Giant Robo: The Animation (Video 1991)
"Jaianto Robo: The Animation - Chikyuu ga Seishi Suru Hi" (original title)

In the future, the Experts of Justice battle to protect Earth from the terrorist organization, Big Fire, with the help of a boy who is the sole controller of a colossal robot.

Director:

Yasuhiro Imagawa

Writers:

Yasuhiro Imagawa, Eiichi Yamamoto,

Stars:

Kappei Yamaguchi, Sumi Shimamoto, Shôzô Iizuka

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kappei Yamaguchi	...	Daisaku Kusama
Sumi Shimamoto	...	Ginrei
Shôzô Iizuka	...	Tetsugyu
Kazue Komiya	...	Youshi
Norio Wakamoto	...	Taisou
Masashi Ebara	...	Professor Go
Iemasa Kayumi	...	Chief Chûjô Shizuo
Yûji Mikimoto	...	Kenji Murasame
Kôichi Chiba	...	Doctor Vogler
Yôsuke Akimoto	...	Alberto
Yasuyoshi Hara	...	Ivan
Takeshi Aono	...	Issei
Shinji Ogawa	...	Genya
Michitaka Kobayashi	...	Professor Tranbo (as Nitta Shinshirô)
Shigezô Sasaoka	...	BF Agent Leader

Storyline

In the year 2039, mankind has found a pure, clean, and infinetly recyclable power source known as the Shizuma Drive. It has served its purpose well, until now. Big Fire, a power-mad underworld organization, has found a way of making all Shizuma Drives inoperable. Luckily, a branch of InterPol, known as the Experts of Justice, have discovered this scheme. Now only Daisaku Kusama, a young Expert member, must control Giant Robo to battle the evils of Big Fire.

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Plot Keywords:

robot | based on manga | martial arts | futuristic | based on comic | 

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Drama | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Also Known As:

Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min 45 min (7 episodes)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character Tetsugyu (whose name roughly translates to "iron ox") was taken from the Chinese epic saga "The Water Margin." In the tale, a warrior named Li Kui (also known as the Iron Ox) was a loyal and fierce warrior who would plow through his foes with the use of brute strength and twin axes.

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Quotes

Professor Go: Iron Fan Defense!

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Connections

Remake of Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot (1967)

User Reviews

Some cool stuff, with stretches of boredom

Giant Robo is like a casserole; some bits are incredibly tasty, and some bits you have to push to the side of the plate. I love most of the incidental characters, especially the bad guys. The scenes where members of the Experts of Justice are facing off against, members of the Magnificent Ten and Big Fire (even the names are cool) are well done. When Ivan the Terrible shoots across a room and his scar glows red, all you can say is "Wow!" Also, several of the non-fight scenes are very well directed, with a lot of atmosphere. There are multiple instances in each episode where one of the good or bad characters does something that just makes you exclaim with joy at its coolness.

The problem with this film is that it dwells far too much on big stuff: Giant Robo, cities blowing up, big black orbs trashing out Shanghai, etc. Some of you will say "What do you expect from a movie called Giant Robo?" I have no answer to that. I guess this is what many people want to see. For me, long drawn out animated devastation loses its appeal after about five minutes, especially when they show the same bit of demolition multiple times (i.e. Bashtaralle getting blown up over and over again). Also, the little boy who controls Giant Robo just put me to sleep.

This would have been much better if they called it the Experts of Justice, and left out all the big stuff, including Giant Robo. But judging from the other comments, there is apparently an audience for animated cities getting trashed, so who am I to blame the filmmakers.