Armored Trooper Votoms Explained

Armored Trooper VOTOMS
Ja Kanji:装甲騎兵ボトムズ
Ja Romaji:Sōkō Kihei Botomuzu
Type:tv series
Director:Ryōsuke Takahashi
Music:Hiroki Inui
Studio:Nippon Sunrise
Network:MegaTON (TV Tokyo)
First:April 1, 1983
Last:March 23, 1984
Episodes:52
Episode List:List of Armored Trooper Votoms episodes
Type:manga
Author:Minoru Nonaka
Publisher:Kodansha
Magazine:Comic BonBon
First:May 1983
Last:April 1984
Volumes:4
Type:ova
The Last Red Shoulder
Director:Ryōsuke Takahashi
Music:Hiroki Inui
Studio:Nippon Sunrise
Released:August 21, 1985
Runtime:50 minutes
Type:ova
The Big Battle
Director:Ryōsuke Takahashi
Music:Hiroki Inui
Studio:Nippon Sunrise
Released:July 5, 1986
Runtime:60 minutes
Type:ova
The Red Shoulder Document: Origin of Ambition
Director:Ryōsuke Takahashi
Music:Hiroki Inui
Studio:Sunrise
Released:March 19, 1988
Runtime:60 minutes
Type:ova
Armor Hunter Mellowlink
Director:Takeyuki Kanda
Music:Hiroki Inui
Studio:Sunrise
First:November 21, 1988
Last:April 28, 1989
Runtime:25 minutes (each)
Episodes:12
Episode List:List of Armored Trooper Votoms episodes#Armor Hunter Mellowlink
Type:ova
Brilliantly Shining Heresy
Director:Ryōsuke Takahashi
Music:Hiroki Inui
Studio:Sunrise
First:March 21, 1994
Last:December 21, 1994
Runtime:25 minutes (each)
Episodes:5
Type:ova
Phantom Arc
Director:Ryōsuke Takahashi
Music:Yasuaki Maejima
Studio:Sunrise
First:March 26, 2010
Last:October 27, 2010
Runtime:25 minutes (each)
Episodes:6
Type:ova
Case; Irvine
Director:Shishō Igarashi
Music:Yoshihiro Ike
Studio:Sunrise
Released:November 6, 2010
Runtime:50 minutes
Type:ova
Votoms Finder
Director:Shigeta Atsushi
Music:Kōtarō Nakagawa
Studio:Sunrise
Released:December 4, 2010
Runtime:50 minutes
Type:ova
Alone Again
Director:Ryōsuke Takahashi
Music:Tetsuro Oda
Studio:Sunrise
Released:January 8, 2011
Runtime:50 minutes
Original video animation
Content:
  • (2007–08)
Games
Content:
  • List of Armored Trooper Votoms games
Portal:yes

is a Japanese military science fiction mecha anime series produced by Nippon Sunrise, created and directed by Ryosuke Takahashi and featuring mechanical designs by Kunio Okawara. Following directly in the footsteps of Takahashi's previous series, Fang of the Sun Dougram, VOTOMS continued the trend towards hard science in the mecha anime subgenre.

The series was supplemented by numerous original video animation releases, and also inspired a number of spin-off works whose media ranges from serialized light novels to video games. The TV anime was originally licensed by the now-defunct Central Park Media, which released the series on DVD and VHS. Currently, it is licensed by Maiden Japan, a unit of Section23 Films,[1] which has also released all OVAs other than Armor Hunter Mellowlink.

Plot

See main article: List of Armored Trooper Votoms episodes. In the Astragius Galaxy, the Gilgamesh and Balarant nations had until recently been locked in a century-old galactic war whose cause was long ago forgotten. Now, the war is ending and an uneasy truce has settled. The main weapon of the conflict is the common Armored Trooper, a mass-produced humanoid combat vehicle piloted by a single soldier. Both the Armored Troopers and their pilots are also known as VOTOMS (Vertical One-man Tank for Offense & ManeuverS). However, since Armored Troopers have extremely thin armor, and use a highly combustible liquid in their artificial muscle, their pilots have a very low chance of survival and are commonly referred to instead as "Bottoms", the lowest of the low ("Votoms" and "Bottoms" are written and pronounced the same way in Japanese).

The series follows a main character named Chirico Cuvie, a special forces Armored Trooper pilot and former member of the Red Shoulder Battalion, an elite force used by the Gilgamesh Confederation in its war against the Balarant Union. Chirico is suddenly transferred to a unit engaged in a suspicious mission, unaware that he is aiding in the theft of secrets from what appears to be his side. Chirico is betrayed and left behind to die, but he survives, is arrested by the Gilgamesh military as a traitor, and is tortured for information on their homeworld. He escapes, triggering a pursuit extending across the entire series, with Chirico hunted by the army and criminals alike as he seeks the truth behind the operation. He is especially driven to discover the truth of one of the objects he was assigned to retrieve in that operation: a mysterious and beautiful woman who would become his sole clue to unraveling the galactic conspiracy.

Development

Ryōsuke Takahashi conceived of VOTOMS after watching the film Junior Bonner, in which the main character travels across towns performing rodeo shows, which gave Takahashi the idea of creating a story in a post-war setting, with mechs fighting each other for sport.[2] Although several authors have noted similarities between Chirico and Steve McQueen,[3] [4] who played the main character in Junior Bonner, Takahashi stated that Chirico was not modeled after anyone in particular.

