Mad Bull 34

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Mad Bull 34


caption = "Mad Bull 34 Part 3 - City of Vice" VHS box art.
ja_name = マッド☆ブル34
ja_name_trans =
genre = Action, Crime fictionInfobox animanga/Manga
title =
author = Koike Kazuo
illustrator = Inoue Noriyoshi
publisher = Shueisha
demographic = Seinen
magazine = Young Jump
first = 1986
last = 1990
volumes = 27Infobox animanga/OVA
title =
director = Satoshi Dezaki
studio = Magic Bus
episodes = 4
released = 1991

nihongo|"Mad Bull 34"|マッド・ブル34 is a manga series written by Koike Kazuo and illustrated by Inoue Noriyoshi, serialized in Shueisha's "Young Jump" between 1986 and 1990 and collected in 27 volumes. The series follows the toughest cop in the NYPD's 34th precinct, Mad Bull, and his often-violent exploits when dealing the city's criminals.

"Mad Bull" was adapted into a four part original video animation in 1991. A sequel manga, nihongo|"Mad Bull 2000"|マッド・ブル 2000 began in 1999.

Plot

Daizaburo "Eddie" Ban, a Japanese-American, joins New York City's toughest precinct, the 34th. On his first day he is partnered up with John Estes, called Sleepy by his friends and Mad Bull by his enemies, a cop who stops crime with his own violent brand of justice. Mad Bull makes no qualms about executing common thieves with shotgun blasts if they even pose a minor threat. Mad Bull often steals from prostitutes and does incredible amounts of property damage while fighting crime. Mad Bull's unpoliceman-like behavior often puts him in hot water with his partner Daizaburo and the 34th precinct. However, despite how reckless or illegal these acts are, a good cause is always revealed (for example, Sleepy uses the money he steals from the prostitutes to fund a venereal disease clinic and a home for battered and raped women). Perrine Valley, a police lieutenant, joins Daizaburo and Sleepy later on to help them tackle more difficult cases involving the mafia and drug-running.

Characters

;Sleepy John Estes (a.k.a. Mad Bull)The titular character. A giant-of-a-man police officer who works for the 34th precinct police department. He runs a prostitution ring in the 34th precinct which makes him a target by other gang bosses wanting to take over the territory. Despite Sleepy's penchant for going beyond the law and doing things that could make Sleepy in tune to being a crooked cop, Sleepy always has good intentions within the law in his otherwise unusual ways to fight the war on crime. As Sleepy's family was murdered by gangsters when he was only fourteen, his goal is to kill every gang boss in New York and rid the city of organized crime.

;Daizaburo Eddie BanA Japanese-American who is Sleepy's partner. Daizaburo is the foil for Sleepy as he rather do things by the book whereas Sleepy would rather stop crime by murdering the criminals. In the beginning of the manga, Daizaburo is used mostly as comic relief, but later on this role is transferred to Sleepy as his antics become more and more absurd. Daizaburo quickly falls in love with Lieutenant Perrine Valley.

;Perrine ValleyA lieutenant of the 34th Precinct, she helps Sleepy and Daizaburo on some of the more difficult missions. She eventually marries Daizaburo, first in a scheme concocted by Sleepy in an effort to bring a critically injured Daizaburo out of a coma. Later, she, Daizaburo, and Sleepy are kidnapped by cowboy assassins and are married once again after the previous marriage was presumably annulled.

;Chief AlanThe chief of the 34th Precinct. He and Sleepy often butt heads due to Sleepy's "creative" police work. Chief Alan often fantasizes about Sleepy being murdered because of all the trouble Sleepy causes him.

;Nickel the ElectricianAn inventor with a vendetta against Mad Bull and has ties with the New York underworld. Develops devices ranging from guns built into hard hats to shotguns that strap onto cats. A diabetic addicted to canned coffee that has a particular odor that smells like a mix of sugar and urine. Although his name is romanized in the manga as 'Nickel', his name could be translated as 'Nichol', perhaps a reference to actor Jack Nicholson who the character closely resembles.

Anime adaptation

The anime adaptation was composed of four, 50-minute OVAs released in 1991. It selected four different stories from the "Mad Bull 34" manga and maintained its high level of violence.

The OVA has also been released and dubbed for American audiences by Manga Entertainment, however, they have only been released on VHS. Keith Burgess, the head of Manga Entertainment, said several years ago that he intends to release the entire series on DVD. However, in 2006, Manga announced that they had lost the license to the series, making any sort of official DVD release impossible. The series has not been re-licensed by any other American company.

Reception

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External links

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NYPD