Line #8 Anime/Zambot3


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6	[[caption-width-right:350: [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids Child soldiers and destructive saviors and suicide bombers, oh my!]]]]
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9	''Zambot 3'', or more fully, ''Invincible Super Man Zambot 3'', is a 1977-1978 anime series by long-standing mecha anime studio Creator/{{Sunrise}} and Creator/YoshiyukiTomino. It was Sunrise's first completely in-house production.
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11	Despite consisting of pretty standard SuperRobot fare, ''Zambot 3'' stands out for three things, with the first two coming out of the third. Firstly, it had a DownerEnding. Secondly, it featured child abuse on an unprecedented level for a children's show. And thirdly, it was one of the earliest attempts at a Deconstruction of the SuperRobot genre. The general story is that [[AlienInvasion Earth is being invaded by aliens known as the Gaizok]], which are chasing after the survivors of another planet they ruined, who came [[AlienAmongUs to live and hide on earth.]] However, these refugees left behind two weapons - [[CoolStarship King Beal]] and [[SuperRobot Zambot 3]], for their descendants to use. Cue MonsterOfTheWeek format.
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13	Still, the show stands out because it isn't ''just'' 'MonsterOfTheWeek.' As our lead hero Kappei Jin and his allies fight the Gaizok, ''countless'' homes and towns are [[DestructiveSavior demolished in the process]], and whereas some later series such as, say, ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR'' would just play it all for laughs, Zambot [[{{Deconstruction}} plays it all completely straight]], in which the people they're trying to protect see them as just as much as a threat to them as the Gaizok and despise them.
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15	Although the show has gained a well-deserved reputation as a game-changer in the robot anime genre, it, like its successor ''Gundam'', wasn't particularly popular at the time and has achieved that distinction retroactively.
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17	In addition, the show's dark themes hindered international distribution: to date, the series' only official release in the West has been in Italy, where the show aired in 1981, a year ''after'' ''Gundam'' (and even then, being shown only on a series of regional channels, never nationwide). However, the series is available for viewing online with English subtitles.
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19	----
20	!!''Zambot 3'' provides examples of:
21	* AcePilot: The ace pilot Kappei literally pilots a robot called Zambo Ace.
22	* AIIsACrapshoot: [[spoiler:The BigBad is]] an alien super computer.
23	* AlienAmongUs: The Jin Family descended from Planet Beal, which has been destroyed by the Gaizok long ago. This being a Creator/YoshiyukiTomino work, it is deconstructed: The Jin Family is ostracized, being seen as a menace and generally unwelcome in Earth.
24	* AlienInvasion: Just as standard SuperRobot show in the age, it's about the heroes defending from the marauding aliens known as Gaizok, who has previously destroyed their home planet.
25	* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: Averted with the 1981 Italian dub, which kept the original Japanese themes. This was unusual at the time for the Italian market, where redubbed anime series were usually given new Italian-language theme songs which were marketed as 45 RPM singles.
26	* AntiHero: Kappei starts off as an , arrogant, immature {{Jerkass}} who has to be coerced into doing heroic deeds and casually insults other people including his family members. While he becomes less of a jerk through CharacterDevelopment, he will at times run into an emotional dilemma, generally stemming from civilian backlash against him and the other survivors from Planet Beal.
27	* AnyoneCanDie: Just to be sure, you did read [[Creator/YoshiyukiTomino who directed this anime]], right? Now with him on the director's seat unlike [[Anime/VoltesV the last time]], the trope goes on full throttle.
28	* AttackItsWeakPoint: Most Mecha-Boosts are so heavily armoured that this is the only way to defeat them.
29	* TheBattlestar: King Beal for the heroes, the Bandok for the villains.
30	* BigFriendlyDog: Kappei's [[AmazingTechnicolorWildlife oddly purple-furred]] hound, Chiyonishiki.
31	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The series ultimately ends with many innocents killed, much of Japan completely wrecked, and several members of Kappei's family dead, including his teammates - but also with Gaizok's assessment that HumansAreBastards proven wrong, as a crowd of people flock to Kappei to finally cheer him as a hero.]]
32	* BloodlessCarnage: Whenever a human bomb explodes, the human completely vanishes.
33	* BreakTheCutie: Might as well call this series "BreakTheCutie - The Anime". Kappei started out as an up and coming kid, even if he may be a bit of a jerk. Over the course of the series, he lost a lot of his positive outlook and became more jaded even if he would still fight to protect the Earth. Being shunned, losing friends and family, seeing how brutal the Gaizok could be while having to be a ChildSoldier too early for his age will do that to him.
34	* CallingYourAttacks: Zambot Team does this when attacking Mech Boosts with their respective machines and Zambot 3.
35	* ChekhovsVolcano
36	* CharacterDevelopment: Despite the massive {{Deconstruction}} here and there, it still contained some traditional development. Kappei learns to be less of an asshole kid and put more priority in protecting other people than just trying to show off. Kouzuki started off as an extremely unreasonable {{Jerkass}} despite the available justifications, but over time, he grew to respect Kappei (and vice versa) and became one of his best non-robot fighting human allies.
