History Manga / GiantRobo

[floatboxright: ~~{{Anime}},LiveActionTV,{{Manga}} ActionAdventure,HumongousMecha,{{Toku}}~~ ]

** Japanese: [[KappeiYamaguchi Daisaku]] is [[DetectiveConan Shinichi Kudo]], [[SumiShimamoto Ginrei]] is [[NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind Nausicaä]], [[AkioOhtsuka Professor Shimure]] is BlackJack, [[IemasaKayumi Chuujou]] is [[Anime/OblivionIslandHarukaAndTheMagicMirror The Baron]], [[MasashiEbara Professor Go Gakujin]] is [[EatMan Bolt Crank]], Dr. Trum is [[TransformersHeadmasters Highbrow]] ([[TheOtherDarrin or, if you prefer]], [[OnePiece Magellan]]), [[RokuroNaya Koushin]] is [[EurekaSevenAO Christophe Blanc]], [[SeizoKato Schwaltz]] is [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers Megatron]], Dr. Duncan [[note]][[ActingForTwo and Ozma]][[/note]] is Anime/GodMazinger, Genya is [[NodameCantabile Franz von Stresemann]] ([[TomokazuSeki or]] [[MarsDaybreak Gram River]], if you want), [[ShozoIizuka Tetsugyu]] is [[DragonBall Nappa]], [[TakeshiAono Issei]] is [[OutlawStar Gwen Khan]], [[YosukeAkimoto Alberto]] is [[MachineRobo Garudi]], Kenji and the Narrator are both [[TransformersSuperGodMasterforce Diver]], [[ChikaoOhtsuka Juujoji]] is [[SonicTheHedgehog Dr. Eggman]], Sunny is [[MobileSuitGundam Mirai Yashima]], Youshi is [[UruseiYatsura Ran]], Rudo is [[ETTheExtraTerrestrial E.T.]], [[KenichiOgata Shuutsuu]] is [[{{Dangaioh}} Galimos]], Red Mask is [[KamenRiderStronger Machine Great Marshal]], Hanzui is [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid King Triton]] and NorioWakamoto is Taisou (as mentioned below).

** Red Mask bears similarities to ''KamenNoNinjaAkakage''.

[[quoteright:200:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:200: The future has shone upon us with its glorious brilliance...]]
~~{{Anime}},LiveActionTV,{{Manga}} ActionAdventure,HumongousMecha,{{Toku}}~~

* BadAss: A lot of the cast, but Alberto the Shockwave practically takes this to Memetic levels when, in SuperRobotWarsAlpha, he battles one of the Angels from NeonGenesisEvangelion to a standstill whilst on foot.

On the brighter side, Imagawa also scripted a new ''Giant Robo'' manga, "The Day The Earth Burned" that started publication in 2006. While this version is also an AlternateContinuity, it does act as a SpiritualSuccessor to the {{OVA}}s, with the same tone and many of the same characters.

* SoundCodedForYourConvenience: Robo has a certain "growl" in lieu of a voice. "Crush them, Robo!" "'''GROWL'''"

** In the original English Dub, Daisaku is [[ExDriver Souichi Sugano]], Ginrei is [[{{Guyver}} Shizu]], Vogler is [[DigimonAdventure Agumon]], [[SteveBulen Professor Go Gakujin]] is [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers Strife]], [[BobPapenbrook Juujoji]] is [[Anime/MagicKnightRayearth Lafarga]], Hanzui is [[WolfsRain Quent Yaiden]], [[RichardCansino Red Mask]] is [[RurouniKenshin Kenshin Himura]], Professor Shizuma is [[LupinIII Inspector Zenigata]], [[SkipStellrecht Tiger Man]] is [[{{Naruto}} Might Guy]], [[DavidHayter Shoji Gen]] is [[MetalGearSolid Solid Snake]], KirkThornton is Silent Chuujou and SteveBlum is [[ActingForTwo Tetsugyu, Genya and "Iron Mask"]].

