
Anime Review: Choju Kishin Dancouga – The Super Beast Machine God
Go Beyond God, Beyond Human!
Become the Choujuu Kishin….DANCOUGA!
Become the Choujuu Kishin….DANCOUGA!
If you’re a fan of mecha, you’d know there are generally 2 schools of thoughts: the super robot and the real robot. Whereas the Supers are one-man-army robots that has enough power to level a country, and the real robots are those utilized in armies, militaries and usually work together to achieve victory in wars. But in 1985, a mix of these two genre was born: a series that combine the military aspect of Real Robot as well as the ridiculous power of a super robot. And that was Choujuu Kishin Dancouga.
Many Super Robot fans may already have their favorite artists in mind but I’m certain that the name Masami Obrari cannot go off anybody’s mind – the myth and legend mecha designer himself became not only the most famous but the most prolific mecha designer in the anime industry up until today, the whole Brave series, Gravion, Super Robot Wars OG The Inspector and much more all thanks to his groundbreaking designs and also directing.
Many Super Robot fans may already have their favorite artists in mind but I’m certain that the name Masami Obrari cannot go off anybody’s mind – the myth and legend mecha designer himself became not only the most famous but the most prolific mecha designer in the anime industry up until today, the whole Brave series, Gravion, Super Robot Wars OG The Inspector and much more all thanks to his groundbreaking designs and also directing.
But every legend has its origin, back in 1985 when Obari just graduated from high school he went straight to work in the anime industry, responsible for drawing and designing mostly mecha series, he made his first break – Choju Kishin Dancouga under Ashi Productions. It seemed rough at first, with rushed schedule and episode cuts due to low ratings, somehow Dancouga’s design itself became one of the coolest piece of mecha designed by Obari at the time, one could say that the design alone saved the whole series from collapsing, even making a movie, a modern sequel, toys and more later on. The story follows a group of chosen soldiers destined to pilot a highly advanced mecha – Dancouga to save Earth from an atrocious alien invasion by the Muge Zorbados Empire.
//PLOT//
The writing of Dancouga isn’t as bad as it didn’t sell well at the time it was aired. It is actually a slow-paced, straight to the point story, it begins in Australia at a military academy where newly graduated soldiers are demonstrating their skills, Shinobu – a skillful fighter aircraft pilot is having a fight with Shapiro Keats – a commander over his flirting with his girlfriend – Sara until the Zorbados Empire suddenly invaded Earth, Shapiro immediately defected to them thinking he could have more power there.
As Earth’s cities are captured one by one Shinobu and three lucky soldiers – Sara, Masto and Ryo found himself invited to a secret military base in Japan under the strict supervision of General Ross Igor and Professor Kotaro which revealed that he and his team had secret weapons to fight the Zorbados – the Cyber Beast Machines which Shinobu flew the Eagle Fighter followed by Sara in her Land Cougar later on then Masato in his Land Liger and finally Ryo in his Big Moth. These four people were introduced separately in each of the first few episodes giving more depth into the characters including events they faced along the way of fighting such as the horrors of the war, dramas, romance and teamwork.
Although slow-paced and could be boring sometimes but somehow addictive at least for me because at first the four machines didn’t combine as Dancouga just yet, it makes us wonder when they are going to do that? Then we found out that they took as much as 15 episodes to finally pull that off breaking the regular tradition at the time where weekly monsters defeated by a team of heroes that struggled before combining, it happened when Shapiro placed a Jamming System in the middle of the desert, luring the Cyber Beast Force out then used small alien crafts to weakened them one by one, on the verge of defeat and running out of fuel, Shinobu suddenly forcefully pushed himself and the rest to the limit and finally combined all four mechas into one single Dancouga, defeating all enemies in the process. There is also a supporting mech too – the Black Wing piloted by General Igor’s son – Alan Igor that saved Dancouga multiple times. Elements in the series often revolve around religion such as Christian and Taoist, Dancouga is also seen as a godly being that has enough force to put a stop on powerful evils creating an epic atmosphere every time it appeared. The Cyber Beast Force’s base can also transform into a giant dragon-like shape mech – Gandor to operate in space.
As for the moving parts, many characters has their own, Shinobu dealing with his selfishness to act better as a leader and Sara who kept thinking about Shapiro, Masato wanted to be stronger against his wealthy family’s will and Ryo who met Daniella – a beautiful girl he saved along the way with his team and kept a love promise. Disputes between General Igor and his son Alan over fighting tactics and Professor Kotaro adopting Laura Sullivan – an American girl whose mother was killed in a battle and saved by the Cyber Beast Force. Not only them but the Zorbados too, commander Death Gaia, Gildorome and Helmut raced against each other using their tactics to be the first to conquer the Earth, Shapiro being more accepted by the Emperor Zorbados Muge due to his superb tactics, filling some classic taste to the villains. The rest of the series would be “story of the week” style, my most favorite one is when a Zorbados alien soldier learned to be kind and saved a little girl before getting killed by one of its own later creating an anti-war element.
