Giant Robo
Encyclopedia
is an original video animation
series written and directed by Yasuhiro Imagawa
(G Gundam, Seven of Seven
), and inspired by Mitsuteru Yokoyama
's manga
series of the same name
.
Giant Robo is an homage
to Yokoyama's career. The series features characters and plotlines from the manga artist's entire canon of work, effectively creating an all-new story. The events take place in the near future, ten years after the advent of the Shizuma Drive triggers the third energy revolution. The series follows the master of the titular Robo, Daisaku Kusama, and the Experts of Justice, an international police organization locked in battle with the BF Group, a secret society hell-bent on world domination.
The OVA is recognized for its "retro
" style and opera
tic score. The character designs emulate Yokoyama's drawing style and the mecha
nics are inspired by steampunk
literature. The action setpiece
s are influenced by Hong Kong action cinema
, specifically the new school of wuxia
and the 1970s kung fu wave.
The first installment of the series, "The Black Attaché Case," was released July 22, 1992. Originally intended to finish within 36 months, the seven volume series was ultimately released over the span of six years. "The Grand Finale" was released January 25, 1998. The OVA has since been translated into English, Cantonese
, Dutch
, French, Italian and Korean
.
resources and the need for nuclear power
. The system is a non-polluting recyclable energy source that powers everything on land, sea and air. Ten years prior to the events of the series a team of scientists, led by Professor Shizuma, created the revolutionary system. In the process they nearly destroyed the world and one of their own, Franken Von Vogler, was lost in the event that went down in history as the "Tragedy of Bashtarle." At the start of Giant Robo, the BF Group is in the middle of recreating the event with aid from the resurfaced Vogler.
The story explores a society completely brought down, within the span of one week, because of dependency on a single energy source and a state of prosperity tainted by compromise and deceit.
of the series. Their origin is unknown, but not so their reason to be: to lead mankind down a road of ruin. The Group's forces consist of mechanical monsters, foot soldiers and , individuals with superhuman
powers.
The most powerful Experts form the ruling cadre of the organization, the cabal of . Its members swear allegiance to , the Group's founder and leader, with faltering loyalty punishable by death. At the time of "The Day the Earth Stood Still," The Ten are gearing up for the final showdown with the IPO.
. The leaders of the world acknowledged Big Fire as a threat to world security and signed the charter
creating the IPO. The IPO's methods are information
and espionage
, looking to bring down the BF Group rather than defeating them in an all-out war.
However, to counter Big Fire's superhuman elements, "Experts" are recruited and granted special international jurisdiction. The agents assembled are known as the . Working with the Experts from the Peking Branch is Daisaku Kusama. While he does not possess any special powers, Daisaku is the one and only master of Giant Robo. Constructed by Daisaku's father, Giant Robo is the IPO's trump card against Big Fire.
, it tells the story of Daisaku Kusama, the titular Robo and an evil secret society known only as "Big Fire." In October of the same year, a live-action adaptation
premiered on TV Asahi
. In 1990, producer Yasuhito Yamaki (Ninja Resurrection
, Urotsukidoji
) approached Yasuhiro Imagawa about working on an animated version of the Giant Robo manga. Imagawa, a self-proclaimed fan of Yokoyama's work, jumped at the chance of working on the project.
In pre-production, Imagawa was informed he could not use any of the supporting characters from the manga or live-action versions. Instead, with Yokoyama's permission, he populated the series with characters from the artist's entire canon of work including Akakage, Babel II
and Godmars. The Giant Robo OVA still follows Daisaku and Robo, and the main antagonist is called "Big Fire," but it features an all-new storyline with a completely different cast of characters.
The first episode was released July 22, 1992 with the following three installments staying close to the proposed schedule of six months between releases. In the nine months between the releases of Volumes 4 and 5, two OVA's focusing on the character of GinRei were produced. is a humorous take on GinRei's job as a spy for the IPO. , a send up
of super robot
series, features Ken Ishikawa
as guest mech designer. A third OVA, , was released after Volume 5 of Giant Robo.
The final episode was released January 1998, almost three years after episode six. In between releases, members of the Giant Robo staff worked on other projects including The Big O
, Getter Robo Armageddon
, and an animated version of Shunro Oshikawa
's Kaitei Gunkan novel.
Imagawa intended "The Day the Earth Stood Still" to be the second to final chapter in the conflict between the Experts of Justice and Big Fire. The OVA would be preceded by "The Birth of Zangetsu the Midday," "The Plan to Assassinate Daisaku - the Canary Penitentiary," "The Boy of Three Days," "The Greatest Battle in History - General Kanshin vs. Shokatsu Koumei," and "The Boy Detective, Kindaichi Shōtarō, Appears!" The final chapter is titled "The Siege of Babel
". No further stories have been animated.
An 2007 Remake of the series entitled was then produced by A.C.G.T.. It was written by Chiaki Konaka (Serial Experiments Lain
, The Big O
) and directed by Masahiko Murata (Jinki:EXTEND
, Mazinkaiser
). The TV series is a re-imagining of Mitsuteru Yokoyama
's manga of the same name and created to commemorate Giant Robos 40th anniversary. Aside from the source material, this show has nothing to do with this OVA.
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Giant Robos score was composed, arranged and conducted by Japanese Academy Award nominee Masamichi Amano
(The Geisha House
, Battle Royale
) and performed by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra
and Choir. The music ranges from grand pieces like "Charge! His Name is Giant Robo" to more light-hearted tracks like "Tetsugyu in Love." Amano makes use of leitmotif
s, recurring musical themes associated with different characters, places or events.
is Giant Robo's Dies Irae
, first heard during the destruction of the Champs-Élysées
in episode one. The hymn
, written in Medieval Latin
, describes what is known in Christian eschatology
as Judgment Day. Along with Amano's original compositions, the soundtrack features "Una furtiva lagrima
" from the 1832 opera L'elisir d'amore
. For Imagawa, the aria embodies one of the themes of Giant Robo: "the sorrow of others not understanding your true feelings".
