Oh, hey dude. You're finally up. We need you to run to the store for some printer paper.

Glad you're back, I guess that means that the Zero-One anime has been completed! (Though for some reason I don't really remember watching it or leaving comments on this thread, but Ì̶̝͖t̶͚̠͐̈ ̵̤̲͖̆w̶̛̰̅a̸̼̹̽͑s̶̟͝ ̸̻̝̑p̶̟̈́r̸͉̙̃o̸̺̪͊ã̷̞̕b̶̦̱̔͒̃ĺ̵̝͘y̵̛͉ ̶͓̖͂̈̒ǹ̷͔̕ọ̶͖̲̽͆t̴̟͈̐͌ȟ̷̗͌i̸͇̚n̷͍̭̓̄̔ͅg̷̟̹͕̋́.̷̧̼̐)

Of course this is how you greet me.

Indeed it has! It's a simple, silly little thing that I felt was done rather well overall. Pretty much every gag was on point and the shorts themselves had a ton of character to them.

So hey, you guys remember Android Kikaider, right? One of my favorite anime of all time that I used to kickstart this very thread? Well, someone on YouTube did an analysis of it that covers alot of stuff that I neglected to in all of my gushing about it. I highly recommend checking it out if you want the viewpoint of someone who's far better spoken than I am:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE9zqop4BkU

As for what's next for this thread, well uh, I've actually already decided what I plan to cover next, and it's something that I doubt anyone saw coming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cwhdOpXGrY

Yeah that's right, Megas XLR. Okay, sure, it's not an anime, but you better believe that Toku is among its many, many, many influences, and it's one of my all time favorite cartoons ontop of that. And given that fans have upscaled it into 4k, there was no way I was gonna pass up the opportunity to revisit this!

What's that? 4k shows are way too big for you? Well, I'm sure you can watch the show via alternative methods if you look hard enough. Such a shame that this show will never get an official DVD release.

As for when exactly I plan to start... not sure! I wanna catch up on a couple personal projects first. But once those are out of the way, we're driving at Save Jamie Speed right into this sucker, so stay tuned!

That's the wave-motion gun from Space Battleship Yamato!

Right up front, this isn't actually the proper first episode of the show. It's actually the pilot that premiered at the Cartoon Cartoon Weekend Summerfest of 2002.

And honestly, as a pilot, it's actually really good! Within the span of 7 minutes it essentially gives you everything you need to know. From the show's' premise, to the basics of its character dynamics, to the animation style.

Add onto that the really cool action sequence that caps everything off and the fact that every joke in the pilots lands dead on, and it's easy to see why Low Brow was the winner that year(especially now that I've seen the other pilots from the event for comparison).

"But DS!" My non-existent audience member cries out. "I don't have a spare 7 minutes to figure out what the heck this show even is!" Well lucky for you that I don't wanna make this post super short! As such, lemme just give you the run down of the type of show that Low Brow, to later be known to the world as Megas XLR, is!

The basic idea is that two everydudes stumble across a giant robot from the future. Coop(the big guy and our lead) salvages it and modifies it to become an attachment to his sweet car(among other things). Both he and his best friend Jamie plan to use it for mundane everyday stuff, but unfortunately for them it turns out that the robot they found, Megas, is the key to defeating an alien force known as the Glorf and preventing the future destruction of Earth.

Kiva is one of the soldiers from the future, who came back to try and get Megas back, but unfortunately for her, Coop's' modifications means she can't even hope to pilot it. Thus, the three of them need to work together to defeat the Glorf. What follows is a show filled with great action and fantastic character humor that plays fast and loose with the typical super robot formula ontop of making a ton of references to... just about everything in pop culture at the time(whether it be from the US or Japan!).

Really, it's just an overall fun time, and the pilot is no different.

Coop is what Hunk should've been.

Absolutely. If Legendary Defender's' version of Hunk had at all been like Coop then he would've been way more than just a basic fat joke done over and over again.

Episode 1: Test Drive

This episode is an extended version of the pilot, even reusing alot of the same animation and voice clips from it. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Unaware viewers might even be taken off guard, as the episode actually starts like your typical mecha/space drama, with the Earthers of the future losing their war against the Glorft; Heck, it's noted that they already have lost and are simply trying to pick up the pieces, with Megas being stolen from the Glorft.

And that's... honestly a brilliant way to start, as it shows that this show is able to handle something alot of things often fumble at; The balance of tone. Sure, the first act of the episode is pretty serious and dramatic, but it makes the shift to more comedic aspects stand out all the better, and even makes them funnier as a result. All done in a very smooth transition.

Shoot, even in terms of the plot, there's some interesting stuff going on. Like with Megas getting its head blown off in the future and it turning out that the mech was actually sent back to the 30s, causing decades worth of decay and rot to set in; Which is why Coop had to put so much work into rebuilding and customizing it to the point that it's almost unrecognizable as it once was. Which in turn introduces Goat and his junkyard; Another important part of the show.

