May 5, 2020
Shippu! Iron Leaguer is not an incredible show, and you should watch it. Especially if you like robots. This is one of my all-time favourites.
It's probably fair to say that at no point in its life was this show a chart-topper. From its.. interesting robot designs and continually subpar animation to its repetitive and often limited soundtrack and aggressively corny plot beats, Iron Leaguer is clearly not the cream the of the crop. It never received an English release, so the vast majority of its English-speaking viewers have been given the opportunity to see it thanks to the efforts of fansubbers Alpha Numbers and Silver
...
Castle. I think it's pretty telling, then, that most reviews here from those that have watched the whole show have given it a better score than those elements perhaps deserve.
On a surface level, this is a weird combination of a half-assed sports anime that's more about sportsmanship than actually playing sport, and a sentient mecha show that dips into the ethics of robotics. Kinda. If you like the talking, feeling kind of robots, this is going to be very up your alley.
The run-of-the-mill sports championship content of this show is underpinned by a deeper, weirdly darker narrative about old robots being retired and used for war. Perhaps inadvertently, this intrigue is coupled with a surprisingly effective framing of our enigmatic protagonist Magnum Ace that starts suspenseful, turns into something deeply interesting, and is concluded with an arc that breaks open the consequences of that mystery and interrogates his character, using him as a metaphor for the moral basis of the show. Iron Leaguer is not well written on a moment-to-moment basis, but over its 52-episode run this throughline is bewilderingly well-executed.
The rest of the main cast, for the most part, spend their focus episodes being interesting and endearing and then fade into the background as soon as they're over. The plots often alternate between being cheesy and outright ridiculous, and so much of this show is unintentionally funny that it makes an amazing drinking game.
The show sucks. But it has a driving plot that works, enough interesting characters at any given time to support it, and most of all - elevating it above other lackluster old animes, imo - it has heart. Give it a chance and if it's for you, you'll see what I mean.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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