Roujin-Z

Written and designed by AKIRA creator Katsuhiro Otomo, this socially conscious adult cartoon might be a letdown for Japanimation buffs in search of demon sex and postapocalyptic high jinks. But there's enough cockeyed humor, throwaway paranoia and crosscultural weirdness here to tickle jaded palates. Doddering oldster Mr. Takazawa is "volunteered" to test the Z-001, a computer-controlled, nuclear-powered cocoon designed to relieve society of the burden of caring for nasty, wrinkly old people. Naturally, it creates more trouble than it solves: Takazawa's late wife co-opts the machine's circuits and shows decadent Tokyo what an old lady can do with several tons of st...