TGWTG User Blogs

I'm in a stage of writers block unfortunately. I can't think of a topic for my next ‘Things the World Doesn't need' rant, and I have an idea for a new top 6, but its low on contenders. I've already done two reviews in a row, and there's not much original material to try and review. So why not jump on the existing bandwagon that is nostalgia and try and spark a long lost cherished childhood memory in people by reviewing something I, and maybe others grew up with. I hate selling out when it doesn't revolve around money.

Back when I was a child, aged 12-13 (do you ever remember what year you watched these shows?) anime was the best way to make a quick buck on children's TV. Taking Japanese animation, in all its original style, dumbing it down for kids (4kids you assclowns) and putting it on TV with a line of merchandise that takes on the series' use of collectible characters and you have a better way to make money than when Chester A. Bum went to see Speed Racer, started talking about it in the street, and subsequently got more change than ever before. Cha-Ching. Or more appropriately: Cha-Yen. So, in the UK's kids channels at least, with Pokemon dominating the children's prime time for years, and kids already salivating over the freshly released Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (ah our first anime to feature Bishonen, and we had no idea), Fox Kids decided it would be a good idea to combine these two diverse elements of collectible battle monsters and Japanese robots armed to the teeth with guns, swords and the like and put them together. Thus we have Medabots, an anime (originally spawning from a video game series) that revolves around Japanese collectible battle robots armed to the teeth with guns, swords and the like. The main selling point however, was that it kicked ass.

Medabots featured a sweet animation style, original characters, a reliance on bizarre comedy, and an improvement over already well established ideas. The series took the intense action of Gundam, removing all political appeal, and used reliance on the half-serious nature of Pokemon that turned Jesse and James (the worst in evil puns) into household names. Overall I didn't think Medabots was as good as Gundam Wing, but it was easily better than Pokemon. But then again when you compare Medabots well written story to the boring escapades of Ash and chums you'll see comparisons are futile.

