Getter Robo - Reviews

ANIME EVOLUTION SERIES
Full list of the review series can be found on this page, 3rd post from bottom:
http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?uid=251338&show=userpage&do=blog&blogid=29009&page=0

TEASER:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8XxPmObYCA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7-7ffgPAko&feature=related

Before I begin, I inform you that this review covers both seasons of the show. Getter Robo is the brainchild of Go N… Jesus Christ, Nagai again ???

I don’t consider this dude more important than Osamu Tezuka but he sure knew how to make exciting shows without even being original. Because as I said earlier all he does is taking other people’s ideas and spicing them up with more violence and nude and some crazy stuff going on in the background. But that still didn’t prevent him from developing his own ideas into something else which ends up being an entirely different ending product.

So what gives with this show? Hey, isn’t it identical to Mazinger Z? The battles look similar, the main cast looks similar, the structure of the plot looks similar, hell, the maker is the exact same person. Why am I even reviewing this and not just calling it a Mazinger imitator and move along to more original stuff? Well, hem, the show may be mostly like Mazinger Z indeed albeit with a major difference in the way battles are performed. The robots combine!

Before you start throwing tomatoes at me for not saying anything surprising let me explain that this is THE FIRST MECHA that ever showed robots doing that. The few other mecha before it only occasionally wore a few extra gadgets and that’s it, but Getter Robo is actually three different ships altogether combining into one. So now you may wonder why is that worth making a review when it is just an unimportant quirk in the long run? So it is just Mazinger Z where instead of a jet ramming in the head it has a combining robot? Big deal! Why does that make it more important that the Transformers for example? Well, hem, it may be the first but it also is very original even today; believe it or not. I guess Nagai got himself a copyright to prevent others from stealing his idea and thus this particular quirk is reserved only for this and only this title.

So ladies and gentlemen, Getter Robo is not even the first but also very original in its concept. Just like in the case of Cutey Honey, I get the idea Nagai traveled in time to pull such a stunt. How else did he present something entirely new that deconstructs the genre before it is even established? Nagai you rascal, you are one clever Ahriman!

So what is this never-before-seen and yet never-repeated-after idea I am yapping about? Well, it is simple; while all other mecha shows have the robot combining all the time into one specific shape all the time, Getter Robo actually has three. All it takes is for them to change the order of which they combine and PRESTO you get three in the price of one. Now I am aware that Aquarion did something similar but its transformations were just for show. Over here it is not just for kicks; each form has its specialization with Getta-1 being able to fly or fight with average power and speed, Getta-2 being able to move underground or fight with high speed and low power, and Getta-3 being able to move underwater or fight with great power but slow speed. This makes it far more variable than Mazinger’s one-form-for-all-purposes and by extension everything else with just one form.

One would think that this means Getter Robo is weaker than any mecha with just one form, as it constantly needs to change forms and plan other strategies, when Mazinger pretty much stormed in and was just using all its various attacks until something worked. But no, this can also mean Getter Robo is far more adaptable and cunning in its approach and doesn’t only use brute force when other means can be more effective. Also, the main characters are now three instead of one, making the notion of cooperation far more important than in the solo battles of Mazinger and of its single pilot. That again leaves room for coloring of the characters and makes the cast more interesting to keep track of, instead of just waiting for the next battle to begin. Truth be told, Mazinger was a cool behemoth kicking metal butt all alone but its cast was to the most part uninteresting as the lead pilot was doing all of the work while the rest were just doing distractions with weak ammo most of the time. The importance of the cast was very imbalanced as only one character mattered and all the rest were just minor support.

The triad of Getter Robo on the other hand boosts the idea of teamwork, as all three need to work as a team if they want to be in best shape. If one of them is absent or not cooperation then the robot does Jack; which is quite cool to keep track of. I mean, if the lead in Mazinger had a fight with another character then we didn’t care as his opinion and his robot are all that matter. It was quite selfish of him although he was protecting the entire planet; thus the notion of teamwork is far closer to the idea of protection. Oh you Ahriman; what a great improvement you did!

