G.I. Joe: Sigma 6

By the mid 2000s, anime was big. Hasbro had already took Transformers down the anime route, producing mediocre titles such as Transformers Armada and Energon, both straight from Japan with all the typical bells and whistles of its genre. Action lines, cheap animation short cuts, lame humor, rambling dialog, "anime anatomy" like bulbous eyes and exaggerated expressions. G I Joe, being the next big property from Hasbro, naturally followed suit. So in 2005, Hasbro and Gonzo (the studio that animated Vandread, Full Metal Panic and Last Exile) teamed up to produce two new anime series based on Hasbro's toy properties. One was "G I Joe Sigma 6".

The series begins with a station in antartica getting attacked by cobra robot soldiers. This is all part of a clandestine plan to free Cobra Commander from his prison. AS the Cobra forces are once again united under cobra Commander's leadership, the G I Joe team, now christened "Sigma 6" must.............as usual, stop them.

G I Joe Sigma 6 was meant to be a continuation from where "G I Joe: Valor Vs Venom" left off. While the ensemble of characters were the same, the discrepant designs and different portrayals of the same character between Sigma 6 and its predecessor. For example, most of the G I Joe team got de-aged back to looking like young people in their early to mid 20s at most. Female characters like Scarlett, Jinx and the baroness seem to have undergone breasts enlargements for fanservice sake and it would not be a sci-fi anime without high tech gizmos and MECHA. The animation is an uncomfortable mix of stiff 2D animation for the human characters and cel shaded CGI for the vehicles, mecha and Cobra robot soldiers. And yes, the typical animation shortcuts like over usage of stock footage or camera panning across a still shot are apparent here.

Now the original G I Joe cartoon was not exactly "Apocalypse Now", it was simple enough to be enjoyed by children yet had a certain appeal to some adults. But Sigma 6 has got to be the most childish installment of the G I Joe franchise yet. Characters are one dimensional, the dialog is cheesy and episodic plots cross the line from simple to simplistic.

Even the voice acting is no better than a typical Saturday morning anime like Pokémon. But perhaps the worse offender is the sound effects. Nearly every single sound effect seems like they are commonly used in too many anime. And sometimes, the wrong sound effect is used. for example, one of the Cobra Dreadnocks fires and pumps a pump action shotgun. Yet the sound effect is one of a laser gun. Slip Shod sound engineering or stupid attempt at censorship? You decide.

Anime is not entirely bad. There are many great anime shows out there that G I Joe Sigma 6 could have drawn influences from. Instead it becomes a collection of all the reasons why some critics hate Japanese anime. Limited animation, clashing styles of 2D and CGI, rambling dialogue, over the top voice work, oh and Cobra Commander becoming some super powered mecha suited "warrior king".

Although, not many people liked it but here is my take on it.

The good:

Excellent voice acting

Pretty neat anime style animation

Good character designs

Good humour that can actually make me laugh

Got introduced to characters that i am not familiar with from the G.I Joe series.

Good 22 minute format for a series.

The bad:

Cheesy dialogues

Not a very good concept with the Sigma 6

Annoying music except for the end credits

Poor censorship

Overall it wasn't bad nor it was great it may have not been as good as the 1985's series that everyone loves, GI Joe Resolute or even GI Joe Renegades. But it was okay, plus I only watched cause I wanted to have another GI Joe cartoon to watch.

Plus it is not the worst attempt I have seen at a reboot i.e Teen Titans Go! but it is not the best though.

The new version of GI JOE focuses on a small covert special missions force as opposed to the large army of the 80's. Cobra is even better than ever, taking away the cannon-fodder troops and replacing them with BAT robots. Cobra Commander is much braver than his coward counter part but he still is just as evil. Destro and Snake Eyes are Twice as awesome. The team is a little small, but it has a good feel. The tech has been upgraded for the 21st century, and new characters such as Scott Abernathy make it a new amazing feel.

Action: 5 Animation: 4 Coolness: 5

YO JOE!!!

Anyone who has grown up in the 80's will know G.I. Joe is probably one of the best cartoons ever produced. It gradually disappeared and in the recent decade, it's reputation has been tested over and over with brand new ideas and shows - which have ended up in failure. Sigma 6? It ain't a failure, but it ain't a hit either.

Like most of us have noticed, there is a huge lack of the actual Joes themselves. It's like watching Transformers Beast Wars and wondering why the hell there's only 12 transformers in total fighting each other.

You could understand however - kids nowadays are looking for fast paced cartoons that require little thinking and analyzing - they just want things to be blown up or the bad guys get their ass kicked. Because there's such a huge market now for action cartoons, everyone has to do something to stand out - so the more action, less thinking, the better.

Anime. Sigh. America is infested now way Anime-crazed kids who only want to watch anime-style shows. SO it makes sense that investors would decide to produce G.I. Joe in Anime style format. But it's tiring and has been done. Anything you see in G.I. Joe Sig 6, has been done in hundreds of others.

The style however is sharp, intense, and has several computer graphic animations that is very pleasing to the eye. The fighting scenes are gripping and essentially is the only thing that saves the show.

In Sigma 6, Snake Eyes has been the main focus in almost all the episodes - which is a smart move because he has always been the favourite of all G.I. Joe fans. No one can turn down a hand to hand ninja combat with his vengeful brother, Storm Shadow. However, each fight ends up with Storm Shadow either giving in, giving up, helping or just losing the fight, saying "I will destroy you for betraying our clan....um...some other day...brother." WTF. Just have a fight to the death and get it over with. Don't get me wrong - the fight scenes are amazing - but to no result.

Although in some episodes, they reveal tiny bits of Snake's past with Storm, and at times it is interesting to learn, Snake Eyes can't carry the entire show.

Die hard fans are questioning the plot behind the show - because it seems like there isn't any. We're not even really sure what Cobra wants to do with a zillion robots and nuclear warheads - other than to carry them around in the park - only to be intercepted by the Joes before he can think of something to do with them.

Overall, if you're looking for a meaningful plot in this mess of a cartoon, don't bother. But if you're looking for pure action and awesome ninja fights, and still manage to choke down dry-humor and a stupid plot, stick around for the next episode.

Personally, I wish Sgt. Slaughter would come back and teach them all a lesson.

I didn't grow up with G.I. Joe action figures, so I wouldn't know how this compares to the patriotism the originals carried. But this adaptation was indeed col. I mean, sure it was a 4Kids show, but the show had some really cool action scenes from really cool characters (I think my favorites are Long Range and Snake Eye), it had a cool story going on (I'm not going to mention the story), and the animation was extremely good for its time. Congrats, Gonzo (Gonzo is the animation studio)! Would I have liked different voice actors and music? Sure. Watching 4Kids shows, it's a little tiresome hearing the same kind of orchestra perform the same style (not the same compositions, but similar styles) that they use in other 4Kids shows. Plus, hearing voice actors like Veronica Taylor and Jason Griffith all the time can be tiresome. Still, it's good enough to watch.