Last time on Getter Robo ARc, a lot of crazy things went down. Kamui took over the Getter Empire for himself and took on humanity for all the goods and evils it presents in relation to the Getter Rays. He invades the Saotome Laboratory with the help of his Gettersaurus crew all the while Takuma finally heads to Earth face off against him. That is where we leave off when it going into the final episode.
So yeah, this episode starts with Hayato defending the Getter Rays from the remaining Gettersaurus crew. With the older Hayato still completely wiping the floor with all of them. That final combat between Kamui and Hayato meant a lot though. It wasn’t just a quick passing of the torch and a sign of Kamui’s convictions at this time. Oh no, it was Hayato’s last attempt at passing wisdom to Kamui and instill that confidence that Kamui clearly didn’t have. This was Hayato’s last chance to pass on his knowledge to the future generation. Still, Kamui didn’t kill him.
With him shot and falling into the Getter Dragon chamber, Hayato finally realizes why he was left behind from his friends who disappeared or died during the entire Getter Robo Saga. His story wasn’t over yet. He had much more to give the next generation and hopefully instilled some great trust and wisdom into them. That is basically everything he says as he releases the Getter Dragon for every member of the Getter Robo Arc crew to deal with. Something that instills that sense of emotion and placement at the right time. I can’t help but admit that I liked it.
The crazy thing with Takuma arriving 6 months after Kamui’s rampage with the new Dinosaur Empire and the BUG vs Getter Robo Arc was very good. Great way to see the view points in how Kamui and Takuma saw the future and tragedy of what they saw and some very good fights too. Takuma has his hope for a change and Kamui just wants it all destroyed. That ending with the half broken Getter Robo Arc and the appearance of the Getter Dragon where phenomnal. I can see why people were ruined by Getter Robo Arc’s cancellation long ago. That’s a huge cliff hanger.
With all that, I am honestly very happy about that moment and the conclusion when Takuma and Baku broke Kamui out of jail. Especially with the fate of the Getter Robo Arc and the Getter Dragon facing off for the future of humanity. That is the themes of this show tied together while also not stepping on Ken Ishikawa’s writing. This entire series was about the sins of the past generation and their results with hope of the future brought by this next generation. The three of them fighting for the future where devastation doesn’t happen just fits. That is the real theme and exploration of Getter Robo.
From a visual stand point, I think all the 2D budget was spent on Hayato’s fight against the Gettersaurus crew and Kamui was where all the 2D budget went. You know, because it wasn’t amazing animation but it was shot well and was well choreographed. Hayato kicked some serious butt for being such an old man. There was a lot of the well thought dramatic 2D moments with characters just standing or sitting in place too but with some good dramatic tension. This show was a decent master of limited animation all the way through. Sometimes, fluidity isn’t everything.
With that said, the 3D in this episode was fantastic. The fight between BUG and Getter Robo Arc was great. There was the stock footage of all of Getter Robo Arc’s forms and attacks against BUG’s shield and what happened afterward, but it didn’t feel like I was seeing them for the first time. Especially since it makes a lot of sense for Takuma to try every Getter Robo Arc form and attack against such a strong enemy. That Getter Dragon model was amazing though. Wow. For all the small moments it spent on screen, it took the spotlight so easily.
In the end, I think Getter Robo Arc ended on one of its more weaker episodes for this half, but I still really enjoyed it. I won’t lie and say that the cliffhangers at the end took some bite out of the episode, but all the stuff in it was incredible. Great story beats for Hayato setting up the future and working with the themes of the new generation clean up past mistakes. I honestly am very happy with this show ended. I don’t think that adding a lot of original material to the end the show on would have made it work any better because it takes away from the material itself. All around very good show.
I don’t know if I will be writing about Getter Robo Arc in the future (will probably end up doing it regardless), but a podcast episode about Getter Robo Arc will happen happen next month.
Mechanical Anime Reviews 
One comment