The music of Giant Robo has been called one of the OVA's best accomplishments. The complete score was released in seven soundtracks by Nippon Columbia. The first two soundtracks were released in North America by AnimeTrax
.
's Comics Genki, it delves deeper into the machinations of the BF Group and introduces as Big Fire's counterpart in the IPO. The issues were later collected in two volumes
published under the Newtype 100% Comics imprint
.
A novelization
by Hiroshi Yamaguchi was released on September, 1993. (Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko: ISBN 4-04-413104-X)
December 2002 saw the release of the only chapter in , scripted by Kensei Date and illustrated by Masayuki Fujihara. The manga was to be serialized in Eichi Publishing's Trauma Manga, but the magazine was discontinued after its third issue.
In commemoration of Giant Robo
s 40th anniversary, Imagawa began scripting Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Burned
. The manga, illustrated by Yasunari Toda, chronicles Daisaku's involvement in a three way battle between the IPO, the Magnificent Ten and the Murasame Clan. "The Day the Earth Burned" follows the general tone and style of the OVA but set in a different continuity.
where the story unfolds must be convincing, for it is the setting and themes what determine the character and mecha designs. In the world of Giant Robo, "anything goes." The technology is futuristic and the morals are modern. The world's outlook is bright but there's an underlying sense of some sinister motive beneath it. Wuxia heroes coexist with modern day esper
s and giant robots as soldiers in a struggle between good and evil.
and Tekkaman Blade
gave modern spins to old classics, the creators of Giant Robo decided to go with a "retro
" look.
The characters were designed by Toshiyuki Kubooka
(Lunar
series, The Idolm@ster) and Akihiko Yamashita. (Princess Nine
, Tide-Line Blue
) The designers were asked to emulate Yokoyama's characters rather than create new ones. Admittedly "it took some time to catch on to Director Imagawa's intentions," but with repetition the staff was able to achieve Imagawa's vision of characters that look like they stepped out of anime from the 1960s.
The mechanical design is a case of high technology meets old school engineering. The titular mecha is an advanced piece of machinery, equipped with booster rockets and hidden weapons throughout. Sporting big stovepipe arms and exposed rivets, the hulking giant is more like a weapon of mass destruction rather than a "robot superhero." Vehicles like the Shizuma powered Beetle
or the Experts' airship fortress in the design of a zeppelin
appear as if they had been conceived at the turn of the 20th century, giving the world of Giant Robo a timeless feel.
Giant Robo is credited with generating interest in re-imagining other artists' works, including Osamu Tezuka
and Go Nagai
, and creating a "retro" style that's been used in productions like Sakura Wars
.
genre can be traced back to the 1970s. The works of Go Nagai
(Mazinger
, Getter Robo
) created the genre and the debut of Yoshiyuki Tomino
's Mobile Suit Gundam
in 1979 solidified it. In this genre, the mecha is the focal point of the action. But for a genre anime, Giant Robo does not feature many giant robot battles; instead, it is the human characters who do the fighting.
Most of the "Experts" featured in "The Day the Earth Stood Still" come from Yokoyama's manga adaptations of Outlaws of the Marsh and Romance of the Three Kingdoms
, both wuxia novels and half of the "Four Classics" of Chinese literature
. Wuxia are martial arts adventures populated by skilled, honorable fighters. In Hong Kong action cinema
, the genre is associated with swordplay epics sprinkled with mysticism.
Given their origin, the heroes and villains of Giant Robo are superhuman combatants who share many elements with the errant knights of wuxia
like strength, magic powers and the ability to fly
. In wuxia adventures, the characters are given nicknames that allude to their mastery of weapons, their physical appearance or their demeanor (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
). Imagawa, inspired by Yokayama's adaptation of Outlaws of the Marsh, followed this convention and gave Giant Robos characters similar descriptive names like "Shockwave Alberto", "Silent Chūjō" and "Kenji The Immortal."
In jiang hu, secret societies plot against the status quo
(House of Flying Daggers
) and powerful clans do war with each other. Giant Robo features the ongoing conflict between the Experts of Justice and the BF Group. Woven into the story are values commonly associated with martial arts films like honor, loyalty and individual justice, best exemplified in the rivalry between Alberto and Taisō.
The OVA is comparable to a bildungsroman
, where the story traces the main character's development from childhood to maturity. The two most important characters in the boy's coming of age
are his fellow Experts Tetsugyu and Kenji Murasame. Tetsugyu is a grown-up but still a "child" at heart. In the course of the story he and Daisaku grow-up, and mature, creating a parallel between them. Kenji, on the other hand, is what Daisaku sees as an "adult." Willing to sacrifice others for the sake of happiness, Kenji contrasts Daisaku's idealism.
The story delves on the relationship between fathers and sons and the unbreakable bond that exists between them. The characters of Daisaku and Genya lost their fathers at a young age and entrusted with a legacy that turns them to adversaries during "The Day the Earth Stood Still." Mirror images of one another, the characters fight to fulfill their respective fathers' dying wish at the expense of the other's.
Dr. Kusama's dying question to Daisaku ("Can happiness be obtained without sacrifice? Can a new era be achieved without tragedy?") is at the crux of the series. Shizuma and his colleagues gave the world a new era of prosperity at the expense of billions of lives. The BF Group is willing to cause great misfortune to make their ideal world a reality, while many sacrifice themselves to protect it. The ending is bittersweet, with both sides suffering losses. For Imagawa, this was the only way of getting his point across. The series ends with a dedication to all fathers and their children "giving a glimmer of hope in the midst of all the sorrow."
on VHS and LaserDisc
from 1992 to 1998. On March 24, 2000, Toshiba
Entertainment released the series on Region 2 DVD. The Giant Robo Giga Premium Collection (ASBY-1600) features digitally remastered video and audio, interviews with the creators and a companion book.
