Getter Robo

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One of the big three, of Mazinger, Getter, and Gundam. If you've seen a robot transform and combine, thank Getter Robo. It's influence is impossible to ignore, but there is an actual comic and not just it's influence on the medium. It's a very, very strange comic.

Story: I can't say it's really good.
At no point was I really super invested, nor do I really have much to say about the plot itself. You have a monster, and the good guys in the Getter have to fight it and they do and they win. It was frequently a shocking story though, I have never ... seen a comic that moves like Getter does, it's like an assault on your mind. Event, event, event, dinosaurs, robots, people dying, more robots and dinosaurs, dinosaur robots, a jellyfish? More people dying! Then it's over. That isn't a bad thing, it's simply the style, as later installments don't loosen up the pace but still succeed in having a good plot. Although this does have a good twist or two, that's the most I can say.

Art: Super fun, and really janky.
At this point in his career, Ishikawa's style lives clearly in the shadow of Go Nagai's, but it has it's own flare. The character designs are great, their expressions are fun and often exaggerated, and the action is clear. Sometimes, anatomy or poses are a bit scuffed, although some of that I'm sure is intentional and part of the style, that doesn't mean it doesn't look weird.

Characters: What really shines about this series.
The plot of Getter Robo barely exists, and so does much character development in this part. But the characters themselves are a blast. From their banter you can very clearly tell all of their personalities and the comradery they share. They're all great, lovable lunatics. Not much to say.

In summary, you read this for the characters and the robots. This is an action comic, it's mostly robots. You get to see them fight, and it's good fighting. Let's goooooo!!!!!!

Getter Robo is an absolute Classic. The story is rather basic by Super Robot manga standards, but that’s because it was one of the first of it’s kind, and it shows. The series doesn’t feel like it’s ripping off anything, despite effectively playing straight most super robot tropes. The structure of the story is a massive help with this. That is, the manga is rather short chapter-wise, being only 13 chapters, plus a prologue and a comedy special, that does not mean it’s short, each chapter is very long, with it not being unusual for a single chapter to exceed 100 pages in length. This ... structure works to it’s benefit, however, with the story simultaneously given a lot of time to focus on the story of a single chapter, and not having enough chapters to have filler. This makes for a very serialized plot, with each chapter adding a new element to the story, and nothing feeling unimportant enough to to skip over or dragged out enough to make you want to skip a chapter.

The characters, while not the series’ biggest selling point, are interesting in their own ways. The Getter pilots themselves aren’t exactly the most heroic bunch, with each of their respective introductions painting them in a pretty bad light, and their subsequent actions as pilots not exactly changing said representations. Despite this, they rarely feel unsympathetic, with each of them having a great deal of compassion and emotion beneath their seemingly unappealing exteriors. This makes for a cast that stands out and is easy to remember, with each of the cast being fleshed out in the time they have on screen, and their respective traits plus their aforementioned moral complexity makes them stand out and stick in your mind easily. The villains also deserve a mention. While the Dinosaur Empire is rather bog-standard as far as Super Robot series go, they do have their moments in which you genuinely sympathize with and even feel sorry for them, a rarity for a 70s series.

Being a shounen battle series, Getter Robo has a focus on action, and boy does it deliver. The first few chapters are rather lacking in action, being focused primarily on introducing us to the characters and antagonists. But when the Getter Robo first forms and combats the mechasaurs, the manga as a whole gets better. Everything from the character dialogue to the art takes a noticeable upturn after the Getter’s debut, and the fights themselves easily hold up even compared to modern day shows.

Overall, this series was enjoyable from beginning to end, and I would recommend it to someone else any day.

Getter Robo is one of the most important and legendary series ever made, and I'm shocked at how unpopular it is on this website. With Getter Robo Arc finally getting an anime adaptation that will finish the story, I figured it was time to go share some thoughts on this franchise with each entry. Getter Robo is the lovechild of co-writer Go Nagai and writer/artist Ken Ishikawa. Ishikawa, unfortunately, passed away before he could finish the manga yet despite that, Getter Robo has preserved through the years with multiple OVAs over the decades. But here everything starts, and while it's far from perfect, it does ... a good job setting up such an iconic series.

STORY: 7 - Getter Robo's influence is vast in the mecha genre, both in and out of Japan. It introduced the concept of separate combinable transformable mechs into one large one. Voltron, Transformers, Macross, Mobile Suit Gundam, Gunbuster, Gurren Lagaan, and even Megas XLR are just some of the series whose existence is directly owed to Getter Robo. But this is a humble start, and its genius doesn't show much here. A majority of this manga is your typical good vs evil fight with over the top stereotypical villains who comically laugh and have absurd names (Reptiloids? Really?) as they plot to take the Earth away from humans, so naturally the humans fight back. But you're not here for the story, you're here for the mech fights, and there's plenty here. That being said, the story does have some interesting developments, particularly in the middle and especially towards the end. The writers do some pretty bold stuff especially in regards to one of the main characters that makes for something a bit more than mindless action.

ART: 8 - Getter Robo looks like your typical early 70s manga, but it has excellent paneling and the fights are very easy to follow. It is a bit inconsistent at times, but not in a way that's bad per se, just different. There can be great detail when there needs to be, particularly in regards to gore and mechs. I love all 3 of the Getter's designs, and when combined, Getter Robo has a pretty unique look. It uses an ax! How cool is that?!

CHARACTERS: 6 - Admittedly, Getter Robo's characters are far from great, but our three main pilots are a lot of fun regardless. There's Ryoma Nagare, Hayato Jin, and Musashi Tomoe. The introductions of these characters are super memorable, and I love how absolutely crazy and violent they act. They're not your typical mech heroes that became popular after. They really help sell the humans as the underdogs in this war. I like how the Getters they pilot reflect their personalities. Getter 1 is all-around strong and can fly while Getter 2 is built more for speed and Getter 3 is stockier. Frankly, I can't remember too much of the villains. They're just fodder for the most part, but I do like how the Reptiloids are able to corrupt humans, and this comes into play in a very interesting way. As expected, the strong heroes get all the attention, but they're lots of fun.

ENJOYMENT: 8 - Getter Robo is just such a cool series. It gives you exactly what you want out of a big mecha action. A big hurdle for me though was how long some chapters can get. I know that's typical for the time, but it can really hurt pace if you try to read a bunch of them at once. I suggest you take your time with it. The pace is insanely fast despite the long chapters and it can be kind of hard to follow at times, but if you stick with it, the finale will be well worth it.

OVERALL: 7 - Getter Robo is a lot of fun, and while I like it a lot, it just doesn't compare to its future sequels and frankly, to some of the stuff it inspired. Still, it's well worth reading not only because of how influential it is to the genre and medium but because it really is just a fun time! Even after over 45 years, the classic Getter Robo still holds up, and I think a big part of that is due to how unique and just flat out crazy the protagonists are. But yeah, you're pretty going to want to read this so that you can get to the much better future entries.