Customer Reviews

Giant Robo 1 [VHS]

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

No one who considers themselves a fan of anime, in other words no true Otaku, should miss this epic series. Dividing its energy equally well between over-the-top action and deeply personal character development, this first volume in a six tape series delivers in every department, capable of winning over even the most jaded animation enthusiast. After seeing the first, you will not want to miss any of the other, equally fantastic, episodes that build cliffhanger after cliffhanger to an explosive conclusion.

First off I am a massive fan of the series so I am hyper critical of any version presented for public consumption.

This edition DOES have the old VHS voices but the track is ONLY selectable using your DVD players audio selection NOT the DVD itself...lame? Yes...but at least the track IS there.

The new dub...it's OK and does flesh out the story to a more understandable level for first time viewers...but it's nowhere near the passion and epic feel of the first dub. Lets face it the FIRST english dub surpasses even the Japanese track. It's simply perfect for the story and style.

Picture quality is great...TOO great...you can see all the detail in nearly every frame so in some cases you can see the watercolor brush strokes and imperfections in the print used to make the DVD's...It does surpass the "Imports" from Japan and China though so the DVD set is a must own...

But...it has two serious flaws for the collectors amoung us. The collectors edition comes in a great box...with a cheap plastic Eye of Vogler and get this...CD CASES FOR THE DVD'S!!!!! This is jsut WRONG...they are cheap cases at that. Only buy the Collectors Box if you are a HARDCORE fan.

The second flaw is more serious...the "special features" are FAR too excellent to be only in the collectors edition. This should have been in the normal edition and as a result makes fans of the series NEED to buy the awful collectors box to get them.

It's great to have the series FINALLY out...but sadly it's not put together in a sane and economical way. It's expensive as a collectors set and overpriced as a standard DVD due to the lack of the collectors editions extras...

Sadly for the TRUE fan you need to buy both...Collectors Edition for the extra's and the standard DVD for the TRUE Case.

An unrivaled and underrated masterpiece,the six volume Japanese series Giant Robo is unlike anything you have ever seen. Featuring gripping action,unbeliable animation, one of the best soundtracks of any film, and best of all, an amazing story, Giant Robo is both a homage to classic 50's anime and a new classic in it's own right.........This is the coming-of-age tale of a boy named Daiasku, who by a cruel twist of fate must command the mightest robot on earth. The animation quality and expiremental technique is unrivaled, and the story, wich revolves around the Shizuma Drive, a seemingly clean and perfect source of energy, wich carries a terrible price,takes many twists and turns. Each charecter is dynamic and whole.....there is no good vs. evil here, more like two sides with different ideas of how things should be fighting for dominance. Thought-provoking, inspiring, tragic, and riveting, Giant Robo is a must for anyone who loves a good movie-animated or not.

How on earth does one describe Giant Robo? A creation utilizing the skills of some the biggest talents ever to work on animation in Japan, telling an Epic story in a few short hours, showcasing some of the finest animation of all time, with a depth of storyline and strength of dialog missing from the biggest of blockbusters, with enough over-the-top action and melodrama to make all super-hero movies look like cheap hacks, and a sweeping orchestral score that's second to none...only begins to scratch the surface. When you look up old-school in the dictionary, you should see a giant-sized picture of this anime. Ginrei ought to be the #1 anime babe in everyone's book. Shocking Alberto is more powerful than Magneto from the X-Men! But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Let's start with the concept: In the future, the ultimate energy source has been discovered. It's clean, efficient, and works forever. It eventually replaces every other energy source and is used for everything from power plants to pocket calculators. An organization seeking world domination has a plan to shut down every one of the devices in the whole world (a second strike of the tragedy that nearly destroyed the world when the drive was first tested), bringing the planet to it's knees. And of course, there's an organization of super-heroes to defend the world from this threat, with it's newest member being a boy who commands the world's most powerful weapon, a giant robot. This simple premise eventually branches out to conspiracies, vendettas, family reunions, hidden secrets, unrequited love, mis-guided loyalty to a cause, and a consuming desire for revenge...

Giant Robo was conceived to be the ultimate tribute to classic manga superheroes/supervillains. For starters, Giant Robo is Gigantor. That means that the world's mightiest robot is controlled by a kid with wrist-watch. If that isn't enough to make you want to watch the series, then I don't know what is. And then, there's Big Fire, the Villain who a whole evil organization-bent-on-world-conquest is named after. He's Babel (both Gigantor and Babel were creations of Yokoyama Mitsuteru in the 1960's). And that evil organization? It looks like Specter from the James Bond movies only populated completely with Super-Villains. And it just gets more confusing from there.

To say that this show's creators bit off more than they could chew is the understatement of the millennium. As the story was told to me, there were entire segments of the story planned for characters who ultimately got a scant minute or two of time in the show. For instance, there was a huge battle between Shocking Alberto's daughter and Big Fire that was planned for the final episode and was cut. The samurai featured in the last two episodes were supposed to have background explanations and character development, and instead are given battle scenes and nothing else. Taking more than 5 years (exact figures depend on who you ask) to complete and a flop when it came out in Japan, at points during production it looked like the series might never be finished (the Japanese voice actors actually forgot what their characters were supposed to sound like during an interval between episodes). What this ultimately means to the viewer is...