Speaking of big aspects of the show...


While it's not obvious at first glance, this is one of my favorite gags Megas.

Running gags is definitely something that Megas XLR partakes in, with my favorite one being that Coop's' dashboard/console inside of Megas is entirely different in almost every episode, with different, funny labels to match.


Another running gag, and probably the biggest one, is PoPTV. And no, it's no coincidence that the logo looks suspiciously like the MTV Logo. See, this show was made before Pop TV was actually a real life thing, and back then, the creators of Megas XLR had actually just gotten another work of theirs cancelled, called Downtown. Goat is actually directly taken from Downtown, implying that the two shows share a universe. And as you might've guessed, the network that cancelled Downtown was MTV.

I think it's safe to say the creators were kinda bitter about that one. As such though, I'm gonna be keeping a counter of the various PoPTV stuff that gets blown up per episode. Which means right now the tally is...

1. A satellite

And yes, I will also be for sure highlighting the biggest moments that the fandom ran away with, so look forward to those.

Episode 2: Battle Royale

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5oEVJ7ru2E

This episode marks where we first get to see the intro of the show, and despite it being very basic, comprised of almost nothing but still images, it manages to have a ton of personality thanks to both the way it's edited, as well as that absolutely iconic theme song.

Fun bit of trivia concerning Megas XLR's' music, by the way: The theme song is actually one of the few original songs that Megas has. Almost every other song used in the show is public domain. This was due to the fact that the crew decided to pour all of their music budget into the animation budget instead, and damn does it pay off super well throughout the show.

As for the episode itself, well...


That is straight up Bruce Campbell as MODOK. And the MCU wishes it had writing as good as this.

Okay so obviously he's not literally MODOK, but a parody of him called Mag Nanimus. But yes, he is infact voiced by Bruce himself. The setup is that Mag runs an intergalactic fighting ring, and wants Coop, piloting Megas, to enter.

And right away, we get some nice establishment of character here, because while Kiva objects, saying that the crew really shouldn't be wasting their time given the Glorft could attack at any moment, Jamie is all for it, with his main motivation being that he just really wants to get laid by an alien female.

As for Coop, well... In a great little bit of character humor, when Jamie says to get going, Kiva, thinking logically, states that Coop can make the decision for himself, to which Jamie replies "No he can't." And, well, Jamie is right, haha. It just goes to show that these two guys are actually best friends and know eachother pretty dang well.

Speaking of the little jokes, that's actually something I now appreciate more about the show now that I'm older. Sure, the big, overt gags are great, such as the ending with The Jammer or the comedic ways that Coop's' opponents go down, but one of my big takeaways of the episode on this rewatch was actually a musical gag that happens roughly halfway through, where a dramatic music sting happens constantly during a conversation between Coop and Mag, even when the line itself isn't dramatic or threatening in the least.


The episode also brings to life what would become another running bit throughout the show's' run: Coop's' rants at the bad guy of every episode. I won't chronicle each and every one, but they're always great. This first one is actually pretty standard as far as motive rants go, showing that Coop's' heroic side is starting to grow, but as the show goes, well, let's just say things get alot more... interesting.

Sadly there was no PoPTV stuff destroyed this episode, but that's about the only thing I'd say is missing. Still a great time all around.

Episode 3: All I Wanted Was a Slushie

This is one of the most famous episodes of Megas XLR, and it's easy to see why!

The setup being that Coop has spent half the day training with Kiva, and man, it's a scorcher outside! A nice, refreshing slushie would sure help.

Unfortunately for Coop(and the Earth) a robot spider known as the R.E.G.I.S. MK V crashes down onto the planet, and it's determined to assimilate the entire planet, while constantly getting in the way of Coop and his precious mega slush!

Really, the episode itself does show just why the writing on this show is so beloved and continues to hold up nearly two decades later, as it more focuses on humorous content and scenarios rather than just straight up jokes. From the ridiculousness of the scenario to how characters deliver their lines, it's great!

"Nectar of the GODS!" from Goat is a mini-meme in and of itself, and Coop's' rant about his desire for a mega slush at the end is iconic, but I think for me, what really sells the whole thing is actually the REGIS; The entire joke with it being that it takes itself so seriously that it turns right around to sounding totally ridiculous. I made so many comparisons to Zamasu from Dragon Ball Super.

By the way, why wasn't the tri-chamber cup ever a thing in real life? It always seemed like something people would gun for, but maybe that's just me.

Oh, and of course, the counters for this episode:


PoPTV Stuff Destroyed:

1. A satellite
2. A billboard

Such a good episode. But don't take that as a sign that the show has peaked early, because there's alot more fun to be had.

Episode 4: The Fat and the Furious

That's the Matrix of Leadership, of which they proceed to pour cheese directly into.

