Medabots Vols. 1-3 (2001)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Original story by Medarot Company
Comic Art by Horumarin and Kenki Fujioka
Directed by Tensai Okamura
Character Design by Tokuyuki Matsutake
Mechanical Design by Hirofumi Suzuki

Features:

• Medabots A-Z
  
• English and Japanese audio
  
• English subtitles
  

Dindrane's Anime Warnings:

• Meta-Evil villains. Not real evil. Meta-evil.
• New Wave gets a bad rap.
• mild animated bot violence

Rating: 3+

Anamorphic: N/A

My Advice: Skip it.

Medabots relates the story of young Ikki, who has always wanted a medabot of his own--everyone else has one, but him. He has also always wanted to be a medabot Robattle Tournament champion, and when he finds a rare Medal (what gives a medabot a soul) and finally scrapes together the money to buy a bot, then his goal seems closer than ever.

In the first disc, Transport Metabee, Ikki achieves his goal of procuring a metabot, whom he calls Metabee. Alas, this bot has something of an attitude problem. Will Ikki and crew be able to tame him? In the second disc, Ikki finds out that becoming a Robattle champion is harder than it seems. Besides, he has other things on his plate--a new villain gang bent on controlling all medabots. In the third disc, the local PTA decides that medabots are a distracting influence on growing young minds and have the bots banned. This is particularly bad timing, as the leader of the Rubberobo Gang has shown his face at last. What's a boy and his bot to do?

Medabots is fun in some ways: the various kinds of medabots are mildly interesting, and the characters each have their own personality quirks. Unfortunately, this "kid's anime" isn't quite as interesting, well-written, or even attractive as other anime for younger audiences can be, like Cardcaptors is, for example. The art is basically ordinary, and the characters, while distinct from each other, are rather cliche and even dull. The plots are similarly uninspiring, if benign enough. However, it is important to remember that the show was intended for very young audiences, after all, who would be excited by the ultra-mild violence and the pretty colors. Just keep in mind that some of the characters are pretty sarcastic and even rude, so some parents might want to take that as an opportunity to discuss positive social interaction with their children as they watch.

The Medabot A-Z is a useful addition to the disc, and the fact that the producers tried to add something of substance to this disc is touching. The disc also comes with a flyleaf depicting a bot belonging to one of the show's main characters; this picture is nice, and it tells a bit about the bot in question and lists associated medabots. Fans will like that.

Basically, if you (or your child) are a fan of the Pokemon series, then you'll love Medabots, as it follows the same basic pattern--kid with a special creature under his thrall and a couple friends fight a series of battles to train for a tournament, and a whole dictionary of other special creatures who can evolve as time goes on. If on the other hand, you didn't like Pokemon, or you don't like kid's anime in general, then you probably won't see much in this one. It succeeds in what it's trying to be--harmless kid's entertainment that won't break the bank or offend any (or at least many) parents.