Getter Robo Armageddon

[areaseven]

Change!! Shin Getter Robo - Sekai Saishuu no Hi ( 真（チェンジ!!）ゲッターロボ　世界最後の日 )

Dynamic Planning/Marubeni/Bandai Visual, 1998-1999

ADV Films, 2001-2002

Directed by Yutaka Sato, Yasuhiro Geshi and Jun Kawagoe (eX-Driver, Shin Getter Robo vs. Neo Getter Robo).

Rated 15+ for extreme violence and gore, nudity, mature situations and strong language.

Based on the popular Getter Robo manga and anime series by Go Nagai (Mazinger Z, Devilman) and Ken Ishikawa. Years after the Getter Team defeated the alien Invaders, humanity lives in peace. But the Invaders make an unexpected return to Earth and begin to wreak havoc on the planet once again.

Sent to jail after being accused of murdering Getter Robo creator Dr. Saotome, Ryoma Nagare must once again team up with his former comrades and pilot Getter Robo when Saotome returns from the dead and poses a threat to humanity by unleashing his greatest creation - the Shin Dragon. Their efforts, however, are in vain as they fail to stop a nuclear warhead from hitting Shin Dragon, resulting in a mass contamination of the atmosphere by Getter Rays that wipes out 99% of the planet's population.

Thirteen years after this great catastrophe, mankind continues to fight for survival against the Invaders. Out of the remains of the nuclear blast comes Shin Getter Robo, piloted by the artificial human Go. With remnants of the Japanese military by his side, Go - along with co-pilots Kei and Gai - must use Shin Getter to exterminate the Invaders once and for all.

Story: D+

The first three episodes of the series caught my attention as it brought back memories of the original Getter Robo series. Unfortunately, everything went downhill starting with episode four due to the confusing storyline and the countless plot holes. Character development also went down the drain once the series uncovered Kei's real identity. The ending didn't help at all, either, as it made no sense.

Animation: B

The first half of the series looks decent, but the quality slightly degrades before the end. Kenji Hayama's (Mazinkaiser, The SoulTaker) character designs are decent while Tatsuo Yamada's (Mazinkaiser) mecha designs are a mixed bag. Shin Getter looks cool and all, but Shin Dragon's final form looks like crap. I'd probably go all the way to saying it makes Kunio Okawara's (Mobile Suit Gundam, GaoGaiGar) mecha designs look like Shoji Kawamori's (Macross/Macross Plus/Macross 7/Macross Zero) works*.

(*Not that I hate Okawara or anything. He does make good designs, but there are a lot of anime fans that don't like him at all.)

Soundtrack: B+

Ichiro Mizuki (the Sinatra of anime music) returns to his Super Robot roots with the distinctively Japanese-style first opening "Ima ga Sono Toki da," followed by a more modern approach with Hironobu Kageyama's (Mazinkaiser, Heat Guy J) "Heats," the series' second opening. Eveything else is just sub-par and forgettable.

Sub vs. Dub

Shin Getter Robo features Hideo Ishikawa (Akira in Weiß Kreuz) as Ryoma, Naoya Uchida (Edajima in Please Teacher!) as Hayato, Shozo Iizuka (Ryu Jose in Mobile Suit Gundam) as Benkei, Tomokazu Seki (Van in Escaflowne, Sagara in Full Metal Panic!) as Go, Narumi Hidaka (Allenby in Mobile Fighter G-Gundam) as Kei, Yasunori Matsumoto (Gourry in Slayers, Seta in Love Hina) as Gai, Daisuke Gouri (Basque Ohm in Mobile Suit Gundam 0083/Zeta Gundam, E. Honda in Street Fighter II: The Movie) as Cohen, Masashi Hirose (Ranba Ral in Mobile Suit Gundam, ) as Stinger, Shinpachi Tsuji (Big Ear in The Big O) as Musashi, and Mugihito (Keel Lorentz in Neon Genesis Evangelion) as Professor Saotome.

The English dub from ADV is pretty tasteless. The only good thing about it is the next episode narration.