** Japanese: [[KappeiYamaguchi Daisaku]] is [[DetectiveConan Shinichi Kudo]], [[Sumi Shimamoto Ginrei]] is [[NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind Nausicaä]], [[AkioOhtsuka Professor Shimure]] is BlackJack, [[IemasaKayumi Chuujou]] is [[Anime/OblivionIslandHarukaAndTheMagicMirror The Baron]], [[MasashiEbara Professor Go Gakujin]] is [[EatMan Bolt Crank]], Dr. Trum is [[TransformersHeadmasters Highbrow]]([[TheOtherDarrin or, if you prefer]], [[OnePiece Magellan]]), [[RokuroNaya Koushin]] is [[EurekaSevenAO Christophe Blanc]], [[SeizoKato Schwaltz]] is [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers Megatron]], Dr. Duncan [[note]][[ActingForTwo and Ozma]][[/note]] is Anime/GodMazinger, Genya is [[NodameCantabile Franz von Stresemann]] ([[TomokazuSeki or]] [[MarsDaybreak Gram River]], if you want), [[ShozoIizuka Tetsugyu]] is [[DragonBall Nappa]], [[TakeshiAono Issei]] is [[OutlawStar Gwen Khan]], [[YosukeAkimoto Alberto]] is [[MachineRobo Garudi]], Kenji and the Narrator are both [[TransformersSuperGodMasterforce Diver]], [[ChikaoOhtsuka Juujoji]] is [[SonicTheHedgehog Dr. Eggman]], Sunny is [[MobileSuitGundam Mirai Yashima]], Youshi is [[UruseiYatsura Ran]], Rudo is [[ETTheExtraTerrestrial E.T.]], [[KenichiOgata Shuutsuu]] is [[{{Dangaioh}} Galimos]], Red Mask is [[KamenRiderStronger Machine Great Marshal]], Hanzui is [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid King Triton]] and NorioWakamoto is Taisou (as mentioned below).
** In the original English Dub, Daisaku is [[ExDriver Souichi Sugano]], Ginrei is [[{{Guyver}} Shizu]], Vogler is [[DigimonAdventure Agumon]], [[SteveBulen Professor Go Gakujin]] is [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers Strife]], [[BobPapenbrook Juujoji]] is [[Anime/MagicKnightRayearth Lafarga]], Hanzui is [[WolfsRain Quent Yaiden]], [[RichardCansino Red Mask]] is [[RurouniKenshin Kenshin Himura]], Professor Shizuma is [[LupinIII Inspector Zenigata]], [[SkipStellrecht Tiger Man]] is [[{{Naruto}} Might Guy]], [[DavidHayter Shoji Gen]] is [[MetalGearSolid Solid Snake]] and SteveBlum is [[ActingForTwo Tetsugyu, Genya and "Iron Mask"]].
** In the re-dub; Daisaku is [[{{Berserk}} Ricket]], Youshi is [[TaiChiChasers Rai]],

** Japanese: [[KappeiYamaguchi Daisaku]] is [[DetectiveConan Shinichi Kudo]], [[Sumi Shimamoto Ginrei]] is [[NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind Nausicaä]], [[AkioOhtsuka Professor Shimure]] is [[BlackJack]], [[IemasaKayumi Chuujou]] is [[Anime/OblivionIslandHarukaAndTheMagicMirror The Baron]], [[MasashiEbara Professor Go Gakujin]] is [[EatMan Bolt Crank]], Dr. Trum is [[TransformersHeadmasters Highbrow]]([[TheOtherDarrin or, if you prefer]], [[OnePiece Magellan]]), [[RokuroNaya Koushin]] is [[EurekaSevenAO Christophe Blanc]], [[SeizoKato Schwaltz]] is [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers Megatron]], Dr. Duncan [[note]][[ActingForTwo and Ozma]][[/note]] is [[GodMazinger Mazinger]], Genya is [[NodameCantabile Franz von Stresemann]] ([[Tomokazu Seki or]] [[MarsDaybreak Gram River]], if you want), [[ShozoIizuka Tetsugyu]] is [[DragonBall Nappa]], [[TakeshiAono Issei]] is [[OutlawStar Gwen Khan]], [[YosukeAkimoto Alberto]] is [[MachineRobo Garudi]], Kenji and the Narrator are both [[TransformersSuperGodMasterforce Diver]], [[ChikaoOhtsuka Juujoji]] is [[SonicTheHedgehog Dr. Eggman]], Sunny is [[MobileSuitGundam Mirai Yashima]], Youshi is [[UruseiYatsura Ran]], Rudo is [[ETTheExtraTerrestrial E.T.]], [[KenichiOgata Shuutsuu]] is [[{{Dangaioh}} Galimos]], Red Mask is [[KamenRiderStronger Machine Great Marshal]], Hanzui is [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid King Triton]], and NorioWakamoto is Taisou.
** In the original English Dub, Daisaku is [[ExDriver Souichi Sugano]], Ginrei is [[{{Guyver}} Shizu]], Vogler is [[DigimonAdventure Agumon]], [[SteveBulen Professor Go Gakujin]] is [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers Strife]],

