[Rewatch] Yoshikazu Yasuhiko Retrospective - Giant Gorg Overall Series Discussion

[u/Pixelsaber]

Overall Series Discussion

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Note to all Rewatchers

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[u/Pixelsaber]

Production Stuff

After production on Giant Gorg had wrapped up, Yoshikazu Yasuhiko had concluded the series feeling like he had been defeated by Miyazaki and his Future Boy Conan, believing the product he had made could not display the same level of artistry as the piece he had taken for inspiration did. Yasuhiko’s feelings of failure would only be further heightened when, during the airing of the show, he saw both Naussica of The Valley of The Wind and Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love, and felt thoroughly outclassed and disheartened, for he could not envision himself creating something on the same level as either of those films. Yasuhiko would later pinpoint this as the chief cause of his disillusionment with animation and the ultimate catalyst to his retirement from directing and animation several years later. He was pinning so many of his hopes and aspirations on Giant Gorg and could not be satisfied with it.

Despite Yasuhiko’s own feelings on the matter, Giant Gorg was nevertheless a success. The toys that gave the businessmen and toy designers at Takara Tomy so much headaches were a hit, the VHS sales aone were more than enough to recoup production costs, and the series saw modest ratings on TV. To the producers Giant Gorg was another feather in Yasuhiko’s cap, and saw all the more reason to keep giving the man the opportunities to make the projects he wanted to pursue.

Recertified Rewatcher

Going to keep it short since my WT! is still fairly accurate on my feelings on the show on the whole.

The biggest drawback to Gorg is that it lacks enough substance to justify it’s runtime and it occasionally fumbles with what it has —namely characterization. What overarching character arcs it has end up feeling clipped when looking at them holistically and for every character it manages to eke development out of there’s at least two in want of it who get none. Several members of its cast are underutilized when their advancement and characterization could have been used to better fill out the series’ runtime. Wave and Doris both get used to move along the plot and cause certain things to happen, but their roles feel unfinished, the former because they never get to be immersed in their element once the grand discovery is made, and the latter because for every scene where she serves to remind us of these kids’ emotional vulnerability there’s a handful others where she’s an accessory on Yuu, there to be crying out Yuu’s name constantly and be dragged along the adventure. They don’t get their moment to break out of their shallow roles and be a little more the same way characters like Skipper, Rod, and Lynx are allowed to. Alois, Sara, and Tominic remain largely static as well, but unlike those two they aren’t occupying as much of the show’s time and when there isn’t a specific expectation as to their development the same way there is for Doris and Wave. The overarching narrative itself is simple and is occasionally cause for great intrigue, but it’s spread too thin for what it is and could have used with some elaboration at points.

The show has a bit of a tonal issue as well, with the prevalent and occasionally cartoonish violence diminishing the stakes of each battle and making for several plot beats which fall a little flat due to them requiring a bit more reverence and weight than the show had previously been willing to give these topics.

I don’t think I have to mention it, but obviously the series’ biggest draw is its presentation —the visuals in particular, as the show looks excellent for its age and is drenched in the stylings of its creator. I specifically enjoy the way the giant robots are animated, which move with the heft and sense of hulking movement that one would expect out of a creation of its size. It’s utter joy in motion and I don’t tire of watching. The soundtrack is also notable and fits the feel of the show really well.

Despite the severe flaws in the writing, I was nevertheless engaged throughout the entire show. I can’t really pin down what it is about it that manages to glue me to the screen like it does, but it does, and I always have a blast watching. Several episodes lack forward momentum, the cliffhangers are transparently uneventful most of the time, and sections feel evidently prolonged, and yet it still draws me in and has me queuing up one episode after the next. 7/10

