Sentou Mecha Xabungle

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Blue Gale Xabungle, Combat Mecha Xabungle

Japanese: 戦闘メカザブングル

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 50

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Feb 6, 1982 to Jan 29, 1983

Premiered: Winter 1982

Broadcast: Saturdays at Unknown

Producers: Sotsu

Licensors: Maiden Japan

Studios: Sunrise

Source: Original

Genres: Action, Sci-Fi

Themes: Mecha, Military

Duration: 24 min. per ep.

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Statistics

Score: 7.12¹ (scored by 1,168 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #3447²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #7852

Members: 5,246

Favorites: 37

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HIDIVE

7.12

Ranked #3447Popularity #7852Members 5,246

Winter 1982TVSunrise

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Episodes: /50

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Synopsis

On the planet Zora exist two societies: the Innocent, an advanced culture that lives in domed cities, and the Civilians, who are forced to live in the harsh desert wilderness. As dictated by the Innocent, any Civilian that commits a crime is forgiven if they are not brought to justice within three days.

Civilian Jiron Amos seeks revenge on the villainous outlaw Timp Sharon who murdered his parents, despite the fact the three-day period has long since passed. Hoping to get his revenge by stealing the mecha Xabungle from the merchant Carrying Cargo, Jiron teams up with a group of bandits known as the Sandrats and kidnaps Cargo's daughter Elchi, who ends up being sympathetic to his cause. Jiron's quest for revenge soon grows into a conflict much bigger—one that will eventually see the Civilians rise up against the Innocents' rule.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Summary:

Xabungle Graffiti

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Amos, Jiron

Main

Ootaki, Shinya
Japanese

Cargo, Elchi

Main

Yokoo, Mari
Japanese

Uralo, Rag

Main

Shimazu, Saeko
Japanese

Big, Fatman

Supporting

Ginga, Banjou
Japanese

Chill

Supporting

Tarako
Japanese

Sharon, Timp

Supporting

Ginga, Banjou
Japanese

Narrator

Supporting

Ginga, Banjou
Japanese

Horla, Kidd

Supporting

Futamata, Issei
Japanese

Biel

Supporting

Mori, Katsuji
Japanese

Rank, Arthur

Supporting

Shiozawa, Kaneto
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Tomino, Yoshiyuki

Director, Storyboard, Original Creator

Imagawa, Yasuhiro

Episode Director, Storyboard

Kase, Mitsuko

Episode Director, Storyboard

Takizawa, Toshifumi

Episode Director, Storyboard

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Opening Theme

"Shippuu Xabungle (疾風ザブングル)" by Akira Kushida

Edit

Ending Theme

"Kawaita Daichi (乾いた大地)" by Akira Kushida

More reviews

Reviews

Aug 18, 2019

ggultra2764

Recommended

Xabungle is a mish-mash of genres combining westerns, mecha action, sci-fi, and comedy focused on a young man named Jiron Amos who partners up with a gang of sand bandits and the crew of the landship known as the Iron Gear to seek out the whereabouts of the murderer of his family named Timp Sharon. Within the world of Xabungle, mechs called Walker Machines are used by landships to combat one another and there is a three-day rule in place where all crimes have to be resolved within that time or else they are pardoned. In addition, there exist two living beings within the series: ... the Innocent who live lavishly in domed cities and the Civilians who live out in the harsh planet landscape.

Xabungle was directed by famous mecha anime director Yoshiyuki Tomino, sandwiched between his work on the more darker and serious Space Runaway Ideon and Aura Battler Dunbine. The series is more lighter fare with its focus on Jiron and other characters as comedy rears its presence frequently throughout the series to parody typical tropes of the mecha genre and usually breaking the fourth wall with characters being self-aware of their status as fictional characters and whatever roles they have to fulfill within the series. Some characters even aspire to be greater than the roles they personify or attempting to seem tough and intimidating, yet their comical and klutzy behavior goes against whatever role they are attempting to come off as. The comedy actually helps to allow Xabungle to stick out from the many mecha titles that were made throughout the 1980s trying to come off as serious, as the series is self-aware of its roots and doesn't take itself seriously on enough occasions throughout its 50-episode run.

Outside of the comedy, Xabungle also sticks out for the rather unique world it has to offer up in its mixing of sci-fi and western story elements. On the surface, the series seems to be a western with the attire, settings, and weaponry employed; mixed in with the more advanced technology such as the Walker Machines and landships used by the Civilians. But as episodes progress, more is revealed about the workings of the world that Xabungle is set in that eventually leads up to a conflict between the crew of the Iron Gear and those under the influence of the Innocent. A good chunk of what is revealed is pretty typical of sci-fi and mecha focused anime, but the mentioned comedy rears its head enough to keep things from getting too overly serious.

In regards to characters, the series has a fairly large cast considering its length and the scale of which its main conflict onfolds. Some characters, notably the villains, are pretty standard with their motives and character types. Others, like major characters among the Iron Gear, do get a good deal of fleshing out that let them have more to them beyond their character types as Xabungle shows how a number of characters are affected by the escalating conflict with the Innocent and there are a few characters within the Innocent concerned about how things are escalating with their influence on the Civilians. In spite of how typical a number of the character types are, Xabungle still does a solid job with exploring how each side is affected by the developing conflict between Civilians and Innocent.