The distribution of the English language version has been handled by four different companies. A LaserDisc edition was released by L.A. Hero in 1994. After L.A. Hero's license expired, it was released on VHS by U.S. Renditions
and Manga Entertainment
. After Manga Entertainment's license expired, Media Blasters
released Giant Robo on DVD. Media Blasters' 2004 release includes the Japanese language
track and an all-new dub by NYAV Post
.
Giant Robo was distributed in the Netherlands by Manga DVD and in Hong Kong by Asia Video. The French version, dubbed by Saint Maur Studios, was distributed by Pathé
. The series was released in Italy by Granata Press, with an upcoming release by Shin Vision.
Video games
The Giant Robo video game (SLPM-62526) was released for PlayStation 2
on November 3, 2004 by D3 Publisher
. Set in "The Day the Earth Stood Still" continuity, the player leads Daisaku Kusama and Giant Robo on a quest to defeat the BF Group. As Daisaku, the player can pick up items and power-ups on the battlefield; as Robo, it does battle with other mechas. A Versus Mode allows players to compete against each other using any of the robots featured on the series. The game is not available in Europe or North America.
Giant Robo made its debut in the Super Robot Wars
with Super Robot Taisen 64
, released October 29, 1999. It later appeared in Super Robot Taisen Alpha for the PlayStation
and Dreamcast.
Audio drama
Mighty Ginrei: Final Fight (COCC-12444), an audio drama sequel to the "Mighty GinRei" OVA, was released on April 21, 1995 by Nippon Columbia. Love Fight, a music collection tie-in
, was released the same day.
s Top 100 Anime List, published on January 2001. On July of the same year, the series appeared on a list of the all time top 50 anime, according to Wizard Magazine.
Critical reception has been largely positive. Three different reviewers from the AnimeOnDVD site gave Giant Robo an "A+". John Huxley of Anime Boredom "highly recommends" the series and Anime Academy gives it a grade of 88%.
Giant Robo has been called "one of the true timeless classics of Anime." Mike Crandol of Anime News Network
says Imagawa "takes the best of the old and mixes it with the best of the new to create the definitive giant robot story." John Huxley of Anime Boredom concludes the series is "the super robot show as it was in your mind's eye, a perfect combination of the old without the disappointment of reality."
Original video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...
series written and directed by Yasuhiro Imagawa
Yasuhiro Imagawa
is a Japanese anime director and screenwriter.-Selected works:*Mister Ajikko *Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still *Gin Rei...
(G Gundam, Seven of Seven
Seven of Seven
is an anime TV series created by Yasuhiro Imagawa and produced by A.C.G.T.The TV series premiered January 10, 2002 on TV Tokyo and finished in run on June 27, 2002, totaling 25 episodes. A New Year's special episode was included in the seventh DVD volume released on October 2 of the same year...
), and inspired by Mitsuteru Yokoyama
Mitsuteru Yokoyama
was a Japanese manga artist born in Suma-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo. His personal name was originally spelled , with the same pronunciation. His works include Tetsujin 28-go, Giant Robo, Akakage, Babel II, Sally, the Witch, Princess Comet, and adaptations of the Chinese classics Outlaws of the Marsh and...
's manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series of the same name
Giant Robo
is an original video animation series written and directed by Yasuhiro Imagawa , and inspired by Mitsuteru Yokoyama's manga series of the same name....
.
Giant Robo is an homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
to Yokoyama's career. The series features characters and plotlines from the manga artist's entire canon of work, effectively creating an all-new story. The events take place in the near future, ten years after the advent of the Shizuma Drive triggers the third energy revolution. The series follows the master of the titular Robo, Daisaku Kusama, and the Experts of Justice, an international police organization locked in battle with the BF Group, a secret society hell-bent on world domination.
The OVA is recognized for its "retro
Retro
Retro is a culturally outdated or aged style, trend, mode, or fashion, from the overall postmodern past, that has since that time become functionally or superficially the norm once again. The use of "retro" style iconography and imagery interjected into post-modern art, advertising, mass media, etc...
" style and opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic score. The character designs emulate Yokoyama's drawing style and the mecha
Mecha
A mech , is a science fiction term for a large walking bipedal tank or robot, including ones on treads and animal shapes.-Characteristics:...
nics are inspired by steampunk
Steampunk
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United...
literature. The action setpiece
Setpiece
In film production, a setpiece is a scene or sequence of scenes the execution of which requires serious logistical planning and considerable expenditure of money. The term setpiece is often used more broadly to describe any important dramatic or comedic highpoint in a film or story, particularly...
s are influenced by Hong Kong action cinema
Hong Kong action cinema
Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. It combines elements from the action film, as codified by Hollywood, with Chinese storytelling and aesthetic traditions, to create a culturally distinctive form that nevertheless has a wide transcultural...
, specifically the new school of wuxia
Wuxia
Wuxia is a broad genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists. Although wuxia is traditionally a form of literature, its popularity has caused it to spread to diverse art forms like Chinese opera, manhua , films, television series, and video games...
and the 1970s kung fu wave.
The first installment of the series, "The Black Attaché Case," was released July 22, 1992. Originally intended to finish within 36 months, the seven volume series was ultimately released over the span of six years. "The Grand Finale" was released January 25, 1998. The OVA has since been translated into English, Cantonese
Standard Cantonese
Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a language that originated in the vicinity of Canton in southern China, and is often regarded as the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese....
, Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, French, Italian and Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
.
Plot
The series takes place in a retro-futuristic setting, where the Shizuma Drive ends the depletion of petroleumOil depletion
Oil depletion occurs in the second half of the production curve of an oil well, oil field, or the average of total world oil production. The Hubbert peak theory makes predictions of production rates based on prior discovery rates and anticipated production rates. Hubbert curves predict that the...
resources and the need for nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
. The system is a non-polluting recyclable energy source that powers everything on land, sea and air. Ten years prior to the events of the series a team of scientists, led by Professor Shizuma, created the revolutionary system. In the process they nearly destroyed the world and one of their own, Franken Von Vogler, was lost in the event that went down in history as the "Tragedy of Bashtarle." At the start of Giant Robo, the BF Group is in the middle of recreating the event with aid from the resurfaced Vogler.