Let's get the story into this now.
Medabots is set in a very not too distant future (22^nd century, which the pretty lame opening credits proudly proclaims), where mankind has achieved what others thought to be impossible: AI. However unlike The Terminator, The Matrix, Battle Star Galactica, The Incredibles and just about every other Sci-fi featuring ass-holeish and ungrateful robots, we enslave them, give them a strong arsenal of weapons and force them to do battle with one another. I actually find this a lot more plausible than most shows of a similar nature, like Yu-gi-oh and Beyblade. There, card games and spinning tops are hot shit, and dominate their own respective universes. In Medabots the fighting tools are robots; it's a spectacle worth taking over all the TV stations in the world for. Same goes for Pokemon.
Anyway the series starts off with some geeky kid getting his precious robot totalled by a feisty ‘Medafighter' (keep up with the ludicrous lingo) named Samantha and her impressive Medabot Peppercat. The Medabots themselves are about the size of a small child, have interchangeable parts (two arms, legs and a torso), have voices and personalities and communicate with their medafighter using a watch (a medawatch...). They can take part in robattles whenever two medafighters are willing, and will continue till the Torso section of the body accumulates total damage.
After the geeky kid cries and runs, a boy nearby, our hero Ikki Tenryou, remarks on how badly the winner won, with his own unneeded commentary. However despite being a self-proclaimed expert on Medabots, he's too dirt poor and his parents too cheap to get him one, so he's constantly ostracized by his peers, minus his best friend, the tom-boy Erika, the school's resident journalist, who reminds me of Tomoyo from Cardcaptor Sakura, except she's nothing like her. Ikki mopes near a river when he spots a medal (yeah I forgot, the Medabots brain is called a medal, a hexagonal piece of gold that contains a chip inside that slots into the back of the Medabot. The fight ends when the Medabot is knocked out and the medal flies out of their back, landing with a jingling sound, an interesting self-installed-bell to end a fight) that we saw dropped by a mysterious vigilante in the show's opening. Lucky day! All he needs now is the entire Medabot. But alas, his parents still deny it to him. Jesus Christ, the greatest invention of the 22^nd Century that would not only end your son's continuing misery but also be an aid around the house and you can't be stuffed to loan your son the money? Fair enough.
I mean Ikki can be pretty picky himself. At the local Medabot store, he and Erika look at the available models, but on announcing he has next to dirt in his wallet, the shopkeeper Henry shows him a cheaper model that Ikki can actually afford. The prodigal son however laughs at this offer, to the point where he and Erika are chased out the shop. Beggars can't be choosers I guess. They can also be spoilt little SOBs.
Eventually we get to the first dramatic incident: A group of thugs push around Ikki and Erika, so Ikki does the bold thing and runs away. It's OK; he's working on a plan. He eventually comes across an old man selling baby chickens, and let me say here and now: This man is the greatest character in the history of anime. Whenever a character is in a moral dilemma, this guy Is there not only to promote his line of fowl, but also to give them advice that is somehow always relevant. It's so hilarious how the characters take to heart everything this man says, when really he's just trying to sell them a baby chicken. Honest to God if I ever see this guy in the street I will buy all his chicks, buy him dinner, buy him a new home...anything to repay him for the moments of laughter and originality he bestowed upon anime.
Ikki takes the chick-man's advice to ‘take what he can get' and buries his pride and buys the cheap-o Medabot. He arrives back with his new mechanical sidekick...but he does bugger all. The Medabot just takes a pounding from the thugs Medabots until eventually it looks all over as one of the thugs robo-thugs is about to blow him away with a ‘Bombarder'. Finally the aptly named ‘Metabee' jumps into action (after some verbal abuse by Ikki), dodging, punching and shooting the robots down to size. A day saved. As Ikki goes to introduce himself to his new partner, Metabee proceeds to fire what I assume are harmless bullets (no way Fox Kids would ever let real bullets slide) at Ikki for insulting him. And this is why Metabee kicks Pikachu's ass. Whilst the two have many things in common; a hatred of being cooped up in a watch or a poke ball, a strange symbiotic relationship with their master and a strange, hidden talent, Pikachu has absolutely no attitude problem with Ash, whilst Metabee takes forever just to warm up to Ikki.

So that's the first episode, and subsequent episodes for the first series follow the same formula. Ikki and Erika are doing...something, and eventually end up in a situation that leads to a Ro-battle. For most of the first episodes, Ikki never loses a match, and it's weird that his first loss is actually against a group of one-time-episode characters. Hmmm. After a while more characters are introduced, including the primary antagonists, the Rubber Robo gang, but overall the first season was definitely the developing season. However let's get more into those characters.

Ikki as our hero is a perfect choice. He bears the same yearn as your average collect-athon hero to be the best there is, but compared to Ash and his clones, he's pretty different. His idea of morality isn't always the righteous choice, and he's by no means the best of best when it comes to Medabots. He's a little timid, but ultimately he's a strong main character that isn't off putting.
Metabee is a great sidekick. He's stubborn, arrogant and usually thinks without thinking, leading both him and Ikki into trouble. What I liked is the bond between him and Ikki takes a while to build up. Compare it Pokemon and how it only took one episode for Pikachu to warm up to Ash, whilst here it takes a whole season. His design is pretty cool as well. Despite being an outdated Medabot, his weapons are pretty kickass, as he sports a dual rapid fire gun on one arm, a slower but more powerful single cannon on his other arm and the antenna on his head double as a missile seeker.
Erika acts as a foil and voice of conscience to Ikki, but ultimately only follows him around because she knows he'll wind up in trouble, allowing her and her camera girl Brass (her Medabot) to get a decent story. She never has much impact on the events on the story, but is essential in the shows formula.

