Per Wikipedia, Iria: Zeiram the Animation (イ・リ・ア ゼイラム ジ アニメーション, I.R.I.A. Zeiramu Ji Animēshon), stylized as I・Я・I・A ZЁIЯAM THE ANIMATION, is a six-episode original video animation (OVA) anime series produced by Ashi Productions and directed by Tetsurō Amino.
Which I just finished this week courtesy of Hoopla Digital. The title character is a far future Bounty Hunter named Iria (イリア, Iria), pictured below from the title sequences:
She's beautiful in that very specific 1990s anime way. She lives on the rugged planet Myce with her (adopted?) brother Gren. She's learning the ropes of being a professional Bounty Hunter but as the story opens she's merely an apprentice. The story opens as she tries to disrupt a hostage situation and apprehend the perpetrator. She succeeds in doing so, only to have more experienced rival Fujikuro (フジクロ, Fujikuro) swoop in to take the prisoner from her and take credit for the bust....what an asshole!
Iria has to settle for getting credit only for freeing the hostages and ensuring their safety. Meanwhile, her brother Gren (グレン, Guren) is planning a dangerous new mission with his regional supervisor Bob (ボブ, Bobu). Again per Wikipedia: "Bob is an agent of Ghomvak Security & Investigations and brings prime jobs to Glenn and Iria (and elementary jobs to Fujikuro)."
Unfortunately their mission begins to go south immediately. They space jump out to a doomed deep space vessel where a mysterious force has rampaged and killed most of the crew and passengers. This alien force, it turns out, was the "cargo" they were sent to retrieve! Iria follows closely behind against Gren's wishes and gets wrapped up in the most dangerous mission they've yet experienced.
The entire 6 episode OVA series details Iria's ongoing duel to capture or kill Zeiram (ゼイラム, Zeiramu), the "unkillable" killing machine alien that has the ability to assimilate other life forms into its body in the style of Jon Carpenter's The Thing. Along the way Iria makes friends and companions along the way who can help her achieve her goal....Iria lands for refueling and repairs on a resort planet Taowajan, reminiscent of Brazil, with stark inequality between rich and poor. In the favelas of Taowajan, Iria encounters a gang of rowdy children led by the feisty red headed one named Kei. She assumes Kei to be a tween boy, just having reached puberty by the look of him.
Hijinks ensue....leading to some pretty fanservice-y tropes that are nevertheless entertaining....y'know, like how you fall from a great height and land on top of a girl and accidentally break your fall with her tits?
....And well, while we're here, might as well cop a feel while we're at it, right?
Iria is NOT amused!!
At this point, Iria still perceives Kei as a boy, but the main issue is the non-consensual groping.
It is only much later in the series that Fujikuro (フジクロ, Fujikuro) susses out that Kei is actually a girl; he says he can tell by her smell (Ewww!).
If you look at Kei's hair in the above still image, you can detect that it is actually rather girly, but this is harder to perceive while the scene is in fluid motion at normal speed.
So anyway, this revelation re-contextualizes this scene as rather more Sapphic than we realize at first. Naturally I don't "ship" these characters on account of the big age gap, but it does show that tomboy Kei is also probably a budding lesbian if it turns her on a bit to grab another woman's breast.
In any event, Iria and Kei develop more of a Senpai -- Kohai sort of relationship; Mentor and Mentee. Iria reluctantly begins to teach Kei how to become a professional Bounty Hunter like Gren did for her. The student becomes the master and takes on a new student, and the cycle continues.
Kei definitely has a crush on Iria, even if those feelings can't be requited in a romantic way.
I watched Iria: Zeiram the Animation (イ・リ・ア ゼイラム ジ アニメーション, I.R.I.A. Zeiramu Ji Animēshon), stylized as I・Я・I・A ZЁIЯAM THE ANIMATION on the public library digital streaming platform Hoopla Digital with my valid library card(s).
Hoopla is always changing its anime offerings so if you want to see this show, jump on it right away because there's just no telling when it will drop off from Hoopla, never to return.
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