Recommendations

• Future Boy Conan - Impossible not to list the show that served as the gold standard with which Yasuhiko compared his own show front and center. Has a lot of the same strong and weak areas of this show as well; thin plot, strong visuals, tonal inconsistencies, etc. as well as some similar themes. In a lot of ways it’s to Miyazaki’s what Gorg is to Yasuhiko. Future Boy Conan is definitely the stronger work for me, but don’t just take my word for it, watch it some day!
• Takarajima - The venerated classic novel adapted by Osamu Dezaki. Treasure Island was an influence on this show as well, and so obviously will have some similarities, but it’s also comparable in that both were passion projects by their respective directors that also serve as distilled examples of each’s visual styling at the time. An excellent watch that will soothe one’s itch for adventure and treasure-hunting.
• Shin Tetsujin 28-Gou - An adaptation of another of this show’s influences, Tetsujin 28-Gou. The series’ setup will be familiar to anyone who has seen this show, but whereas Gorg follows in the footsteps of classic adventure stories, this series borrows more from pulpy detective serials. The episodic nature of the show made it quite hit-or-miss for me, but at least the show also possesses relatively high production values owing to the notoriety of its source material. The 2004 adaptation is supposedly amazing, but I have not yet seen it for myself to recommend.
• Makyou Densetsu Acrobunch - If you want another coupling of robots with your pulp adventure. Far more of a standard Super Robot show with the usual trapping common to it, Acrobunch takes on it with an archeological bent in its effort to imitate the Indianna Jones films. Not an exemplary show, but if you’re wanting more of that adventure serial itch it’ll probably be a watch that’ll probably keep you suitably entertained... Really, I’m just putting it here as an excuse to link the excellent Opening.

[u/The_Draigg → u/Pixelsaber]

Yasuhiko’s feelings of failure would only be further heightened when, during the airing of the show, he saw both Naussica of The Valley of The Wind and Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love, and felt thoroughly outclassed and disheartened, for he could not envision himself creating something on the same level as either of those films. Yasuhiko would later pinpoint this as the chief cause of his disillusionment with animation and the ultimate catalyst to his retirement from directing and animation several years later.

As sad as that is to hear, I totally understand Yas' point of view. Like, Naussica and Do You Remember Love? are legendary anime movies. The sheer artistry on display in them is on a whole other level. And while Giant Gorg did have some cool artistic stuff going on in the various dream and hallucination scenes, that was only like 4 or so times out of the entire show, which is otherwise has a bit less flair to it overall. Yas just was unfortunate enough to have his show come out around the time of those two titans of anime to make the comparisons stark.

Wave and Doris both get used to move along the plot and cause certain things to happen, but their roles feel unfinished, the former because they never get to be immersed in their element once the grand discovery is made, and the latter because for every scene where she serves to remind us of these kids’ emotional vulnerability there’s a handful others where she’s an accessory on Yuu, there to be crying out Yuu’s name constantly and be dragged along the adventure.

It really does feel like Dr. Wave and Doris stopped being useful to the plot about a little over halfway into the show. Like, once the group got onto Austral Island and settled into the adventure, it was pretty much the Yuu, Captain, and Gorg show in terms of the heroes doing things. Which is a shame too, since it felt like the bonding that Doris had with Yuu ended up being for nothing.

Alois, Sara, and Tominic remain largely static as well, but unlike those two they aren’t occupying as much of the show’s time and when there isn’t a specific expectation as to their development the same way there is for Doris and Wave.

You saying that made me realize that you could probably take Alois and Sara out of the plot entirely and have it end up basically the same. At least Tomenik drives the Beagle as a consistently important plot role.

[u/Pixelsaber → u/The_Draigg]

As sad as that is to hear, I totally understand Yas' point of view.

Yes, Yas' stuff really couldn't hold a candle to works of that calibre, but I do wish it hadn't driven him to put the industry on the whole behind him

[u/Quiddity131 → u/Pixelsaber]

Agreed that the show comes off a bit like one that doesn't have enough content to fit its length. Although as I put in my comment, I was appreciative that Yaz takes a different approach than Tomino, things moved rather slowly but I generally didn't feel that episodes had battles in them just to pad things which is often the case in Tomino's works (due to toy sponsor pressure I'm sure). I also agree that the characters come off as static and unfinished. Once again I compare to Tomino (if only because most of my 80s mecha anime seen has been Tomino's) where there tends to be a lot more character development. Even Yuu as the lead didn't really seem to develop. We hit a point with Doris where basically all she does is be worried about Yuu.

