• Studio Sunrise’s Muteki Robo Trider G7 ran from Feb. 1980 to Jan. 1981.  I had the time to watch the 50 episodes recently and enjoyed it.  While not my favorite and certainly an odd duck when compared to most other mecha anime, it nonetheless had a charm all its own.

    Trider G7 along with Takeo Watta and his 4 employees. The general of the robot army that opposes Earth is on the left.

    The story follows the adventures of Takeo Watta, a Japanese boy of about 12.  The story takes place in a future where the moon and Mars are populated and colonization has begun.  People operate space stations and regularly travel through the solar system.  Yet, somehow daily life in Japan operates exactly as it did in 1980.  People dress the same, live the same, etc.  Watta’s father owned a small transport and trouble-shooting company that got short term contracts that involved transporting goods or protecting a location from a specific threat.  The company’s only real asset was a well armed super robot, Trider G7, that could transform into a spaceship and travel anywhere in the solar system on short notice.

    When Watta’s father died the company had no one to operate Trider G7 as was about to fold.  Watta, still a grade school boy, stepped forward and declared his decision to get a license for operating a giant robot and become the company’s new president.  The four employees could keep their jobs and Watta’s father’s legacy would continue.

    Trider G7 in spaceship mode & docked with its shuttle.

    Most episodes followed the same format: Watta is seen at home, school or his neighborhood dealing with situations typical for 12 year old boys.  Suddenly, one of his employees bursts onto the scene and announces they have a job and Watta must come immediately to operate Trider G7.  Trider G7 launches, transforms into a space ship and docks with the shuttle where the four employees are strapped in.  On the way to the moon or Mars Watta gets called back to the conference table in the shuttle where a snack is served. Every time it’s a different snack familiar to Japanese people and Watta talks with his employees about the food and then about what’s happening in their lives.  When the destination is reached they see an attacking giant robot and Watta separates the Trider G7 from the shuttle.  After a fierce and brief battle the enemy is destroyed and Watta gets back to Earth just in time to resolve what issue he was dealing with at the episode’s start.

    Trider G7 was a really blue-collar, down to earth sort of show that was clearly written to appeal to a younger audience.  In a way I saw it as two different shows pressed together. The first show was the super robot and its plucky young pilot battling evil.  The second show was a typical grade school boy dealing with ordinary things familiar to the audience.  Seeing the narrative switch gears between such different things at least twice per episode took some getting used to but the show’s appeal made me come along for the ride.

    Trider G7 was stored beneath a playground in Watta’s neighborhood. The children had to flee the play equipment every time Trider G7 launched! Somehow, no lawsuits resulted.

    Trider G7 is one of the shows that is remembered well in Japan years after it went off the air.  I’ve been thinking lately about what makes some mecha anime remembered fondly years later while others are mostly forgotten.  Perhaps some of it was Studio Sunrise’s clever marketing or the successful robot color scheme of red, dark blue and white with some yellow.  Trider G7 didn’t have a strong story or memorable villains.  I’d say the likable characters and warm, heartful portrayal of daily life in a Japanese town hit the right note with young viewers.

    I lived in Japan in the early 90s for more than a year so the “slice of life” stories appealed to me.  The friendly, thoughtful characters made me want to see what would happen in their lives.  The show was made on the tail-end of the 70s which had a lot of decent, moral characters who were intended to be role models for the viewers.  The angst-ridden, self-absorbed characters of later decades still weren’t a fixture in mecha anime in 1980.  If someone were to describe the show to me before seeing it, I probably would have avoided it.  The odd mixture of two very different premises sounds like it would make for painful viewing but somehow Trider G7 made it work.  This is a show that asks for a big suspension of disbelief.  How can a twelve year old be made the actual president of a company?  Why does his school allow him to run out of class on a regular basis?  What government would allow a private company to use a robot stuffed full of military grade weapons?  Who would grant a license to operate a giant robot to a twelve year old?  If you’re willing to put aside such thoughts, the show can really grow on you after a few episodes.

    My complaint was the translation.  I watched a fan sub and there is evidence to suggest they wrote the English subtitles based on the script for Italian television.  Also, the fan subbers didn’t do a good job of editing the sentences for good readability.  My knowledge of Japanese helped me smooth out a lot of the pain of the poor translation.

    Although, I’d recommend this show to anime fans I’d make it clear you should have some experience with daily life in Japan or you may not see the show’s appeal.

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  • Important characters from Z Gundam.

    Important characters from Z Gundam.

