Escape to Another Planet
The five space explorers in their stolen Skull Slave Galley are plummeting to an uncertain landing. Apparently the black lion statue's landing beam only works for a certain range. Then you're on you own.
To catch us up, we have an emergency call to Galaxy Garrison from Keith explaining the situation. And then every panel in the Skull Slave Galley bridge explodes, and they use gnarly evil fire extinguishers before ejecting--and reapprising Galazy Garrison.
Then we cut to Galaxy Garrison explaining what just happened. Hello infodump.
The Slave Galley explodes, the team ejects and lands in the desert. And they all apparently have elephant hide for skins, seeing as they mostly (except for ninja-acrobat Pidge) hit the desert sand with enough force to bury themselves.
Aaand Hunk is hungry.
And Arusians start shooting arrows at them from cave openings. They apparently switch from arrows to spears, 'cuz that's what Hunk catches brandishes at them as he chases 'em further into the cave.
There's some weird dialogue (and mention of Space Burger joints) that almost seems like a self-parody. But at least they decide to walk out of the desert and into, um, fog. And a forest. Complete with a roaring lion. Doom fighters do a flyover, but can't see through the fog. Yurak apparently neglected the level 4 diagnostics on the infrascanners.
We see that Yurak Rooster Assault Frigate and an escort of fighters is in Arus orbit, and Yurak is upset that the infrascanners can't penetrate fog.
Yep. Of course Hunk wrestled a lion (only in dialogue. And it was only a cub). Then the fog clears and they see the castle. I like this castle layout. Even if it does sort of look a little Disney. Then the drawbridge invitingly lowers itself. They all march up to the castle, spears in hand (good thing the Arusians threw enough spears to arm all five of them). Chip checks out some falling rocks and meets the space mice for the first time.
Hoo boy. The space mice.
Keith says "it's too quiet." Then the doors very creakily open. And close behind them. Their struggles to open the door are interrupted by the appearance of Coran coming down the stares from deeper in the castle. With a pretty powerful candle for all the light it throws off.
Coran describes the destruction of Arus at the hands of Zarkon, and the existence of Voltron. And they're apparently in the Diamond Galaxy.
I like the stylized still shots of the invasion.
Allura appears, all sparkly, and everyone is instantaneously reduced to drooling puddles. Well, mostly Pidge. They all introduce themselves, swear to serve the Arusian cause, and kiss the princess' hand. And then Yurak and his fleet reappears.
Hunk says outright that they're here for Voltron.
Coran now repeats the story of Voltron, again it sounds like his disassembly (due to Haggar's powers) is a recent happening. Coran does not narrate the landing of each lion, nor does he reveal their location. This is a little weird, because later on the writers appparently get paid by the word--they can't let a sequence that is silent in the Japanese original go by without a play-by-play narration.
And they shall be known at the Fellowship of the Ri---er, Voltron Force.
Zarkon makes an appearance as he exhorts his fleet to devote its massive resource to finding five . . . guys.
Huh.
Actually, since they know who the five guys are (the Voltron Force) and why they're there, it makes a little more sense that Zarkon will devote this much military power to an already-conquered planet.
Coran leads the five into the conrol room and gives them the uniforms. What's always kinda interested me is that the uniform colors (leader is red, etc.) don't correspond to the color lions. Well, now I know that this is the Official Super Sentai Team Color Code. So it kind of bugged me that Voltron the Third Dimension (which I won't be watching here) made the uniforms match the lions. The new, not-yet-out Voltron Force does the same lion-matching. (I only hope it'll be better than the 3rd Dimension. I like the Lion/Voltron redesigns, except for yellow lion's overbite. And the characters look pretty good).
The Ruined Phantom Planet
The interviews with WEP staff seemed to imply that either they had no translations of the episodes, or that they didn't bother with them due to time constraints (it was faster just to make up stuff?) So I'm always surprised when I see any reasonably close correspondences, such as this episode. Obviously, there's no call to Galaxy Garrison. But Sadak complains about fog just like Yurak does, instead of going out on some crazy tangent (the way the shoehorn in Hunk's references to food, constantly).
Another interesting thing is how they retained the Golion pre-titlecard recap of the previous episode, instead doing it in "realtime."
Same basic action here. The Skull Galley crashes, explodes. They eject. Suzuishi lands on his feet. Seido spits sand at him. Then, instead of wonder where Seido can get a Space Burger, they wonder what planet they're on. Because they don't know where they are.
Seido's vehemence makes sense here--they land on an unknown planet, their ship blows up, and then people start shooting arrows and throwing spears at them. Kurogane muses that maybe they're cannibals.
The hike from the desert into the fog-laden forest seems to take more time here, just from the way it's edited. Hmm. Not only does the English dub have everybody talkingrealfasttosqueezethewordsin, but trimming here and there to make room for more commercials and for Dairugger footage seems to speed up the storyline.
Sadak tells his sensor operator to kiss his ass. I like the translating job on these subtitles. They put some time into making them feel natural (ADV's subs of Macross, Southern Cross, and Dairugger, on the other hand, are terribly stilted--not wrong, like the Zeta Gundam sub I saw recently, but very . . . textbook. Not good-sounding as dialogue).
When I was a kid, I preferred Vehicle Voltron. It seemed more like hard Sci-Fi. I liked Lion Voltron OK, but with the witch, the mice, the nanny, the princess, the castle--Disney's Cinderella had seen a theatrical re-release the same fall Voltron came out, so I just thought there was too much Disney for my tastes. Magic was silly.
My opinion of fantasy, magic, and the Grimm's Tales-esque elements of this have significantly relaxed, however.
