Video Backlog: "Overman King Gainer"

Publisher: Bandai Entertainment (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English Subtitles
Length: 26 episodes x 25 mins
Production Date: 2002 - 2003
Currently in Print (as of writing): No

Story Outline: Due to ecological disasters, mankind has imposed himself in a self exiled state in regions previously considered uninhabitable while the rest of the planet recovers. People live in large domed cities called Domepolis with private companies such as the Siberian Railroad Company providing links between factories that produce goods and food and the Domepolis. Over the years people have become weary of the life lead in the domes and believe that the Earth has recovered enough to return to their homelands. These are called Exoduses and are illegal under current laws. Highschooler and video game champ Gainer Sanga is falsely arrested by is Siberian Railroad officer Adette Kistler on suspicion of being a member of Exodus. In an overcrowded cell, he meets fellow inmate Gain Bijou. Gain tricks the guard and manages to knock him out enabling his escape. He asks the prisoners to follow him, but only Gainer decides to follow.

Gain is in fact a hired hand by the people of Yapan who live in dome. They want to initiate an Exodus and Gain is to defend them as they flee. Gain infiltrates local monarch Duke Medaiyu’s secret collection of biomechanical robots called Overman in order to steal one of them to use for defence purposes. However Gainer boards the Overman and due to his video game skills manages to easily pilot the robot. Gainer names the Overman as King Gainer, and proceeds to escape, with Gain managing to abduct and take hostage Princess Anna, the Duke's daughter during the chaos (though she’s a very willing hostage). Under the cover of an annual festival featuring idol singer Meeya Laujin (also a major player in the secret Exodus), large multi house “blocks” are hauled from the dome, beginning their 3,000 km journey across the Siberian tundra to Yapan. However the Siberian Railroad will stop at nothing to halt the Exodus.

Mini Review: OK, it’s confession time. Apart from stuff like “Clannad”, “Haruhi Suzumiya”, “High School of the Dead” and other popular stuff in fandom, I don’t “get” Yoshiyuki Tomino. I readily admit that a lot of his stories, including this one, are really intriguing and high concept. However a lot of them are really quite poor in terms of dialogue and reaction of the characters. Add in the stupid, stupid names (see Dunbine’s Keen Keats, Marvel Frozen and Shot Weapon) and casts of hundreds, I really find his works a bit of a chore to get through. However when that mad bald headed fucker Tomino gets it right, it’s really good. Admittedly for me, things did just not click for the first third of “Overman King Gainer” (despite the action packed first episode). This was probably due the fact there were way too many concepts being introduced. However things settle down and it becomes quite enjoyable. Still silly stuff like Adette’s dreadful uniform in the first episode, the overly big cast, typically stupid Tomino names like Kids Munt (even more confusing as early on the name isn’t really attached to physical person when mentioned) and the bizarre claymation eyecatch don’t really help the show. In a TV “making of“ special that appears as a bonus on the third or so disc, the crazy bald headed fucker says the world of “Gainer” is set in the near future Earth. This is an outright lie as it is clearly stated in the show that several generation have passed and there are friggin’ mammoths roaming the land. Mammoths. Stupid loony bald headed git...

Despite my grumbles the strangeness of the mecha and basic story outline as well as the way the show progresses and the character interactions and development make up for a lot of the show’s shortcomings. Add in the delightfully loopy opening animation with dancing characters and mecha and even some ice skating thrown in to the tune of a retro-esque song. I think a lot of Tomino’s anime to a degree still feels like it’s stuck in the 1970’s or 1980’s, “Gainer” more so than others. But this is probably Tomino’s style more than anything else. Unfortunately the show (like a lot of Bandai Entertainment’s titles) is out of print, and is absurdly selling for nearly double the original suggested retail price in the second hand market on Amazon. I’m unsure if I’d buy this show for nearly $100, especially when I only paid about $30 (love the space saving six disc pack which is the same size as a normal DVD case, BTW). Overall it’s quite a fun show, but I think a lot of the first third of the show, plus some horrible Tomino-esque clichés pop up towards the end, so I can only give it 6.5 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 19 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).