Choujikuu Seiki Orguss

Super Dimension Century Orguss is the second of the Super Dimension Trilogy, the first being Super Dimension Fortress Macross and the third being Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross. These are all unrelated series made by the same people they just carry the same title of Super Dimension. In the US release of Robotech, they used both Macross and Southern Cross, however instead of Orguss they used Genesis Climber Mospeada instead. This lead to Orguss becoming obscure as it was never made popular. Well it's not like I would of felt any better if Harmony Gold got it's hands on this and made a censored version. ... However because of that it's terrible abomination of a sequel (Orguss 02) is the only way anyone knows of this.
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​Being made right after Macross you can see how similar it is and how much they improved. The cels are a lot more detailed, the plot is just as complex. It wasn't until last year that I discovered this anime and I enjoyed it as much as I did the original Macross many years ago. It has everything you need, action, suspense, aliens and robots just like Macross. Even though it's been over a year, this is still the last great anime I've watched. 10/10 Perfection.

It took me a long time to get around to watching Orguss because nobody seemed to have anything good to say about it, and well, after watching it, I don't really get why it's so disliked/overlooked. It's not the best anime in the world (maybe people are comparing it to Macross because it's Studio Nue and most of the same staff worked on it?) but it's definitely an enjoyable little show that's worth watching at least once.

Without giving too much away, the basic plot of the show centers around two pilots, Kei Katsuragi and Orson Verne, whose mission is to set off a "trans-dimensional bomb". ... It's the "near" future and the two factions that govern the world are fighting over the control of an orbital elevator. When it comes to this conflict, we don't get much more detail than that, but we don't need it, because as soon as the bomb goes off, Kei is transported to another earth, one where dimensions phase in and out and the earth's atmosphere is affected by some sort of extreme greenhouse effect.

Kei is immediately discovered by a group of people who call themselves Emarns, a business-minded people who typically travel from place to place selling goods in sort of a floating spaceship-esque caravan, the Groma. Kei soon learns that he is one of two "differential points" (I kind of wonder if this could've been translated another way) -- this basically just means is that Kei is key to the restoration of the earth, which is becoming increasingly unstable. There is an antagonistic faction on the planet called Chiram who want Kei for their own purposes, and to complicate things, our heroes also have to contend with an entire civilization of genocidal robots hell bent on destroying all humans.

From there, politics get a bit more complicated, as to be expected from an anime directed by Noburo Ishiguro; it's not as sophisticated as some of the other anime he has directed such as Legend of the Galactic Heroes or even Macross, but it's still complex enough that the story plays more like a pulpy late 60s sci-fi novel than your typical 80s mecha anime. Unfortunately, due to the pacing of the show (there is some filler and the last handful of episodes seem rather rushed, and the ending is completely abrupt) the story suffers a bit. The story really begins to pick up around episode 15, after Orson is reintroduced into the show (my favorite character by far and probably the best example of a "main hero b" I've seen in a mecha anime). I also feel like the conflict with the Muu robots could've been introduced a lot sooner than it was. With some better pacing this show could've been a lot better, but it's not hard to see what they were shooting for and the show is still enjoyable to watch. There are several WTF moments (Palm tree monsters! Gigantic grapes!) but those just add to the charm of the series and are imaginative, I mean, in a world where different dimensions phase in and out, why not have fun with it?

The characters in this show are fun. Most of them are deeply flawed, but to get into detail about their flaws would spoil a lot of the show. The protagonist, Kei, is a "player" type of guy but has more charm than your typical Ataru Moroboshi-ish horny male anime lead. I started off really disliking him as his constant attempts to get with Mimsy were really annoying me, but over time you get to see a softer side of the character, a guy who is attracted to women but simultaneously genuinely cares for and respects not only women but everyone around him. In fact, this proves to be a major problem for him later in the series.

Basically, Orguss is a really fun show with some great art (great example of early 80s Haruhiko Mikimoto character designs, which I absolutely love) and sporadic bits of decent animation, with an intriguing and original story, and really good music. (My absolute favorite OP and some of the BGM is actually quite good -- listen for the Morricone-ripoff theme!) Watch and judge for yourself, don't listen to the haters.

