Audience reviews
16 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Unemployed-Sama
The tears have dried + I'm ready to review! The first thing that drew me to Giant Robo was 1: that it was a 90s OVA, and 2: the really unique vintage art-style. Aside from that, I had no experience with the manga or Mitsuteru Yokoyama, the other adaptations or really any familiarity with the series, although I did know that people are obsessive about The Day the Earth Stood Still (I now know why...)
When you first start watching TDTESS, it can be really confusing and somewhat frustrating. You definitely get dropped in media res right into the action, and more than that, you really feel that you're seeing a glimpse of a much broader story and that can get kind of exhausting. I would totally understand people bouncing off of the first ep and honestly maybe 2 + 3 as well, add in the retro ar…
Read at the sourceAvgasblomman
This is a hot mess, but know that I use that at least partially as a term of endearment.
Because there's a lot to like about it; the show is often quite beautiful, and the characters are endearing (if somewhat simple.)
It's fast-paced and the story is fun. I think that if you're a fan of saturday-morning style cartoons then this would be right up your alley
But it just feels incomplete. At almost every step, and getting worse as the show goes on, it just constantly feels like this is a short series of special episodes of a 50-150 episode anime or manga that just doesn't exist. When I was watching it I was so sure this was the case that I was looking forward to looking more deeply into the franchise, to get more of the background and context to the story.
So it's interesting, and the st…
Read at the sourceRealYRC
Giant Robo could have easily been a disaster. With its retro-futuristic vibe (reminiscent of Astro Boy), a cast of seemingly clichéd characters, and a story that kicks off in an unremarkable way, it had all the makings of a flop. But here’s the thing—it doesn’t stay that way. As the narrative unfolds, the characters shed their flat, predictable traits and reveal real, human motivations. The plot twists hit hard, upending everything you thought you knew. Just when you think the story’s reached its peak, it somehow gets even grander.
What sets this series apart is its sprawling ensemble of characters—each with distinct, often inventive abilities—a clever subversion of typical anime tropes, and a refusal to lean solely on cheap thrills or over-the-top action to hold your attention. After slo…
Read at the sourcePylgrim
Giant Robo is a remarkably strange anime. it's opening episode starts in media res and through exposition and characters' interactions we are made to feel that we are being caught up with a story previously seen on a lenghty classical 80s anime and what we are about to see is the crowning arc of the tale that had not been previously animated. We get hintsand glimpses of a succession of robots defeated in the past, of deep seated rivalries, origin stories, mysteries, and character arcs. However, when you take a minute to check if you maybe should watch that series before you watch this, you realise that there's not such a thing. And when you decide to go to the manga for the original source, you find out that it was a short, rather silly spy thriller with a few names that you may recognise…
Read at the sourceTypo_comma
The setting of the background applies to the Water Margin, which also adds some spoof to the story. Moreover, there is a lot of investment in animation production. Therefore, it should be a relatively sophisticated work in the 90s.
However, one thing that stings me is that the title is suspected of fraud. Under the guarantee that each episode lasts at least forty minutes, it does not make people feel that the whole story has any intuitive connection with the giant robot. Tbh, even removing the hero and his robot doesn't seem to affect the story much, because they are not the center of the story. After realizing these things, this well-made anime started to frustrate me.
Of course, I am very interested in Yokoyama Mitsuteru, the author of this series, but I can't deny that GR is a bad st…
Read at the sourceDyceAverruncus
Wanna know something that never gets old? Saving the world from a league of supervillains with the power of an Egyptian giant robot and super-powered individuals! That's the premise of the Giant Robo OVA and oh boy is the execution glorious.
This seven episode series details the inexplicably badass adventures of Daisaku and the Experts of Justice as they face off against Big Fire, a secret society bent of world domination. With all the hamminess and ludicrous fight scenes, Giant Robo often feels like a Saturday morning cartoon with Hollywood movie levels of scale. Subtlety isn't a concept here. Everything is loud and in your face, just the way I like it.
The ensemble cast of characters is also incredibly endearing. Daisuku is an idyllic kid hero, Ginrei is a smooth operator who knows how…
Read at the sourceLostSpaceChild
This series is a tricky beast. On paper it should be the perfect anime for me. I love the style of Post-Tezuka Manga/Anime, so character designs that embrace the look of the era like these sold me on watching it alone. The show's premise too seems interesting. A new energy source that turns out to be far less perfect than we initially believed. Dueling agencies of secret agent martial artists duking it out in the best wuxia battles this side of Crouching Tiger. This show should be amazing, but sadly, it falls a bit flat. And Here's Why
Pros:
-The art design in this show is phenomenal. I liked how they didn't just copy the art style of the late 60s/early 70s, but rather took elements of that style and mixed it with the style of the time. The character designs I love, I really love, and e…
Read at the sourceFlawfinder
In case you’re not up on your 90s anime and don’t know what Giant Robo is about, I’ll fill you in. Sometime after the third energy revolution due to a new invention called the Shizuma Drive replacing petroleum energy for the nuclear kind, two rival organizations called the Experts of Justice and Big Fire are locked in a fierce battle because the latter wants to dominate the world whilst the former thinks that’d be a bit of a bad idea. Said organizations fight in a sort of downtrodden future due to mankind’s dependency on their new technology along with the circumstances that gave birth to it in the first place being pretty damn grim on account of it nearly destroying the world. But people have superpowers for no adequately explained reason, so it’s not that bad a future. Although I could d…
Read at the sourcejosenewtype
I remember watching the first episode of the OVA back when I was a kid, and I always wanted to finish the special but never had a chance to up until now. Giant robo is a special kind of anime that is like no other because it's based off of a 60's manga. This klind of classic doesn't get the attention it deserves so I intend to share my experience with others in hopes of having more people recognize this great anime.