Anyway, with a title like what this episode has, it's pretty obvious what a big aspect of the episode is gonna be, right?

It's all about Coop using Megas to compete in a car show, and while that might sound like cheating at first, given that Megas is kind of a super robot and all, when it comes to actually competing, the outcome of the various tasks Megas is given are not only logical, but really funny too.

Of course, given both the movie reference in the title as well as this being a giant mecha show, the Glorft attack at a very inopportune moment while Megas' CPU Core is damaged, leading to a car chase. With mecha!

Speaking of the mecha, while it might not be immediately obvious to some, there's alot of Gundam influence in the mecha designs of this show. One big example from this episode being that one of the Glorft mechs is very much designed after the Zeong from the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime. We'll see more design influences as the show goes on.

While the character comedy is always great, the most surprising takeaway of the episode is the character development for Kiva. While there were certainly signs of it in previous episodes, this one makes a big jump in Kiva getting some enjoyment out of life thanks to her not having to constantly fight for her life in the future. It's telling that not only does she end up taking pride in winning a trophy that she felt was dumb at first, but she's seen having fun with Megas' manual override system during the credits.


Oh, yeah, that's something I've been neglecting to mention in these write-ups, huh? Every episode has a credits gag, such as the crew finding the Planet of the Space Amazons at the end of episode 2. Always appreciated, even if season 1's' credit gags are mainly just still images.


By the way, the car show in this episode is sponsored by PoPTV, and it does end up getting destroyed, so does that count as a PoPTV item getting smashed? I think it does, as such:

PoPTV Stuff Destroyed:

1. A satellite
2. A billboard
3. A car show
4. A news van

And yes, the manual override for Megas is a DDR machine.

While training out in deep space, the gang stumbles upon a seemingly abandoned ring world ala Halo. Further investigation reveals the giant ring to actually be an interstellar library. But before Kiva can make use of it, Megas is infected with a mechanical parasite that slowly drains the mech of its energy. Our heroes need to work together to cleanse Megas' system, and make it off the planet alive.

This is the first episode that is surprisingly light on the humor(compared to the previous episodes atleast), and it does a good job at balancing its overall tone. While there is still the occasional spot of character humor, there's a definite atmosphere of creepiness and suspense throughout that works rather well.

And... that's actually about all I got for this one, really. The episode isn't bad, not at all, it's just alot more basic than what the previous episodes are. Still fun, still worth watching, just nothing major in the grand scheme of things.

So instead, here, have some of the old bumpers that were made for the show while it was still airing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7RgV7tPnX4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nNYbhIhF0g

I really miss when Cartoon Network used to do bumpers like these.

The gang gathers in Coop's' basement to watch the biggest wrestling event of the century. Unfortunately, cable and TV troubles get in the way. Coop's' brilliant plan to fix this is to use Megas to give his satellite dish a boost, and well...


The result is a planet-sized monster that eats radio waves being awakened, and it proceeds to head directly towards Earth.

This episode is defined not only by the sheer scale of the threat, what with Megas being swallowed by a planet-sized monster and having to fight it from inside, but also in its style of humor being distinct from the previous episodes in that this one focuses alot more on sarcastic quips and lampshades.

And ya know, it's almost always good to have variety. Not only in the humor, but in seeing various aspects of character too. For instance, sure, Jamie is a total wimp, but it was both funny and nice to see the side of him that gets his jollies come the end of the episode. Also, this episode has what is probably my favorite credits gag so far.

What also helps is that this episode features a bunch of great console gags, and lampshades thereof.


Oh, and of course, being in space won't prevent PoPTV stuff from getting blown up.


PoPTV stuff destroyed:

1. A satellite
2. A billboard
3. A car show
4. A news van
5. Another satellite

I also wanna highlight how cool it is that Coop absolutely owns who he is. Fat jokes? Sees them as a compliment. Call him lazy? Yeah, he admits it. He fully knows what he is and what he's about, and while sure, he's got a selfish side to him, he's still a good guy at heart and always tries to what what he thinks is right in the end. It's a very cool and positive message to send in what is largely a comedy show, and I respect it.

I saw PoPTV in this write up and confused it with Pop, a local kids channel where I am (it shows Power Rangers, Bakugan, Pok?mon and Miraculous Ladybug). Easy mistake to make.

Haha, yeah. The joke gets another layer nowadays, given that Pop and Pop TV are both actual real life channels now.

Somehow, someway, a cartridge which serves a digital prison for intergalactic monster criminals makes its way to Earth, wherein Coop purchases it at a garage sale. Thinking it's a videogame cartridge, Coop unknowingly releases the criminals. Most notably, Grrkek the Planet Killer.

