I've written about the unique history of mech anime that came during the 80s from the duo of anime studio Kokusai Eigasha/Movie International Co., Ltd. & anime writer Masaru "Yu" Yamamoto a couple of times in the past on this blog. Back in 2012 I did a general overview of MIC's giant robots to see if they were "innovators" or just mere "oddities", while in 2018 I did something similar for Yu Yamamoto's overall history of mech anime, due to him passing away about a week prior. However, I have never actually had the opportunity to watch any of MIC & Yamamoto's conceptually interesting mech anime, outside of an episode or two, primarily because they were not easily available to English-speaking anime fandom; there were some fansubs here & there, but the actual quality of the translations varied wildly. The most I had previously covered here was the first episode of Galaxy Whirlwind Sasuraiger back on Volume 5 of Demo Disc in 2016.
However, in just the year 2021 alone, things have changed in all the best ways.
On February 23 of this year, Discotek Media released Makyo Densetsu/Legend of the Mysterious Places Acrobunch on SD-BD, under the wonderfully localized title of Acrobunch: The Quest for Treasure (though the Japanese-conceived English name of "Acrobunch in Devil-Land" is a close second). This is MIC & Yamamoto's second collaborative mecha effort, which debuted back in mid-1982 as freshman effort Galaxy Cyclone Braiger was entering its last few episodes; Discotek would later release Braiger on SD-BD on September 28. Acrobunch would run for 24 episodes while the second entry in Yamamoto's iconic J9 Series, Galaxy Gale Baxinger, was also in production; they aired on completely different days on completely different networks, though. Also of note is that halfway into Acrobunch's run, alongside a change in air date & time, MIC outsourced the animation to Toei, which was helping MIC out with some other shows during that time, including both Braiger & Baxinger; because of this, each half has some unique staff, namely directors.
So, after nearly 40 years, let's see if Acrobunch: The Quest for Treasure is a journey filled with fortune & glory, and if it belongs in a museum.
Tatsuya Rando is a marine farmer living at the end of the 21st Century who's been hiding a secret from his five children. For the past 25 years, Tatsuya has been researching & doing archaeological work in search of Quaschika, a little-known treasure which reportedly dates back to before even the earliest recordings of human history. Despite being laughed off by the general scientific community, Tatsuya seems to be making good progress, as gets the attention of the mysterious Goblin Society, lead by the ruthless King Deros, which has been resigned to live beneath the Earth's surface for over 10,000 years & has been looking Quaschika in hopes of finally reclaiming the surface for themselves. The Goblins kill Tatsuya's confidant & destroy his marine farm, in hopes of stopping any opposition, but Tatsuya hasn't spend the past 25 years merely researching. No, he's also built a giant robot named Acrobunch, made up of two "Buncher Arrow" motorcyles, two "Buncher Hornet" cars, & the flying "Falcon Buncher" jet, and with it Tatsuya & his sons Hiro, Ryo & Jun, daughters Reika & Miki, & robot assistants DB & RC will search for Quaschika, taking on any & all Goblin forces that get in their way. According to Goblin mythology, the Goblin Society can only survive another year underground, so the hunt is on!
The shared overall element of Yu Yamamoto's mech anime produced by MIC is that none of them followed the general thread of other mech anime of the 80s, most of which were inspired by Mobile Suit Gundam (which Yamamoto also wrote some [rather notable] episodes for). While most series in this decade focused around a war of some sort between two opposing forces, Yamamoto always looked for some sort of distinct inspiration for his mech anime, and in Acrobunch's case he went with 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, the first (& only, at the time) Indiana Jones film. The end result is less about the Rando Family fighting for the sake the planet or humanity itself against something that's only human-esque in the Goblin Society & more about the Rando Family heading to various real life locations in search of mythological finds, as Tatsuya feels that all legends relate to Quaschika due to its sheer age, and having to fight off Goblin forces, who want Quaschika for their purposes. This results in a very episodic series, with each episode (after the first) focusing on a different world myth or conspiracy theory, like a secret temple inside Mt. Shasta in the California Cascades, looking for indications that the creator god that the Bantu of the ancient Kingdom of Kongo worshiped was actually Quaschika, a couple of episodes involving Atlantis, learning about the origin of Sedna, Inuit goddess of the sea, and trips to places like Stonehenge, the Aegean Sea, Angkor Wat, Babylon, the ruins of the ancient Uyghur Khaganate in the Gobi Desert, & even Shambhala itself. Since this is an anime based heavily on ancient ruins & historical mythology, we also get an episode where the Rando Family finds the princess of an ancient humanoid alien race that's been cryogenically frozen under an Egyptian pyramid for ~6,000 years; truly, Yu Yamamoto knew how to have fun.