The story explores a society completely brought down, within the span of one week, because of dependency on a single energy source and a state of prosperity tainted by compromise and deceit.
BF Group
The is the main antagonistAntagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
of the series. Their origin is unknown, but not so their reason to be: to lead mankind down a road of ruin. The Group's forces consist of mechanical monsters, foot soldiers and , individuals with superhuman
Superhuman
Superhuman can mean an improved human, for example, by genetic modification, cybernetic implants, or as what humans might evolve into, in the near or distant future...
powers.
The most powerful Experts form the ruling cadre of the organization, the cabal of . Its members swear allegiance to , the Group's founder and leader, with faltering loyalty punishable by death. At the time of "The Day the Earth Stood Still," The Ten are gearing up for the final showdown with the IPO.
The IPO
The is the BF Group's counterpart in the Giant Robo universeFictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
. The leaders of the world acknowledged Big Fire as a threat to world security and signed the charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
creating the IPO. The IPO's methods are information
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
and espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
, looking to bring down the BF Group rather than defeating them in an all-out war.
However, to counter Big Fire's superhuman elements, "Experts" are recruited and granted special international jurisdiction. The agents assembled are known as the . Working with the Experts from the Peking Branch is Daisaku Kusama. While he does not possess any special powers, Daisaku is the one and only master of Giant Robo. Constructed by Daisaku's father, Giant Robo is the IPO's trump card against Big Fire.
Production
The Giant Robo manga first appeared in Weekly Shōnen Sunday on May 1967. Written by Mitsuteru YokoyamaMitsuteru Yokoyama
was a Japanese manga artist born in Suma-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo. His personal name was originally spelled , with the same pronunciation. His works include Tetsujin 28-go, Giant Robo, Akakage, Babel II, Sally, the Witch, Princess Comet, and adaptations of the Chinese classics Outlaws of the Marsh and...
, it tells the story of Daisaku Kusama, the titular Robo and an evil secret society known only as "Big Fire." In October of the same year, a live-action adaptation
Giant Robo (tokusatsu)
, is a manga and tokusatsu series created by Mitsuteru Yokoyama. It is similar to his famous Tetsujin 28-go , though Giant Robo has more fantastic elements....
premiered on TV Asahi
TV Asahi
, also known as EX and , is a Japanese television network headquartered in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company writes its name in lower-case letters, tv asahi, in its logo and public-image materials. The company also owns All-Nippon News Network....
. In 1990, producer Yasuhito Yamaki (Ninja Resurrection
Ninja Resurrection
Ninja Resurrection, known in Japan as is a two-part original video animation directed by Yasunori Urata.The OVA series is based on Futaro Yamada's novel Makai Tenshō...
, Urotsukidoji
Urotsukidoji
is a Japanese manga and an Original Video Animation releases.-History:Urotsukidōji was created by Toshio Maeda, in 1986, and was a huge departure from his earlier works in that it mixed erotica with humor, and the supernatural...
) approached Yasuhiro Imagawa about working on an animated version of the Giant Robo manga. Imagawa, a self-proclaimed fan of Yokoyama's work, jumped at the chance of working on the project.
In pre-production, Imagawa was informed he could not use any of the supporting characters from the manga or live-action versions. Instead, with Yokoyama's permission, he populated the series with characters from the artist's entire canon of work including Akakage, Babel II
Babel II
is a 1971 manga series by Mitsuteru Yokoyama.Yokoyama's manga has been animated three times: in 1973 as a television series, in 1992 as an original video animation series, and in 2001 as a 13 episode television series....
and Godmars. The Giant Robo OVA still follows Daisaku and Robo, and the main antagonist is called "Big Fire," but it features an all-new storyline with a completely different cast of characters.
The first episode was released July 22, 1992 with the following three installments staying close to the proposed schedule of six months between releases. In the nine months between the releases of Volumes 4 and 5, two OVA's focusing on the character of GinRei were produced. is a humorous take on GinRei's job as a spy for the IPO. , a send up
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of super robot
Super Robot
is a term used in manga and anime to describe a giant robot or mecha, with an arsenal of fantastic super-powered weapons, extreme resistance to damage unless the plot calls for it, sometimes transformable or combined from two or more robots and/or vehicles usually piloted by young, daring heroes,...
series, features Ken Ishikawa
Ken Ishikawa
was a Japanese manga artist. He is renowned as the co-creator with Go Nagai, of the Getter Robo anime series, as well as four of their subsequent manga continuations...
as guest mech designer. A third OVA, , was released after Volume 5 of Giant Robo.
The final episode was released January 1998, almost three years after episode six. In between releases, members of the Giant Robo staff worked on other projects including The Big O
The Big O
is a Japanese animated television series created by director Kazuyoshi Katayama and designer Keiichi Sato for Sunrise Studios. The writing staff was assembled by the series' head writer, Chiaki J. Konaka....
, Getter Robo Armageddon
Getter Robo Armageddon
, often simply referred to as Change!! Getter Robo in Japan, is an original video animation released in 1998 by Bandai Visual, based on the manga and anime series Getter Robo, created by Go Nagai and Ken Ishikawa...
, and an animated version of Shunro Oshikawa
Shunro Oshikawa
, was a Japanese author, journalist and editor, best known as a pioneer of science fiction.-Education and early career:While studying law at Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō at the turn of the century, Oshikawa published Kaitō Bōken Kidan: Kaitei Gunkan , the story of an armoured, ram-armed submarine in a...
's Kaitei Gunkan novel.