I appreciated Dancouga not only because the mech looked cool but they actually tried to make something off the tradition at the time. The show got shortened and some episodes got rushed, it ended up in a cliffhanger right before the final battle and instead of ending it they made a whole movie about the final battle with Zorbados which also included a digested story from the series called Dancouga Requiem for Victims which I think it filled up the whole series just fine but I think if possible they should do more actions especially the fight with Zorbados Muge, I felt that they went too cheap with such a powerful character.
//PLOT//
The writing of Dancouga isn’t as bad as it didn’t sell well at the time it was aired. It is actually a slow-paced, straight to the point story, it begins in Australia at a military academy where newly graduated soldiers are demonstrating their skills, Shinobu – a skillful fighter aircraft pilot is having a fight with Shapiro Keats – a commander over his flirting with his girlfriend – Sara until the Zorbados Empire suddenly invaded Earth, Shapiro immediately defected to them thinking he could have more power there.
As Earth’s cities are captured one by one Shinobu and three lucky soldiers – Sara, Masto and Ryo found himself invited to a secret military base in Japan under the strict supervision of General Ross Igor and Professor Kotaro which revealed that he and his team had secret weapons to fight the Zorbados – the Cyber Beast Machines which Shinobu flew the Eagle Fighter followed by Sara in her Land Cougar later on then Masato in his Land Liger and finally Ryo in his Big Moth. These four people were introduced separately in each of the first few episodes giving more depth into the characters including events they faced along the way of fighting such as the horrors of the war, dramas, romance and teamwork.
Although slow-paced and could be boring sometimes but somehow addictive at least for me because at first the four machines didn’t combine as Dancouga just yet, it makes us wonder when they are going to do that? Then we found out that they took as much as 15 episodes to finally pull that off breaking the regular tradition at the time where weekly monsters defeated by a team of heroes that struggled before combining, it happened when Shapiro placed a Jamming System in the middle of the desert, luring the Cyber Beast Force out then used small alien crafts to weakened them one by one, on the verge of defeat and running out of fuel, Shinobu suddenly forcefully pushed himself and the rest to the limit and finally combined all four mechas into one single Dancouga, defeating all enemies in the process. There is also a supporting mech too – the Black Wing piloted by General Igor’s son – Alan Igor that saved Dancouga multiple times. Elements in the series often revolve around religion such as Christian and Taoist, Dancouga is also seen as a godly being that has enough force to put a stop on powerful evils creating an epic atmosphere every time it appeared. The Cyber Beast Force’s base can also transform into a giant dragon-like shape mech – Gandor to operate in space.
As for the moving parts, many characters has their own, Shinobu dealing with his selfishness to act better as a leader and Sara who kept thinking about Shapiro, Masato wanted to be stronger against his wealthy family’s will and Ryo who met Daniella – a beautiful girl he saved along the way with his team and kept a love promise. Disputes between General Igor and his son Alan over fighting tactics and Professor Kotaro adopting Laura Sullivan – an American girl whose mother was killed in a battle and saved by the Cyber Beast Force. Not only them but the Zorbados too, commander Death Gaia, Gildorome and Helmut raced against each other using their tactics to be the first to conquer the Earth, Shapiro being more accepted by the Emperor Zorbados Muge due to his superb tactics, filling some classic taste to the villains. The rest of the series would be “story of the week” style, my most favorite one is when a Zorbados alien soldier learned to be kind and saved a little girl before getting killed by one of its own later creating an anti-war element.
I appreciated Dancouga not only because the mech looked cool but they actually tried to make something off the tradition at the time. The show got shortened and some episodes got rushed, it ended up in a cliffhanger right before the final battle and instead of ending it they made a whole movie about the final battle with Zorbados which also included a digested story from the series called Dancouga Requiem for Victims which I think it filled up the whole series just fine but I think if possible they should do more actions especially the fight with Zorbados Muge, I felt that they went too cheap with such a powerful character.
//CHARACTER//
