#this kind of massive franchise stuff is so hard to balance especially with the budget and collaboration of tv

[mummer]

your love for hotd makes me sooooo fucking happy truly and you’re so eloquent in explaining why you love it and why it works for you and it just makes me :’)

:’D i just LOVEEEEE tv and i love when tv especially huge gangbusters blockbuster franchise tv actually chooses to do something interesting with itself even if i have some problems with it here and there i have so much respect for the massive swings they take and the general ideas theyre churning. Isnt it so crazy that they made lesbianism inextricable from the story?!?!?!?! of one of the most massive franchises on the planet?!?!?!?! lol lol lmaoooooo hahahahahahahaha we’ll laugh and love forever ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ it was going to be silly dragon show stupid slaygirl nonsense big explosions and then they like. Did something else with it. Pretty awesome if you ask me.

[scope-dogg]

Star Knight Tekkaman Blade: Final full impressions

I just got finished watching Tatsunoko’s classic sci-fi series Tekkaman Blade. While it’s not really a true mecha series and is more of an armoured superhero series, it falls close enough to the genre to receive representation in two Super Robot Wars games and come strongly recommended by 4chan’s /m/. It was a darker and edgier spinoff of Tatsunoko’s classic Tekkaman franchise that went on to build a distinct identity all of its own. While I don’t think this series was perfect, it was still very strong overall, particularly in its story, and made a very strong impression on me. While watching requires a little patience to endure an early plot that moves fairly slowly, as well as the ability to overlook some questionable animation choices and rough visuals, anyone who puts time into this series is going to be rewarded with a memorable experience.

The setup is kind of unique in that it puts the Earth in one of the most perilous and terrifying scenarios that I can think of in a story like this. Humanity built a massive Orbital Ring around the world to facilitate space travel and ease the burden of pollution on the Earth’s surface. Everything seems peachy until the Ring is overrun with nightmarish space monsters, that take over the Ring’s weapons and turn them against the surface, all the while sending alien beasts torrenting downwards to massacre humans and then transform into bizarre alien vegetation that threatens to change the very face of planet Earth itself. Earth seems to have no hope remaining, until a mysterious armoured warrior called Tekkaman Blade falls from space and finds himself in the hands of the Outer Space Development Group. He is seemingly a human with no real name and no memories, save that the alien invaders are called Radam and that he’s the one person with the power to stop them. He reluctantly teams up with the OSDG on the grounds that they have the only working spaceship left on the planet, and they promptly nickname him D-boy (short for Dangerous Boy.) Together, they form a new organisation called the Space Knights, tasked with finding a way to stop the Radam invasion and restore peace to the planet. However, D-boy isn’t the only Tekkaman, with the others being the most powerful agents of the alien enemy.

While the threat never quite reaches the cosmic heights of peril like those in, for instance, the second halves of Gurren Lagann or Gunbuster, that fact is made up for with liberal doses of body horror and a clear snapshot of the sheer weight of human suffering caused by the invasion. The Radam are terrifying, nigh-unstoppable adversaries to anyone except Blade, and the Space Knights’ dubious “allies” in the Earth Federation’s army are scarcely less damaging to the cause at points. In addition, it soon becomes apparent that as formidable as Blade is, he’s hampered by some extremely dangerous limitations that insert a sense of danger into every battle that he takes part in, even the ones where he massacres the enemy. It’s a story that contains a pervasive sense of overwhelming odds and despair, and the writers clearly weren’t in the mood to shirk away from inflicting endless suffering on its cast of characters. Most of the plotlines in this series are downright tragic, none less than that of D-boy himself. It hurts too, because the cast of characters is very likable - each of the Space Knights have their own distinct personalities and backstories, managing to crack enough funny and well-written humour to keep the mood from ever descending to depressing levels. Even the villains have a sympathetic side once you get to know them better. D-boy is a good character as well - he’s sometimes a little bit of an angsty dick, but he’s fundamentally a good-natured person who doesn’t deserve the endless grief that gets thrust upon him. His voice actor, Toshiyuki Morikawa, puts in an incredible job, which is actually remarkable as it was his debut role as a lead character in an anime. He delivers a powerful performance in more ways than one, both delivering an emotional but pretty well-balanced performance in the appropriate scenes, while at the same time yelling in battle scenes with such gusto that he managed to destroy two studio microphones in the process.

I do want to mention some flaws. While the story is probably Tekkaman Blade’s best asset, it starts off pretty slow. Some early world-and-character building is necessary, of course, but the series goes well into the double digits of its episode list without it really feeling like enough has happened. The events of each episode are usually entertaining, but it feels like the answers to the questions that the viewer will inevitable have aren’t quickly forthcoming. The visuals can sometimes be a sticking point too. I feel like Tekkaman Blade’s visuals are both good and bad. They’re good in the sense that the general visual aesthetic is classic 80s sci-fi, and it’s more or less on point - the Tekkamen all look great, as well as the various other structures, vehicles, weapons and other miscellany that creates the world. The Radam look suitable alien and monstrous as well. However, what should be a great presentation is often marred by some really questionable animation at some points. A lot of the animation is visually rough, either being out of proportion, lacking in detail, or both. It does have some very well animated pieces, especially stuff like Blade’s transformation sequence and Voltekka attack. However, it seems like the animation staff’s approach to these animations was that if it’s good enough to show to the viewer once, heck, it’s good enough to show fifty times. I think this series snatches the record away from Gundam Wing for the most egregious abuse of stock footage that I’ve seen in an anime. Sure, it’s an old anime, and perhaps their animation budget wasn’t the biggest, but still, it’s practically impossible to avoid.

However, in an inverse of the usual scenario, these problems are gradually alleviated over the course of the series. The plot starts to pick up pace shortly before the half-way point, and following a timeskip after that, it revs into high gear and never really lets up. Coincidentally, perhaps, it also seems like the animation quality spikes around the same point, with less stock footage and rough spots. Both of these factors are good in the entire second half, but they really ramp up into overdrive in the last 15 episodes or so - these episodes, the odd recap episode aside, are all pretty much stellar, being full of both character and plot drama. It all builds to a dramatic head that feels appropriate for the tone of the series as a whole.

Finally, I’d be remiss not to mention the series soundtrack. It has some memorable themes for various scenarios across the series - both uplifting and ominous themes for battles used appropriately, slow, moving pieces for character moments, bombast pieces for transformations, and so on. The real standouts are the show’s two stellar OPs, however, that stick in the ear and become impossible not to constantly hum. I watched this series right after watching Eureka 7, which has phenomenal music, but this absolutely stands toe-to-toe with it when it’s at its best.

Overall, it’s a product of its time for sure, with some frustrations, but it’s also unique and insanely well done when it finds its feet. I don’t think it’ll be for absolutely anyone, as I can foresee some people being put off by the first part, or just the grim tone of the series in general, but if you’ve got the courage and the steely determination to endure its faults you aren’t likely to regret your decision to do so, even if you have to wipe away those tears from under your mask when you’re done.

Once again, whatever’s coming next has a hard act to follow.