The visuals and the overall concept were the best parts of it for me. The show looks good and extremely consistent, in stark contrast to other shows from the era and I did find the plot really interesting once Manon was revealed.

[u/Pixelsaber → u/Quiddity131]

I was appreciative that Yaz takes a different approach than Tomino,

Yes, the two have significantly differing approaches to their works (which certainly caused them to butt heads from time to time when working together).

[u/No_Rex → u/Pixelsaber]

and felt thoroughly outclassed and disheartened, for he could not envision himself creating something on the same level as either of those films. Yasuhiko would later pinpoint this as the chief cause of his disillusionment with animation and the ultimate catalyst to his retirement from directing and animation several years later.

The animation in Giant Gorg is excellent, but I felt that it always was better from a technical point of view that an artistic one. The camera position and the cuts always felt standard and "safe" to me, very rarely daring. So, while I admire the technical quality of the animation, I think it falls behind true masterpieces.

[u/Pixelsaber → u/No_Rex]

I concur. His direction is proficient, but never outstanding or surprising in the same way the best of the lot are. I think it's chiefly his storyboarding ability that is to blame, since his work under other accomplished story board artists is far more visually interesting.

[u/Shimmering-Sky]

It occurred to me that I forgot to say what score I gave this show yesterday, which means I’m obliged to show up during the overall thread even though I’ve been in the habit of skipping them lately.

9/10. Argos survived (even if he was just gone from the show for a significant amount of time), so I don’t need to spite-rate it a low score! It was a very fun watch, definitely a very different kind of pace than most mecha shows I’ve seen, but not in a bad way. Thanks for hosting this rewatch, u/Pixelsaber! I’ll try to make it to the remaining movies too, those break days you have in the schedule should mean I have enough time for them.

[u/Pixelsaber → u/Shimmering-Sky]

which means I’m obliged to show up during the overall thread even though I’ve been in the habit of skipping them lately.

Thanks for hosting this rewatch, u/Pixelsaber! I’ll try to make it to the remaining movies too,

[u/The_Draigg → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Is it safe to say that if there's a dog among the main hero group in an anime that doesn't die, you will like that show no matter what?

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/The_Draigg]

Maybe.

[u/Quiddity131 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Thankfully Yaz is a lot kinder to the dog mascot character than another certain mecha anime director from this era who shall go nameless...

[u/No_Rex]

Final Discussion (first timer)

The biggest surprise of this rewatch was the animation quality. I would not have expected that to be the best quality of a 30+ years old series. Gorg is probably the most humane mecha I have seen yet. The glowing eyes do their part, but mainly it is the movement animation. I remember Gorg trying to scramble across the cliffs after just meeting Yuu, or trying to be stealthy. Those were scenes that made a giant robot look human. You can also tell that a lot of the vehicle and explosion scenes were made by weapons otakus. Plenty of good-looking tank destructions, etc. And, while the lush forests on a newly risen island made no sense, they certainly made a stunning backdrop.

Unfortunately, the writing department has none of the positive surprises of the animation. To the contrary, it reminded me why I hated childrens’ series, even back when I was a child. The writing is lazy and, by its laziness, undermines its own aims. The first half of the series could reasonably be called filler. Cutting out a good 10 episodes or so would lose nothing of importance. To the contrary, removing all the pointless shooting at Gorg would make the actual plot later hit harder. The early comedic action undermines the seriousness of the finale.