DVD Extras: B-

Aside from the clean opening & ending sequences, the DVDs have concept art, additional notes from the production team, and behind-the-scene footage of the English dub.

The Bottom Line

Strictly for Go Nagai fans only. Other viewers may not tolerate the shallow plot and countless loopholes. You're better off with Mazinkaiser.

Links

Bandai Visual's Official Shin Getter Robo Homepage (Japanese)

ADV Films' Official Getter Robo Armageddon Homepage

Reference

Anime News Network

[motley]

definitely a fun show, but yeah, the last disc seemed a little lacking, and shin dragon was a real letdown. but Shin Getter and the Black Getter One were loads of fun.

[johnkillingsworth]

Man, this show rocked! It was all about pointless action and let the plot be damned!

Seriously, if you're looking for a good action anime to cheer you up after watching Now and Then, Here and There or Grave of the Fireflies then this show is your cure. I'm not familiar with the past Getter shows and it took a couple episodes to figure everything out, but I got sucked in by the over-the-topness.

[Abombz!!]

Come on!! Don't tell me you didn't enjoy the Getta Tomahawks splitting moons in half!

[bob joe mac]

I saw the first 2 DVD's and i wasn't impressed at all.But then I saw Shin Getter Vs. Neo Getter and man THAT was AWESOME 20 times better then Shin Getter. Shin getter was by far the worse Getter show of them all. Well I dunno bout Getter robo go cause never seen it but Shin Vs. Neo was AWESOME.

[Abombz!!]

I saw the first 2 DVD's and i wasn't impressed at all.But then I saw Shin Getter Vs. Neo Getter and man THAT was AWESOME 20 times better then Shin Getter. Shin getter was by far the worse Getter show of them all. Well I dunno bout Getter robo go cause never seen it but Shin Vs. Neo was AWESOME.

If you think Shin is bad.... don't ever watch Go. Go is a travesty to all anime fans in general.

On a side note.... BW did GR Go.

[bsu legato]

Where's VF5SS when we need him. He'd smite any Getta non-believers with his Getta Beam, or some such Suppa Robo attack.

[treatment]

Man, this show rocked! It was all about pointless action and let the plot be damned!

Seriously, if you're looking for a good action anime to cheer you up after watching Now and Then, Here and There or Grave of the Fireflies then this show is your cure. I'm not familiar with the past Getter shows and it took a couple episodes to figure everything out, but I got sucked in by the over-the-topness.

Definitely agreed!

The plot went out the window somewhere in ep-1 or something and it was all bad-ass old-fashioned ass-kicking action from the Getters. The death of Benkei still kinda makes me wonder why it was necessary to do so, tho. The ending was a little too corny, tho, imho.

Overall, Shin Getter Robo is total fun old-school robot-action with enough angst and more than enough action to make it worth the purchase.

--treatment--

[areaseven]

The plot went out the window somewhere in ep-1 or something and it was all bad-ass old-fashioned ass-kicking action from the Getters. The death of Benkei still kinda makes me wonder why it was necessary to do so, tho. The ending was a little too corny, tho, imho.

Actually, it was Musashi that got killed. Again.*

(*Musashi was killed at least once in the original series and on nearly every Getter Robo theatrical feature.)

[treatment]

The plot went out the window somewhere in ep-1 or something and it was all bad-ass old-fashioned ass-kicking action from the Getters.  The death of Benkei still kinda makes me wonder why it was necessary to do so, tho.  The ending was a little too corny, tho, imho.

Actually, it was Musashi that got killed. Again.*

(*Musashi was killed at least once in the original series and on nearly every Getter Robo theatrical feature.)

I confused those guys' names again.

[JB0]

The plot went out the window somewhere in ep-1 or something and it was all bad-ass old-fashioned ass-kicking action from the Getters.  The death of Benkei still kinda makes me wonder why it was necessary to do so, tho.  The ending was a little too corny, tho, imho.

Actually, it was Musashi that got killed. Again.*

(*Musashi was killed at least once in the original series and on nearly every Getter Robo theatrical feature.)

