Shoji Kawamori's Juushinki PANDORA (Spring 2018)

[Ignacio Ocamica]

On 9/19/2018 at 12:42 AM, Convectuoso said:

Just checked and it's also a available on Netflix latin america

Yes, I checked too, will give it a try next week.

[TehPW]

I just watched the 1st eps on Netflix... so the hero mech is EVA Unit 01, the breen are Angels and the male lead pilot is on the Spectrum. Is that a fair description of Pandora/Last Hope?

[M'Kyuun]

Eva Unit One? You're giving JP way too much credit.  Leon & Co are saving a city; Shinji stopped Instrumentality. That sounds so nerdy. 

Spoiler

IMHO, it's kinda lame that Leon has to be affected by the quantum engine in order to achieve robot mode in his mecha, and likewise the other mechs powered by his engine as well. They can achieve GERWALK without its maximum effect, but it has to dialed to 11 to become fully anthropomorphic. They just threw a lever in the VF-1, and every valk afterwards, to do the same thing.  

 

[Focslain]

19 hours ago, TehPW said:

I just watched the 1st eps on Netflix... so the hero mech is EVA Unit 01, the breen are Angels and the male lead pilot is on the Spectrum. Is that a fair description of Pandora/Last Hope?

Well you have one of three right, Leon is on the spectrum, but from ep 3ish on it's a monster of the week with more Power Ranger style villain.

[Sanity is Optional]

FYI, Ep 21 is out (Japanese/Fansub) now.

[TehPW]

1 hour ago, Focslain said:

Well you have one of three right, Leon is on the spectrum, but from ep 3ish on it's a monster of the week with more Power Ranger style villain.

Just to be clear, I wasn't intending to be insulting to anyone with Autism (my youngest is OTS, for the record). With that said, because I'm relatively new to the concept of tropes (for any form of media), is Leon depicted as a high functioning Autism adult in this series (or is some other specific trope descriptor applicable)? I'm serious because at the very first part of meeting Leon, where as other people might call him a absent-minded scientist, I clearly saw something else in the person. Mind you, this was the English dub version. The original Japanese VA may have had completely different angle when he did his work... 

Edited September 24, 2018 by TehPW
I cans Spells! eeeerrrrhhh

[M'Kyuun]

There's certainly an antisocial aspect to Leon's character, and he's almost singularly focused on his work, with little attention given to much else. In those respects, his behavior could be likened to that of autism, in general. However, I think the intent was more towards his being the cliched absent-minded professor. All the characters in this show are clichés, really; Leon aside, they all follow typical anime character themes. The absent-minded professor theme has been around for a long time and is pretty universal.

The show doesn't break any new ground from the eps I've seen thus far; it's unremarkable, beyond being pretty, mildly enjoyable, with some cool mecha, even if the battles aren't that remarkable either. It feels like the typical 80's half hour advertisement cartoons- lots of cheese, cliched characters, technospeak, and yes, a very Power Rangers-esque baddie.  What's missing is the merchandise- where are all the toys and models of the mecha?  I'd like to have a few nice toys of these things.

[RavenHawk]

16 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

There's certainly an antisocial aspect to Leon's character, and he's almost singularly focused on his work, with little attention given to much else. In those respects, his behavior could be likened to that of autism, in general. However, I think the intent was more towards his being the cliched absent-minded professor. All the characters in this show are clichés, really; Leon aside, they all follow typical anime character themes. The absent-minded professor theme has been around for a long time and is pretty universal.

The show doesn't break any new ground from the eps I've seen thus far; it's unremarkable, beyond being pretty, mildly enjoyable, with some cool mecha, even if the battles aren't that remarkable either. It feels like the typical 80's half hour advertisement cartoons- lots of cheese, cliched characters, technospeak, and yes, a very Power Rangers-esque baddie.  What's missing is the merchandise- where are all the toys and models of the mecha?  I'd like to have a few nice toys of these things.

I agree about the cliche. I think he is meant to be one of those geniuses that is so focused on higher thinking that he can't remember basic things.

As touched upon in the latter of the first 13 episodes, I think we're also supposed to see him as someone who simply never had any interest or care for common socializing, so never learned how to go about it.

Now merchandise? Yes, I keep looking, and keep finding nothing of note (only folders, keychains, etc., but no toys or models of mecha).

[Sanity is Optional]

To be absolutely fair, I suspect the entire "absent minded professor" trope is influenced by highly intelligent people on the spectrum.

[Bolt]

I like it. 

Mostly the dialogue cracks me up. 

The mecha is cool and the animation is good (enough)  

Good for you SK San!

Yes , yes, very stereo typical characters and anime themes. Maybe further on things will develope in a more interesting way without spinning out of control, or cohesion..

And, aftet a few episodes , I'm counting how many boob ( bouncing or not) shots  there are of the princess. It's like counting lens flares from JJ's 1st Star Trek reboot!

I had to smirk as THEY were our first look of her.

 

[JB0]

3 hours ago, TehPW said:

Autism

Oh!

 

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out if Spectrum was an anime battleship I should recognize or if the show was actually about old british computers.

[TehPW]

1 hour ago, JB0 said:

Oh!

 

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out if Spectrum was an anime battleship I should recognize or if the show was actually about old british computers.

On the Spectrum is a generic term because current modern definitions of Autism (or levels, types, degrees) can be pretty vague. But it's also, sometimes, a better term to use than Autistic *shrug*

anyway, back to Pandora Power Rangers...

