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Unlike the original, the new Orguss is more angular, like its owner.
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Times have changed. Despite Mikimoto's obvious mastery of his style, his character designs haven't been seen for years.
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Never mess with a battery-driven robot.
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The Anime Video Archives
Orguss 2: Where giant robots (and worlds) collide.
February 11, 2000
Today's entry into the Anime Video Archives is an obscure sequel to an even more obscure series. Back in 1983, an anime series called Orguss debuted in Japan. Its mix of transformable mecha, beautiful women, and strange worlds were popular with the Japanese, especially since the anime utilized the services of various production staff members from the Macross, TV series, including legendary character designer, Haruhiko Mikimoto. In fact, it was popular enough at one time that it was rumored to be considered for generationhood in the classic American cartoon, Robotech. However, for whatever reason, it never made the cut in the States (although its toys did). The original series did arrive on tape, eventually, but the Robotech era had passed, and it vanished into obscurity.
Jumping into 1995, Manga Entertainment decides the sequel, a six-part OAV series, is strong enough to stand on its own, and brings it to America, where it came and went with nary a blip on the horizon. Now that anime's big these days, newer fans might want to give it a chance.
If nothing else, the storyline's pretty unusual. Imagine a civilization that's largely unaware of the events of the original Orguss series (you don't need to know, either -- the series is self-contained). What they do know is that two superpowers are at war, and they've discovered the Decimators -- giant robots far in advance of their own technology. So, archaeology is harnessed to uncover and revive as many of these Decimators. Little do the nations know that these robots come from their own future, and that the dimensional explosion in the past brought them here. Unfortunately, the most powerful robots and have their own agenda, and it's wanton destruction. Only the final survivor of the original dimensional rift, a descendant from another parallel world, and a young soldier can put the pieces back in place and send the Decimators back from whence they came.
Things to Watch For:
Despite the obscurity of the title, Orguss 2 is one of the reasons this archive was created in the first place. Its introduction sequence is virtually unique in the archive, with an unusually dissonant theme song by Hiroe Ueda. The animation is also equally striking, using a mix of conventional anime-style sequences with colored line drawings. One of the best techniques used here are the mattes, which block out the animated shapes of human bodies, capes, etc., to let the animators put animated patterns or additional footage over them. It's used in countless James Bond films to good advantage, and it works here, too.
The Introduction
- Intro -- small -- 7.1 MB
- Intro -- large -- 19.5 MB
Orguss 02 is currently available from Manga Entertainment.
Previous Articles
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