What can I really say? It's another fun one. Notably though, this one kinda has two plots going on for a chunk of it? The A Plot I already described, but the B Plot is actually about Jamie and Kiva going to the mall, with Jamie's' master plan being to try and make Kiva look like a fool and it backfiring hilariously. Combine that with more fun character gags(such as Baby Coop) and it's another winner.

The animation is also really dynamic in this one too. The opening scene especially looking like something out of Dragon Ball. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if Grrkek is meant to be a parody of Frieza or somesuch.

Coop's' last stand against Grrkek also features a diss that many really only use ironically nowadays, but man if it doesn't still get a laugh out of me.


PoPTV stuff destroyed:

1. A satellite
2. A billboard
3. A car show
4. A news van
5. Another satellite
6. A radio tower

But man, poor Philadelphia at the end, am I right?

Coop lets Jamie borrow Megas' car in order to impress a girl that Jamie has been crushing on. Unfortunately, it's around this time that the Glorft have finished constructing their own dark copy of Megas, and set course to take down Megas and conquer Earth. How can Coop possibly face off against the alien invaders when Megas is missing its head!?

Won't lie, this is one of my favorite episodes across the entire show.

There's just so much going on here! The only real flaw being that there are noticeably more animation mistakes.

On the gag front, every single bit of character humor lands flawlessly. From the flashback to how trash Jamie can be, to the citizens of Jersey not even realizing that they're under attack at first because they're so used to Coop breaking stuff. It's all on point, and features on of my favorite bits in the entire show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBFKAr3s5ko

Also, console gag.


And speaking of Jamie, there's some surprising character development for both him and Coop. Yeah, Jamie can certain be a little prick, but when the chips are really down, he does care about Coop and will do his best to help him. As for Coop, while he was a bit of a reluctant hero at the start of the show, he starts to grow into his own heroic spirit with this episode, with him even enjoying the training sessions he does with Kiva.

Speaking of training, which typically involves blowing stuff up.


PoPTV stuff destroyed:

1. A satellite
2. A billboard
3. A car show
4. A news van
5. Another satellite
6. A radio tower
7. Their HQ

And last but most certainly not least, ontop of the sheer coolness factor of Megas fighting a copy of itself, this episode gave me one of my all time favorite reaction images. BEHOLD!


It gets me every time.

I bet a bunch of you thought that there was no way that this show was at all Toku-related, huh?

But as you can see, this episode features a superhero team known as the S-Force, which are an affectionate parody of Power Rangers, Voltron, Gatchman, and Transformers Energon.

The plot is that they confuse Coop for being a villain due to his tendency for rampant destruction, and thus arrive on Earth to throw him in Space Jail. Things only get more complicated(and funnier) as mistakes are made and things escalate, to the point where the S-Force's' arch-enemy, Ender, shows up.

It's just a fun one all around really, and contains a bunch of gags that I think any Toku fan who doesn't take themselves for the medium too seriously can appreciate. And I don't dare spoil how things end up in climax, but let's just say that there's a reason that combining mecha are specifically designed to be such.


Speaking of that though, someone on YouTube made this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBr2d-rSbAo

I just wanted to show that off because it's neat.

Anyway, as for the tally:


PoPTV stuff destroyed:

1. A satellite
2. A billboard
3. A car show
4. A news van
5. Another satellite
6. A radio tower
7. Their HQ
8. Another HQ

Heheh... "Zorp."

That button proceeds to activate the Iron Cutter from Mazinger Z.

This is a pretty straightforward one. During training, Coop ends up pushing Megas too hard, and thus makes its Photonic Stabilizer crack. Now, Megas is a ticking time bomb. The crew(+Goat!) take a flight to a planet-sized junkyard in order to try and find a new Stabilizer before Megas goes nuclear.

And take one guess as to something they blew up during training.


PoP TV stuff destroyed:

1. A satellite
2. A billboard
3. A car show
4. A news van
5. Another satellite
6. A radio tower
7. Their HQ
8. Another HQ
9. An empty HQ

While the dialogue is on point as always, the main source of humor this time around is cutaway gags, as there's a good chunk of 'em here. And to think, this was before the days of Family Guy.

Outside of that, the only other thing to really stand out is that Goat comes along for the ride this time, and he integrates with the regular trio perfectly. He's a new, permanent member or anything, but that's good, because his appearances would be alot less special otherwise. Also, while it didn't last long, it is impressive that he did infact build a giant robot.

Oh, and as for how they end up handling that Photonic Stabilizer business?


When in doubt, duck it.

This one is probably THE most famous of the Megas XLR episodes.

When an alien bounty hunter(who is very much inspired by The Predator) makes its way to Earth, it seems like business as usual. Unfortunately, while the crew is distracted, Megas ends up getting towed! Now it's up to Coop to go through the DMV to renew his license, get Megas back, and save the world.

And yeah, I'm not about to be a hipster here and say that this episode isn't a great one. Basically everything about it is on point.

