What is /m/'s opinion on Giant Robo? Personally I thought

>>15528394
Really slow paced and boring until the last ep.

>>15528637
t. pablo

>>15528692
Nope, I'm from America, ANN.

>>15528394
I might have felt differently about it if I had been properly warned beforehand. I didn't know, at the time, who Imgawa was, so I didn't know that it was secretly a wuxia series. Maybe if I had known that ahead of time I wouldn't have been so upset with what I got, but I didn't, so I was, and I still haven't been able to get over that disappointment all these years later.

>>15528698
>america
>white

Third favorite mecha anime
Loved it to death

>>15528394
I wanna give it another try. First time I saw it I found the first episode very boring and just couldn't get into it. I now am more associated with Imagawa and mecha as a whole so I want to give it a three episode trial to see if I can enjoy it this time.

>>15528706
>I might have felt differently about it if I had been properly warned beforehand. I didn't know, at the time, who Imgawa was, so I didn't know that it was secretly a wuxia series.
That reminds me of when I saw Crouching Tiger at the arthouse theater. My buddies were like "Dude it's a kung fu movie!" and like, no. It isn't.

Wuxia is cool, but if you're expecting a robot beating the shit out of other robots or a chop-socky HAHA YOU BASTARD NOW YOU WILL SEE THE POWER OF SHAOLIN HAHA movie it's really not what you're looking for.

>>15528698
>ANN
>hating GR: The Day that Earth Stood Still

Have you people ever even been to the site? http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2015-10-09/giant-robo-and-the-beautiful-night/.92717

>>15528394
It's a masterpiece.

I can't believe /m/ would hold shitty gundam shows in high regard but miss out on this.

>>15528394
There's a ton of asspulls and the story amounts to:

>All according to plan
>Haha, actually I planned this
>Actually...

>>15528859
Episode two is like a gorillion times better than the first episode, which I myself think is good but damn, that second episode.

>>15530560
That's kinda fair when you have Komei/Zhuge Liang as one of your characters. It's his thing.

>>15530568
for me it was the third one; second episode had that recap that took a good chunk of the whole thing. which at first it could turn off a good deal of people, but once you realize this shit was getting released one vhs per year in the 90s, it kinda makes sense for that recap.
gladly they shrunk them for the next episodes

>>15530605
Yeah, three episode rule's got him in good hands here.

I didn't really like it. It was beautifully animated, the music was excellent, and it was generally a well-done series, but I found it to be mostly boring and a big disappointment.

Giant Robo never has a single prolonged fight against a Big Fire robot. Whenever he's on screen, he'll throw one punch or fire one weapon, and that's it. The fights against GR 2 and Big Gold were kind of cool, but even they were over in less than a minute. Big Fire barely even feel like major villains after the halfway point. All their cool robot designs are ignored to focus on Genya's big black ball. The stuff talked about during the OP and the ending sound way more interesting than the actual story.

The story itself wasn't bad, but God damn did the "twists" get tiring. How many times did they show the Tragedy of Bashtarle? Worst of all, the ending reveal was fucking awful. He really fucking went on a genocidal rampage over a fucking mishearing? We're supposed to believe he heard "stop Shizuma" and then was 100 PERCENT SURE that there was no other meaning to that? Absolutely the lamest "twist" in the whole thing, it really pissed me off.

It certainly wasn't "bad", really, but I thought it was incredibly dull. I am fully aware this boils down mostly to "not enough robuts", and I have no shame in that. Why have the chance for spectacularly animated Giant Robo and throw it away for hours of boring kung-fu shit. Why did Imagawa take an existing franchise and ignore the fundamentals of it so he could spill his crossover nonsense everywhere, like he would do the exact same to Mazinger? Again, he's generally a good director, but it honestly pisses me off that he seems to care so little about the source material he interprets, and I'm glad he wasn't involved with the rest of Getter Armageddon.

>>15528394
A great show tarnished by an insufferable brat as the main character.

>>15530635
>the "twists" get tiring.
There was only one of them.

>Absolutely the lamest "twist" in the whole thing
People are allowed to be idiots.

That's the greatest part about Giant Robo. He got what he deserved. He was so convinced of his cause that he didn't find anything wrong with what he was doing.

