Giant Robo the Animation: Chikyuu ga Seishi Suru Hi

In a future to come humanity enjoys a new age of prosperity thanks to Dr. Shizuma's invention of a revolutionary renewable energy source: the Shizuma Drive. But this peace is threatened by Big Fire, a cabal seeking world domination. Against Big Fire the International Police Organisation dispatches a collection of superpowered warriors and martial artists, together with Daisaku Kusama, inheritor and master of Earth's most powerful robot, Giant Robo.

By capturing an abnormal Shizuma Drive which is essential to Big Fire's plans the IPO ignites a desperate conflict between the two groups. The coming battle will test Daisaku's resolve to the utmost, reveal the ghastly truth behind the creation of the Shizuma Drive, and bring human civilization to its knees!

Giant Robo is a character-driven adventure in a retro-futuristic setting, drawing on influences from opera, kung-fu cinema, wuxia stories and classic mecha anime. It incorporates characters from the works of the manga author Mitsuteru Yokoyama but it is designed to be a stand-alone story.

Ginrei Main

Shimamoto, Sumi Japanese

Tetsugyu Main

Iizuka, Shouzou Japanese

Kusama, Daisaku Main

Yamaguchi, Kappei Japanese

Alberto Supporting

Akimoto, Yousuke Japanese

Murasame, Kenji Supporting

Mikimoto, Yuji Japanese

Zhuge, Liang Supporting

Nakamura, Tadashi Japanese

Taisou Supporting

Wakamoto, Norio Japanese

Genya Supporting

Ogawa, Shinji Japanese

Chuujou, Shizuo Supporting

Kayumi, Iemasa Japanese

Von Folger, Franken Supporting

Chiba, Kouichi Japanese

Maseba, Yutaka Producer

Takanashi, Minoru Producer

Unozawa, Shin Producer

Imagawa, Yasuhiro Director, Script, Storyboard, Original Creator

Reviews

Mar 16, 2025

RealYRC

Recommended

Mitsuteru Yokoyama, a trailblazing mangaka, wielded his creative prowess with a playful twist, and his efforts bore remarkable fruit. Director Yasuhiro Imagawa and his crew, whether by design or serendipity, revitalized Yokoyama’s legacy through Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still. Within the tapestry of Yokoyama’s mystical narratives, no higher calling emerges—both in form and ethics—than what this work achieves. It’s astonishing that such a fully realized artistic gem exists, especially amidst the often uninspired desert of the anime industry. The fact that it feels almost unintentional, marred by a chaotic production and missing planned seasons, only underscores its enigmatic, perhaps destined, brilliance.

The over-the-top, ... fanboy-driven plot of Giant Robo shouldn’t hold together, yet it declares its depth from the very first frame—a breathtaking train chase brimming with dynamic shifts and striking imagery. This sequence unveils the world of Giant Robo as a wild mosaic of characters and cultures, mirroring the disarray of adulthood. What might have been just another tired hero’s journey dressed in nostalgic manga clichés transforms into a messy factional conflict where everyone strives earnestly, yet imperfectly, and no one grasps the full truth.

The weight of artistic tradition rests visibly on Giant Robo, from the Egyptian motifs adorning the robot’s visage to the subtler echoes in its script, which defies convention with a blend of insight and heartfelt sincerity. Fusing Wuxia flair, ancient legends, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and the visions of Yokoyama and Yoshiyuki Tomino, the story could’ve settled for clever novelty. But Giant Robo presses further. Daisaku, the youthful protagonist (though not the central figure), bridges the sprawling cast’s diverse realms and burdens with his guileless hope. Rather than offering pat solutions after shattering the icons and dogmas of its warring factions, the series presents Daisaku as neither flawless nor the sole beacon of truth. He’s not always correct in the broader tale, nor the narrative’s moral pinnacle, yet his unique commitment to genuine open-mindedness—beyond mere loyalty or fervor—earns the admiration of both the show and its characters. In a cosmos of blinkered warriors too caught up to see the whole, his earnest spirit is a breath of light.

