Genesis Climber Mospeada

Robotech’s 3rd generation finally gets the credit due it

Abstract: Yes folks, one of the series I’ve been waiting a lifetime for has finally hit the shelves. This is the original, uncut Japanese show and not the edited, dubbed version that became “The New Generation” in Robotech.

In the not-so-distant 2050, crab-like aliens called the Inbit invade earth. Most of humanity escapes to other planets in the solar system, where the survivors then decide to mount a series of expeditions to retake their home world. Stig Bernard is one of the soldiers sent back to reclaim the earth, but in the process of making planetfall gets shot out of the sky. Forming a band of freedom fighters, he embarks on a lonely quest to the Inbit HQ to wipe them out once and for all.

The art may look crude, the music may be funky, but for the fanboys of my generation this was the stuff that dreams were made of. The mechanical designs were outstanding and the plot twists involved with an earth that doesn’t belong to mankind pulled us in. You might not believe it considering the newer, slicker stuff out there, but Genesis Climber Mospeada ranks amongst my all-time faves. Platinum baby!

Background: Plenty of you young’ns have a hard time understanding the stir Robotech and its component series (Super Dimensional Fortress Macross, Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross and Genesis Climber Mospeada) spawned in the mid 1980’s. Basically it’s this: NO ONE on this side of the Pacific had EVER seen anything like it before. So if we old timers treat these series with a great degree of veneration, now you know, and like GI Joe always said, knowing’s half the battle.

But enough of my reminiscing and on with the review.

A lot of people like to eat crab. Well, just imagine if that crab you just had for dinner decides to call his relatives from space in for revenge. Relatives that take steroids so that they stand bigger than a house and sport energy cannons on their carapaces. I’d say there’s a good chance you might become a vegetarian like I want to be. Unfortunately, a lot of earthlings don’t get that chance, as these crabs called the Inbit sweep across the earth, make short work of its defenses and set up shop.

A fair amount of the survivors from the initial attack flee to Mars, Jupiter, the moon and presumably the other planets nearby and set to rebuilding humanity, but that doesn’t mean they forgot the old homestead, oh no. A liberation force gets launched to kick Inbit butt and take names, but the displaced humans are wiped out. Three years later in 2053 a second force is organized from Mars, from where our hero Stig hails.

And, in a scene repeated innumerable times in history, before the battle is joined he proposes to his girlfriend Marlene, who also is part of the expedition. She accepts, but their joy is short lived. Basically because Stig’s entire squadron gets wiped out while descending to earth, Marlene included.

So, stranded in a hostile environment he knows nothing about, Stig sets out on a one-man mission/vengeance quest to destroy the main base of the Inbit called the Reflex Point. Along the way he’s joined by a motley bunch of guerrillas: The upbeat Rei, the cool biker chick Houquet, the cowardly mechanic Jim, the cross-dressing singing solider Yellow Belmont and the totally annoying but irrepressible little girl Mint. So, can this band of intrepid folk challenge the Inbit Empire and survive? Or will the earth forever remain under the control of an alien species?

Materials and Methods: Produced by Tatsunoko Pro with the art by done by Anime Friend, the character designs are inconsistent at best, sometimes wildly so. The quality ranges from solid to laughable at other times. Time may be making me generous, but it just elicits a laugh from me now and adds to the series’ charm. But the designs that EVERYONE remembers are the mecha done by Shinji Aramaki (BGC and Gasaraki). You ever heard of Alpha and Beta fighters? Well, their original names were Legioss and Tread, but they were 2 fighters that could join up and separate at will, which even the legendary Macross valkries couldn’t do. And of course there’s the Mospeadas, or the Cyclones for you Robotech-inclined folk. The Mospeada’s basically a racing bike sporting missiles, energy cannons, energy-charged sword blades and rocket launchers. And when it transforms it becomes a suit of armor that can fly too!

Man, I’d LOVE one of those in a traffic jam. Yeah, go ahead, cut me off again...

*Chuckles with evil glee*

The seiyuu may not sound too familiar to you, as they’ve been around quite a while. The voice acting’s decent, but really no better than that. Some of the cast that has done more recent stuff include Mika Doi (Megumi Takani from Ruroni Kenshin) as Houquet, Bin Shimada (Ken Nakajima from Taiho Schiazao) as Stig and Hirotaka Suguoku (Kuno from Ranma ?)as the male Yellow Belmont. For the most part, when Yellow’s in woman-mode a female takes up that role and also sings the songs.

And the songs? Uh, well, they’re, um…Weird. Really, they have a psychedelic, hippies-60’s feel to them. And of course, the use of Engrish is absolutely hilarious. The production staff wanted to make music an integral part of the series, so the episode titles all have musical terms in them and the music has a lot of eclectic flavors to it. Too eclectic I’d say.

Results: Now, objectively, one might look at all the faults this series has and wonder why in the world you should watch it. Well, for one, as is very often the case with older series, the writing is much better. With 25 episodes to it, Mospeada gives the characters ample room to develop. You see Stig’s prejudice against the Inbit in all its color. You see why Jim turned coward and even why Yellow Belmont plays the transvestite. Trust me, it is NOT for kicks.

Thank goodness.

Even the Inbit develop over the course of the series in a way that might surprise you and challenge your notions of the human condition. It did for me to a certain degree. What also makes the series stand out is its backdrop. Makind’s back is to the ropes and all the ugliness of humanity comes out under those circumstances as people strive just to survive. Even if that means turning on each other, as the team is reminded of at every turn. Yeah, that’s been done, but this is one of the first to do it. Also related to that is the idea that may be no “Happily ever after” here. The main characters are fighting an asymmetrical, guerrilla style war. They’ve got an uphill fight with very little hope of winning and they know it. So what propels them forward? The idea that they’re fighting for a greater cause, and even if it’s a losing effort, some things are still worth fighting for.

Put out by AD Vision, the production values are adequate, but little else. Thankfully all the lyrics are subtitled, so one doesn’t have to rely purely on romanji. The extras are a little sparse, with your typical clean opening and ending as well as character bios. If there’s one thing I think AD Vision really needs to work on it’s the production values they put into their DVDs.

Conclusions: It’s not very flashy and it doesn’t have a lot of eye-candy (Relatively speaking) compared to the newer series, but it has the one thing that counts that a lot of the newer series don’t have. Substance. A very good writing effort with interesting plot twists keeps one watching episode after episode and cheering them all the way to Reflex Point. You wanna see a great blast from the pat? Look no further. Genesis Climber Mospeada earned its Platinum a long time ago, as far as I’m concerned.