Anime Reviews (The '80s): Space Runaway Ideon - Complete Series + Movies (a Neo-Tokyo Anime on Blu-ray Review)

There have been many mecha anime series since “Space Runaway Ideon” aired on television in 1980-1981 and the two films release back in 1982. There have been mecha anime series that show the tragedy of war and the finality of it such as Ideon. If you are a mecha anime fan, then definitely give “Space Runaway Ideon – Complete Series +. Movies” a try! Recommended!

TITLE: Space Runaway Ideon – Complete Series + Movies

DURATION: Episodes 1-39 + 2 Movies (1158 Minutes)

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (4:3), Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: Maiden Japan

RATED: TV MA VS

Release Date: February 5, 2019

Originally Created by Yatate Hajime, Tomino Yoshiyuki

Chief Director: Tomino Yoshiyuki

Music by Sugiyama Koichi

Character Design by Kogawa Tomonori

Art Director: Nakamura Mitsuki

Mech Design by Submarine

Anime Production: Sunrise, Tokyu Agency, TV Tokyo

Featuring the following voice talent (first name, family name):

Yoku Shioya as Cosmo Yuuki

Fuyumi Shiraishi as Kasha Imhof

Hideyuki Tanaka as Bes Jordan

Keiko Toda as Karara

Takkou Ishimori as Doba Ajiba

Youko Asagami as Haruru Ajiba

Banjou Ginga as Damido Pecchi

Bin Shimada as Gyabari

Eiji Kanie as Gindoro Jinmu

Eiko Yamada as Lotta

Gara Takashima as Rukuku Kil

Hidekatsu Shibata as Ide

Issei Futamata as Doppa Bufu

Kaneomi Oya as Ship Captain

Kaneto Shiozawa as Narration

Kazuo Hayashi as Gije Zaral

Keaton Yamada as Nujan

Keiko Ozaki as Kulara Kina

Keiko Yokozawa as Rin

Kōichi Hashimoto as Bento Marusu

Mako Yuda as Mayaya Rau

Mami Koyama as Kiyaya Bufu

Masaru Ikeda as Doctor Yuuki Rouru

Gurimade Abadede

Minoru Inaba as Rekuran

Motomu Kiyokawa as Noburo

Nobuo Tanaka as Narration

Rumiko Ukai as Kitty Kitten

Ryouichi Tanaka as Gilbaba Gra

Sanae Takagi as Fard

Seizo Katou as Gindoro Jinma

Shigeru Chiba as Gantsu/Parkinson

Shingo Kanemoto as Gyamusu Bufu

Shōzō Iizuka as Mark Jordan

Takeshi Watabe as Guhaba Geba

Tatsuya Matsuda as Afta Dek

Tesshō Genda as Gen Hannibaru/Koboru

Tetsuo Mizutori as Frendali Limiter

You Inoue as Sheryl Formossa

When Earth archaeologists on the planet Solo dig up a set of strange vehicles, they have no idea that they’ve unearthed something that will change the course of mankind. Even more shocking is the discovery that a SECOND human race called the Buff Clan is also seeking the mechs! A deadly competition ensues as the two races battle to secure the secrets of what the Buff Clan calls the “Ide”. While the fight initially favors the Buff Clan, everything changes when young Cosmo Yuki and his friends accidentally power up the ancient machines that form the most powerful robot the universe has ever seen! But even with the Ideon defending them, the return to Earth won’t be easy, and there’s a long hard journey filled with combat and sacrifice ahead!

Not long after Sunrise TV Animation “Kidou Senshi Gundam” (Mobile Suit Gundam) completed its 43 episodes on television (1979-1980), Tomino Yoshiyuki and Yatate Hajime would work on a brand new mecha anime series for Sunrise titled “Densetsu Kyojin Ideon” (Legendary Giant Ideon).

The series would last only 39 episodes before its cancellation (43 episodes were planned for broadcast), the creators were able to give fans closure with two animated films in 1982, “Densetsu Kyojin Ideon: Sesshoku-hen” (The Ideon: Contract) and “Densetsu Kyojin Ideon: Hatsudō-hen” (The Ideon: Be Invoked), released at the same time.

While not a famous work of Tomino and Yatate in Japan (despite being voted at one time in the top 10 of “Greatest Anime Series” in “Animage” Magazine), mecha anime fans in North America will finally get to experience the series via Maiden Japan’s Blu-ray release of “Space Runaway Ideon – Complete Series + Movies”.

Where “Mobile Suit Gundam” was a series about war between the Principality of Zeo declaring independence from the Earth Federation and fighting with mobile suits and with Gundam showing a glimmer of hope for Amuro Ray and the Earth Federation against the Principality of Zeon, “Space Runaway Ideon” would show us the tragedy of war where hope is slim and best for fans to not to have a favorite character, because chances are, they will not survive.

The series is set in 2300 and mankind has begun colonizing planets. On the planet Solo in the Andromeda Galaxy, archaeologists come across the remains of the Ideon. They find three armored trucks and eventually a large spaceship known as the Solo Ship.

As the archaeologists and the people of Solo restored the machines, they aren’t sure how to get it to move.

