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Armored Trooper Votoms: Red Shoulder Document - Roots of Treachery Episode 1 Discussion

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What did you think of this episode?
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Jul 28, 2011 10:28 AM
#1

Offline
Mar 2008
418
THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE.
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Chirico's "luck" (yeah, right) is taken to the extreme in here when he is pointed a gun several times at practically point blank and still manages to avoid the shots. Pailsen was obviously right about Chirico's miraculous survival ability but, more than an experiment, I think he's more pissed at him, since his little "tests" look more like he wants Chirico to die than anything else. And shit hits the fan when Chirico refuses to become Pailsen's little killing puppet. I'm guessing that that's what led to Chirico's transfer and future involvement in that "operation" in episode 1 of the series, where he was supposed to get killed.
Some people just can't take a hint. After all they've seen they STILL thought they could kill him at Lido. xD

Anyway, I liked this OVA a lot. We get more details about Chirico's past and the Red Shoulders. And the best part is that, since it is set way before the series, there's no Gotho, Vanilla or, specially, Coconna.
Nov 12, 2011 11:53 PM
#2

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Jun 2010
1874
Chirico's time as a Red Shoulder haunted him throughout the TV series so I'm disappointed to see that in this story about his entry into that unit he has the exact same personality he does in the TV series; dour, emotionally distant and hyper-aware of his surroundings. And despite Chrirco's past as a Red Shoulder being as important as it in the TV series, this OVA seems to show that he was only in the unit for about eight or nine months, nearly all of which he spent in his room, alone, doing nothing. He only fought one battle. Why's he so hung up about it?

It's also disappointing that this story is about something as ridiculous as Chirico being immortal. Apparently the whole TV series is something of a joke since he literally cannot die. I thought they learned their lesson about nonsense when the first two OVAs stayed miles away from the kind of loopy stuff that made up the last eighth of the TV series It's a shame; this is better paced and more exciting those first two OVAs and AT battles have never looked so good. Kind of a waste.

This one also further shows that those three guys from the first OVA are horrible people. Makes it even harder to care that they die in that one.

There seems to be a contradiction in here; in the TV series we learn that the Red Shoulders virtually annihilated the population of Sunsa but in one of his internal monologues Chirico claims he wasn't present for this, yet this OVA shows him there, although only fighting other ATs, not incinerating cities.
Mar 19, 2012 3:16 PM
#3

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Feb 2009
895
^^^Spoiler alert please... :/

Otherwise, it was a pretty good watch. I liked it.80's anime sure is fine.
The base design and spaceship designs remind me of LOGH. That's why I actually downloaded this.

"Only the dead have seen the end of war".
~Plato~
Apr 1, 2015 5:58 PM
#4

Offline
Nov 2014
334
Wow that was awful, they took the whole overman thing way too far, the tv series was never this absurd. I mean this felt like a parody of Votoms.

Also the Red Shoulder organization come across as incredibly pointless since between last red shoulder and roots they've spent more time on screen killing each other instead of the enemy.

And what was the point to that scene at the beginning with the ambushed convoy.

They shouda called this Retcons of Ambition.
May 9, 2015 2:14 PM
#5

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Jul 2010
8334
ChaosLegion said:

Otherwise, it was a pretty good watch. I liked it.80's anime sure is fine.
The base design and spaceship designs remind me of LOGH. That's why I actually downloaded this.

Same here actually haha

Also I'm more interested in the side characters in these prequels already than those in the main series...
Oct 23, 2015 6:34 PM
#6

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Mar 2008
68
This whole OVA moves too quickly. You mean the part of Chirico's life that was supposed to have defined who he was barely took any time? That's weird. I'm also not too pleased to learn the other Red Shoulders that seemed to be his buddies in LRS tried to kill him multiple times. Also, how were they breathing on Sunsa? All the flashbacks showed domes needing to be constructed so that people could breathe, but here they are, sitting out in the desert, breathing like it's nothing.

I don't mind the new weird tidbits about Chirico's life, though. Everything post Kummen is where the show really took off for me, so more stuff similar to that is fine.

I feel like this would've been a lot better if it wasn't so damn rushed, overall.
Nothing
Sep 5, 2019 7:37 PM
#7

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Jun 2014
22519
We got a glimpse of Chirico's time as a "Red Shoulder." Based on the flashbacks he began to have as a kid, it appears that the Red Shoulders attacked where he lived, possibly killing his entire family, and only now did he remember that.

When Chirico described this chapter of his life as "hell," he wasn't joking.

It really is virtually impossible to kill him.

Oct 13, 2019 5:42 PM
#8

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Nov 2012
3
Man this could have been great... Chirico's got a pretty underwhelming backstory, and his display of "luck" was way over the top. Being unkillable due to that as opposed to just being an incredibly skilled soldier was pretty disappointing and really takes away from his achievements.

On a more positive note, this is the best portrayal of the ATs I've seen yet. The final battle was basically porn for people who love mechs.
Jan 9, 2020 2:21 PM
#9

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Jun 2012
2593
Ehhh pretty mixed feelings on this one. Enjoyable but kind of dumb continuity wise and didnt really answer any questions just introduced more ones.

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Dec 1, 2011 10:31 PM
It’s time to ditch the text file.
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