The end result is a "world location of the week" format for Acrobunch, which results in the actual relevance of each location & its history varying in importance, depending on the story being told. For example, the Stonehenge episode uses that location more as just a setting for a more personal story relating to Tatsuya & two old friends of his, while a visit to Persepolis in Iran plays more into the history of Alexander the Great's conquering of the First Persian Empire, explaining that Alexander himself was searching for Quaschika back then. Some episodes also play more into mythology & the like, such as when the Randos head to Scotland in search of fairies, only for the Goblins to screw things up by summoning an "evil fairy"... which in reality is an Eldritch abomination sporting three heads, multiple eyes, three arms, and literally starts eating the Goblin women that participated in the ritual they did to summon it. We also slowly get bits & pieces of the Goblin Society & their past every now & then, like the desolate temple Deros operates out of looking very similar to an old Atlantean temple, or the reveal that the Goblins were seemingly "sealed" underground by the Greek pantheon itself, pushed all the more with the Acrobunch's mid-series upgrade, which is a giant sword. As for the finale of the show itself, all I can really say without spoiling it all is that you'll honestly never see it coming, despite some early thematic hints that are only mentioned once or twice, and that it's immensely memorable because of that; truly, do NOT spoil yourself regarding Acrobunch's ending beforehand in any way.
As for the characters, it is important to remember that this a mech anime from the early 80s, and a relatively short one for its time, so the cast is overall simple, but we do still get just enough from most of them to chew on a little. Tatsuya Rando may not quite be a perfect match for Dr. Henry Jones Jr. himself, and there are a couple of moments where he lets the feeling of possibly finding Quaschika take over anything logical, but overall he's got a cool & collected head on his shoulders, making for a good & trustworthy leader & father. Meanwhile, youngest son Jun is arguably the one who's meant to be the "main" protagonist (or at least a deuteragonist), as he tends to get the most overall screen time & is generally the one who gets more involved with the main plot of each episode more than anyone else, on a reliable basis, making him the closest equivalent to an "Young Indiana Jones"; also, while Tatsuya is often seen wearing more of a trilby, Jun's the one sporting a proper fedora. However, my personal favorite member of the Rando Family is oldest son Hiro, a master knife thrower (to the point where the couple of times he does wield a gun feel weird) who's usually the one put in charge whenever Tatsuya's not available, and in general tends to come off as a bit of a badass. In comparison, middle son Ryo is almost always seen as more of a comic relief when left to his own devices, neither as impetuous as Jun nor as instantly reliable as Hiro; he gets his moments, though. As for the daughters, Reika is tomboy who's more willing to get things done herself when she's in the mood, while Miki doesn't really contribute much until near the end, but is still an enjoyably sweet & innocent romantic. Finally, RC & DB are also generally used more for simple comedy, though they are established as being reliable for piloting the Falcon Buncher, should Tatsuya or Jun not be available during a battle.
Then there's the Goblin Society, which is lead by the ruthless King Deros, often followed by his preist Gepeu, & commanded by the "Four Demon Generals": Cera the White, Agyle the Red, Groizy the Black, & Bluzon the Blue. What little bit of development the villains do get come in specific moments & episodes, like Cera & Hiro getting their respective vehicles stuck during a battle, only for Hiro to escape & free Cera, which she takes as an chivalrous insult. Meanwhile, Bluzon is shown to actually have a heart when deciding to not torture the alien princess I mentioned earlier for information, because she reminds him of his sister, who was sacrificed by the Goblin Clan years prior. Finally, Groizy is once shown to want Cera for himself, despite her obviously not being interested in him, while Agyle is effectively like Ryo, i.e. mostly hapless. Also, Groizy & Agyle are generally more ruthless with their plans, while Cera & Bluzon come off slightly more noble. Deros, however, is absolutely without mercy, killing subordinates who fail him & having no qualms with torturing others for information, all because of his desperation to free his kind, the only thing he shows love for, from their subterranean life.