Imagawa’s creation transcends a mere critique of blind devotion, though that alone would be noteworthy. It’s a multilayered triumph—artistically masterful. That a series juggling so many players remains coherent, let alone gripping on both gut and heart levels, is a rare alchemy. This owes much to the vividness of its emotional pulse: kindness, resolve, bonds forged and broken, love, envy, and sacrifice, all rendered with clarity and without preachiness. Watching these characters wrestle with their trials doesn’t just provoke thought—it invites viewers to look beyond themselves, to feel deeply alongside them, and to wrestle with the layered meanings that ripple through the story. Take Gin-Rei’s speech at the close of episode 2: arresting in isolation, it deepens with each episode, culminating in the finale. Is it sorrowful, sublime, a moral anchor, or a window into her inner turmoil? It’s all these and more.

That iconic episode 2 moment owes much of its power to Masamichi Amano’s sweeping score. His orchestral work swings from thunderous to tender, balancing the rousing Main Theme with delicate tracks like “Taisou and Yoshi.” It’s a standalone marvel that finds its true home here. Visually, Giant Robo mirrors its eclectic roots with a retrofuturistic sprawl—snowy peaks to Parisian cities reimagined through an ancient Chinese lens, to sci-fi bastions evoking Angel’s Egg more than kiddie mecha fare. Its world defies maps, embracing a 90s adventure-game logic that turns absurdity into a virtue, amplifying its expressive freedom. The mechs and characters—wildly varied fighters and quirky robots—reflect this, fueling both thrilling clashes and a deeper meditation on clashing identities that, ironically, reveal shared humanity.

The genre trappings of Giant Robo often steal the spotlight, and against its peers, it’s clear why. Its animation outshines even Tomino’s efforts, with electric battles that hum with restraint and purpose. Flashier mecha epics like Evangelion or Gurren Lagann may boast fluidity but lack the soul and heft of Giant Robo’s sparing action, which peaks in a finale weaving spiritual depth with stunning craft. Yet, like many masterpieces, it’s shadowed by unrealized dreams—canceled OVAs, uneven pacing, a stylistic shift in episode 5. Still, these flaws don’t diminish; they inspire. Giant Robo doesn’t preach perfection but beckons us to rise with it, leaving the door ajar in its final frame—a call to wonder and possibility.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Sep 8, 2023

Pylgrim

Recommended

Giant Robo is a remarkably strange anime. it's opening episode starts in media res and through exposition and characters' interactions we are made to feel that we are being caught up with a story previously seen on a lenghty classical 80s anime and what we are about to see is the crowning arc of the tale that had not been previously animated. We get hintsand glimpses of a succession of robots defeated in the past, of deep seated rivalries, origin stories, mysteries, and character arcs. However, when you take a minute to check if you maybe should watch that series before you watch this, ... you realise that there's not such a thing. And when you decide to go to the manga for the original source, you find out that it was a short, rather silly spy thriller with a few names that you may recognise and a Giant Robo that looks so goofy as to be near unrecognisable.

You realise, then, that you were had and that GR:TA successfully packed massive amounts of worldbuilding in what was pretty much a fake recap for something that never existed.

The series then proceeds to touch upon and develop several important and profound themes such as energy crises, the irrationality of nuclear panic, the burden that parents put on their children when they expect them to carry on with their legacies, the perils of the recklessness of progress, and whether happiness and peace can be achieved without sacrifice. This is a quote from the series that shows how heacy it can go with those themes:

"For oil, man once fought and killed the whale. Later, they fought and killed each other."

Watching some of the scenes in the first couple of episodes, it's hard not to imagine a disgruntled anime director, one Hideaki Anno, watching it the year it was released and getting some inspiration and ideas for an inconsequential anime he'd create shortly after. But I digress.

