Giant Robo: the day the world stood still (OAV)
Story: 8.5
One of the first anime shows I’ve ever seen was “The new adventures of Gigantor” (Shin Tetsujin-28). Perhaps that was the reason why I’ve felt drawn to the mecha genre ever since, or perhaps it’s the odd combination of humor, action and science fiction which always seems to go with this genre, or perhaps it’s because I’m a boy and secretly every boy would like his own giant robot to plow through cities with.
The fact that Giant Robo falls into the mecha category goes without saying, this much can be derived from the name alone. And yet, it’s not entirely a mecha anime either; sure, it has robots, and sure they do battle on occassion, but on more than one occassion attention is shifted from these titanic clashes to the people behind it, elite agents in many different fields, yet all human, all with their own dilemmas.
The story itself may seem pretty cliche at first, no more than an average mecha plot: taking place on our earth in the near future, a perfect energy source, and an evil terrorist group using giant robots to wreak havoc. And yet while it still revolves around all that, there’s more than meets the eye: hidden agendas, secrets from the past, the plot and storyline twist and turn with every passing episode, and it isn’t until the final episode is past that the full truth will be revealed.
Story is told at a rapid pace, with barely any room for a slowdown, leaving no room for fillers, just for flashbacks – and these too arrive at the exactly right moments, to further broaden an already expanding storyline.
All by all, I have very little complaints here, as there’s been few anime shows which told a story as well as this one did, especially in the mecha genre.
Visuals: 8
The first thing I noticed when watching Giant Robo was the obvious retro-look, with mecha and character designs that were popular decennia ago but became less used as new styles developped. But Giant Robo takes it one step further, and as a homage to its original manga creator, Mitsuteru Yokoyama, by using his mecha designs, however also by re-using characters from various mangas he created into this seven part OAV.
But where the graphics department is concerned there has been put a good deal of attention in the Giant Robo OAV. Even during monologues and dialogues there are different angles and the camera usually keeps moving, avoiding stills whenever possible. The different sceneries used throughout the anime are detailed and worked out, and backgrounds are just as beautiful, using a good amount of colours for realistic detail. The creators of this OAV have done as much as possible to keep the story and the action fast-paced, without going overboard, and it shows.
Audio: 9
One of the things which I liked most about Giant Robo was the elaborate and extensive soundtrack. Composed by Masamichi Amano (also known from the soundtracks of Stratos 4, and the Battle Royale movies) and performed by the Warshaw Philharmonic Orchestra, each track is a little gem and carries the series the way a good soundtrack should.
Characters: 7.5
On first impression and judging on appearances alone the Giant Robo cast may seem like a rather diverse bunch, with a good manner of different appearances, hooked or enormous noses, obscure hairdo’s and diverse outfits. In truth, as I briefly mentioned earlier, the original character concepts come, for the most part, from other manga’s made by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, no matter which genre or setting they originally were portrayed in.
While some of the characters were fairly stereotypical (the burly but not so smart warrior, the teenage boy and his giant robot, the bishonen villain, the mad scientist) each of them, as well as the other, less predictable characters, had their own luggage in back history with them: personal grudges, troubled pasts, a history of lovers, and even situations that are only hinted at but never explained in full, meant to be saved for another, different OAV perhaps? A pity though, because I personally would love to have heard more of the history of some characters…
There is a good deal of support characters in this series, and most of them have a fairly stagnant role, however the main characters, even though they already carry a significant background, grow over the course of the series as they’re exposed to more hardship, but also good situations. What amused me though is that this growth did not apply solely for the heroes, but also for the villains – in fact, even though the badguys are part of a terrorist group bent on global domination (of course) they are not entirely evil, in fact often portrayed as human beings with mixed human emotions. And I like that.
Overall: 8.5
As I mentioned at the beginning of this review Shin Tetsujin-28 was one of my first animes, and also the show which drew me to the mecha genre to begin with. When I first purchased Giant Robo it was because it was one of the few anime shows available in common stores in the
In the end, they had little in common, and the first episode of Giant Robo served more as an introduction, with fairly little action; as a result I nearly decided not to continue this series, but in the end I decided to give it another go, and I’m glad I did.
To summarize, I really enjoyed this show; the characters grew to me as I watched more of it, and I was shocked to even see some main characters die. Besides that I enjoyed the unfolding and changing storyline, the good pace of action and storytelling, but what drew me in most –which is not uncommon for me- was the extensive soundtrack, performed by the Warshaw Philharmonic Orchestra, and it shows. My only regret is that there are only seven episodes of it, because I certainly would love to see more of Giant Robo.