Imagawa intended "The Day the Earth Stood Still" to be the second to final chapter in the conflict between the Experts of Justice and Big Fire. The OVA would be preceded by "The Birth of Zangetsu the Midday," "The Plan to Assassinate Daisaku - the Canary Penitentiary," "The Boy of Three Days," "The Greatest Battle in History - General Kanshin vs. Shokatsu Koumei," and "The Boy Detective, Kindaichi Shōtarō, Appears!" The final chapter is titled "The Siege of Babel
Tower of Babel
The Tower of Babel , according to the Book of Genesis, was an enormous tower built in the plain of Shinar .According to the biblical account, a united humanity of the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, came to the land of Shinar, where...
". No further stories have been animated.
An 2007 Remake of the series entitled was then produced by A.C.G.T.. It was written by Chiaki Konaka (Serial Experiments Lain
Serial Experiments Lain
Serial Experiments Lain is an anime series directed by Ryutaro Nakamura, original character design by Yoshitoshi ABe, screenplay written by Chiaki J. Konaka, and produced by Yasuyuki Ueda for Triangle Staff. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo from July to September 1998...
, The Big O
The Big O
is a Japanese animated television series created by director Kazuyoshi Katayama and designer Keiichi Sato for Sunrise Studios. The writing staff was assembled by the series' head writer, Chiaki J. Konaka....
) and directed by Masahiko Murata (Jinki:EXTEND
Jinki:EXTEND
is a 13-episode mecha anime series that aired on TV Asahi in 2005 as well as a currently running manga series. It takes place in two parts, in Venezuela during 1988 , and in Tokyo, Japan in 1991 The story revolves around two girls who end up piloting giant humanoid robots called "Jinki" and the...
, Mazinkaiser
Mazinkaiser
is an anime OVA series, inspired by Go Nagai's Mazinger series. The OVA follows Kouji Kabuto, Tetsuya Tsurugi and the rest of the "Mazinger Team" as they fight against Dr. Hell's Mechanical Beasts....
). The TV series is a re-imagining of Mitsuteru Yokoyama
Mitsuteru Yokoyama
was a Japanese manga artist born in Suma-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo. His personal name was originally spelled , with the same pronunciation. His works include Tetsujin 28-go, Giant Robo, Akakage, Babel II, Sally, the Witch, Princess Comet, and adaptations of the Chinese classics Outlaws of the Marsh and...
's manga of the same name and created to commemorate Giant Robos 40th anniversary. Aside from the source material, this show has nothing to do with this OVA.
Music
Masamichi Amano
Masamichi Amano is a Japanese music composer, arranger and conductor. He studied at the Kunitachi College of Music in Tokyo and graduated in 1982. He obtained the Takeoka Prize....
(The Geisha House
The Geisha House
-Cast:*Maki Miyamoto as Tokiko aka Omocha*Junko Fuji as Satoe*Kaho Minami as Terucho*Mai Kitajima as Somemaru*Masahiko Tsugawa as Yoshikawa*Yumiko Nogawa as Michiko*Mariko Okada as Hanaman's owner*Takeshi Katô as Kitayama*Noboru Mitani as Mikami...
, Battle Royale
Battle Royale (film)
is a 2000 Japanese film directed by Kinji Fukasaku based on the novel of the same name. It was written by Kenta Fukasaku and stars Takeshi Kitano. The film aroused international controversy.A sequel, Battle Royale II: Requiem, followed...
) and performed by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra
The Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra , one of Poland's premier musical institutions, was established in 1901 on the initiative of an assembly of Polish aristocrats and financiers, as well as musicians...
and Choir. The music ranges from grand pieces like "Charge! His Name is Giant Robo" to more light-hearted tracks like "Tetsugyu in Love." Amano makes use of leitmotif
Leitmotif
A leitmotif , sometimes written leit-motif, is a musical term , referring to a recurring theme, associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical idea of idée fixe...
s, recurring musical themes associated with different characters, places or events.
is Giant Robo's Dies Irae
Dies Irae
Dies Irae is a thirteenth century Latin hymn thought to be written by Thomas of Celano . It is a medieval Latin poem characterized by its accentual stress and its rhymed lines. The metre is trochaic...
, first heard during the destruction of the Champs-Élysées
Champs-Élysées
The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a prestigious avenue in Paris, France. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and clipped horse-chestnut trees, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets and one of the most expensive strip of real estate in the world. The name is...
in episode one. The hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
, written in Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Latin used in the Middle Ages, primarily as a medium of scholarly exchange and as the liturgical language of the medieval Roman Catholic Church, but also as a language of science, literature, law, and administration. Despite the clerical origin of many of its authors,...
, describes what is known in Christian eschatology
Christian eschatology
Christian eschatology is a major branch of study within Christian theology. Eschatology, from two Greek words meaning last and study , is the study of the end of things, whether the end of an individual life, the end of the age, or the end of the world...
as Judgment Day. Along with Amano's original compositions, the soundtrack features "Una furtiva lagrima
Una furtiva lagrima
Una furtiva lagrima is the romanza taken from Act II, Scene VIII of the Italian opera, L'elisir d'amore by Gaetano Donizetti. It is sung by Nemorino when he finds that the love potion he bought to win his dream lady’s heart, Adina, works.Nemorino is in love with Adina, but she isn't interested in...
" from the 1832 opera L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore is an opera by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. It is a melodramma giocoso in two acts...
. For Imagawa, the aria embodies one of the themes of Giant Robo: "the sorrow of others not understanding your true feelings".
The music of Giant Robo has been called one of the OVA's best accomplishments. The complete score was released in seven soundtracks by Nippon Columbia. The first two soundtracks were released in North America by AnimeTrax
AnimeTrax
AnimeTrax is a joint venture between ADV Films and The Right Stuf International to distribute anime soundtracks in the United States. In 2003 ADV Films formed their own music division to serve the same purpose in the form of ADV Music...
.
