Mad Bull 34 | |
マッド★ブル34 (Maddo Buru Sanjūyon) | |
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Genre | Action[1] |
Manga | |
Written by | Kazuo Koike |
Illustrated by | Noriyoshi Inoue |
Published by | Shueisha |
English publisher |
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Magazine | Weekly Young Jump |
Demographic | Seinen |
Original run | 1985 – 1991 |
Volumes | 27 |
Original video animation | |
Directed by | Satoshi Dezaki |
Written by |
|
Music by |
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Studio | Magic Bus |
Licensed by |
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Released | December 21, 1990 – August 21, 1992 |
Runtime | 45 minutes |
Episodes | 4 |
Manga | |
Mad Bull 2000 | |
Written by | Kazuo Koike |
Illustrated by | Noriyoshi Inoue |
Published by | Shueisha |
Magazine | Manga Allman |
Demographic | Seinen |
Original run | 1999 – 2002 |
Volumes | 7 |
Mad Bull 34 (マッド★ブル34, Maddo Buru Sanjūyon) is a Japanese manga series written by Kazuo Koike and illustrated by Noriyoshi Inoue, serialized in Shueisha's Young Jump between 1985 and 1991, and collected in 27 tankōbon volumes. The series follows the violent exploits of the toughest cop in the NYPD's 34th Precinct, "Sleepy" John Estes – known to his enemies as "Mad Bull" – and his partners, Daizaburo "Eddie" Ban and Perrine Valley.
Mad Bull 34 was adapted into a four-part original video animation released from December 21, 1990 to August 21, 1992. A sequel manga, Mad Bull 2000 (マッド・ブル 2000) began in 1999.
Discotek Media has released the first English language DVD release of Mad Bull 34 on 26 February 2013 in North America, and includes both the original Japanese version with subtitles and the old Manga Entertainment English dub. Of particular note is that they were able to retain the ending theme composed and performed by James Brown.
Daizaburo "Eddie" Ban, a Japanese-American police officer, joins New York City's toughest precinct, the 34th. On his first day he is partnered up with John Estes, nicknamed "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, even if they pose a minor threat. He often steals from prostitutes and does incredible amounts of property damage while fighting crime. Mad Bull's un-policeman-like behavior often puts him in hot water with his partner Daizaburo and the 34th precinct. However, despite how reckless and illegal these acts are, a good cause is always revealed (for example, Sleepy uses the money he steals from prostitutes to fund a sexual health clinic and domestic violence shelter). Perrine Valley, a police lieutenant, joins Daizaburo and Sleepy later on to help them tackle more difficult cases involving the mafia and drug-running.
A four-episode original video animation (OVA) by Magic Bus and directed by Satoshi Dezaki,[2] was released from December 21, 1990 to August 21, 1992.[3][4]
Manga Entertainment released the series with an English dub on four VHSes between March 19 to September 24, 1996.[5][6][7][8] Eventually, the license for the series was picked up by Discotek Media in 2012, and was released in 2013. Discotek on Twitter posted in December 2020 that they no longer hold the license for Mad Bull.[9]