Meanwhile, a humanoid alien civilization known as the Buff Clan have arrived on Solo but when the Buff Clan’s military commander’s daughter Karala defies orders to stay on the ship and flies down to the planet with her assistant Mayaya, soldiers are sent to recover her.

The Buff Clan assume that the aliens of Solo have attacked Karala, so they start attacking and killing many of the people on Solo.

Young teens, Cosmo Yuki, Kasha Imhof and Deck Alta climb aboard the three Ideon tanks. Bes Jordan, leader of the military force who were stationed with the Solo colonists prepare to have the Ideon tanks to be armed, while Buff Clan leads an onslaught on Solo cities and try to capture the Ideon (which they believe is a “Giant God”).

With others including young children and a crying baby named Piper Lou being among those rescued and escorted to the Solo Ships, the tanks activate and combine to form Ideon and fight against the Buff Clan’s soldiers.

And with the Buff Clan’s attempts to take the power of Ide by trying to capture it, they lead an unending assault on the survivors of Solo who are on the Solo Ship and in control of Ideon.

But with Bess accepting Kayala, daughter of the commander of the Buff Clan into their community and the Buff Clan angered by Kayala turning traitor, they will do whatever it takes to kill her.

Will this battle ever end? Will the countless deaths of people on both sides ever end? And what is the true source of Ideon?

VIDEO:

“Space Runaway Ideon” is presented in 1080p High Definition. Considering the series age, I was impressed of how good it looks in HD. While there are occasional flecks of dirt and scratches that can be seen in various frames, the truth is a lot of the older anime series were never thought to be released in HD media and many anime series were not stored or preserved. “Space Runaway Ideon” on the otherhand looks good considering its age and there is no evidence of significant damage.

Colors look good, black levels are nice and deep and the grain is visible and no digital noise correction was employed from what I can see from the series.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Space Runaway Ideon” is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio Japanese 2.0. Dialogue and music are presented crystal clear through the front channels and English subtitles are easy to read.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Zillion” comes with the following special features:

Textless Opening Song
Textless Closing Songs

EXTRAS:

“Space Runaway Ideon” comes with no special features.

In my wildest mecha anime dreams, I never expected “Space Runaway Ideon” to be released outside of Japan.

So far, the only Tomino created works that have been released are all Gundam related or “Aura Battler Dunbine”/”Wings of Rean” related, but the release of “Space Runaway Ideon” complete plus the two films in one Blu-ray release is a video wish that many mecha anime fans outside of Japan have had and now, it’s finally here!

And in some crazy way, “Space Runaway Ideon”, which came months after “Mobile Suit Gundam” is like an anime series which gave people a sense of how tragic war can be.

It’s one thing to see battles in “Mobile Suit Gundam” and a death or two happening, but “Space Runaway Ideon” ups the ante by showing that no one is safe. Not just soldiers, pilots but normal civilians who were forced to fight after a humanoid race known as the Buff Clan comes into their colonized planet and starts killing people and destroying cities (due to a misunderstanding that they were attacking the commander’s princess, when in fact, she and her assistant went down to the planet Solo to watch the colony from afar).

Things just escalate from there in full force after the Solo humans discover an ancient relic known as Ideon, in which tanks form one giant robot. A giant which the Buff Clan has been searching for centuries to harbor its power.

Unlike “Gundam” which focuses on the ferocity of war and survival, “Space Runaway Ideon” shows people who don’t want to fight but are forced to.

One of the biggest differences is how the children, especially an crying infant plays a big part of the series.

As children played a part in “Mobile Suit Gundam”, even more so in “Space Runaway Ideon” as they are forced to fight as well and somehow the power of Ideon is tied to the infant Piper Lou.

We then see the fragility of war through the eyes of Sheryl Formosa, a linguistic scholar studying the Ide and mysterious energy source that powers both the Ideon and the Solo Ship. You see this strong woman suddenly be reduced to a wreck due to the tragedies of war.

While one of the series protagonists, Cosmo Yuki, a young teen with a red-head afro, is nothing like MSG’s Amuro Ray. While trying to be the main pilot using the Ideon, he goes through similarities of Amuro when it comes to fighting but the tragedies also start to affect him and his rage and determination become a major part of him.

“Space Runaway Ideon” also spares no punches to show how beloved characters are killed, no one dies gracefully or heroic. People die in the most unfortunate situations and showing how man ca be the cause of their own demise.

And just when you think the series was surprising, the final film “Space Runaway Ideon: Be Invoked” provides a conclusion that no one will ever see coming. And I’ll leave it at that.

While “Mobile Suit Gundam” has a long-living legacy, “Space Runaway Ideon” will not have that same following because of how it ended and will be best remembered as the mecha story that shows the tragedy of war, the pureness of the innocent and the greed of those searching for power.

But I have to say that I enjoyed “Space Runaway Ideon”, the complete series and the films because it was very unpredictable and not just audacious for its time but even for today’s viewers, who can watch it and say to themselves, “I never saw that coming!”.

If you are a mecha anime fan, then definitely give “Space Runaway Ideon – Complete Series +. Movies” a try!

Recommended!

Anime Reviews (The ’80s): Space Runaway Ideon – Complete Series + Movies (a Neo-Tokyo Anime on Blu-ray Review)

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