It wasn't lame, it was sweet justice.

>>15530635
>throw it away for hours of boring kung-fu shit.
As opposed to boring mecha shit?

Giant Robo was about Giant Robo, and Shin Mazinger was about Mazinger. Just because they don't have your ridiculous standards about robots fighting doesn't mean the shows themselves weren't about those.

Who frankly gives a shit about Mazinger battles anymore? We've seen it over and over, and Imagawa instead of retreading same ground, actually did world building with the universe of Mazinger. That was more interesting to see than 92 episodes of Mazinger punching giant robots, especially when that interesting story aspect of Mazinger has been ignored for years in favour of dumb robot shit.

>>15528394
Pretty fucking rad, but it's a little disorienting once you're more familiar with Yokoyama's work, or have at least watched Imagawa's Tetsujin 28, and realize how much of the GR OVA came everything else.
Also, go read The Day the World Burned manga. It's kind of disorienting, as it isn't a sequel, but an alternate take on the GR OVA that really rubs in how much the OVA borrowed from all of Yokoyama's work, for example by making Dr. Franken more resemble his original character from Tetsujin 28, alongside some Black Ox robots.

Also, if you're a dubfag, that 90s dub was fucking perfect.

>>15531419
>Also, go read The Day the World Burned manga
Disregard this, over half of it is untranslated and the project has been dead for the better part of a decade. Don't set yourself up for disappointment

>>15531422
Oops, nevermind. Real shame.

>>15531391
Why even watch mecha anime if you think a focus on robot action is "dumb shit", and why do you think that Shin couldn't have had both a solid story AND well-done action? Just because Shin had an interesting plot doesn't excuse the glacial pacing, obnoxious and repetitive narration, and focus on uninteresting non-Mazinger characters.

Who gives a shit about Mazinger battles? I and many others would have loved a well animated, 26-episode series where Mazinger's numerous weapons/techniques and the huge gallery of great mechanical beast designs were given time to shine. Not everyone enjoys Imagawa's "improvements".

>>15528394
It was my first exposure to Imagawa and I loved how bizarre and theatrical it was at the time. Its troubled production really shows though. I really dug it the first time but haven't really had much luck revisiting it.

That said I'd recommend people watch it because it is quite a spectacle. I wouldn't recommend it as a "mecha" anime though because that puts a set of expectations onto it that it doesn't really meet.

>>15528394
>I would love to see more series like this
Watch Tetsujin 28-gou

>>15533081

Even though I love Giant Robo and think its deserving of "classic" status, I personally enjoyed watching the Tetsujin remake more. It's more consistent.

Giant Robo has its pacing issues and frequent ass-pulls. Tetsujin tells its story more evenly and with more polish, at least from my memory. It's been years since I've seen either.

>>15533093
I recently watched tetsujin 28-gou (6-8 months ago), and I'd say it's easily top three mecha made after 2000, from what I've seen it's really under-watched considering Giant Robo is likely one of three mecha OVAs people have actually seen (the other being gunbuster or unicorn), if they generally have no interest in mecha.

>>15528394
>I would love to see more series like this

Shin Mazinger Z-hen (or Mazinger Edition Z: The Impact for the US DVD release) was basically Imagawa doing something similar, but with Go Nagai works instead of Mitsuteru Yokoyama works, though it didn't have the same production time or budget of course. It's worth watching if your a fan of his storytelling style. It has its ups and downs if I'm being honest.

Imagawa's Tetsujin 28-gou is the next logical step if you want more but it's a little more reigned in and traditional than Giant Robo.

>>15528394
I think that I could describe it as extremely melodramatic and theatrical, and it was exactly because of that that I liked it the first time I watched it. It has this feel of a grandiose tragic opera mixed with retro sci-fi movie, which the animation and ost helps to elevate. Take as example the scenes of Paris being destroyed by the sound of Dies Irae, or the Bashtarle flashbacks playing Una Furtiva Lagrima. And even with english not being my first language, I must admit that I prefer to watch it with the english dub, pretty much because it is so bad and over the top that it kinda blends nicely with the tone of the OVAs.

It is a fun ride if you are into this kind of stuff.

