(13 episodes)
What’s it about ?
Giant combining mechas fight for the survival of mankind against one of the most generic evil armies I’ve ever seen.
Characters
The three pilots : Hitomi, the hot-blooded girl ; Mishiou, the cold, analytical other girl ; and Kuya, the stoic silent guy (he only gets one line that’s not a mecha command). Not much beyond the archetypes at this stage.
The evil army is led by an old bearded dude, seconded by a toady mad scientist and four clichés generals (who all appear to be robots or cyborgs of some sort). In a semi-interesting twist, they’re all dead by the end of the first episode, and their floating fortress destroyed.
The good guys seem to be some paramilitary group whose leader has history with the big bad evil guy. There’s another notable female officer who seems to have foreboding visions (the opening scene has her as a teenager, ten years ago, at ground zero of some city-obliterating disaster which turned into a contact event for her).
Production Values
Decent. The art style for female characters is a bit weird and took me some time getting used to.
Overall Impression
Bo-ring. I nearly fell asleep while watching this one. Most of the characters are one-dimensional, the mecha fight scenes are beyond cliché, and the show takes itself so seriously that it’s rather baffling.
I’m told this is a sequel to a late-80s OVA, but I fail to see any obvious link from the latter’s synopsis.
Avoid.