Adaptations
Along with the animated version, Imagawa scripted a manga illustrated by Mari Mizuta. Serialized in Kadokawa ShotenKadokawa Shoten
is a well-known Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. Kadokawa has published both manga novels and magazines, such as Newtype magazine...
's Comics Genki, it delves deeper into the machinations of the BF Group and introduces as Big Fire's counterpart in the IPO. The issues were later collected in two volumes
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
published under the Newtype 100% Comics imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
.
- Giant Robo Volume 1 (ISBN 4-04-852343-0) Released August, 1992.
- Giant Robo Volume 2 (ISBN 4-04-852441-0) Released September, 1993.
A novelization
Light novel
A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...
by Hiroshi Yamaguchi was released on September, 1993. (Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko: ISBN 4-04-413104-X)
December 2002 saw the release of the only chapter in , scripted by Kensei Date and illustrated by Masayuki Fujihara. The manga was to be serialized in Eichi Publishing's Trauma Manga, but the magazine was discontinued after its third issue.
In commemoration of Giant Robo
Giant Robo
is an original video animation series written and directed by Yasuhiro Imagawa , and inspired by Mitsuteru Yokoyama's manga series of the same name....
s 40th anniversary, Imagawa began scripting Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Burned
Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Burned
is a manga scripted by Yasuhiro Imagawa and illustrated by Yasunari Toda...
. The manga, illustrated by Yasunari Toda, chronicles Daisaku's involvement in a three way battle between the IPO, the Magnificent Ten and the Murasame Clan. "The Day the Earth Burned" follows the general tone and style of the OVA but set in a different continuity.
Episodes
| Ep. # | Title | Length | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Black Attache Case | 56 minutes | July 22, 1992 |
| 2 | The Tragedy of Bashtarlle | 42 minutes | February 20, 1993 |
| 3 | The Magnetic Web Strategy | 40 minutes | August 20, 1993 |
| 4 | The Twilight of the Super Heroes | 46 minutes | January 20, 1994 |
| 5 | The Truth of Bashtarlle | 45 minutes | October 21, 1994 |
| 6 | Crime and Punishment | 49 minutes | June 25, 1995 |
| 7 | The Grand Finale | 59 minutes | January 25, 1998 |
Design
For series director Yasuhiro Imagawa, the worldFictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
where the story unfolds must be convincing, for it is the setting and themes what determine the character and mecha designs. In the world of Giant Robo, "anything goes." The technology is futuristic and the morals are modern. The world's outlook is bright but there's an underlying sense of some sinister motive beneath it. Wuxia heroes coexist with modern day esper
Esper
An esper refers to an individual capable of telepathy and other similar paranormal abilities. The term was apparently coined by Alfred Bester in his 1950 short story "Oddy and Id" and is derived from the abbreviation ESP for extrasensory perception....
s and giant robots as soldiers in a struggle between good and evil.
Art style
The Giant Robo OVA is one of many anime titles based on old properties produced in Japan during the 1990s. While titles like Bubblegum Crisis 2040, Dirty Pair FlashDirty Pair Flash
is a humorous science fiction anime and manga franchise based on the light novel series by Haruka Takachiho.Although it is often said that these are younger versions of the original Lovely Angels Kei and Yuri, in truth this series is an alternate universe telling of Dirty Pair, set in the years...
and Tekkaman Blade
Tekkaman Blade
or Teknoman is an anime series, released in 1992 and 1995 in both Japanese and English language versions.-Plot:During the year 2300 AD , otherwise known as United Earth Year 192, the Earth is under attack from an extraterrestrial enemy known as the Radam...
gave modern spins to old classics, the creators of Giant Robo decided to go with a "retro
Retro
Retro is a culturally outdated or aged style, trend, mode, or fashion, from the overall postmodern past, that has since that time become functionally or superficially the norm once again. The use of "retro" style iconography and imagery interjected into post-modern art, advertising, mass media, etc...
" look.
The characters were designed by Toshiyuki Kubooka
Toshiyuki Kubooka
Toshiyuki Kubooka is a Japanese animator, character designer, and illustrator. He is particularly known for his work on games of the Lunar series.-Anime:*Batman: Gotham Knight...
(Lunar
Lunar series
The Lunar games, made by Game Arts and published in the United States by Working Designs, and later, Ubisoft and Xseed Games, are a series of console RPGs...
series, The Idolm@ster) and Akihiko Yamashita. (Princess Nine
Princess Nine
Princess Nine, or , is a 26-episode Japanese anime broadcast in Japan in 1998. The television series was produced by Phoenix Entertainment in Japan, released by ADV Films in North America, aired from April 8 to October 14, 1998 on NHK, ran for 26 episodes, and six volumes of the series were...
, Tide-Line Blue
Tide-Line Blue
is a Japanese anime series by Bandai Visual and Telecom Animation Film.-Background:Tide-Line Blue is set after an environmental disaster later called the "Hammer of Eden" has submerged 90% of the Earth under water and taken six billion lives. The series begins fourteen years after that event with...
) The designers were asked to emulate Yokoyama's characters rather than create new ones. Admittedly "it took some time to catch on to Director Imagawa's intentions," but with repetition the staff was able to achieve Imagawa's vision of characters that look like they stepped out of anime from the 1960s.
The mechanical design is a case of high technology meets old school engineering. The titular mecha is an advanced piece of machinery, equipped with booster rockets and hidden weapons throughout. Sporting big stovepipe arms and exposed rivets, the hulking giant is more like a weapon of mass destruction rather than a "robot superhero." Vehicles like the Shizuma powered Beetle
Volkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Type 1, widely known as the Volkswagen Beetle or Volkswagen Bug, is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003...
or the Experts' airship fortress in the design of a zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
appear as if they had been conceived at the turn of the 20th century, giving the world of Giant Robo a timeless feel.