Overall, Xabungle makes for a fun and engaging mecha show thanks to the humor coming off its self-awareness of being a mecha anime, as well as the unique blend of western and sci-fi storytelling tropes implemented in its exploration of the Iron Gear's conflict with the Innocent. Old-school mecha fans looking for something unique for the genre should definitely consider giving this a watch.

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Sep 28, 2020

punishedsneed

Recommended

Xabungle is a Tomino mecha anime that is fully light hearted, it does not take itself seriously. This is a good thing and makes it very enjoyable. There are roots to concepts seen in more serious Tomino mecha anime - like Zeta Gundam - within Xabungle, and the same beats are hit... but while this normally causes the show to feel repetitive if you've seen other mecha works of Tomino, Xabungle is different enough that it doesn't suffer at all from this. I've seen a lot of Tomino mecha anime and while almost all of them are good, they do hit on the same characterization, ...

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Apr 26, 2021

Pyro81300

Recommended

Spoiler

--NO MAJOR SPOILERS are in this review--

Tomino is often known for his more serious, death filled tragic shows, but the man has also made quite a few lighthearted and fun shows as well. Xabungle is certainly one of them, and it’s also my first experience with a “happy Tomino show”. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I ended up with a hilarious and extremely fun show.

--STORY—
Xabungle’s story is one that manages to stay fairly interesting. The actual overall plot is good, but what makes it truly compelling are the characters, which I’ll touch on later. It could be perhaps a bit slow at ... times, but the comedy, characters, and dynamic action kept me watching. The first half is mostly based around Jiron’s revenge, fights against various mercenary-esque land ships, and some semi unique world building. A few eps were slow, but most were enjoyable.

I ended up enjoying the 2nd half far more with the battle vs the Innocent starting to come into play. Character dynamics were more interesting, some minor characters got more development, a certain brainwashed antag and return of another older antag all contributed well towards that. The ending in particular is great, and wraps up the series well.

Pretty much all the comedy lands well in Xabungle. There’s a lot of slapstick and Tom and Jerry crap going on, but there is the rare clever joke. The show also pokes fun well at common mecha tropes and breaks the 4th wall, but it doesn’t do it often enough that it becomes cheesy or annoying. It’s not all comedy though, and there are some serious, emotional moments scattered throughout the show. There’s some rather nice commentary on trans humanism, exploitation of the lower classes by the higher, and typical gender roles.

The actual mech/land ship action and battles were surprisingly great. The more cartoonish feel to the action leads to some very creative moments, but there are also serious, well-done tactics as well. Despite some battles feeling similar to others, across the 50 eps not battle felt like a complete repeat. The mech designs are standard, but work well. I do quite like the Iron Gear being a landship that can transform into a mech though.

--CHARACTERS—

Tomino’s usual “motley crew of often dysfunctional, but come together when necessary” cast works extremely well with the tone of this series. Jiron grows from an arrogant boy out for revenge, to a competent young leader. Rag goes from a reckless, free spirited, hotheaded woman, to a still snarky but considerably toned down girl, who can now get along with other people well. Elchi in particular was my fave character, and I think overall she has the best character development learning to balance her more tomboy and naturally girly qualities and finding love. The side cast was also quite enjoyable, and get fairly solid development. Fatman is always a hoot to watch, and Cotsett is a great mechanic/pilot.

The main antags aren’t as well developed, but they’re still fun to watch as villains just being villains. I would’ve liked a bit more development on some of the Innocent, but overall characterization is very good.

--MUSIC/VOICE ACTING—

The soundtrack of Xabungle is full of amazing music. The OP is stupidly catchy, the ED has a nice 80’s charm to it, and the general music is really good too. The voice acting is always full of energy, and they deliver each scene really well. On a minor note I was surprised to find out that Timp was voiced by Banjou Ginga, more often known for his voice is Netero in Hunter X Hunter. The guy has certainly been voice acting for a long time.

--ANIMATION—

To complement the varied battles and semi chaotic nature of the series, the animation was actually considerably more varied than I expected. There was a lot less reused stock footage than I expected, and there’s plenty of great visual gags. Overall, the animation is very good for the time, and it never really felt like they were running low on budget. It’s dynamic when necessary, and well-drawn for still moments.

--ENJOYMENT—

I very much enjoyed Xabungle. There was rarely a dull moment with it, and it’s definitely up there for one of the funniest anime I’ve watched. It’s also excellent if you’re here for the mecha elements moreso, and is a classic 80’s anime I’d rec to anyone.

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Poll: Sentou Mecha Xabungle Episode 43 Discussion VVill - Feb 25, 2022	0 replies	by VVill »» Feb 25, 2022 2:14 PM
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Sentou Mecha Xabungle

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Characters & Voice Actors

Amos, Jiron

Cargo, Elchi

Uralo, Rag

Big, Fatman

Chill

Sharon, Timp

Narrator

Horla, Kidd

Biel

Rank, Arthur

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Sentou Mecha Xabungle

Alternative Titles

Information

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Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

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Characters & Voice Actors

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

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Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

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