In terms of the whole history of anime, Giant Robo is a landmark. Anime encyclopedias will give you loads of back story and reasons why you should appreciate it. It's probably the greatest example of a modern old-school anime in history (so if you loved Metropolis and The Big O you'll be in heaven). From what I understand, Giant Robo was one of the first anime (if not THE first) to use a completely orchestral score. And what a score it is! Written by the same composer who wrote the orchestral score for Princess Nine, it manages to create a sweeping, epic mood reminiscent of the greatest of Hollywood movies. The animation is also incredibly high-caliber, high-budget work. The voice acting...ah the voice acting. The original Japanese dub is so serious I thought it killed the mood. The new English dub is receiving praise from many. For me, however, the best is the original English dub. Made back when the dialog was completely reworked instead of just translated, some people will hate it because it changes the meaning of sentences. Others will feel the way that I do. If I'm going to watch a show about super-heroes, I want to hear thick foreign accents and loads of attitude. When the German scientists talk with thick fake German accents, that's part of the greatness to me (like hearing the Austrian accent of a certain action star). Your mileage will vary.

While this series has some great characterization, wonderful battle sequences and loads of off-screen back story to it's world, if you aren't the sort of person who likes to look up, research, ponder, and talk about this sort of thing, you are probably going to watch this OVA once and be very confused. Characters make reference to events that are not shown, characters have strong relationships and rivals that they talk to like it's episode 99 instead of episode 1. In other words, if you're the kind of person who wishes comic book movies didn't explain EVERYTHING to you, and instead had heroes and villains dropping in and fighting with no explanation (like in the comic books!), being part of a much larger story that you have to be a REAL fan to appreciate, you'll absolutely love this OVA.

This anime is very open to interpretation. You may think it's the greatest thing you've ever seen in your life. Or you may wonder why anyone would watch something so over-the-top and cheesy. One thing's for sure. If you love anime, you definitely need to see this one. If you love comic-book movies, you also need to see it. In this anime you will find everything from giant robots and flying ships to characters who can run faster than speeding cars. There's samurai, shape-shifters, and every super-power in between. My personal favorite character is Ginrei, the beautiful lady marksman with a secret super-power. Of course this isn't like your American comic book movie. Main characters, both good and evil, will die. There's a good and a bad side to everyone (good guys and bad guys both have dissension on their own side, and the ultimate motive of the one who caused the world-wide crisis is left open until the very end of the final episode).

The first few episodes found on this disc are well worth seeing, as they introduce the main characters and setup world of the story in a strong manner. The real reason to watch the first episodes though (and also a big reason to see the final episode) is to see just how awesome Shocking Alberto is. A villain who can shoot TORNADOS of electricity out of hands!? The guy nearly takes out all of the heroes on his own! Maybe I'm just tired of seeing heroes and villains with amazing abilities easily defeated in the movies and comic books of late, but Alberto has gotta be one of the coolest villains I've ever seen.

I had mixed feelings about the anime the first time I saw it, but now I find that every time I watch it I understand and appreciate new details. More than a tribute to the classics of manga and anime, this series is itself a classic. Just keep in mind while watching this DVD that this is only the start. The action, melodrama, and epic story are just beginning in this volume and continue to build until the epic conclusion. Pull out the wrist watches and summon the giant robots, after all that waiting Giant Robo is finally out on DVD!

If you, like me, think a "Premium DVD Collectors box" (Eye of Volger) actually contains the anime's 3 DVDs: it doesn't. It's a cardboard box and a plastic sphere. Anime sold separately.

The previous reviewer stated that it's not bad for a 60's anime and seems to remember watching it in the 70's/80's. That would be pretty hard as this series came out in Japan in 1992. It's very loosely based on the earlier live action TV series from 1967-68, but with better action and no cheese-factor. For more detailed reviews, read the reviews on the individual DVD releases on Amazon (vols 1, 2, 3 + the Ginrei Special), those guys know their anime. I think it's the best giant mecha anime ever, even better then Neon Genesis Evangelion (and that's saying a lot for me)

Let me first start out by saying that I really like GIANT ROBO. It epitomizes what you'd expect from a great Japanese robot cartoon...but it comes at a strange price.

I've watched 4 of the 7 episodes in the animated series so far, and it's not exactly the easiest story to follow. I mean, it's easy enough to figure out (I never saw the live action show), but the repeated addition of unestablished characters and weapons at pivotal moments is near ridiculous. So much so, in fact, it becomes charming.

The soap-operatic characters are great (though thrown in from left field), the design is great (post-AstroBoy), and the story has just a bit more "absurdity" thrown in than you'd expect...which all adds up to a campy flood of japanimated goodness.

The infrequent, but present "bad" language is also funny. It's rare, and almost out of place when the 4 letter words appear. They're nothing drastic, but when they're uttered, they're glaringly obvious.

OUTLAW STAR takes itself pretty seriously, cat-people aside...COWBOY BEBOP is serious, but extremely self-aware...THE BIG O is serious to the point of being cheesy...while GIANT ROBO turns the serious dial up to "11", giving it a really enjoyable near-ironic feel.

If you're an animator, there's a lot of really great stuff in these videos, particularly when the opera music starts playing over the exploding landscape.

Not to be missed. Just be prepared for a lot of hysterical, heroic self-doubt; martyrdom; cackling villians; story non-sequitors; and Ginrei's insanely short skirt.