37	* ChildSoldiers: The Zambot Team are this and [[spoiler: only Kappei makes it out alive in the finale]].
38	* CombiningMecha: Zambot 3 is formed by combining the Zambo Ace, Zambull and Zambase.
39	* CoolShip: King Beal is this, serving as the mobile headquarters of Zambot Team and their family and relatives.
40	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: In one episode, Butcher captures a bunch of peace negotiators and ties them to giant balloons floating in the sky in order to use them as target practice, making them fall to their deaths when he hits the balloons.
41	* DeathIsDramatic: At least, it becomes so - in the first few episodes, civilian casualties seem to be completely shrugged off.
42	* {{Deconstruction}}: One of the first, if not ''the'' first, when it comes to [[SuperRobot the Super Robot genre]], eighteen years before ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. However, the show just never really caught on, though recently, it's started to get a bit more attention.
43	* DestructiveSaviour: This series PERSONIFIES this trope. Yoshiyuki Kill 'Em All Tomino went to extreme lengths to show why it is not a good idea getting two HumongousMecha fighting in a populated area. Although [[KidHero the children piloting]] Zambot stop the [=MechaBoost=], they caused enormous amounts of damage, ([[HeroWithBadPublicity which does nothing to convince the Earth folks who hate them they are ON its side]]).
44	* DragonInChief: Butcher is Gaizok's minion but he has a much more active role in attacking Earth than the latter. [[spoiler: It's a JustifiedTrope since Gaizok is actually a computer.]]
45	* EarnYourHappyEnding: Kozuki. And also Kappei, even if in a [[AnyoneCanDie much]] [[StarCrossedLovers more]] [[HeroicSacrifice expensive]] [[BreakTheHaughty way]].
46	* ExpositoryThemeTune: "Three mechas unite as one. Our justice in the shape of a giant robot. It's name is Zambot 3!"
47	* EvilCannotComprehendGood: In the final battle, Butcher asks Kappei why he is so determined in protecting the Earth despite the humans being UngratefulBastard to the Zambot team, and mocks Kappei's heroism saying that Earth's doom has already been decided. [[spoiler: And then he dies for good.]]
48	* FallingIntoTheCockpit: In Kappei's case, literally.
49	* FantasticallyIndifferent: When Kouzuki finds out that Kappei and his family are aliens, he responds with a blase ''"Man... I knew it would be something like that."''
50	* FatBastard: Killer the Butcher is both figuratively and literally one of the biggest bastards in the Super Robot genre.
51	* FinishingMove: '''"MOON ATTAAACK!"'''
52	* ForgottenPhlebotinum: The Gaizok create a material that can deflect absolutely any attack from Zambot 3. One Mecha Boost is coated in this, then it is never reused.
53	** Actually, the [[NeverRecycleYourSchemes associated trope]] is ''averted''. Butcher ''does'' bring back the most successful of the Mecha Boosts for one episode and that one is included.
54	* GirlishPigtails: Kappei's friend Michi.
55	* HomeBase: The King Beal, which was an AirborneAircraftCarrier AND a CoolStarship.
56	* HumansAreBastards: The reason why Gaizok decided to destroy mankind.
57	* HumongousMecha:
58	** Zambot 3 is this after three machines combine together.
59	** Mecha Boosts also qualifies.
60	* {{Hypocrite}}: Mixed with InsaneTrollLogic, and boy, this is a doozy. [[spoiler: The Gaizock have decided that the violence of ''certain'' human beings automatically makes humanity ''as a whole'' morally inferior and therefore deserving of genocide. But if it is so, then the Gaizock themselves should deserve to be exterminated for the simple fact that they're carrying out a genocide. The Gaizock's self-appointed moral superiority only works if they exclude themselves from the standards they have set for everyone else.]]
61	** It goes even further than that: [[spoiler: The Gaizock ''enforce'' their HumansAreBastards mentality; they believe that humanity can never become better than how it is, and they try to ''make themselves right'' by destroying it, therefore keeping humanity from developing further.]]
62	* {{Jerkass}}: Kappei is a total ''asshole'' at first, deliberately refusing to have his machine combine with the others, nearly killing someone by pretending to punch them ''while in the machine'', and pretty much mucking things up more than he needs to. As the series goes on and he receives a lot of brutal consequences of his actions and 'heroism', he becomes less so and [[BreakTheCutie much more jaded.]]
63	* {{Kaiju}}: The Mecha Boosts are technically robots, but they generally look more like organic monsters you might find in a Godzilla film.
64	* KidHero: The Zambot team in a nutshell.
65	* LargeAndInCharge: Killer The Butcher.
66	* LaughablyEvil: Butcher is one of the most heinous villains amongst old school anime, but that didn't take away from the fact that he's also a very silly manchild, while he never went for the BadBoss routine, he indulges in silly antics with his subordinates that more often than not goes into the BlackComedy area.
67	* LetsGetDangerous: Zambot 3 is at its most powerful when all 3 vehicles are combined together with access to full power.
68	* LimitedAnimation: No animation supervisor, and many episodes were animated by just one or two people.