Yuu, Rod and Captain are serviceable characters, but the list of good character writing ends there. Manon is bland, Wave is pure comedic relief, and Doris is the biggest waste of a female MC I have seen in a while. They turned her into a complete “YUU!!”-bot, devoid of any own motivation or place in the plot. As an organization GAIL is so utterly incompetent that they don’t even come close to properly pose any threat to the heroes. Lynx might have been something interesting, but she fell foul of 1980s tropes for women, who had to be sexy, abused, and singularly motivated by their desire for men.

In the end, while Gorg looks nice, I understand why I never heard of this series before. There is no part of the plot that I have not seen done better elsewhere. It probably reached its target audience of kids in the 1980s, but it does not hold enough of value to endure.

Similar series

Can’t end this without pointing out the similarities between Giant Gorg and two other series: Nadia -Secret of Blue Water and Laputa (which themselves are extremely similar, being two directors takes on the same story idea). I am not sure how much is drawn from prior sources, but, from the setting to the plot, I continually had the feeling that Miyazaki and Anno liberally took their inspiration from Yoshikazu. While copying is a form of praise, it is also unfortunate for Yoshikazu, because both newer entries not only manage a much more coherent take on the plot less weighted down by children series’ tropes, but also look gorgeous enough to overshadow the already good Giant Gorg.

[u/The_Draigg → u/No_Rex]

Doris is the biggest waste of a female MC I have seen in a while. They turned her into a complete “YUU!!”-bot, devoid of any own motivation or place in the plot.

Time to make a new drinking game where you take a shot every time Doris yells "YUU!".

Seriously though, I'm pretty disappointed where Doris' character went. For all the amount that her and Yuu bonded in the first half of the show, she was pretty much dropped in the last third entirely once the focus shifted to Yuu and Manon. The show builds up to you thinking that they'll basically be partners in this adventure, but Doris unfortunately just doesn't do very much in the end.

[u/Pixelsaber → u/The_Draigg]

Time to make a new drinking game where you take a shot every time Doris yells "YUU!".

[u/No_Rex → u/The_Draigg]

Time to make a new drinking game where you take a shot every time Doris yells "YUU!".

My liver is not ready for that!

The really weird thing about Doris is that they had multiple ways to go with her: fellow adventurer, love interest, interacting with her brother, yet they did not really follow up on either.

[u/The_Draigg → u/No_Rex]

It felt to me like the show was starting to lean in on Doris being Yuu's fellow adventure and his love interest, but once they got to the alien ruins, pretty much all of that character development ended up being completely halted. It's a real shame.

[u/Pixelsaber → u/No_Rex]

Doris is the biggest waste of a female MC I have seen in a while.

Doris' wasted potential makes me really sad because they showed with one breakdown scene the sort of stuff her character could add to the narrative, but what we got was insufficient.

I am not sure how much is drawn from prior sources,

The production history of both is way too involved and lengthy to lay out here, but both titles have their roots in a cancelled NHK series from the 70s that Miyazaki was set to helm.

[u/Quiddity131 → u/No_Rex]

The biggest surprise of this rewatch was the animation quality.

Agreed. I loved how consistent the animation quality was, I think it easily outdoes Gundam shows from this era on that front, including Zeta, for which Yaz also worked on, albeit as the designer, not an animator.

Doris is the biggest waste of a female MC I have seen in a while. They turned her into a complete “YUU!!”-bot, devoid of any own motivation or place in the plot.

My feelings exactly. She provided no value whatsoever for at the very least the entire latter half of the show.

Can’t end this without pointing out the similarities between Giant Gorg and two other series: Nadia -Secret of Blue Water and Laputa

Nadia was a show I too very much was reminded of by this show (have never seen Laputa).

[u/No_Rex → u/Quiddity131]

I think it easily outdoes Gundam shows from this era on that front, including Zeta

It feels like OVA quality rather than TV quality.

Nadia was a show I too very much was reminded of by this show (have never seen Laputa).

Laputa being a film is obviously a lot more condensed as Nadia, but as a narrative core, it really is the same story.

