Goku II: Midnight Eye VHS

Goku Furinji is a former police detective who now works as a private investigator in a futuristic, cybernetically enhanced Tokyo. Investigating a series of apparent suicides among police officers working a weapons-dealing case, he is nearly killed by a woman with supernatural abilities — and wakes up with a cybernetic implant where his left eye used to be. The eye can interface with and control any computer system in the world. He also finds he now carries a telescoping staff of seemingly impossible properties. Someone gave him these things. He does not know who or why.

The second OVA — Goku II — sends him against Hakuryu, a physically enormous crime lord who has turned himself into a living weapon through extreme cybernetic modification, and whose vendetta connects to Goku's transformed eye. 

Goku: Midnight Eye is a two-episode OVA directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri — the director of Wicked City, Ninja Scroll, Demon City Shinjuku, A Wind Named Amnesia, Kite, Birdy the Mighty, and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust — produced by Madhouse and adapting Buichi Terasawa's manga. Both OVA episodes were released in Japan in 1989. The original manga was serialized in Comic Burger magazine and published by Gentosha across three Japanese volumes; the English license was held by Comics One and later DrMaster. The protagonist is loosely named after Sun Wukong, the Monkey King of Journey to the West.

The Urban Vision VHS release in the United States was July 18, 2000, across two individual dubbed volumes. This is the second volume — Goku II. The Urban Vision English dub features Steve Blum as Goku, alongside Rebecca Forstadt, Wendee Lee, and Kirk Thornton. Urban Vision later lost the rights; Discotek Media re-licensed the OVA and released both episodes on Blu-ray on October 31, 2023. 

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Wicked City, Ninja Scroll, A Wind Named Amnesia, Kite, Birdy the Mighty, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust)
Original Manga: Buichi Terasawa (Space Adventure Cobra, Kabuto; serialized in Comic Burger, Gentosha)
Screenplay: Ryūzō Nakanishi & Buichi Terasawa
Studio: Madhouse (Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Metropolis, Chobits, Claymore, Kaiba, Paprika)
Music: Kazuhiko Toyama & Yukihide Takekawa

Japanese Cast:
- Kaneto Shiozawa as Goku Furinji (Armitage III OVA — B.D., Gate Keepers — Reiji Kageyama TV series, Revolutionary Girl Utena additional cast)
- Yuriko Yamamoto as Yoko
- Tessho Genda as Hakuryu (Gate Keepers, Z.O.E. Dolores I, Metropolis, Akira)

English Dub Cast (Urban Vision, 2000):
- Steve Blum as Goku Furinji (Cowboy Bebop, Mahoromatic, Moldiver, Noir, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Akame ga Kill!)
- Jeff Harding as Goku (episode 2 only)
- Rebecca Forstadt as additional cast (Mahoromatic, Tenchi Forever, Love Hina, Akira 2001 dub)
- Wendee Lee as additional cast (El-Hazard, Tenchi Universe, Gestalt, Kurogane Communication, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust)
- Kirk Thornton as additional cast (Kurogane Communication, Saint Tail, WXIII Patlabor)
- Michael Sorich as Chief / Dr. Yamazaki / additional cast

VHS Features (Urban Vision)

- English Dubbed — Single Episode per VHS Volume
- Note: This is Volume 2 (Goku II). Volume 1 (Goku) also available separately. Both volumes are now out of print. Discotek Media Blu-ray (October 31, 2023) collects both episodes remastered.

Spoken Language: English Dubbed (Urban Vision dub, 2000)

Edition Details

Japanese Title: ゴクウ II MIDNIGHT EYE (Gokū Tsū Midnight Eye / Goku II: Midnight Eye)
Runtime: ~50 Minutes (single OVA episode)
Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri
VHS Release Year: 2000 (U.S. Release, July 18 — Urban Vision Entertainment, 2-volume dubbed VHS series); out of print; Discotek Media Blu-ray reissue October 31, 2023
Original Release Date (Japan): December 22, 1989
Publisher: Urban Vision Entertainment (out of print)
Format: VHS (NTSC)
Rating: 16+
Genre: Cyberpunk, Action, Sci-Fi
Themes: Cybernetic Detective Eye, Future Tokyo, Yoshiaki Kawajiri Noir Aesthetic, Monkey King Name Reference, Madhouse 1989 OVA

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.