In addition to the impressive worldbuilding and powerful themes, the series also sported extremely well crafted animation, a potent soundtrack, and appealing character design that married a retro aesthetic to the best of the early 90s sensibilities. So why, you must be wondering, did I only give 7 to this OVA?

Unfortunately, too enamoured with its themes and the pure spectacle it offered from one impressive action set to the next, the story was extremely liberal with the way it pushed suspension of disbelief. Powerful, moving, or thrilling scenes often came as result of near non-sensical or pointless actions by the characters to the point that it was obvious that the big moments were planned first and the connective tissue was haphazardly woven after the fact. Similarly, dramatic twists and reveals were masked by the use of devices or artifice that was jarringly unbelieavable even in a setting with giant robots and superhumans. Had this sort of thing happened only a few times, it would have not been enough to detract from the great elements of the series. However it happened frequently enough that by the end, it all had aggregated on a nettling buzz of annoyance at not being able to apply the slightest amount of critical thinking to developments and characters actions without they crumbing down in front of your own eyes.

Still I recommend this series and I don't regret watching it, and I don't think you will, either.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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May 15, 2017

LostSpaceChild

Mixed Feelings

This series is a tricky beast. On paper it should be the perfect anime for me. I love the style of Post-Tezuka Manga/Anime, so character designs that embrace the look of the era like these sold me on watching it alone. The show's premise too seems interesting. A new energy source that turns out to be far less perfect than we initially believed. Dueling agencies of secret agent martial artists duking it out in the best wuxia battles this side of Crouching Tiger. This show should be amazing, but sadly, it falls a bit flat. And Here's Why

Pros:

-The art design in this show is ... phenomenal. I liked how they didn't just copy the art style of the late 60s/early 70s, but rather took elements of that style and mixed it with the style of the time. The character designs I love, I really love, and even though some feel kinda bland, this show definitely has a distinct look.

-The animation is phenomenal. This show is definitely one of the highlights of the pre-CGI era of anime. Everything is smooth and crisp, and it is a joy to look at, even if the content lacks substance at times.

-The music is also interesting and distinct. It has this operatic/orchestral feel that makes it stand out from it's contemporaries. It helps to underscore the tragic themes that the series inhabits.

Cons

-As other reviewers have pointed out, for a show called Giant Robo, the show really doesn't feature that much in the way of Mecha Battles. It saves the action for individual fights of the wuxia variety. This isn't a bad thing, it's just that this show bills itself as mecha, but doesn't really feel like it.

-The story starts out really interesting. Once I understood that this wasn't a mecha show, just more of a sci-fi shounen, I started to find it interesting. However, it doesn't elaborate enough on the interesting mythology of the world, and instead continues to give us meaningless action, death, and explosions.

-This show has some great character designs and animation, but that can't make up for the lack of connection I feel towards these people. There are about a dozen that we are told to empathize with, and the way that they're introduced makes it hard to latch onto them. There are some interesting ones in the bunch, but the time that the show would use to show us these details is used to introduce us to more characters instead. A lot of them start to feel really homogeneous after a while too. I can only have so many Chinese Warriors. A few of these characters die, and this lack of connection I feel towards them makes these deaths feel trite.

-The ending of this show is effing ridiculous, and not in a self referential way. It's bad, and the last few episodes are these really long, drawn out battle scenes. I'm not against sequences like this, but when I'm not really feeling the characters or the story, it makes me feel disconnected. The last two episodes are a non stop battle that doesn't take a breather, and this really messes with the pacing of the show. The unending pace makes me feel desensitized to everything that's going on and makes me feel disinterested.

TL;DR
This show is a joy to look at and appreciate as long as you don't pay too much attention to the story. This isn't a mecha anime as much as it's a weird sci-fi shounen. It throws at lot at you at once, but if you are in the mood for some crazy action battles, this may fit the bill.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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