Getter Robo: Unedited Audio and Recording Notes

Intro

• Jordan: Hello our wonderful patrons, thanks for all your support! 

• David: I’m David

• Jordan: I’m Jordan

• David: This episode we’re talking about the first Getter Robo Series

Manga Details

• Author: Nagai, Go (Story & Art), Ishikawa, Ken (Story & Art)

• Author’s other works: 

  • Jordan blab bout em these are the guys

• Run dates: Apr 4, 1974 to May 14, 1975

• Chapters/Volumes: 14/2

About the Manga

• Plot

  • Ryouma Nagare is a karate master and violent psychopath who beats the shit out of everyone in a karate tournament because they humiliated his father. He is then attacked by 3 guys, one of whom is a really racist black caricature. After defeating them he’s kidnapped by Professor Saotome, who used them to test his skills. It turns out that dinosaurs have returned and they’re pissed, and the Dinosaur Empire lead by Emperor Gore wants to conquer the planet and reclaim it from hairless apes. Saotome is looking for three young men to pilot his giant robot Getter Robo in order to fight it. Suddenly a bunch of newts rain from the skies and zombify people but Ryouma gets in one of the three robots and drives through a pterodactyl to win. Next Ryouma goes to recruit Hayato Jin, a genius revolutionary and violent psychopath who’s taken over his school and is plotting to kill the prime minister. When dinos attack Ryouma saves him and drags him into Getter where they and Dr Saotome finally combine into Getter Robo to fight them off. After another fight, a bunch of mutated ape-people start appearing and killing people. When Ryouma goes to investigate he’s attacked by a mechasaurus and is saved by Musashi Tomoe, a goofy judo champ who’s been training in the mountains and is actually not a violent psychopath. He joins Ryouma in Getter as they tear through a Dino base and discover that the Dinos were the ones turning people into apes. The base erupts because it’s a volcano but Getter transforms into drill mode and tunnels under the earth. Musashi wants to pilot the third getter vehicle but he’s too stupid and clumsy so they say he can’t. However when an evil jellyfish that absorbs energy to grow shows up he knocks Dr Saotome out, steals his clothes, and joins them in the robot. Together they overload the jellyfish and blow it up before it absorbs all of Japan. 

  • Next the research facility is attacked by the Chiryu clan, a group of dinos that the other dinos think are weird. Musashi gets stabbed in the tummy but thanks to an insane scientist obsessed with making weapons the getter team manages to fight them off. The group get in getter and even though Musashi is gushing blood they manage to win. The next chapter has art that’s way more detailed because it was drawn 20 years later as getter infiltrates the Dino HQ but has to leave cuz they ran low on battery. While fighting Dinos, Ryouma’s ship crash lands into a destroyed city where he has to help some kids but all except one of them die. In the ensuing fight Getter is extremely damaged and Ryouma’s face gets fucked up by broken glass. However it should be noted that Musashi has a slick new hairstyle. Ryouma detaches from Getter robo in an apparent suicide attack and dang I guess he’s dead. While driving around though Hayato and Saotome run into a mysterious man covered in bandages who Saotome realizes is Ryouma which is crazy cuz I thought he was dead. They trace him to a hospital which is run by demons. They rescue Ryouma but he has amnesia dang not again! Gore and the Dinos attack the research facility in an all out assault. Getter is still fucked up and Saotome is like “damn if only they came tomorrow I’d have a new getter finished and ready. To buy them time, Musashi pilots getter and self destructs which releases spiral energy aka getter rays and destroys a ton of Dinos. Seeing Musashi die cures Ryouma’s amnesia and he wants revenge. They get in the new robot: Getter Dragon, and fight Gore until he tries to retreat to the ocean where he finds his entire army killed by demons and who want to take over the world themselves. The dinosaur empire leaves gore behind as they escape underground again and the demons kill Gore which sucks because Ryouma wanted to kill him.

• Characters

  • Ryouma Nagare

    • Dad was a karate man

    • He too is a karate man

    • Hard boiled, hot blooded

  • Hayato

    • Baddass school kid

    • Bruh he ugly asab

    • Claws

  • Musashi

    • He dum dum

    • Has a big heart

    • Dies :(

  • GORE

    • GORE

    • Dark lord of earth’s depths

Why it failed

• The dialogue is kinda clunky and I don’t think it’s the translations fault

• Weird how the first part feels kinda slow because I’m like when robot

• The art is fun but is in a weird transitional period where it doesn’t match the tone of what’s going on as it feels a bit too cartoony. Well chapter 3 has some very off model art

• This pacing is pretty slow

• Hayato is an odd pick, why is he a robot pilot?

• The pacing is somewhat weak, I think partially because of how long the chapters are but it goes in for a bit longer than it needs to like the hokkaido thing

• There isn’t a ton of character development or well anything not related to getter

What it did well

• Man this is art like they don’t do anymore,  I really like how the rain is drawn

• Also look at this paneling, no excuse from modern manga 

• I like the sense of damn we’re getting the gang together for the mf robot

• Getter robot is badass killing them mf

• The comedy is good, lmao what the hell the robot split

• Some wacky ass monster designs lmao

• Lmao the professor in the school uniform in chapter 7

• It finally changes things up in chapter 8 with the invasion

• The comedy can be good sometimes like damn I really wanted to be shot

• It has a sense of consequence to what they’re doing

Where it could have gone

•  I think better introduce the robot it just kinda blue balls you, why not have them do shit with the smaller robots

• I think tone down the violence it just feels weird, I know this dude made devilman but this shouldn’t be so bleak

• Maybe had the weird clan become good guys

Misc Thoughts

• The first chapter feels like a 70s action movie

• Bruh what the fuck is going on

• Lmao this talks about climate change

• Isn’t doing like an nuclear weapon in japan too soon

• You can see how much this inspired TTGL

Final Verdict

• Six Word summary

  • David: A proud Gar-pa of Gurren Lagann

  • Jordan: I will always believe in Getter