Superdimensional Century Orguss 02

Director
Fumihiko Takayama
Production
Bandai, Big West, MBS
Country of origin
Japan
Format
OVA
Running time
6 episodes
Year
1993

Orguss 02

By noghri
22nd Jun 05

Technical Details
Director Fumihiko Takayama
Certificate 15 years and over
Year 1994
Screen Full screen 4:3
Languages English (dubbed) - Dolby Digital (5.1)
Additional Languages Dolby Digital (2.0) Stereo: English ; Japanese
Subtitles English
Duration 3 hours (approx)

The Background and Story

The original Super Dimension Century Orguss came out during the heyday of Japanese giant robot cartoons: the early 1980s. Gundam, Macross -- the airwaves were full of tales of brave young men and their mecha fighting for truth, justice, and synth-pop soundtrack albums. Orguss tried to differentiate itself from its kin by mixing in a few historical anachronisms, courtesy of a “time space bomb” which let the writers cross genres to give the series a lively, if occasionally incoherent, quality. ORGUSS 1 dealt with the effects of a Space Time Oscillation Bomb which caused four parallel universes to overlap, putting Japanese fighter pilot Kei Katsuragi into an altered earth where he finds himself in the company of a ship full of Emaan, a humanoid race with lots of pretty girls with whom he has lots of adventures.

Orguss 02 picks up from the original 35-episode television series for a 6-part direct-to-video adventure. 200 years after the various parallel dimensions of Orguss collapsed together at that series’ climax,

Video:

Orguss 02 was made in 1994, and it has been preserved very well. I had to really examine the picture closely to find the few scratches that were on the print. The color was not extremely bright, but it did not appear to be faded.

Packaging:

The front cover features the hero of the story, Lean, in a soldier’s uniform holding a gun with the Orguss 02 unit in the background. The English logo appears on top. The back cover features four shots from the show, one paragraph describing the show, and a technical overview of the show. All six episode names are listed on the back. Inside, there’s an insert that can double as a really awful looking poster. Twelve chapter stops are also listed on the insert.

Menu:

The main menu looks like the HUD (heads up display) from inside of a Decimator (mecha); we get video clips from the show. The options are simple: Play, Chapters, Set-Up, and Features. The Set-up menu gives no indications what language options you have chosen. The menu system is extremely fast though.

Extras:
This features adverts for Manga Entertainment Shows and the Manga collection (back catalogue).The only extra is a picture gallery, that features some shots from the show, and some of the VHS covers.

The story:

The Human civilization has split itself into two Cold War style superpowers, Rivilia and Zafrin. These two opposing armies race to unearth these massive machines of war, the devastating weapons known as Decimators. 200 years has passed since they first appeared and as more of these vast robots are reactivated, the world moves ever closer to another all-out-war, drawing innocent victims into the deadly conflict. The story is told from the point of view of Lean, a young man who wants nothing more than to be a mechanic, and it is during the pursuit of this dream while he is excavating submerged decimators (macross style piloted mecha), that he is dragged into the action and has to learn to pilot the armour to survive, does anyone else recognize the cliché?

Anyway he, despite being able to pilot the decimator, is not allowed to join the army and pilot one. But he does join the imperial guard to get some money fast. Therefore the story is now told from the point of the Ravilia. Unfortunately for Lean, who apparently hasn’t been paying attention to the story so far, war breaks out. The ensuing battle changes Lean`s life irretrievably as he sets out on a risky mission to infiltrate a secret Zafrin base and eliminate their Decimators. Deep in enemy territory, the mission goes horribly wrong and Lean is hurled into a whirlwind of subterfuge, intrigue and relentless gunfire.

In typical fashion the Zafrins are the bad guys and so they speak in a different language a kind of faux-Slavic gibberish. The royal court of Rivilia, in standard mecha show fashion, is plagued by backstabbing, power-mad nobles. You can go through the rest of the “80s mecha show” checklist fairly quickly. Spunky young hero with an uncanny ability to pilot giant robots with no training Check. Sneaky military commander who plays both sides but really has a secret sense of honor? Check. Beautiful but mysterious girl with special powers? Check. Old man with super-science saves the day? Check.

The plot is laid out in bold strokes. Both superpowers dig up the old mecha from two centuries before and pick at one another, until one side (Zafrin) finds an even bigger and more deadly giant robot that upsets the balance of power. War starts, and things look pretty bad for our heroes, until at the last moment, the new king, shows his secret weapon which he didn’t want to use because it might damage his garden. But despite this he does eventually fire it up and quickly dispatch the enemy. This is where the story line goes off on a bit of a tangent, in my opinion the best part of the story. The former hero of the Ravilia our star Lean now turns against the imperial guard and the royal family to save a girl who he owes his life to. They then are rescued by a stranger who turns out to be a robot from the future with the answers to their prayers but will it be enough and soon enough to make a difference? Stay tuned to find out. Or buy it and watch it.

Honestly, it is not as bad as it sounds. Orguss 02 might be something we have seen before and possibly better elsewhere, but it is kind of fun. The cross-genre art design (Renaissance costuming and architecture mixed with futurist technology) while not completely original in the anime world is changing throughout the story and the seasons. The story and characters may be full of clichés, but the plot is pretty enjoyable and character motivations are fairly consistent. The animation is good for a decade-old OAV series. And fans of old-school mecha combat should find this a couple of hours of solid entertainment.

Just don’t ask why you can get the sequel Orguss 02 on DVD and not the original series it is based on. Some things even super-science cannot figure out. Probably along the lines as to why robotech is only just getting released now when we have been crying out for it since we first experienced the adventure.

The over all story is quite interesting and I found myself actually paying attention which is a good sign of anime series of this age, sometimes I can switch off after a bit and look at the pretty pictures. I thought the story left little to be desired and the animation was good, the battles were not brilliant, but entertaining and the final battles are exciting. If you enjoy mecha anime in general or if you a fan of old macross, robotech or Gundam then you should enjoy this. And it’s even featured in the summer sale at play right now so very cheap.

7/10

-- noghri 22nd Jun 05

Superdimensional Century Orguss 02 Images