Madou King Granzort

Made in the same vein as another Sunrise mecha show, Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru, Madou King Granzort is a child-friendly show about chibi characters fighting in super robots on the moon to save the world. The plot of each episode tends to fall into a monster of the week format, where the protagonists explore a new part of the moon, encounter a villain, and defeat it; however, this structure is abandoned in the later episodes as the plot gets concluded, as is typical for children's shows of this nature. There are plenty of light-hearted, comedic moments, but they manage not to be mind-numbingly dumb. Additionally, sincethis show is aimed at young children, the humour is not ecchi, which is a plus. The characters are the typical optimistic, happy-go-lucky shonen protagonists and evil, snarly villains who must be defeated to save the world. What this show stands out in is the visuals and worldbuilding. The worldbuilding is rich and detailed, as the pre-attack segments of each show focus on exploring the goofy, strange world. The animation is quite excellent, with the bright, vibrant colours and crisp cel-animated aesthetics typical in better-animated 80s/90s anime. There are plenty of reused transformation and attack sequences, but the animation in these sequences -- especially the transformation sequences -- is very smooth and colourful, so seeing these beautiful sequences multiple times isn't necessarily a bad thing. The world is a magical fantasy world with a few modern or sci-fi elements thrown in, such as mechs and vehicles, which makes the world feel very similar to Dragon Ball. The similarities to Dragon Ball are furthered in the villains wearing uniforms very similar to those of the Ginyu Force, which I found neat, as well as an attack that involves throwing an energy ball, much like in the Kamehameha. The similarities to other anime continue in that the mechs are giant heads that transform into mechs, much like in Gurren Lagann. Additionally, the interiors of the enemy mechs are reminiscent of the interiors of the Gunmen, and the exteriors of the enemy mechs are similar to the first enemy mechs encountered in Gurren Lagann. Since Granzort seems to be quite popular in Asia, despite having flown under the radar of Western audiences, I wonder how much inspiration Gurren Lagann took from Granzort! Overall, I really enjoyed this anime. I loved the animation, the comedy, the fusion of mechs and fantasy, and the exploration of the world the most. I was rarely bored watching this anime and found it very interesting. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys childish anime, retro anime, or mecha anime. It is wholesome and has has cool fights/mechs and wonderful animation.

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