In Raible's flashback of Daibazaal's attack, pre-war Altea looks very Grec-Roman--they even have a coliseum. Maybe that's just a convention of anime that goes for an old-world European feel. Southern Cross and Mazinger Z (well, outer-space Greco-Roman for Southern Cross, and an alternate history sci-fi-fantasy freakout for Mazinger) go for a Greek vibe, too.
In a sequence that totally makes me thik of Seven Samurai, Raible "tests" the five explorers by suddenly attacking them with his cane. The princess appears, and her vocal performance is much more subdued and melancholy than B.J. Ward's chirpy Allura. Incidentally, Fala/Allura's Japanese voice is provided by Rumiko Ukai, who voiced Frau Bow in Mobile Suit Gundam and Kitty Kitten in the Ideon. At least Saburo Hatte (whoever in the Toei staff really came up with the names) was kinder with naming the characters than Kill 'em All Tomino.
Raible's narration of Golion's role in Daibazaal's attack is . . . strange. The crash-landing of the component lions was apparently ancient (though the castle looks the same and is well-lit) but, what exactly did Golion do in the defense of Altea? Raible says Golion didn't budge an inch. So . . . his wreckage wasn't destroyed?
Apparently, there are still Alteans living in the ruins of the city near the castle. And, in another surprising case of correspondence. Honerva promises Voltron Force meat to Jaga, just as Haggar promises to her cat. They must have had some translations, right? I mean, you can't just infer that she's offering human flesh to her cat just from the images.
Yeah, so the way this commentary seems to be shaking out is that I give most of the synopsis for the Voltron version of the episode, and do more analysis for the Golion version.
And--interesting bit: the opening credits show Shirogane in the episodes before his death, but the closing credits always have Fala, both sitting atop blue lion and in the team celebration shot. And, in that final image of the closing credits, Fala is in her pink Golion flight suit, but the castle is still the medieval "castle of lions." She doesn't become a part of the team until the high-tech castle is revealed.
Interesting.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Space Explorers Captured/Escape From Demon Castle
I'm going to combine the commentary and analysis, for the most part.
Space Explorers Captured
Our heroes approach planet Arus, under attack by Zarkon. Only, they're not our heroes. They're the Vehicle Voltron Air Team. Yeah, I said I wouldn't discuss the obvious changes, but this is different. I remember from a few interviews with the World Events Productions staff that they were initially going to tie the two (or three) Voltrons together more tightly, but ultimately gave up early on and just did all Lion episodes, and then all Vehicle episodes. That may have been because the Vehicle episodes got too complicated to realistically complete on time--I'll discuss my thoughts on that when we get to them (errant sun/lost asteroid belt/nuclon waste--WHY IS PLANET DRULE EXPLODING?!?!?!?!).
Anyway. Scenes from later episodes, Dairugger, and the actually destruction of Earth all edited together to make our five space explorers approach Arus (where all the people are safe in their underground shelters!) and get captured by Yurak. And his robots.
(I'll get this out of my system, honest).
Ah, the "danger approaching" music. I'm pretty sure I hummed Voltron's background music until my early teens. No wonder I didn't date until college.
Now, Galaxy Garrison. Two Voltrons, woven together. Until it got too hard.
Galaxy Garrison discusses the Voltron Force, and now Yurak's slave ship (did he switch from his Black Rooster of Death ship to the Skull Galley? har har, I know. Edits). Every know the Voltron Force here. And what they're there for. I accepted that as a seven-year-old. It seems a bit odd now.
They introduce Zarkon, Haggar, and the arena now. Whenever I hear Jack Angel (Zarkon) in any other 80s cartoon role, I laugh, because I can only think of Zarkon. And Astrotrain.
This introduction of Zarkon isn't quite the mockery I remember. He's far more bumbling as the series continues, but he seems pretty ruthless here. And Yurak--NOT QUITE whipping and stabbing slaves. The slaves are driven into the arena, and, um, real bad hurt by the Blue Robeast. Then Zarkon calls for the Space Explorers, who discuss escape plans. And their Zarkonian slave tattoos.
Pidge jumps abou 30 feet to a window, looks down at the Robeast eating bone soup. "Put the bones in a bone-bag." They discuss ways to escape, and Lance is a jerk to everyone.
Zarkon sure is set on having them fight the Robeast, like NOW. And then, guards come to check on them, see they're sleeping, and . . . move on? Let them rest, so they fight better? Um, the Doom gladiator gig is a lot more easy-going than some outfits I've been in!!
Of course, they're not asleep, their sneaking. Sneaking their way out the window, to take the Doom vulture express. It is nice of Castle Doom facilities management to leave rocks and ropes just hanging around the dungeon. They bend the bars, get out, and Hunk is afraid of heights. Well, him and Silverbolt (leader of the Arielbots). Was this a weird 80s character-flaw thing?
And, they catch vultures and reach the ground. Which is a pile of bones. The most they explicitely say about being on a carpet of human/alien remains is Keith's "I sure hate to think what this place means."
They make it to the lightly guarded spaceport ("Daddy, why is that robot yawning?" "Shaddup and get back under the house. Why are you watching this trash!"
Robot guards attack them with throwing swords. And then with slashin' swords. But are no match for Galaxy Garrison hand-to-hand combat training.
They get to the bridge (?), or cockpit (?), or driver's seat of the Doom slave galley. And it's apparently fusion powered. And they intentionally ram Castle Doom. Which Zarkon thinks is a bomb. Well, he's starting to be bumbling.
Yurak takes off in the Assault Rooster of Doom (honestly, I kind of like these ship designs, but this thing has a comb!).