69	* MadeOfExplodium: Mecha Boosts explode after being defeated by Zambot 3.
70	* MarkedToDie: ''Literally''. Those who have been turned into human bombs by the Gaizok are designated by a tiny star on their backs.
71	* MiniatureSeniorCitizens
72	* MonsterOfTheWeek: Mecha Boosts are this, each deployed to wipe out humanity and fight Zambot 3.
73	* MoreDespicableMinion: Killer the Butcher, the [[spoiler:top minion]] of Gaizok (not its leader, definitely), is basically the ones who came up with all those horrifying atrocities and executing it with a glee, while all Gaizok was doing was just observing and [[AIIsACrapShoot then coming up with the conclusion]] that HumansAreBastards (based on the pettiness shown by humans even without Butcher's interference) .
74	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The [[spoiler: fake]] leader of the Gaizok is called Killer TheButcher.
75	* OmniscientMoralityLicense: So it's okay for Uchuta and Kappei to mock Keiko and imply she hasn't been weaned off her mother's breast milk and then laugh when she rips her birthday present kimono in the process of trying to grab them. It was all just to piss her off so she'd storm off and go visit her mother. Sure. That makes up for being, you know, ''asses'' for no real reason.
76	** [[spoiler:Gaizok is actually a super computer designed to find and destroy any creature with an evil intent in the universe.]]
77	* OnTheNextEpisodeOfCatchPhrase: "Well, how are they going to fight through this?"
78	* OnlyICanMakeItGo: Only the kids of the Jin Family can pilot the titular mecha effectively because they have been trained with the knowledge and reflexes while they were sleeping. More adult pilots trained via simulator CAN actually pilot them, but the effectiveness will decrease as a result.
79	* ThePeepingTom: In episode 18, Kappei tries to peep on Aki while she changes clothes, and gets hit in the head with his own pilot's helmet for his trouble. It's a rare funny moment in one of the most heart-wrenching episodes of the series, which includes [[spoiler:Aki's death as a human bomb]].
80	* PsychopathicManchild: Butcher's not only a completely unforgivable asshole, but spends most of his on screen time acting like a moron. Makes it all the more terrifying when he turns killing people into a game.
81	* {{Robeast}}: Mecha Boosts
82	* ScarfOfAsskicking: A technicolor one made by Aki in one episode. Zambot wears this at the very end of the episode, possibly making this the TropeMaker for mecha.
83	* ShoutOut: Butcher's rock concert in episode 18 contains one to the then-recently-deceased Music/ElvisPresley.
84	* SkyFace: [[spoiler:Aki]] in episode 18, the episode in which [[spoiler:she dies]].
85	* SleazyPolitician: Zig-zagged and then subverted. The politicians here are not malicious per se, but they were part of the UngratefulTownsfolk and thought at first it was a good idea to negotiate peace treaty with Killer the Butcher. That ended badly and they were made into target practice by Butcher while tied on a balloon. One of them, however, was saved by the Jin Family and changed his tune into a more honest, supportive politician that eventually worked behind the scenes to make sure that the show doesn't end in a complete DownerEnding (influencing the people to accept the Jin Family and their heroism).
86	* SleepLearning: Zambot Team undergoes this, which is only the start of the child cruelty.
87	* SomeKindOfForceField: Around the Bandok.
88	* SuperRobotGenre: This show is a deconstruction of it. Super Robot fighting tends to come off as a DestructiveSavior that doesn't always win back the people's trust instantly, the fight to regain that trust is extremely ''costly''.
89	** Kids being pilots of a HumongousMecha can actually be psychologically straining, and immaturity can lead to deaths. Also, cities do not get magically repaired after getting smashed down during a battle between giant robots, and often the cast has to fight on the ruins of a city destroyed in an earlier battle.
90	* ThemeMusicPowerUp: ''"Zan-zan-zan! Zambot 3! Zambot 3! Go!"''
91	* TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse: Mech Boosts always attack Japan where Zambot Team are there to intercept and stop them albeit at great cost.
92	* TheTokyoFireball
93	* TransformingMecha: Zambot 3 is also a CombiningMecha as well due to being made of 3 machines.
94	* TwoGirlsAndAGuy: Kappei, Aki and Michi were this before the Gaizok invasion.
95	* UngratefulTownsfolk: As part of the show's deconstructions, the Jin Family deal with this all the fricking time, being blamed that they brought the Gaizok with them and collaborated to destroy mankind when it was ''the other way around'' (because the Gaizok in general, especially Butcher, are not picky on who they kill), and until the end of the series, [[PoorCommunicationKills they just viewed the Jin Family's justifications as excuses.]]
96	* VillainousGlutton: Butcher is often shown to eat piles of food and drinking liquor when he's not ordering atrocities.
97	* VillainsOutShopping: Killer the Butcher, in spite of being a pretty depraved guy, is often shown doing stupid stuff like trying on jewelry or taking a bath.
98	* WhyAmITicking: Halfway through the series, this becomes the weapon of choice for the Gaizok. And tragically, the victims are completely unaware through the very end, as they have no memory of the bombs being implanted into their bodies.

Context Anime / Zambot3