Audience reviews
14 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
HERMIT_PAIMON
I am a sucker of anime with stoic characters and votoms fit category in every aspect. It's one of your great mecha series from 80s written by Ryosuke Takahashi . The plot consist of war and power struggle between different groups and factions which isn't very special in his own way if we compare this to other mecha series.The absolute vast world building and geography of different planets along with history and culture makes votoms a great series.
I liked almost all themes and messages that votoms tried to portray like post war affects , slavery and no law during wars , corruption etc .
Mech designs are great , there aren't much variety but they focused on details. I liked the idea like how you can salvage, cannibalize other mecha to make your own . You won't find many people who knows a…
Read at the sourcePageplant
After watching everything ever made in the "Hokuto no Ken" series, I decided I needed a little rest from all the melodrama, and "Soukou Kihei Votoms" or "Armored Trooper Votoms" looked like just the thing for me. I expected to rest my brain in the sea of mech action, but as luck would have it, I was only half right.
"Soukou Kihei Votoms" is one of those lesser-known, cult animes with great vintage animation, music, characters, premise, and action, but it's also horribly slow, deals with serious themes such as corruption, PTSD, war crimes, war, bioengineering, and war in Vietnam, among other things, and is very melodramatic and takes itself very seriously.
In other words, it was not the rest from the melodrama I wanted, and it took me long to complete it. I personally enjoyed it for what…
Read at the sourceMadMonk762
It's a good concept plagued by slow pacing, a common issue with some of the older animes. The story overall is very interesting and the art for the action scenes are good, but sometimes the series tends to drag on more than necessary. Only one of the four arcs did not seem to have that issue.
Not a bad watch for someone that is into Mecha, as this series is one of the godfathers of the genre, but not a series for those that don't have the patience for slow burn shows.
For a fast-paced story within this universe, I highly recommend the OVA "Armor Hunter Mellowlink". Watching the entirety of this show is not required to understand the plot of Mellowlink.
Read at the sourceAlolanroy
Uncut peak. I know this isn't for everyone, but if you have the patience, you will find an incredibly ahead-of-its-time mecha classic.
Some elements feel dated, and it drags as much as you should expect for this era and genre. This might turn off people used to modern seasonal, because this operates on the axis of 'great TV' and delivers a tone you don't see anymore.
It's a hard boiled show, closer to a war or detective show. The man with no name walks through a story of conspiracy and social connection he wants no part in. A wanted man who will do anything to survive. The stone-cold protagonist, Chirico, deserves his cult status. Love how it is very clear that his (later confirmed) autist status was planned from the get-go. Nice to see a neurodivergent protagonist who doesn't lean on the…
Read at the sourcebruhsenko
PREFACE
I'm going to try writing these just to log my thoughts on anime as I complete them, so neither this nor future reviews should be considered impartial assessments. I don't really care if these read as subjective or personal, because I think any engagement with a piece of work can only be that. Masquerading an opinion as fact feels dishonest for me to do.
EXPECTATIONS (TONE)
Anyway, after completing this, I'm not sure why Armored Trooper Votoms is described as as a gritty, military-based show by its fans. For instance, nothing about the dynamic between Gotho, Coconna, and Vanilla (a trio of recurring major characters from the beginning of the show) strikes me as serious. They feel like a mischievous rag-tag team true and through, which I don't consider a dig on the show at all—in fa…
Read at the sourceThatAnimeSnobRE
Historically speaking, Votoms is one of the first serious military-action anime. Beyond that, it is not a show for viewers who don’t fancy realistic warfare and nihilistic or expandable characters. Although Tomino’s Gundam franchise bridged the mecha and space opera genres a few years prior to this show, Takahashi Ryosuke took all that to the next level with Votoms and the result was plain weird. It’s an excentric anime that on one hand becomes the most “real” among Real Robots (the mecha in it have a highly realistic way of moving and fighting) and on the other hand feels mechanical, cynical, dry, and with little reason for the average viewer to find the appeal in its militaristic and a nihilistic view on life.
One thing that needs to be made clear right from the start is that you are no…
Read at the sourceWitchFromMercury
MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Before I get started with this review I have to distinguish that the first season (first 13 episodes) was amazing and all else that follows is of a much lower quality so I'll start with the beginning.
It opens up with what you think is going to be a war epic like Legend of the Galactic Heroes as we are introduced to two rival factions the Gilgamesh and the Balarant that have for the past 200 years been in an unending war for control of the Astragius Galaxy. Despite all this world building we are first given it comes into the background only because the story is not about the war or the factions involved but instead focuses mainly on Chirico Cuvie.
