This is another entry in my under the radar series, I remember this show when I was about in my adolescence at that time I was highly into the anime series "Macross" (a.k.a. "Robotech) which brought my fascination for giant mecha. When I ran into the animated show "Battletech" I got hooked as this series had giant mecha, I honestly mistaken it for a sequel to "Macross" because of this along with the title but of course it wasn't. Though the "Mechwarrior/Battletech" franchise was inspired by that anime series and others that had giant mecha.
"Battletech" of course is based on an RPG franchise which in the 90's became a heavy stomping phenomenon. I remember one of my friends in middle school was into the game as he had one of the RPG manuals. This franchise was popular enough to produce some video games for the PC and consoles. A licensed book series which was cool. And of course, from how popular the franchise go eventually an animated show was bound to happen.
I really like the animation as it' s pritty much the kind you'd see from the 90's but that what makes it even more top notch as I honestly wouldn't want it any other way. I just like how well detail in both backgrounds and character models, it really felt that they put care into what they do in capturing the essence of the RPG franchise.
One of the things that made this show stand out was in the sequences where they used CGI animation. You must realize this show was in the 90's and CGI animation was a novelty concept that we were starting to utilize and cultivate. I still thing the CGI sequences in the show look good at least on a retro perspective, you must admire the effort they put into them.
I really like how the mechs are well detailed, just looking at them I wanted to drive one of those, my favorite one is the axe man as that mech seems to be one of the strongest and well balanced, let alone you have a good weapon for melee combat. But I also like the combat which is well choreographed. The mech warfare is a little different as opposed to what you'd see in anime which are always flighty battles. It's more like an advanced version of tank warfare or medevil combat and I like that as it's something different but also it feels like the combat has some actual weight as there is some strategy and tactics involved. Really like the sounds of the lasers which are just cool, just music to my ears.
One of the other things that make this show unique is that this isn't a war between good and evil but a civil war as it's more a conflict of opposing ideologies. We can see both sides, at first, we think the Clans might be in the wrong but then due to some things you discover about them, I'll admit I started to wonder if I was wrong as some of their ideology isn't entirely wrong. But also, the Star League despite our preconceived notions that they're the good guys, we don't really know them all very well as each of the members were from different factions and also each aren't exactly close friends with each other and may have agendas of their own; from this we're not sure how long the alliance will hold.
I even like how the warfare went were sometimes the home team the Star League didn't always win; seeing this shows the reality of warfare how it's not a one-sided affair; nor is it a game because when you lose it's bad and the outcome can affect things significantly. Even like how the show really dealt with the grayness of this intergalactic civil war, which shows another reality on how things aren't always or never were black or white. Sometimes there are no good guys or bad guys but just sides with different perspectives and ideologies, and when those things are in conflict it depends on what you believe and which side of the fence you want to stay on and fight for.
Only misfires are one the show is a little confusing in places. It's understandable as the RPG series has loads of content which means to some that are familiar with the tabletop game series there might be some things that are missing. And people that are unfamiliar with it may feel as though they missed a season of the show as a lot happened before. You have to understand this was the first season which makes it an introductory season, which means they can only slowly unload a certain amount of content from the property.
And of course, this leads to the second misfire is simply this didn't have another season as it all ends on sort of a cliffhanger note. I'll admit this really disappointed me as I personally was looking forward to it. Probably the other season would've been the Star League and Clan war goes on but things get more complicated as there are other factions that emerge like the Wolf and Dragon clan from the game. We would probably see some new character that either join the Star League or don't, new mechs, and of course new dramatic dilemmas that will affect the war and everyone in it. I don't know, only in the realm of fanfiction do we have this new season.
It would be awesome to have a revival, another animated series but we can have it for a more mature audience. Or better yet even a live action show made with top notch quality production and on the right premium channel and make damn sure the property is in the right hands. I'm not sure how the story would go, it would have to be multi focused where it's not just about one faction but others, each season would be a story arc based on a campaign which would be true to the RPG series as each game is based on a single campaign, would like to see the other planets like in the games, have developing dynamics and relationships which serve both the characters and story, other mechs mainly the recent ones that were never in the first show. Last requests have a reprint and rerelease of the licensed book series and some new volumes which can continue off from it, as well as a licensed comic book series. I know all request long shots but all the same each of these things are a nice thought, and with the franchise now reactivated why not.