Heck, it's hard not to get caught up in the love for it, given that this episode also spawned probably the biggest meme to come out of the show: That being the sequence of Coop obliterating the DMV, which had many a fan edit.

While I'm not about to just start spamming this post with meme entries(they're easy enough to look up on YouTube), I will however highlight another song on the show's' soundtrack that tends to stand out to people. That song being an instrumental version of the already existing song known as "Short Hair."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJUpnrs2XPA

It's generally used as Coop's' battle theme, and yeah, it's rockin' and very fitting for the guy for sure.


PoP TV stuff destroyed:

1. A satellite
2. A billboard
3. A car show
4. A news van
5. Another satellite
6. A radio tower
7. Their HQ
8. Another HQ
9. An empty HQ
10. A neon sign

But hey, atleast it helped defeat the bad guy this time. Haven't seen that since episode 1.

Those are homages to Great Mazinger and Raideen, voiced by the G1 actors of Optimus Prime and Megatron, respectively.

Coop discovers that Megas has the ability to teleport. While testing it out, he accidentally incurs the wrath of a race of sentient giant robots, who begin to hunt Megas down and claim their place as Emperor of their planet.

I like that despite Coop being the aggressor(technically), it's quickly established that all of these Transformers-esque robots are actually villains; Planet conquerors, and that they likely would've crossed paths with and had to fight Megas anyway.

Even then though, the show has its fun with perspective and brutality. Most notably in the sequence where Megas has to hide in a giant space cloud, which plays out like something out of a slasher flick. It's also got one of my favorite console gags!


Overall though, while it's not a super standout episode compared to some of the others, this one is still alot of fun, as the show always is.

I think you mean Megatron. The Og voice for Starscream died in 1994 (8 years before this show premiered)

Ah, did he? My mistake. The voice done for the characters sounds alot like Starscream to me.

But yeah, it's Megatron.

I've been watching Trans Formers G 1 on DVD.

I know next to nothing about Transformers! Is G1 Toku-inspired?

It's the season 1 finale, and what might've been the final episode as a whole!

During a run of the mill Glorft attack, Coop decides to try out his own personally made warp drive, only for it to backfire and teleport him, and only him, right into the heart of the Glorft mothership! Now it's up to Jamie and Kiva to pilot Megas and save Coop before the alien invaders decide to blow the Earth to smithereens.

Ya know, despite the very minor sequel hook at the end, I feel like, if we were in the timeline where this was the final episode of the show, I wouldn't be too mad about it, because really, it has all the makings of a great finale!

For one thing, the comedy is top notch. Despite this being like the fourth time I've watched this episode throughout my life, I was still laughing hard nearly all the way through, with gems such as:


And indeed! I wasn't able to guess what that button did!

There's a nice amount of character development too, with Jamie opening up to Kiva and the two finally finding some common ground to help themselves get along better.

The action? It's got everything. Robots fights, car chases, hand-to-hand combat, heck, in the climax, the Glorft mothership even turns into a giant mech! Which in itself is an homage to Robotech.


And as for how exactly they save the world, well, I won't dare spoil it. But let's just say that it is a very Coop way of doing things. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Oh, and let's not forget.


PoP TV stuff destroyed:

1. A satellite
2. A billboard
3. A car show
4. A news van
5. Another satellite
6. A radio tower
7. Their HQ
8. Another HQ
9. An empty HQ
10. A neon sign
11. Another billboard

Also, yes, this had a good chance of being the final episode of the show. See, the thing is, Cartoon Network execs did NOT like Megas XLR at all, ever since the pilot during Summerfest. The show really was only put into full swing because it won the contest, and the bigwigs over at CN wanted it gone as soon as possible despite it having really good ratings. The only reasons the show even got a second season was because the creators put production of it into full swing before the higher-ups could say no. And boy am I glad that season 2 happened because it's just as good as season 1. But we'll get there in due time.

Obvious Sailor Moon parody, complete with overly long transformation sequence.

Megas is fully repaired and has some minor upgrades. As Coop and Kiva are busy putting on the final touches, the "Ultra Cadets" visit Earth and mistake Jamie for Coop. Before Jamie knows it, he's been taken to the Cadets' home world to fight an evil monster that the Cadets can't defeat. Can Coop, Kiva, and Goat find and rescue Jamie in time?

The episode is a bit weird in that it feels just sort of like an average episode, rather than a season opener. Not there's anything wrong with that, mind you, but it's noticeable.

That said, this episode does showcase one thing with season 2: In that this is where the show runners start doing a bit more risque style of humor. There's noticeably more amount of innuendo in this episode compared to previous ones. Ontop of them noting how much of a creep Jamie can be.

Overall it's just a solid little episode with some decent beats to it. Ain't nothing wrong with that.

Go On had Zords that could talk and transform.

The Auto Bots and Decepticons both transform into all sorts of things. Megatron transformed into a gun.

