On Armored Trooper Votoms (First Impressions)

Gar Espionage Action

I like it.

After being pretty disappointed with Gundam 0079 + Zeta (I wanted so badly to get into it, but didn’t like the main characters enough), Votoms was a breath of fresh air. Here are a few unorganized thoughts about it.

Despite being only 18, Chirico is a stoic badass and doesn’t whine incessantly about how unfair his (certainly unfair) situation is–though not much of his character has been revealed, I’m glad that at least that much is established. He’s also resourceful and resilient. I can’t even complain about his blue anime hair; the gar cut makes even it look cool. In other words, I like Chirico a lot already.

"Dark city, tall buildings and lights as far as one can see ... nothing natural."

I can’t much comment on the plot so far, but although I’m not saying it’s breathtakingly novel, as a story devoid of pretty 15-year-old boys saving the world from a decidedly evil empire, I think it’s pretty original. So far Chirico’s is not a glamorous or whimsical adventure; as a soldier branded  a traitor on the run, his journey is as gritty and unpleasant for him as you would expect it to be.

As he is not outwardly talkative about his thoughts, his narration, an almost detached introspective that gives us a clearer look inside his character as well as some interesting exposition about his world and surroundings, is a very neat aspect of the show. (It might be just me, but from this plus the Sodom-like city of Uoodo and its sax-laden soundtrack, I got a very noir/Blade Runner feeling.)

I must admit, though, that I’m a little weary of the romance aspect of the plot, which seems like it’s going to be fairly prominent. But judging from what I’ve seen so far, I can trust that Votoms won’t succumb to the typical “love conquers all” animu tripe.

"The effects of the war had created a red rain ..."

Animation is a little hard on the eyes for a 90’s kid like me, but I really like the style, so it’s still enjoyable to watch. (Had the same opinion about LOGH at first, now that I think of it.) And as many fans do, I like the functional, gritty designs of the mechs. They’re not pretty, they just get the job done.

The sound effects are kinda  primitive, unrealistic, and often poorly-timed, but appealing in a nostalgic sort of way. The music is good, though often very 80’s.  OP/ED are very likeable. Voice acting is also solid.

(As an aside, I found a nice zip of 9 great Votoms songs on Rapidcrap.  Untagged, sorry–though I found that the music of Votoms was apparently composed by Hiroki Inui.)

tl;dr Armored Trooper Votoms is great so far. I don’t feel this very often, but … I’m looking forward to more. :]