    Every mecha fan eventually reaches a point where he (or she) contemplates Tomino’s classic sci-fi anime shows. The potent concoctions of drama and tragedy mixed with epic casts of characters and intricate political maneuvers draw so many of us. After the roller coaster ride is finished we’re left wondering what to make of it all. Why did Camille Bidan, after so heroically defending his friends, have to end up as a vegetable at the end of Zeta Gundam? Why did everyone – I mean everyone – have to die in Dunbine and Ideon? This article is one mecha fan’s attempt to explain what Tomino may have been trying to get across to his viewers. Although what follows is the speculation of a fan from the wrong side of the Pacific Ocean I don’t believe that themes in anime are impossible for non-Japanese to understand. I’ll need to discuss some ideas from Japanese culture but what anime fan isn’t also a student of Japanese culture? Read more…

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  • fandom, Japan, mecha 30.10.2009 2 Comments

    John Funk has written an interesting piece at The Escapist on mecha in contemporary Japanese culture. It’s worth a read but, as mine did, your mileage may vary. Among other things, the article claims that the Japanese love Gundam more than any other mecha series. I think it’s the author’s own love of Gundam and the fact that Gundam has a larger commercial entity behind it than any other mecha series that is leading this observation. Still, the article has some interesting facts and is well worth your time to read.

  • Japan, mecha 21.09.2009 1 Comment

    Chars Zaku II from Mobile Suit Gundam

    Char's Zaku II from Mobile Suit Gundam

    Tokyo-based Bitec Global Japan makes false teeth and they’ve decided new job applicants should prove their skill by building and painting a model of Char’s Zaku II from Mobile Suit Gundam. Want to work in dentistry? Better brush up your model building!

    Anime News Network translated the information from Mainichi Shimbun‘s Web site.

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  • Japan, mecha 18.09.2009 No Comments

    But will it make the cut for the next World Cup?

    But will it make the cut for the next World Cup?

    An inventor in Japan has created a robot that can play soccer. No, you don’t have to worry about World Cup being taken over by robots (although I’d start watching it if that happened). The main point here is to show that robots can be endowed with a sense of balance. I have heard many English speakers talk about how to advance artificial intelligence but I’m glad the Japanese have a keen focus on where that artificial intelligence will live: a mechanical body.

    The inventor talks about how he’s a Gundam fan but look at the robot’s head. Looks like he’s a Gurren Lagann fan too!

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  • Video Daikaiju is a company in Succasunna, New Jersey that sells live-action Japanese movies and TV shows on DVD. I just ordered 5 Godzilla movies from them and I can recommend them for their great product.  They have a large catalog full of science-fiction and fantasy movies from Japan with English subtitles.  They have every Godzilla movie ever made.  Their selection of Japanese TV shows is really impressive but most of these are not subtitled.  Alas, my quest for a subtitled copy of Ultra Seven on DVD isn’t over yet.

    In order to see Video Daikaiju’s catalog you have to send them $2 and wait for it to come in the mail.  It’s a shame they haven’t put their catalog on their Web site yet.  Hopefully they’ll take care of that soon.  If you’re curious to see any of Toho’s classic sci-fi movies then Video Daikaiju are the people you want to talk to.

  • Japan 04.04.2009 No Comments

    The main entrance

    The main entrance

    Fushimi Inari Taisha is a large shinto shrine complex in southern Kyoto. Here it is on the map. It began in the 8th century to revere Inari, the god of the rice harvest. Inari has always been an important god. Few (if any) images were ever created of him and he uses foxes as his messengers. The foxes acting on Inari’s behalf are even called Inari. Read more…

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  • Japan 03.04.2009 No Comments

    The main entrance

    The main entrance

    Kiyomizu Dera (Kiyomizu Temple) could be called the premier temple of Kyoto. Here it is on the map. This Buddhist temple was first built in AD 798 and devoted to the deity that resided within an 11-headed Kanon statue. The current buildings were built in 1633 under orders from Tokugawa Iemitsu. It is a large temple complex that holds several famous sites and contains a good-sized shinto shrine. If you have time to only see one temple in Kyoto this would be it. Read more…

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  • Japan 15.03.2009 5 Comments

    Tokyo City Hall. The observation deck at the top is worth a visit!

    Tokyo City Hall. The observation deck at the top is worth a visit!

    I am tired of hearing Tokyo called an ugly city. In guide books, newspapers and travel Web sites I am constantly seeing people badmouth the aesthetics of the people of Tokyo. I first saw Tokyo in 1991 and most recently in 2006 I’ve lived there for periods of time on several occasions. Tokyo is a clean, beautiful, interesting city and does not at all deserve the bad rap it has received internationally. Read more…

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  • Japan 14.03.2009 No Comments

    The front entrance

    The front entrance

    In Nihombashi, Tokyo I found the flagship store for Mitsukoshi, a chain of department stores in Japan. Here it is on the map. Mitsukoshi is the oldest still-operating department store company in the world. It was founded in 1673 with the shop name “Echigoya.” Ten years later, Echigoya took a new approach to marketing. Instead of selling by going door-to-door, they set up a store where buyers could purchase goods. They must have known what they were doing because their flagship store is simply amazing. Read more…

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