>>15533006
There was no problem with the pacing. You find it a problem because you have ADHD and your name is Juan. Not everyone who watches anime has mental problems.

>>15533118
Also Mobile Fighter G Gundam, same premise.

>>15533006
This
Shin Mazinger had some interesting stylistic ideas, like the transformation or the various ways Ashura's profiles were shown. That stuff was top notch.
The added characters, sidelining of the original Mazinger cast, and lack of actual fucking robot fighting was really tedious and really wasted the series' potential.

>>15533006
>>15538740
>>15534183
It sounds to me you guys weren't really fans of Mazinger in the first place. The characters that were added didn't add anything and the changes that happen miss the point of the original. The parts that were good are not even original but borrow from other sources in the Mazinger series. I can't believe I have to say this but of course I want to see the raw fights of Mazinger Z desperately struggling against forces that outnumber him which I feel Shin really didn't deliver instead opting for giant lasers and punch harder methods.

>>15538756
As a fan of Shin Mazinger, I freely admit that while the rest of the series is enjoyable, I don't particularly give a shit about any one particular element. For instance, I see it repeatedly brought up that the sidelining of Mazinger characters is a negative, but I find it hard to understand why when the Mazinger characters are also incredibly uninteresting, arguably moreso than new characters because at least the new ones brought with them some clever fighting techniques.

>>15538794
>moreso than new characters because at least the new ones brought with them some clever fighting techniques.
I really don't see how, the idea of Kurogane 5 isn't new nor hasn't it been done in a clver or interesting way in Shin. They barely get any standout scenes. Only Kikunosuke has done something I have not seen much but the rest are just sword, gun, stronk, and bombs. People have grown to love the Mazinger sides because they were given time and grown into people's heart. Like Sayaka's tomboynish and burning attitude or Boss's clumssy and goofy but loveable style. If Imagawa really wanted more competent side characters he could have use the Mazinger Army or at least revamp them into something new. Using unrelated character because you don't know how to use existing ones just scream laziness to me.

>>15538756
I don't understand how what you're saying disagrees with >>15538740 or >>15533006
Did you reply to the right posts?

>>15538829
>the rest are just sword, gun, stronk, and bombs
As opposed to the other characters who do... nothing. One of them being a willing human bomb was pretty cool too. Django helping to defeat a kikaiju Mellowlink style was something I wish we'd see more of.

Imagawa wasn't bound to using existing Mazinger elements for his little experiment, nor should he have been, as we've already seen that same shit numerous times elsewhere. You have your Mazinkaiser OVA if you want your 100% faithful modern reimagining. But some people such as myself like shows with an actual plot, which is hard to do with the existing Mazinger characters because there's fucking nothing to them. Even the Mazinger characters that were important to the plot (Asura, Kenzo, Tetsuya, and to a degree Ankokuji) had such liberties taken with them as to be almost different characters entirely. So one can hardly blame Imagawa for choosing not to bother with a bunch of characters whose only actual role is to get their asses kicked every episode in order to make Mazinger look good.

>>15538886
>which is hard to do with the existing Mazinger characters because there's fucking nothing to them
See right it says you lack imagination. There is dozens of scenarios and plots that could be used. The new characters that were added didn't add anything of worth that couldn't have been given to Koji or used to give more character development.
>" One of them being a willing human bomb was pretty cool too. Django helping to defeat a kikaiju Mellowlink style was something I wish we'd see more of."
You complain that existing do not contribute to the plot but what worth is Bomb guy and gunsman contribute to that plot? They don't advance Tsubasa's story or Koji's. They lack actual character themselves and serve nothing more than add more speaking roles in the anime.
>a bunch of characters whose only actual role is to get their asses kicked every episode in order to make Mazinger look good.
That's the problem this is whole new adaption, he doesn't need adhere to the original formulaic roles like he did with Mucha and Nuke (Even though it was more kung fu shit)

>>15538922
>There is dozens of scenarios and plots that could be used
Like what? Even Shin Mazinger ZERO, which did have more focus on Sayaka and Boss, had to bring in a new character and utterly change others in order to come up with some permutation that wasn't the same shit all over again.

