"Orgun" is a '70s plot with a '90s look, which ultimately offers too little in the way of innovation to keep the idea fresh and interesting.

It's senseless sound and fury until the midway point, when it all begins to fall into context. A nice twist revives our interest, but not enough. This plot isn't so '90s. It isn't even so '80s. It's so '70s they could dress it in a white suit and make it do the electric slide.

Tomoru and Kanzaki are fleshed out to an extent, but scant attention is paid to supporting characters like Kumi and a female pilot.

Animation is basic and serviceable, but is beginning to show its age. The depiction of the military's A.I. I-Zack is simple but effective. Alien mecha are suitably creepy.

The awkward dialog is likely a product of stretching spare lines to fit moving mouths, but the results are still awkward and painful. Actors are wooden and unconvincing. And thank goodness that really, really bad English accent only appeared in two or three lines.

Mild violence.

Drinking games can be invented finding "Star Wars" references in this series. The exhaust of the alien general's mecha is red while Orgun's is blue--corresponding to the colors of Vader and Luke's lightsabers. Starfighters race out of a narrow tube in the alien battle planet moments ahead of a fireball. There's even a scene of two radar dishes on a platform which echoes a matte painting of the Imperial landing platform on Endor, right down to the color palette and the piney trees of the Endor forest. And a "turn to the dark side" speech delivered by the head bad guy to Orgun seals this litany of similarities.

"Welcome to City 5, citizen. If satellite 2 detects aliens approaching, please proceed to Shelter 9 in Area 1."

Love it? Hate it? Buy it.