Dancouga has quite a handful of main and minor characters from both sides. The story handled most of them pretty well for the whole ride, Dancouga knows who is suitable and more important for each episode, story of the week often introduces audiences new minor characters and character development for each of the Cyber Beast Force members. One interesting thing for me is that Dancouga tries to be realistic in its own nature, soldiers and war, innocent lives, not much of a fantasy element but rather a gray reflection of reality in some way.
Shinobu is a hot-blooded fighter pilot, recruited after the fall of Australian Military Academy at the start of the war between Earth and Zorbados Empire. He is also often hot-headed and likes to do anything his own way without listening to too many orders! When things don’t go his own way he sometimes gets annoyed, even his own teammates or General Igor cannot stop him but with a strong will and dedication of completing missions and saving innocent lives, Shinobu learns to be more of a war-time leader and help others push themselves over the limit.
No matter, Back Arrow was able to establish a great initial rapport and an interesting premise for viewers to follow. Soon after, he slowly discover more about human relationship and what it means to live by your own will. Furthermore, he started out as a “bakayaro” – basically a guy with no knowledge about how things work, especially the politics of Lingalind and how the world works. But with each adversaries faced and allies gained, he slowly grasp more and more knowledge. Shu Bi – a character we will discussed below – played a huge role in helping him developed, as well as other characters.
[ Yuuki Sara ]
The cougar of the team and the only woman pilot in the Cyber Beast Force. With her arrogant pride as a woman, she sometimes dislikes Shinobu for disrespecting her and showing no signs of leadership of her dream because she often praised Shapiro as a man of her heart, her love towards Shapiro sometimes disrupted her while fighting. However she shows her kindness and care towards the members and people she faced along the way.
[ Masato Shikubu ]
The youngest member of the Cyber Beast Force, with his childish behavior he sometimes caused problems with the team or even hid his own from others. He is most of the time a funny and bright person, always trying to be chill and tone down the stress surrounding him, he is also a bit of a perv too.
[ Ryo Shiba ]
Considered as the most calm and sensible person in the team, he practiced Kenpo martial art making him quite a spiritual person. Ryo often taught both Shinobu and Masato lessons when they caused trouble in a forceful way but that showed how much he cared for his team even though he did not accept to join at first. Ryo is also quite a romantic person too when he found his love interest – Daniella.
Dancouga has quite a handful of main and minor characters from both sides. The story handled most of them pretty well for the whole ride, Dancouga knows who is suitable and more important for each episode, story of the week often introduces audiences new minor characters and character development for each of the Cyber Beast Force members. One interesting thing for me is that Dancouga tries to be realistic in its own nature, soldiers and war, innocent lives, not much of a fantasy element but rather a gray reflection of reality in some way.
[Fujiwara Shinobu]
Shinobu is a hot-blooded fighter pilot, recruited after the fall of Australian Military Academy at the start of the war between Earth and Zorbados Empire. He is also often hot-headed and likes to do anything his own way without listening to too many orders! When things don’t go his own way he sometimes gets annoyed, even his own teammates or General Igor cannot stop him but with a strong will and dedication of completing missions and saving innocent lives, Shinobu learns to be more of a war-time leader and help others push themselves over the limit.
No matter, Back Arrow was able to establish a great initial rapport and an interesting premise for viewers to follow. Soon after, he slowly discover more about human relationship and what it means to live by your own will. Furthermore, he started out as a “bakayaro” – basically a guy with no knowledge about how things work, especially the politics of Lingalind and how the world works. But with each adversaries faced and allies gained, he slowly grasp more and more knowledge. Shu Bi – a character we will discussed below – played a huge role in helping him developed, as well as other characters.
[ Yuuki Sara ]
The cougar of the team and the only woman pilot in the Cyber Beast Force. With her arrogant pride as a woman, she sometimes dislikes Shinobu for disrespecting her and showing no signs of leadership of her dream because she often praised Shapiro as a man of her heart, her love towards Shapiro sometimes disrupted her while fighting. However she shows her kindness and care towards the members and people she faced along the way.
[ Masato Shikubu ]
The youngest member of the Cyber Beast Force, with his childish behavior he sometimes caused problems with the team or even hid his own from others. He is most of the time a funny and bright person, always trying to be chill and tone down the stress surrounding him, he is also a bit of a perv too.
[ Ryo Shiba ]
Considered as the most calm and sensible person in the team, he practiced Kenpo martial art making him quite a spiritual person. Ryo often taught both Shinobu and Masato lessons when they caused trouble in a forceful way but that showed how much he cared for his team even though he did not accept to join at first. Ryo is also quite a romantic person too when he found his love interest – Daniella.

