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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An epic tale of fathers, sons and convenient plot lapses, January 22, 1999
By A Customer
After one of the longest waits in cliffhanger history, Mitsuteru Yokoyama finally binds together the Byzantine plot twists, devious red herrings and artful feints of his magnum opus into a tidy, explosion-studded package of rubber science, revisionist history, lung-busting script exposition, dropped threads, scrubbed pay-offs, unmotivated violence and convenient, Deus-Ex-Machina appearances by characters who were either a) previously unintroduced or b) previously introduced, but dead. If you thought it was weird before, hang on to your dress shorts and radio-control wristwatch. Teen angst-master Daisaku ramps-up the Adolescent Torment Index by becoming hypnotically fixated on the pointless rhetorical question, "Can happiness be achieved without sacrifice?"; while Giant Robo develops the useful but highly suspect ability to become about five times bigger than he was the last time the Eye of Folger kicked his rivet-studded butt, without anyone else appearing to notice. Long time fans, especially, will pay good money to stand in line at the "Bitch-Slap Professor Go for a Dollar" concession, after holding his hand through :60 minutes of blubbering, whining guilt and scenery-chewing self-doubt. Nonetheless, it's worth the wait. Fabulous animation, soaring orchestral cuts and non-stop action keep the viewer adhesed to the screen, despite the fact that none of what's happening makes a lick of sense. The episode's self-aware humor and infectious, over-the-top brio are excellent compensation for its technical flaws, and even the flintiest critic would have to concede the impossibility of crafting a totally satisfying resolution to the Olympian expectations raised by the first six episodes. In the end, it doesn't matter. Buy it, load it, crank up the Surround-Sound and prepare to have your wires thoroughly tweaked. Finally, if there is an overarching moral lesson to the two-fold Tragedy at Bastarlle, it seems to be this: If your mortally-wounded/expiring-from-grief father lays an apocalyptic, life-altering death-bed rap on you, remember to ask questions before he cacks up the other lung. Or at least take good notes.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Experience the Beautiful Night, September 3, 2005
This review is from: Giant Robo: The Animation (Premium DVD Collector's Box) The Eye of Vogler (DVD)
If you have ever gone back as an adult to watch one of the shows you loved as a kid, you know the feeling of disappointment you feel when it just doesn't move you like it did back then. Often you find yourself laughing at scenes that once made you cheer. Things that awed you now look cheesy, and all the low-budget flaws you never noticed back then now stand out like neon signs.
If you have ever found yourself wondering why on earth you loved those old shows, then Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still is a series you shouldn't miss. It is a loving tribute to the dozens of giant robot shows produced in Japan during the 1960 and 1970s. Sadly, most of those shows were never seen in America, but their effect was felt in the form of the toys (many of which were released over here in the "Shogun Warriors" line), and in the handful of shows that did make the transition; Gigantor, Tranzor Z, Voltron, and the like.
Giant Robo is a mid-1990s OAV series that is styled like one story arc (or season) of one of those old shows. It plunges right into the story with no time wasted on backstory or character introduction, and even ends with a teaser for next season. Of course, there never was another season in the works, nor was there ever a TV series. Giant Robo does take some of its basic design elements from an old live action show called Johnny Sokko, but the connection to that series is superficial at best.
Don't get me wrong. Giant Robo is not a parody of the classic giant robot shows, nor is it yet another doomed attempt to update an old favorite for a modern audience. Despite the cartoony, retro character designs, what sets Giant Robo apart is that it takes itself completely seriously from beginning to end. This is an homage in the truest sense of the word. It's everything that was cool about the old shows, done as their original creators would have done it, if they had had the time, manpower, and a real budget. You get all the over-the-top action, the drama, the bombastic dialogue, and the megalomaniacal monologues, without the poor animation quality, cheesy music, and general corniness that plagued the originals. In short, this is what the TV shows of your childhood dreamed of being, and a rare chance to remind yourself of what it was that you loved about them.
A word of warning though, if you are considering buying the "Premium Collector's Box:" While it is not made clear in the ads, this is NOT a boxed set of the complete series. It's just what it says: A collector's BOX. The price is a little misleading. Essentially, you are buying the first volume of the DVD series, and spending the remaining 40 bucks on an empty plastic box. It's novel, but hardly worth what they are charging for it.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely Amazing Show, October 20, 2001
This anime is just great, one of my personal favorites. Even if you never saw japanese animation before this one you can't pass up on. I own japanese language DVD's, but I hear that for a change the dub is good. Originally a 7 part OVA series somehow turned to 6 parts going over the pacific. Animation is good, the characters are not very detailed. However for this anime it really didn't bother me since the story is just so very very good. Enter a world of prosperity. A long research by the world's best scientists has created "Shizuma Drive", which is 100% recycleable
and produces no polution or any other dangers associated with the power. However behind the shadows of such glorious peace lies deception. Dr. Shizuma who created this wounderful energy source was along with Dr. Vogler and 3 other scientists had a failed experiment with huge consequences. And now the crazed Dr. Vogler had recreated the samples that caused that tragedy and is destroying all Shizuma drives in the world sending it into chaos. Daisaku is a 12 year old boy, who has the ability to command Giant Robo, the mightest robot ever. Together with the international police he will try to stop the "Big Fire" organization. Who's aim is to take control over the world. Interesting, complex characters reveal their nature as the series progresses. And the plot twists will leave you wanting to know more. This series will not glue you to the screen in the first episode, you must watch it all to really appreciate it. And the final episode is to die for.
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