The Assault Rooster bombards the slave ship. They start to tumble off course before returning fire, to no avail. They plummet through a space-thunderstorm, and get blown away by a lightning bolt. The burning ship falls toward a planet until a tunnel of light stops their fall. The light is coming from a winged lion statue (I've wanted a statue like that sucker in front of my house ever since. Actual black lion inside it is optional).
Now Keith tells us Voltron's origins--after all Voltron and Arus are the reason they're out there. Which is kinda convenient, right? They escaped right back to the planet they were captured from?
And Haggar is responsible for Voltron being disassembled into five lions. When was this? Just recenty? Because twenty minutes ago these five guys just watched Zarkon invading Arus. Was that the endgame after Haggar disabled voltron? Keith's narrative seems to imply it was long in the past, though.
And now, for something completely different (yet the same).
Escape from Demon Castle
Here we start right off with the legend of Golion. And it's pretty undeniably ancient. It was the goddess of the universe, not Haggar/Honerva who disassembled him and dropped him on Altea (the narrator even says "several thousan years have passed").
A quick word about the music--when I first got this series in 2008, I watched it with one of my anime friends who's too young to have either seen the original Voltron run or the one on Cartoon Network. And she refused to let me fast forward through the openings of any episode because she liked dancing to the music. And I kinda feel the same way. One of the reasons I like the late 70s/early 80s anime is the funk soundtrack. For every series (the Ideon is another show with a danceable score).
This episode was probably th most radically changed for Voltron, structurally speaking. After we get Golion's origin, we go right to Sadak on the great Slave Galley. And he's torturing slaves. Damn, hasn't even gotten them to Galra to put them to work, and he's beating them. Yeah, the Galra folks are much more ruthless than their Doom counterparts.
I really like this introduction of Daibazaal. Here's the classic bored despot--I've conquered everything worth conquering. Isn't there anything to amuse me? Something about this scene makes me think of a Chinese folktatle. "Little did he know that the despot would get his wish." Yeah, Golion'll keep him all kinds of interested.
We now meet the future Golion pilots. I also prefer that they're nobodies here. Just some more slaves (who've already fought in the gladiatorial arena) mouldering in the dungeons. I also like that they've been here for a while. The Voltron timeline--they get there, get assigned to a room, and break out immediately--is too rushed for my clearly advanced and adult tastes.
The fight with the deathblack beastman is awesomely brutal. The dismembered slaves, lying in their own blood, cursing Galra with their dying breaths . . . Oh, yeah, those are willies on your spine!
Now, through flashbacks, we find out how the five got to Galra--oh, that was EARTH in the throes of a nuclear war? Complete with still images of people being irradiated. That music playing behind this scene is haunting in every moment in which it appears.
Our Space Explorers were on some "school trip" in a spaceship when Earth decided to annihilate itself. I do kind of like how, y'know, Earth was clearly on the brink beforehand, but here are some schoolkids (?) going about their space business when war breaks out. That's how it goes--I remember reading an interview with the death metal band Benediction, who were playing a concert in Yugoslavia when the country decided to fragment. They were playing in an open-air venue and could see explosions from artillery in the night. That's the kind of thing this makes me think of.
Still the same weirdness--rocks and rope in their dungeon room, allowing them to escape. Although, since not everyone on the planet knows who they are and wants them in the arena immediately, the guards checking on them while they pretend to sleep makes a little more sense.
Yup, they get onto the exterior of the castle, and Seidou is still afraid of heights. So weird. They again take the vulture express to the Pit of Skulls. And Seidow shows his noble side, desiring vengeance on Daibazaal for all the massacred slaves. Kurogane is just as much a jerk as Lance was. Maybe more.
And, the sprint to the spaceport--which Kogane saw while he was on work detail. Just a throw away line, but it adds to the sense that they've been there for a while.
Again with the throwing swords. And the inexplicably apt fighting. I will admit, the sound editing for this series is weird for Toei (were they breaking in a new editor?) but I still love the weird old mecha anime sound effects.
This time, they seem to crash into the castle accidentally. And instead of "We've been hit by a bomb!!" Daibazaal just chews some scenery.
A word about the Galrans--are all the different looking people just different ethnicities? Like you've got the purple ones like Sadak and Daibazaal (and eventually Sincline), some of whom have hair, and then you've got the dark grey or black ones like the guards and the arena spectators. And cybernetics. Like Sadak and his lieutenant. Are those implants that light up all Tron-like on Sadak's uniform? And what's with his eye?! And in a later episode, I seem to remember a weapons port or something in Sadak's lieutenant's chest.
Same space battle, mostly one-sided, and then the slave galley is eased down on a gentle glide over a mysterious planet, with a mysterious castle, with two mysterious people. I wonder which was more effective, the mystery, or the urge American kids felt to stick around just to see what this Voltron guy was all about?
I couldn't honestly tell you, because I first saw the middle of episode 4--I didn't really know the opening story until reruns. Oh, the horrors!
That's it for today!
Space Explorers Captured
Our heroes approach planet Arus, under attack by Zarkon. Only, they're not our heroes. They're the Vehicle Voltron Air Team. Yeah, I said I wouldn't discuss the obvious changes, but this is different. I remember from a few interviews with the World Events Productions staff that they were initially going to tie the two (or three) Voltrons together more tightly, but ultimately gave up early on and just did all Lion episodes, and then all Vehicle episodes. That may have been because the Vehicle episodes got too complicated to realistically complete on time--I'll discuss my thoughts on that when we get to them (errant sun/lost asteroid belt/nuclon waste--WHY IS PLANET DRULE EXPLODING?!?!?!?!).
