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by Jonathan Decker |
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Episode One: "From Beyond the Grave"
It has been three years since the end of the Moon War, and the end of Dr. Saotome, the scientist who pioneered Getter Ray research. But Dr. Saotome refuses to stay dead, returning to finish his final experiment. The government of Japan reacts violently to the reappearance of Saotome, sending everything that can fly to his old laboratory with orders to kill him again, along with the man accused of killing him in the first place, Ex-Getter Leader Ryoma Nagare, back from jail to do the job right this time. But an army of Getter Draguns -- and God knows what else -- awaits them.
Episode Two: "Shin Dragon: God or Devil?"
Saotome's experiment is in full swing, despite any attempt by Ryoma or Japan to stop it. The first result of the mad doctor's ambition is the creation of a man named Go, who begins to merge the surrounding Getter Dragun into one super being called Shin Dragon. The experiment goes awry when the other two beings Dr. Saotome had meant to create emerge as deformed demons.
Episode Three: "Goodbye, Getters!"
Saotome explains that the experiment started when his daughter was killed in the test of a transforming Getter. Shortly afterward, the United Nations Security Counsel fires a nuclear missile at Japan, just before the island nation is taken by the aliens, an attempt to quell or contain the scourge. Ryoma, Hayato and Go take a new Getter, Shin Getter Robo, out into space to stop the nuke, which they know will only increase the power of the Shin Dragon. Failing to explode the missile in space, they shoot down to Earth and successfully merge the Shin Getter just before meeting the missile at ground zero where the Shin Dragon awaits it. The nuke goes off, covering the Earth in debris.
Episode Four: "After the Blast"
Thirteen years after the explosion, Japan is a decimated wasteland, and the remaining humans continue to fight the invaders. Musashi has had a daughter named Kei, who developed a liquid nitrogen bomb that has the ability to momentarily freeze the invaders. The Shin Dragon is re-awakening, but Hayato and Ryoma are back and ready to destroy it at any cost.
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"Getter Robo: Armageddon" retros back to the vacuous mecha style of the 70s, dragging style, art and quality with it. To the anime veterans, who can still recall when "Astro Boy" was king, this latest installment of the Getter series is the return of a classic, bringing them back to the good old days like so much cheap liquor couldn't. But, as time passes so do our expectations, and the modern anime fan itches for nothing short of "Gundam Wing." Emotional realism is the wave of the future, and "Getter Robo" is anything but emotional or realistic, the flaws in the animation and translation only heightening its ridiculousness.
So, while the progressive edge of mecha forges into thematic terrain such as mankind's eternal battle against itself, "Getter Robo" jumps into the ring with a story of alien invaders and mad scientist zombies that even the "X-files" wouldn't have the guts to pull off. The "Invaders" are huge bugs that often melt into masses of bizarre, black, liquid covered in eyes. Helping the invaders is the vaudeville double-act of Dr. Cohen and Dr. Stinger, a huge ape-like man and a small wide-eyed blue fellow. Fighting along side the aliens -- or against them, or just randomly killing for the hell of it (never became clear what side he was on because the main character took shots at just about everybody) -- is Dr. Saotome, a hairy old man who was murdered. However, his last experiment was just too important not to finish, so he returns from the grave to complete it (believe it or not, that is as far as Go Nagai's explanation goes). Saotome does a lot of dying in the first three episodes, finally disappearing after the nuke explodes. But there's no doubt the undead scientist is still around somewhere.
More disturbing than this erratic plotline is the slip shod animation and mistake-ridden translation. Ryome, the main character of the series, wears an overcoat, a scarf and a chain-link belt that are rarely animated, allowed instead to freeze in a dramatic, wind-blown position as if he's perpetually space-bound. But the worst is yet to come. One memorable scene depicts an alien creature running along side the road slower than the ground beneath him. Next comes the translation. Kirk Lynn's subtitle script is basic, but no were near as shoddy as Andrew Kent's ADR script. This clumsy dub continuously stumbles over Getter names and narrative facts. In one scene, complaints target Ryome who is an A-class murderer being allowed to pilot a Getter. Kent must have been confused by the footage of Ginku being brought to his caretaker, and therefore mistakenly changes the nature of the complaints to Ginku being allowed to pilot a Getter because he's just a kid. Seeing that Ginku suffers from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), being promoted to Getter pilot might be a considerable leap in his therapy. And as for Ginku, both scripts claim that he suffers from Autistism, which isn't actually induced by experiencing something traumatic as Ginku has. Ginku actually suffers, as mentioned before, from PTSD.
This frenetic retro classic is a modern disaster.
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