Giant Robo

(page 2 of 5)

The brave new world of the future! Earth has gone through its third energy revolution, and now all power is based on a new invention called 'the Shizuma Drive,' a complete recyclable and pollution free energy system created ten years ago by a group of five scientists. These drives power everything. There is no more danger of nuclear radiation, or waste of rare petroleum resources.
Even though it sounds like an ideal society, there are still problems. There are two major powers who are locked in a fierce struggle. The first is the Big Fire Organization, which is a very powerful evil organization, and threatens to conquer the world, with the help of their numerous robots.
The only people capable of putting a stop to their plan is the International Police Organization. They consist of a team of agents, all having their own special powers. They also have the most powerful robot in the world, Giant Robo. Giant Robo is controlled by Kusama Daisaku.
[foot note: translation from the Anime Reference Guide, volume 2, number 1, printed in 1993, page 30]

Episode 1: The Black Attaché Case:
After the opening narration, we cut to a scene where Ivan of Russia is speeding towards a Big Fire base with a black attache case, where he meets Prince Albert of Impact, Genya, and Ko-Enshaku. Genya informs them that now they have two of the samples and soon they will have the third.
On the top of a speeding train, a Big Fire operative is slowly cornering Dr. Shizuma, who holds the third and final sample. With nowhere to run, Dr. Shizuma prepares to be shot. Instead, the Big Fire operative is shot in the hand and confronted by the IPO expert Ginrei. She and Tetsugyu perform a daring rescue of Dr. Shizuma. Before they can get away, the Big Fire agent calls out his reserve forces. After Tetsugyu finishes up with these annoyances the Big Fire agent is forced to invoke his giant robot. With no alternative now but to flee Ginrei and Tetsugyu end up running out of track. However, Giant Robo appears and saves the day.

Albert, Ivan, and Genya listen to a report stating that the third sample has escaped their grasp but this apparently is not a big enough set back for them to stall their plans. Big Fire makes their move: In Paris, suddenly, a green fire rips across the city centering on Notre Dame. As Mursasame Kenji (an IPO expert) watches, a towering structure rises out of the ground. Suddenly all of the Shizuma drives begin to malfunction and stop in a pattern spreading out in a circle from Notre Dame.
In Peking the next day, the IPO watches a report on the disaster in Paris. This happens as the Greta Garbo airship carrying Giant Robo and the crew from the previous night arrives. Dr. Shizuma, however, is an incoherent wreck muttering, "He is coming, Fogler is coming." All he was able to say or do was to give Daisaku the black attache case with instructions to give it to Go sensei. When Go sensei looks in the case that Daisaku hands over he is greatly alarmed. We later find out that this is indeed the third sample that was from the great disaster at Bashtarlle. He is upset because it should not exist and worries that they are going to be faced with the same disaster that struck ten years ago, or worse at the hands of Big Fire.

Meanwhile the experts of the IPO are given a chance to relax. This will become something that they may never be able to do again as the story unfolds. Ginrei asks Daisaku on a date; he turns her down to help with the maintenance of Giant Robo. Tetsugyu, who has a massive crush on Ginrei, is stunned and attempts in a rather embarrassed fashion to ask her on a date. Ginrei blows him off saying that would he not rather go out on the town to all sorts of "fun" places with Taisou?
Back at one of Big Fire's bases Genya awakes from a nightmare: reliving the events of the tragedy at Bashtarlle. He receives a call notifying him that Prince Albert has arrived at Peking and will begin his maneuver soon. Genya informs the caller that he will be joining them shortly then. Back in Peking, Taisou and Tetsugyu are hitting the town. Tetsugyu, still sore over how Daisaku "interfered" and saved them the previous night, attempts to drown his despondency in gluttony and stupor. Taisou chides Tetsugyu saying that he should not be envious of Daisaku. The boy is only 12 and faces a very difficult future in having to control Giant Robo and be responsible for his actions. Their supper is interrupted by a signal that there is trouble back at the base and despite their condition they instantly vanish into action.
So begins the tale where the good guys seem to lose more ground then gain it and what ground they manage to recover seems to always come at great cost.