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Genres: Mecha
Airing: Fall 2006
Studio: Oriental Light and Magic(Yes, the OLDIES, responsible for Pokemon – oh wait! They also Utawarerumono…and what the hell??—they’re gonna make an anime out of DELTORA QUEST?? Look here)
OP: “Break Out” by JAM Project
ED: “Yell!” by Minami Kuribayashi
Official Site: http://www.suparobo-anime.jp/

Impressions:

Super Robot Wars, in my views, has one great aspect and one horrible aspect. The great aspect is the CG, which is done really well. In the actual fight scenes between the ‘robots/troopers’, not much moving is done, instead the mechas are moved around a lot at high speeds to make it look far more intense. The special effects cannons and such are also nice eyecandy that I wouldn’t mind seeing again – it is definitely better than Zegapain, although I can’t see it surpassing Code Geass (which I actually haven’t seen yet). Now the horrible aspect, which many of you wouldn’t really care about (but I DO! A lot!) is the art. Yes, to me it looks extremely old-school, like an 80’s or 90’s mecha. The CG is great but everything else animation wise really sucks. It’s such a shame…

Ok so now those two balance each other out, but there is another thing that may keep my interest, and that is, what every show has, plot. The plot has heaps of potential at the moment; the anime has set up a nice apocalyptic warring world for large mechas to roam around smashing stuff and wreaking havoc. BUT, the OP I saw looks much more like something like Zoids, which isn’t very good. I was hoping for a slightly darker feel, and I would’ve gotten that from the episode if it wasn’t for the OP. I hope the show doesn’t actually turn to be all corny with friendly battles and stuff. I want drama, death and big explosions (which kill hundreds)! But still, there is a high chance that I will like Code Geass more, as I said before, as well as this other one which is airing this season. Come to think of it, Code Geass STILL hasn’t been subbed…this is getting irritating.

Story:

During the Space Era (200 years after man started colonizing other planets), two meteorites hit earth causing massive destruction and turmoil, which halted technological and scientific advance. During that time, wars broke out constantly, but the Earth Federation Government was established to control such outbreaks and work to rebuilding the earth. However, a third meteorite impacted earth…the nature of this meteorite is unknown, but it can’t be good.

Plot Outline:

- Ryuusei is talking with his friend (lousy with names) about robot games as they head to the hospital to check on his mum
- He tells his mother that he will decide not to go to college in order to pay for her medical fees
- His mother objects
- Afterwards, Ryuusei and his friend head to the game stadium where a robot simulation fighting tournament is taking place
- Ryuusei decides to make this his last game for a while, and is confident that he will win
- He makes it to the final but gets owned by the reining champion
- Before he and his friend can leave the building, something crashed through the stadium’s roof, which turns out to be some sort of giant robot bug
- As the military steps in to combat the bug, Ryuusei’s friend gets trapped in rubble
- An unmanned ‘trooper’ mysteriously becomes handy and Ryuusei jumps in to pilot it
- He manages to take out the robot bug, but realises it will be impossible to do anything more as another half a dozen robot bugs have surrounded him
- And observing him the whole time is a group of unknowns, seemingly recruiting suitable pilots for ‘troopers’ or something

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