ARIEL Anime Review

Quick Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2011-03-21 (updated 2011-03-21)
• 1 stars out of 5 (?)

This long-forgotten little OVA series has everything necessary for the sort of backhanded, when-you-think-about-it parody that made Shinesman a cult favorite, from a way-too-feminine giant robot to a corporate-sponsored alien invasion that's being thwarted more by budget issues than the Earth's defenses. It looks good, and there are a few reasonably funny bits. Sadly, the show is flat-out boring. The directing is particularly abysmal--calling it slow and awkwardly-paced is generous, and ARIEL wouldn't know comic timing if it walked up and handed it a business card. There isn't even much music to fill the dead air littering the show. If that weren't bad enough, you an add a in a start-in-the-middle plot that seems to assume you've already read the novels and editing that leaves the dialogue sounding halting, low-energy, and generally flat.

It's hard to call ARIEL anything but a spectacularly botched, could-have-been-great underhanded parody. It looks good enough, the concept is good enough, and some particular bits are funny enough that it might be worth watching out of curiosity, or if you have a thing for classic '80s-style giant robot shows. Otherwise a definite pass, though the Deluxe sequel is somewhat better.

Read the full-length review...

Full Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2011-03-21 (updated 2011-03-21)
• 1 stars out of 5 (?)

ARIEL is a long-forgotten little OAV series that had the potential to be so much more than the low-energy, miserably-directed disappointment it is. Sometimes things are forgotten for a reason.

Let's start with the strong points. Based on a long series of light novels, the concept has everything necessary for the sort of subtle, backhanded parody that made Shinesman a cult favorite. You've got a way-too-feminine giant robot, three pilots who on average don't want to be pilots, the mildly pervy mad scientist who arbitrarily decided to make his unwilling relatives drive his sexy earth-saving robot (among other not-much-more-sane plans), and a corporate-sponsored alien invasion that's being thwarted more by budget issues than the Earth's defenses.

It's played straight onscreen, leaving the door open for all manner of when-you-think-about-it hilarity. For example, a huge opening scramble scene in which the ARIEL robot ends up doing absolutely nothing. Or, anything to do with the beleaguered alien warship and its would-be-cool captain, who lives in fear of his accountant and the threat of a home-office audit. There's also uber-coolguy Saber Starblast (they never explain who he is or why he's the equivalent of Superman, sans personality), who is far more competent than either the nominal heroes or villains, yet does nothing but pose dramatically until the last minute when he shows up to save the day. Again, conceptually funny for the pure anti-climax of it.

There are also some very funny individual bits, like the great lengths the professor goes through to contact his unwilling pilots dramatically through ridiculous application of 1989-era high technology, or when he whips a gun out of his coat, revealing that it's stocked with heavy weaponry.

The budget is there, too--for an OAV born of the late-'80s, the animation is relatively good and the artwork is detailed. The execution is a bit rough--some of the character animation in particular is awkward--but no more so than most older productions. The giant robot prep scenes, on the other hand, are impressive--lots of detailed super hardware and launch pads and such, for fans of nice, meaty mechanical design. There's less than you'd expect in the way of battles, but when a fight does break out it's attractive and surprisingly gory, on account of the organic giant monsters the aliens use. Probably best are the scenes of massive collateral damage, with an extra humorous overtone due to how unnecessary it is. The character designs are also good-looking, if '80s stock.

That doesn't sound so bad, right? The problem is, ARIEL is boring.

In particular, something seems to have gone very wrong with the directing. There are long, awkward gaps everywhere, punchlines get stumbled over or left hanging, and the whole thing feels weirdly low-energy. Even allowing some leeway for the less-punchy style of the era (which I usually don't--I cite the Dirty Pair as evidence), calling it slow and awkwardly-paced is generous. Don't even think about comic timing, that thing subtle humor lives and dies by--ARIEL wouldn't know comic timing if it walked up and handed it a business card.

The general effect is like the series repeatedly dozes off at the wheel, then wakes up and remembers that there's a plot to be advanced. Some modest editing could probably have cut the two episodes down to a single one without removing anything, and it would have been better (if just as abbreviated) for it.

And abbreviated it is--you can tell it's based on a whole lot more book than made it to the screen. The story takes up somewhere in the middle (the title card even says "Episode IV"), well after the abortive invasion is already underway, forsaking any sort of setup or backstory past some brief opening narration. It then spends more time introducing a new, comparatively serious character from the alien commander and accountant's past than it does introducing the main cast, and finally shuffles its feet for a while to kill time before ending abruptly.

Set-up or logic are conspicuously absent--particularly why the teenaged pilots would be so dead-set on, you know, not saving their own lives. It could, I suppose, have been intended as a parody of similar illogically reluctant heroes, or backhanded commentary on how embarrassingly ineffective the invasion is. I didn't get the sense of either--it just seemed annoying and stupid. It says something that I can't tell whether it's botched drama or botched parody.

ARIEL also seems confused about how serious it's supposed to be--the concept is obviously silly, but the execution is so dry and straight it's almost like the production team didn't get the memo. Maybe they just had no idea how to make a comedy.

The almost complete lack of a soundtrack doesn't help, either. That's music and effects both--quiet at best. The lack of music is particularly painful, since a lively soundtrack could have at least filled some of the dead air littering the show. The underpowered sound effects also have that exaggerated, cartoony '80s sound, which seems particularly out of place (and cheap) when paired with the otherwise realistic mechanical design and straight-faced visual execution. There's no opening theme, and the end theme is bland '80s stuff.

The Japanese voice cast (USM never dubbed it) isn't bad, in that they have distinctive voices and match the roles well. Again, however--and I blame the directing and editing more than the actors--it sounds halting, low-energy, and generally flat. Dr. Kishida, played by Osamu Saka (Aramaki in Ghost in the Shell: SAC), probably comes across the best, but that's mostly because the editing screwed up his dialogue the least. Megumi Hayashibara fans might note this early role as spunky younger sister Kazumi, though she has almost no lines.

In the end it's hard to call ARIEL anything but a spectacularly botched could-have-been-great underhanded parody. It looks good enough, the concept is good enough, and some particular bits are funny enough that it might be worth watching out of curiosity, or if you have a thing for classic '80s-style giant robot shows. Otherwise a definite pass, though the Deluxe sequel is somewhat better.

Chainclaw has an even lower opinion than I do.

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Related Recommendations

The most obvious similar show is unquestionably the cult favorite Shinesman--it does the same sort of sly, underhanded comedic take on a sentai show, but unlike ARIEL pulls it off nearly perfectly. If you want a semi-parody of giant robot shows that goes in the exact opposite direction--outrageous and over-the-top--check out the flashy, fanservice-laden, solidly entertaining Godannar.