Giant Robo is credited with generating interest in re-imagining other artists' works, including Osamu Tezuka
Osamu Tezuka
was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...
and Go Nagai
Go Nagai
, better known by the penname , is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of science fiction, fantasy, horror and erotica. He made his professional debut in 1967 with Meakashi Polikichi, but is best known for creating Cutie Honey, Devilman, and Mazinger Z in the 1970s. In 2005, he became a...
, and creating a "retro" style that's been used in productions like Sakura Wars
Sakura Wars
is a Japanese media franchise created by Ouji Hiroi, and is developed and owned by Sega and licensed by Red Entertainment and Sega. The franchise centers on a series of dramatic fantasy and science-fantasy tactical role-playing adventure video games, which consist of tactical wargame and dating sim...
.
Influences
The modern notion of the giant robotMecha anime
Mecha anime cover all series that revolve around the use of piloted robotic armors in battle, which is broken down into two subcategories of Super Robot and Real Robot. Mecha series cover a wide variety of genres from comedy to drama, though are always fantastical and larger-than-life in nature and...
genre can be traced back to the 1970s. The works of Go Nagai
Go Nagai
, better known by the penname , is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of science fiction, fantasy, horror and erotica. He made his professional debut in 1967 with Meakashi Polikichi, but is best known for creating Cutie Honey, Devilman, and Mazinger Z in the 1970s. In 2005, he became a...
(Mazinger
Mazinger
is a long running series of manga and anime featuring giant robots or mecha. The name can also be pronounced "Mazinga", as it is has been known in several countries, including in the United States of America.-Series:The series in order:...
, Getter Robo
Getter Robo
is a Super Robot manga series created by Go Nagai and Ken Ishikawa, as well as an anime series produced by Toei Animation. The series was broadcast on Fuji TV from April 4, 1974 to May 8, 1975, with a total of 51 episodes.- Plot :...
) created the genre and the debut of Yoshiyuki Tomino
Yoshiyuki Tomino
is a Japanese mecha anime creator, director, screenwriter and novelist. He was born in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and studied at Nihon University's College of Art...
's Mobile Suit Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam
is a televised anime series, created by Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Nagoya Broadcasting Network on April 7, 1979, and lasted until January 26, 1980, spanning 43 episodes...
in 1979 solidified it. In this genre, the mecha is the focal point of the action. But for a genre anime, Giant Robo does not feature many giant robot battles; instead, it is the human characters who do the fighting.
Most of the "Experts" featured in "The Day the Earth Stood Still" come from Yokoyama's manga adaptations of Outlaws of the Marsh and Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century, is a Chinese historical novel based on the events in the turbulent years near the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history, starting in 169 and ending with the reunification of the land in...
, both wuxia novels and half of the "Four Classics" of Chinese literature
Chinese literature
Chinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novels that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese...
. Wuxia are martial arts adventures populated by skilled, honorable fighters. In Hong Kong action cinema
Hong Kong action cinema
Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. It combines elements from the action film, as codified by Hollywood, with Chinese storytelling and aesthetic traditions, to create a culturally distinctive form that nevertheless has a wide transcultural...
, the genre is associated with swordplay epics sprinkled with mysticism.
Given their origin, the heroes and villains of Giant Robo are superhuman combatants who share many elements with the errant knights of wuxia
Wuxia
Wuxia is a broad genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists. Although wuxia is traditionally a form of literature, its popularity has caused it to spread to diverse art forms like Chinese opera, manhua , films, television series, and video games...
like strength, magic powers and the ability to fly
Qing gong
Qinggong |title= Lian Gong Mi Jue: Secret Methods of Acquiring External and Internal Mastery|last= Timofeevich, etc all|first=|authorlink=|coauthors= Andrew Timofeevich, Jin Yi Ming, Guo Cui Ya|year= 2007|publisher= Lulu.com|location=|isbn= 184753371X...
. In wuxia adventures, the characters are given nicknames that allude to their mastery of weapons, their physical appearance or their demeanor (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a 2000 wuxia film. An American-Chinese-Hong Kong-Taiwanese co-production, the film was directed by Ang Lee and featured an international cast of ethnic Chinese actors, including Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, and Chang Chen...
). Imagawa, inspired by Yokayama's adaptation of Outlaws of the Marsh, followed this convention and gave Giant Robos characters similar descriptive names like "Shockwave Alberto", "Silent Chūjō" and "Kenji The Immortal."
In jiang hu, secret societies plot against the status quo
Status quo
Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...
(House of Flying Daggers
House of Flying Daggers
House of Flying Daggers is a 2004 wuxia film directed by Zhang Yimou. It differs from other wuxia films in that it is more of a love story than a straight martial arts film....
) and powerful clans do war with each other. Giant Robo features the ongoing conflict between the Experts of Justice and the BF Group. Woven into the story are values commonly associated with martial arts films like honor, loyalty and individual justice, best exemplified in the rivalry between Alberto and Taisō.
Themes
Giant Robo is structured as a "character driven drama," emphasizing the relationships and personal histories of the characters over a mystery surrounding the titular mecha or a philosophical diatribe. At the time of the series, Daisaku is 12 years old and the only child in the Experts of Justice. Giant Robo is the story of how Daisaku grows up and works to respect his father's last will and testament of protecting the world from the BF Group.The OVA is comparable to a bildungsroman
Bildungsroman
In literary criticism, bildungsroman or coming-of-age story is a literary genre which focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood , and in which character change is thus extremely important...
, where the story traces the main character's development from childhood to maturity. The two most important characters in the boy's coming of age
Coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
are his fellow Experts Tetsugyu and Kenji Murasame. Tetsugyu is a grown-up but still a "child" at heart. In the course of the story he and Daisaku grow-up, and mature, creating a parallel between them. Kenji, on the other hand, is what Daisaku sees as an "adult." Willing to sacrifice others for the sake of happiness, Kenji contrasts Daisaku's idealism.
The story delves on the relationship between fathers and sons and the unbreakable bond that exists between them. The characters of Daisaku and Genya lost their fathers at a young age and entrusted with a legacy that turns them to adversaries during "The Day the Earth Stood Still." Mirror images of one another, the characters fight to fulfill their respective fathers' dying wish at the expense of the other's.