** Japanese: [[KappeiYamaguchi Daisaku]] is [[DetectiveConan Shinichi Kudo]], [[Sumi Shimamoto Ginrei]] is [[NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind Nausicaä]], [[AkioOhtsuka Professor Shimure]] is [[BlackJack]], [[IemasaKayumi Chuujou]] is [[Anime/OblivionIslandHarukaAndTheMagicMirror The Baron]], [[MasashiEbara Professor Go Gakujin]] is [[EatMan Bolt Crank]], Dr. Trum is [[TransformersHeadmasters Highbrow]]([[TheOtherDarrin or, if you prefer]], [[OnePiece Magellan]]), [[RokuroNaya Koushin]] is [[EurekaSevenAO Christophe Blanc]], [[SeizoKato Schwaltz]] is [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers Megatron]], Dr. Duncan [[note]][[ActingForTwo and Ozma]][[/note]] is [[GodMazinger Mazinger]], Genya is [[NodameCantabile Franz von Stresemann]] ([[Tomokazu Seki or]] [[MarsDaybreak Gram River]]), [[ShozoIizuka Tetsugyu]] is [[DragonBall Nappa]], [[TakeshiAono Issei]] is [[OutlawStar Gwen Khan]], [[YosukeAkimoto Alberto]] is [[MachineRobo Garudi]], Kenji and the Narrator are both [[TransformersSuperGodMasterforce Diver]], [[Chikao Ohtsuka Juujoji]] is [[SonicTheHedgehog Dr. Eggman]], and
** The original English Dub has

** Japanese: [[KappeiYamaguchi Daisaku]] is [[DetectiveConan Shinichi Kudo]], [[Sumi Shimamoto Ginrei]] is [[NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind Nausicaä]], [[AkioOhtsuka Professor Shimure]] is [[BlackJack]], [[IemasaKayumi Chuujou]] is [[Anime/OblivionIslandHarukaAndTheMagicMirror The Baron]], [[MasashiEbara Professor Go Gakujin]] is [[EatMan Bolt Crank]], Dr. Trum is [[TransformersHeadmasters Highbrow]]([[TheOtherDarrin or, if you prefer]], [[OnePiece Magellan]]), [[RokuroNaya Koushin]] is [[EurekaSevenAO Christophe Blanc]],

* GeorgeLucasThrowBack: Daisaku's flashback on his origin plays a lot more like a typical giant robot show.

* BittersweetEnding: And how!

* RefugeInAudacity: And how.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Averted! [[spoiler: Just barely, though.]] In the final episode you find out that [[spoiler: the Shizuma drives were actually creating a poisonous gas that would have destroyed all life on earth]] within days of the events that make up the series. The anti-drive [[spoiler: was actually created in order to eliminate this threat before it destroyed all known life.]] All of the "normal" drives [[spoiler: would have reactivated once all of the anti-drives had been activated.]] At the last minute,[[spoiler: despite the heroes' efforts]] all of the [[spoiler: anti-drives]] were activated, thus [[spoiler: saving the world.]]

* ShoutOut: The subtitle of the OVA series is a shout out to the classic film ''TheDayTheEarthStoodStill''.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img.jpg
[[caption-width:200: The future has shone upon us with its glorious brilliance...]]

* HotAmazon: Youshi

An ([[CrazyAwesome unholy]]) amalgamation of Wuxia, Superheroes, RichardWagner, [[HumongousMecha Mecha Anime]] and pure insanity, ''Giant Robo: The Day The Earth Stood Still'' is notable for being an early and rather impressive example of the MassiveMultiplayerCrossover, formed when director Yasuhiro ("''{{G Gundam}}''") Imagawa was told that he couldn't use any of the supporting characters from the manga or TV versions of the ''Giant Robo'' story. Struck by inspiration, he instead decided to instead take characters from the rest of original creator Mitsuteru Yokoyama's work, including ''Babel II'', ''Sally the Witch'', ''Anime/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', ''Akakage'' and many others. To add to the effect he decided to draw them all in Yokoyama's classic 1960s style, along with a [[{{Zeerust}} retro-futuristic world]] set in an alternate 1920s populated by {{Ninja}}, ancient Chinese warriors, [[BadassInANiceSuit Sharp Suited Businessmen]] and {{Badass Longcoat}}s walking side by side.

