Remembering: Orguss 02

Super Dimension Century Orguss is so obscure as to have apparently no modern merchandise since 2015, and virtually no English online presence. Its from the same people whom did Macross, although significantly less influential. Its legacy consists mainly of a significant role in the crossover game series Super Robot Wars, and today's subject, Orguss 02, which is hardly any better known. The annoyingly misnomered Manga Entertainment did an English dub for VHS and eventually DVD, but unless you taped anime off cable, you'll likely be ignorant of it. And if you care to track it down? The dub has all the sins of localisation circa 1995, and the DVD release is shoddy. Seriously, its alright for a casual watch, but if you set it to subs to avoid the dub, you're gonna find corners were cut. However, this is not a review. This is an article about how Orguss 02 made fairly a big impression on me. 

 

Let's talk about genre conventions and their subversion. In order for something to be recognised as in the Mecha genre, it has to do certain things. These should be fairly obvious, but to spell it out: a teenager in advanced humanoid weapon, fighting other humanoid weapons, in what is probably a war story of Japanese origin. The thing about definitions like that is that they are flexible, and a convenient shorthand, but people like to argue. Orguss 02 fits into that definition nicely, but then you check out the details. It's got the robots, but the lead characters spend little to no time piloting them. It's a war story, but the show is more concerned with the politics that create one and the civilian experience, rather than the actual fighting. It's Japanese, but visually is a hodgepodge of Western/European styles. It's a sequel, but one that initially ignores its predecessor, taking the mecha from it and giving them a crude dieselpunk refit. Orguss 02 is a mecha show, but its subverting the genre norms almost constantly in ways big and small. What makes it personally interesting to me is that A) its one of my earliest mecha experiences, possibly an odd place to start, I admit, B) while I enjoyed it as a novice, it only improves once you know the genre in which it exists a bit better. I'm not gonna talk about everything though. It's a fairly short series, if a very busy one, so talking in too much depth would detract from it. And in previous drafts that ended up being a gushing summary. That's not interesting to write or read.

I will instead however talk about what is its most distinctive, but ultimately secondary, aspect: the mecha. Most of the show by comparison is an espionage thriller meets Game of Thrones, where the lead character is just a naïve nice guy, his mentor is a war profiteer, and his main love interest is an escaped prisoner with extreme misanthropy. The mecha aspect, and the war it enables, is but one plot point of three. Like I said, genre subversion. It is however extremely memorable, as not many animes mix high technology with the 1940s. The mysterious robots they have were dredged up from the oceans or dug out of mines, and they haven't been fully restored. We mostly see the Rivilian examples, and these are all about taking the titular Orguss mecha, and simply replacing the head with machine guns in the absence of original weaponry. They also put on searchlights, and in one extreme case, a dude with a trumpet. Nobody seems to have realised that the things can transform. The Zafrin military meanwhile follows along similar lines, at least until the point where they dig up what is probably the animes' defining design, the absolutely humongous Zerifer. This is a looming threat in the background, and of a scale rarely seen. I mean, yeah, the likes of the Macross class are more dangerous, but you don't see one of them striding across Central Europe like some personification of overwhelming force, do you? Just about every scene involving this faintly daft thing is a winner, and the show is just as imaginative with the robot stuff, as it is with the characters dynamics. This series is pushing 30 years old, and yet it still somehow feels fresh and novel.

Mind you, it is not unique. Coming about 6 years later was Turn-A Gundam, a series much better known, but suspiciously similar. That show got a lot of flak back in the day for daring to change the basic Gundam design, but I think the elephant in the room was how similar it was to Orguss 02. I mean, its got a early-20th-century look to it, the mecha are mysterious and largely dug out of the ground, there's a huge great secret behind it all, there's some literally apocalyptic machines waiting to be discovered, it suddenly becomes a direct sequel after doing its own thing, and so on. The difference is that Turn-A was a TV series in a much better known franchise, with its creator in a happy mood, while Orguss 02 is an obscure 6 episode OVA that pitches towards an higher age rating. I remember being grumpy about this at the time, and while I bounced off the anime, I've grown to respect Turn-A in recent years. It may be following a path a more concise show made, but Turn-A has aged far better than most Gundam instalments. Either that, or I just like animes where its both the past and future at once, and literally anything could come out of the woodwork.

Anyways. I'll happily admit this anime is an influence on the mecha RPGs I run, and on a recent rewatch it holds up. Its also fairly easy to find, so if any of the above appeals, give it a go.

Gunpla: The Mobile Suit Mobile Flat (Turn-A Gundam)

The FLAT-L06D FLAT. Simply, "the Flat", for obvious reasons. Also known as the "High heels" for obvious reasons. Sometimes called the "Flaty Flaty Flat Flat", but only by me. This unusual mecha originates from the Turn-A Gundam series circa 1999, and was designed by the recently departed Syd Mead, of Blade Runner fame. Turn-A was a series that invites lengthy digression, because it was so far removed from its own franchise. Part of this is obviously Mead's robot designs, but also due to its alternate War of the Worlds vibe, and the fact that while Yoshiyuki "kill 'em all" Tomino was back directing, he'd beaten his depression. I didn't get on the resulting anime, it would appear many people don't, but I've got huge respect for Turn-A. Because it tried to something new, and compared to the Gundam series on either side of it, that's a big thing. What does any of this mean for the Flat? Well, it means that it's part of very select and obscure group by the standards of the franchise. Turn-A had only a modest model line of, what? 7ish? Kits at the time, which is astonishingly small by Gundam standards, and subsequent additions seem thin on the ground. At the time of writing, this "ungraded" kit is seemingly the only merchandise of this Mobile Suit. And its twenty years old, if seemingly still in production.

Now, the "ungraded" bit is probably the most important part of this discussion. It implies that Bandai isn't bringing its A game to a kit, and that's certainly true here. The Flat is characterised by thin plastic, a low parts count, ill-fitting parts, and questionable colour choices. That said, what ultimately lifts it above those weaknesses, is its execution of the Flexible Ladder Actuator Technology and odd proportions of the suit. The Flat is supposed to have a white inner frame, with blackish armour plates on top, and the kit captures this well. There is an insane number of panel lines on the white components, plus a good few on the black, making for an attractive model if you put the effort in. I would however say the detail is is a little soft in places, defying both marker and inkwash techniques. Maybe I need more practice? Mind you, while the limbs perhaps have too many good opportunities for panel lines, the torso is cast mainly in orange when it's the only segment with 3 colours on the go. Hence my attempts at painting this thing, which I'm not happy with, and may come back to later. The stickers also suck, and dropped off within a day of application.

So, visually it's flawed but unexpectedly good in places. And speaking of unexpected goodness, there's the articulation, the unusual construction granting a very pleasing range of motion. The Flat ends up living up to its technobabble acronym, but that's mainly as a function of its transformation, as it contorts like a yoga enthusiast into a "re-entry mode". Its not gonna win any awards for disguise value or function, the whole fundamental weirdness of things helps. There is only modest partsforming involved too, requiring only the removal of the heel segments, which is entirely acceptable at this scale. It does also manage to have an accessory and dedicated hand, the "box beam rifle". Regrettably, it does not fold up or otherwise store, but it's there. So, looks odd, poses unexpectedly well, transforms, has a gun. That's something.

All in all? It's a case of mecha design overcoming a cheap kit. Not as appealing or as well-engineered as the Hizack, but I like the results more. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, but it met my needs as a therapeutic modelling project.