Legendary animation, high-stakes action, and thrilling sci-fi adventure converge in this ’90s gem that deserves renewed recognition.
It was a great time for anime in the late 1990s, and Spriggan (sometimes called Span) was one of the most artistically ambitious shows of the decade. The 1998 movie, which was based on the novel with the same name by Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa, boiled down an 11-volume series into a single, fast-paced plot. Even though it was only about an hour and a half long, the movie showed off the skills of Studio 4C, which is known for pushing the limits of animation.
Director Hirotsugu Kawasaki wasn’t well known for directing movies, but he had worked as an important animator on many famous movies, such as Ninja Scroll, Record of Lodoss War, and even the groundbreaking Akira. Katsuhiro Otomo, the creative force behind Akira, was in charge of overseeing the picture.
The anime gave it prestige and careful attention to detail.
It’s easy to see Otomo’s impact in the movie’s kinetic energy, fluid action, and recurring themes of young people with psychic abilities who have to deal with hugely destructive forces. Spriggan’s story is based around O Parts, which are mysterious artifacts from old civilizations that contain technology that humans today can’t even begin to understand. There are many of these items all over the world.
They have a lot of power and could change or destroy the world if they got into the wrong hands. One of the manga’s early stories is turned into a movie. It’s about the famous Noah’s Ark, but it’s seen as an old super-technology that can control the environment itself.
At the beginning of the story, a group of researchers finds Noah’s Ark in the mountains of Turkey. It’s not the wooden boat from the Bible, but a huge, kaiju-sized artifact full of technology that no one can explain. The fact that the team is attacked almost right away by unknown enemies shows how dangerous this world is.
Here comes Omai, a young agent of the mysterious group Arkham, whose job it is to keep these old artifacts safe from both governments and private groups. As a Spriggan, Omai has been through a lot of training and is very good at fighting. He also has a special exosuit that makes him stronger, faster, and smarter.
The bad guys are very different and scary. Colonel McDougall, a child who was changed in experiments to give him scary psychic powers, is a key character. In contrast to a pawn, McDougall acts on his own and wants to use the Ark’s power to achieve his own godlike goals. This makes the war for control of the Ark more complicated than just a fight for control of the Ark.
There is an ongoing fight about a philosophical argument about what it means to be human and the risks of having too much power. The action scenes are more exciting and thrilling when you support evil guys like the cybernetically enhanced Fat Man and the quick, wire-wielding Little Boy.
Each of them gives Omai and his friends a different set of problems to solve in battle. Omai is an interesting main character. Due to its short length, the movie only briefly touches on his past, but it gives us just enough information to understand his goals and morals.
Omai is a mix of human skill and technological advancement. He is good with guns and knows how to use the exosuit precisely.
He is similar to Akira’s psychic youths but based in a more tactical, military-style realism. John Jackmand, his friend, is a major character in the manga, but he isn’t as important in the movie. He’s mostly there to help with action scenes and doesn’t have any deep personal stories.
The plot moves in a way that is typical of high-stakes adventures. The first finding leads to more and more conflict, which ends with the confrontation with McDougall. As the story goes on, it alternates between instruction and action, slowly showing what the Ark can do and how it threatens our very existence.
Some parts of the story, like Omai’s full backstory and how Arkham’s actions affect people all over the world, are still not fully explored, but the pace stays fast.
The shortened version can make people want more detail, but it also keeps the movie from going on too long. As a whole, the movie is about desire, the morality of technology, and how the lines between science and religion aren’t always clear. By showing godlike objects in the context of human society, Spriggan gets people to think about whether myths and religious stories might have come from advanced technologies that are no longer used.
This idea adds philosophical depth even when the action is nonstop. Animation is where Spriggan really shines, and it’s still one of the most lasting things about the movie. Studio 4C pushed the limits of hand-drawn animation by making over 85,000 separate animation cells for the project. This is an amazing number that shows how much they cared about visual accuracy.
Traditional 2D techniques are used in the movie along with carefully placed CG parts, which were very new in 1998. The end result is a smooth, unified look where every movement is perfectly captured, from intense fight scenes to small details in the surroundings.
Especially the action scenes are stunning. In Omai’s first meeting in Turkey, he fights enemy soldiers who are dressed as civilians. Conflict extended to other cities, creating a symphony of violence and movement. Omai and John Jackmand eventually fight Fat Man and Little Boy at the Ark dig. This scene shows how well the film uses speed, perspective, and movement.
The exosuit scenes, especially Omai’s famous punch that splits a truck in half, show not only how strong the characters are but also how powerful the animation details are: sparks, debris, and motion blur create a sense of touch that was rarely seen in movies of the time.
The movie is even better because it pays attention to small, dramatic details. Every shot has a sense of life, from the rising smoke from cigarettes to the tracks in the snow. Even things that don’t change, like Omai taking apart a gun or studying ammo, become visually interesting. The lighting, backgrounds, and environmental effects all work together to make the world feel real, living, and believable.
The film’s fame is mostly based on its visuals, but the sound design works well with them.
The music adds to the excitement, action, and drama without ever taking away from the visuals. Gunfire, explosions, and even small sounds from the surroundings, like moving objects or wind, add to the realism and immersion. Voice acting, mostly in Japanese, keeps the characters’ realism and gives them more depth, especially when they are in conflict or having to make a moral choice.
The way the sounds and animation work together is especially clear during fight scenes.
Each punch, explosion, and mental wave feels like it has a real physical effect, which raises the stakes and makes things more intense. The music and sound design keep the excitement high even when the plot is explained, so the story never loses its flow.
The 1998 movie Spriggan is enjoyable for both casual watchers and anime fans. It has a simple and sometimes underdeveloped story, but it is an exciting adventure with memorable characters and deep philosophical questions about how people relate to power and technology.
The action never stops, the main characters are interesting, and the bad guys are all different and interesting, making for a movie experience that is a good mix of show and story. But the animation is what really makes the movie stand out and makes it a true secret gem.
It was before fully CGI-driven anime took over, but Spriggan showed what careful hand-drawn animation could do. Even after all these years, its fights, environmental detail, and kinetic scenes are still amazing. Every frame shows Studio 4C’s dedication to their work, from the destructive chaos of urban fighting to quiet moments of technical perfection.
It’s easy to see why the movie has some problems, mostly because it’s a shortened version of a long manga series.
Backstories of characters and more in-depth world-building are often skimmed over, which leaves some story questions tantalizingly unexplained. But this shortness also helps the movie move quickly and be easy to understand. The story never drags, and the philosophical questions it brings up—about human desire, divine power, and old technology—are handled in a way that makes the tension stronger, not weaker.
Finally, Spriggan is more than just an action cartoon from the 1990s; it shows how talented and driven the people who made it were. In addition to nostalgia, sci-fi, adventure, and high-quality animation lovers should see it for its technical and artistic achievements.
When imagination, skill, and careful craftsmanship combine, anime may shine like the 1998 film. Netflix’s adaption may boost its popularity.. What’s more, it makes people want more, which shows that even though it’s only a short movie, Spriggan can leave an effect.