[ Supporting Cast ]
Like many series of its time, the supporting casts and their roles are classics worth mentioning.
The first one cannot be anyone else but General Ross Igor who is a very strict and serious commander of the Cyber Beast Force, a father to all of the members there. Like high-ranking military officers mostly are, Ross Igor always sticks to his plan and doesn’t like people questioning his actions, he often slaps the Cyber Beast Force team as a warning for disobeying his orders from time to time and even punishes them by jailing them.
Next one is Professor Kotaro Hazuki who is the brain behind the making of Dancouga itself, a smart and sensible person, he also created the Gandor as well as leading the Cyber Beast Force after Igor’s Death. He adopted Laura Sullivan, a young girl Sara saved from America.
As for Ross’s son – Alan Igor, he works alone, away from his father which he disagreed with the war tactics, Alan prefers more of a guerilla warfare that favors saving more lives. He saves CBF a lot of times with his Black Wing mech. I like him as my favorite supporting character for this series because he is the reflection of the war between soldiers and civilians.
For the cutest goes to Laura Sullivan – a young girl without a mother, she was saved by Sara in Sacramento, California. She is a shy yet sweet little girl, she likes to sing the song “Harmony Love” which often reminded Sara about her love towards Shapiro. There are also more that I wanted to mention such as the pilot of a large transport aircraft that sends CBF anywhere around the world and weekly characters in each episode, they gave main characters great development into caring for them and overcame a lot of obstacles.
[ The Villians ]
The biggest baddie here is the Zorbados Muge Empire, a space empire on a quest to conquer the universe much like any other space evil formula that was famous at the time. Led by Zorbados himself – the emperor he has three of his best generals assigned to conquer planet Earth – the brute Death Gaia who favors in using an overwhelming and destructive forces to defeat the enemies, the slim Gildorome who enjoys tricking enemies into blinded traps, mind controlling and lastly Helmut – a bat-like general who is the most bloodthirsty of the three but the most impatience and brittleness one.
All three of the generals were sometimes outsmarted by the defected Shapiro Keats – former fiancee of Sara. With his great manipulating skills, he convinced Zorbados that he will work for them to conquer Earth with the exchange of giving him a higher position and treating him as high as other generals. Although defected he still misses Sara wishing her to join him someday, Shapiro is not only loved by Sara but also by his liaison – Luna Rossa which she always service Shapiro the whole time he was living with Zorbados Empire but knowing that her love is impossible and Shapiro didn’t looked the same way, she betrayed him and helped Sara confronting him during the mission in Mars auxiliary base.
The best part of these villains are that the generals are racing against each other for more credit during the occupation of Earth, their ambitious tactics often failed thanks to the CBF and Dancouga and Shapiro is the one who often outsmarted them, these toxic races are the good reasons why they are failed, a good example to not be like them for audiences.
Like many series of its time, the supporting casts and their roles are classics worth mentioning.
The first one cannot be anyone else but General Ross Igor who is a very strict and serious commander of the Cyber Beast Force, a father to all of the members there. Like high-ranking military officers mostly are, Ross Igor always sticks to his plan and doesn’t like people questioning his actions, he often slaps the Cyber Beast Force team as a warning for disobeying his orders from time to time and even punishes them by jailing them.
Next one is Professor Kotaro Hazuki who is the brain behind the making of Dancouga itself, a smart and sensible person, he also created the Gandor as well as leading the Cyber Beast Force after Igor’s Death. He adopted Laura Sullivan, a young girl Sara saved from America.
As for Ross’s son – Alan Igor, he works alone, away from his father which he disagreed with the war tactics, Alan prefers more of a guerilla warfare that favors saving more lives. He saves CBF a lot of times with his Black Wing mech. I like him as my favorite supporting character for this series because he is the reflection of the war between soldiers and civilians.
For the cutest goes to Laura Sullivan – a young girl without a mother, she was saved by Sara in Sacramento, California. She is a shy yet sweet little girl, she likes to sing the song “Harmony Love” which often reminded Sara about her love towards Shapiro. There are also more that I wanted to mention such as the pilot of a large transport aircraft that sends CBF anywhere around the world and weekly characters in each episode, they gave main characters great development into caring for them and overcame a lot of obstacles.
[ The Villians ]
The biggest baddie here is the Zorbados Muge Empire, a space empire on a quest to conquer the universe much like any other space evil formula that was famous at the time. Led by Zorbados himself – the emperor he has three of his best generals assigned to conquer planet Earth – the brute Death Gaia who favors in using an overwhelming and destructive forces to defeat the enemies, the slim Gildorome who enjoys tricking enemies into blinded traps, mind controlling and lastly Helmut – a bat-like general who is the most bloodthirsty of the three but the most impatience and brittleness one.
All three of the generals were sometimes outsmarted by the defected Shapiro Keats – former fiancee of Sara. With his great manipulating skills, he convinced Zorbados that he will work for them to conquer Earth with the exchange of giving him a higher position and treating him as high as other generals. Although defected he still misses Sara wishing her to join him someday, Shapiro is not only loved by Sara but also by his liaison – Luna Rossa which she always service Shapiro the whole time he was living with Zorbados Empire but knowing that her love is impossible and Shapiro didn’t looked the same way, she betrayed him and helped Sara confronting him during the mission in Mars auxiliary base.
The best part of these villains are that the generals are racing against each other for more credit during the occupation of Earth, their ambitious tactics often failed thanks to the CBF and Dancouga and Shapiro is the one who often outsmarted them, these toxic races are the good reasons why they are failed, a good example to not be like them for audiences.