Does anyone besides me ever feel sorry for those kinds of people? It's bad enough they have to die once, but to do it over and over and over again...

[areaseven]

Does anyone besides me ever feel sorry for those kinds of people? It's bad enough they have to die once, but to do it over and over and over again...

If memory serves me right, Musashi's deaths in the previous Getter Robo installments were instrumental to the storylines. In Shin Getter Robo, however, his death practically had no meaning. It's as if he was the series' version of South Park's Kenny.

[JB0]

Does anyone besides me ever feel sorry for those kinds of people? It's bad enough they have to die once, but to do it over and over and over again...

If memory serves me right, Musashi's deaths in the previous Getter Robo installments were instrumental to the storylines. In Shin Getter Robo, however, his death practically had no meaning. It's as if he was the series' version of South Park's Kenny.

I'm just a firm believer that people should only have to die once.

[Omni Existence]

I agree with most points, but I still like Armageddon better than the Mazinkaiser OVA.

Wonderful review though!

[Vinny]

Well, if you hated Shin Getter in this OVA, don't pick up the Getter Robo Go manga. Shin shows up towards the end. The evolution story still sticks in it's own way. Shin is sent by God to spread the seeds of evolution. In the manga, he opens black holes to suck in nuclear missles hot at him, and can turn enemies into Getter energy for it to absorb. So that evolution thing isn't new in Shin, nor is it straying from the manga. It kind of was a mix between Shin from the Last Day of the Planet OVA, and Shin from the newer Shin vs Neo OVA.

If anything strayed for the manga, it's the original TV series. You have to keep in mind that Go Nagai didn't really give a damn about the TV series of his works. It was just more money for him. He let the networks do what ever the Hell they wanted with his shows. He just provided the source material. They had to turn Getter Robo, a comic aimed at older teens, into a show kids could watch after school. Same with all his other stuff (Gaiking, Mazinger, etc.). Hell, Devilman barely has any similarities with the manga. Go Nagai just let them butcher it. Kind of ironic how people today say Cartoon Network butchers such great animes. Well, Japan was doing it to in a way.

And Shin isn't really for Go Nagai fans. While Go did write the original Getter Robo story arc, with the Dinosaur Empire and such, from G and up, it was pretty much all Ken Ishikawa's work. Go went on to write more hentai or something Getter Robo was one of Go's first works, and if I recall, it was his first ever super robot story he ever wrote.

Though that still wasn't Shin's first appearence. Shin first appeared in Super Robot Wars 4, as the Getter's needed a more powerful upgrade. Getter's were starting to lag behind everyone in terms of power. Though he was the insane planet destroyed from the OVA yet.

LDotP did indeed have a confusing story. I've watched ADV's subbed version of it, I watched the first episode dubbed before vomiting in horror, I've watched it dubbed in Italian (almost a second language to me), and I've watched it with HK Engrish subs, which for some parts made more sense then the ADV version, and I still don't 100% understand this anime

You have to realize that it's a stand alone OVA. Everything that happened before with Getter never happened in this one. There was no such thing as the Dinosaur Empire or 100 Demon Empire. Goer and Britai came out of the test tubes as an homage. crap, this OVA was full of homages. The before mentioned Goer and Britai, Go, Kei, and Gai were based on Go, Sho, and Gai from Getter Robo Go (Shin vs Neo is a retelling of Go's storyline, except minus Dr. Lando and return of the Dinosaur Empire), there pilot suits were based on teh ones from Go, Shwartz robot is the American robot from Go, Schwartz himself is supposed to be or be related to Jack King ( I think he is Jack), the Invaders themselves taken ver robots were like Dr. Lando's robot zombies, etc. etc. Here's one many miss: Monji, Ashtaron, and Joo all made it into the show as different characters. Who are they in Shin?