Anyway. Scenes from later episodes, Dairugger, and the actually destruction of Earth all edited together to make our five space explorers approach Arus (where all the people are safe in their underground shelters!) and get captured by Yurak. And his robots.
(I'll get this out of my system, honest).
Ah, the "danger approaching" music. I'm pretty sure I hummed Voltron's background music until my early teens. No wonder I didn't date until college.
Now, Galaxy Garrison. Two Voltrons, woven together. Until it got too hard.
Galaxy Garrison discusses the Voltron Force, and now Yurak's slave ship (did he switch from his Black Rooster of Death ship to the Skull Galley? har har, I know. Edits). Every know the Voltron Force here. And what they're there for. I accepted that as a seven-year-old. It seems a bit odd now.
They introduce Zarkon, Haggar, and the arena now. Whenever I hear Jack Angel (Zarkon) in any other 80s cartoon role, I laugh, because I can only think of Zarkon. And Astrotrain.
This introduction of Zarkon isn't quite the mockery I remember. He's far more bumbling as the series continues, but he seems pretty ruthless here. And Yurak--NOT QUITE whipping and stabbing slaves. The slaves are driven into the arena, and, um, real bad hurt by the Blue Robeast. Then Zarkon calls for the Space Explorers, who discuss escape plans. And their Zarkonian slave tattoos.
Pidge jumps abou 30 feet to a window, looks down at the Robeast eating bone soup. "Put the bones in a bone-bag." They discuss ways to escape, and Lance is a jerk to everyone.
Zarkon sure is set on having them fight the Robeast, like NOW. And then, guards come to check on them, see they're sleeping, and . . . move on? Let them rest, so they fight better? Um, the Doom gladiator gig is a lot more easy-going than some outfits I've been in!!
Of course, they're not asleep, their sneaking. Sneaking their way out the window, to take the Doom vulture express. It is nice of Castle Doom facilities management to leave rocks and ropes just hanging around the dungeon. They bend the bars, get out, and Hunk is afraid of heights. Well, him and Silverbolt (leader of the Arielbots). Was this a weird 80s character-flaw thing?
And, they catch vultures and reach the ground. Which is a pile of bones. The most they explicitely say about being on a carpet of human/alien remains is Keith's "I sure hate to think what this place means."
They make it to the lightly guarded spaceport ("Daddy, why is that robot yawning?" "Shaddup and get back under the house. Why are you watching this trash!"
Robot guards attack them with throwing swords. And then with slashin' swords. But are no match for Galaxy Garrison hand-to-hand combat training.
They get to the bridge (?), or cockpit (?), or driver's seat of the Doom slave galley. And it's apparently fusion powered. And they intentionally ram Castle Doom. Which Zarkon thinks is a bomb. Well, he's starting to be bumbling.
Yurak takes off in the Assault Rooster of Doom (honestly, I kind of like these ship designs, but this thing has a comb!).
The Assault Rooster bombards the slave ship. They start to tumble off course before returning fire, to no avail. They plummet through a space-thunderstorm, and get blown away by a lightning bolt. The burning ship falls toward a planet until a tunnel of light stops their fall. The light is coming from a winged lion statue (I've wanted a statue like that sucker in front of my house ever since. Actual black lion inside it is optional).
Now Keith tells us Voltron's origins--after all Voltron and Arus are the reason they're out there. Which is kinda convenient, right? They escaped right back to the planet they were captured from?
And Haggar is responsible for Voltron being disassembled into five lions. When was this? Just recenty? Because twenty minutes ago these five guys just watched Zarkon invading Arus. Was that the endgame after Haggar disabled voltron? Keith's narrative seems to imply it was long in the past, though.
And now, for something completely different (yet the same).
Escape from Demon Castle
Here we start right off with the legend of Golion. And it's pretty undeniably ancient. It was the goddess of the universe, not Haggar/Honerva who disassembled him and dropped him on Altea (the narrator even says "several thousan years have passed").
A quick word about the music--when I first got this series in 2008, I watched it with one of my anime friends who's too young to have either seen the original Voltron run or the one on Cartoon Network. And she refused to let me fast forward through the openings of any episode because she liked dancing to the music. And I kinda feel the same way. One of the reasons I like the late 70s/early 80s anime is the funk soundtrack. For every series (the Ideon is another show with a danceable score).
This episode was probably th most radically changed for Voltron, structurally speaking. After we get Golion's origin, we go right to Sadak on the great Slave Galley. And he's torturing slaves. Damn, hasn't even gotten them to Galra to put them to work, and he's beating them. Yeah, the Galra folks are much more ruthless than their Doom counterparts.
I really like this introduction of Daibazaal. Here's the classic bored despot--I've conquered everything worth conquering. Isn't there anything to amuse me? Something about this scene makes me think of a Chinese folktatle. "Little did he know that the despot would get his wish." Yeah, Golion'll keep him all kinds of interested.
We now meet the future Golion pilots. I also prefer that they're nobodies here. Just some more slaves (who've already fought in the gladiatorial arena) mouldering in the dungeons. I also like that they've been here for a while. The Voltron timeline--they get there, get assigned to a room, and break out immediately--is too rushed for my clearly advanced and adult tastes.
The fight with the deathblack beastman is awesomely brutal. The dismembered slaves, lying in their own blood, cursing Galra with their dying breaths . . . Oh, yeah, those are willies on your spine!
Now, through flashbacks, we find out how the five got to Galra--oh, that was EARTH in the throes of a nuclear war? Complete with still images of people being irradiated. That music playing behind this scene is haunting in every moment in which it appears.
