Customer Reviews

Tetsujin 28 - Monster Resurrected (Vol. 1) + Series Box

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

 

 

The title of my review comes from a small tote bag I got in Tokyo depicting Tetsujin 28 AKA Iron Man no. 28 AKA Gigantor. Two robots, Astro Boy and Gigantor, appearing in 1964 and 1966 respectively, are indelibly burned into the American consciousness. Drawn from the manga of Osamu Tezuka and Yokoyama, they gave us our ideas of the boy robot and mecha.

Both originally appeared in black and white on mid-'sixties TV. Both were produced for U.S. audiences by Fred Ladd. Gigantor came through Trans-Lux, best known for distributing Felix the Cat. NBC bought all the episodes of Astro Boy, colorized and reran them. Recently there have been both revivals and reversions of both heroes. Astro Boy is available on DVD in the original shows (the red box) and in new shows shown on Cartoon Network (the black box). With Gigantor, it's a bit more complex.

Rhino has released all 52 original black and white Gigantor episodes in two DVD sets. A new color series, The New Adventures of Gigantor, aired in the '80s and was rerun by the Sci-Fi channel in the mid-'90s. I don't know if that series is related to this one or not.

Tetsujin 28 is Imagawa's anime take on Yokoyama's manga. It's in Japanese with Japanese and English audio tracks and English subtitles. The opening theme, sung in Japanese, sometimes shows the English translation and sometimes the Japanese. The shows take place in post-war Japan and have the 50's look of Tintin. The story line is adult anime with Tetsujin 28 having been built as a war machine. If he's no. 28, there must have been 27 other attempts. Not all of the "iron man" projects were robots, however, a Dr. Franken (Frankenstein) made his monsters from corpses.

Unlike the Gigantor shows in which Shotaro (Jimmy Sparks) mans the control box to enable his robot's "fight for right against wrong," here the boy detective is far more conflicted, struggling with conscience and his boyish reactions to the aftershock of the war and the scientists' insistence that "we had no choice".

The five episodes in volume one complete a complex and intricate story arc, setting the scene for more Gigantor-like stories. This edition includes an attractive box which includes the first volume and can hold five more. The series is rated 13 and Up for "Violence and language." That means the occasional "hell" and "damn" and the noir '50s style of everyone smoking. Like much anime, this series pushes all the hot buttons and may be too intense for younger kids. Older kids and anime fans, however, will enjoy this imaginative and thoughtful introduction to Japan('s) greatest hero.

This is basically the untold story (at least in the U.S.) of the big blue robot and the boy detective in postwar Japan. If you liked the Giant Robo animated OVAs, you will enjoy this faster paced, beautifully animated retro series - with the classic Japanese theme song intact , this is a series not to be missed!! WOW!!!

The people who created the stunning 'Giant Robo' series have returned with yet another allegorical super robot masterpiece. This particular series is based on the debut manga of Mitsuteru Yokoyama (who also created Giant Robo, Babel II, and Red Shadow), that brought him national acclaim and created the giant robot genre in one fell swoop . It is unique, in that combines the excitement of giant robots with a post-war story not at all different from Grave of the Fireflies. It beautifully portrays the feelings of a nation still demoralized and battered 10 years after there defeat in WW2.

I heartily recommend this work, and hopefully, if this is successful enough, perhaps someone will begin to bring Yokoyama-san's manga to the U.S.!

Sheesh, this is a slow moving but somehow creepily effective bunch of animations. A lot about the dark days for Japan after WW2, and the big robot is teasingly hidden in mummy shrouds a lot of the time - but he looks good when he finally gets out and about. I loved Gigantor as a little kid, and this is a lot more like Frankenstein. In fact, there is another monster you'll meet called the other Tetsujin, who is a cross between the Hulk and Frankensteins's monster - quite an emotional chap too. His bellows of anguish are unintentionally humorous. It is all carefully played out, with a Sigourney Weaver sound-alike narrator, but I just wnated some old fashioned giant robot antics a lot of the time. Dr Franken is a great looking evil character, and his name does remind me of something- can't put my giant metal finger on it though...

One of my local video retailers was having a sale on Geneon videos, buy one get one free so I thought i'd give Tetsujin 28 a chance. I picked up volume one in a box and also volume 2 after reading about its interesting premise and also since I thought the art looked pretty good. I like different styles and I find it really hard to find this type of cartoony style in anime. Along with Giant Robo and Astro Boy (2003 version) Tetsujin hits this mark.
Interestingly enough some of the same characters from Giant Robo are in Tetsujin. Well... same look, same names, but really not the same character completely. More like the same characters from a different dimension is really the best way to describe it, I guess. One other point of interest is some of the robots Tetsujin fights are from the openings of Giant Robo.
Story wise I expected this to be a little more action packed and not so much of a downer. I mean to look at the covers of this series you would think it would be a lot funner since it looks like a throwback to 50's sci-fi serials. Like a reviewer said earlier Testujin is defeated rather easily. To his credit he does win one but it doesnt help with his introduction as a heroic character. His controller even says he's useless! The first 2 episodes were a little slow but I gave them a pass because they were interesting, setting up characters and plot. The tempo however never moved past that and Tetsujin was really just hangin around for the most part, not needed much in the episodes 3-5. The bond between Tetsujin and the boy are weak at best. I'm sure there will be a growing process in their relationship as well as in the series overall but as for a way to kick off a series I really think it got off on the wrong foot.
I havent watched volume 2 yet but i will, however after watching the first volume, I dont think Tetsujin 28 is for me.

This first installment, TETSUJIN 28: MONSTER RESURRECTED, is an admirable update to the charming original series. The animation is quite good, the characters are designed true to the original series, and the story starts out from a new beginning, so it's easy for new viewers to jump right in.

The writing, however, is overly melodramatic and repetitive. Shotaro, the young, boy detective who is somehow able to drive cars, stay out at all hours of the night, date older women, and has no parents or guardians to speak of, is by far the biggest offender. Much of his dialog consists of repeating back EVERYTHING said to him in question form.

Professer: "It's a monster!"

Shotaro: "...A monster?!?"

Over and over again. "...A robot?!?", "...A secret?!?!" Yes, Sherlock! It quickly grows painful to listen to.

The setting is post-war Japan, and the loss of the Empire is repeated at the introduction of each episode. What's particularly interesting is the amount of apologizing offered up by the scientists. Men who worked for the government throughout the war on secret projects designing lethal robots and monsters to attack the enemy now spend a lot of time excusing themselves. Claiming they had no choice. Moralizing to a great extent, hoping to impress upon the young Shotaro the dangers which lie before him, as he begins to command the huge Tetsujin 28.

What's also interesting is how Shotaro isn't very good at being captain. Tetsujin loses both battles in which Shotaro issues commands.

I've decided to give the next volume a try, but so far I'm not particularly amazed. My 3 stars are like a B- for the first 5 episodes.