[Name]

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

[Nokination]

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.̷̧̼̐)

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Name

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

Of course this is how you greet me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nokination

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.̷̧̼̐)

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.

[DreamSword]

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:

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.

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!

[DreamSword]

Episode 0: Lowbrow

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.

[Name]

Coop is what Hunk should've been.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Name

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.

[DreamSword]

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.

[DreamSword]

Episode 2: Battle Royale

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.

[DreamSword]

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.