One of Pokemon’s best imitators was a forgotten 90s anime with absolute god-tier animation

The 1990s anime boom was a major moment for popular culture in general, but it helped supplement these Pokemon Circle of sweeping the world, leading to impressive and comparable franchise after suit, including MedabotsA real forgotten gem. The term Pokémania is recognizable to anyone spending their youth from the late 90s to the early 2000s. The Game Freak adaptation isn’t the only anime to capitalize on a Japanese video game franchise, with Medabots Being a fond memory for many 90s kids as an action-packed introduction to anime.

Medabots Anime adaptation comes from Bee Train, a studio later known for excellent series such as Blade of the Immortal, .axe, And IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix. The anime is based on the Imagineer Medarut Portable RPG series, which first launched on the Game Boy and WonderSwan systems in 1997 and 1999, featuring one-meter tall robots powered by medals competing with other robots for parts. While Medabots Never received the lasting international popularity that Pokemon Received, it deserves a review for its delightful characters, fascinating robot designs, impressive English dub and enticing battles.

Medabots’ anime has surprisingly strong animation

A quality not guaranteed in the 1990s

The art style behind medabots, Originally named Medarut In Japan, was conceived by Rin Horuma. It features expressive and sprightly animation for its fighting robot and human characters. Medabots Sets a strong example in its earliest episodes, like most popular anime. An oft-quoted moment shows the series’ mascot, Metabee, scrambling to live on the pleas and frustration of its owner, Ikki Tenryou, before shredding his opponents with his robotic arsenal. In several episodes, Metabee is shown creating smoking bricks of slag from his opponents, and for kids, it’s a thrilling and bloodless alternative to typical cartoon violence.

But beyond the action, the characters are loaded with personality, expressive faces, surprisingly varied movement patterns and stylish poses.c. Examples include Metabee’s boiling-hot attitude and willingness to laugh even at Ikki constantly in comedic fashion, Rokusho’s stoic and reserved body language, and the boundless energy of ​​the almost-all-mine Mr. Referee. while the sequel, Medabot’s spiritsChanging studio hands to Trans Arts, the original anime is often forgotten by anyone other than the kids who grew up with the series. despite this, Medabots has a strong appeal to nostalgic fans for a simple reason.

With many 1990s would be Pokemon Contenders, the main male lead often has a particularly memorable companion; for Monster HunterThis is Suezo, or Agumon for Digimon. These would stand in as additional faces of the franchise, either to draw in players or collect their merchandise, similar to Pikachu or Eevee in pokemon, and with MedabotsThis is metabolism. Metabee was easily the strongest selling point for MedabotsWith his English dub actor, Joseph Motiki, playing him perfectly. Metabee is a headstrong bot whose outdated chassis matches its “past-his-prime athlete with one more game in him” energy.

Metabee’s personality benefits mainly from Medabots Animation, with weight to his movement, an expressive set of eyes, and defensive body language despite lacking a traditionally expressive face. Thanks to Motiki’s performance, Metabee is full of attitude, secretly loves soap operas and is quick to anger. Metabee is a tougher Pikachu that can talkAnd it would take a lot longer to warm up to his version of Ash, in this case, Ikki. Not surprisingly, Motiki continues to find voiceover work after MedabotsRecently working in various kids’ shows.

Medabots is one of many video game adaptation anime like Pokemon

The 1990s were a truly magical time for young gamer kids

Medabots is technically based on the Medarot 2 Video gameA series that has only released its sixth entry and two spinoffs in North America. The game’s customization mechanics, built on the player’s starting robot and the ability to customize with parts won from battles with other characters, are brought into the game. Medabots anime, along with a selection of the 151 robots from the first two games. But Medabots isn’t the only series to capitalize on its popular video game franchise, with Imagineer joining Game Freak’s Pokemon Gang among other major publishers like Capcom, Intelligent Systems, Bandai and Tecmo.

While Medabots It didn’t reach North America until 2001, it was released in 1999, the year of pokemon-Wii and other anime debuting to promote their respective toy and gaming franchises. Monster Hunter was Tecmo’s promotion of the PlayStation video game franchise. Digimon emerged to promote Bandai’s line of virtual pet toys, with the latter establishing a niche but popular multimedia franchise. Even Capcom joined in on the fray, with Studio Pierrot animating these Power stand Anime based on the arcade and Dreamcast game franchise, and Fire emblem Even had an anime until 1996.

Medabots is a nostalgic favorite among kids of the 90s because it was an action-packed crowd-pleaser with great animation compared to other tie-ins. For many viewers, the discovery of a video game franchise was organic. Still, the anime remains a lasting memory, a remnant of that era Medabots Tried to catch Pokemon Lightning in a bottle. Medabots is a special series for many, not because of the “mystery” of the identity of Space Medafighter X, but because it has exciting, fluid battles and a cast of wonderfully animated characters helmed by a lovable, capricious mascot.