//VISUAL//
Dancouga’s visual is considered ok in the standard of 1985, the overall art is nice but sometimes mixed with poorly drawn and reused scenes indicating that there were some rushed moments during the production. It is surely looking dated but since it became a cult classic it is respected. The action scenes are what you could expect for 80s which are fast-paced repeated scenes and sound effects, a lot of synthwave music, the Dancouga itself reused a lot of combination scene but that’s a regular nature during that time because everyone in front of the TV wanted to see their cool mech transforming and combining all the time to pump things up before the fight right? Dancouga is heavy, a heavyweight fighter I’d say, it doesn’t move that fast, sluggish except when Ryo is using his Kenpo inside Dancouga and most of the time it always tries to fight enemies as quickly as possible meaning Dancouga doesn’t have that much screen time as well as Black Wing.
Visually Dancouga also features a lot of romance and dramas, they don’t really joke around, with almost no comedy element, Dancouga has atmospheric elements that involve beliefs and war-torn background. The visual makes them look like they are colorful angels dancing and standing up against the Zorbados or hell itself, deaths and sacrifices in the series often impacts the feelings as well since the story was written by Kenji Terada who is behind a legendary romcom Kimagure Orange Road and Keisuke Fujikara who as many may already know the famous writer behind tons of series such as Mazinger Z, God Mars, Galaxy Express 999, episodes of Jeeg, Space Battleship Yamato and much more.
Dancouga’s visual is considered ok in the standard of 1985, the overall art is nice but sometimes mixed with poorly drawn and reused scenes indicating that there were some rushed moments during the production. It is surely looking dated but since it became a cult classic it is respected. The action scenes are what you could expect for 80s which are fast-paced repeated scenes and sound effects, a lot of synthwave music, the Dancouga itself reused a lot of combination scene but that’s a regular nature during that time because everyone in front of the TV wanted to see their cool mech transforming and combining all the time to pump things up before the fight right? Dancouga is heavy, a heavyweight fighter I’d say, it doesn’t move that fast, sluggish except when Ryo is using his Kenpo inside Dancouga and most of the time it always tries to fight enemies as quickly as possible meaning Dancouga doesn’t have that much screen time as well as Black Wing.
Visually Dancouga also features a lot of romance and dramas, they don’t really joke around, with almost no comedy element, Dancouga has atmospheric elements that involve beliefs and war-torn background. The visual makes them look like they are colorful angels dancing and standing up against the Zorbados or hell itself, deaths and sacrifices in the series often impacts the feelings as well since the story was written by Kenji Terada who is behind a legendary romcom Kimagure Orange Road and Keisuke Fujikara who as many may already know the famous writer behind tons of series such as Mazinger Z, God Mars, Galaxy Express 999, episodes of Jeeg, Space Battleship Yamato and much more.