If you keep in mind that everything Getter Robo before Shin came out never happened, you'll get through the OVA well. Just pay attention to the talks on evolution While yes, it did get alot form the manga, no, it's not based on the manga. Many say it's from an unwritten part of the manga or whatever. It's not. Michiru never died in the manga, Genki never turned into a girl, Invaders never exsisted, etc. But, it does have ties with the manga. That's why Getter One has a real cape going on and is packing heat. Getter One was always the star of the manga. Getter Two and Three were just there. Hell, for a good chunk of the original manga, Musashi wasn't even around and Dr. Saotome piloted Bear and never went into Getter Three. When the TV series came out which streesed the importance of teamwork, THEN did everyone start getting air time.

Better stop. Starting to make no sense I'm an all around SUper Robot whore, and Go Nagai's works or some of my favorite so I know to much about them ; Anyways, Shin is definetly one of my favorite OVAs, and probably the ebst representation of modern Super Robot anime. And if it matters, I thought Shin vs Neo just sucked I'll take Getter Robo Go anyday.

[Vinny]

Oh, and Musashi's deaths:

Original series: dies by crashing Bear with a bomb attached to it into the biggest Mechosaur evers mouth. Saves the world, protects his friend.

Getter Robo G vs Great Mazinger: Is destroyed along with the aliens that attack Earth. Saves the world, protects his friends.

Shin Getter: Is crushed by the Invadered Goer/Britai's fist dealy. I always thought he knew he was dead. When he looks down and sees he can't move because of the Invaders, it's like he doesn't care. So, yeah, doesn't save the world, but protects his friends.

Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo: A much better death then the original series. Rips Getter core out and crushes it, killing alot of stuff in the process. Saves world, protects his friends.

Musashi was always my favorite Getter pilot Not only did he get the girl (Michiru), but he's the strongest Getter pilot.

[Graham]

I loved Getter Robo Armageddon, it's one of my favorite OVAs. Great, action, cool mecha designs and the Invaders were really well designed and creepy with a real sense of menace about them.

I also liked the Mazinkaiser OVA, but thought Shin Getter Vs. Neo Getter sucked big time, I also disliked the original Getter TV series from the 70's.

Graham

[Vinny]

The second Mazinkaiser OVA is so much better then the first. Even though it's a single 50 minute episodes, it brought back the seriousness at least. And the violence. Holy **** did they bring back the violence. Even though it basically destroyed Great Mazinger's story, it still was enjoyable.

[Dangard Ace]

Hmm.....we lose one somewhat knowledgable Getter fan and we gain another.

As for MazinKaiser OVA....many people die and the final boss fight was too damn short. Love where they hid MazinKaiser though. That was cool.

[mpchi]

How come everybody calls Burai in Getter G "Britai", like Britai in Macross? Funny

And I thought Hayato is the one who got Michiru, not Musashi. I could be wrong though.

[Abombz!!]

Musashi was always my favorite Getter pilot  Not only did he get the girl (Michiru), but he's the strongest Getter pilot.

He is also the only anime character to have died and been revived so many times.

[Vinny]

Well, he's never actually been revived, per say. Everytime he dies it's just another universe, i guess you could say. Shin was different then all the other Getter Robo worlds, Getter Robo G vs Great Mazinger was, too. Shin vs Neo was just another interpretation of his original Death.

Musashi did return later In Getter Robo, though as a clone in the future, as a pilot of Getter Emperor, which each Getter Machine is the size of a planet

Yeah, that's Shin Getter buy him. He was at the end of Shin Getter LDotP, but they weren't combined.

Oh, and I've always called the dude Britai. I saw Getter Robo G before Macross, so for me, it was the other way around . Though I never confused Hidler's name. How did they even get by with Hidler in America?

Anyways, presumably, you could say Hayato got Michiru in G. In the end, when he sort of pulls a Musashi, but lives (BASTARD!!!!!!), he gives Michiru his cross. Are they hooked up? No. As Michiru will never be able to have another man after the greatest man in the world, Musashi And Hayato respects the memory of his friend to not try and go out with Michiru. Besides, Hayato always wanted to get in his sister, Asuka's, panties.

Edited October 1, 2003 by Vinny