Our Space Explorers were on some "school trip" in a spaceship when Earth decided to annihilate itself. I do kind of like how, y'know, Earth was clearly on the brink beforehand, but here are some schoolkids (?) going about their space business when war breaks out. That's how it goes--I remember reading an interview with the death metal band Benediction, who were playing a concert in Yugoslavia when the country decided to fragment. They were playing in an open-air venue and could see explosions from artillery in the night. That's the kind of thing this makes me think of.
Still the same weirdness--rocks and rope in their dungeon room, allowing them to escape. Although, since not everyone on the planet knows who they are and wants them in the arena immediately, the guards checking on them while they pretend to sleep makes a little more sense.
Yup, they get onto the exterior of the castle, and Seidou is still afraid of heights. So weird. They again take the vulture express to the Pit of Skulls. And Seidow shows his noble side, desiring vengeance on Daibazaal for all the massacred slaves. Kurogane is just as much a jerk as Lance was. Maybe more.
And, the sprint to the spaceport--which Kogane saw while he was on work detail. Just a throw away line, but it adds to the sense that they've been there for a while.
Again with the throwing swords. And the inexplicably apt fighting. I will admit, the sound editing for this series is weird for Toei (were they breaking in a new editor?) but I still love the weird old mecha anime sound effects.
This time, they seem to crash into the castle accidentally. And instead of "We've been hit by a bomb!!" Daibazaal just chews some scenery.
A word about the Galrans--are all the different looking people just different ethnicities? Like you've got the purple ones like Sadak and Daibazaal (and eventually Sincline), some of whom have hair, and then you've got the dark grey or black ones like the guards and the arena spectators. And cybernetics. Like Sadak and his lieutenant. Are those implants that light up all Tron-like on Sadak's uniform? And what's with his eye?! And in a later episode, I seem to remember a weapons port or something in Sadak's lieutenant's chest.
Same space battle, mostly one-sided, and then the slave galley is eased down on a gentle glide over a mysterious planet, with a mysterious castle, with two mysterious people. I wonder which was more effective, the mystery, or the urge American kids felt to stick around just to see what this Voltron guy was all about?
I couldn't honestly tell you, because I first saw the middle of episode 4--I didn't really know the opening story until reruns. Oh, the horrors!
That's it for today!
Where I Watch Voltron/Golion/Dairugger. All of Them.
I've been inspired by a couple of threads on some forums where someone either revisits a childhood favorite or watches a purported classic for the first time. Because I'm weird, even among other adults who would watch cartoons and then tell other people about their experiences watching them, and because most people probably could care less about what I think, AND because I like the way I can organize things a little better on a blog, I'm gonna do it here.
So I'm going to watch each Voltron episode back-to-back with its corresponding Golion/Dairugger episode. Aaand, yeah, I'll probably watch the second season of Lion Voltron and the Fleet of Doom teamup thing.
Obviously, I'm going to do a running commentary as I watch. I'm probably not going to focus on the stuff that everyone who already knows Voltron, um, already knows. Like Voltron robots/people-with-escape-ships/people-transported-to-other-dimensions = Golion or Dairugger DEATHS. And that Sven is really two Japanese characters. If you somehow made it to this weird, obscure blog with this weird guy who hasn't grown up yet, you probably already know that.
So in order to see what I do talk about, well, just read on.
So I'm going to watch each Voltron episode back-to-back with its corresponding Golion/Dairugger episode. Aaand, yeah, I'll probably watch the second season of Lion Voltron and the Fleet of Doom teamup thing.
Obviously, I'm going to do a running commentary as I watch. I'm probably not going to focus on the stuff that everyone who already knows Voltron, um, already knows. Like Voltron robots/people-with-escape-ships/people-transported-to-other-dimensions = Golion or Dairugger DEATHS. And that Sven is really two Japanese characters. If you somehow made it to this weird, obscure blog with this weird guy who hasn't grown up yet, you probably already know that.
So in order to see what I do talk about, well, just read on.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
A Little Love for the McKinney Novels
I saw Robotech in its initial run in 1985. My local affiliate carried it until about a week into the New Generation/Invid Invasion, then pulled it due to enrage parental "we don't like war toys/killing/interracial relationships" complaints. The following September, another local station picked it up and I watched the entire series, twice.
Then it went away.
When I was in junior high, the RPGs, the MacKinney Novels, and the FHE VHS tapes came out. The tapes were stupid expensive and shoved three episodes into the timespace of one. The RPGs had glorious, glorious pictures--at least up until Southern Cross--but were, well, thin. And my attempts at role-playing never stuck.
So, pretty much until the Robotech DVD releases in 2003 or 4, the only Robotech I knew were the novels. I looked at a couple of the various comic books attempts, and actually bought one with Breetai and Khyron in the pre-series time and there was some weird outer space monster eating Zentraedi or something and I never bought another comic after that.
But I loved the novels. What I liked the most were the weird epigraphs that started every chapter, and the whole, epic sweep they gave the series. One of my favorite things about them were the idea of the Shapings of Protoculture, and then the dim mythic past of Hayden that Zor's own mythic travels seemed to be somehow following, to be again reiterated by Rem in End of the Circle--and Rem and Minmei somehow become Adam and Eve in another reality? Or maybe our own?
Weird, but it's that Dune-like epic sweep.
And then I got ahold of the Internets and discovered the Robotech Technical Files. I really enjoyed the hard-sci-fi edge they gave the mecha. Development, speculation about trials and refits and some unified, technical theory and design lineage. But . . .
They hated the RPG.
And they despised the novels.