In a later episode, Ikki and Erika and their Medabots go to some rich ass private school to seek a ‘legendary Medafighter'. Though their quest never really turns out successfully, they meet two new ‘friends' who become key characters in the show.
The first is Koji Karakuchi, a very experienced Medafighter who fits the role as Ikki's rival. He's snooty and extremely full of himself, but of course he buries his pride to team up with Ikki on many occasions. His Medabot Sumilidon is pretty cool, a sabre-tooth type with a giant sword on his right arm. Overall, as the rival character he's awesome.
They also meet Karin, a very bizarre love interest for Ikki and Koji. Despite being insanely rich, she cleans ‘as a hobby', and is considered to be the ‘legendary Medafighter' because no one ever dared to challenge her because of her gentle nature. She's pretty dense; hardly even noticing the fact that Ikki and Koji are at each other's throats half the time over her, so all in all and original take on the ‘cute-and-oh-so-innocent-girl' archetype.
Later the group meet a mysterious lone Medabot named Rokusho. He's a strong warrior, but he barely chooses to fight during the series. He definitely carries the ‘Ronin' (lone samurai) persona, as he believes strongly in honour and duty. It's revealed that his previous owner, doctor Husho, the creator of Medabots, was killed in a fire, leaving him alone.
Finally we have Henry, the storeowner from which Ikki bought Metabee. He's quite funny in that he's such a simpleton, yet when later in the series we meet the mysterious vigilante, The Phantom Renegade, it's so obvious that it's Henry in disguise, yet no one takes notice. The Phantom himself is quite interesting; he looks like a thin Tuxedo Mask (from Sailor Moon), complete with top hat, if he wore a smiley facemask. Later in the series we meet the No. 1 ranked Medafighter in Japan, Space Medafighter X, who again is blatantly the Phantom but with a different mask and outfit. Even when X has his golden mask cut in half, which falls off and reveals his white phantom mask, the characters are still surprised. It's pretty hilarious.

But I give a whole lone paragraph to a character whose epic-ness and contribution to the series is only narrowly beaten by thatguwiththechicks (chortle chortle). He is a myth, a man, a legend, ladies and gentlemen, give it up, for Mr. Referee! That's right, a character who appears for every single Robattle wearing a white shirt, black trousers and a big red bow tie, who comes in solely to referee the match. At first we have no idea how this man, who's real name is unknown, always knows when there's a Robattle, later we learn it's by satellite. Well of course. But seriously, could you imagine if you were about to have a brawl in the streets, when suddenly a man who looks like a cross between Gary Oldman and a Mexican shows up to judge the match? Whoever wins matters not; this guy is the true victor.

The first season concerns Ikki building his status as a Medafighter, till he meets the main villains of the series, the Rubber Robo gang, a team of criminals whose name comes from the skin tight outfits they constantly sport. Ew. The main four of the members of the gang that the team always meet act as a dysfunctional family, whose schemes to obtain rare Medabot medals are constantly thwarted by the main characters. It turns out their goals are much more sinister than first told, and in the first seasons finale, their methods become far more cruel.

When a talking robot parakeet allegedly belonging to Rukusho's former master appears and blames Dr. Akki (Karin's Uncle, who's the leading technician on Medabots) for it, causing Rokusho to try and kill him, setting his house ablaze. Metabee defends Dr. Akki, easily defeating Rokusho who is being blinded by anger. However suddenly Rokusho unleashes a deadly one shot attack on Metabee, defeating him. As the team escape from the burning blaze, Rokusho and the Rubber Robo Gang's newest demon-like Medabot, Robo Emperor, we later learn this ability is the ‘Medaforce', a skill belonging to Medabots who possess a rare medal. Later, when Robo Emperor attacks Rokusho, upon him learning that the parakeet had been reprogrammed to lie about Husho's death, Metabee defends him, cheesily displaying the Medaforce, showing he has a rare medal too. The day is saved until the next story arc.

The second season concerns the fact that now Ikki is ranked 3^rd in Japan's Medafighters (OK...that's not coincidental), whilst Koji is the second and Space Medafighter X is the first (that's much less coincidental). As Rokusho departs for a while, the Rubber Robo gang continue their attempts to gain a hold of Metabee's rare medal, using a new set of evil robots and the like.

