Tekkaman Blade

Genre: Action/Drama/Romance/Sci-Fi
Allegiance: Tatsunoko Production, Satsu Agency
Director: Hiroshi Negishi
Vintage: 1992
Format: 49 episodes

Intelligence Agency Report by Shadow:
Humanity faces its greatest threat ever: the Radam (Venemoids in the English version). They are an alien race bent on destroying humanity, but for what purpose? Not all is as it seems, and mysterious trees have been placed on the planet. Only one thing can stand up to them: a warrior named Blade, a Tekkeman/human hybrid. But what is Blade actually? Who does he really fight for? And who is he to begin with?


Field Agent Report by Shadow:

Plot
Characters
Animation
Audio
Impact
8.00
9.50
8.00
7.00
5.00

Overall

8.00

There are a lot of shows with the more classical anime styles out there in terms of actual animation and how stories are handled. This is something that I would put in the realm of the time of Robotech (at its beginning) and the like. Tekkeman Blade seems to be one of those animes that has a bit of a cult following, and can be interesting for both lovers of the sci-fi and big robots genres. But for the mecha fans, be aware that this is not a true mecha-type anime, but more of a blend.

The plot and the characters are of the sort one expects of the era that this anime belongs to, a very good thing. It meant that the story was well thought out, covered several perspectives, left you with a lot of questions, and created characters that were rich and well-developed. But for all that, it is its own achievement, made from its own mold and not a cookie-cutter anime. Take for example the main character himself, Blade. We get the classic reluctant hero, but he has some amnesia initially and is more than willing to destroy the enemy for a personal vendetta. This makes him different because he wants vengeance, not the hero role that he deserves. Later in the series, the classic internal struggle comes along, but it is so severe that you are left wondering if the hero actually CAN overcome his personal demons. Because of the depth provided the characters of the series, the plot has a level of enrichment lacking in most modern-day animes. It was good to see this come back for a bit, even if it is an older series.

The visual style of the series is in no way that of most more modern series. There is no CGI or cell-shading, but the old-school, hand-drawn stuff. Even for its time, the animation style in this series is wonderful. Lines are crisp and sharp, and the animation itself is very fluid. This anime boasts an animation that was upper echelon for its time. Audio, on the other hand, was average even by today’s standards. The soundtrack did have some nice moments, but the majority of the series’s audio was kind of a “meh” moment.

An oldy but a goody. The plot and characters were rich and full of depth and emotion. The audio was about average and what you would expect from its era. It is a good series that is worth sitting through for a few days, and will have moments that tug at your heart and fire you up. This is definitely at least worth renting for a few days.