REIDEEN (2007) - GODDO REBYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!

So if anyone has lived under a rock for long enough they should eventually hear of stuff like Real Robots and Super Robots. If anyone doesn't know the difference, Real Robots are robots that are... well real, like Gundams (with the exception of Turn A, G, and 00 which may be in the realm of supers). They're manmade mecha that don't have any fancy super powers. Super Robots on the other hand, well, they're super. They can beat the crap out of baddies and aliens without taking a scratch.

Lately they have been doing remakes of old super robot shows, and this is one of those remakes. This one being a remake of the old super robot show known as Brave Reideen. I have no clue what the original was about, but I'll assume it's something along the lines of:

-high school guy leads a boring life

-high school guy finds a super robot

-high school guy needs to fight off baddies from Evil Land

This remake is pretty much the same:

-high school guy leads a boring life

-high school guy finds a super robot

-high school guy needs to fight COLOSSAL BEAST MACHINES SENT BY ALIENS TO STEAL HIS SUPER ROBOT

But as usual, with great power comes great responsibility. As well as the responsibility to live two identities, the high school smart guy known as Saiga Junki and Reideen's pilot. Personally, I would just ditch that boring trash called life and settle as the super robot pilot, I mean why not?

So onto the characters. Honestly, I can't say there was much development on the characters, throughout the show we maybe have insight into maybe... two of the characters, and that's it.

The love triangle between Junki, Shiori (childhood friend), and Midorino (mysterious new girl) turns out to be a love triangle between guy, girl, and ROBOT. Yes, that's right, robot, he went with the robot instead. As much as I'd probably just go for the robot love, I was rooting for Shiori in this one, despite her rather annoying voice. If anyone has watched RahXephon, they would understand what I mean by robot love.

The undercover military squad that Junki belongs to, the White Heron Squad (I have no clue why the faction is called Citizen's Patrol, I mean, why?) only had one character developed. I mean, I was expecting Maedasaki Stratos (seiyuu joke) to have some epic past revealing. Throughout the series, they made mention how he was some formidable person in the Citizen's Patrol or something. But guess what, nothing, not even Ali al-Terasaki suddenly murdering him (another seiyuu joke for you Gundam 00 fans).The only character that got light shed on was Hoshikawa, revealing the story behind her powers and why she despises it. And even that ended with the cliche dream world where the main character reaches his hand to the kid Hoshikawa of the past and everything's good. Atlhough I have to admit they make a really nice senpai style relationship, but alas we know nothing of her fate at the last episode.

So despite the mildy cheesy and horrid story/character development, the thing that really kept me on the show was the FIGHTS. Yes, giant golden robot that moves like something out of Bokurano kicking alien robot ass. At first I kind of felt disappointed at the Bokurano style movement but it was alright by the end of it. But I have to admit the fights didn't hook me into the show as much as the BATTLE YELLS did. That's right in a super robot, you have to CALL YOUR ATTACKS. The noticeable improvement is in Junki's voice when he summons Reideen's weapons, at first it sounded kind of boring until he really got the hang of it. By the end of it he was summoning GODDO SOODO with the roaring passion (lolMT) fitting of a super robot pilot.

Near the middle of the series we are introduced to another super robot that was identical to Reideen and built in a similar way, Gadion. Despite being built with the SAME TECHNOLOGY, I have no clue why Reideen is the one that is infinitely stronger. Seriously, they're the same thing. But the one advantage Gadion has over Reideen is that it looks COOLER. The first time I saw it I was like "FU- YES SILVER ASTRANAGANT!" To be honest, I'd rather pilot the COOLER LOOKING ROBOT as opposed to the stronger one just because, well it looks cool, not to mention it can dual wield its swords as shown in the final battle. It also has the advantage of not needing to CALL YOUR ATTACKS which fits Roxel's rather silent personality really well.

All in all I have to admit that Reideen is a pretty cheesy show. But if you're in to giant CG robots fighting, then I guess it could be a nice watch for you.

Kouen's Rather Meaningless Rating: 7/10

P.S. Reideen's ultimate weapon is a sword embedded in the friggin moon, yes it completely dwarfed the Reideen when it swung it. Also, I'm currently trying to finish True Mazinger, which should have loads more super robot cliche stuff, HOT BLOODED BREAST FIRE, and... Oppai Missiles.

As you can tell this is less of a review and more of a rant. Consult a doctor before reading.