If you've ever seen or heard any of MADOX-01, it is probably from the first minute or so of this 45 minute OVA. A ridiculously highly detailed and mechanically correct sequence of the titular MADOX mech in it's start up sequence, animated painstakingly in its entirety by just one man: Hideaki Anno. Anno's work as a key animator is often overlooked for his later directorial works, but his work in the field of both mechanical animation and character/mech design can easily stand on its own merits too. From the God Warriors in Nausicaa to his work on the original Macross, The Wings of Honneamise or in General Products merchandise design, Anno was already a big name in the Japanese animation scene before his rise to directing stardom. The scene, while it is the best of the OVA, is very technically impressive, and the rest of the plot and goings-on of the video stand mainly as a backdrop for the MADOX to show of it's hyper-real and down-to-earth form.
Much of the appeal of this OVA is the way the mech seems to be a completely reasonable piece of mechanical prowess with even 1980s technology, whether it truly would be is another question, but seeing something so tangible and yet so cool makes you feel the desire to have one yourself much stronger than in a more fictional setting. While mechs from UC Gundam or the like seem to be somewhat grounded in reality and the laws of physics, there's nothing more titillating to a young adult male than a mechanical death toy that seems like it could be a reality within just a few years.
The story itself, serving as a vessel for cool robot action, is barely worth a mention. With a main character that seems more romantically involved with his bipedal tank than his supposed love interest, the story involves mostly his destruction of personal and public property around the city along with the not-quite-manslaughter of dozens, all while somehow managing to maintain the moral high ground of a confused teenager. I came for the mech, and I stayed for the mech also.
Merely proving the explicitness of this being the height of war-otaku fanservice, the OVA shipped with a mini-documentary showing the JSDF blowing stuff up with tanks, describing and showing off the different military equipment seen throughout the OVA. Something that I, not being particularly versed in cold-war era Japanese military equipment, failed to notice at first. I'm more of a WWII guy. But upon inspection it does seem, rather unsurprisingly, that every tank, chopper, etc appearing in the OVA was the cutting edge of military technology at the time. I can only imagine the military-fanaticism on both the side of the intended consumers and on that of the creators, a fanaticism which is becoming surprisingly rare, or at least under-represented, in modern otaku media.
Another interesting point is that of this OVA being the inspiration for the most autistic satirist in the universe's pen name, Maddox. While in recent years he seems to have gone the way of the lolcow, Maddox's older, hyper masculine image fits my idea of this OVA's intended audience so well it's almost worth twenty million dollars.
And that was my second entry into my new blog-series that I will 100% see out for many installments to come and not forgot within a month. Next I will be covering the 1991 Gundam film, Mobile Suit Gundam F91. Bye for now!
Originally posted on the 3st of July 2019
