Otakuism

Once again my soul burns for hot-blood and mecha action, and after some searching I found this super robot show that just premiered this season, even though I never heard of it. Kotetsushin Jeeg is the sequel to Steel Jeeg, another super robot show from the seventies, both of which are created by Go Nagai. Not that it matters that this Jeeg is a sequel, since it’s a whole new cast. In a Japan sometime in the future, Kyushuu lies completely enveloped in a magnetic storm cloud, shutting it off from society. This is apparently a result of Jeeg’s final battle fifty years ago. None of this matters to Kusanagi Kenji, a hot-blooded, if slightly stupid, high schooler and motorcycle racer. There’s also his friend/rival Misumi Kyou, pretty boy extraordinaire. Tamashiro Tsubaki serves as Kenji’s childhood freind, probable love interest, and miko at the local shrine. For an unknown reason, the storm around Kyushuu activates and a Haniwa Genjin appears, a monster composed of clay statues. Build Base, commanded by the old man Senjiro Shiba, immediately moves into action.

Kenji, however, is clueless, and after driving to Tsubaki’s shrine to rescue her is met by an old lady who gives him a brand new, hi-tech bike. Kenji uses this new bike to flee from the monster further, but it is useless. The monster is unstoppable and has already taken down fighters and battleships sent after it. Three futuristic looking fighter jets appear, apparently to rescue Kenji, but end up shooting at him instead. The pilots are also incredibly hot girls in weird leotards carrying katana. One even wears an eyepatch, just so you know. Another jet appears, to save Kenji for real this time, and is piloted by Tsubaki and Ryou. It launches the Jeeg parts that combine with Kenji’s new bike, forming Kotetsushin Jeeg. Kenji uses Jeeg’s strength and flexiblity to get out of a tight spot and is now ready to fight the monster and take him down.

I’m already a super robot fan, so it doesn’t take much to make me happy. Hot-blooded characters, nice mecha design, and a lot of yelling work. Nice looking girls also help. Since this is a Go Nagai project, I’m sure to get all of these. Jeeg doesn’t really feel as epic as Gurren-Lagann, more like a retro series redone, which it is I guess. Right now there’s a lot of mysteries: What happened fifty years ago, who is attacking now, who were those hot girl fighter pilots, etc. But I’m sure that will all be cleared up soon. Jeeg has an alright design, very retro, but the colors seem odd. He also looks to be very mobile and powerful, more flexible than other robots. The rest of the animation is good, with usual Go Nagai character designs. Men with thick, curly hair; women with large breasts, very non-descript background characters, a retro feel overall. The OP is by Jam Project, but it’s not their best work. I really didn’t like it at all. I’ll probably enjoy Jeeg, but I’d only reccomend it now for people already familiar with the super robot genre. It looks to be a winner in that department.