In terms or production, you will notice a difference between the MIC-animated first half & the Toei-animated second half, though even that is only slight. Essentially, the first half directed by Ryo Yasumura (Spirit of the Sword, Moero! Top Striker) looks a little bit rougher, one could even saw "raw", though this also results in some stark imagery at points, like the combination sequence for the Acrobunch itself being reliant mostly on line art over a blue background, which actually looks really cool. As for the second half directed by Takashi Hisaoka (Stop!! Hibari-kun!), everything looks more consistent and a little more polished, with characters looking more rounded on the whole, but in turn loses just a little bit of the striking imagery, like the combination sequence now losing the line art aesthetic; also, Acrobunch's wings are now red, instead of white (usually, at least). However, it's not as though the anime really changes in any wild way, visually, and that's likely because the entire show still had a single lead director in the form of Takao Yotsuji (Braiger & Sasuraiger), who possibly made sure that everything still remained consistent, despite the change in animation studios. Meanwhile, the character designs by Shigenori Kageyama (who'd go on to direct anime like Queen's Blade) & Mutsumi Inomata (Tales Series, Future GPX Cyber Formula), the latter of which actually made her debut here, are really good & varied, resulting in everyone looking super unique & easily identifiable at any point. Since this is a mech anime, I should also point out Yuichi Higuchi, who's probably best known for designing for the Microman, Choro-Q, & Licca-chan toy brands, but has also designed by giant robots, and while one can call the Acrobunch a little overdone, I honestly think it's really cool & (once again) super unique. I really dig the domino mask it wears over its eyes, and the fact that the individual parts get a lot of time to shine on their own (& characters even swap vehicles on some episodes), makes it feel like more than just a blatant toy for kids in 1982 to buy.
Then we have the writing done by Yu Yamamoto & his staff, which is really interesting. On the one hand, you don't really get a whole lot of characterization for the cast outside of their general established traits, and those moments where you do get something more tend to feel like isolated incidents more than anything. For example, Hiro & Cera are shown to have a little bit of a possible relation, similar to maybe Max & Miria from Macross, but they only have a handful of interactions to really set it up, while Hiro's rivalry with Bluzom is only set up early in the final third so that they can fight in the finale. Similarly, Groizy's infatuation with Cera is literally just a one-scene moment that's never brought up again, while Agyle is actually killed shortly before the three-part finale in a rather sudden fashion. This also extends out to some of the episode plots, too, as it's not too rare for something completely wild to suddenly happen, like the previously mentioned evil fairy, or Noah's Ark apparently turning into God & summoning a seeming volcanic & flooding apocalypse around Mt. Ararat because the Goblins started attacking the Randos. However, when it comes to the characterization, that's still kind of what was expected from most mech anime of that time, and the characters themselves, namely the Rando Family, are still memorable & enjoyable because they follow strong archetypes. As for the wild plot points, I feel it helps give the search for Quaschika a real sense of mystery & foreboding to it, that it truly is something that humans (or Goblins) really shouldn't be tampering with, similar to Indiana Jones' usage of things like the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, or even the Crystal Skull. By the last third of the show, the Earth Federation gets more directly involved & assists the Rando Family in fighting the Goblins, while the three-part finale ups the ante on the stakes rather quickly, and delivers the final reveals in a rather sudden fashion. However, as I mentioned earlier, Yamamoto did provide some hints regarding those reveals early on, & seeming single-episode interactions actually play a part at the very end, which results in a neat sensation of "Ahhhhhhh, I see!", and the final scene is absolutely one that you'll never forget. If anything, a hypothetical Acrobunch remake would make these elements much more obvious in their importance throughout the show, but whether that'd be an improvement is debatable; it's obvious that Yamamoto wanted viewers to remember things on their own.
