Yes, this is another of Cartoon Network’s new toons. No, it’s not Anime, it’s an Anime Parody. Yes, I’ve seen only two episodes, but I’m still reviewing it anyway.
Of all the Toons CN announced (see my thread on those) I had the best hopes for this. An american version of a Giant Robot Anime? Cool! Even thought I knew it was going to be part comedy, I still hoped for some action and thrills.
Well, I was letdown. Scratch the part about it being only “part” comedy. This is a full-blown parody (thought the beginning of the first episode might trick you into thinking this was “Gundam USA”.)
Oh, well, at least it’s a FUNNY parody!
Here’s the show’s premise: thousands of years into the future, Earth has been conquered by sluglike aliens called the Glorpf (I think). Some humans are still fighting against them. A woman called Kiva managed to steal the Glorpf’s greatest weapon, the giant robot Megas, and, using experimental time-travel technology, hopes to use it to travel to the past and prevent the Glorpf invasion. However, the Glorpf attacked her just as the time warp was opened. As a result, the Megas was lost in time. Kiva jumped in after it, and so did the Glorpf Flagship.
Here’s where things get silly.
The Megas landed in the present, in a New Jersey junkyard, where a slobby guy named Coop bought it (for TWO DOLLARS), repaired it, and installed his CAR as it’s head! He also BROKE the time travel device. As a result, a) only he can drive it, and b) Kiva and the aliens are trapped in the present. As you can guess, this means giant robot battles against the Glorpf every episode. With Kiva constantly complaining to Coop about what he’s doing.
You know, they COULD have made this a semi-serious story, and still have room for a lot of fun. However, it’s impossible to take a cartoon seriously when New Jersey gets totalled every episode and the citizens don’t seem to mind.
On the good side, this show is full of funny references, from Anime ones (the Mega’s chest cannon looks like the Wave Motion Gun from Space Cruiser Yamato, aka Starblazers, complete with Ship’s prow! :hahaha; ) to American Pop Culture (the PoP music channel is obviously an MTV take off.) They come very fast; blink and you’ll miss them (but don’t worry, another will come by in two seconds.)
The characters are funny themselves. Coop is dumb, but at least he can pilot the Megas (thanks to years of nothing but video-game playing); Kiva is bitchy, but you can understand her frustration; the Alien Commander treats everyone as being below him, yet he himself makes stupid decisions; his assistant tries pointlessly to explain the facts to him and lives in contant fear of his master’s temper; about the only character I don’t like so far is Coop’s buddy Jamie, who is the “loyal” kind of friend who is always trying to run away when Coop needs help.
As I said, MEGAS XLR cannot even begin to be taken seriously, which I think it’s a pity; even Power Rangers has more credibility than this. But as a comedy -especially if you’re a fan of Anime- you will certainly laugh at it.
Thanks for reviewing it!