Have you seen Rahxephon yet? It would be a great one to do sometime. The story is very unique. A lot of people compare it to Evangelion but I'd disagree. It seems to stand on it's own with a much better built world.
I think that the dispisability of the mechs is one of the most important points of a real robot show. Once the protagonist gets his hands on an unique, almost invincible mech then it may as well be Mazinger!
Jonathan J. One of the memorable moments that displays this when Chirico and his Red Shoulder teammates were making four of those mechs out of junk. They might’ve had to make due with what they had but the fact that it’s possible is telling of how disposable/easily replaceable they are.
Excellent review! This is one of my favorite mecha series of all time. I watched the OVAs, I bought the complete collection, I build the model kits. My discord picture is Chirico right now. I LOVE Votoms. I hope we get some new stories in the Votoms world one day.
and I've noticed that Master chief is just like Chirico, a "perfect soldier" with luck, able to beat hundreds of enemies with a single weapon, both made an atmospheric re entry and survived, each time one of them finishes their mission the whole land where they fought explodes after they leave
I see many 80's Sunrise mecha series (such as this one) are being released on blu ray in North America. Hope we Europeans get something in a not too distant future
Check out the OVAs ・1985 The Last Red Shoulder : Between Voodo and Kumen ark. ・1986 The Big Battle : Before the very last scene of the TV series ・1988 The Red Shoulder Documentary-The roots of ambition : Before the TV series ・1988 Armor Hunter Mellowlink : Same time line as the TV series but with a different protagonist ・1994 Shining Heresy : Sequel to the TV series ・2007 The Paisen Files : Sequel to The Red Shoulder Documentary, before the TV series ・2010 The Phantom Chapter : After Alone Again ・2011 Alone Again : 3 months after Shining Heresy
i have almost finished all of the mainline OVAs. im on the last two eps of shining heresy. so, so good. oh, i also watched mellowlink in between and it is a must watch, too bad the image suffers from a lot of ghosting and artefacting but the art style holds it up.
@@littlewitchling535 Um... It's really boring. I'm all for a story that doesn't involve everyone's favourite Unique Survivalist AT pilot, but Irvine is incredibly boring. Not to mention that though the prior OVAs had better luck, Irvine can only be watched with some stereotypically shitty spiced-up fansubs, needless tasteless insertion of the word "Fuck" and all. I'm pretty sure the same can be said for Votoms Finder, an ill-fated reboot of the property. And yeah. I've seen Red Shoulder Document: Roots of Ambition and am on Pailsen Files, and holy hell Votoms is a thing of beauty. If most of the OVAs are really good, then the TV Show must be good (albeit less so) as well.
I think the armored troopers are one of the most realistic mechs ever designed by Kunio Okuwara. The fact that they need special equipment for space combat, have to expend batteries for punching and require gasoline to operate is what makes them all the more believable. Definitely one of my favorite designs. One thing that always annoyed me about the Udoo city arc, is the repetitive plots of the episodes! It's like how the fist 10 episodes of Ideon are slow and formulaic, while the rest of the series is great. And then there's the mysterious shooting... I think they may have tried to model Kiriko after Golgo 13 actually. Although, that explain why he is emotionally detached and distant from the supporting characters, I do seem to recall that Kiriko grew up on Sunsa, and saw his adopted family killed at a young age. Perhaps that's why he behaves like an emotionless killing machine; his wartime experiences shaped his outlook. Also, aren't perfect soldiers more like cyber-newtypes or genetically enhanced soldiers?
PS are genetically enhanced soldiers born from the lab. But despite their godly combat skills, they have a strong emotion which can lead to disobeying orders. We can say that they were failures as soldiers, including Chirico himself along with Neeva and Tetania
@@antihero9443 Tetania and Niva were technically cyborgs, but close enough. I might have to politely disagree because, negating emotions actually leads to unnecessary and excessive aggression and rage, and makes the individual soldier blame others for their troubles, which entails revenge. That is what led to Pailson's downfall and the disbanding of the Red Shoulder battalion. If it wasn't for emotion, Chirico would not have been able to have worked so well with his allies and teammates.
Great review on a great series! Girrion released by Scout Comics has some definite Votoms influence. both focus are set in a post apocalyptic otherworldly environment. You might like it if you liked Votoms.
