Armored Trooper VOTOMS Review: 80s Mecha Anime Kino 

I'm glad we both agree on Chrico's origins. I felt the revelation that he is a space demi-god cheapened his past achievements a bit. I prefer the idea that he is a human that has had his body and soul hardened by war, and it has made him the most skilled killer alive. I remember reading somewhere that Takahashi and the crew got in heated arguments on whether that should be the ending or not.

Big robot big war crimes

The mecha genre is the elder statesmen of anime. It's good to see you give it some attention.

I'm actually surprised that you didn't find a way to sneak in Honoo no Sadame. VOTOMS' OP is probably one of the greatest in history.

Very happy that someone remembered blue gender, it was one of many anime’s that traumatize me when i was a kid.😺

I love the 80s/early 90s anime. I don't know if a lot of the kids today know what they are missing, I was showing my nephew some older ones and he couldn't believe how gory they were.

It’s incredible how, despite being just as influenced by Ultraman as it is by mecha, Evangelion is only ever called a deconstruction by most casual fans. I fully believe that if people who liked Eva watched other older series like VOTOMS, Gundam, or hell even Anno’s previous project Gunbuster, there would be so many more mecha fans. I’m tired of the idea that Eva is unique for focusing on the characters or that mecha is a dying genre.

Votoms needs more love, I’m glad to see you review it

I also liked how disposable the mechs where, they where crap for the most part, glass cannons is always more nervy

weird that people would call Mecha light hearted. Most of Gundam is pretty grim. 0080 is one of the most depressing anime ive seen. Great work, Loli. Ive been meaning to watch more of this.

One day, Space Runaway Ideon will get the recognition it deserves, but until then, ill enjoy this review

Eva being a deconstruction of Mecha and mecha dying sounds like something Mother's Basement or some other anime tuber came up with

Were the armored hunter mellowlink fans at 👇

Seems like we're only a few months away from a review of LotGH aka the Best Anime of All Time.

I wish there was more Mech material like this. Specifically, Mechs that aren't completely ridiculous looking. I love the subtly, for lack of better word, of this anime's mechs. Along with Titanfall & Obsolete.

Fun fact since the last stream was Super Robot Wars, in the newest game Super robot wars 30 Chirico not only comes back as dlc but he gets a new original designed by the creator Scopedog for that game. So yeah I can believe the series does have some on going love for it.

80’s anime explosions are the best. No clue why. Just that classic Transformers and Robotech. Got me into Anime in the first place.

Speaking of Votoms references, (I'm about half way through this show and it's living up to its reputation so far) pretty sure that the big robots from Sega's Space Harrier are visually based on the Veela mechs. I know that nobody gives a shit, but I think it's kinda neat!

Blue Gender is great especially love the space station orgy scene damn that was confusing as a kid Also find it funny when talking about EVA you use the scene where Shinji spills his "tapioca" on Asuka in the hospital truly you are cultured

As a MechWarrior fan for whom one of my favorite mechs used to be Marauder, yes, #FreeTheUnseen

The "Tanks" comparison is pretty apt considering VOTOMS is an acronym for Vertical-Oneman-Tank for Offense-ManeuverS.

I've enjoyed this anime so much when I was a teenager, and especially the opening hits so hard. This really is an underated anime and urge people who love grim dark to watch this anime.

If there is an anime that deserves a full-blown proper Space Battleship Yamato 2199 treatment it's sure as hell VOTOMS. I watched it years ago and it's still one of my favorite mecha anime series along with FLAG. I wouldn't call it Battletech per se - since there is Fang of the sun Dougram, which is Battletech before Battletech, funny enough, made by same Ryousuke Takahashi. When it comes to Chirico twist, I still consider that TV at least made it look fitting, but yeah, OVAs are tapping way too far into "Space Jesus" theme for my liking. At least TV series and Armor Hunter Mellowlink are lit as hell and I love both of them for being as gritty and dark as they could make it back in 1982/1988. What I absolutely adore is the fact that VOTOMS actually doesn't overuse stock animation all that much. It is there, but it's not at the level of Macross 7 or Gundam Seed Destiny (where I shit you not, I started hating those stock animations by the end of each show. As well as music. Planet Dance is awesome song, but you can sing it so many times before it stops being fun and becomes annoying) . Shit like that doesn't fly here. And at least, when stock animation is used, it feels more as artistic decision rather than "We don't have enough money, so here's your basic animation loop #427, enjoy it, jackass!" Or it's use is subtle enough that it doesn't burn in your eyes. I also love the fact that VOTOMS actually doesn't afraid to change settings - from Cyberpunk to Vietnam-like jungle to Space to Wasteland to Desert and even if two last ones are similar, Sansa is as different from Quent as two desert wasteland could be. Imagine that! Wait, two desert planets that don't look like one is a copycat of another? Yeah, call me surprised!

