| Shin
Getter Robo: Armageddon
By Jeffrey Couto
Overview
I remember going out to the video
store when I was very young and renting my first VHS video,
a Getta Robo G movie released by F.H.E. back in the very early
80's. When I got back home and watched the video I was blown
away by what I saw, this was not like Mazinger-Z (which at
that point was airing every weekday on TV), it had more energy,
better animation and 3 super robots instead of one!
It made a big enough of an impression
on me that I somehow convinced my parents to go back to this
video rental store to buy me the tape outright from the store
so that I could watch it over and over again (keep in mind
that back then it was not as easy to buy a video tape as it
is nowdays). Getta Robo G went on to become one of my favorite
robot shows along with Mazinger-Z, Jeeg, Gaiking and Gakeen.
However, it would not be till the mid-90's that I would learn
that there was another Getta Robo made before Getta Robo G
and that Go Nagai was preparing to release a new OVA retelling
of the Getta Robo saga in Japan: Shin Getter Robo: Armageddon.
Thanks to the people at ADV
Films, who released all the OVA episodes of Shin Getter
Robo: Armageddon stateside, I have been able to check out
this new super robot series and much like in my childhood
I was blown away by this production.
How Good it it?
If you are a fan of the original
animated shows, you will love Shin Getter Robo!! All the characters
from the first two shows make an appearance (even the pilots
from Getta Robo Go make a brief appearance) as well as Getta
Robo & Getta Robo G. Some new robots are also introduced including
Shin Getta Robo, a Black Getta Robo, a new Getta Robo G and
the gigantic Shin Dragon.
Shin Getter Robo: Armageddon
is a much darker Getta Robo than the original shows were with
a story about an alien invasion (that actually succeeds in
destroying much of humanity), a very intriguing cloning plot
and something that was not very elaborated on in the original
shows, the Getta Rays that power Dr. Saotome's robot creations.
One thing that remains intact
however is the level of action, which is turned up several
notches in this OVA. The first couple of episodes feature
huge battles between Getter Robo and several hundred Getta
Robo G's filled with bright animation and a lot of kinetic
energy. You will want to watch some of these scenes over and
over! You will also want to make sure to watch the last couple
of episodes as they feature some of the most elaborate animated
sequences I've seen in a while, with various Getter Robots
fighting and combining into different modes several times
over in a short period (BTW keep an eye for several references
to the original shows in these last episodes, like the way
the robot's pose when combining).
My only gripe with these OVA's
was the music, which outside of the opening themes, feature
music that for the most part disappears into the background.
When I first heard of these OVA's I was hoping for remixes
of the original songs and heroic Go Nagai robot music, but
alas it was not to be.
If you have a choice of going
for the VHS or DVD copies I recommend getting the DVD's as
they feature both the original language track (with easy to
read subtitles) and ADV's
English Dub, which is pretty good! The other reason I recommend
the DVD's is because the quality of the transfer is very good
too, featuring excellent colors and very sharp visuals. It
also doesn't hurt that ADV
saw fit to throw in some cool extras like the original LD
covers, textless openings and previews for some of their other
products.
Final Thoughts
I would like to commend ADV
Films for releasing this series in the U.S. as they alone
have brought back Go Nagai's super robots to the forefront
of Japanese animation fans once more with a very high quality
product. I look forward to their release of the incredible
Mazinkizaiser OVAs to which they have bought distribution
rights here in the U.S.
In the meantime make sure to
go out and buy Shin Getter Robo Armageddon from ADV's
store ! I highly recommend it!
Jeffrey Couto
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