In the year 2118, humanity is driven to the brink of extinction by a race of alien invaders known as "Draktors", who have undertaken extreme terraformation of the Earth that sees a massive hole drilled through the planet, in which a new core took its place. With the human population reduced by 99.9%, the remaining survivors live in shelters with traumatic memories of the Draktors' invasion and the destruction of their planet repressed, save for a select few chosen by the united world government who continue to oppose the Draktors.
Enter Yamato Ichidaiji, a rather unhinged delinquent who struggles with harrowing memories of his entire family dying during the Draktor initial invasion. He is selected to be one of the pilots of the newly-developed "Megaton-Class" combat mechs known as Rogues, and is put in charge of controlling the Rogue "Musashi". Joining him in the fight to save Earth is level-headed Narcissist Teru Asami, pilot of "Sparkman"; Hot-Blooded fight-happy Ryugo Hijikata, pilot of "Gaudia"; peaceful and cat-loving Reiji Amemiya, pilot of "Arthur"; and feisty Tomboy Jun Kirishima, pilot of "Maximus".
Together, they are humanity's last hope for survival, a daunting task further complicated by Yamato's fateful meeting with Arshem Laia, a Draktor princess who strives for co-existence between the two races...
Megaton Musashi is a multimedia franchise from Level-5, with the game was originally released on Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, and Playstation 5 in Japan on November 11, 2021. A Free-to-Play sequel, Megaton Musashi Xnote , would be released on the same consoles in December 2022. An Updated Re-release, Megaton Musashi W: Wirednote , is slated for international release in April 25, 2023, along with a Steam release.
An accompanying anime series produced by OLM Incorporated which aired from October 2021 to November 2023, with a "Special Edition" re-airing of the anime's first cour being released on July 8, 2022 containing new scenes cut from the initial release in line with the then-upcoming Megaton Musashi X. In 2024, in the lead-up to the release of Megaton Musashi W: Wired in the West, Crunchyroll announces the airing of the anime's first cour starting April 25, 2024
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You can watch the anime here (though the second cour is only available in Japan via VPN) or via Crunchyroll here.
Now has a character page under construction.
MISSION START!
- Action Girl: Jun, Momoka, Shizuka and Arshem, the latter took a while until she got her moment.
- After the End: The game takes place 3 years after the Draktors invaded and ravaged Earth.
- Apocalypse How: Class 3a, the Draktors have eliminated 99.9% of humanity and are modifying the Earth to suit their needs. The only reason this hasn't turned into a Class 6 is that they're searching for "The Boon of Evolution", which would allow them to live on Earth without the need for certain medications and they need humans to find it.
- Crossover: The games have crossover appearances from Mazinger Z and Getter Robo, with later updates for X and Wired also slated to include UFO Robo Grendizer, Combattler V, and Voltes V. X also features Inugami Korone and Jibanyan as an extra Mission Control voice.
- Darker and Edgier: More so than the other two franchises, even by Level-5 standards. Apart from the increased on-screen violence, the Draktors reducing humanity to a staggering 1% meant that the heroes were in danger of either being injured or killed on a daily basis, three of which have a near brush with death, and that's without including the ever-increasing body-count on both sides. And then there's the implied scene between Teru and Sayaka Minami in a bed, who harbors his child...
- Digging to China: A much more extreme version of the trope, as the Draktors have burrowed a hole through the Earth bigger than Australia. The only reason the planet hasn't been destroyed completely is due to said aliens replacing its core with an artificial one.
- Disney Death: Jun ended up on a received one from Grieffas' forces during an attack on Shelter Ixia trying to retrieve Arshem. While she survives the encounter, it isn't without some... complications.
- Yamato himself offers to take over Kojiro's place inside the overloading Yoshitsune in an effort to stop the Ame no Murakumo battleship, seemingly killing him, much to everyone's horror. Shockingly, Yamato miraculously survives through a timely intervention from the Elzeds.
- During the climatic Final Battle against Adam, Teru crashes his Rogue into Musashi Wired, freeing Mirai at the cost of his life. Fortunately, he survived.
- Fantastic Racism: A major aspect of the early game is this trope as the Draktors not only see humanity as insignificant bugs that need to be squashed, but their own kind has a caste system of sorts.
- Government Conspiracy: The government of Shelter Ixia has suppressed the memories of all but a select few citizens to let them live without fear of the Earth's destruction. Said government was also aware of the Draktors and even the Elzed way before they even made themselves known.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Yamato and Reiji's usage of their Psycho-Rise powers is implied to be of alien origins, specifically one from the Elzeds.
- Human Aliens: The Draktors falls on this category. It was revealed later on that humanity as a whole was descended from one...
- Played straight with Teru's daughter, Mirai Asami, who was conceived to have possessed both human and Sidr DNA.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: It's revealed early on that the entire populace of Shelter Ixia is under this so they can live normal lives without the worry of the aliens outside. It's not perfect, though, as Yamato's trauma-induced psychosis is what causes him to have a memory relapse that even Oblivion Bay's memory manipulation tech couldn't keep up, as well as numerous instances of other characters hacking its systems to make them undetectable by it.
- A Mecha By Any Other Name: The mechas of the series are known as "Rogues", complete with its specific classes and types.
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: The game will flip around and have you control various other characters at certain points, usually when the narrative allows Yamato a breather.
- Theme Naming: Each of the Rogues Yamato and company pilots are named after famous historical figures and other thematic namesakes.
- Musashi: Miyamoto Musashi
- Arthur: King Arthur.
- Sparkman: Thomas Edison.
- Maximus: The pontifex maximus, chief high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome.
- Gaudia: The Spartan soldiers of ancient Greece.
- Fire Loader: Hotrods.
- We ARE Struggling Together: A massive problem between the pilots its that, still being kids mentally, they are still prone to squabbles between each other. This is especially true with Yamato, Kojiro and Teru as well as Jun and Momoka.
- Wham Episode: Chapter 10, the first Marathon Stage really ramps up the story: Shelter Ixia is able to safely lift off and head off into their next destination, but not without significant losses. The Mayor of Akagicho is revealed to be the traitor undermining Oblivion Bay and, in the scuffle, Sayaka is mortally wounded, revealing her status as a Draktor. Sarzent is killed protecting Arshem from Geffrosh and Arshem herself is unwittingly left behind in the process. Jun is temporarily killed after refusing to leave and its revealed that humanity and Draktors are virtually identical... and Sayaka was pregnant and the baby is still alive.