And then the three "lost generation" novels written by lone-survivor Luceno of the former Daly-Luceno symbiosis of the orignal novels came out. And these novels seemed to concede to the McKinney-hate. "Yeah, that mystical stuff was dumb. Here it all is, in strict quantum-mechanic realism."
Er. Sort of.
That was one of the main factors in my decision not to participate in fandom. I thought that was the majority of fandom. WE HATE MCKINNEY. CARTOONS ONLY.
But I had gone nearly two decades without the cartoons. The McKinney novels were my Robotech. So, a hopelessly socially inept nerd languished alone with his inferior continuity.
Then comes the advent of "Harmony Gold/CarlMacek are CRAZY" and no post Macross Plus Macross is legal in the U.S. But, then, comes the advent of youtube. And I love Macross 7. And 0--even moreso. And Frontier is pretty awesome (but I like the intensity and near-contemporary immediacy of 0).
But for every one positive Youtube comment about Robotech, there are about 1500 declaiming Robotech as "for three-year-olds and retarded adults." So, I continue to cling to my inferior continuity, apparently because I am developmentally disabled.
No, it's not as if the Youtube trullz have any real impact on my self-esteem, it's just that they are obviously not the kind of fans with whom I can engage. I've gotten ahold of the original Macross, Southern Cross, and Mospeada stuff, and I can enjoy both the originals and Robotech. The Youtubers/robotech reference filers and I would simply not have many production conversations. (That, and the original Southern Cross AND the Masters saga of Robotech are my favorites. Despite what some former friends may have claimed, I don't go out of my way to be different, honest).
Then, I find this:
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=532972
A forum thread from this past fall where a dude around my own age is rereading the McKinney books! And he likes them! And he likes both Robotech AND Macross and its sequels.
I thoroughly enjoyed that discussion.
Then it went away.
When I was in junior high, the RPGs, the MacKinney Novels, and the FHE VHS tapes came out. The tapes were stupid expensive and shoved three episodes into the timespace of one. The RPGs had glorious, glorious pictures--at least up until Southern Cross--but were, well, thin. And my attempts at role-playing never stuck.
So, pretty much until the Robotech DVD releases in 2003 or 4, the only Robotech I knew were the novels. I looked at a couple of the various comic books attempts, and actually bought one with Breetai and Khyron in the pre-series time and there was some weird outer space monster eating Zentraedi or something and I never bought another comic after that.
But I loved the novels. What I liked the most were the weird epigraphs that started every chapter, and the whole, epic sweep they gave the series. One of my favorite things about them were the idea of the Shapings of Protoculture, and then the dim mythic past of Hayden that Zor's own mythic travels seemed to be somehow following, to be again reiterated by Rem in End of the Circle--and Rem and Minmei somehow become Adam and Eve in another reality? Or maybe our own?
Weird, but it's that Dune-like epic sweep.
And then I got ahold of the Internets and discovered the Robotech Technical Files. I really enjoyed the hard-sci-fi edge they gave the mecha. Development, speculation about trials and refits and some unified, technical theory and design lineage. But . . .
They hated the RPG.
And they despised the novels.
And then the three "lost generation" novels written by lone-survivor Luceno of the former Daly-Luceno symbiosis of the orignal novels came out. And these novels seemed to concede to the McKinney-hate. "Yeah, that mystical stuff was dumb. Here it all is, in strict quantum-mechanic realism."
Er. Sort of.
That was one of the main factors in my decision not to participate in fandom. I thought that was the majority of fandom. WE HATE MCKINNEY. CARTOONS ONLY.
But I had gone nearly two decades without the cartoons. The McKinney novels were my Robotech. So, a hopelessly socially inept nerd languished alone with his inferior continuity.
Then comes the advent of "Harmony Gold/CarlMacek are CRAZY" and no post Macross Plus Macross is legal in the U.S. But, then, comes the advent of youtube. And I love Macross 7. And 0--even moreso. And Frontier is pretty awesome (but I like the intensity and near-contemporary immediacy of 0).
But for every one positive Youtube comment about Robotech, there are about 1500 declaiming Robotech as "for three-year-olds and retarded adults." So, I continue to cling to my inferior continuity, apparently because I am developmentally disabled.
No, it's not as if the Youtube trullz have any real impact on my self-esteem, it's just that they are obviously not the kind of fans with whom I can engage. I've gotten ahold of the original Macross, Southern Cross, and Mospeada stuff, and I can enjoy both the originals and Robotech. The Youtubers/robotech reference filers and I would simply not have many production conversations. (That, and the original Southern Cross AND the Masters saga of Robotech are my favorites. Despite what some former friends may have claimed, I don't go out of my way to be different, honest).
Then, I find this:
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=532972
A forum thread from this past fall where a dude around my own age is rereading the McKinney books! And he likes them! And he likes both Robotech AND Macross and its sequels.
I thoroughly enjoyed that discussion.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Gundam 00--Holy crap!
Okay. As a general rule, I don't worry too much about spoilers. So I don't go out of my way to avoid reviews and synopsis that give away a lot. I don't care if I know what happens. It's the execution that interests me. In grad school, my thesis concerned the development of legends in related but different societies--like the differences and similarities in Arthurian legend in Welsh, English, and French medieval sources. So, after reading a hundred different versions of the same story, I don't worry too much when I know broad plot details.
So I can't say I avoided reading too much about Gundam 00. I know the basic outline. Fuel crisis. Celestial Being. "It's a GUNDAM!!!!"-y goodness.
I was saying just a couple of days ago that I may have looked at Gundam Wing a little differently had I initially seen in Post 9/11.
