[STORY 6] Very clear cut and dry for the most part. Dancougar's plot won't blow anyone away if you're looking for a surprise. The story seems to have taken creative liberties from Genesis Climber Mospeada and Voltron. Planet is under attack by aliens and a group of hotshot pilots are assembled to pilot machines to fight against the threat, you know the deal. I've always questioned the motives behind evil alien warlords and empires in their schemes to take over earth. If you want this planet for it's resources and atmosphere, isn't zapping it to oblivion kind of counterproductive? Or if you were looking to blow up a planet, why not Venus? We're not using it. Anyway, so much of the first half of Dancougar is establishing the mechs the character pilot, so it becomes a bit repetitive early. Aliens attack, heroes show up, they fight, a new mech transforms, aliens retreat, and skirmish ends. The best element of the plot is an earthling working for the alien invaders and that's what kept me hooked to this show for so long just to see what happens to the weasley creep!
[ART 6] The art is extremely dated, doesn't particularly flow well, and often you'll see a lot of the same footage of tanks and airborne units explode constantly, even in the same episode. Transforming scenes run rampant and might drive you crazy after a short period of time, especially when Dancouga is finally formed. That scene alone lasts longer than the fights it's involved in.
Character designs are by Masami Obari, and I have to give him credit. I really like the designs of the cast and the aliens. It's funny that there are music videos of the pilots singing, because in their casual wear, they may as well form a rock band. The aliens look good as long as you don't mind low-rent inbit knockoffs, but the three generals look pretty cool. Animation aside, the art is passable at times, but gets annoyingly repetitious.
[SOUND 10] As with most mecha shows, especially the older ones, an awesome soundtrack is almost expected, and Dancougar's music is no exception. The theme's for both seasons are really catchy, a lot of the BGM and fanfare music is intoxicatingly fun to hum along to, and by the end of the show, you might be able to sing "Harmony Love". An A+ soundtrack that doesn't get old, except maybe the Harmony Love song. After the 500 encore, you might need a break.
[CHARACTER 8] What robo series wouldn't be complete without a mismatch group of pilots to try and work together. You have Shinobu, a gung ho loudmouth, Sara, one of the prototype redheads that laid the groundwork for future hellcat females with fiery tempers, Masato, the young, carefree comic relief, and Ryo, the tall, scary guy that's fluent in rationality. They're fun as a unit, but after they're intial introduction and sporadic backstory in and out in later episodes, not too much is done with them, which may be a blessing in disguise, I suppose. Probably the highlight of the cast is Shapiro Keats, Sara's ex-boyfriend, resident traitor and all-around jerkbag. It's seldom when a man's grasp for power reaches this level of just complete insanity, I was almost rooting for him. Watching him worm his way to the top of the alien ranks is actually pretty damn admirable. He's one of the most overlooked villians in anime history as his body of work is pretty astounding, even in today's era where villians just stand in a close band and smirk all the time. Shapiro is keen, manipulative, devious, heartless, and sinister, and you want to punch his face in. If you fit in these prerequesites, you're a damn good villian Oh, and take a drink everytime Shinobu gets owned by somebody. It's a blast.
[ENJOYMENT 8] While the stilted, looped animation gets aggravating, I found this show very easy and fun to watch, a must for fans of retro mecha anime. It's got really good characters, a solid, yet paint-by-numbers plot, a great villian in Shapiro Keats, and some mecha that would make awesome toys.
[OVERALL 8] It's a hard show to find. It's only available in VHS in the States, and there's no DVD release to date. It's not as good as Macross or Mospeada, but it's a great slice of nostalgic robo-cake that should be worth checking out for fans of the genre.
PROS: Great music, nice mecha designs, awesome villian
CONS: Poor animation, sub-par story
