04.07.07
Kotetsushin Jeeg #1
Since I have doubts anyone else wants to blog Kotetsushin Jeeg(”iyaa! it’s not cute at all and it’s got mecha“), I guess it’s time to BUILD UP! But first, a recap.
The original Kotetsu Jeeg was the classic 70’s Super Robot show: OP theme sung by Ichiro Mizuki, dramatic(and silly) special attacks, and a lead robot that could be easily adapted into a toy line. Specifically, Jeeg’s gimmick was that the robot’s parts were assembled using the then-amazing power of MAGNETISM, and were interchangeable enough that the arms and legs could be replaced by weapons, or other contraptions that could be sold as extra accessories for the toy.
The story was simple enough for the age of Great Mazinger: Jeeg fights the evil Queen Himika, who wants her above-ground empire back and has an army of giant monsters to do just that. Among the few plot points was that she needed her magic bell to complete her conquest, which Professor Shiba had cleverly hidden inside the newly-created cyborg body of his son Hiroshi. Thanks, Dad.
We open with Professor Shiba discovering Himika’s bell in 1970, just in time for the “This is…!” line that so many flashbacks require. Then it’s the all-new-for-the-00’s OP, where Ichiro Mizuki and Hironobu Kageyama get to rapping over a dramatic metal-and-wood-drum accompaniment by JAM Project. Just in case some of you out there weren’t aware that this is a Go Nagai Super Robot show. Probably the most interesting thing about the OP is showing Jeeg’s partner, Miwa, in both her 70’s and present-day looks.
Hiroshi of the 70’s was a hotshot auto racer, and the new hero in 2020, Kenji, is a hotshot motorcycle racer with a rival(Kyo) that resembles Getter Robo’s Hayato with a white fright-wig on. They’re such fierce rivals that they can’t help but tie the heavily-CG-animated race they’re in! Kenji then wakes up from an erotic dream about Kyo oversleeps for school.
Cue the lead heroine, Tsubaki, in her day-job as a shrine-maiden helping Miwa. Along her way to school, we see a dark cloud over one of the islands, that you know is much more than just the summer typhoon. Because of course this is the first episode for a super robot show, the cloud starts setting off warning buoys and freaking out the local scientists. At the Build Base, Professor Shiba yells at the local weather bureau, and reveals how much he’s been letting his teeth go bad over the past few years, like all Go Nagai’s old-man characters.
Typical school antics for Kenji, Kyo, and Tsubaki are up next, where a disturbingly effimate teacher explains the “real” history behind haniwa. Professor Shiba then fills us in on the fate of the original Jeeg, who apparently couldn’t finish the battle with Himika: instead, the island was sealed away by the cloud, after the bell rips out of Jeeg’s forehead and summons a mysterious sword. Ouch!
Meanwhile, Kyo challenges Kenji to another race, just to prove who’s better. Of course, Kenji, being a Go Nagai hero, can’t take this lying down! GRR FIERCE MANLY RACING ACTION!
However, a nearby mountain interrupts their manly bonding, disgorging a bunch of wooden suppositories mysterious totems. The totems assemble themselves into a rock-monster who then starts trashing the town, as monsters are wont to do. Fighter aircraft arrive to lay the smack on the monster, but they forgot to watch their kaiju movies.
Kenji takes off to find Tsubaki but only finds Miwa, who immediately hauls him into a secret garage behind the shrine to give him his new ride, his obligatory Super Robot helmet, and the keys.
Kenji hauls out of there, but the monster unveils some new tricks to catch up with him. While the U.S. Navy makes an attempt to save his ass, they didn’t watch kaiju movies either.
Thankfully, some silly-looking fighters appear to save Kenji(piloted by the reject cast for Cutey Honey)! Or shoot him, I get those confused sometimes.
Just as Kenji’s finally had enough of this, the updated Big Shooter arrives, piloted by none other than Tsubaki and Kyo! Kenji’s getting fed up with everyone but him in on the joke, but Tsubaki encourages him to slam da fists, and transform into Kotetsu Jeeg!
Being a piloted robot instead of a cyborg confuses Kenji, but after some urging from Professor Shiba and Kyo, he manhandles the monster, and gets ready to put the smack down..in the next episode!
Wow, that was a rush. I’m amazed at how much backstory AND action was packed into this episode. Not to mention the animation quality, and clever use of material from the original show. About the only annoying thing was the use of CG, but thankfully they limited it to fairly minor parts. The plot probably isn’t going to win any awards, but that’s not what you go into a super robot show expecting; heck, even placing it in the original Jeeg’s timeline is a step above last year’s Gaiking remake. I’ll be following this one this season with FISTS READY TO SLAM.