Prime example of real robot genre. The trope for the low tech is "Used Future" where almost everything is old or salvaged. The ATs themselves could be cannibalized to fix other damaged ATs. Also the low tech-ness indicates that these machines are mass produced and cheap. It's Sherman but mecha.

You forgot to add he too damn lucky for a human being who gets into fights like he was Vash the Stampede.

Armored Trooper VOTOMS (and to a lesser extent, Mobile Suit Gundam) could be said to be the start of a sub-genre of sci-fi in which the technological aspects of the story are grounded in hard science as a contrast to their being some mystical core to the human element, be it New Types, Overmen or the Gasara from Gasaraki. I have to wonder if anyone has named this kind of science fantasy yet.

I do love the design of the Scopedogs...also, does that mean Chirico is just Space Guts?

I always liked the mecha in Votoms over Gundam for how realistic the mechs were as well as the battles. PLUS it was WAY easier to built them out of legos when I was younger!

In short VOTOMS is a story about modded out T34s on legs fighting in wars, but we have to suffer through the boring parts where a guy with a maxed out luck stat is just too lucky to die. Armorhunter was fun to watch, as it rethreads the locations from the VOTOMS anime. It, and other prequels, show there is a lot of potential in the war prequels to the show, if you dont focus on the lucky protagonist and just put normal people into normal war combat situations.

"Not that long ago" brother it's been over a decade

Will November become officially VENGEANCE month? Maybe. 🎩 🐍 no step on Snek! 🇺🇸🇭🇰

Blue Gender is amazing. More people need to see it.

The only reason I know about this show is thanks to super robot wars. Chirico is a BEAST in the games and he's always on the frontlines when I use him.

Bro, Battletech anime is "Fang of the sun Dougram". You should really check it out. Battletech took a bunch of designs from there (Shadowhawk, Griffin, Thunderbolt, etc) and the battles have a very similar heavy pacing. Plot could very well take place in the periphery before the clans arrived

3:40 DUDE you gotta be fucking kidding me (pls read with postal dude voice) whoever said that had just watched evangelion and non other mechs before. Because even the monster of the week super mecha of the early had some psychology thrown in. Yeesus this Eva fans man

I read the 'overman' slightly differently to you. Not so much a 'god' but the ultimate expression of the best of the best of humanity. More like Khan in Star Trek. Either through genetic mutation or expression of a genotype that comes about purely from the number of people alive in the Astragus galaxy. Anyway, thanks for the content.

Just picked the complete collection a couple weeks ago after watching some snippets of this and this review has me even more hyped to blast through it.

