THIS is the show that first got me on the road to Tokusatsu Heaven. I don't know where to begin, though. The story, 3 students of a prestigious school abandon it for a chance to work with an evil genius (helluva internship, there) and in the process kill two other students wearing special "stregthening suits" - the three friends of the two swear to avenge them. Two years later, the Armed Brain Army VOLT attacks Academia as they attempt to launch a bowl-shaped rocket, and the three students (now Drs. Kemp, Mazenda, and Obular) come down to survey the damage - at which point the three students (Yuusuke, Jou, and Megumi) reveal that, for two years, they've prepared for this attack, and transform into Liveman with their Twin Brace(s).
At about 3/4 of the way through, the stories lose any shred of humor, and become very serious. The Doctors reveal just how human they are, despite having joined VOLT. And Great Professor Bias goes down in flames, Guardnoid Gash at his side.
I think my favorite part of the show was the mecha - the Live Robo is the first to have three animal-based machines, and the Super Live Robo is the first "two robos into one Uber-robo" combiner. There is also Coron, who, despite being the assistant-bot, still manages to back up Liveman with 4x4, motorcycle, and Flying Fortress skills, in addition to a few toe-to-toe battles with the enemy - she just kicked ass all round. Then there's the iconic Bimotion Buster which... you just have to see to believe.
Actually, I take that back. My favorite part is the music - especially the one that plays during a duel or such (it's also used in the Red Falcon - Gao Yellow duel in GaoRanger vs. Super Sentai). Shima Daisuke sings the OP and the ED, and they're both pretty good. But the BGMs and incidentals (the one that plays during LiveRobo's Super Live Crash is nice too) are the true shiners...
And then there's the characters. The good guys are good, the bad guys are evil (Dr. Kempu especially). My particular favorite is Busujima Arashi (formerly Dr. Ashura). After he goes from Ashura the super-genius to Arashi the super-idiot, he tries to add 5 and 8. And he can't, because he uses his fingers to add. Being the hit-first-hit-again-wait-was-I-supposed-to-question-them type, he then tries to take on a Brain Beast that can absorb attacks and copy them, with nothing more than his brute strength, and loses. He asks the guy he replaced in VOLT (Omura, formerly Dr. Obular) what 5 and 8 are ("13, but why?"), then warmly tells him he's got nothing left to do. He fights the Brain Beast Battle-Zunô again, loses, then sees a way to win... When Liveman is down and at the enemy's mercy, Arashi reappears. He yells at Bias to watch him, and charges Battle-Zunô... He wins.
Despite it being 18 years old now, and having dated special effects and classic monster suits, I still love it. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to watch a good show.
At about 3/4 of the way through, the stories lose any shred of humor, and become very serious. The Doctors reveal just how human they are, despite having joined VOLT. And Great Professor Bias goes down in flames, Guardnoid Gash at his side.
I think my favorite part of the show was the mecha - the Live Robo is the first to have three animal-based machines, and the Super Live Robo is the first "two robos into one Uber-robo" combiner. There is also Coron, who, despite being the assistant-bot, still manages to back up Liveman with 4x4, motorcycle, and Flying Fortress skills, in addition to a few toe-to-toe battles with the enemy - she just kicked ass all round. Then there's the iconic Bimotion Buster which... you just have to see to believe.
Actually, I take that back. My favorite part is the music - especially the one that plays during a duel or such (it's also used in the Red Falcon - Gao Yellow duel in GaoRanger vs. Super Sentai). Shima Daisuke sings the OP and the ED, and they're both pretty good. But the BGMs and incidentals (the one that plays during LiveRobo's Super Live Crash is nice too) are the true shiners...
And then there's the characters. The good guys are good, the bad guys are evil (Dr. Kempu especially). My particular favorite is Busujima Arashi (formerly Dr. Ashura). After he goes from Ashura the super-genius to Arashi the super-idiot, he tries to add 5 and 8. And he can't, because he uses his fingers to add. Being the hit-first-hit-again-wait-was-I-supposed-to-question-them type, he then tries to take on a Brain Beast that can absorb attacks and copy them, with nothing more than his brute strength, and loses. He asks the guy he replaced in VOLT (Omura, formerly Dr. Obular) what 5 and 8 are ("13, but why?"), then warmly tells him he's got nothing left to do. He fights the Brain Beast Battle-Zunô again, loses, then sees a way to win... When Liveman is down and at the enemy's mercy, Arashi reappears. He yells at Bias to watch him, and charges Battle-Zunô... He wins.
Despite it being 18 years old now, and having dated special effects and classic monster suits, I still love it. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to watch a good show.