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by Paul Sudlow |
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Part 1
Hundreds of years in the future an alien force approaches Earth, from which a renegade member named Orgun defects and seeks a partner on Earth, someone who might help him repel the invaders. In City Five, university student Tomoru is just months away from graduating, but the career of a businessman doesn't appeal to him. He takes refuge in virtual reality games, where strange visions of attacking robot monsters assail him. Across town, the beautiful Professor Michi Kanzaki constructs a strange robot in a military installation based on plans beamed to Earth from an unknown origin. Alien mecha seeking Orgun invade Earth and overwhelm City Five's defenses. However, Tomoru, who emerges clad in Kanzaki's armor, repels the alien attack.
Part 2
Tomoru submits to Michi's tests, which end up drawing out horrific memories, planted by Orgun, of wide-scale destruction on other worlds. Tomoru wants nothing more to do with the renegade alien or his role as the sole defender of Earth, and runs from the laboratory. Meanwhile, psychic Kumi makes her first tentative contact with Mhiku, the female mentor of the aggressive aliens. Michi's own dreams prompt her to forge a link between the aliens and a research vessel which left Earth 200 years ago to study space-time anomalies. Orgun's presence on Earth draws more of the menacing creatures to the planet, forcing Tomoru to fuse once again with the suit to protect the planet - and Michi, for whom he now has feelings.
Part 3
With the aliens' main invasion force only three months away, Earth's military scrambles to construct as many of the new battle suits as possible in the hopes others might be able to fuse with them as easily as Tomoru has with Orgun. Kumi deepens her rapport with Mhiku as Michi uncovers the truth behind the aliens' past and their link with humanity. At the last moment the aliens' mentor repents, but her aggressive general overrides her and activates the cannon that will destroy Earth. It's up to Tomoru to fuse with Orgun once again to save the day, even though he might not able to return to human form.
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The three part series "Orgun," despite some interesting concepts, fails to spin a very familiar senshi plot out of the mires of cliché. It's a set-up used dozens, nay, hundreds of times: An alien entity comes to Earth just ahead of a horrific invasion force and chooses just one human to fuse with - the sole and reluctant defender of an embattled planet. This idea was already hoary when the original "Izcer" OAV put a fresh horror spin on it in the early '80s, but when Orgun possesses special powers that can only be activated by the rays of the Sun, we know we've gone back to the beginning of senshi time. "Ultra Man," where are you?
There's also the old senshi plot trick of matching Orgun up with one bad guy mecha at a time rather than all at once, which would lead to certain victory by the enemy. Anyone else ever wonder why Prince Voltar never thought of skipping a couple of weeks and sending two or three robeasts against Voltron instead of one at a time? Argh...
It's tempting to spoil the major plot twist of the series because it's also the coolest thing about it. It is a clever conceit in a B-movie vein, and nicely underscores the writers' central message that technological advancement without moral underpinnings leads only to destruction and the loss of a society's soul. But you'll have to see it.
Dialogue and voice acting in anime dubs are usually well beneath the standards set by the Japanese seiyuu, but most manage a certain base level of competency. Sadly, this dub is hair-ripping, throw-stuff-at-the-TV bad. Even "Princess Mononoke" would have rolled up and died if it had been saddled with dialog like this, delivered in halting Shatner-esque monotones by wooden actors. The evil clown carnival music that passes for a score certainly does little to heighten the drama.
"Orgun," ultimately fails to revive an old genre, and therefore comes off as boring and conventional. It isn't a horrible title, it's just one we've seen dozens of times before.
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