Space Runaway Ideon (Ee-day-oh-un~): Episodes 1-4
Awaken, my Ideon.
"The views expressed in this disc do not necessarily represent the views of Maiden Japan" is what greets me upon loading this disc. There are no special features or commentaries on this disc. Which views? The views expressed by the fictional characters of Space Runaway Ideon? I suppose it might be relevant one day, and Maiden Japan can point to this disclaimer should they ever find themselves accused of causing an intergalactic war.
I'm familiar with Ideon for all the influence it subequently had and I've had pretty much the whole thing spoiled for me. But I'm not sure any amount of foreknowledge can live up to experiencing the real thing. It's both profound and mental. Archaeologists dig up (and restore, so they're also mechanics I guess) some massive ancient Tonka trucks that turn into a giant robot, and where Gundam inspires awe Ideon inspires
terror, despite the fact it looks like the cheapest off-brand toy robot you could hope to find in B&M. It's like watching a GoBot straight up murder people, a GoBot piloted by a kid with a massive ginger afro while a squirrel sits on his shoulder. It's great. If the sight of Cosmo attempting to make Ideon throw a punch at a passing jet fighter, only to miss and fall over while he nervously mutters "oh s***" isn't peak mecha, I don't know what is.
Before I even knew anything about Ideon, it was Tomonori Kogawa's fantastic Japanese DVD cover art that drew my attention to it, and sure enough his character designs are really nice too. I like the way the Buff Clan (that name is always going to sound daft, they're not even particularly hench) have solid coloured eyes and no outlines to their eyebrows to differentiate them. Colour is used very well in general, there's some really nice looking shots. And the women have lips, that's not something you see much any more. And there have been a few scenes of said juicy-lipped women panting and sweating in what some might consider unnecessary detail.
Some might.
But that detail is great. I was a little trepidatious upon seeing the menu image, which looks less DNR'd to death and more like someone used a paint bucket fill tool on it, but thankfully the show itself looks fantastic. Not just preserved grain but even stuff like cel dust, it's a wonderfully detailed transfer for the age of the show and I look forward to continuing with it. Right, now I'll get back to watching AD Police like I'm supposed to be doing and leave you with this picture of the chupacabra.