Gigantor Set 1 (1965)
Review by Doc Ezra
Film:
DVD:

English dialogue written by Ray Owens and Billy Lou Watt
Created by Mitsuteru Yokoyama
Directed by Fred Ladd
Starring the Voices of Peter Fernandez, Gilbert Mack, Ray Owens, Sonia Owens, and Billy Lou Watt

Features:

• New transfer from 16mm originals
  
• Interview with Fred Ladd
  
• Ladd's commentary on three episode "Spider" story arc
  
• Interview with anime historian Fred Patten
  
• Photo gallery
  
• Retrospective on original Gigantor creator Mitsuteru Yokoyama
  

Doc's Anime Warnings:

• Retro-cheeziness
• Shooting Indians to save cowboys
• Creepy forced laughter

Rating: NR, suitable for audiences 7+

Anamorphic: N/A

My Advice: A must-have for anybody born between 1960 and 1976

If you're currently between the ages of approximately thirty and forty-five, odds are you remember Gigantor. Odds are even pretty decent that you watched a decent bit of it. One of America's first brushes with anime greatness, the show began airing in 1965, and hung around in syndication until the mid-1970s. Now, it's back, in all its retro black & white glory. Bigger than big. Stronger than strong. You know it, baby. Sing along. "GI-GAAAAAAAN-TOR!!"

The premise is as simple as can be. Jimmy Sparks has a giant robot. He controls said robot with what looks for all the world like an Atari 2600 joystick on steroids. And he uses it to solve mysteries and fight crime. Where'd he get it? Who cares. How's it work? Who cares. How do you drive a fifty-foot tall robot with a single joystick and two buttons? Who cares. It's Gigantor. He can do anything he wants. And what he usually wants is to stomp on some tanks belonging to bizarre, mustache-twirling megalomaniacs, or perhaps to smash his fists together and electrify his tubular iron torso so as to zap some other nasty bad guy.

So Jimmy and Gigantor zip around the globe with Dr. Bob Brilliant and Inspector Blooper (yeah, yeah, I know...back off man, this is nostalgia talking). Most of their adventures stand alone, though a few are interconnected for three or four episodes, creating larger story arcs and more elaborate plot twists than are common in today's entertainment fare for seven-year-olds.

This four-disc set collects the first twenty-seven episodes to air in the United States (actually the second batch of twenty-seven to be aired in Japan, go figure). Created with a brand new transfer from the 16mm originals, the show looks as good as it ever did, and maybe just a little bit better than I remember, but my memory of dashing back across the street from elementary school to catch the show on TV doesn't really mention the quality of the original video or audio. Just a bigass robot that stomped the crap out of bad guys.

For a show that's nearly four decades old, there's a ton of extras on the set. Director's commentary on one story arc, nice galleries, interviews with creators and authorities in the field of Japanese animation. This particular anime gets better treatment than most contemporary shows do when translated to DVD. It's impressive that somebody took this nostalgia-bait seriously enough to treat it right, but bless 'em for taking the time and the trouble. I only wish more people did the same.