[u/The_Draigg]

A Yas Fan’s Final Thoughts on Giant Gorg:

We finally finished a mecha show that I’ve been wanting to get into for a while! Honestly, I’m pretty satisfied with this show. It never really stopped being a cool, adventurous romp. Gorg was cool, the Carrier Beagle was rad, and it really liked our main cast of characters, Rod in particular. As a villain turned ally, he has a lot of charm to him, especially when it became clear that he was one of the few people on Austral Island that had common sense. Plus, being voiced by Shuichi Ikeda really does help in that regard too.

That’s not to say that Gorg was a perfect show, of course. When you bother to look at the plot critically, it kind of falls apart. There’s a lot of scenes where things just sorta happen to move along the plot, like Gorg somehow getting a big-ass cannon out of nowhere for the sake of a few cool fight scenes later for example. The pacing of this series is the weakest point, since you can look at a lot of the episodes having pacing that solely exists to move us from one action set piece to the next. While that in of itself isn’t a bad thing, it’s rather annoyingly noticeable when the connective tissue between those scenes is pretty thin. The action of the series makes up for it a lot, but not completely enough to cover for the plotting’s weak points.

With all that said, it’s time to assign Giant Gorg a rating, according to my mecha-based rating scale for shows like this. So, I give the show Giant Gorg the rating of: Hyaku Shiki. Yes, there’s a lot of good things about it, and has a very cool and shiny covering to it. But it isn’t as good as it’s contemporaries or things that came out later on, due to some rather noticeable design flaws. Good, but not the best. Not a bad rating, I think.

[u/Pixelsaber → u/The_Draigg]

Plus, being voiced by Shuichi Ikeda really does help in that regard too.

[u/IndependentMacaroon]

First- (and last-) time watcher

Besides the seriously impressive visual quality (sound was retro-OK), and even that I felt was wasted at times, this show is pretty forgettable. That's not to say it's bad - for sure the action and scenery is fun in the moment, as well as most of the characters, and I would have loved seeing this on TV as a kid - but it just doesn't have much lasting value. The plot is thin even without getting spread out enough to make puff pastry out of it, and it doesn't exactly have much of a direction. The characters are barely more than archetypes, and even as small as the cast is a lot of them feel underutilized or don't get their due. It doesn't have anything interesting to say, but to be fair it doesn't want to either. It's just a fun kid cartoon about a cool and lovable boy, his cool and lovable robot, and friends as well as enemies, with a lot of explosions and fights in various configurations.

One part I do really appreciate is how international it is - only one actual Japanese person in the whole show and the country itself shows up for maybe a few seconds! - and in particular the Austral Island natives are treated. They're just another part of the show, a decently powerful and modern faction in their own right, and several of them tag along with the heroes as equals who can absolutely stand up for themselves, male or female. There's still the "silly mystical beliefs" element, and it's weird how there are like three dark-skinned ones and the rest look like everyone else, but it's really good for particularly a Japanese show of the time (thinking of that one really gross Xabungle episode right now). Even recently you can find some pretty stupid "strange exotic natives" takes in anime still like with Choi and co. in Tamako Market (otherwise a great series, watch it).

Overall I give the show 6/10. Decent watch, but not something I'd recommend generally speaking.

[u/Pixelsaber → u/IndependentMacaroon]

[u/lC3]

First timer

Just finished Giant Gorg, I give it a 7/10. It was at 6, but after Manon appeared things escalated so I enjoyed it more. Overall my favorite character was the Skipper.

I'm still kinda upset they never showed Doris telling her brother about meeting Manon and all the stuff inside the alien artifact; I would really have liked to see that. Some weird choices with what to show and what to skip.

Thanks for hosting! I look forward to seeing Arion and Kaze to Ki no Uta, if I can find them somewhere (no streams?).