Coop has only a half hour to return a monster movie that he rented, otherwise he'll have to pay a late fee and possibly lose his membership! On the way, Mag Nanimous returns, challenging Coop to defend his title as the intergalactic champion. Can Coop fight off the alien robot invaders and still manage to return his movie on time!?

Ya know, I get that we're likely really meant to read into it since it's played for a joke, but the sequence where Coop imagines what life would be like if he weren't a champion of anything really speaks of some self-esteem issues he might have, which in turn deepens his character in a way that I didn't expect.

I actually really liked this episode. Not only because of that sequence, but also because this episode is filled with great visual gags!


Not only those, but other great stuff too like Coop's' eye color changing to match the street lights and the parody bits referencing Mr. T and the Powerpuff Girls. And all without a PoPTV smashing in sight.

It's overall just a really fun episode, and I think it's even better than the first Mag Nanimous episode in season 1. Great stuff!

While battling an unnamed robot invader, Coop accidentally opens a rift in Null Space, allowing the Glorft to come back into our dimension. Their plan: To ram the moon into the Earth! But even worse than that, Coop has to babysit his cousin Skippy! Can Coop save the world all while doing his best to entertain his little cousin?

So uh, straight up, this is the one episode in Megas XLR that I don't much care for.

They set out to create an obnoxious kid character in Skippy, and yeah, they certainly succeeded. I can't stand this little brat, and he single-handedly sucks out most of the life of the episode.

And it's not even like I can recommend skipping it either, since it's an important episode to the overall plot: Detailing the Glorft's' return as well as the hint that there might be some stable time loop shenanigans going on in terms of the series' lore.

Just... yeah, I didn't really like this one.


PoP TV stuff destroyed:

1. A satellite
2. A billboard
3. A car show
4. A news van
5. Another satellite
6. A radio tower
7. Their HQ
8. Another HQ
9. An empty HQ
10. A neon sign
11. Another billboard
12. A poster

Much better than the last episode!

While on a road trip to Las Vegas, Coop & Co accidentally stumble upon a secret military base known as Area 50. While there, they uncover an ancient mecha known as the RECR, which, upon being reactivated, threatens to destroy everyone on Earth.

The way this episode flowed was something I really dug: Starting off with a mysterious vibe and a sense to haunting dread in the first half with a smooth transition to action packed fun in the second.

Really dug how RECR talked like a 50s radio host too, which makes sense, given the time period he was built in and the obviously dated technology that he utilizes. The very unsubtle dig at US Militarism was pretty funny too.

And of course, console gags.


But yeah, just an all around fun episode. What more do you need?


PoP TV stuff destroyed:

1. A satellite
2. A billboard
3. A car show
4. A news van
5. Another satellite
6. A radio tower
7. Their HQ
8. Another HQ
9. An empty HQ
10. A neon sign
11. Another billboard
12. A poster
13. A casino

Man, Sonic Frontiers is lookin' hype!

It's Thanksgiving, and while out training in the rings of Saturn, Coop ends up bringing an alien parasite called Gynoc to Earth.

The title basically says it all when it comes to this episode. Sure there's the lighthearted gag here and there, but really, this episode's' primary focus is the action. And to its credit, the action is good.

It's surprisingly gorey too. I imagine the censors only let it pass due to Gynoc being made of alien goop too, because otherwise there'd be no way this would fly on a kid's' show. The shot where Megas cuts open Gynoc with a buzzsaw goes on for really long and has stuff spraying everywhere.

Like I've said with a few other episodes before, the main focus is just be a fun time, of which this episode is. Thus, it gets a pass from me.

A walking parody of both Devilman and Yatterman managed to defeat and capture most of the S-Force. Jakks, being the only one still free, flees to Earth in order to enlist Coop in helping save his friends and bring down this new, evil tyrant that threatens the galaxy.

This episode is actually kinda important in that it showcases a shift in the general tone of the show going forward, not being much more serious and straightforward.

Now, that's not to say that Megas XLR is now a hardcore drama for adults only or anything like that; There's still very much alot of the lighthearted referential humor that the show is known for, but by comparison of almost the entire rest of the show? It takes itself pretty seriously. Showcasing things like Coop taking his hero job seriously and feeling bad when he accidentally blows stuff up that he didn't mean to.

Heck, the ending of the first S-Force episode is taken to its logical conclusion. The reason the S-Force became worse off and lost in the first place was due to Coop not realizing that his life style only makes him a better pilot due to just how hyper customized Megas is to him specifically. Doesn't exactly yield the same results for the Zorps and their pilots even if it can be fun.

Now, would I say that this episode is as good as the S-Force episode some season 1? No, but it still has good stuff going for it and serves a decent purpose in terms of the show's' overall narrative. Which is double important considering a few specific episodes that we'll get to down the line.

