Great Dangaioh

Review by Matthew Anderson

13 Episode TV Series

Company: Viz Video

Running Time: 104 minutes (4 episodes)

Region: 1

Rated: PG-13 (Violence, language and Adult situations)

EXTERNAL EXAM

In the near future, an explosion occurs on Futagami Island, leaving one survivor. These two events will set in motion a chain of events that will determine the future of the world.

Ten years later, a group known as the Agwarda Organization has created a "Peace Fort" on the ruins of the island. Their purpose: to defeat the Ex Tatarus bio-soldier army of Dr. Kato

Their leader, Commander Yunamine, has assembled some of the finest scientific and military minds to work on creating and maintaining Dangaioh units, three gigantic robots created with unknown technology to combat this new threat.

Yet, there is more going behind the scenes than anyone realizes. What does the mysterious explosion from 10 years ago have to do with the formation of the Agwarda Organization. What ties does a sinister corporation have with Dr. Kato and Commander Yunamine? Most importantly, where did the Dangaioh robot come from?

The future is very uncertain, even with the unbeatable power of Great Dangaioh!

DVD VISION TEST

VIDEO: The video quality is well done. There were no color bleeds, pixels, or rainbows. There is some edge enhancement, but it doesn't detract from the presentation.

AUDIO: Both the English and Japanese 2.0 are pretty evenly matched. The Japanese has a little more treble than it's English counterpart. There is a fuller soundstage on the English track, but it's softer than the Japanese.

EDITS: Clean open and close are used. No edits to the episodes have been noted.

EXTRAS: There isn't a lot here. There is a main character image gallery along with 4 separate image galleries for each episode. There is also the clean open and close.

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

STORY: Great Dangaioh can be best described as "Evangelion Light". While it's not the worst stories out there, it certainly isn't one of the newest. Series Construction dude Sumio Uetake and his staff give us a rather straightforward narrative, with very few surprises. The emphasis is on the action, not on the plot.

ACTING: The Japanese cast is pretty good, but no one really stands out. Each actor gives the right amount of intensity required for their role.

The English cast isn't much better. While the main voice actors are decent, the supporting cast is rather disappointing. Several of them trip over their lines, say things that don't make a lot of sense, or just sound weird.

FAN SERVICE: A couple of tame panty shots and overly developed boobs are about it. If you are looking for references to the original Dangaioh OVA, I haven't seen any yet.

FINAL EXAM

Many years ago when U.S. Renditions burst onto the scene, Dangaioh and Gunbuster were their signature titles. While Gunbuster was interesting experiment, Dangaioh was a rock-em, sock-em robot show. The animation was awesome, and back then, the story was very new and different. Neophyte anime watchers became instant fans, and eagerly awaited each new volume.

You can imagine how disappointed we were when the series just ended with episode 3. After enjoying this particular roller coaster ride, we were left with our four main characters adrift in space. No closure, no epic final battle, just a "WTF" ending. To add insult upon injury, the Manga DVD release of Dangaioh was a disaster. It seemed that legions of Dangaioh fans were doomed to never see the end.

Then in 2001, it seemed that peace was at hand. Creator Toshiki Hirano (or Toshihiro Hirano if you look at the Manga DVD) had created Great Dangaioh, the official sequel. Now, the closure we had been denied was at hand... sort of.

For the most part, "Great Dangaioh" is a pretty average "giant robot" anime. You have the team of high school students who pilot the robot after class, and whenever giant robots show up. You have the aloof leader of the "Peace Fort", who has more secrets than changes of clothes. You have an army of the dammed, led by a total nutcase, hell bent on destruction. Last but not least, you have the romantic subplot between two of the pilots. Very few things are new here.

How this relates to the original OVA is still a mystery. I'm sure that the intentions of the writing staff was to help "Great Dangaioh" stand on it's own before adding the extra stuff. While I see the wisdom in that decision, I want to know what the hell happened at the end of the Dangaioh OVA!

While the plot may not make the grade, the action sure does. True to its predecessor, "Great Dangaioh" is a rock-em, sock-em robots series. There is some cool butt whoopin going on in these episodes. Thanks to the high quality of the animation, you can really get into the battles.

The character and mechanical designs are interesting too. The generals of the Ex Tartarus army are really cool looking, and their mecha reflects their personality. I'm also impressed with how they put the three different Dangaioh robots into one. Now only if their transforms was as cool as the ones in GaoGaiGar. Then we would have something beyond awesome.

The overall presentation is a little on the weak side, but light years ahead of the Manga release of the original series. The video and audio are fine, the extras were okay. My biggest gripe is that you have to buy four volumes when three would do. With only 13 episodes, it would not be that hard to release 4 episodes on the first two discs, and five on the third. It's hard for a lot of people to pay anywhere up to $30 for only three episodes and limited features.

Honestly, Great Dangaioh isn't a bad anime, it's just not a great one. It looks cool, and the action is top shelf, but the writing is so/so. If you are a fan of the original, or you are looking for a title that is fairly kid safe, get Great Dangaioh. That way, when you need a solid dose of robo-butt kicking, you can get your fix .

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