Getter Robo Armageddon
Getter Robo Armageddon, known in Japan as is an OVA released between August 25, 1998 to May 25, 1999 by Bandai Visual and was animated by Brain's Base and Bee Media. The OVA is based on the manga and anime series "Getter Robo", created by Ken Ishikawa and Go Nagai. The series adapts numerous elements from previous installments of both the "Getter Robo" manga and anime entries, in addition to other elements from Ken Ishikawa's library of work, but is an independent story from any other installments. Plot. The plot opens some time after the  Moon Wars, where things for the original cast have taken a turn for the worse. The main character and pilot of Getter-1, Ryōma Nagare, has been framed for the murder of the Getter Machine builder Dr. Saotome after the death of Saotome's daughter, Michiru. However, he is released from jail and is reunited on Earth—unhappily—with his old allies, Hayato Jin and Musashi Tomoe, to fight none other than Dr. Saotome himself, who has seemingly risen from the grave to threaten humanity with his ultimate creation—and most dangerous weapon, the Shin Getter Dragon. The Shin Getter Dragon  is a massive weapon powered by the same cosmic Getter Rays which gave life to their machines. However, their efforts to stop Dr. Saotome (not to mention an overzealous Japanese Defense Force), are in vain, as nuclear weapons are used on Shin Dragon. The resulting explosion and shock wave of Getter Rays wipes out 99% of the human population worldwide. Thirteen years after this catastrophe, as humanity clings desperately to life, the re-emerged extraterrestrial invaders threaten planet Earth once more. The only safeguard against this alien threat is a giant robot that emerges from the wreckage of the nuclear  blast—Shin Getter Robo—piloted by an artificially created human named Gō. With the help of Hayato's Super Robot Army and Gō's co-pilots Kei and Gai, Shin Getter fights to keep humanity's dreams alive. Later, Ryōma returns piloting the Black Getter Robo to aid the new Getter team against Dr. Saotome, who returns with Stinger and Cowen when Shin Getter Dragon re-activates and continues its evolution. It was also revealed that Kei was Dr. Saotome's younger daughter and Michiru's younger sister, who was adopted by Benkei. Soon the invaders put their true plan  into action by transforming Jupiter into a Getter Ray Sun and Ganymede, one of its moons, would soon go on a collision course with Earth, prompting both the old and new Getter teams to spring into action to save the planet. Manga. (Scenario: Moo. Nenpei; Screenplay: Masanao Akahoshi) A crossover manga of the Mazinger and Getter Robo series from the "Immortal Super Robot Encyclopedia", released about one month after VHS volume 1. Although it was released as a companion to the OVA, the setting conformed more to the one found in the Toei Manga Festival movies (e.g. "Getter Robo vs  Great Mazinger"). In the magazine that published it, this manga was posted with a set of introductions from the OVA series. The manga was serialized in Kodansha's "Super Robot Battle Tribute" (three volumes). While the characters, terms, and the worldview have some parts in common with the OVA, the stories presented in the manga are different from that of the OVA. In addition, characters from Go Nagai's manga "Gakuen Taikutsu Otoko" also appear. Controversy. Yasuhiro Imagawa was originally put in charge of the project. Due to an unknown disagreement with the staff, he left the project, leaving the  story in disarray from episode 4 and onward. His directing role was replaced by Jun Kawagoe for the subsequent episodes. Kawagoe would later go on to direct the "Shin Getter Robo vs. Neo Getter Robo" and "New Getter Robo" OVAs and the "Getter Robo Arc" television series. Reception. Nihon Review praised the anime for its animation and "sleek-looking production" but lamented the departure of director Imagawa 3 episodes in. Despite this, he calls it "great, but flawed rather than the disaster it probably should have been after losing its original director". Daryl Surat of Otaku USA Magazine calls the  animation "spectacular" and argues that even without Imagawa's guidance, the series despite taking a different turn still ended strongly. Bamboo Dong of Anime News Network was highly critical of the narrative, animation and artwork, critiquing the hard-to-follow story and the "almost disturbing to watch" physics of Ryoma's scarf, along with the "extraneous and overdone lines on the characters" that tend to "clutter the screen". Getter Robo Armageddon sold an average of 24,076 copies (VHS, LD, VHD, DVD, LD-BOX, DVD-BOX) making it one of the top 50 sold anime up to 2008. Release. Bandai Visual  originally released the OVA across 7 volumes on VHS and Laserdisc, priced at 1,500 yen per episode (which was an unusual price for OVAs at the time and now). In 2007, the series received a DVD boxed set release and in 2009 was released on UMD Video. In 2010, the OVA received a remastered Blu-Ray release, once again from Bandai Visual. The OVA was licensed in the US by ADV Films on DVD under the title "Getter Robo Armageddon". Following the closure of ADV Films in 2009, the series was more recently licensed and released by Discotek Media on  Blu-ray on March 29, 2016.