Lower effort in animation than it deserved, but this is what makes it even more epic: with this quality it could remain decent up until now. The Grandfather of Full Metal Panic, the worthy son of Gundam and the mecha series, an engaging plot with a bit of love, corruption of the two main sides are present everywhere in the universe, the consequences of being a Red Shoulder... it is just perfect from every aspect, and I can hardly get enough of it. A true gem, and a must-see for anybody who is new to the mecha genre.
I feel the opposite way about the arcs. I liked the first arc the best and thought it went the fastest. I do agree you that as stoic anime protagonists go Chirico is still the best. (Setsuna from Gundam 00 comes close though).
I love thats series the story is good the mecha fight scene is awesome and the drama about the anti war adventure its really hits the mark about the stoic lone anti hero wants to be at peace i followed the ovas after finishing watch all of them i feels empty,damned its really hard to find this kind of masterpiece
Sadly this never came out here in Germany, or the UK. Hopefully it will be, or maybe get a reboot. About the more realistic Mecha presentation, I think GASARAKI might be even more grounded, that one I could buy, for a lot of money, just like BLUE GENDER, the old, mostly UK DVDs were fucking hard to get.
I disagree with your assertion that the art quality is out dated. Compared to what? Modern anime looks like shit and none of it is hand drawn anymore. It all lacks any semblance of detail and they rely in cheap high gloss, overly bright art styles to hide the fact that the quality has gone down so far.
I would like to see the reviews of Gundam Build Fighters/Try Macross 2/7 Gunpla Builders Beginning G Brave Police J-Decker King of Braves Gaogaigar Patlabor (TV & 1st Movie) Beast Wars II Beast Wars Neo
It started meh/okayish but then everything turned into a mess in the final arc. The final episodes have the most ridiculous plot they pulled out of nowhere, a literal "deus ex machina" where some magical computer entity just starts doing magical shit and manipulating reality. What's worse is none of this magical bs is foreshadowed or even mentioned prior to the final arc. All the characters start talking about Wiseman like they already knew who he was. It wasn't believable at all. The four arcs honestly feel like four series they bashed together, all with different tones that don't mesh and the ptsd angle kind of waves in and out and never really comes together. Now as a whole, the writing is pretty poor even for an 80s series. Some things happen just because the plot demands it. For instance: Chirico's friends, who are a bunch of goofs, keep bumping into him because, well the PLOT demands it. It's way too convenient how they always show up to save him. Also, Chirico aside, all the supporting characters have ridiculous moments of PLOT ARMOR. How am I supposed to take this as a "serious" mecha show when half the regular cast are comic-relief characters who never have anything of gravity happen to them? All the baddies, bar Kanjelman and maybe Rochina (until his ending), were boring cookie cutter vilains. The romance was poorly done. Why does Fyana even like Chirico? Just because she saw her ONCE prior to her conditioning? Just because he called her Fyana instead of Proto One? Does that mean that Perfect soldiers fall in love with anyone they see for the first time? However, the series' biggest flaw is the MC himself. Chirico is a bland, boring character, who has barely any memorable moments to himself. He just goes from a stoic guy to stoic guy with friends. Yes, we know he served in the military. yes we know he has PTSD because of the atrocities he committed when he was a red shoulder...but what else is there to his character? The only character who gets any kind of development would be Ypsilon but even him is a boring angsty villain reminiscent of edgy shonen rivals.
I was so tired last night I didnt even bother to edit in the end credits lol. Not a big deal though
Have you seen Rahxephon yet? It would be a great one to do sometime. The story is very unique. A lot of people compare it to Evangelion but I'd disagree. It seems to stand on it's own with a much better built world.
Space Rambo!
The whole Votoms world deserves to be a AAA openworld action adventure game.
The OVA and Mellowlink series are also great.
That’ll be a fantastic game
great review.
This doesn't get much more *real* robot than this.
The main characters go through votoms like bags of chips.
I think that the dispisability of the mechs is one of the most important points of a real robot show. Once the protagonist gets his hands on an unique, almost invincible mech then it may as well be Mazinger!
I made a nice saying just for this: the mook machines shall inherit the Earth.
Jonathan J. One of the memorable moments that displays this when Chirico and his Red Shoulder teammates were making four of those mechs out of junk. They might’ve had to make due with what they had but the fact that it’s possible is telling of how disposable/easily replaceable they are.