I have a few disagreements, but they're mostly technical details or hardcore nerding out points. (SPOILER TALK) 1) Chirico isn't exactly a Perfect Soldier. He is thought out as one due to the understanding of the faction who's developing artificial Perfect Soldiers. Chirico is a bit more like an evolutional anomaly, natural occurence of a transhuman, a 1 in a quintillion. Pailsen Files was entirely to explore his anomaly and not classified as a perfect soldier, but the "ultimate survivor". 2) The "Magic" in the show is mostly absurdly high tech that was abandoned or forgotten on purpose by it's creators. It's more like the saying "Technology that is sufficiently advanced equates to magic" in the point that whoever can't understand the unknown can only register it as the magical. I only really concede with the one guy in the final arc that is "so spiritual" he becomes psychic, though he's a Quent and that gives some leeway. 3) While in the ending he is revealed to be groomed into becoming God... In this setting, God is a machine, a machine created by Quents who were extremely high-tech (star trek level that were one step before surpassing it) until they abandoned all tech for it was corrupting them, such that all out war regressed some technology. The point of the big AI thing in the end was to merge it's contience and knowledge with Chirico who cannot be killed. It's more of a literal and straight play on "Deus Ex Machina" and very much a cyberpunk trope of transhumanism and man-machine interfacing. Also, it's not an God in the sense of ultimate powers God, but an all-knowing God that influenced everything. A very technologically limited God. 4) The "Overman" is a play on the concept from nietche and also a common narrative element in transhumanism in scifi. Chirico is special as he manifests traits from "Overman" since his entire hometown that were also descendants of "Overman" were slaughtered easilly and only HE survived. The mystery of this ONE guy manifesting some sort of paranormal ability to survive to the point of even warping reality in some instances is actually a play explained in my next point. 5) Chirico's anomaly is simply "Deus Ex Machina" or "Plot Armor", but actually well written. He is the personification of the narrative trope and the show actually acknowledges it and plays it straight to a fault. People who suspected and attempted to figure out how and WHY this is a thing with Chirico, always ended up in it being their doom, driving them insane or causing people to recognize Chirico as a "force of nature". It's as if a mook actually starts questioning and studying why he just cannot kill the main character and in his attempt to understand, it drives him insane because he cannot. Votoms writing is smart and good because it dances on the edge of really dangerous narrative trappings. I might be a wrong on the 5th point cuz it's 100% my own assumption as a creative, I'd be a lot mroe sure about it if I actually knew japanese to read the interviews, show bibles, artbooks, behind the scenes documents and magazine articles that probably explained all of it (or left some stuff up to interpretation on purpose). However there's a lot to read into because I really hold Votom's writing, influences and concepts at a very high regard. The people involved in the shows have to treat it with such care not to mess with certain foundations about it because there's an intense set of rules and lore that really goes beyond the age of this show. It's trully transcendent and I keep trying to get my friends to watch it and try to properly digest the early 80's aesthetics that still have a lot of 70's japanese aesthettics to it (such as the starship designs). PS: I really wish you had also included Front Mission into the things Votoms inspired directly. Great video regardless.

fun looking back on this video and knowing there's a new VOTOM kit coming out soon, could lead to a new OVA or even something more

Hmm and interesting universe. Would love too see you try and dissect the universe that is Battletech and see your opinions on the history, tech and stories that it rolls out.

There's a question raised about Wiseman, and it's asked if a god is really just a Being who is more advanced than others. Plus, Chirico's destiny is comparable to Dune's Paul Atredies. However, Chirico takes a different approach than Atredies, as he is able to escape his predetermined path, make it his own and ultimately reclaim his individuality by series' end. Also, another point raised by the ending of the regular series, even if Wiseman is dead and his Secret Society's main branch is mostly disbanded and the rest crippled and scattered, there is still the chance that Gilgamesh Confederation and the Ballerant Union will go to war, with the remnant of the Secret Society arming both sides of the war. Also, you can't ignore Shining Heresy, because it ties directly into the OVAs. Not to mention that Shining Heresy elaborates on the religious and cultural aspects of the VOTOMS universe.

Speaking of old school mech anime that remind you of Battletech, you should check out Dougram! It's got no weird space magic and instead has dirty politics. Very Battletech. Also features a lot of the early Battletech mechs that aren't from Macross. whole series is being fan-remastered here on RU-vid

Votoms is Gundam without Newtypes.

The whole series can be a little uneven, but it's one of my favorite anime franchises of all time. I didn't like the twist in the original anime either and I think it is an albatross around the neck of the franchise but in spite of that it explores themes of war, humanity and what it takes to survive desperate scenarios. Theres nothing else quite like VOTOMS in anime or more specifically mechan anime. I love the Kumman arc btw it's the best. I hope one day more OVAs and anime are produced. Chirico is a really great character and the supporting cast is great. I think modern anime scene needs a breath of fresh air like this to influence it.

Definitely need to check this series out now, good video mate! Also lol at most mecha being "cheery"

I only watched the anime and I understood it as Chiriko being a regular human most of the time, but he has a gene given through evolution that let him become more and more super human. I never got that he was supposed to a ps. He was only ever mistaken as one or compared to. So he started as a regular human, but evolved when ever necessary to survive, meaning whenever he was beaten he grew in abillity

Chirico Cuvie is a Space Nam War Vet and was friends with Space Pol Pot. Who was actually sorta a cool dude fucked over by life.