The third season obviously continued into the Medabot world tournament. Here the main antagonists are still the Rubber Robo gang, but now it's also all the countries Team Japan (who still consists of Ikki and Koji, however Henry is always replaced as Space Medafighter X by other characters, since everyone knows he's now the vigilante the Phantom Renegade) face, including France, Egypt and the reigning champions Team Kenya, whose' leader Victor is essentially the biggest rival to them. I won't get into the outcome of the tournament, or the series' finale, but what I will talk about is one plot point that truly shocked the audience.

Earlier in the series, Ikki and Metabee receive a bootleg of the ‘forgotten Robattle', the final of a long lost Medabot world tournament. But as soon as the fight is about to start, the tape switches to some botanist show, as it had been taped over. Eyebrow raising...
Finally it's revealed that after this battle, an event known as ‘The 10 Days of Darkness' occurred. This is when some strange force caused all Medabots to revolt against their owners, either enslaving them or killing them. Holy Horribafirkus! That's extremely dark for such a light series as this! This period of mass massacre was eventually ended by Hikaru Agata (another secret identity of Henry, who at the time was Japans no. 1 Medafighter, who was falsely blamed for starting the 10 days), who destroyed his own Medabot, the cause of the revolt; the original Metabee (who later became Space Medafighter X's Medabot, Arc Beetle). Though this section was cut down so it didn't quite make sense, obviously for the youthful audience, it was still a huge dip in the light tone for the series, and definitely one of its defining moments.

There were a number of other important episodes in the series, here's a couple that stuck with me:

In a two-episode part, a local Medafighter tournament is announced, but shortly before it takes place Ikki and Metabee have an argument. Metabee, acting on his own accord, makes his way to the finals, but is paired against Koji and Sumilidon, a fight he can't win without Ikki. Though Ikki tries to reconcile with his partner, a misunderstanding leads Metabee to believe Ikki was putting the fight up for bets, so he disregards him once again...and gets his ass handed to him in the fight. Koji, annoyed by being denied a decent match, challenges Ikki to a rematch. However, after the fight, Ikki loses Metabee's medal, which was picked up by the Rubber Robo gangs most dim-witted member. Ikki's friends convince him to get his medal back (which is hilariously done by the Principal allowing them to skip school. "A lost Medabot? That's serious business..."), which after some battling, he accomplishes. Reunited and reconciled, Ikki and Metabee defeat Koji with the totally unorthodox strategy of Metabee using himself as a projectile.
The episodes themselves have little relevance to the story, but I thought they were great in building the relationship between Ikki and his partner, and shows that a little disagreement can go a long way.

Another episode that stayed with me was when Ikki has but an hour left before the final rankings for the top three Japanese Medabots are finalized for the world championship, and an earlier defeat had placed him in 4^th. The nearest person he could fight to regain 3^rd spot was Space Medafighter X, and to make matters worse, Metabee was nearly down for the count after fighting the Rubber Robo Gang. The odds seemed against him, however he was given a boost by all the other characters, who give Metabee parts from their respective Medabots, even Koji, who gives Ikki Sumilladon's tiger speed legs. It was like a culmination of all that Ikki had done, and now it was rewarding him.
Though he fights well, Arc Beetle dominates him, but Ikki comes back, only for one of the Rubber Robo gang to interfere. As if the battle couldn't get any more brilliant, the Rubber Robo's Medabot attacks Mr. Referee, who retaliates by shooting a laser from space. Wow. This is brought to a climactic end when the Rubber Robo's most powerful Medabot, Mega Emperor, shows up for one last battle. Phew. And that's not even the end of the second season.

The last notable episode is the final round of the Medabot world tournament, which pits Team Japan vs. Team Kenya. No surprises there. It's just a ball to the walls fight with Ikki and Koji joined by some technician woman (can't remember her name...) using one of my favourite Medabots, Belzelga. Faces smashed in, Medabots ripped to shreds, Medabots using other Medabots as robotic shields, Medabots self destructing on one another, it's total hell.
It ends with Metabee vs. Warbandit, Victor's Medabot, as the two have a futile shooting match before finally Ikki decides to resort to using the Medaforce, only for Warbandit to retaliate with the exact same attack! Awesome...though cheesy. The episode ends as the two unleash their final attacks, leaving us with a continuation that will blow the viewers mind.