Story: The anime shoves it's plot down your throat consistently throughout the entire anime, which is sort of a bad thing. While the story is epic in proportions and has a drama and intensity of greek theater, the plot is riddled with holes and inconsistencies that plague the anime from about the middle to the end. What's charming is that it never fails to make the audience wa…
Read at the sourceRampant
This is a beautiful anime to watch and to hear (except for every time Daisaku speaks), but not so much to think about or try to buy into a lot of the individual scenes. It was a worthwhile watch, and certainly was most enjoyable when I could zone out the art and just enjoy the art and action for a while, but that cannot last.
Another important note is that the ending is not THAT much of a twist; it is set up very, very, very clearly from the fifth OVA onward, specifically when you see Emannuel/Genya's flashback, and was even clearly entailed by the plot to be possible before that. It is literally revealed to you in the fifth OVA, so anyone who was not expecting it was just not paying much attention.
The art in this series is just gorgeous. The colors still retain some of the bad idiosync…
Read at the sourceArchaeon
Take a good greek tragedy, add some Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (or a similar wuxia based tale, throw in a bit of steampunk, and add a dash of giant robots. Mix together for 8 years, then serve to the public.
A recipe for disaster? One would normally think so, but Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still defies all expectations to that end.
The brainchild of Yokoyama Mitsuteru (Tesujin 28-go, Babel II, Outlaws of the Marsh), the manga first appeared in 1967, and immediately spawned a live action production in that same year. Over 20 years later, the series was "reinvented" for release as an anime OVA, however the original form had been drastically altered due to restrictions on the use of characters from the manga and live action versions. The director, Imagawa Yasuhiro, being a self…
Read at the sourcepandapow
A great tribute for the late Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Giant Robo is a show that revives classic characters and puts them in an interesting storyline that includes elements of science fiction and even fantasy.
The animation in Giant Robo is gorgeous, which is expected from its production values. Anyone who enjoys good old fashioned cel animation can expect some of the highest quality.
The sound and music department is another element where the series excels. Classical styled music and even a little opera are used to fill up you with excitement or pull out tears from your eyes during its dramatic moments.
The story is an epic and coming of age tale of its main character, Daisaku. However, one can become overwhelmed by the number of characters and their involvement in the plot as well as the ma…
Read at the sourceMaur
Overall/Enjoyment:
A few of the things in my review have been covered by others already, but I wrote all this anyway so I might as well just post it. The first thing I would say is that Giant Robo isn't as bad as you might be led to believe. The second thing I'd say is that Giant Robo also isn't as good as you might hope. It is heavily dependent on your perspective, preference, expectations and experience.
Sure, it's epic and has plenty of action and drama and charm, but it's far from flawless. It's about as long as 14 regular episodes, and though I personally enjoyed it, I would not recommend it without several caveats. It's very up and down and hit and/or miss.
Story:
Giant Robo definitely has the feel of classic anime. Most of the recognizable staples are there, making it a good choi…
Read at the sourceFullmetal-Locke
This review will be harsh. But I literally just watched the last episode & the ending was so crap I hated everything I liked about this. After watching all those long, confusing episodes to find that the fight is still going on is like racing an Ironman & being slapped in the face at the end.
Fuck you guys.
You didn't even give closure for half the characters. It felt like a prologue.
The story is disjointed & confusing. A fucking mess. Seriously I couldn't even begin to explain how bad it is. From what I understand a boy's Dad gets killed by the badguys for some reason. So then he becomes a robots partner because the robot represents the people who sacrificed themselves for him...or something. This makes the boy & the robot justice fighters in a plot about pollution. With a few twist…
Read at the sourceYourMessageHere
Giant Robo OVA 20.10.08
Fanfiction is not something I ever got into. I did try it, but the ratio of dross to quality was far too high, and even when you find something that is well written, it's almost never created in the spirit of the original; another person's vision and ideal has inevitably crept in and improved/tweaked/changed/adulterated/spoiled/messed up/ruined it - circle your preferred response.
Giant Robo OVA is, when you come right down to it, fanfiction. If I read wikipedia right, all that remains of Mitsuteru Yokoyama's original Giant Robo is Robo itself and its operator, Daisaku. Cropped from Yokoyama's highly varied other works and stretched or shrunken to fit are the entire remainder of the cast; to create a world that fits this elaborate homage is the basic reason for t…
Read at the sourcebelsammael
One of my alltime favorites.. Giant Robo is a mecha anime project which took nearly a decade in the making, a remake of the GR original of roughly 30 years further past.
The series consists of seven action packed episodes, each with their share of drama, battle and a stunning (live) orchestral soundtrack to accompany it all. "Can happyness be achieved without sacrifice?" is a returning question, leading the story further along its path, a path which twists at every turn: what exactly happened ten years ago, at the world-shaking tragedy at Bashtarlle? The truth seems to change with every episode, and will only be revealed at the end...
Good character development, and sort of a tribute to the series' original creator, featuring characters from various of his series in one giant spectacle.…
Read at the source