave him; but Demetrio refuses to believe either of these and tries to brutally force it with two clones of Armitage, who severely injure Mouse. He does not get anything and throws Mouse in the trash. Mouse swears revenge.
Back on Mars, prime minister Fredrick O'Hara sends Ross to Earth to represent the planet in the support of robot rights, promising amnesty from the charges against them. However, Demetrio's agents captured Yoko while Ross was away from the hotel, and is threatened that he will not see Yoko again if he votes for the Rights Bill. With a little reluctance, Ross remains neutral on the bill. Demetrio's agents, however, reveal that they were planning on killing Ross from the start, contrary to their deal. After a car chase, Armitage is able to save him at the very last moment. Together, they vow to rescue their daughter.
They storm Demetrio's compound; Armitage deals with Demetrio while Ross saves Yoko. The same robot Armitage encountered earlier had been upgraded to withstand her telepresence attack. Meanwhile, Ross manages to locate Yoko in a freezer. Elsewhere, Demetrio demands the secret in exchange for forgetting the damages they committed against him and his company. Armitage lures him closer, presumably to tell him what he wants to know; but she ends up kicking him in the crotch and telling him that Third conception is not simply data, it is about true love. With that she escapes again, forcing Demetrio to unleash the clones on her. She manages to evade the two and meets up with Ross and Yoko. Yoko is overjoyed to see her mother but recoils when she sees Armitage's metal shoulder that was scraped off by the clones. Just then, they attack. While Armitage holds them off, Ross and Yoko make their way to an unused space elevator. It is here that Yoko shows that she has a photographic memory, leading them to the space elevator whose location she determined from a map she saw minutes beforehand (Ross comments that she is "quite the little genius"). Soon, Armitage flees to Mouse, who repairs the damage and gives her a program that will allow her to go beyond her limited fighting abilities. He tells her that the password is "Heaven's Door"; but that if she exceeds more than her internal battery can handle, she will "be knocking at the Pearly Gates for real". She also has him do her one more favor: broadcast the footage of the Third massacre attempts all over Earth and Mars (upon seeing it himself, Mouse comments, "I think it's inhuman, and I'm a robot!"). This compels Demetrio to command the clones to prevent the family from leaving. After both clones are beaten, Demetrio tries having the elevator's defenses fired on their shuttle only to be killed by the last remaining clone, who is at the time controlled by what was left of Poly-Matrix's Julian Moore. Without Demetrio's authorization, the turrets do nothing. A hologram of Julian Moore then appears, wishing the family goodbye. The movie ends with the family enjoying a day at the beach on Mars, on Naomi's birthday.
In a post-credits scene, Mouse salvages one of the Armitage clones for himself.

Production

In the text notes on the English DVD edition of Poly-Matrix, Chiaki Konaka, the script writer, says that Armitage III was influenced by H.P. Lovecraft's  story The Dunwich Horror, one of Lovecraft's best known works and a key text in the Cthulhu Mythos; one of the main characters in the tale is a Dr. Armitage.

Release

Armitage III was originally released as a four-episode original video animation (OVA) in Japan between February 25, 1995, and November 25, 1995. Pioneer USA released an English-dubbed version of the OVA series in VHS & LaserDisc format in North America in four volumes, each containing a single episode, between March 29, 1995, and December 5, 1995.  The Region 1 DVD from Geneon of Poly-Matrix was one of the few releases from the company to feature THX-certified audio and video, and it was digitally remixed and remastered for superior picture quality and optimum audio presentation.

Reception

Helen McCarthy in 500 Essential Anime Movies claims that the image quality of Armitage III: Poly-Matrix "isn't up to big screen standards, though it still holds well on home screens". She praises the design and scripts, while saying that the "basic plot is simply a retelling of Pinocchio - the toy that wants to be real, or, in science fiction terms, the robot yearning for love and acceptance as a person, not just a product".