What is With that Retro Look?
One thing that stands out when looking at the LD covers and the art for the series is what has come to be known as the "retro look," which has its roots in the art style that was defined by the original television series and shows of that era. Ivan with his pronounced nose, Ko-Enshaku with his mysterious cloak and armor, Murasame with his outrageous hair, Giant Robo with these huge pontoon shaped shoulders. These things are all trademarks of this look. GIANT ROBO also served as the catalyst for other shows following upon the retro style such as Pioneer Entertainment's KISHIN HEIDAN.
The retro look is another of the clichés from older series and redone with a strength and style that set GIANT ROBO apart and then create a movement of other shows that follow it. For instance Murasame Kenji suffers from what has been dubbed "anime hair," a preposterous hairdo that looks more like a black amoeba than hair. What is more is that Kenji is able to maintain this hair style no matter what happens to him. Since this retro style is done with such flair and masterful attention to detail, though, it does not look as corny as one might expect.
Like the other elements of GIANT ROBO, this style is part of what defines this series. It harkens back to older times when the creators were younger. GIANT ROBO has managed to take what may have been considered tired and cliched and gave it a fresh look and feel. Coupled with a story that drags you in, frustrates you, and makes you wait six years for its conclusion only to frustrate you even more gives the look a new energy.

Standoff! Giant Robo 1 versus Giant Robo 2!

The Tech of GIANT ROBO
GIANT ROBO is a science fiction story occurring in our future. The whole plot revolves around the Achilles heel of the technology that everyone in the entire world has become wholly dependent on: The Shizuma Drive. It is even used to power gas stoves and lighters! Dr. Shizuma, Fogler, and their fellow scientists had attempted to create the perfect power source. Something that is compact, delivers a lot of energy and is totally recyclable. In their efforts they nearly destroy the earth once, and as this story unfolds we find that Shizuma almost destroys the world twice.
Now that devices are no longer constrained by the practical limits of power sources, engineers have a lot more artistic license in designs. This produces the bizarre set of gigantic robots that are used as war devices by Big Fire. Although we only see a handful of these Giant Robots in the series and really only see three of them fight (Giant Robo and Uraeneus, the robot piloted by Ivan, and Giant Robo mark 2), each episode's intro treats us to more of these robots that were part of past battles between the Experts and Big Fire.

Tying himself onto the heavily damaged Giant Robo, Daisaku prepares for one last stand against the Vogler Sphere.

Why Did This Story Take So Long?
The story for GIANT ROBO: THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL happens over a period of about a month. However for us the story started in 1992 and ended in 1998, taking almost six years. During this time GIANT ROBO suffered low sales, high running costs, and other projects getting in its way: the staff that animated ROBO also animated SHIN KAITEI GUNKAN between episodes of ROBO. As the story was told, director Imagawa Yasuhiro felt a need to expand upon certain sections and refine it. This ended up having more story to tell as well as trying to figure out how to fit in to the framework of what was already being worked on. All of these things added up and caused painful delays. The final episode was actually finished late in the summer of 1997, but was not released until early 1998.
The series is domestically available from Manga Entertainment, and they plan to complete the release of the series by the end of 1998. This release makes GIANT ROBO something that virtually all anime fans will be able to enjoy. Even if your style is not gigantic robot battles, as long as you like grand drama, struggle and pathos this series has something for you.

The Characters of GIANT ROBO

7 episodes. Running time: 5 hours, 39 minutes Published by Amuse Video / Bandai Visual Episode 1: BEAL-495 - 55 minutes Episode 2: BEAL-496 - 44 minutes Episode 3: BEAL-497 - 39 minutes Episode 4: BEAL-498 - 46 minutes Episode 5: BEAL-657 - 45 minutes Episode 6: BEAL-742 - 50 minutes Episode 7: BEAL-743 - 60 minutes