None of my pre-watching dabbling had prepared me for the pre-credit opening of the first episode. "THIS IS A HOLY WAR."
Wow.
Gundam Wing's potential commentary on the nature of "freedom fighter" vs. "terrorist" was subtle, and drew from and alluded to many, many different real world examples. Gundam 00? It seems pretty obviously allegorical--oil crisis, war on terror. That caught me by surprise--not the subject matter, but the unabashed overtness of it. HERE. IS. OUR. MAIN. IDEA.
This being anime in general, and Gundam in particular, I'll be surprised if things remain this clear-cut. Wheels within wheels.
I've only watched the first episode, so I'll be sure to continue commenting.
I will say, though, modern allegory aside, they've got the "bad-ass Gundam intro" down solid. It's interesting that the original mobile suit gundam was "Real Robot" rather than "Super Robot," and many of the sequel/spin-off/meta-series combine the two genres.
So I can't say I avoided reading too much about Gundam 00. I know the basic outline. Fuel crisis. Celestial Being. "It's a GUNDAM!!!!"-y goodness.
I was saying just a couple of days ago that I may have looked at Gundam Wing a little differently had I initially seen in Post 9/11.
None of my pre-watching dabbling had prepared me for the pre-credit opening of the first episode. "THIS IS A HOLY WAR."
Wow.
Gundam Wing's potential commentary on the nature of "freedom fighter" vs. "terrorist" was subtle, and drew from and alluded to many, many different real world examples. Gundam 00? It seems pretty obviously allegorical--oil crisis, war on terror. That caught me by surprise--not the subject matter, but the unabashed overtness of it. HERE. IS. OUR. MAIN. IDEA.
This being anime in general, and Gundam in particular, I'll be surprised if things remain this clear-cut. Wheels within wheels.
I've only watched the first episode, so I'll be sure to continue commenting.
I will say, though, modern allegory aside, they've got the "bad-ass Gundam intro" down solid. It's interesting that the original mobile suit gundam was "Real Robot" rather than "Super Robot," and many of the sequel/spin-off/meta-series combine the two genres.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Turning Back to the After Century Calendar
Before I watch Gundam Unicorn or Gundam 00 (in its entirety), I've decided to revisit some old friends and watch Gundam Wing. This is actually the first time I've returned to it since its run in 2000 on the Cartoon Network. Fortunately, my fond memories of the series were not just nostalgia. All the memorable characters are just as memorable. I did forget all of the "wheels-within-wheels" plotting and counterplotting and just how fractured the different characters' allegiances were.
Now, for a quick aside that will explain the thinking of the rest of this post. I usually grit my teeth and squirm when something is described as "re-imagined for the post September 11th world," like the remake of V and the proposed remake of "Red Dawn." It sounds too much like fear-monger-led-profiteering.
Now, back to Gundam. I don't want to belabor the point or overthink anything. BUT. I saw this in 2000. I had no reason to think much about the fact that our protagonists (the five Gundam pilots) for the most part teenage fanatics, recruited out of mostly tragic lives to pilot secret weapons into the heart of a superpower and, in the first several episodes, BLOW THE SHIT OUT OF THINGS.
Am I alluding to the 9/11 bombers? Sort of. After the first few episodes, certain things were emphasized about the five pilots: their youth, their absolute dedication to the mission (mostly exhibited by Heero Yuy, but Duo, Trowa, and Wu Fei just have fewer opportunities to threaten people, y'know, like Relena). And nothing demonstrates fanaticism like that scene where Heero BREAKS AND RESETS HIS OWN MOTHERFUCKING FEMUR! That makes even Duo wince.
However, the story is complex enough and the characters developed enough that, even had I seen Gundam Wing AFTER 9/11, I'd probably enjoy it just as much. And who knows? I might just be projecting things no one else sees.
I think my main point is not that this is a show glorifying terrorism. It's not. It's that it is even more nuanced than I remember it being. I think the fact that the story can call to mind both the 9/11 highjackers and simultaneously the desperate heroism freedom fighters throughout history and fiction is a sign that its images are powerful and infinitely applicable.
And, some fanboy trivia before I get too somber and serious. Duo was voiced by the actor who also performed Fred in Outlaw Star. And Zechs Marquise shares a voice actor with Gamlin from Macross 7 (and about a million other characters, being voiced by Takehito Koyasu, the most prolific japanese voice actor according to the anime news network.
Now, for a quick aside that will explain the thinking of the rest of this post. I usually grit my teeth and squirm when something is described as "re-imagined for the post September 11th world," like the remake of V and the proposed remake of "Red Dawn." It sounds too much like fear-monger-led-profiteering.
Now, back to Gundam. I don't want to belabor the point or overthink anything. BUT. I saw this in 2000. I had no reason to think much about the fact that our protagonists (the five Gundam pilots) for the most part teenage fanatics, recruited out of mostly tragic lives to pilot secret weapons into the heart of a superpower and, in the first several episodes, BLOW THE SHIT OUT OF THINGS.
Am I alluding to the 9/11 bombers? Sort of. After the first few episodes, certain things were emphasized about the five pilots: their youth, their absolute dedication to the mission (mostly exhibited by Heero Yuy, but Duo, Trowa, and Wu Fei just have fewer opportunities to threaten people, y'know, like Relena). And nothing demonstrates fanaticism like that scene where Heero BREAKS AND RESETS HIS OWN MOTHERFUCKING FEMUR! That makes even Duo wince.
However, the story is complex enough and the characters developed enough that, even had I seen Gundam Wing AFTER 9/11, I'd probably enjoy it just as much. And who knows? I might just be projecting things no one else sees.
