New Getter Robo

New Getter Robo has been my second encounter now with the Getter Robo franchise. For those who have read my earlier post on Getter Robo Armageddon from almost a year ago I was an instant fan of this series. The franchise creator Go Nagai, who also developed such series as Mazinger Z is easily a genius for coming  up with such creative mecha based shows. Although I was a huge fan of the Getter Robo Armageddon series, I was a little let down by New Getter Robo.

This series started out of the gates running. It continued to run, just in a circle then a whole bunch of zig-zags. The first three episodes are spent recruiting the pilots, Ryoma, Hayato, and Benkei. The three pilot along with Dr.Saotome are  fighting off the Oni (a race of demons who plague the world) in order to protect the Getter Robo. This was fairly linear and easy to understand. As the story progressed, this good versus evil tooka slight turn and suddenly the Getter Team was breaching the space-time continuum in order to fight Abe Seimei. To make a long story short, the premise behind the entire plot shifts from the Getter Team fighting the Oni to the Team fighting four Gods. Much of the plot also revolves around Ryoma's intrinsic link with the Getter Robo and his astronomical progression in strength when in the Getter in relation to his teammates.

The only real issue I had with the series was the way that episode ended and began. Because the series is so short there are a number of episodes that end at one point, with the next episode beginning after the resolution to the issue in the previous episode. The tended to cause holes in the plot and made it a bit confusing to follow.

I did love the animation style used. The artwork is very "adult" in its appearance. Many of the characters (Ryoma and Hayato especially) have a very demonic killer instinct in their eyes. I actually thought that this insane psychopathic expression that they often had visually represented their characters very well. The music was definitely above average as well. I am a fan of the intro theme. At first it didn't really feel like it fit, but as you start to watch the show, the theme fits more and more with the story.

Overall, I had a good experience with New Getter Robo. Although I enjoyed Getter Robo Armageddon more than New Getter Robo, it is still a great series to watch. For those who haven't watched the original series like me, this will certainly make you want to get your hands on a copy of the original.