Giant Gorg - Gorg Don't Give a F

I'm not going to pretend like there was any "golden age" of anime, that the 80s was "better", that hand-drawn is superior to computer-assisted or even go into my meta tirades against the industry. Every time period has good stuff and bad stuff. That's not what I'm here to talk about. Instead: Giant Gorg. Gorg is a sign of what happens when passionate people get the chance to make exactly what they want to make.

STORY: 9.5/10

A mysterious island, New Austral Island, rises in the middle of the South Pacific. For unknown reasons, the government is covering up its existence so they can investigate the island themselves. One young boy, Tagami Yuu, whose father died while involved in the investigation of New Austral, is sent to New York to speak with one of his father's students, Dr. Wave, about the island. The decision is made that they should find out the secret of the island, but the government organization GAIL has their own ideas as to what should be done with New Austral. Once they arrive at the island, they find a mysterious robot with power the likes of which this world has never seen. Thus begins the tale of Giant Gorg as Yuu, Dr. Wave, and many others work to unravel the mysteries of Austral Island and Gorg.

Giant Gorg is a series unlike pretty much any mecha show out there. It's an adventure, heavily dripping with influence from series like Indiana Jones and Doc Savage. Action is fairly uncommon, only being used when they're necessary for the story. Most of the plot involves the characters and how they act given the situation. It's a series where there is no filler, the plot is buttery smooth. I mean that in every possible way. I can't even begin to get into things that occur even 8 or 9 episodes in since they would spoil a lot of the plot. Suffice to say that around episode 16 the entire series' premise changes dramatically but it's handled in a way that doesn't feel forced and the different direction the show takes makes perfect sense.

The world of New Austral feels vibrant and organic. There are around four factions of characters who all have their own ideas as to what should be done with the island and they're all moving all the time. They intermingle and interact, alliances are formed and broken, and character relationships advance as the series progresses. At the same time, Gorg wastes no time with slow exposition dumps or repeating things that don't need to be repeated. When exposition does need to be given, it's quick and to the point, and above all else: presented in an interesting manner. Gorg amazingly manages to go on for 26 episodes with absolutely no filler and a complex setting without coddling the viewer.

This is not an action show, plain and simple. Gorg is absolutely invincible and the series makes no attempts to hide that fact. But that's actually fine, since Gorg's power is a large plot point and the conflicts are not simply about whether or not the robot can beat up the enemies. The last couple episodes are the most dramatic of the entire show and they have almost no robot action whatsoever.

Premise: 1.5/2
Pacing: 2/2
Immersion: 2/2
Setting: 2/2
Theme: 1/1
Complexity: 1/1

ART: 8.5/10

For the time, and even to this day, Giant Gorg's art is absolutely breathtaking. Even taking modern practices into account, I would say Gorg holds up and looks better than a lot of newer anime. The art is absolutely stunning, making a vibrant and busy environment on Austral Island. Characters move and act in different manners that speaks of their personality, like Yuu's energy-filled youth contrasting with Dr. Wave's nervous tension and Captain's nonchalant badass attitude. Even the movements of Gorg allow the machine to have a degree of personality and you can see that everything Gorg does has a great amount of weight behind it but also full control over that weight. The choice of colors being more dark and subdued fits the tone of the show very well, and at the same time there's a wide range of environments with rainforests, mountains, settlements, beaches, and more.

The animation is superb. It looks like the kind of animation you'd get out of an OVA at the time. Don't believe me? Just look at the fight scene where Gorg debuts in episode 4 and be aware that's the kind of animation that fills Gorg from start to finish.

The fight scenes are relatively uncommon, but every single one is completely awesome. This is exactly how you handle combat when you have a main character that is by all right invincible. Nothing that people throw at Gorg even comes close to denting it, but that's the entire point. Gorg is an overwhelming machine that our society can't understand, and the main conflicts in the plot are the kind of thing that can be solved through violence.

General Presence: 1.5/2
Visual Design: 1.5/2
Backgrounds: 1.5/2
Animation: 2/2
Attention to Detail: 1/1
Visual Effects: 1/1

SOUND: 8/10

There's no denying it, Gorg sounds as good as it looks. Voice acting sounds very natural, with even some surprising casting when you hear the performances given, namely Yuu's. I wasn't even aware that Tanaka Mayumi was voice acting in 1984. Other than that, the real star performances come from Captain and Manon, both of whom are deeply nuanced characters whose actors do a great job capturing the subtleties of their emotions.

I haven't listened to the soundtrack religiously, but that's because most of it are atmospheric tracks that fit the more methodical and adventurous tone of the show. The combat themes are good, and the OP and ED both are some of the best of the 80s.

The area I really want to give props to is the sound effects. Particularly, Gorg's movement. Every footstep, every punch, every single movement uses those oldschool robot sound effects I love. It gives Gorg an amazing weight and it comes from a time that simply had great foley.

Voice Acting: 3/4
Music: 3/4
Sound Effects: 2/2

CHARACTERS: 7/10

The characters some might not say are highly memorable, but I'd disagree. They aren't as memorable as some other casts, true, but I can still remember Captain, Rod, Yuu, and Manon, among others. I'd say that Gorg was attempting more at making the cast timeless, and letting them be characterized through the plot rather than having roll calls where everyone needs to lay stuff out about who they are. It's more subtle characterization. Gorg, for example, doesn't have a single line but does stand out simply through actions and the way it reacts to things other characters do. Background characters are given good visual personality to them, as well.

I think the most impressive part of Gorg's characters is that nobody is stupid. There's never a moment where I as a viewer stepped back and saw an incredibly obvious solution or felt that a character's actions were forced. The closest it gets to that is something Captain does near the end, which is something of a spoiler so I won't go into detail. Suffice to say, it's something that makes sense for him to do with what we know about him but certainly is a shock. Going a whole series where everyone's actions are justifiable and in-character is incredibly difficult but Gorg passes this test with flying colors.
 
Presence: 1.5/2
Personality: 1/2
Complexity: 1.5/2
Memorability: 1/2
Development: 1/1
Pathos: 1/1

FINAL JUDGMENT : 10/10

All in all, Gorg has a unique premise, good writing, and amazing production values that hold up even to this day. It doesn't stop there, Gorg takes its unique premise and runs with it, delivering in extremely satisfying ways while keeping the viewer guessing all the way to the end. What more do you want? Good action sequences? Gorg has amazing action Even knowing about Gorg's invincibility doesn't detract from the fact that the action is extremely well choreographed and animated, with some surprisingly hype moments in key fights.

At the end of the day, Giant Gorg is a buried treasure that never caught on for some reason. Although recently this treasure has been unearthed to some degree and is being spread to the world. It's definitely worth a watch for anyone who likes adventure, anime, or simply good storytelling.

Pros:
+Amazing production values that still hold up to this day
+An unique concept both for an anime and a robot series
+Very smartly written

Cons:
-I honestly can't think of any. Any problems that Gorg has aren't distracting.