Also, boy, the guys behind Megas XLR sure do love Macross, don't they?

Hey look, it's literally just Captain Harlock.

While out exploring deep space, Megas ends up needing an oil change, which in turns gets Coop's' crew captured by Captain Warlock, a space pirate.

As basic as that premise might sound, this is actually one of my favorite episodes in the entire show. Everything about it lands perfectly. From the gags, to the action, to the balancing of the tone, this episode has it all.

It continues to follow the newly established overall tone that the show started going for last episode, and as such, while there aren't as many comedic beats as an earlier episode might have, every single bit of humor lands perfectly, getting big laughs from me. So as you might've guessed, I loved these console gags.


Kiva ending up the primary focus was a nice change of pace too. This episode really cements her friendship with Coop and Jamie, with her going along with some of their jokes as well as telling Warlock that she believes in Coop as a pilot. Having her be the one to deliver the rant at the end of the episode was great too. She channeled that energy perfectly!

All in all a great episode. Couldn't ask for much more.

Coop and Jamie take Kiva to her first rock concert. Unfortunately for them, the Glorft are back, and this time, the aliens have a particular target in mind.

The concept behind this episode is pretty nice. Meeting Kiva's' ancestor is certainly a cool idea, but sadly the idea itself isn't really explored in too much detail outside of just protecting her in order to prevent a time paradox.

Don't get me wrong, the episode itself is still a fun, action-packed adventure, but more keen interaction between Kiva and her ancestor would've been nice; I rather liked the scene between the two towards the end. But I can't be mad though, since that sort of thing really isn't this show's' focus.

Not much else to say other than, "Rock On."


PoP TV stuff destroyed:

1. A satellite
2. A billboard
3. A car show
4. A news van
5. Another satellite
6. A radio tower
7. Their HQ
8. Another HQ
9. An empty HQ
10. A neon sign
11. Another billboard
12. A poster
13. A casino
14. An LED screen

This one was surprisingly dark by Megas standards.

A recent modification Coop makes to Megas results in the crew crash landing on an ice planet, guarded by a giant Transformer. A battle ensues due to a misunderstanding, resulting in Megas actually killing the defender of the world, leaving the locals defenseless against the evil Decepticon parodies. Can Coop take up the guardian's' place and save the ice planet from being harvested?

The short answer is, yes, but very, very poorly.

There was surprisingly little in terms of humorous content to this one. Most of the episode is action focused, and Coop's' constant blundering, while sometimes played for laughs as usual, is most of the time treated with great severity. Heck, the entire world Coop was out to save is doomed by the end of the episode, and despite the overall lighthearted nature of the show itself, it really doesn't come across as if it's meant to be funny.

I believe this was also the first episode to use CGI in its animation. It's only for the briefest of moments, but it was a surprise to see none the less.

In the end I kinda don't know what to make of this one in that while it does shake things up a bit, I dunno if it's necessarily in a good way? Coop had been showing signs of becoming a better pilot and being more heroic, but here it kinda goes in reverse, and not in an especially funny way either.

I dunno if I'd call it the weakest episode, but it's definitely a strange one by sheer comparison.

After Coop's' latest modification to Megas ends up accidentally creating a warp hole, the crew find themselves on an unknown planet inhabited by robots. While everything seems friendly enough at first, it becomes quickly clear that something darker is lurking in the shadows.

It's a good thing that Megas XLR is in no way trying to be a show that is immensely thought provoking, otherwise this episode would probably be stirring up a huge debate among viewers.

As you might expect from the title, this episode is heavily inspired by A Clockwork Orange, even referencing it a couple of times within the episode itself. And to that end you might be able to guess where exactly the plot ends up going by the time the last few moments hit.

Outside of that though, this episode is straight up a horror comedy, and MAN do they nail both aspects down great! Not only are alot of things that happen with the robots terrifying on their own(especially if you jive with works such as Kamen Rider Zero-One), but despite the lowered presence of comedic beats, every moment that's meant to be funny is REALLY funny.


And while I could easily see people interpreting the ending as meaning that Coop was in the wrong the whole time, I think the episode itself makes it especially clear that the inner workings of the unknown planet aren't exactly squeaky clean, regardless of the viewer's' own personal belief on how to handle criminals. But, I'm not interested in starting a debate here in my thread, so I'll leave it there, and I hope everyone else can too.

This was an overall great episode that really nailed the overall atmosphere, and that makes it a standout in my book.

A parody of Unicron mistakes Coop's' universal remote as something which actually controls the universe. A big battle over a TV remote ensues.

This is a return to the show's' more comedic roots before the big finale, and I welcome it. Absolutely nothing in this episode is taken seriously, resulting in one really fun and laugh enducing episode.

Sure, the setup is really simplistic, but it takes that setup and executes it extremely well. From the Mexican standoff, to the bits and blunders of Coop, and of course, the console gags.