[RavenHawk]

2 hours ago, Bolt said:

I like it. 

Mostly the dialogue cracks me up. 

The mecha is cool and the animation is good (enough)  

Good for you SK San!

Yes , yes, very stereo typical characters and anime themes. Maybe further on things will develope in a more interesting way without spinning out of control, or cohesion..

And, aftet a few episodes , I'm counting how many boob ( bouncing or not) shots  there are of the princess. It's like counting lens flares from JJ's 1st Star Trek reboot!

I had to smirk as THEY were our first look of her.

 

Glad I'm not the only one who liked it (though I could have done without the boob closeups... just not why I watch anime. That's what the internet is for...)

[zard]

 Starting to rewatch the first couple episodes and found some contained decent storytelling elements.  Looking forward to watching more.

[JB0]

1 hour ago, TehPW said:

On the Spectrum is a generic term because current modern definitions of Autism (or levels, types, degrees) can be pretty vague. But it's also, sometimes, a better term to use than Autistic *shrug*

anyway, back to Pandora Power Rangers...

I know the term, it just isn't intuitive to me. And unexpected in this context. 

I might would've connected it without the capital S, but... that's a big maybe. 

Edited September 25, 2018 by JB0

[Xigfrid]

Better resolution pictures I've downloaded from the official website : http://www.project-pandora.jp/mechanic/

But couldn't find any pictures of Glenn Din transforming tank though

 

 

[zard]

enjoying the series so far. anyone care to share impressions after watching. add spoiler tags as needed.

[RavenHawk]

23 minutes ago, zard said:

enjoying the series so far. anyone care to share impressions after watching. add spoiler tags as needed.

Not a perfect show, but I enjoyed the first 13 episodes a lot. Looking forward to the rest of the series, since I suspect it'll be one of those where the last few episodes are the big pay off.

[Mechapilot77]

1 hour ago, zard said:

enjoying the series so far. anyone care to share impressions after watching. add spoiler tags as needed.

i'm about halfway thru what netflix has released in the US.  the mechs and action scenes are pretty cool.  theres  way too much doting by the "camera" on the princess/mayor's .... chest.  i mean they so huge enough don't gotta zoom in to see and leave like just leave only them in frame.  its way juvenile.  queenie is built overall better anyway lol.  the whole hyperdrive thing silly as do most of the BRAI.

[UN Spacy]

Cool...gonna marathon this the next few days.

 

 

[RavenHawk]

On 9/28/2018 at 7:38 AM, Xigfrid said:

Better resolution pictures I've downloaded from the official website : http://www.project-pandora.jp/mechanic/

But couldn't find any pictures of Glenn Din transforming tank though

 

 

Thanks for posting these high res images.

Unfortunately, it seems like these shots, in different resolutions, are the only ones out there (including being used on products).

[RavenHawk]

If anyone is interested, the second half of Last hope Pandora (the Netflix title) is supposed to be hitting Netflix US on 12/21/18.

[Xigfrid]

I was browsing Shoji Kawamori design work book and was stunned by teh similarities with the mecha design sketches made for Eureka anime:

[RavenHawk]

On 12/13/2018 at 2:33 AM, Xigfrid said:

I was browsing Shoji Kawamori design work book and was stunned by teh similarities with the mecha design sketches made for Eureka anime:

Those are some very cool designs, though I don't really see the vehicle mode similarities all that strongly. The robot mode though, absolutely.

I'm in the process of re-watching this, in anticipation of the second half hitting NetFlix next week.

[lechuck]

Finished up Pandora (or Last Hope) last night, overall very enjoyable. If you ask me, this is the better "Macross Delta".

From characters to mecha and story, everything felt tidy and progressive. I think it ends nicely enough without leaving one unsatisfied about anything.

The only critique I have would be the somewhat spotty character drawing/animation quality, oh... and the constant and non-contributing breast shots of Cecile.

[sh9000]

That’s great.  I still need to finish watching.

Edited December 30, 2018 by sh9000

[RavenHawk]

I just finished my second viewing of the whole series (once dubbed, once subbed). Definitely prefer the subbed one by quite a lot.

Overall, really enjoyed it. The first half was fine, though a little too monster-of-the-week type of setup, but I really liked the second half a lot, and it built on the groundwork that had been set up in pretty much all of the previous episodes. Very nice, satisfying ending, too.

Now I just wish there were some model kits to go along with it...

Edited December 30, 2018 by RavenHawk
Accidentally swapped dubbed and subbed.

[RavenHawk]

Even though this is a fairly old and stagnant thread, I just came across this pre-order Kotobukiya and it made me think of this show. Probably the closest to a toy (other than the one statue coming out) that we're going to get (even though it isn't all that close, in fairness... still, slightly reminiscent in vehicle mode).

https://www.otakuhq.com/figures/13867

 

 

Edited April 22, 2019 by RavenHawk
I should proof-read before I click "submit"

[arrow]

i just saw the show. Definitely better than Delta but nothing spectacular

[M'Kyuun]

As a mecha show coming from Kawamori and Satelite, I'm surprised there are no toys or models to be found. The show itself didn't really grab me (I have yet to finish it after getting about 2/3 through it nearly two years ago), but kawamori's mecha designs were cool, and I wouldn't mind having some DX versions from Bandai.