Monday, August 4, 2008

Pages 26-40 of the Super Robot Encyclopedia

Phew. Now uploading 15 more pages of the Encyclopedia, 9 of which are brand new.


Page 26: Groizer X, another Go Nagai series. The only thing I knew about it was that it showed up in a Mazinkaiser promo, where other Go Nagai series show up as well. This page also features Machine Blaster (known in Italy as Astro Robot), a show which, according to Wikipedia, was slightly unsuccessful due to shows such as Com Battler V or Gaiking dominating among audiences. Still, remarkable for the original finisher move.


Page 27: A larger image of Groizer X, as well as info about UFO Senshi Daiapollon and Gowapper 5 Godam. Rather interesting that Daiapollon destroyed enemies from the inside and that Godam has the first female leader (although from what I've seen, she had an awful lot of lipstick. Then again, I mistook one of the pilots for a chimp. You'll see for yourselves) and that it uses karate moves. Too bad the design wasn't too helpful.



Pages 28 and 29: Magne Robo Ga Keen, successor to Koutetsu Jeeg among the Magne Robo series. Also aired in hispanophone countries under the name of El Supermagnetron. Features a man and a woman turning into plus and minus Magnemen and robots respectively. Most surprisingly, Pluyzer and Mighty don't combine into Ga Keen, but are in fact weapons. Neat.



Pages 30 and 31: Gasshin Sentai Mechander Robo. This series is maybe remarkable for the fact that the robot can only function for a while, at least until the Omega Missile attacks him. Also, I found it amazing that it uses a flexible metal to change sizes. That's Japan for you!


Page 32: Danguard Ace, featured in Jim Terry's Force Five. Is quite similar to the later Gunbuster in several aspects. Also interesting that the robot shows up quite late. This would be seen in Dancougar as well. The page also features Ginguiser, a robot powered by magic. Ironically, the title robot itself is horribly blocky. Made by the creators of Machine Blaster.


Page 33: Voltes V (pronounced "Five"). This series aired in Spain, Italy and the Philippines. In the latter country it gained a large fanbase, which led to its reairing and redubbing even after former president Ferdinand Marcos banned it for "dumbing down the children". Ironically, this series happened to bring a lot of depth to the genre, especially with likeable characters like Prince Heinell. This is the second series in the so-called "Nagahama Romance Trilogy", named after director Tadao Nagahama, whose series introduced a lot more character development than predecessors.


Page 34: Balatack. Unexplainably, this is the third of the "Magne Robo series", at least according to Japanese Wikipedia. At any rate, this a robot remote-controlled by ESP-ers. Nobody can accuse producers of lack of imagination, that's for sure.




Pages 35, 36 and 37: Zanbot 3. This is a super robot series directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, who starts showing what would later be his trademark plot devices. The show has recently been subbed (all 26 episodes of it), so go and check it out. It's notable that the robot was built around the 19th century, which explains the armoured warrior design. Also, this series might be the inspiration for Daitarn 3, who is sun-themed.


Page 38: Daimos. The third part of the "Nagahama Romance Trilogy", offering us a compelling story of love and war. Here you'll find the love story of Kazuya and Erika, a tribute to Shakespeare's undying Romeo and Juliet, and definitely not the last of these tributes in mecha anime. Also, the series features a karate-using robot. Awesome!


Page 39: Daitarn 3. This show also aired in Italy, where it became very popular. Featuring cool doesn't-look-18-to-me rich James Bond tribute Haran Banjou fighting against the Meganoids, created by his father Haran Souzou. One of the possible inspirations for The Big O later on.


Page 40: The last page from part 2 Awakening, featuring Daltanias (named after D'Artagnan), Daikengo (a robot with fangs) and Gordian (inspiration for Machine Robo: Revenge of Chronos).

Next update will not feature pages 41-56, because the Data Compilation contains, well, a lot of data such as voice actors, staff and various details about the mecha series (even Kabuto Kouji's favourite food!). The next update will start from part 3, whose main representant is Mobile Suit Gundam. Stay tuned for more.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Weights are all over the place. A 120 meter super robot that weighs 80 tons... compared to a 56 meter super robot that weighs 678 tons? Oh well, that's super robots for you!

Dammage7 said...

Trejo, weights are based on the alloy a super robot is made of, not its height usually! As UFO Robo Grendizer is made of Space Alloy Gren and Mazinger Z is made of Super Alloy Z, etc...

Anonymous said...

Grendizer super alloy is the best anime ever.I am crazy about that.Just real time time game animation.I got it from PIJ.this link for your help http://bit.ly/Grendizeralloy