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| As rough as the animation can sometimes be, you also get some really striking shots, too. |
This brings us to the music by the late Masahito Maruyama, who was known more for his talents as an arranger for various music artists (even winning an award for it in 2014 at the 56th Japan Record Awards), though he also did some composing, like with here. Overall, Acrobunch's score is definitely of its time in a lot of ways, but Maruyama helps give it just a little bit of its own flavor with a heavy reliance on wind instruments, like trumpets, horns, flutes, & even harmonica, giving certain songs a very jazzy feel to them, while a song generally used for unsure & dangerous moments (even used during the combination sequence at times!) feels very amelodic & moody. However, the real gems of the music are easily the OP & ED themes, both composed & arranged by Masayuki Yamamoto (Braiger, Yatterman) & featuring lyrics by Yu Yamamoto himself. OP theme "Yume no Kariudo" by Yukio Yamagata is absolutely beautiful, starting off slow before building into an exciting song that perfectly matches the adventurous feel of Acrobunch, both in the music & lyrics; it's seriously one of the best anime OP themes you may have never heard of before. Meanwhile, ED theme "Nagisa ni Hitori" by Isao Taira is straight up just a character song for Jun exclusively, but it's also a fun way to end each episode.
As for the voice cast, we have both the debut of a future legendary seiyuu, as well as the first major role for a beloved icon. Namely, Acrobunch is the first anime to ever feature Shigeru Nakahara (Android 17 in Dragon Ball Z, Trowa in Gundam Wing) in its cast, with him playing Jun in the energetic & excitable fashion that he'd become known for early on, such as with Masato in Dancouga. Meanwhile, though he had been in the industry for roughly a decade prior, Acrobunch marks the first time the venerable Norio Wakamoto ever had a "lead" role, in this case playing Hiro. Compared to the grandiose, hammy, & meme-worthy performances everyone has come to love & idolize Wakamoto for (even in Japan), his performance as Hiro here is (understandably) much more straightforward & traditional, though still very strong & memorable. As stated before, the show very directly makes sure that Hiro is a badass at most points, and Wakamoto's performance just builds upon it; it shows that he always had to talent to be a star, even early on. As for the remaining cast, it's a solid set of performances, like Hidekatsu Shibata as Tatsuya, Katsue Miwa as Miki, Kazuko Sugiyama as Reika, Kazuko Yanaga as Cera, Ryusuke Oobayashi as Bluzo, Seizo Katou as Deros, & Tessho Genda as Gepeu; nothing especially noteworthy from them, but no lackluster performances in this show, by any means. Ryo actually had two actors, Akio Nojima & Hideyuki Tanaka, but Tanaka only voiced him for Episodes 11, 12, 14, & 15, which likely meant that Nojima was simply unable to perform, like maybe he was sick during that time; honestly, I didn't even realize that there was any change in actors, so props to Tanaka. Finally, we also see the likes of Makoto "Mugihito" Terada (Agyle, in a rare instance where he used his real name for the credits), Tamio Ohki (Groizy), Hitoshi Kubota (RC), Kiyomi Kurakawa (DB), & Masaru Ikeda (Quaschika), plus guest roles by Keiko Han, Kei Tomiyama, Kouji Totani, & Sanae Takagi, among others.
Like some other titles I've covered in the past, Acrobunch: The Quest for Treasure is an anime I've long been interested in one day watching, but didn't do so until finally deciding to cover it for review on this blog. Thankfully, Acrobunch absolutely delivered an experience that I was hoping it would be, and even went beyond at points. All I had known about this series beforehand was that it was inspired by Indiana Jones, that it marked the debut (or first major position) for three highly iconic seiyuu or staff, and that the titular giant robot is honestly rather overpowered in Super Robot Wars Compact 3, the only outing it ever had in that crossover franchise. Coming out of it, I got to experience a fun & never boring series that went all over the world, explored various cultural mythologies & histories (some given more focus than others), starred a memorable cast of characters, and wasn't afraid to go silly & wild at points, including the absolutely unforgettable ending; also, the Norio Wakamoto-voiced character is the best one, as well all expect. Sure, the animation isn't always all that great, but anyone who wants something notably different from the usual war story in a mech anime should definitely watch Acrobunch, and luckily it's not just available on SD-BD, but also available via streaming over at RetroCrush.
Anime © 1982 Movie International/Shigeo Tsubota
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