//MECHA DESIGN//
We often see Cyber Beast Machines more than Dancouga itself which most of the time kept for the climatic moments. The star of the show itself – Dancouga is of course designed and drawn by the then young Masami Obari, as many used to today’s Obari with mechs that are often have large crystal cores on their chests, able to talk, various forms and combinations with epic finishing moves, Dancouga has less of those since it was his first famous one. It doesn’t talk or had a lot of forms, in fact in the series it had only a wing upgrade which Dancouga uses to fly around and since all four of the Cyber Beast Machines can transform into vehicle, beast and humanoid form, the Eagle Fighter acts as the head, Land Cougar and Liger as the feets and Big Moth as 90% of the whole body and arms! The scent of the 80s shines when they are in action, with laser weapons firing and when they are combining there are flashy colorful spotlights everywhere! This is probably because Dancouga wants to present itself as a god-like beast machine robot.
The original Dancouga was designed by the Hisashi Hirai – yes, THAT Hirai that everyone knows for his “same face” syndrome. The Dancouga in the tv series is quite boxy in its combined form, but quite curvy in their separate beast form. It wasn’t until the OVA that Masami Obari took over the design and made him much more dynamic. A running joke for Dancouga was that the robot is technically 70% elephant and Big Moth just stand up and put on a pair of shoes and a hat – and that’s Dancouga. To be fair, it’s not really a big issue for me since creating a unique combiner is hard, and they stuck with a more realistic and easy way.
//AUDIO//
One could argue but I think Dancouga has one of the best Super Robot music not only during its time but of all time. With retro synth waves and flashy themes, Dancouga has got to be one of the most chilling and coolest ones of the 80s thanks to Mr.Osamu Totsuka who is later behind other great musics such as Denkou Choujin Gridman and Ultraman Super Fighter Legend too. The flashy tones of the music made Dancouga able to shines in its brightest form, its two openings opening “Ai Yo Far Away” and “Honto no Kiss o Okaeshi” sung by Rei Fujiwara which is also the voice actress of Laura are giving sense of deep romance that are not being specific about the anime but as a universal meaning that could be used to connect stories in the series which is mostly about love and war.
For sound effects, it has that 80s-ish aesthetics, from punching to kicking, tearing enemies apart, the classic exploding sound but what brings Dancouga unique is the “roaring” sounds of the Cyber Beast Machines, when in beast mode they are basically animals with synth wave tuned roars especially Cougar and Liger that shares similar voices. For some scenes they also used Star Wars blaster sound effects as well which I kind of understand that stock sound effects are everywhere then.
In voice acting, Dancouga has the today’s famous Kazuki Yao as Fujiwara Shinobu, listening to his voice already reminds me of Judau Ashta from ZZ Gundam but in a more serious tone especially that iconic “Yatte yaruze!” and the “D.A.N.C.O.U.G.A” combination sequence. Yuriko Yamamoto as Yuuki Sara which some may be already familiar with her as Yuria from Fist of the Northstar, Masato voiced by Shigeru Nakahara who many may remember as Android 17 from Dragonball Z and Ryo voiced by Kaneto Shiozawa which reminds me of Rei from Fist of the Northstar again. However, Dancouga has no English dub but there was a Swedish dub which is kind of odd because we don’t really see things like that coming out of Sweden very often, am I right? I heard the voice only a few times, which I think may have seemed too unusual for me, at least there were English subs available anywhere nowadays.
We often see Cyber Beast Machines more than Dancouga itself which most of the time kept for the climatic moments. The star of the show itself – Dancouga is of course designed and drawn by the then young Masami Obari, as many used to today’s Obari with mechs that are often have large crystal cores on their chests, able to talk, various forms and combinations with epic finishing moves, Dancouga has less of those since it was his first famous one. It doesn’t talk or had a lot of forms, in fact in the series it had only a wing upgrade which Dancouga uses to fly around and since all four of the Cyber Beast Machines can transform into vehicle, beast and humanoid form, the Eagle Fighter acts as the head, Land Cougar and Liger as the feets and Big Moth as 90% of the whole body and arms! The scent of the 80s shines when they are in action, with laser weapons firing and when they are combining there are flashy colorful spotlights everywhere! This is probably because Dancouga wants to present itself as a god-like beast machine robot.
The original Dancouga was designed by the Hisashi Hirai – yes, THAT Hirai that everyone knows for his “same face” syndrome. The Dancouga in the tv series is quite boxy in its combined form, but quite curvy in their separate beast form. It wasn’t until the OVA that Masami Obari took over the design and made him much more dynamic. A running joke for Dancouga was that the robot is technically 70% elephant and Big Moth just stand up and put on a pair of shoes and a hat – and that’s Dancouga. To be fair, it’s not really a big issue for me since creating a unique combiner is hard, and they stuck with a more realistic and easy way.
//AUDIO//
One could argue but I think Dancouga has one of the best Super Robot music not only during its time but of all time. With retro synth waves and flashy themes, Dancouga has got to be one of the most chilling and coolest ones of the 80s thanks to Mr.Osamu Totsuka who is later behind other great musics such as Denkou Choujin Gridman and Ultraman Super Fighter Legend too. The flashy tones of the music made Dancouga able to shines in its brightest form, its two openings opening “Ai Yo Far Away” and “Honto no Kiss o Okaeshi” sung by Rei Fujiwara which is also the voice actress of Laura are giving sense of deep romance that are not being specific about the anime but as a universal meaning that could be used to connect stories in the series which is mostly about love and war.
For sound effects, it has that 80s-ish aesthetics, from punching to kicking, tearing enemies apart, the classic exploding sound but what brings Dancouga unique is the “roaring” sounds of the Cyber Beast Machines, when in beast mode they are basically animals with synth wave tuned roars especially Cougar and Liger that shares similar voices. For some scenes they also used Star Wars blaster sound effects as well which I kind of understand that stock sound effects are everywhere then.
In voice acting, Dancouga has the today’s famous Kazuki Yao as Fujiwara Shinobu, listening to his voice already reminds me of Judau Ashta from ZZ Gundam but in a more serious tone especially that iconic “Yatte yaruze!” and the “D.A.N.C.O.U.G.A” combination sequence. Yuriko Yamamoto as Yuuki Sara which some may be already familiar with her as Yuria from Fist of the Northstar, Masato voiced by Shigeru Nakahara who many may remember as Android 17 from Dragonball Z and Ryo voiced by Kaneto Shiozawa which reminds me of Rei from Fist of the Northstar again. However, Dancouga has no English dub but there was a Swedish dub which is kind of odd because we don’t really see things like that coming out of Sweden very often, am I right? I heard the voice only a few times, which I think may have seemed too unusual for me, at least there were English subs available anywhere nowadays.

