What do you get when you blend SCANNERS, CHINATOWN, and BLADE RUNNER? I don't know. But if you take those three and throw them into a food processor with a block of cheese you get PSYCHO DIVER.
This movie tries too hard. Normally, this would not ruin a genre flick, but this one aspired to be too many different types. Bloody action, film noir, hard sci-fi; all the ingredients were there, but it just didn't mix well. That's too bad, really, because films about psychotherapists with exploding heads are hard to come by these days...
The plot flowed well, with at least a modicum of plausibility. But the narrative voice, fight scenes, and predictability made the whole thing come off like an R-rated MIKE HAMMER episode. Besides, a show about a guy who "dives" into people's minds should have more than two such scenes, and it would've been nice if they'd been interesting at the least. I suppose a mere 45 minutes isn't long enough for more, but that just shows how little there was to work with in the first place.
Perhaps most of that would've been overlooked if it weren't for the narration. To be fair, it's a tricky thing to pull off in any movie. Dramatic narration in modern film is rare not because it's hard to do, it's just hard to do well. More often than not it sounds trite, too expositional, and just plain goofy. (Remember how much better the Director's cut of BLADE RUNNER was?)
Again, this might not have sunk the movie if it weren't for the narrator. The Japanese original was probably better, because the script itself was passable, but Michael Scott Ryan's read as Bosujima (spelled Busujima on screen; go figure) was dead. Not dead on, not dead solid, just dead. I understand the long tradition of the hardbitten detective who shows no emotion and takes all kinds of trauma with a stoic elegance. I love that stuff. Robert Mitchum did it. Humphrey Bogart did it. Heck, even Stacy Keach wasn't bad at it. But Mr. Ryan just couldn't do it. He came off sounding like he'd been forced to read the part with a hangover. He has a wonderful voice, but it didn't work for this particular role. Surprisingly, the other voice actors were all appropriately cast and performed quite well. It's too bad the one weak link happened to be the lead part...
PSYCHO DIVER's art is good, with clean lines and extensive use of shadow for a fittingly dark atmosphere. Of interesting note: no one in this movie can run well. All the sequences involving a full body shot with running characters look ridiculous. They look like they're auditioning for a SCOOBY DOO chase scene. The few vehicles were uninteresting and the dance sequences were stilted, but this show isn't about gadgets and eye candy. Again, too bad; it could've used some.
The main character's "patient" is a pop singer, so the music is a bit more important than usual. (What am I saying? Most anime flicks seem to have at least two or three idol singers these days...) And while the music itself is better than average, the English lyrics were uninspired and forced. Again, I can't help but wonder how much better the original might have been, but I'm not sure it'd be worth a second viewing to try out the subtitled version. In any case, I'd suggest watching the latter instead, since it can't be any worse than the dub.
I've seen a lot of good English dubbed anime lately, and that has both surprised and delighted many of us. But it would be naive to think that all translated anime will now sound as good as EVANGELION or GHOST IN THE SHELL. Sometimes it just doesn't come together.

PSYCHO DIVER "Soul Siren" Copyright © 1995 Hosono Fujihiko / Comic Burger / Toei Video / Goodhill Vision / BMG Japan Copyright © 1997 Urban Vision Entertainment Distributed in North America by Urban Vision Entertainment VHS English dubbed $19.99 VHS Subtitled $29.95 45 minutes