Oh and don't pay any attention to the synopsis above, or let the art style and KidHero [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids fool you into thinking this is a kids' series]] in the vein of ''{{GI Joe}}'' or ''{{MASK}}''. ''Giant Robo'''s plot starts off slow and deceptively [[ClicheStorm cliché-ridden]], with a blatant MadScientist and McGuffin driving the first half of the plot, and then we get the WhamEpisode, rewriting the entire premise, beating the snot out of the good guys and resulting in several major characters getting KilledOffForReal. It's not the first, or even the most dramatic.

* ActionBomb: [[spoiler:Silent Chuujo, apparently. As the Sphere floats towards the last Shizuma Drive bastion, there's Chuujo on a bluff. He loosens his tie and shirt, takes a few practice jabs, then ''flies up to '''punch''' the Sphere''.]] That dialogue in episode 2 makes far more sense when you know this.

* EvilGenius: Most obviously Vogler [[spoiler: or so it seems.]] Old Man Kawarazaki seems to be an inventor. Zangetsu, if epileptic tress turned out to be true.
* {{Expy}}: Most characters of the OVA (who aren't from the original manga or anime) are Expys of Yokohama's other works, such as:
** Taiso (Dai Zong), Tetsugyu ("Iron Ox"/Li Kui), Youshi (Yang Zhi), Issei (Gongsun Shen), Koushin, Kaei (Hua Rong), Kaihou and Koshin (Xie Zhen and Xie Bao), Shutsu, the Fishermen Brothers (Ruan Xiaoer, Xiaowu, Xiaoqi), Hanzui (Fan Rui), Goyo, Kosonsho, and Jujoji all hail from ''Suikoden'' (''Literature/WaterMargin'').
** Cho-Katsu Komei is from ''Yokoyama Mitsuteru Sangokushi'' ("[=Records/=]RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms"), better known as Zhuge Liang.
** Big Fire (Babel II/Koichi Yamano), Achilles (Lodem), Garuda (Ropross), and Neptune (Poseidon) were originally created for ''Babel II''. Also, Chujo the Silent, Cervantes, and Fitzgerald were modeled after various characters in the series.
** Likewise, Alberto the Impact was based on a character in Mars.
** Sunny the Magician is the original name of ''SallyTheWitch''.
** Red Mask bears similarities to ''KamenNoNinjaAkakage''.
** Kenji Murasame is a CanonImmigrant from [[{{Gigantor}} Tetsujin-28]], and Dr. Vogler and Dr. Montalblan hail from there as well.
** Ginrei is from ''Sononawa 101'' and ''Okami no Seiza''.
** Genya was originally from ''Iga no Kagemaru''.

* KickTheDog: Murasame skips between this and CrowningMomentOfAwesome so quickly his teeth must rattle.

* KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter: Cervantes points a gun at Daisaku, despite the fact he can generate enough heat from his hands to melt a thick steel door.

* MoreDakka: Giant Robo carries enough firepower to wipe a couple of cities off the map.

* {{OhCrap}}: Genya when [[spoiler:Alberto absorbs the heat energy from the sphere leaving it completely vulnerable to attack from Giant Robo.]] The look on his face as [[spoiler:Robo prepares to launch one of its rocket boosters as a missile]] is particularly priceless.

** {{Crossdresser}}: Somehow, "Ginrei the Mighty" comes up with an excuse to have all the Experts wearing Ginrei's trademark Chinese mini-dress. Also, the first Ginrei OVA has Murasame [[LatexPerfection completely]] disguised as Ginrei for most of the episode.

** ShoutOut: Ginrei Robo is a parody of Aphrodite-A from ''{{Mazinger Z}}'', and Daisaku also gets to pilot an ersatz ''[[{{Gigantor}} Tetsujin 28-go]]'', revamped in the same way Giant Robo itself was in the OVA series.

* {{Shotacon}}: It's... it's really, really, '''''really''''' easy to see subtext along these lines between Ginrei and Daisaku.

* SuperRobot[=/=]RealRobot: The robots stray the line. On the one hand they're clearly very powerful and can sometimes pull weapons out of no where, like Robo's bazooka gun. On the other hand the robots clearly need a lot of maintenance. On top of that the fights are actually quite short and even a single hit can take a lot of the fight of the enemy. Take the complex snake-train robot being paralyzed after one hit in the first OVA. Though in SRWs Robo has been strictly a super robot.

* TheCallHasBadReception: Dr. Vogler had good intentions. Originally, his son had good intentions. The only problem was that by the time Dr. Vogler tells his son what needed to be done, he didn't have a very good vocabulary...