OK so I think the general favouritism of the series is established, now for why I like it.

For one the animation doesn't feel so mainstream and computer generated like most anime of the time. It feels very hand drawn and very classic in its character design and special effects. That's not to say it's crappy in any departments, nor is there a total lack of CGI. It's just a great example of what can be achieved with traditional techniques.

The comedy was also another highlight of the series. The show doesn't take itself that seriously, and rightly so, it wouldn't fit the character design or the character's personality. In terms of actual jokes, it's sometimes lacking, but it introduces certain concepts that are laughable, and their meant to be laughable. I remember the episode in which The Phantom Renegade hits himself hard on the head, and the next day Ikki coincidently has a plaster from where he slipped on his bathroom floor. Then, some Scottish/ass hole reporter accuses him of being the vigilante, despite the fact it's obvious that a young teenage kid couldn't possibly fit the outfit, and no one ever brings up this argument. More and more evidence comes out against Ikki, but the whole time no one ever thinks that Henry having a plaster on his head is at all suspicious. He's just Henry the Medabot storeowner, how can he possibly be the Phantom?
In a similar episode, Ikki, the feisty girl Samantha and her gang ‘The Screws' are practically killed by their insane Gym Teacher: Coach Mountain. He makes them run a ludicrous amount of laps, to the point where their near dead. The characters start to question his motives when they see him handling a huge wad of cash, and training a Medabot, which he despises. They come up with completely ridiculous theories, like that he might be selling their sweat to corporations so he can use it on his Medabot, and his ‘no Medabot' persona is just to throw them off. In the end it turns out he's actually trying to earn money so he can beat these thugs at a Robattle, thus winning the land to build a children's play area on. It's so unexpected yet kind of logical that...Jesus it's just fucking funny.

One thing I would criticize the series for it's final battles for each season (not so much the first though) are kind of cheesy and always feel second best to the battles beforehand. Example? Well in the second season, I told you how there was that huge slugfest between Metabee, Arc Beetle, Mega Emperor and the Rubber Robo gang, and in the end the final battle is between a Giant Mega Emperor controlled by the Rubber Robo's leader, and it's not that great a fight.
And then, the third season, the huge battle between Japan and Kenya, going to a battle between a giant ‘Baby' Medabot and a giant Metabee controlled by the other Medabots. What is it with the creator's choice to use Giant Medabots in Sentai (that's Power Rangers to you pants on head silly American children) style finales? It's extremely cheesy.

I had to grow up with the English dub, and it's pretty good. None of the voices are ‘annoying', and overall the actors really felt like they were into what they were voicing. All the voices fitted perfectly, from Koji's smug, cool yet vain voice to Victor's deep Kenyan accent. The Medabots also sounded great, using some great voice effects to get that ‘robot' sound.

Well, I think that's all I need to say about this series. It was probably the best anime I ever remember seeing on TV. At a time where the heavy censors and lacklustre dub of Gundam Wing were too much for me, and Dragon ball Z moved slower than a last place Olympic 1500m Walker, Medabots was now the hot shit, and also most tempted me to run across the Atlantic Ocean to US robotics to tell them to get a move on with harmful child battle toy-robots. On returning, I think I'll go back to America and convince someone to get this gem on DVD. Or I could send an email.

And now I leave you with the immortal words of Mr. Referee, may you keep them in your mind when you're in trouble. They won't help you, that's thatguywiththechick's job, but they'll make you laugh in your hour of tragedy:

"Then it's agreed! This will be a submission robattle. The first Medabot to cease functioning loses, and the loser must submit one Medapart to the winner, for keeps. I, Mr. Referee, shall act as referee so no one gets hurt. Medafighters ready? Medabots, robattle!"

Thanks for Reading, feel free to discuss.

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