Giant Robo the Animation: Chikyuu ga Seishi Suru Hi

In a future to come humanity enjoys a new age of prosperity thanks to Dr. Shizuma's invention of a revolutionary renewable energy source: the Shizuma Drive. But this peace is threatened by Big Fire, a cabal seeking world domination. Against Big Fire the International Police Organisation dispatches a collection of superpowered warriors and martial artists, together with Daisaku Kusama, inheritor and master of Earth's most powerful robot, Giant Robo.

By capturing an abnormal Shizuma Drive which is essential to Big Fire's plans the IPO ignites a desperate conflict between the two groups. The coming battle will test Daisaku's resolve to the utmost, reveal the ghastly truth behind the creation of the Shizuma Drive, and bring human civilization to its knees!

Giant Robo is a character-driven adventure in a retro-futuristic setting, drawing on influences from opera, kung-fu cinema, wuxia stories and classic mecha anime. It incorporates characters from the works of the manga author Mitsuteru Yokoyama but it is designed to be a stand-alone story.

Ginrei Main

Shimamoto, Sumi Japanese

Tetsugyu Main

Iizuka, Shouzou Japanese

Kusama, Daisaku Main

Yamaguchi, Kappei Japanese

Alberto Supporting

Akimoto, Yousuke Japanese

Zhuge, Liang Supporting

Nakamura, Tadashi Japanese

Murasame, Kenji Supporting

Mikimoto, Yuji Japanese

Taisou Supporting

Wakamoto, Norio Japanese

Chuujou, Shizuo Supporting

Kayumi, Iemasa Japanese

Genya Supporting

Ogawa, Shinji Japanese

Ko-Enshaku Supporting

Maseba, Yutaka Producer

Unozawa, Shin Producer

Takanashi, Minoru Producer

Hoshino, Tatsuya Producer, Production Manager

Reviews

Apr 3, 2025

RealYRC

Recommended

Giant Robo could have easily been a disaster. With its retro-futuristic vibe (reminiscent of Astro Boy), a cast of seemingly clichéd characters, and a story that kicks off in an unremarkable way, it had all the makings of a flop. But here’s the thing—it doesn’t stay that way. As the narrative unfolds, the characters shed their flat, predictable traits and reveal real, human motivations. The plot twists hit hard, upending everything you thought you knew. Just when you think the story’s reached its peak, it somehow gets even grander.

What sets this series apart is its sprawling ensemble of characters—each with distinct, often inventive abilities—a clever ... subversion of typical anime tropes, and a refusal to lean solely on cheap thrills or over-the-top action to hold your attention. After slogging through the likes of MD Geist-style anime (think painfully bad plots and paper-thin characters), Giant Robo feels like a breath of fresh air—a series that actually respects its audience.

That said, it’s not flawless. The kid piloting Giant Robo can be an insufferable whiner, some of the voice acting (at least in the dubbed version I watched) is shaky, and there are moments of pure cheese. Plus, it clings to a few tired anime conventions—like the girl (Ginrei, maybe?) being mostly useless until she suddenly isn’t. The biggest disappointment, though, is the extra episode tacked onto the final tape. With seven solid one-hour episodes, they threw in a pointless filler called "Barefoot Ginrei" after the finale. It adds nothing to the story, and the gratuitous focus on Ginrei’s, uh, "bare" assets might explain why it’s even there.

Still, Giant Robo earns every bit of praise it gets. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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May 15, 2017

LostSpaceChild

Mixed Feelings

This series is a tricky beast. On paper it should be the perfect anime for me. I love the style of Post-Tezuka Manga/Anime, so character designs that embrace the look of the era like these sold me on watching it alone. The show's premise too seems interesting. A new energy source that turns out to be far less perfect than we initially believed. Dueling agencies of secret agent martial artists duking it out in the best wuxia battles this side of Crouching Tiger. This show should be amazing, but sadly, it falls a bit flat. And Here's Why

Pros:

-The art design in this show is ... phenomenal. I liked how they didn't just copy the art style of the late 60s/early 70s, but rather took elements of that style and mixed it with the style of the time. The character designs I love, I really love, and even though some feel kinda bland, this show definitely has a distinct look.

-The animation is phenomenal. This show is definitely one of the highlights of the pre-CGI era of anime. Everything is smooth and crisp, and it is a joy to look at, even if the content lacks substance at times.

-The music is also interesting and distinct. It has this operatic/orchestral feel that makes it stand out from it's contemporaries. It helps to underscore the tragic themes that the series inhabits.

Cons

-As other reviewers have pointed out, for a show called Giant Robo, the show really doesn't feature that much in the way of Mecha Battles. It saves the action for individual fights of the wuxia variety. This isn't a bad thing, it's just that this show bills itself as mecha, but doesn't really feel like it.

-The story starts out really interesting. Once I understood that this wasn't a mecha show, just more of a sci-fi shounen, I started to find it interesting. However, it doesn't elaborate enough on the interesting mythology of the world, and instead continues to give us meaningless action, death, and explosions.

-This show has some great character designs and animation, but that can't make up for the lack of connection I feel towards these people. There are about a dozen that we are told to empathize with, and the way that they're introduced makes it hard to latch onto them. There are some interesting ones in the bunch, but the time that the show would use to show us these details is used to introduce us to more characters instead. A lot of them start to feel really homogeneous after a while too. I can only have so many Chinese Warriors. A few of these characters die, and this lack of connection I feel towards them makes these deaths feel trite.

-The ending of this show is effing ridiculous, and not in a self referential way. It's bad, and the last few episodes are these really long, drawn out battle scenes. I'm not against sequences like this, but when I'm not really feeling the characters or the story, it makes me feel disconnected. The last two episodes are a non stop battle that doesn't take a breather, and this really messes with the pacing of the show. The unending pace makes me feel desensitized to everything that's going on and makes me feel disinterested.

TL;DR
This show is a joy to look at and appreciate as long as you don't pay too much attention to the story. This isn't a mecha anime as much as it's a weird sci-fi shounen. It throws at lot at you at once, but if you are in the mood for some crazy action battles, this may fit the bill.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Feb 10, 2026

Clyde_MAL

Not Recommended

Spoiler

it's been long enough, after waiting for the hype to die down I finally can review GIANT ROBO. What can I say? this $h!t @ss. the characters were likeable as personalities but I had no time to connect emotionally to them so I didn't care. Sick designs though, really good job guys. The fights with the mechas were cool, the fights with the humans were awesome. But constant dialog and flashbacks honestly kerplunks this entire cartoon. oh yeah also the ending was a cliffhanger, it took them six years to imagine an ending. Evangelion clearly was airing as several parallels can be easily drawn if ... you actually pay attention. But musics a highlight of course, they had an opera and it was bombastic with a memorable theme.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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