AoD Review: Gravion Vol. #1

[Chris Beveridge]

Review

[MalrocK]

A big fat, stinking, positive from me [img]/images/graemlins/catgirl0.gif[/img]. Great Obari character designs, check. Fanservice, check. Giant Robots, check. Lots and lots of girls, check. Nipples, buru buru!! Not yet [img]/images/graemlins/cry00000.gif[/img]

[Hamsterman]

[ QUOTE ]
Malrock said:
A big fat, stinking, positive from me [img]/images/graemlins/catgirl0.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Same here! Sorry you can't keep up Old Man Chris! [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[gnikdrazil]

Negative for me! Lots everything but an interesting plot. Give me Raxephon over this.

I'll agree with the AoD review that this is extremely cheezy, but then again I like cheezy shows. The first two episodes were alright, but I found myself really enjoying the 3rd (still got to watch the rest next week). I didn't expect much from this show outside giant robots, great character design, and a GONZO level quality work, and that's what I got. I just wish I hadn't bought the vol. 1 + box, and at Suncoast, double rip-off.

[MalrocK]

Chris, if you don't mind me asking, what was the reason that you enjoyed Mazinkaiser a lot more than Gravion? Was it the Go Nagai (I know you're not a big fan of his work, lol) character designs vs. the Obari character designs? Or was it the combining robot aspect? I rate them both about the same on the cheese factor scale, which is not a bad thing. I also think Mazinkaiser has more fanservice than Gravion. Thoughts?

Wow, I'm in agreement with Chris on this one. Whoda thunk it?

Yeah, Gravion strikes me as one of those titles where they just decided to throw as many kind of fan-skewing gimmicks together against the wall, go totally over-the-top with the delivery (minus the wit and satirical commentary that at least made the early moments of Nadesico enjoyable) and see what sticks. The only thing they didn't go overboard on was fan service, however evidently that dilemma gets resolved in Zwei.

One element that Chris didn't touch on was the dub quality... which is suitably absurd and polished. There were a lot of apt casting decisions here... even if VAs were sidled off more or less into their trademark roles. I'm actually not sure whether or not this material merits a dub of the quality it received. This detail essentially makes Gravion worthy viewing for dub fans even if the show itself isn't up to snuff.

On the bright side, it didn't outright annoy me like Witch Hunter Robin. So that's a plus.

[tuffy]

It sounds like the big difference is that Mazinkaiser doesn't reach the same level of outright fanservice. For instance, it doesn't feature any maid outfits, underage girls or highly out-of-proportion breasts. Instead, Mazinkaiser is set apart mostly by its over-the-top presentation on familiar hero robot stories.

[Fencedude]

Yes, Gravion is a big stupid robot show.

But thats the point.

Gravion achieves what it sets out to do, its just not trying to do anything incredibly deep.

[akcoll99]

I'm reserving judgment on the show as a whole because I know there's still 21 more episodes to come, but I enjoyed the first set of episodes. Of course it was over the top, but that was what made it fun. And Luna rocks! I just hope they don't forget the subplot involving Eiji's sister. And as for Mizuki's breasts, I never thought I'd say this, but they're just a bit TOO much. I don't know if I should drool or worry about her health. Maybe both, I don't know. Still, looking forward to the next volume... [img]/images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif[/img]