Another indirect benefit of having three forms is that for once it is excused for the robot to not be formed from the beginning. Because let’s be honest; what’s the point of having it combining all the time in the middle of the battle when the ships or robots individually do Jack and the final form is always the same? Wouldn’t it be more practical if they were combined all along? It was just there to eat up three minutes per episode with repeated footage, like we are watching some lame mahou shoujo or something. In this case though, the ships need to first evaluate which form works better and THEN combine. Not only that, but they can also separate in the middle of the battle in order to escape the grip of an enemy robot before regrouping into a different form. Such strategy is again never seen again. Damn Nagai; where did you get your Delorian?

As for the animation, it is pretty much of the same level of Mazinger and the battles outside of the strategy mentioned above share all special attacks and accompanied shouting of their names. The opening theme is as great as ever.

Now for the story. It is basic as always and in a way even more simple than Mazinger Z, which is a shame. The first season is just some ugly dinosaurs attacking the surface to claim back their world but the story never tries to flesh them out. They could make a decent drama out of their grief to finally have a world of their own but Nagai kept them as generic hated monsters all the way (hint for what Hideaki Anno did with his Angels). Nothing remotely close to the coolness of Dr. Hell. But the finale is at least better than Mazinger’s as the lead robot is destroyed in the final battle and so does one of the pilots. In Mazinger it was just shelved for the next model to come out and was even used again in the finale along the newer one, which was quite the cheap move to win impressions. The second season began in a far more interesting was again, as the new enemies are horned humans, part of a demon empire who wants to rule the Earth. They use far more cunning strategies than the stupid dinosaurs as they can disguise into humans and infiltrate, spy or sabotage their facilities. Which is very cool. Unfortunately, this is the only improvement over the previous enemies as they are otherwise even more generic in nature. Where the hell did they came from? What’s their grip with the world? Where were they during the first season? Also, the heroes manage to build a new robot and find a replacement pilot in a few days, which is again very cheap as it makes the whole thing feel like nothing much was lost.

I am going to make a special reference to the sub-leader of the villains of the second season. Remember how Dr. Hell was a racist German mad scientist, giving you hints he is based on Nazis? Well forget that because this guy I am talking about is not even leaving you to doubt that. His name is Hidler (lol?) and he also looks and salutes like a very famous historical figure.
http://www.animeclick.it/prove/serie/GetterRoboG/GetterRoboG37.jpg
Damn Nagai, you got guts. Such a thing would never pass in the west.

Overall, it is yet another work that moved the mecha genre forward and proof of Nagai being a time traveler. I just hope I flattered him enough so he will not go back in time and kill me as a baby for revealing his secret.

And now for some excused scorings.

ART SECTION: 6/10
General Artwork 1/2 (generic)
Character Figures 2/2 (cool robots)
Backgrounds 1/2 (basic but fitting with the feeling of the series)
Animation 1/2 (basic)
Visual Effects 1/2 (basic)

SOUND SECTION: 8/10
Voice Acting 2/3 (corny but fitting with the feeling of the series)
Music Themes 4/4 (awesome main songs)
Sound Effects 2/3 (ok I guess)

STORY SECTION: 3/10
Premise 1/2 (typical)
Pacing 0/2 (mostly episodic)
Complexity 1/2 (not much)
Plausibility 0/2 (none)
Conclusion 1/2 (cheesy)

CHARACTER SECTION: 6/10
Presence 1/2 (generic)
Personality 2/2 (cheesy but well founded)
Backdrop 1/2 (generic and simplistic but it’s there)
Development 1/2 (overblown but it’s there)
Catharsis 1/2 (overblown but it’s there)

VALUE SECTION: 6/10
Historical Value 3/3 (first transforming mecha)
Rewatchability 1/3 (low because of too little plot)
Memorability 2/4 (way too generic today but has its charm)

ENJOYMENT SECTION: 1/10
Art 0/1 (looks typical)
Sound 1/2 (sounds cool in the songs)
Story 0/3 (feels generic)
Characters 0/4 (they are typical)

VERDICT: 5/10