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Anyone who knows me knows about my fascination for giant robots, it borders on the pathological.  I grew up in Italy, and all they ever aired were Japanese cartoons.  Mazinger Z, Daitarn, Gaiking, Grandizer, and Getter Robo were my babysitters.  One cannot forget about Daltainus, Great Mazinger, Jeeg, and of course, Trider G7.  Add to this a healthy diet of Voltron, Danguard, and Gordian and you can finally begin to see where I get my problems.   And that was only the Giant Robot Anime! (A great resource for all the robots I mentioned is here though in Italian)

In any case, the series that’s always been close to my nerdy heart has been Mazinger Z (known as Tranzor Z here in the States, why? why?) and it’s sequel, Great Mazinger (Great Trenzor?).  I was more than happy to find out that Bandai won’t let the franchise die and came out withMazinkaizer, an even more badass version of Mazinger Z.  Yes, I’m a whore.  Yes, Go Nagai can shit on a canvas, call it a giant robot, and I’d buy it.  It’s not my fault.  I’m wired that way.  Luckily for me,ADV Films acquired the rights to Mazinkaizer and is already selling a translated version, which is not being renamed to Trenzorkaizer (thank you God).

These days there seem to be two groups, the Realistic Robots and the Super Robots camps.   Super Robots are any of the ones I have mentioned already.  They kick ass because the robots, thought unlikely they could exist, have an almost magical quality, utilize weird science and most of all, have villains that are just over the top.  On the other hand, the Realistic Robot camp try to peddle robots that might actually, very remotely, be feasible.  Robotech, Gundam, Eva to some extent.  In these, even though they may have some questionable science (Gundanium?) they mostly make sense.  They also seem more "war" oriented.  The villains are not memorable IHMO.  I mean, where’s the eccentric evildoer bent on world domination in Eva?  Where?!

Give me Super Robots any day.  Good thing Japan listens to me.  Good Japan, have a cookie.

Enter Shinkon Gattai Godannar… literally translated to Newlyweds Combine Godannar… Granted, not the most badass title, but damn!  I say DAMN!  They have everything that makes a great Giant Robot anime.  Giant Robot (it’s a good start) whacky characters, evil monsters, eccentric villains, and bouncing boobs.  Ok, the last is really a more modern change.  Change is good.

The premise is that these creature called the Mimesis are attacking earth and Japan’s once again protecting us all with the help of a team of super robots.  The last attack was five years ago, when Saruwatari Goh defeated the evil leader of these creature, costing him the life of his teammate and partner.  He retires from active duty in order to forget what has happened.  Five years go by and Goh’s marring a girl he saved during that battle when a call comes in:  The Mimesis are back.  Leaving his bride at the altar, he jumps into the cockpit of Dannar and begins the asskicking.

The best part  is that Dannar can combine with another robot (eventually piloted by his wife) to form Godannar, the Super Giant Robot.  I almost busted a nut when I saw them combine.  What can I say?  I love combining robots.

Sadly, nobody’s licensed Shinkon Gattai Godannar, however, fansubs can be obtained by those with even an ounce of resourcefulness.  If you like giant robots, I definitely recommend it.  Watch it!  Watch it!  The power of my monkey compels you!

I’ve been too busy to post recently, what can I say?  I’m a slacker.  Let’s see, what’s happened since the end of February?

• In March I went to the Game Developer’s Conference with a good friend of mine.  The con was amazing as usual, as California was HOT!  Spending the nights in the Jacuzzi when back east they had to deal with negative degree weather.  All in all, a very good vacation.
• Soon thereafter, we rented a cabin in the woods of Maine for my friend’s bachelor party.  The place could not be any more out of a Stephen King novel if it tried.  If you’ve seen Dreamcatcher, then you know what I mean when I say we were expecting ass aliens to attack us at any moment.  Never mind the 5 hour drive to get there, there was an extra two hour drive to get to the closest signs of civilization!  All in all, it was tremendous fun, and not easily forgotten.
• The very next week I went to NYC with a bunch of friends for yet another bachelor party and DAMN…  to quote Zach Stroum, I got more ass than a toilet seat That is all I have to say about that.
• Why the very next week both bachelors got married… on the same day!  Well, I had to pick one and stick it to the other.  What is these people’s fascination with doing stuff so far away?  Two hours I drive to the wedding, I’m part of the wedding, I then drive two hours back, only to realize that my girlfriend’s keys were still in the hotel…  *sigh*  Driving back and back again, we finally get home.  But… I can’t stay mad at her, she’s just too cute.
• You’d think that now I’d finally be able to rest… Oh ho!  You’d be mistaken!  My workplace became like a bad scene from Office Space, and I was locked away typing up TPS reports for our mid-May deadline… After making it, like the vile demonic mimes that they are, Upper Management(tm) says that we have yet more TPS reports to write.  Might I mention that I’m a Software Engineer and these reports are causing my neurons to fire in on themselves, committing suicide.  *sigh*
• With all this insanity, I lost my mind and dyed my hair blue.  I must say that I like people’s reaction when they see it.

So now, I’m hurrying away for our second deadline, hoping against hope that my urge to kill management and marketing can be suppressed yet another day.  I hear that there’s no internet connection in jail, I could not live like that.