* BittersweetEnding: One that traumatized a number of childhoods in the 60s and 70s, both in America and Japan.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Hardcore Toei enthusiasts may recognize Mitsuo Ando who plays Dr. Over, as Gill-Hakasei from Kikaider and Black Cross Fuhrer from HimitsuSentaiGoranger among other things.

* XanatosGambit: Cho-Katsu Komei claims several times that he is pulling one of these off, though it is left ambiguous whether this is [[OhCrap actually]] [[IMeantToDoThat true.]]

* IGotBetter: Numerous characters. On the villainous side [[spoiler: Alberto]]. Jujoji and Zangetsu sure acted dead in the sixth OVA but are fine in the seventh.

* TheBrute: In the BF there's Jujoji who has some devastating magic powers. The Fabulous Fitzkaralk loves to carve up people with his snapping fingers.

Oh and don't pay any attention to the synopsis above, or let the art style and KidHero [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids fool you into thinking this is a kids' series]] in the vein of ''{{GI Joe}}'' or ''MASK''. ''Giant Robo'''s plot starts off slow and deceptively [[ClicheStorm cliché-ridden]], with a blatant MadScientist and McGuffin driving the first half of the plot, and then we get the WhamEpisode, rewriting the entire premise, beating the snot out of the good guys and resulting in several major characters getting KilledOffForReal. It's not the first, or even the most dramatic.

* BilingualBonus: Tetsugyu's name roughly translates to "Iron Ox", one of the nicknames of Li Kui in Yokoyama's manga adaptation of ''WaterMargin''.

** Taiso (Dai Zong), Tetsugyu ("Iron Ox"/Li Kui), Youshi (Yang Zhi), Issei (Gongsun Shen), Koushin, Kaei (Hua Rong), Kaihou and Koshin (Xie Zhen and Xie Bao), Shutsu, the Fishermen Brothers (Ruan Xiaoer, Xiaowu, Xiaoqi), Hanzui (Fan Rui), Goyo, Kosonsho, and Jujoji all hail from ''Suikoden'' (''WaterMargin'').

* WeCouldHaveAvoidedAllThis: Turns out that [[spoiler: The Anti-Shizuma drive was meant to ''save'' the world, removing a defect in the pre-existing Shizuma Drive that would've brought about the end of the world in ten years. If the IPO had just handed it over to Big Fire in the first episode -- or, to be fair, if Fogler had actually explained things to Genya, nobody would've had to die.]]

* GeorgeLucasCallBack: Daisaku's flashback on his origin plays a lot more like a typical giant robot show.

* HiddenDepth: Many characters like Daisaku, Tesugyu, Ginrei, and others. Really the entire OVA series itself as it first looks like a typical giant robot series.

* ImmortalityIsCheap: Subverted - this is ''Murasame's'' outlook on his own life. Punch in, die, revive, light a cigarette on his still-burning body, punch out.

* IWantThemALive: Happens in the last episode to Daisaku. [[spoiler: He manages to get away and make it to Robo though.]]

* KineticWeaponsAreBetter: Cervantes points a gun at Daisaku, despite the fact he can generate enough heat from his hands to melt a thick steel door.

* {{Omake}} / {{Filler}}: The three ''Ginrei Special'' {{OVA}}s, ranging from a reasonably well-executed prequel Side Story to pure animated CrackFic, were created to maintain interest and raise funds during the main OVA's production delays.

** And in a moment of FridgeBrilliance, this is why Daisaku jumps into Robo's head in the last episode - Robo, ''protecting'' Daisaku, is an unstoppable force of nature.

* [[spoiler: ShaggyDogStory: What it kind of boils down too when the three anti-drives are together at long last. A shame that the IPO were so good at their job. Even sadder that if Genya hadn't shot Ginrei then humanity would have been wiped out.]]

* SuperRobot/RealRobot: The robots stray the line. On the one hand they're clearly very powerful and can sometimes pull weapons out of no where, like Robo's bazooka gun. On the other hand the robots clearly need a lot of maintenance. On top of that the fights are actually quite short and even a single hit can take a lot of the fight of the enemy. Take the complex snake-train robot being paralyzed after one hit in the first OVA. Though in SRWs Robo has been strictly a super robot.

* AssPull: In the episode with the giant vampire, it turns out Robo can create a... flaming cross!? Talk about being CrazyPrepared.

* NostalgiaFilter: Some people prefer the toku to the OVA for this reason.

* JerkAss: Just about everyone who isn't Daisaku, Gen, Fei Long, and a few others.

* CuteKidsAndRobots