If you're an RPG fan and familiar with the "Mechwarrior/Battletech" franchise, then this is a piece of history worth looking at. Or if your just into vintage animated shows and are deeply into the sci-fi genre, then this show like any good automated mech is worth a test drive.
"Battletech" is a mechanized marvelous blast.
Rating: 3 stars.
"Battletech" of course is based on an RPG franchise which in the 90's became a heavy stomping phenomenon. I remember one of my friends in middle school was into the game as he had one of the RPG manuals. This franchise was popular enough to produce some video games for the PC and consoles. A licensed book series which was cool. And of course, from how popular the franchise go eventually an animated show was bound to happen.
I really like the animation as it' s pritty much the kind you'd see from the 90's but that what makes it even more top notch as I honestly wouldn't want it any other way. I just like how well detail in both backgrounds and character models, it really felt that they put care into what they do in capturing the essence of the RPG franchise.
One of the things that made this show stand out was in the sequences where they used CGI animation. You must realize this show was in the 90's and CGI animation was a novelty concept that we were starting to utilize and cultivate. I still thing the CGI sequences in the show look good at least on a retro perspective, you must admire the effort they put into them.
I really like how the mechs are well detailed, just looking at them I wanted to drive one of those, my favorite one is the axe man as that mech seems to be one of the strongest and well balanced, let alone you have a good weapon for melee combat. But I also like the combat which is well choreographed. The mech warfare is a little different as opposed to what you'd see in anime which are always flighty battles. It's more like an advanced version of tank warfare or medevil combat and I like that as it's something different but also it feels like the combat has some actual weight as there is some strategy and tactics involved. Really like the sounds of the lasers which are just cool, just music to my ears.
One of the other things that make this show unique is that this isn't a war between good and evil but a civil war as it's more a conflict of opposing ideologies. We can see both sides, at first, we think the Clans might be in the wrong but then due to some things you discover about them, I'll admit I started to wonder if I was wrong as some of their ideology isn't entirely wrong. But also, the Star League despite our preconceived notions that they're the good guys, we don't really know them all very well as each of the members were from different factions and also each aren't exactly close friends with each other and may have agendas of their own; from this we're not sure how long the alliance will hold.
I even like how the warfare went were sometimes the home team the Star League didn't always win; seeing this shows the reality of warfare how it's not a one-sided affair; nor is it a game because when you lose it's bad and the outcome can affect things significantly. Even like how the show really dealt with the grayness of this intergalactic civil war, which shows another reality on how things aren't always or never were black or white. Sometimes there are no good guys or bad guys but just sides with different perspectives and ideologies, and when those things are in conflict it depends on what you believe and which side of the fence you want to stay on and fight for.
Only misfires are one the show is a little confusing in places. It's understandable as the RPG series has loads of content which means to some that are familiar with the tabletop game series there might be some things that are missing. And people that are unfamiliar with it may feel as though they missed a season of the show as a lot happened before. You have to understand this was the first season which makes it an introductory season, which means they can only slowly unload a certain amount of content from the property.
And of course, this leads to the second misfire is simply this didn't have another season as it all ends on sort of a cliffhanger note. I'll admit this really disappointed me as I personally was looking forward to it. Probably the other season would've been the Star League and Clan war goes on but things get more complicated as there are other factions that emerge like the Wolf and Dragon clan from the game. We would probably see some new character that either join the Star League or don't, new mechs, and of course new dramatic dilemmas that will affect the war and everyone in it. I don't know, only in the realm of fanfiction do we have this new season.
It would be awesome to have a revival, another animated series but we can have it for a more mature audience. Or better yet even a live action show made with top notch quality production and on the right premium channel and make damn sure the property is in the right hands. I'm not sure how the story would go, it would have to be multi focused where it's not just about one faction but others, each season would be a story arc based on a campaign which would be true to the RPG series as each game is based on a single campaign, would like to see the other planets like in the games, have developing dynamics and relationships which serve both the characters and story, other mechs mainly the recent ones that were never in the first show. Last requests have a reprint and rerelease of the licensed book series and some new volumes which can continue off from it, as well as a licensed comic book series. I know all request long shots but all the same each of these things are a nice thought, and with the franchise now reactivated why not.
If you're an RPG fan and familiar with the "Mechwarrior/Battletech" franchise, then this is a piece of history worth looking at. Or if your just into vintage animated shows and are deeply into the sci-fi genre, then this show like any good automated mech is worth a test drive.
"Battletech" is a mechanized marvelous blast.
Rating: 3 stars.