I guess this would quality as Megas XLR's' "breather episode" because the next two episodes make up the series finale, and let's just say we're all in for a wild ride.


PoP TV stuff destroyed:

1. A satellite
2. A billboard
3. A car show
4. A news van
5. Another satellite
6. A radio tower
7. Their HQ
8. Another HQ
9. An empty HQ
10. A neon sign
11. Another billboard
12. A poster
13. A casino
14. An LED screen
15. A TV signal

You know things have gotten serious when the PoPTV sign has already been blown up.

During what seems like the Glorft's' final attack on Earth, Coop ends up trigger a hidden trans-dimensional warp drive within Megas, sending both him and Gorrath into an alternate reality. Suffice to say, nothing is as it should be.

You know, it's fun to note that what many fans consider the most dramatic and serious set of episodes in the show also contain some of the biggest laughs. Seriously, the dialogue and the visual gags are all really on point here, without at all taking away from the bigger stakes of the series finale.


Speaking of the stakes though, I found it really interesting in just how much of a deconstruction of the show as a whole that the alternate reality ended up being. This timeline's' Coop became so used to being invincible that his ideals and morals ended up becoming twisted, leading into him being the new big bad of the universe; Even killing former allies like the S-Force.


Heck, the show also shows that if not kept in check by his friends, the Coop we all know and love could very well go down a similar path, even using subtle ways in highlighting that, evil or not, this alternate Coop is still Coop. From the flame design being the symbol of his empire, to a power button symbol being on the backs of his mooks, to his signature number going from 12 to 13(symbolism!). And this version of Kiva, not knowing where else to go in life, just follows along. It's some surprisingly heavy stuff.


But of course, what would Megas XLR be without references? Alt Coop's' mooks are of course based off of the Zaku's' from the Gundam franchise, with his new mech being based off of Char's' Sazabi from the movie Char's' Counterattack. And the warp gate he uses to try and break into the show's' home dimension is literally just the Stargate from, well, Stargate. In a nice little bit of continuity outside of all of that though, Kiva pilots an upgraded version of her mech that she arrived in during episode 1.

The only real critique I have of the finale is, well, the ending itself. It's left incredibly open, as the creative minds behind the show were really hoping for a third season, which while I kinda get, I still feel is an overall bad call because the creators outright knew that the execs at Cartoon Network weren't going to renew the show for a third season. Sure, the final bits are funny and fitting for the show as a whole, but I feel like an ending similar to what season 1 did, which mostly closed the book on everything with a tiny crack open for the possibility of a continuation would've worked a whole lot better.

That aside though, it's a really fun finale, and I sure ain't gonna hold too much against it.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON MEGAS XLR

Look, you can find entire video essays about what a great show Megas XLR is, and frankly, I don't know if I can really say anything that everyone else who loves the show already has. So I guess, for those those totally unfamiliar with it, I'll just sum it all up the best I can.

The primary thing that makes this show work, for me, is that it's just a ton of fun to watch. Is it deep? Not at all. Is it especially thought provoking? Nope. Is it an introspective deconstruction of the effects super robots, kaiju, what have you, would have on society or people in general? Not even close.

But what it does have is great action, excellent comedic timing, surprisingly smart writing, a really endearing cast of characters, and I think most importantly, alot of heart. Sure, the show at its core is a deconstructive parody of not just the super robot genre, but of alot of pop culture in general, but outside of PoPTV, it never once feels like it's trying to belittle or rip apart anyone who enjoys these things. Heck, if anything it's clear that the minds behind Megas XLR loved this stuff, and as such knew the exact right way to laugh along with it, rather than laugh at it.

Every episode is an adventure that's full of creativity, coolness factor, and wonder; Only enhanced by the show quickly establishing that it's the sort of universe where anything goes; Similar in the way that alot of Toku shows do. It very much wants to invite the viewer along for that ride and let them in on the joke, and I think that's a big reason as to why the show has managed to resonate with so many people, even nearly two decades after it's debut.

Which is why it's so surprising to me that the executives at Cartoon Network at the time just didn't seem to get the joke. Remember, season 2 only happened because it went into full production before the higher ups had a chance to say no. CN wanted this thing dead on arrival despite the big ratings that the show was pulling in at the time. Like, even if you're not a fan of giant robot shows, Megas XLR has so much going on for it outside of that aspect that I'd be legitimately surprised if there was anyone who out and out hated literally every second of every episode.

Now, is it perfect? No, there are a few things here and there that I feel fall flat or didn't quite get executed in the best of ways, as I've even mentioned in my write-ups over the past month. But man, it's just such a great time that it's really hard to hold anything against it, and as such I'm not exaggerating when I say that Megas XLR ends up being one of my all time favorite cartoons.

It's a wild and fun ride from start to finish, and I wouldn't have it any other way. 5/6.