S-Cry-Ed - The Lost Ground (Vol. 1)
Twenty-two years earlier, the Kanagawa region of Japan was devastated by a  major earthquake; the most seriously damaged area was the "Lost Ground." A  small percentage of the inhabitants are Alter Users, people with the psychic  ability to manipulate matter and create alternatemechaforms of  themselves. Hot-tempered, red-haired Kazuma is a powerful Alter who defies  authority. His attitude brings him into conflict with HOLY, the special  police force recruited from the Alters. Kazuma, whose Alter is robotic fist,  defies Ryuho, a martinet whosemechafights with ribbonlike  tentacles. Their duel is complicated by the arrival of Mimori, a brilliant  physician who believes in compassion and equality. Although most of the  characters are interesting, a few too many appear in the first episodes.  Well-paced and well directed,s-CRY-edranks among the more original  anime series of recent years. (Rated 13 and older: violence, mild profanity)--Charles Solomon