Rating: **
Review Date: 1/8/06
Divided into thirteen installments.
Supporting the increasingly popular trend that sillier is better, "Miami Guns" is the story of two female police officers, Lu and Yao, in the Miami Police force. Think of it as "You're Under Arrest" (1995) on crack. Lu is the smart, quiet, and reserved daughter of the police chief and Yao is a loud, obnoxious, self-absorbed brat, and the not-so-bright daughter of one of the richest men in town. Yao's money bought her into the police force, and she's in it for the car chases, gun fights, and explosions. The series is very parody driven, and pokes fun at all sorts of pop culture icons, including "The Professional" (1994), "The Matrix" (1999), "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968), "Princess Mononoke" (1997), "Golgo 13" (1983), "Initial D", pro wrestling, and Bruce Lee among numerous others. The world of "Miami Guns" is bizarre and inconsistent, taking place in the future after the world has been destroyed and rebuilt. One episode even involves an Old West cowboy town called Miami Western Village. The episodes are mostly one-shot adventures where Yao causes some sort of fiasco and mayhem ensues. In order to support this level of insanity you need extreme characters, and the problem with extreme characters is that they're hard to identify with and are generally not likable. Only in the last couple of episodes do we get a chance to actually care about the characters, but by then it's almost too late to make a difference. The animation and character designs are good, but not particularly interesting or attractive. However, one episode does feature some rather nifty "Initial D" styled computer animated racing action. Lu and Yao (and all of the women in the series) have ridiculously large breasts, but the fan service is thankfully kept to a minimum. Overall, "Miami Guns" is fun, but not particularly memorable.