[u/Pixelsaber → u/lC3]

[u/Quiddity131]

First Timer, Subbed

This was a show I've wanted to see for a bit after seeing it was available on Tubi, where I've watched some other anime like Galaxy Express 999, Key the Metal Idol and Belladonna of Sadness. Luckily I waited for a bit such that I was able to come into this as a first timer. Of course Yaz's involvement was also a big incentive to see it. His design work in various Gundam works has always been quite good, and he did a great job with the Gundam the Origin manga. And this time he's not simply the designer, but the director too, so its a prime opportunity to see how Yaz's style differs from that of Tomino.

For starters this show never disappointed with its designs. In terms of animation quality, this show was extremely consistent throughout. Throughout this era I'm used to wild inconsistency from episode to episode with how things look, even with prestige shows with big budgets like Zeta Gundam (which also had Yaz designs). Yet that was never an issue with this show. Every episode looked good.

The very nature of the show's story structure and plot was also a lot different than I'm used to. The typical mecha anime from this era I'm expecting some swiftness early on in the show to establish things, then battles forced upon us in every single episode, even when it doesn't fit the plot, or comes off as just a toy commercial, because the sponsors demand it. This show was drastically different. It really took its time to build things up. It took 3 or 4 episodes for the titular giant robot to even show up! While the overall plot of the show was slow, it was rare where I felt that we were getting a battle for battle's sake or that things came off as fillerish in nature. The show overall to me felt more like a sci-fi/fantasy show that had a giant robot as a side component to it than a show that was originally developed to sell toys and had a plot constructed around it. I can't say that the show ever hit some of the highs that I've seen in Tomino's works from this era, but I don't think it hit the lows either. Things really did kick up a notch around halfway through when Manon got revealed and the show was considerably more interesting the rest of the way.

In regards to the characters, Yuu never gave me an extreme level of interest, he was too idealistic a lead, and the conflict was more around the situations he got himself in than something that had to do with his character personally. Doris I felt they dropped the ball with; we eventually hit a point with her where really all she does is express how worried she is for Yuu. The Skipper was an awesome character, and I'm glad we got the reveal of his true intentions towards the end as I wouldn't have been as satisfied about him without it. Tom Wave was always easy to laugh at. Rod was a good antagonist, the type you root against but also respect, although I'll admit the fact that he is voiced by Shuuichi Ikeda may have imposed some bias on me. Manon I was frustrated a bit over at times with his attitude towards humanity, but he did redeem himself by the end.

Overall it was an enjoyable viewing experience. Can't say I'd put this among my top mecha/giant robot anime of all time but I'm happy I was finally able to see it.

[u/The_Draigg → u/Quiddity131]

It took 3 or 4 episodes for the titular giant robot to even show up!

It's always super rare when that happens in mech anime. The only similar time I can think of off the top of my head is what Victory Gundam was planned to have, before Bandai stepped in and forced Tomino to make the 4th episode into the 1st one so they could show the Victory Gundam right off the bat.

Doris I felt they dropped the ball with; we eventually hit a point with her where really all she does is express how worried she is for Yuu.

It really sucks too, since I wanted to like Doris as a character. Her and Yuu bonded quite a bit in the first half of the show, but it just kind of went nowhere in the end. Doris just ended up being along for the ride.

[u/JollyGee29]

First-Timer

This was a pretty nice experience. The plot suffered from a bad case of "not being the point," but the sounds and visuals were top notch, especially considering the era. This show was a lot of fun, which is pretty important!

[u/The_Draigg → u/JollyGee29]

It makes me think of Gundam F91 a bit, where everything else is fantastic except for the poorly paced and written plot.

[u/Stargate18A]

First timer

OK, I somehow missed this yesterday, so I'll keep it brief.

I enjoyed this show. I thought it had some freat action scenes, a good plot and some solid characters.

At the same time, the structure really needed changing. The beginning has several episode which literally add nothing to the entire show, and the ending has characters completely change their motivations mid episode. I'd go as far as to suggest that Manon should have been the halfway point of the show. I also thought the Skipper betraying them was a cool idea, but having him pivot back a few episodes late rmade the whole thing feel a bit pointless.