Excellent review! This is one of my favorite mecha series of all time. I watched the OVAs, I bought the complete collection, I build the model kits. My discord picture is Chirico right now. I LOVE Votoms. I hope we get some new stories in the Votoms world one day.
Chirico Cuvie is like a combination of Rambo and Mad Max
and I've noticed that Master chief is just like Chirico, a "perfect soldier" with luck, able to beat hundreds of enemies with a single weapon, both made an atmospheric re entry and survived, each time one of them finishes their mission the whole land where they fought explodes after they leave
I recently watched this series actually. I loved it so much.
This show was always one of my favorites.
Just stumbled on this series and your channel, I love it. Great review!
I see many 80's Sunrise mecha series (such as this one) are being released on blu ray in North America. Hope we Europeans get something in a not too distant future
Check out the OVAs
・1985 The Last Red Shoulder : Between Voodo and Kumen ark.
・1986 The Big Battle : Before the very last scene of the TV series
・1988 The Red Shoulder Documentary-The roots of ambition : Before the TV series
・1988 Armor Hunter Mellowlink : Same time line as the TV series but with a different protagonist
・1994 Shining Heresy : Sequel to the TV series
・2007 The Paisen Files : Sequel to The Red Shoulder Documentary, before the TV series
・2010 The Phantom Chapter : After Alone Again
・2011 Alone Again : 3 months after Shining Heresy
i have almost finished all of the mainline OVAs. im on the last two eps of shining heresy. so, so good. oh, i also watched mellowlink in between and it is a must watch, too bad the image suffers from a lot of ghosting and artefacting but the art style holds it up.
What about Case irvine?
@@cannedpiss5178 Shining Heresy was great. I liked the medieval atmosphere of Aleguim and of course our 2nd heroine Tatania.
@@littlewitchling535 Um... It's really boring. I'm all for a story that doesn't involve everyone's favourite Unique Survivalist AT pilot, but Irvine is incredibly boring. Not to mention that though the prior OVAs had better luck, Irvine can only be watched with some stereotypically shitty spiced-up fansubs, needless tasteless insertion of the word "Fuck" and all. I'm pretty sure the same can be said for Votoms Finder, an ill-fated reboot of the property.
And yeah. I've seen Red Shoulder Document: Roots of Ambition and am on Pailsen Files, and holy hell Votoms is a thing of beauty. If most of the OVAs are really good, then the TV Show must be good (albeit less so) as well.
I think the armored troopers are one of the most realistic mechs ever designed by Kunio Okuwara. The fact that they need special equipment for space combat, have to expend batteries for punching and require gasoline to operate is what makes them all the more believable. Definitely one of my favorite designs.
One thing that always annoyed me about the Udoo city arc, is the repetitive plots of the episodes! It's like how the fist 10 episodes of Ideon are slow and formulaic, while the rest of the series is great. And then there's the mysterious shooting...
I think they may have tried to model Kiriko after Golgo 13 actually. Although, that explain why he is emotionally detached and distant from the supporting characters, I do seem to recall that Kiriko grew up on Sunsa, and saw his adopted family killed at a young age. Perhaps that's why he behaves like an emotionless killing machine; his wartime experiences shaped his outlook.
Also, aren't perfect soldiers more like cyber-newtypes or genetically enhanced soldiers?
PS are genetically enhanced soldiers born from the lab. But despite their godly combat skills, they have a strong emotion which can lead to disobeying orders. We can say that they were failures as soldiers, including Chirico himself along with Neeva and Tetania
@@antihero9443 Tetania and Niva were technically cyborgs, but close enough. I might have to politely disagree because, negating emotions actually leads to unnecessary and excessive aggression and rage, and makes the individual soldier blame others for their troubles, which entails revenge. That is what led to Pailson's downfall and the disbanding of the Red Shoulder battalion. If it wasn't for emotion, Chirico would not have been able to have worked so well with his allies and teammates.
ah, votoms, great anime,i discovered it thanks to super robot wars,and oh boy,what a ride turn out to be.
Great review on a great series! Girrion released by Scout Comics has some definite Votoms influence. both focus are set in a post apocalyptic otherworldly environment. You might like it if you liked Votoms.
Banjyou Ginga's narration in the trailers at the end of each episodes were also banger.
