Micro Teukgongdae Diatron 5 is certainly an anime. I clapped I cheered and I cried while watching it. What a prime example of pure, unfiltered cinema. Truly a masterpiece, yet so underappreciated by the cringe masses. Yet despite the rush of emotions I felt while watching it, time has not looked kindly upon my opinions of Diatron 5. Nowadays I feel as though the film has very little to say other than 'big robot kill spaceship full of villains, and go inside woman to kill other spaceship full of villains'.
The animation is a confusing blend of surreal, messy designs, with bright colours and vibrant landscapes in places. The character designs are charming, with vibrating nose man, and red robot being particular standouts for me. Yet other human characters end up particularly homogenised and samey, making if often difficult for me to remember who they even are. This doesn't help, when the titular Diatron 5 mech, is a stolen design from a Diaclone toy commercial, (at least according to my good friend and rat b*stard: Eskos.)
Where this film does excel is its nuanced portrayal of the red robot character, who I since have forgotten the name of, his character was fun, whimsical and added much needed light to the dark and oppressive tone that Micro Teukgongdae Diatron 5 flaunts over its audience, yet just as all bright things come to an end, red robot fella is enslaved and forced into indentured labour for the malicious General Mary, a character who exists simply to fulfill the director and audience's ~~perverse and disgusting~~ barely disguised fetishes.
Another consistent failure the film makes is its underwhelming soundtrack. Save for the riveting and proud yet seemingly untitled "Diatron 5" song at the film's gripping climax. The lyrics consist of "Diatron 5" sung repeatedly, and provide an emboldening yet perhaps monotonous backing to a scene where the villain's ship and army are eviscerated by the noble Diatron 5 mecha.
There is little to say about the characters, writing, plot or comedy, other than that it's a funny watch if you have 2 braincells and are on heavy sedatives.
Plot: 0/10
Characters: 0/10
Animation: 0/10
Voice-acting: 0/10
Comedy: 0/10
The red robot guy 7/10
~~General Mary's Feet in that one scene 10/10~~
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I also liked Chi, Karen and the the doctor with the vibrating nose. I really didn't like when the fake doctor kevin was killed by chi when he exploded after falling through the window .
Overall I feel as though this anime deserves a score of 1/100, as I would have prefered more red robot fella.
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