//CONCLUSION//
Overall, Dancouga is the iconic of the 80s, dramatic and powerful both in terms of story and how bold it was to break off the mainstream tradition back then but somehow still blended well with the era because of its flashy style and music choice. Dancouga gives a strong meaning of love and war in many perspectives from different characters, movies and a sequel are also recommended after finishing the main series because the series itself did not finish the whole story. We can find Dancouga as BluRay Discs which can be found anywhere online such as Discotek and Amazon, although it may be limited and could get more difficult to find because of how old it is.
Overall, Dancouga is the iconic of the 80s, dramatic and powerful both in terms of story and how bold it was to break off the mainstream tradition back then but somehow still blended well with the era because of its flashy style and music choice. Dancouga gives a strong meaning of love and war in many perspectives from different characters, movies and a sequel are also recommended after finishing the main series because the series itself did not finish the whole story. We can find Dancouga as BluRay Discs which can be found anywhere online such as Discotek and Amazon, although it may be limited and could get more difficult to find because of how old it is.
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Let’s turn and burn! A movie about futuristic stealth fighter and AI-jet. Sounds familiar? This is Macross Plus live action with a sprinkle of Ace Combat and Yukikaze.

The first Super Electromagnetic robot! Combatller V combined a fast-paced Monster-of-the-week with dramatic development, taking advantage of the 5-man team format.

