[DreamSword]

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.

[DreamSword]

Episode 5: Buggin' the System

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:

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

[DreamSword]

Episode 6: TV Dinner

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.

[Androzani84]

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.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

I saw PoPTV in this write up and confused it with Pop, a local kids channel where I am (it shows Power Rangers, Bakugan, Pokemon 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.

[DreamSword]

Episode 7: Breakout

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?

[DreamSword]

Episode 8: Dude, Where's My Head?

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.

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.

[DreamSword]

Episode 9: Bad Guy

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:

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."

[DreamSword]

Episode 10: Junk in the Trunk

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.

[DreamSword]

Episode 11: DMV - Department of Megas Violations

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."

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.