Riding Bean (one 45 min episode)
The predecessor to Gunsmith Cats (see a blonde 'Rally Cheyenne' that was the template for the gun toting bounty hunter) Bean Bandit is a criminal driver (like 'the Transporter', only cool and not a smarmy English twit), a near inhumanly powerful hulk of a man who transports anyone anywhere for a price (A very big one) This tale involves a case where Bean gets set up and the entire Chicago Police force comes down on him, and it's up to Bean and his partner Rally to clear his name (well, of the crime he's accused of, not the ones he did do) while fighting psychotic lesbians and obsessive policemen who use Shelly Cobras (another carryover to the GSC series. The Cobra, anyway.) Come to think of it, so were psychotic lesbians. Actually, you'll see where a lot of the GSC manga material was inspired by in this, but it more than holds up on its own.
Guns, broads, car chases, Bean taking enough punishment to kill any three men, and done with style. It's top notch and fast paced, even if the animation is dated by today's standards. Definitely in the GSC vein. In fact, I believe this was slated to be a series, but some trouble with the company that bought the rights torpedoes it, forcing Sanada to center a series on a revised Rally and making Minnie May her partner, rather than Bean (who he was more comfortable writing). This also explains why, when Sanada got the rights back, used Bean so often in the GSC series.
9 out of 10. I highly recommend it and it has a high rewatchability, especially since its so brief. Then again, I bought all of the GSC manga, which makes me something of a fanboy. Most people probably won't rate it as high, but this is a personal thing.
I would like to back up DB's opinion. I haven't seen any of this guy's other works, but I'm looking into it. This was a great movie-OAV-whatever-thing, and the only problem I had with it is that by the end, I wanted to see more. Definitely recommended.
I don't think I'd rate it as high as DB, but I'd definitely recommend Riding Bean. I have heard the original dub was rather awful.
Yeah, I've had good experiences with that series, if not having seen this yet.
Dracos
The dub is hilariously bad. There's a point where they try to sync the voice to the animation, and what you get is:
Bean: You have a...*insert two second pause*...problem?
It's funny to watch moments like that. -Especially- if you're watching with other people that can do commentary along with you on the badness. We watched Riding Bean in english in our anime club one semester in college, as opposed to subbed. It's definitely an experience. ^_^
Actually, I haven't watched it subbed yet, so my only experience was with the series as cheap badness, so I might try to find this and watch it subbed.
I only saw the sub, (luckily in this case), so it should be much more solid and enjoyable if you see it that way. Actually, unless you only have OOP VHS, you'll have that option with the DVD, and I don't know anyone that bootlegs dubs on the internet. :)