>but what worth is Bomb guy and gunsman contribute to that plot
Nothing, and I never said they did. I just said that if we're going to have side characters, the ones in Shin contribute more to non-robot action scenes than the usual Mazinger cast.

>he doesn't need adhere to the original formulaic roles
Sure, but making Sayaka, Boss and the Mazinger army more powerful would not change how the series works in any way because the two are utterly unimportant as characters. You could remove them from the series entirely and almost nothing would change. So again, they either have to be sidelined or they have to suddenly take on a whole lot more traits that they did not have before in order to become relevant in any way.

It's the best OVA series, bar non.

That highly detailed retro futurist aesthetics is the king of aesthetics.

>>15538939
>bring in a new character and utterly change others in order to come up with some permutation that wasn't the same shit all over again.
So the exact thing of what I have been saying?
>the ones in Shin contribute more to non-robot action scenes than the usual Mazinger cast.
I don't know about you but I rather the show didn't waste time on boring fights with characters people hardly care about.
>You could remove them from the series entirely and almost nothing would change.
You could remove the entire roster except for Koji, Dr.Hell , & Ashura and the series still work so I have no idea what statement you're trying to make here. That important characters are important?

>>15538973
>So the exact thing of what I have been saying?
What you appear to be saying is that you can do an original, plot-heavy story featuring the core Mazinger cast completely unchanged, which is simply not the case, at least without fundamentally altering some aspect of the setting similar to what Getter Robo did.

>with characters people hardly care about.
I suppose that's your opinion, but I liked the Kurogane 5 even if they weren't important. The ones that had personality, anyway, Cross and Sensei were boring. You seem to have a hateboner for them just because they aren't from Mazinger.

> could remove the entire roster except for Koji, Dr.Hell , & Ashura and the series still work
It wouldn't work without Yumi and the three professors because Mazinger would never be able to get repaired and refueled and Kouji would lose. Also, he'd lack anything to actually be defending. The Photon Power labs at least gives the series an anchoring location. On the other hand, you reasonably could lose Asura; he/she doesn't contribute much outside of Shin.
Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that you can't make a story around Boss and Sayaka as they are.

I enjoyed Shin Mazinger best, and I couldn't give a damn if it was faithful to the original Mazinger or not. My next favourite is Mazinkaiser SKL, then the crossover movies, then the mazinkaiser movie, then the toei trilogy, and in dead last, the original Mazinkaiser ova which did nothing interesting with the franchise, when it could have, especially after 30 years of Mazinger storytelling in the form of novels, the various manga throughout the 80s and 90s. But nope, Mazinkaiser decided to just reanimate the manga in the most boring way possible. The comedy episodes were funny, but there was nothing else that was worth sinking your time into.

>>15539004
>What you appear to be saying is that you can do an original, plot-heavy story featuring the core Mazinger cast completely unchanged
I have not don't put words in my mouth. I, from the start, been saying you can have the original cast with their original core aspects and add new appeals to them like ZERO did.

>You seem to have a hateboner for them just because they aren't from Mazinger.
Oh please spare your hypocritical shit given your distaste with the gang.

>It wouldn't work without Yumi and the three professors
Those aspects aren't really important in the grand scheme of things. You can have a series where Juzo Kabuto didn't die and is still alive to help Koji bring upgrades or instead focus more on Koji's mechanical and scientific skills.
You sort of can but as a result Dr. Hell bcomes more boring as a result which is what happen in Shin and Mazinkaiser. With nobody to bounce off Hell becomes a uninteresting villain who only there to give Mazinger to fight. Episode 79 of the original Toei is the best I've seen him in showing a more vulnerable side to him and his how he truly did love Ashura by construing a Mechanical Beast after them, shedding a tear to boot.

>>15539069
You can stop now, Pedro. Nobody actually gives a shit about the original TV series other than your kind.

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>>15539072

>>15539069
>I have not don't put words in my mouth
That is what
>There is dozens of scenarios and plots that could be used
seems to imply. In any case, I don't see anything wrong with the approach that Shin took. It's not like the original Mazinger cast did nothing.