Anime

Armored Troopers VOTOMS (TV series)

A 1983 52-episode anime television series.

Cast

The Last Red Shoulder

is a 50-minute OVA released on August 21, 1985.[5] The storyline takes place after the Woodoo storyline in the TV series. It details Chirico meeting with his old comrades in his old military unit, and their plan to get revenge on General Pailsen.

The Big Battle

A 1986 60-minute OVA. Takes place near the end of the series. The storyline features Chirico and his comrades participating in a mecha gladiatorial match.

The Red Shoulder Document - Origin of Ambition

, released as just Origin of Ambition by Maiden Japan, is a 60-minute OVA released in 1988.[6] The storyline serves as a prequel to the main series and especially The Last Red Shoulder. It details Chirico's time in the Red Shoulder elite military unit and his encounters with General Pailsen.

Armor Hunter Mellowlink

is a twelve episode anime science fiction action OVA series spinoff of Armored Trooper Votoms. It premiered on November 21, 1988.[7] It takes place in the same universe (and time, and in some episodes, almost the same places) as Votoms, but the two stories are entirely independent of each other.

Mellowlink is the story of a soldier whose unit is sacrificed on the battlefield for reasons unknown. Although he was not meant to survive, the main character, Ality Mellowlink, manages to survive only to be framed for a crime he did not commit. Mellowlink escapes his captors and begins hunting down his former commanding officers, both to get revenge for his dead platoon members and to find out the nature of the conspiracy that led to his and their deaths.

The series is available for download on Bandai Visual's official website and the Japanese DVD box set was released on December 6, 2006. The series was previously issued twice on laserdisc, once as six individual volumes, and once as a three-disc box set along with the two soundtracks. It was released on Blu-ray as part of the Perfect Soldier Box on February 25, 2021.

Brilliantly Shining Heresy

is a 5-episode OVA series released in 1994.[8] It is a sequel to the original TV series.

Pailsen Files

See main article: Armored Trooper VOTOMS: Pailsen Files.

is a 12-episode OVA series that was released from October 26, 2007 to August 22, 2008.[9] It was also released as a feature film on January 17, 2009.[10] It is a prequel to the main series and a sequel to Origin of Ambition.

Phantom Arc

, released as Genei ~ Phantom Arc by Maiden Japan, is a six-part OVA series that was released from March 26, 2010 to October 27, 2010. It is a sequel to the original TV series and Shining Heresy.

Case; Irvine

Armored Trooper VOTOMS Case;Irvine (ケース;アービン), an OVA that follows the story of Irvine Lester, a repairer of the tank-like robotic Armored Trooper (AT) mecha in the VOTOMS story world.

Votoms Finder

Votoms Finder (ボトムズファインダー), an "alternate universe" OVA that centers around Aki Tesuno, a Bottoms guard for scrap salvagers and a pilot of a robotic mecha called an At or Altro (as opposed to VOTOMS' trademark Armored Trooper mecha).

Alone Again

, released as Chirico's Return by Maiden Japan, is a 2011 50-minute OVA that serves as sequel to the Shining Heresy and prequel to the Phantom Arc.

Games

Video games

VOTOMS has appeared in numerous video games since the series' original airing.

Dead Ash

Black Unicorn

Votoms: The Real Battle

Votoms - The Battling Road

Blue Sabre Knights

Sunrise Eiyuutan (as a guest character)

Sunrise Eiyuutan 2 (as a guest character)

Harobots (as a guest character)

GB Harobots (as a guest character)

Super Robot Wars Z2: Hakai-Hen (as a guest character)

For a limited time, the Armored Trooper Votoms - Uoodo and Kummen game included a Red Shoulder Custom model. Chirico also figures in the Sunrise Eiyuutan (Sunrise Heroes) game for the PlayStation 2.

Role-playing

VOTOMS was a direct inspiration for the Heavy Gear role-playing game. VOTOMS also has its own official role-playing game, , developed by R. Talsorian Games and using the Fuzion system.

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hodgkins . Crystalyn . Maiden Japan Licenses Maria Watches Over Us, Hataraki Man, Basquash!, Yumeiro Pâtissière, Votoms, Ideon, Xabungle, Human Crossing Anime . Anime News Network . July 5, 2018. July 5, 2018.
  2. Book: Anime Interviews: The First Five Years of Animerica Anime & Manga Monthly (1992–97) . Caddence Books . 1997 . 165–166.
  3. Book: The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917, Revised and Expanded Edition . Stone Bridge Press . 2006 . 712–713.
  4. Book: Anime Interviews: The First Five Years of Animerica Anime & Manga Monthly (1992–97) . Caddence Books . 1997 . 170.
  5. Web site: メディア芸術データベース. Mediaarts-db.jp. 2017-03-31. 2017-07-11.
  6. Web site: メディア芸術データベース. Mediaarts-db.jp. 2017-03-31. 2017-07-11.
  7. Web site: http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_c.php?num_c=88727. ja:機甲猟兵メロウリンク (1988~1989). September 29, 2014. allcinema. ja.
  8. Web site: メディア芸術データベース. Mediaarts-db.jp. 2017-03-31. 2017-07-11.
  9. Web site: メディア芸術データベース. Mediaarts-db.jp. 2017-03-31. 2017-07-11.
  10. Web site: メディア芸術データベース. Mediaarts-db.jp. 2017-03-31. 2017-07-11.