"Mecha was too lighthearted before evangelion." Gundam, Votoms, Space Runaway Ideon, "Excuse you?"

I barely remember watching this, but I liked the weird hebrews in the desert vibe with that guys culture And the Adam in the garden thing who is so delighted until he gets bitten but the bug and basically becomes Caine immediately at that first experience of pain and suffering

AAH!! THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!!!! I am happy now!!

Apple VOTOM jeans, boots with the fur.

pretty cool i might check it out

I dont remember what the name of it was, but what got me hooked into Mecha was the "Glitter boys". Fully enclosed power suits, bristling with weapns that could entrench themselves to use cannons, and were never painted so they could shine in the sun.(was not anime but like d&d-esque)

I wonder if Rogue Trooper from 2000ad was the inspiration for Chirico Cuvie in Votoms? Both of them are genetic infantryman who can withstand damage in the battlefield that your average human soldier can't. . And Chirico also has blue hair which could be a nod to Rogue Trooper who has blue skin.

I hope you make a video on The spin off Armor hunter Mellowlink

great review man! also happy to see an anime youtuber comment on the misconceptions people have on the mecha genre and the bizarre takes that eva fans have, i dont see it enough honestly.

Remember guys: Chirico's magnum kills everything

The plot twist about Chirico being an Overman was really strange in that it was hinted at but also doesn't fit at all. Chirico was a good pilot and soldier... but not when compared to PSs. He constantly lost to them until suddenly he was their match.

i remember watching this as a kid on tv and i didn't know until now what it was

I think it inspired obsolete which is a RU-vidr original Mecha anime series in the real robot genre

"Once it was revealed that he is a demi-god, he no longer seemed special." I think it is important to understand why so many people relate to such sentiments. I think it has something to do with the inability to recognize that if someone performs godlike deeds, then he MUST be a god.

Ryosuke takahashi you say, Deja vu indeed.

This month is definitely themed

Wow, I thought I understood where Battletech came from with Gundam but this is escentially Battletech, but even more grim. I can totally Imagine someone wanting to make a Tabletop Game of this and ending up with Battletech.

Pretty cool might check it out. I guess special protag syndrome plagued writing back then too.

Pretty good review as always, dawg. Cheers.

Most claims about Evangelion being deconstructive or even subversive tend to be more telling of the person's lack of experience with the genre pre-Eva than anything Evangelion genuinely does uniquely

Based Content. Based Channel. Based Content Creator

Off topic but based for using demon of pledge for the credits ✊

Dude I was just listening to random anime soundtracks, decided to look up the IP, and found gold. Can't wait to watch it fully

8:25 *Übermensch* (it's not a "god"), read Nietzsche. It's the concept of "Beyond-Man," like the next major evolutionary step (but not as metaphysical as NewTypes).

I would like Votoms get new anime reboot, i really don't care if the mechs are CGI as long as it's not Gmod physics tier. I also want Votoms game as mech 3rd person shooter and that would be great.

I love Votoms. It's just a gritty world and the gear is like communist mass production. Armorhunter Mellowlink is also a good one. It amazes me why there is no open world MMO RPG game for Votoms. It has so much potential.

Michael Pondsmith is the man

Armored Troopers VOTOMS it's very cool. I still to watch the OVAs, but I will keep in mind what you said. Agreed with the demi-god argument. Sometimes these stories become convoluted for apparent zero reason. Still, it's a great show overall! Learn much here, recommend too!

Mellowlink is also a great anime in this setting

Heavy Gear that is basically just VOTOMs with, weirdly enough, more anime injected in, is also a fantastic game in its own. The 2nd edition rulebook works both as a wargame and as a light RPG, it has that old feel that you only get by reading 1st edition warhammer manuals, with your units being more your dudes than your army. I have been using it to run mecha games in my own setting for years and i highly reccomend it (and other dreampod9 prdoucts) if you want a light rpg with wonky ass damage rules for semi realistic mecha campaigns. Also, Patlabor is absolutely Kino and a feast for the eyes, the movies in particular, watch Patlabor.

