Koutetsushin Jeeg

A good place to start here is with what Koutetsushin Jeeg does right. It has a good soundtrack. It has some genuinely funny moments. It has an awesome mech design.

However, it's at its core a reboot of a super robot show that, while hugely popular apparently in Italy, is pretty obscure otherwise in the West. It unfortunately references the original a lot, and has appearances from the cast. It's also a little rushed at the end, being only 13 episodes. Some more episodes to flesh out the backstory, introduce the key plot elements of the ending arc and perhaps just to let some of Jeeg's ... forms get more use would make it a lot better.

It's nice to have a super robot show that doesn't take itself seriously at all. The eyecatches are often funny, and very well drawn, and the basic premise of taking a loutish biker and telling him to save the world (while surrounding him with attractive women) is simple and effective. However, the villains are ultimately not particularly interesting, mainly because they don't do very much. Queen Himika is less memorable even than Lord Pasdar from GaoGaiGar, and that's something given she's 100% woman living in a volcano and he's a face attached to a chunk of metal. The enemy designs are interesting for the most part, although not very memorable or iconic compared to stuff like the Mechanical Beasts or the Dinosaur Empire.

JAM Project did a brilliant job with the OP and insert song, one must say, and that's a strong point in the show's favour. The combination sequence (which, if too long or uninteresting, can make watching a super robot show tedious) is largely unobtrusive and used as part of a rather funny scene in one episode - so no complaints there.

Ultimately, Koutetsushin Jeeg is a rushed show. If it had been a full 26 episodes, there's a chance it could have been great on the level of Shin Mazinger, but as it is you feel it's just got going before it's all over. Watch it if you want a funny and exciting show, but be prepared to take its flaws with its strengths.