Anime Discussion Thread - Page 1164

I wonder why...


Anyway, Spazer claimed that I have never talked about VOTOMs before he heard of it, so I thought I'd talk about it now just to make sure people know what it is. I recently finished the main series, and am in the process of watching the 10000 OVAs.

Armored Trooper VOTOMs is a mecha anime, that really strives to be more realistic than any other mecha anime out there, while still having robots. How does it do this? The Mechs in this show are small, roughly 3 meters tall, are are essentially agile tanks. For example, here is what the main mech in the show, the Scopedog, looks like:

For reference, this is how big the Mech is compared to its pilot. I'll talk about this stuff in a bit.

The setting of this story is there had been a 100 year war between two different factions, Gilgamesh and Balarant. It was a very long war, people don't really remember what started it, but it was really brutal, and entire planets were rendered completely uninhabitable due to some battles. ATs were developed in this war, and were put to good use as they were very versatile and could be used in space, or on land, and can be equipped with whatever weapons they need. However, at the very beginning of the story, Gilgamesh and Balarant come to a truce, and the war is over.

The main character of this show is a soldier by the name of Chirico Cuvie. Hes a veteran soldier for Gilgamesh, who was suddenly transferred to a new unit. This new unit carried out an attack an attack on what seemed to be friendlies. Chirico encounters something that he should not have seen during the attack, and at the end Chirico was stabbed in the back and left for dead. Except Chirico didn't die, and instead was captured by the Gilgamesh as a traitor. Chirico escapes, and is hunted by both his own military and a secret society that is manipulating shit behind the scenes.

Chirico is an absolute badass. One of the most common complaints I see about heroes from Gundam, is that the main character is a kid, moralfag, emo, etc etc. Chirico is none of that. Hes a soldier hardened by war. Hes a silent badass. The less he talks, the more you are about to get fucked up. Hes the wet dream of people who hate characters from more recently Gundam shows, or characters based on Amuro Ray. I could say more about him, but that would be spoilers. But the guy is a killing machine, to say the least.

The mechs in this, like I said earlier, are as realistic a mechs can get. The battles are intense. Its full of little things that add up to a truly unique mecha experience. First off, the mechs don't fly. They can walk, but most of the time they drive around on the treads on the bottom of their feet. The mechs in Code Geass borrowed this concept. They even have turning stakes built into the feet, allowing them to make high speed turns and stops. There are scenes in the show showing airborne attacks with these mechs, where they parachute out of planes, and when they land, their legs been down in humanly unnatural ways to absorb the shock. In firefights, when they are spraying bullets at each other, you can actually see bullets piece the armor and hit inside the cockpit, sometimes injuring (sometimes killing!) the pilot like a stray bullet. There are parts where they are in a river, and the mechs have floaters attached to them so they won't sink. There is jungle warfare that puts Gundam 08th MS Team to shame, with Gureilla vs Mech action (more on this in a bit). The battles in space actually use momentum. Its all really cool.

Now for the negatives. I personally don't care about this, but other people here might. The anime is old, from the 80s. So if you can't stand old anime, and how old anime looks, then you won't like how this anime looks. I personally didn't have a problem with it, so your mileage may vary. Secondly, the parts that involve stuff that I DIDN'T talk about aren't nearly as good. For example, there is romance in this show. However, since the romance in this show involves two of the most akward lovers ever, who don't even know how to be normal people, much less lovers. Plus their reasons are kinda lol. There are some supporting characters who are around alot, and I can only assume their only reason for existing in this show is to lighten the mood. They are silly, loud, selfish, etc. They don't ruin the show or anything, but IMO they definitely don't improve it. Finally, without giving away any spoilers, the ending is kinda... Not how you would want its ending to be, I guess. However, I did get a good laugh at the climax of the ending, so you will have to see that for yourself. Also, there are like a million OVAs for this show, like 3 of them direct sequels that continue the story, so maybe I'll get an actual better ending once I finish them. I'll let you know.


Spazer is about to finish, and I highly suggest watching the OVAs for this show. The first 3 that I've watched (Last Red Shoulder, Big Battle, and Roots of Ambition) are all quick, 1 hour long episodes, basically. They have prettier fights, and really help flesh out Chirico's past. The Last Red Shoulder and Roots of Ambition both avoid the "annoying supporting characters" problem the main OVA had as well!

Currently I'm on Armor Hunter Mellowlink. This one isn't about Chirico at all, so its almost completely unrelated, although being in the same universe. Mellowlink is all about Guerrillas vs Armored Troopers. Its really refreshing to watch. 1 man, armed with an old Armor Piercing Rifle, land mines, the terrain, and his own wits vs these Mechs. Oh yeah, and a big armor piercing Bayonet. Mellowlink is out for revenge against officers who had gotten his unit massacred, and is on a mission to hunt them all down, and bayonet them in the face with a big ass bayonet. I just started it, but its a very different take on the Mecha genre.