There's no denying "overman" was deliberately meant to sound like "uberman," and its symbolism.

man do i want send my own subcribestar request, tho the stupid thing doesnt want to accept my card

I’m surprised I haven’t heard of this one. I need to see it

Never saw a single episode of this, but I remember owning a couple model kits.

If you want "BattleTech: The Anime" you watch _Fang of the Sun Dougram_ because that's where most of the Mech designs came from- not _Macross_ and certainly not _Crusher Joe_ Even that's pushing it. The _BattleTech_ gameplay paradigm is based on pre-Dreadnought naval combat of the late 19th/early 20th (i.e. pre-WW1) era, and that describes almost no Real Robot properties in anime or manga. _Heavy Object_ is a rare exception. You want to know what _VOTOMS'_ real-life counterpart is? Technicals. Yes, I mean civilian trucks with anti-material weapons or heavy machineguns mounted in the beds; cheap, easy to produce, easy to train (so you can shove fodder into them quickly), and are little more than death traps against anything resembling anti-vehicle firepower (like, say, a surplus M60 machinegun or an anti-material rifle like a Barrett). Good video overall, just a bit lacking in the references.

ATs are tanks but they are more like something along the line of Centauro and M1128, good gun with armor thats just barely enough to stop average infantry weapons like ar or smg.

This Shit looks tight

I never knew what the deal was with Votoms, I only knew that I had a Scope Dog toy that I got second hand as a kid. It's missing some bits, but still a very cool piece.

👍. You had me at "Lets talk about some fucking giant robots."

Just finished SRW T so seeing this pop up is good timing since it's only a week old Chirico is broken in that game

Mech warriors is my favorite mecha series im just happy someone even knows what it is

Armor Hunter is pretty damn good. The entire series used to be RU-vid before it got taken down.

Maybe we can one day see a review of Trigun

This sounds... *incredibly* similar to OG Gundam. Pretty much everything you said about VOTOMS applies to Gundam lol, except maybe the fragility and clumsiness of the armored troopers. This is a good breakdown of the anime, and VOTOMS is absolutely on my watchlist, but I gotta say, I kinda wish you went into more detail on the differences between the two series, especially since Gundam is *clearly* such a heavy influence on VOTOMS.

Why did you delete your video “Generation kill review: Complete honesty about war?” I have been trying to find it again ever since I first saw it. It was truly one of the best RU-vid videos I’ve ever seen. You did a fabulous job breaking down the series and comparing it to real life. If you see this please respond I want so bad to know where the video went. Again it was amazing!

Sounds similar to Gundam. Like UC Gundam. But different enough to be it’s own thing. More battle tech than mobile suit.

I can't help but shill the spin off mellowlink. God that OVA is badass.

I was kinda hyped up to watch this from someone that I know very casually, as well as his appearance in Super Robot Wars 30 specifically, and in the end, I didn't quite end up liking the franchise as much as I was hoping I would. It was partially due to my own misconceptions of Chirico due to how I perceived him in SRW30, but also because of the twists and all of the OVAs adding to his backstory. It also kinda doesn't make sense to me that Chirico ended up as strong as he did with that backstory of his, while simultaneously struggling at certain points despite being hyped up as this elite soldier. Granted, it wasn't actually that many times that I felt that this happened, but I was thinking about it more especially after watching the later media. The Last Red Shoulder was pretty great, but my personal favorite of the franchise was Armor Hunter Mellowlink. It was short and sweet while not doing as much as the original series did, which worked better for me. Very baller anime. Also, and this was annoying me mildly, but how have you watched this series without knowing to pronounce Chirico as "キリコ" and Fyana as "フィアナ"?

I would honestly be intrigued what you would think of og macross. Loli.

"SCORRE" - Randy from South Park finally getting his Medical Marijuana card This show looks awesome, think i've seen it before but it would have been Years ago when i was young (like 25-30years ago) thanks for reminding me of it. Any chance it has an English Dub?😅👍

just finished the main series and this video just makes me question whether i should even watch shining heresy

The Unseen are allowed to come back in the setting now.

I'd argue Macross isn't close to Battletech at all, despite the licensing of Macross designs to Battletech.