>hypocritical
There's a difference between thinking a character is entertaining and thinking a character has depth. Some of the Kurogane 5 are entertaining, but none have depth. This makes them fit right in with the Mazinger cast, if you ask me, most of them are the same way. Outside of Shin, the only characters with any depth are Tetsuya and Kenzo

>Those aspects aren't really important in the grand scheme of things
I have a really hard time picturing how Mazinger Z would play out the same way without the Photon Power Labs. Maybe the plot itself would be mostly the same, but the structure would definitely be different unless Juzo pulled his own science fortress out of his ass.

Asura was in Shin and Mazinkaiser, so I'm not sure what you're talking about. And outside of a handful of episodes, Dr. Hell was pretty uninteresting in the Toei show as well. Though I will say this of the Shin version; he did seem fairly generous to Asura IIRC, and after learning the backstory between the two it raises the question as to whether he was doing so out of regret over what he did to Asura or fear that Asura would attempt to kill him if he/she found out the truth

>>15539127
>>15539127
Kurogane 5 really don't fit in. All they provide is few entertainment of worth and if I want some fun kung fu action in my giant robot anime I watch G Gundam instead.

>I have a really hard time picturing how Mazinger Z would play out the same way without the Photon Power Labs.
The Lab essential role is providing a place for Mazinger to crash which a military base or Juzo's original super secret labortory can easily do. Nothing would really change on how Koji would go on about fighting the Mechanical Beasts and after the finale of Shin Juzo with building Mazinger Z and other project would having another space fortress would implausible?

In Mazinkaiser Ashura affection was only one way and since Count Brocken did not exist Dr. Hell had minimal impact on viewers. He left all the plans to Ashura while he mostly stayed in the shadows not really doing anything. There also the finale where he wasn't even the final boss like in Go's Manga but also had a pitiful sendoff in the final episode.
In Shin I hate how they completely change the relationship between Ashura and Hell. Ashura is turned into a starscream-lite and as a result isn't compelling. One of his more reedeeming points as being absolutely loyalty to Dr. Hell. You could say that his loyalty is still there but to the Mycenae Empire but we don't really spend that much time with them to really show it.

>>15539432
>kung fu action
None of them really use kung fu, not sure what you're talking about

>Lab
Sure, some other place could fill the role, but like I said, the structure would probably be completely different. Should Mazinger Z be located in a military base as you suggest, I suspect that Kouji would take a much more offensive approach if he were placed under the orders of a JSDF commander or something, particularly if the base did not have a standard sci-fi barrier. Or let's say they used Juzo's secret lab that Dr. Hell never found the location of. Instead of the kikaiju constantly attacking the lab, Mazinger and the kikaiju would have most of their battles on neutral ground instead of Mazinger constantly defending the lab.

>Ashura is turned into a starscream-lite and as a result isn't compelling.
You're fundamentally misunderstanding what happens if that's what you think. He starts off completely loyal and then changes when it's revealed that Dr. Hell is responsible for him being the way he is, resulting in him deciding to kill everyone by bringing back the Myceneans since he's lost anything else that he can believe in. Yes, we don't see too much of the Myceneans, but that's really more of an issue of Shin not having the sequel it was meant to have as well as Great Mazinger not having complete subs. At any rate, it was a neat idea to tie the two series together from the start instead of having to wait until Archduke Gorgon appears to start drawing connections.

This and Tetsujin 28 were Imagawa's best stuff

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Does Sally appear in the OVA?
She's in the first manga cover but I've never seen anyone mention her in regards to the animated series.

>>15543382
>first
last

>>15543382
She's sunny

>>15543496
Sorry maybe I'm just being retarded, what do you mean?
Isn't Sunny just an alternate name for Sally? I only watched a few episodes of the original series so maybe I'm missing something, in which case sorry about that.

>>15528848
what are your top 2 if this isn't your first? and why?

>>15543507
I'm saying she's in the ova and is named sunny

>>15543507
>>15543382
>Does Sally appear in the OVA?
For Day the Earth Stood Still, she got renamed Sunny the Magician and appears in the later episodes.

>She's in the first manga cover but I've never seen anyone mention her in regards to the animated series.
I think it's because she's a really minor bit player that didn't really amount to anything.

Maybe if Giant Robo had its intended continuations but well, it didn't.