The more of these mecha anime series I watch on Toei Tokusatsu World Official, the more I realise how they’re pretty much all the same. That said, it doesn’t make me want to watch them all any less…
Space Emperor God Sigma (宇宙大帝ゴッドシグマ), or just God Sigma, is a 1980 Saburou Yatsude production. Saburou Yatsude is the collective pen name of a group of Toei producers that worked on, amongst other things, Toei’s animated series of the seventies, eighties and nineties. Since 1999, animations have used the pseudonym Izumi Todo instead. Perhaps inadvertently, you can seperate these two names quite easily by the type of media they produce with Yatsude producing more toku style animations featuring monsters and mecha while Todo has been responsible mostly for Pretty Cure which, frankly, is nothing like the anime we’ve been seeing released on Toei Tokusatsu World.
The series is set in 2050 AD, a time in which humanity has begun to reach out into the solar system for colonisation. The opening monologue suggests that despite this outreach into the universe, humanity is yet to encounter any extra-terrestrial life; that is, until now. From out of nowehere, Earth is attacked by the forces of Eldar who seek to recover an energy source hidden on the planet known as Trinity Energy. Trinity is a very powerful source of power and will come up again before this review is done.
Most of the opening episode focuses on protagonist, Toshiya Dan. Dan is from Io, a colonised moon of Jupiter. While Dan has already made his way to Earth by the time of the Eldar attack, he is provided a huge stake in the fight when Supreme Commander Teral orders the annexation of Io, killing the bulk of the satellite’s inhabitants, including Dan’s family. Dan hijacks Kuraioh, one of the God Sigma robots, and does such a good job of fighting off Eldar forces that he’s given command of the flagship robot, as you do. During the attack of Io, we also meet Kira Kensaku, a slightly older gentleman who, inexplicably, escapes on a shuttlecraft and finds his way to Earth. Kensaku goes on, rather abruptly, to be the third pilot, controlling . The second pilot of God Sigma is Julie Noguchi (male, for anyone confused by his name). Noguchi is head scientist of Trinity City and one of the chief engineers of the God Sigma project. Noguchi commands Kaimeioh, a marine operations God Sigma.
Another character we meet is Minako, the daughter of an Earth Federation benefactor. During the public reveal of the God Sigma robots, Minako, a true daughter of the entitled Instagram generation if you ever saw one, finds her way into Rikushinoh and promptly blunders her way into the destruction of electricity pylons and other important stuff. She is rescued by Julie Noguchi who prompty slaps her for her transgressions. This happens quite early on in the episode and I thought, and hoped, we would see a very quick redemption story for Minako in which she grew out of being a spoilt, vapid little girl who studied the manual for Rikushinoh, gave herself a crash course and went on to be its pilot, fighting alongside the man who slapped her to save the Earth. But, alas not… back to selfies she goes. Perhaps her character can become more worthwhile as the series progresses. N.B. She doesn’t actually take selfies, I am appropriating.
The three pilots are taken underground by Doctor Kazami who explains how the God Sigma robots can be used to fight off the forces of Eldar as well as the reason that Trinity City, specifically, is under attack. He explains about the Trinity Energy being held under the facility and the grave ramifications of the energy falling into enemy hands. Eldar Commander Teral then sends a giant three headed monster robot, Cosmosaurus Graken, to destroy the city and release the energy. The three pilots take to their robots, ready to fight, as the episode closes.
This is another mecha anime opener in which we don’t get to see the combined form of the titular robot, save for in the opening credits. I guess I have become spoiled by Super Sentai and Power Rangers giving us everything we want to see in the series premiere but I really wanted to see things come together. I will be watching the second episode for that reason alone and, probably, the rest of the series too. Despite their samey look and feel, I’m quite into these mecha anime and the characters in this one seem like they may develop into something quite interesting. Give it a try yourself, I’m sure you’ll feel the same way.
God Sigma is one of the many mecha anime series available via Toei Tokusatsu World Official on YouTube. The first few episodes are available now with English subtitles.
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