Super Robot Wars Original Generation: The Animation

Information of Anime

Dr. Jurgen of DC developed a new combat mecha called the VTX-001 Valtolle unmanned anti alien PT to fight against potential alien threats.  During the public showing of these mechas, they went haywire & started attacking people.  Kyosuke Nanbu & his team go out & fight against these mechas.  At the battlefield, there was no sign of human life as they battled against these mechas.  Little did they know that they would discover a shocking secret behind these machines.

Storyline (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Below is a summary of the storyline I've seen.  This section does contain some spoilers.  If you haven't seen the series yet & don't want to be spoiled, skip this section.  If you want to know the story & want to see how I viewed it, read on.

Kyosuke & the crew learned that human life is need to power the VTX-001 when they examine one of them.  Because some of the crew members were missing during the public event show, they feared that they may be in danger.  They also learn that the mechas record their fighting data & sends it up to the ODE worldwide network system & passes the data to other VTX-001s.  To defeat them, Kyosuke & the crew use different attack methods & copy each other's moves to confuse the system.  Along the way, more people join up with Kyosuke.  After locating where the production plant is, they set out to space to destroy it & save their friends.

Finding the source of the plant, it is discovered that the ODE system is trying to combine all human intelligences into one.  Also, Dr. Jurgen has been taken over by the system in the main Valtolle.  The story ends when Kyosuke destroys the main Valtolle & the ODE stop functioning because it couldn't handle all the data of human intelligence.  After the credit roll, one Valtolle faintly shows some sign of operating again.

My Personal Review

Super Robot Wars Original Generation: The Animation is based on Banpresto's game series.  I've always thought that Super Robot Wars is a bunch of mechas from different series put together into 1 game.  However, this OVA proved me wrong.  It's quite deep & has it's own set of characters & mechas.  The show does have its share of soft nudity (e.g. nipples), so it's recommended that young teens & over should be watching this.

Animation

The character designs are pretty plain in terms of the clothing.  It's unique, but it's nothing special.  The characters have that 90s look.  The big hairstyles, large oval-shaped eyes, & round & long pointy chin faces.  The black lines are pretty thick on the faces as well.

The backgrounds are pretty nice & not heavily detailed.  It's very balanced with the characters as well in terms of the colour toning.  Even with the dull tones, they don't mix together.

The animation flow is pretty smooth.  No jerking or sudden motions.  Pretty realistic & natural.  The fight scenes were pretty intense as the VTX-001s never what Kyosuke & his team were doing.

Sound       

The sound effects aren't bad.  The things sounded like what they are in real life.  The loud explosions & gun fires are very sharp & clear.  Very good quality.

The voice actors were good.  They matched their characters very well.  Even though their performances are good, I don't remember them well.  I can't remember what they sound like after not watching it for a short period of time.

The music was not too bad.  Mainly rock & techno dance.  It made the show sound like it came from the 80s or early 90s.  It's not too bad, but they don't stick to my head at all.

Story

It's pretty deep & has some good plot twists.  The story does involve a lot of talking & less action.  Not only that, it's quite darker & serious than what I thought the SRW series is about.  However, the solutions to the VTX-001 countering situation may be a bit too easy. 

Because VTX-001s have the capability to store data about enemy moves, Kyosuke's team solves it too easily.  More people start coming in & wiping out the Valtolles.  The slight distortion where Lamia rejects the ODE system is believable though where it causes the system to reset.

Overall Conclusion

Super Robot Wars Original Generation: The Animation really made me think differently about the series.  It's dark & deep.  It's got a great storyline with a lot of surprises, but the combat solutions were too easy in my opinion.  Also, the OVA really looks like it came from the 90s instead in terms of the animation & sounds.  If you are fan of mechas or the SRW series, I recommend watching this OVA.

Super Robot Wars Original Generation: The Animation gets a seven out of ten.  The storyline is deep & the fight scenes were exciting.  However, throwing in some new characters when hope seems lost felt like easy solutions for the heroes.

Last updated on January 16, 2008