The story begins with a tale of betrayal as Chirico is sent on a mission he was never supposed to be on (he was…
Read at the sourceSCLFI
VOTOMS is a series that adheres to a more grounded approach to mecha than the genre usually seems interested in depicting. You won’t find any high schoolers or kaiju here, only war, and that alone elevates it above most works out there, I’m here to see robots, no need for some stupid romantic drama with some slag who’s just as stupid.
In any case, one of the clear focuses of VOTOMS was on its titular mecha designs. The AT units (armoured troopers) have a utilitarian charm to them, every aspect of their design has actual purpose, as should be expected for a mass-produced unit, no room for pointless ornamental features in industrial warfare. The ATs are highly adaptable, and throughout the series you’ll see them in a multitude of configurations, with a complex arsenal at hand that they can b…
Read at the sourcepunishedsneed
AT VOTOMS is hit or miss. The first arc can bore you out of continuing it, while the second arc will force you to finish it - the third and fourth arc's being better then the first, but nowhere near the second arc in terms of quality... the best time you'll have in VOTOMS is when you're in Kummen!
VOTOMS has two things going for it: characters and designs. The Scopedogs, the 'Fatties.' Chirico, Fyana, Ypsilon. Mecha designs and the main characters define what is good about AT VOTOMS. The side characters like Vanilla, Gotho, and Coconna? They get old fast and are definitely a weak part of the series.
Chirico is stoic. He's quiet and capable, and we know little about him - this mystery keeps him interesting. Fyana is both a woman and a super-soldier. Her arc has largely been misunderstood…
Read at the sourceDaCraziGuy
- FIRST, saying this underrated and forgotten is an understatement. I never heard about this franchise and I just found it because of luck.
- SECOND, if you like mecha this is a MUST, I think this is around the level of Gundam.
- THIRD, this is the first show you must see, don't start with the prequels. After that you can follow the broadcast order or the chronological one. I don't think it would matter much.
This review takes in consideration all the prequels and sequels so some flaws or plot holes that may have are explained later, I think there is no loose end if you finish everything.
Well now, the show has good characters, A LOT of action, probably one of the most realistic mechas, a serius plot, good animation(most times) and great art. The OP is one of the best I've heard. The s…
Read at the sourceFAKEANIMEGIRL
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When it comes to mecha anime, finding a series that has had enough fortune to blossom into a franchise is incredibly rare. Gundam obviously takes first place and will likely never be dethroned with its massive amount of material. Yet, despite this gap the Macross franchise holds a relatively high second place. Lagging even further behind, although still a commendable achievement, is Armored Trooper Votoms.
ATV is hardly a hit series, but many of whom have seen it claim it as a classic and one of the best of the mecha genre. My curiosity piqued early on in my knowledge of it, and due to that and my interest in mecha anime history I had enough of a reason to give it a shake.
Chirico Cuvie is t…
Read at the sourceBowlingJD
Those looking for a real robot military mecha anime with an underlining plot devoted to the characters and not the war, look no further than Armored Trooper Votoms. It was created and directed by Sunrise’s most renowned director and helped pioneer the real robot genre, Ryosuke Takahashi. Mechanical designs were headed by none other than Kunio Okawara himself. This is the man to thank for many of the super- and real-robot mechs such as Gundams, Votoms, and even Yatterman.
Takahashi tends to focus further on developing inside of a soldiers head, and is seen more in his later works. In the case of the main protagonist pilot, Chirico Cuvie, he is a survivor soldier over the 100 year war between the two leading nations, the Gilgamesh and the Balarant. During a mission gone south, Chirico’s lif…
Read at the sourceNo_Comment
Characters: Chirico, the main character gets the most development and screen time. He is 100% man, but not bulging with muscles like several other 80s protagonists. He instead displays his worth through his vicious combat skills. At first he comes off as stoic and flat, but evolves over time and the show does a good job of considering the hell that he has been through beforehand and showing the effect it has on his personality. Next comes a certain character introduced in the 2nd arc. He is basically a two-note character, and both of his plot points are brought up and not resolved repetitively through the middle of the series, the show can't seem to breath much creativity again until his role is scaled back. The rest of the large supporting cast is fine. More often than not they are used a…
Read at the sourceHound_of_Ulster
A golden oldie, if little seen in the U.S...
This particular mecha series, directed by Ryosuke Takahashi (Gasaraki, Silent Service), was an early pioneer of the 'realistic mecha' sub-genre, coming out right on the heels of Tomino's Gundam tv series, and it features heavily Takahashi's interest in the interior 'realm' of the soldier. Chirico Cuvie is a superb leading character, although the relationship element does feel somewhat forced. Of the four story arces, the weakest is the first, but the middle two, especially 'Dead World Susna' are particularly good. Not as wordy as Takahashi's later Gasaraki, but its still got a brain, which is a refreshing change from certain anime that will not be named at this time. The animation holds up fairly well, but does have the limitations of its 'on-t…
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