A case where the original format is better than the
“localization”
by Avi Green
June 21, 2020
Warring Demon-God Destroyer (Sengoku Majin) GoShogun – 1981
Writer: Takeshi Shudo
Director: Kunihiko Yuyama
Years ago, I vaguely recall watching the US “adaptation” of this
anime series, which was dubbed into English (and also into Hebrew)
as Macron 1. It was all the doing of one Haim Saban, at the time
early in his career as a producer of children's TV entertainment,
doing production and music compositions for various cartoons. But
his political record and contempt for the Israeli populace makes me
feel alienated from his past work in hindsight, and in all due
honesty, I don't think his work at the time was very good in
adapting anime from Japan for a global audience. (Besides, he took
too much credit for stuff he didn't create, like the Genie Family.)
But, let's get to the main focus, that being this interesting item
from the early 80s.
Set in the early 21st century, at a time when a sinister covert
organization called Dokuga, overlorded by Neo-Neros, holds near
complete domination of the world's economy, politics and military,
there arises some bold challengers to this dire situation, sparked
off by the kidnapping of Japanese professor Sanada, who commits
suicide rather than allow Dokuga to acquire his research secrets.
Sanada's young son, Kenta, is threatened by the forces of Dokuga,
who look like skeleton-shaped cyborgs, and is rescued by Captain
Sabarath (it's possible the character was inspired by the late Telly
Savalas), who oversees the Good Thunder, an experimental teleporting
airship fortress, and joins the crew recruited on the ship, Shingo
Hojo, a pilot who lost his fiancee in a terrorist attack by Dokuga,
Remy Shimada, lady pilot who formerly worked as a spy in France, and
Killy Gagley, a former gangster once known as the “Bronx Wolf”, not
to mention the female robot OVA, Kenta's tutor and mother-like
figure. The 3 pilot figures join their battleships together to form
the titular giant mech called GoShogun, which battles the enemy
airships of Dokuga during their adventures.
Watching the original format and footage after so many years, I was
able to connect with it far better than the Saban-oriented format,
which even combined some footage from another anime series called
Akū Dai Sakusen (Great Military Operation in Subspace) Srungle, just
to meet a quota of episodes required for some broadcasts in the US,
and desecrated the original theme scores for the sake of an alleged
“Miami Vice formula” which stuffed contemporary pop music into the
action scenes, yet only amounted to making the localization truly
awful. Here, in the original format, I was able to enjoy it much
better without all that watering down. We get a feeling for what the
characters are made of, and a far better sense of suspense. The main
villain, Neo-Neros, is kept in the shadows till the end. His
deputies are 3 generals by the names of Leonardo Medici Bundle, who
looks like a long-haired prince carrying a rose, and judges
everything based on beauty or lack thereof, Suegni Cuttnal, a
scientist who develops tranquilizers and such which he himself
consumes constantly in the ways of a pill popper, and Yatta-La
Kernagul, a brutish humanoid with bluish skin who runs a network of
fried chicken restaurants. They all make for some most interestingly
portrayed adversaries, though by the end, they're turning against
Neo-Neros.
The upside: while there isn't much in questionable taste
here, it's considerably better than the overseas editions that are
heavily edited. And the animation is colorful, with very good care
given to the contours and motions. Also, apart from the repeated use
of stock scenes where GoShogun is combined together from the 3
heroic pilots' airships, the action is excellent, and not made to
look like the heroes are lacking flaws, as the US/European editions
certainly came off looking like. You also get OVA as what she was
originally written as – a female robot, rather than a more male
robot, as seemed to be the case in the US/European editions. That's
something for which I give Saban and company serious demerits,
because they took what made the original work, and changed it into
something less challenging. Here, in the original, where OVA is
portrayed as the female-minded robot she was originally, it's far
more impressive and better written.
The downside: what little footage there is to be found here
that's questionable is one point where OVA spanks Kenta after he
causes her problems again, and you can see his exposed backside.
The verdict: it's an enjoyable adventure, with very engaging
action and plenty of good character moments that give it plenty of
energy, all in good ways. The dialogue has very clever moments,
especially Remy's. It even serves as a good metaphor for how corrupt
corporations can be when they have too much control over everything
and anything, seeing how many today are just buying stuff out and
then letting it all fall into decay. Which, now that I think of it,
is just what Saban's studio was doing to boot.
GoShogun: The Time Stranger – 1985
Writer: Takeshi Shudo
Director: Kunihiko Yuyama
Set forty years after events of the GoShogun series, this tells what
is happening to some of the main characters who starred there,
mainly Remy, years after they all disbanded. She's been injured in a
car crash, and Killy, Shingo, Bundle, Cuttnall and Kernagul come to
her bedside to lend her strength. They'd all received letters
warning of brutal deaths, with Remy the first who's been menaced by
this. The sequel film focuses on dream sequences she's having, which
may harken back to her childhood, and show how, even in dreamland,
she's fighting back, albeit with simpler firearms as opposed to what
was in the first series.
The upside: it makes for a pretty good followup.
The downside: very little.
The verdict: it's a worthy sequel to the mecha series, even
though it doesn't focus any longer on that aspect (GoShogun itself
only appears as a model in a museum). This time is action-adventure
on foot. But, it is definitely well done, making it an impressive
shift in focus. And, like the original series, here too, it works
far better than the awful localization machinations by the
pretentious Saban company.
Copyright 2020 Avi Green. All rights reserved.
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