There's a strong feeling of early Gundam to the structure of this show. Most of it involves a group of misfits travelling through enemy territory in their ship, getting embroiled in local conflicts for an episode or two, and fending off attacks with their mechs. Where Gundam added variety with a new mech design almost every episode, Orguss instead shows us new species and cultures that have been mashed together in a cross-dimensional apocalypse.

The broad strokes of the plot in Orguss are great, presenting some tough moral dilemmas for the characters to overcome. The scene-by-scene execution of those ideas often fall short, however, mostly due ... to clunky dialogue and a habit of telegraphing upcoming twists. The characters are likewise an entertaining bunch, from the playboy pilot to the grumpy old combat robot, but many aren't given enough screen time to develop. It remains a good watch throughout its 35-episode run though, and only really falls down in the final minute with a confusing and frustrating ending.

Super Dimension Century Orguss can be a way to make up for the feeling of loss after finishing Super Dimension Fortress Macross. Both were made by similar staff and were in production at the same time at some point. The story is it's own, and follows the story of Kei. He was blasted in an accident into a parallel world along with his friend Olsen. Once there, it's a struggle to try and get back home while at the same time falling in love with the new world he finds himself in. Compared to Macross, Orguss is inferior but still an interesting series going into ... early mecha.

The series shares many of the same flaws as Macross. The production falls apart constantly. There is lot of reused animation, slide show like execution, and skips in animation. At least the characters don't look like clay sometimes such as in Macross. The ending felt rushed, odd, and underwhelming. I really enjoyed most of the beginning of the series. On the other hand, those few last episodes began to decline in quality and weren't as enjoyable. Music wise, hardly any of the songs were memorable. At the very least the opening and ending sequences are iconic. As a romance, there are several characters that get involved here. Whereas the previous series was based on a love triangle, there are several love triangles and love quadrilaterals going on in Orguss. You can expect lots of heavy drama in regards to this.

Kei himself is an amusing and funny character. He always has something smart to say back even during dangerous situations. The man is always surrounded by women and is very flirtatious. At the same time, once he has really fallen in love he can fully commit, though he can make inappropriate comments at times that can make his girlfriends jealous. He makes a lot of mistakes but ultimately is a good man. Throughout the series, he tries to adjust to the way life works in this new Earth, and travels around after meeting the crew of the ship called The Factory. It's revealed that he and Olsen are the singularities. They would come to understand that they have become the keys towards restoring the Earth. Kei can also be very reckless to the point his life can be carelessly put in heavy danger.

Olsen is his friend who thinks much more rationally. He doesn't succumb as easily to his feelings unlike Kei. He is often calm, cool, and collected. He often wears shades for his iconic look and tries to be Kei's voice of reason.

Mimsy is, you could say, the Minmay of Orguss in a few ways, except Mimsy's character is too involved in emotion than actually growing and developing as a character. She is just something to protect and not much else. Her character design can look very beautiful at times when she isn't drawn in odd ways. She is part of a race that look like humans, except that they have two tentacles that made Kei panic once he noticed them. They are sort of like the Zentradi from Macross in that they live life oddly in Kei's view, while at the same time they are not too familiar with the culture of Kei's human race. She is Slay's girlfriend who finds Kei as a bother as he has a target on his back and is constantly bringing trouble back home to the crew.

Mome is another focus of the series as a cybernetic girl with many useful skills. She is head over heels over Kei despite that he has no interest whatsoever. Her story is touching but feels like a tragedy overall.

There are sadly many characters who don't do too much by the end and don't really feel worth mentioning. Still, there are a few more who are memorable such as the adorable duo pilots Lieea and Maaie, Shaya who gets involved in her own love triangle, Athena the conflicted soldier, the loveable Jabby, and the loyally protective captain robot.

Despite the animation quality at times, Orguss still can look beautiful. It comes from a time where hand drawn animation beautifully put attention to detail in its own respectable way compared to modern anime. I can appreciate that it does very well in animating the entire characters bodies and in showing body language. You look at modern anime today that is so painfully bland and many times executed as still frames with flapping mouths that really make you appreciate the animation of Orguss.

Orguss overall was a very enjoyable series despite it's many flaws. I would have called it a masterpiece if it wasn't for that small mediocre chunk of episodes towards the end.