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.