I think my main point is not that this is a show glorifying terrorism. It's not. It's that it is even more nuanced than I remember it being. I think the fact that the story can call to mind both the 9/11 highjackers and simultaneously the desperate heroism freedom fighters throughout history and fiction is a sign that its images are powerful and infinitely applicable.
And, some fanboy trivia before I get too somber and serious. Duo was voiced by the actor who also performed Fred in Outlaw Star. And Zechs Marquise shares a voice actor with Gamlin from Macross 7 (and about a million other characters, being voiced by Takehito Koyasu, the most prolific japanese voice actor according to the anime news network.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
It's a Gundam!
I've long since resigned myself to the fact that, with all of the Gundam series out there, I'm going to love some of the (the original Mobile Suit Gundam, the 08th MS Team, War in the Pocket, Turn A Gundam, Gundam Wing), be bored by some (Gundam Seed), find some endlessly amusing (Mobile Fighter G Gundam, G-Saviour), and feel oddly betrayed by some (Gundam 00).
00 was weird for me. The pre-release advertisements had me interested, then I watched it, and . . . I really wanted to like it, but there was no hook. Nothing grabbed me. It was like Gundam Wing without whatever it is I liked about Gundam Wing. I stopped following it. Then I read some synopses of later episodes, felt intrigued all over again, and watched later in the series.
Nope. Whoever wrote those synopses clearly picked up on something that either I missed, or it missed me.
Gundam Wing I liked--my first experience with Gundam had been the English dubs of the three movie versions of the original series. And then nothing for a very long time, until I starting watching Wing on Toonami. Mostly it was the characters--they build up Heero and Trowa as these almost-supernaturally skilled pilots, and then, when faced with two mobile dolls programmed with all of their piloting skills, Duo dispatches them with two slices of his beam scythe and turns away with the line "You're just dolls to me."
One of my friends refused to watch Wing. Mainly because he couldn't take a series seriously when it called something a "doll." He also couldn't get into Gasaraki because one group of mecha were called "fakes." In reality, I think, mecha anime just didn't appeal to him--he was really into stuff like Slayers and Excel Saga--both of which I've enjoyed, but I've never started a series because I thought "Oh, it looks like Slayers." I have started a series because, "Oh, it looks like Gundam. Or Macross. Or both! Maguncrossdam!!!"
Looking back at the collected series of Gundams, I think it's interesting that one of the series that started the "real robot genre," as opposed to the "super robot genre," has, from series to series and over time, drifted pretty seriously into the super robot realm.
Turn A Gundam's title suit and its counterpart, the turn X, would probably give the Ideon a run for its ridiculously super-powered mecha money. And the Ideon could slice planets in half with its sword! But then, that may have been a narrative conceit to convey the idea that the lost technology represented by the Turn-A and Turn-X was way beyond the series' present.
Anyway. I always find the infighting among Gundam fans amusing. You have guys my age or slightly older who are "UC or nuthin!" Then you have the ones who were kids when Gundam Wing and its big-eyed boy-band starring cast came out. And then the Seedlings and now the 00-or-nuthin' fans. I have a certain fondness for the UC-timeline series, but I'll typically give anything they've slapped the name Gundam on a chance. Sometimes it's hit or miss.
I haven't seen any of Gundam Unicorn, or whatever they're calling it these days. I'll get around to it. Eventually.
00 was weird for me. The pre-release advertisements had me interested, then I watched it, and . . . I really wanted to like it, but there was no hook. Nothing grabbed me. It was like Gundam Wing without whatever it is I liked about Gundam Wing. I stopped following it. Then I read some synopses of later episodes, felt intrigued all over again, and watched later in the series.
Nope. Whoever wrote those synopses clearly picked up on something that either I missed, or it missed me.
Gundam Wing I liked--my first experience with Gundam had been the English dubs of the three movie versions of the original series. And then nothing for a very long time, until I starting watching Wing on Toonami. Mostly it was the characters--they build up Heero and Trowa as these almost-supernaturally skilled pilots, and then, when faced with two mobile dolls programmed with all of their piloting skills, Duo dispatches them with two slices of his beam scythe and turns away with the line "You're just dolls to me."
One of my friends refused to watch Wing. Mainly because he couldn't take a series seriously when it called something a "doll." He also couldn't get into Gasaraki because one group of mecha were called "fakes." In reality, I think, mecha anime just didn't appeal to him--he was really into stuff like Slayers and Excel Saga--both of which I've enjoyed, but I've never started a series because I thought "Oh, it looks like Slayers." I have started a series because, "Oh, it looks like Gundam. Or Macross. Or both! Maguncrossdam!!!"
Looking back at the collected series of Gundams, I think it's interesting that one of the series that started the "real robot genre," as opposed to the "super robot genre," has, from series to series and over time, drifted pretty seriously into the super robot realm.
Turn A Gundam's title suit and its counterpart, the turn X, would probably give the Ideon a run for its ridiculously super-powered mecha money. And the Ideon could slice planets in half with its sword! But then, that may have been a narrative conceit to convey the idea that the lost technology represented by the Turn-A and Turn-X was way beyond the series' present.
Anyway. I always find the infighting among Gundam fans amusing. You have guys my age or slightly older who are "UC or nuthin!" Then you have the ones who were kids when Gundam Wing and its big-eyed boy-band starring cast came out. And then the Seedlings and now the 00-or-nuthin' fans. I have a certain fondness for the UC-timeline series, but I'll typically give anything they've slapped the name Gundam on a chance. Sometimes it's hit or miss.
I haven't seen any of Gundam Unicorn, or whatever they're calling it these days. I'll get around to it. Eventually.
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