is a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 series and a parody 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...

's Mazinger Z

Mazinger Z

, known briefly as Tranzor Z in United States, is a Super Robot manga and anime series created by Go Nagai. The first manga version was serialized in Shueisha Weekly Shōnen Jump from October 1972 to August 1973, and it later continued in Kodansha TV Magazine from October 1973 to September 1974. In...

. The series premiered on April 12, 2004 and ended in the same year with 30 episodes.

Theme

None of the characters are voiced, and the show's infrequent dialogue is instead presented through intertitle

Intertitle

In motion pictures, an intertitle is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of the photographed action, at various points, generally to convey character dialogue, or descriptive narrative material related to, but not necessarily covered by, the material photographed.Intertitles...

s. Some episodes have no dialogue at all, relying on mime movement

Mime artist

A mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art, involving miming, or the acting out a story through body motions, without use of speech. In earlier times, in English, such a performer was referred to as a mummer...

, sound effects, and the show's electric guitar

Electric guitar

An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

-based blues/rock/fusion soundtrack for expression. Each episode is five minutes long, including both the opening and ending credits. The ending credits also include a profile of one character or set piece from the series.

The series is collected in 6 DVD volumes under Bandai's "Anime Legends" banner, each of which also has a bonus 3-D animated short and a short featuring a large rotocast Panda-Z toy. The first volume is available with a pack-in Panda-Z toy 3" (8 cm) tall. Judging from a short sequence in the opening credits, this toy is as big as the "giant" robot is.

Story

The series consists of short comedy sketches, involving the adventures of Pan-Taron, a super deformed

Super deformed

Super deformed or SD is a specific style of Japanese caricature where characters are drawn in an exaggerated way, typically small and chubby, with stubby limbs and oversized heads, to make them resemble small children...

 robotic panda, pilot of the Panda-Z 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:...

, and his equally small cute robotic friends, as they fight the evil Skullpander, leader of the Warunimal forces. The story is confined to the small Robonimal Island (containing Robonimal City and P-Z Labs) and a tiny nearby volcanic island that is home to the Warunimal base. Buildings in Robonimal City are all topped with panda heads.

Never taking itself seriously, the story is often just an excuse to put the characters in common everyday situations, but with a robotic twist, which allows for comical results.

In several episodes the characters can be seen playing the card game Old Maid against one another. The deck they play with has characters from the show on them, including Skullpander as the Joker. In one episode they play Rock-Paper-Scissors...a game made more difficult by their mitten-like hands.

Being robots, they can often be seen ingesting batteries for their food.

Some other times, the struggle between the two groups is present, but either one of them, or sometimes even both, don't take the fighting seriously.

List of Pan-Taron's Robonimal friends

• Dr. Panji - Taron's grandfather and the director of the laboratory. He is a researcher at the mysterious "Super P-Z" and an authority on Robonimal engineering. He created the Panda-Z along with Taron's father (who left one day years ago and never returned). But outside of that, he is just a kind grandfather, who loves his grandson very much.
• Rabina/Rabinna - A kindhearted girl that everyone adores. She dreams of becoming a great nurse someday. She has a cheerful, kind personality and also has a strong sense of responsibility. She's a pink robot rabbit with angel wings and a white nurse's outfit.
• Denwan - He is something of a leader in Taron's group of friends. He is dependable, but sometimes, he gets ahead of himself and ends up failing. His dream is to become a great public Denwan someday. (Den means phone and WanWan is the sound a dog makes so he is basically a blue Phone dog.) He is, however, a pay phone...you have to pay him to make an outgoing call. Also, his dial only has seven digits.
• Eteckee - He is a brilliant and talented scholar. Sometimes, he can be timid and a bit of a scaredy-cat, but he dreams of becoming a researcher at the Panda-Z Lab someday. His name seems to be a pun on "techie" and "monkey", and is a yellow robot monkey.
• Hamu Ichiro, Hamu Jiro - They are the mechanical team at the lab. They are both incredible mechanics and Panda-Z's feats are often made possible thanks to these two. They pilot the Ham Gears, giant robots that let them repair Panda-Z at its own scale, as well as carry a damaged Panda-Z off the battlefield. There seems to be no relation between the noncombatant Ham Gears and Dr. Jangarly's Black Ham Gear.
• Zoutank - A green robot that is a cross between an elephant and a tank, with a cannon for a trunk. It seems to be an independent character, rather than merely a vehicle. However, it's large enough for other Robonimals to ride in.

The Bear Rescue Team

The Bear Rescue are the rescue professionals at the Panda-Z lab:

• Firebear - basically the fire fighter of the group.

• Rescue Bear 01, Rescue Bear 02 - Nearly identical bear robots, with "01" or "02" on their ears. They're litter-bearers, among other tasks.

• Medical Bear - A white bear with red rescue flasher ears and a doctor's speculum (mirror headband). Rabinna is his nurse.

List of Warunimal enemies

• Skullpander/Skull Panda - leader of the Warunimals, what's beneath his cloak is a source of mystery to his own generals. He's spooky and mysterious and rarely seems to do anything, generally staying in his cloud-wreathed island headquarters.

• Rubyrabeauty/Rubyraby - rabbit-princess with adult proportions (as opposed to the child-body proportions of everyone else). Her minions are pink. Her giant robot occasionally demonstrates the ability to act on its own, and at one point seems to fall in love with Panda-Z.

• Moogyuu/Mougyu - cow-like appearance. His minions are yellow. Probably Panda-Z's most frequent opponent, he's often cheated of victory because his remote control breaks, or he is injured when he gets dragged along behind it on the remote's cable. His giant robot Moujumbo uses a large hammer.

• Doctor Jangary/Jangarly - robo-hamster with a mustache, his skull is a clear dome that shows his computer brain. When he smokes, the smoke fills his dome and he shorts out. His minions wear black. His "Black Ham Gear" giant robot is not completed until the end of the series, and he frequently threatens dire vengeance once it's ready.

• Wolgaoh/Wolgar - robot wolf who's perhaps a little too domesticated, sometimes playing fetch when he should be fighting. Normally light gray, turns red under a full moon. His minions are light gray, and his giant wolf robot (that also seems to be named Wolgaoh) has a set of "bone nunchaku".

• Kokekkou - A giant robotic rooster, apparently an unpiloted Warunimal asset. It can launch egg bombs, fly, and is assisted by smaller flying robot roosters.

• Warunimal soldier - Identical masked minions, appearing in four color schemes, denoting which general they follow. They don't seem to much like their generals, and sometimes argue amongst each other which group has it worst.

• Bokkuma - Box on legs with panda features. More pet than minion.