Ask John: Are There Any Super Robot Anime on the Horizon?

Question:
I am a huge fan of Jim Terry’s original Force Five. I realize these are watered down versions of anime overseas, but for me, this was the first taste of super robot anime I’ve ever seen. This is also my favorite genre. I’ve seen the new Getter Robo and Mazinkaiser anime and loved them. I see Gaiking was remade in Japan late last year. Are there any plans to remake any other “old school” super robot anime? If there are, is there any hope they will be licensed for distribution in the US?

Answer:
Giant robot anime, specifically the heroic, bombastic “super” robot genre of anime (opposed to serious, realistic and military themed robot anime), has always been a staple of anime, but its prominence seems to have diminished since the 1970s and 80s. I don’t know of very many action oriented, exciting giant robot anime in the works, but there are a few titles that fans can anticipate.

The Super Robot Wars OG ~Divine Wars~ television series premiered earlier this month. Although related to the classic super robots of yesterday, the Super Robot Wars Original Generation anime isn’t a remake or revival. Banpresto’s Super Robot Taisen strategy role playing games have made a reputation of pitting countless famous giant robots against each other in combat. In more recent years, the video game franchise began including original characters and robots. The current Super Robot Wars anime stars those original characters and their robots.

Last August, Masami Obari, the director behind mecha anime including Dangaizer-3 and Ginsou Kikou Ordian, announced that he would direct a revival of the 1985 robot anime Choujuu Kishin Dancougar next year. Obari may be well suited to reviving the “Super Beastial Machine God Dancougar” franchise as he was the mecha designer for the original series.

And just this week Tohokushinsha announced that Production IG is developing a remake of the 1975 super robot anime series Yuusha Raideen (“Brave Raideen”). The early images of the new Reideen anime resemble, in my eyes, Tatsunoko’s Karas more than the original Raideen, but Production IG should be reliable for creating something impressive and worthwhile.

There’s no lack of giant robot anime available in America, but relatively little of it has ever been tremendously successful in America. The fact that Media Blasters has released three different robot anime series recently – Voltron, Gaogaiger, and Kirameki Project – should establish that robot anime is still a viable genre for American acquisition and release. However, I can’t make any predictions about Super Robot Wars, Shin Dancougar, and Reideen. I estimate that Super Robot Wars OG probably has even odds of eventually seeing an American release. There’s presently too little information available about Shin Dancougar and Reideen to allow me to make any predictions.