Dr. Kusama's dying question to Daisaku ("Can happiness be obtained without sacrifice? Can a new era be achieved without tragedy?") is at the crux of the series. Shizuma and his colleagues gave the world a new era of prosperity at the expense of billions of lives. The BF Group is willing to cause great misfortune to make their ideal world a reality, while many sacrifice themselves to protect it. The ending is bittersweet, with both sides suffering losses. For Imagawa, this was the only way of getting his point across. The series ends with a dedication to all fathers and their children "giving a glimmer of hope in the midst of all the sorrow."
Media
The series was originally released by Bandai VisualBandai Visual
, is a Japanese anime, film production and distribution enterprise, established by Bandai Co., Ltd. and a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings, Inc., which is based in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Since the reorganisation of Namco Bandai Holdings in 2006, Bandai Visual now heads the group's Visual and...
on VHS and LaserDisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
from 1992 to 1998. On March 24, 2000, Toshiba
Toshiba
is a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...
Entertainment released the series on Region 2 DVD. The Giant Robo Giga Premium Collection (ASBY-1600) features digitally remastered video and audio, interviews with the creators and a companion book.
The distribution of the English language version has been handled by four different companies. A LaserDisc edition was released by L.A. Hero in 1994. After L.A. Hero's license expired, it was released on VHS by U.S. Renditions
U.S. Renditions
U.S. Renditions was a Special Projects Division of Books Nippan and one of the pioneers of anime home video distribution in North America. The division was originally founded in February 1987 by Kevin Seymour, David Keith Riddick, Sho Nagata and Satoshi Komatsu...
and Manga Entertainment
Manga Entertainment
Manga Entertainment is a producer, licensor and distributor of Japanese animation in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Australia and New Zealand...
. After Manga Entertainment's license expired, Media Blasters
Media Blasters
Media Blasters is an entertainment corporation founded by John Sirabella and Sam Liebowitz, based in New York City. They are in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American market manga compilations and anime and live-action movies and television series to home-video...
released Giant Robo on DVD. Media Blasters' 2004 release includes the Japanese language
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
track and an all-new dub by NYAV Post
NYAV Post
NYAV Post is an American recording studio founded by Michael Sinterniklaas in 2000. The studio is located in New York City, with a West Coast branch located in Los Angeles, California...
.
Giant Robo was distributed in the Netherlands by Manga DVD and in Hong Kong by Asia Video. The French version, dubbed by Saint Maur Studios, was distributed by Pathé
Pathé
Pathé or Pathé Frères is the name of various French businesses founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France.-History:...
. The series was released in Italy by Granata Press, with an upcoming release by Shin Vision.
Video games
The Giant Robo video game (SLPM-62526) was released for PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
on November 3, 2004 by D3 Publisher
D3 Publisher
D3Publisher is a Japanese video game publisher founded on February 5, 1992. Current CEO and president is Yuji Ito, and It is known for its Simple series of low-priced console games. Their games have been released for the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2,...
. Set in "The Day the Earth Stood Still" continuity, the player leads Daisaku Kusama and Giant Robo on a quest to defeat the BF Group. As Daisaku, the player can pick up items and power-ups on the battlefield; as Robo, it does battle with other mechas. A Versus Mode allows players to compete against each other using any of the robots featured on the series. The game is not available in Europe or North America.
Giant Robo made its debut in the Super Robot Wars
Super Robot Wars
is a series of tactical role-playing video games produced by Banpresto, which is now a Japanese division of Namco Bandai. The main feature of the franchise is having a story that crosses over several popular mecha anime, manga and video games, allowing characters and mecha from different titles to...
with Super Robot Taisen 64
Super Robot Taisen 64
is a strategy role-playing game for the Nintendo 64. It was released only in Japan in 1999. The game can make use of the Nintendo 64's Transfer Pak with the Game Boy Color game Super Robot Wars: Link Battler.-Series included in Super Robot Wars 64:...
, released October 29, 1999. It later appeared in Super Robot Taisen Alpha for the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
and Dreamcast.
Audio drama
Mighty Ginrei: Final Fight (COCC-12444), an audio drama sequel to the "Mighty GinRei" OVA, was released on April 21, 1995 by Nippon Columbia. Love Fight, a music collection tie-in
Tie-in
A tie-in is an authorized product based on a media property a company is releasing, such as a movie or video/DVD, computer game, video game, television program/television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property...
, was released the same day.
Reception
The final installment of Giant Robo was released on January 25, 1998, eight years after production began and a full decade since its inception. The feature suffered from high running costs and low sales, but was better received in America. The series appeared in the 62nd position of AnimageAnimage
is a Japanese anime and entertainment magazine which Tokuma Shoten began publishing in July 1978. Hayao Miyazaki's internationally renowned manga, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, was serialized in Animage from 1982 through 1994...
s Top 100 Anime List, published on January 2001. On July of the same year, the series appeared on a list of the all time top 50 anime, according to Wizard Magazine.
Critical reception has been largely positive. Three different reviewers from the AnimeOnDVD site gave Giant Robo an "A+". John Huxley of Anime Boredom "highly recommends" the series and Anime Academy gives it a grade of 88%.
Giant Robo has been called "one of the true timeless classics of Anime." Mike Crandol of Anime News Network
Anime News Network
Anime News Network is an anime industry news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, Japanese popular music and other otaku-related culture within North America, Australia and Japan. Additionally, it sometimes features similar happenings throughout the Anglosphere and elsewhere in the...
says Imagawa "takes the best of the old and mixes it with the best of the new to create the definitive giant robot story." John Huxley of Anime Boredom concludes the series is "the super robot show as it was in your mind's eye, a perfect combination of the old without the disappointment of reality."
External links
- Giant Robo in the Japan Hero Encyclopedia