Lower effort in animation than it deserved, but this is what makes it even more epic: with this quality it could remain decent up until now.
The Grandfather of Full Metal Panic, the worthy son of Gundam and the mecha series, an engaging plot with a bit of love, corruption of the two main sides are present everywhere in the universe, the consequences of being a Red Shoulder... it is just perfect from every aspect, and I can hardly get enough of it. A true gem, and a must-see for anybody who is new to the mecha genre.
I feel the opposite way about the arcs. I liked the first arc the best and thought it went the fastest.
I do agree you that as stoic anime protagonists go Chirico is still the best. (Setsuna from Gundam 00 comes close though).
I love thats series the story is good the mecha fight scene is awesome and the drama about the anti war adventure its really hits the mark about the stoic lone anti hero wants to be at peace i followed the ovas after finishing watch all of them i feels empty,damned its really hard to find this kind of masterpiece
Votoms: Pailsen Files was my first ever anime that I got on a pirated dvd disc as a gift when I was 7. What a time it was…
Dude, i just stumbled upon chiroco's youtube channel(his VA, hozumi goda). Just type hozmixtv youre in a treat(Though it is in japanese)
Wikipedia doesn't tell me the airdate of any episodes.
Sadly this never came out here in Germany, or the UK. Hopefully it will be, or maybe get a reboot.
About the more realistic Mecha presentation, I think GASARAKI might be even more grounded, that one I could buy, for a lot of money, just like BLUE GENDER, the old, mostly UK DVDs were fucking hard to get.
This was my very first anime I watched Subbed and then Captain Tylor would come on after it also subbed. They helped get me into anime.
Where's that gundam footage from in your intro?
Chirico is around 18! Damn he's skilled and dangerous for his age
I disagree with your assertion that the art quality is out dated. Compared to what? Modern anime looks like shit and none of it is hand drawn anymore. It all lacks any semblance of detail and they rely in cheap high gloss, overly bright art styles to hide the fact that the quality has gone down so far.
Real
Thanks for the review. If you ever get the chance review the ova's.
epic anime
Source for the art at 1:03?
I would like to see the reviews of
Gundam Build Fighters/Try
Macross 2/7
Gunpla Builders Beginning G
Brave Police J-Decker
King of Braves Gaogaigar
Patlabor (TV & 1st Movie)
Beast Wars II
Beast Wars Neo
This isn't a review when you just give the plot lines :D
It started meh/okayish but then everything turned into a mess in the final arc. The final episodes have the most ridiculous plot they pulled out of nowhere, a literal "deus ex machina" where some magical computer entity just starts doing magical shit and manipulating reality. What's worse is none of this magical bs is foreshadowed or even mentioned prior to the final arc. All the characters start talking about Wiseman like they already knew who he was. It wasn't believable at all. The four arcs honestly feel like four series they bashed together, all with different tones that don't mesh and the ptsd angle kind of waves in and out and never really comes together.
Now as a whole, the writing is pretty poor even for an 80s series. Some things happen just because the plot demands it. For instance: Chirico's friends, who are a bunch of goofs, keep bumping into him because, well the PLOT demands it. It's way too convenient how they always show up to save him. Also, Chirico aside, all the supporting characters have ridiculous moments of PLOT ARMOR. How am I supposed to take this as a "serious" mecha show when half the regular cast are comic-relief characters who never have anything of gravity happen to them? All the baddies, bar Kanjelman and maybe Rochina (until his ending), were boring cookie cutter vilains. The romance was poorly done. Why does Fyana even like Chirico? Just because she saw her ONCE prior to her conditioning? Just because he called her Fyana instead of Proto One? Does that mean that Perfect soldiers fall in love with anyone they see for the first time?
However, the series' biggest flaw is the MC himself. Chirico is a bland, boring character, who has barely any memorable moments to himself. He just goes from a stoic guy to stoic guy with friends. Yes, we know he served in the military. yes we know he has PTSD because of the atrocities he committed when he was a red shoulder...but what else is there to his character? The only character who gets any kind of development would be Ypsilon but even him is a boring angsty villain reminiscent of edgy shonen rivals.
Votoms is terrible
Compelling...
@@Ponaru definetly take advice from someone with takashi 69 as a display picture.
Got the complete collection on bluray. Sentai Film works is having a sale right now. 85% off the set is $29 in their official site until 5/30/2021