1981's Dougram is once again a lesser-known, but also a fine work to come from the minds of Ryousuke Takahashi and Sunrise. Although it takes obvious cues from Gundam, all the Takahashi hallmarks are there: combined-arms tactics, realistic, gritty portrayals of battle, conspiracy and politics, et cetera. The air of morally ambiguity and conflict/diplomacy dynamics are also great. Animation is not exceptional, but overall on par with other TV anime of the time. Also Crinn, the lead, is very much cut from a different cloth than Amuro Ray or Kamille Bidan, as he as an officer candidate. I feel it's very refreshing given the type of heroes that Real Robot shows often give us.
The pacing of the show is slow but, once it gets going, it's great fun. Also, through its masterful exploration of post-colonial themes and ethnic conflict, it also reaffirmed the Real Robot genre's skill at taking on mature issues. It really feels a lot like a slightly faster and more comedic Legend of Galactic Heroes.
Despite all this, there are several flaws. As I said, the anime took a while to hit its stride. The Garcia Battalion and Grand Prix arcs were the weakest of the series, and are not as deliberately paced as the rest of the series; they're full of repetitive battles and actions. The second is that the female characters are a bit annoying. Daisy gets some development in the end, becoming less annoying but Rita is just a naive girl who always disrupts the Fang's operations. Also, for such a realistic series, the Plot Armor surrounding the Fang is always very starkly apparent.
The vibe I really got from this series is that it's a slightly less polished VOTOMS with, as the main page called it, "Gundam DNA". But if you love Real Robots and don't mind a 75-episode series, don't miss this classic.
Anime Dragged, then really hit its stride
1981's Dougram is once again a lesser-known, but also a fine work to come from the minds of Ryousuke Takahashi and Sunrise. Although it takes obvious cues from Gundam, all the Takahashi hallmarks are there: combined-arms tactics, realistic, gritty portrayals of battle, conspiracy and politics, et cetera. The air of morally ambiguity and conflict/diplomacy dynamics are also great. Animation is not exceptional, but overall on par with other TV anime of the time. Also Crinn, the lead, is very much cut from a different cloth than Amuro Ray or Kamille Bidan, as he as an officer candidate. I feel it's very refreshing given the type of heroes that Real Robot shows often give us.
The pacing of the show is slow but, once it gets going, it's great fun. Also, through its masterful exploration of post-colonial themes and ethnic conflict, it also reaffirmed the Real Robot genre's skill at taking on mature issues. It really feels a lot like a slightly faster and more comedic Legend of Galactic Heroes.
Despite all this, there are several flaws. As I said, the anime took a while to hit its stride. The Garcia Battalion and Grand Prix arcs were the weakest of the series, and are not as deliberately paced as the rest of the series; they're full of repetitive battles and actions. The second is that the female characters are a bit annoying. Daisy gets some development in the end, becoming less annoying but Rita is just a naive girl who always disrupts the Fang's operations. Also, for such a realistic series, the Plot Armor surrounding the Fang is always very starkly apparent.
The vibe I really got from this series is that it's a slightly less polished VOTOMS with, as the main page called it, "Gundam DNA". But if you love Real Robots and don't mind a 75-episode series, don't miss this classic.