A combination between Japanese myths and mecha. An intricate relationship between 2 girls and one guy, with intense Super Robot combat in-between.

An original Toku-themed anime that is packed with action. While facing the challenges of full 3DCG animation, Shikizakura delivered an inspiring and emotional story for would-be heroes.

A chance to see the A.D Police from Bubblegum Crisis in honorable action. Two detectives take on cases of rampage Boomers, unraveling a sinister plot that can change the world.

An apocalyptic tale of burning sand and monsters. A young man set out for vengeance, acquiring the usual hot chick and robot buddy on the way.

A refreshing tale about how the best of friends became sworn rivals. A vibrant, well animated movie where characters shine through their own merits, and bring a new wind to the franchise.

The fruit of collaboration with Japan Air Self-Defense Force, the air combat scenes of this anime is what set it apart

A futuristic world where sports are played in the most dirty way possible, a team of good-hearted robots gather to prove that good sportsmanship can prevail in any era.

Despite often being overlooked by newer fans, After War Gundam X is a must watch for any Gundam lovers.

The fusion of Man and Beast and Machine. Dancouga became an iconic Super Robot that merged aspects of Super Robot with Real Robot.

Passion makes satisfaction. A group of student show what they can accomplish with a mecha short film that leaves you desperately wanting more!

The end of a legend dragged through the mud from the peak of success. Studio Gainax is a regrettable case where high execs ruin a respectable legacy.

A man thrown into a stranger world naked ended up fighting against god. What more could you ask from a mecha show? Eh…maybe better writing?

With utmost love for the Super Robot Wars series, Obari crafted one of the most prominent Mecha anime of modern generation.

A seemingly impossible task of building Mazinger Z hangar in real life. A ragtag team of a planning company assembled the Fantasy Division to turn fiction into reality.

A light-hearted series that turned into intense space opera. The Girl Who Leapt Through Space leaps through many genre to deliver a unique experience and turn everyone’s expectation upside down.

A desolate planet now submerged in liquid. A totally unique and fresh mecha series where all the robots are underwater. Oh and there’s also a talking whale.

A love story that spans through 12000 years. The war between Angels and humans fueled by passionate emotions. Shoji Kawamori shows us why he’s the master of the sky.

What happens if we mix Mahou Shoujo, Mecha and Battle Royale into one? We get Granbelm – an emotional story about the lives of young girls entangled in an ancient war.

In the city of smoke and steam, a young kid works as a detective alongside his nurse and butler to protect the peace. An old classic for fans of the steampunk style.

The 2nd season of the lovely Mass-Produced Riko series. Join Riko and co as they embark on an all new venture, while drawing interesting lesson from building plastic models.

The long-awaited continuation of the mecha isekai of pain. Season 2 of Muv-Luv Alternative is definitely trying to woo you by slamming intense scenes at you – but is it worth it?

One of the most difficult to adapt Mecha series, Muv-Luv Alternative anime started off with a questionable season, but you should still check it out.

A remake of another Tatsunoko hero. The Space Knight returns with a completely new story, design and brings us on an emotional journey of a tragic hero.

An OVA that took place between the movie and Exodus, Behind The Line shows us how the characters mature throughout the season, with a hint of retrospective nostalgia.

The continuation of the hot-blooded saga, this time filled with emotional drama and even more badass action. A great video game adaptation but not without flaws.

The long awaited legend’s return that satisfy all mecha fan’s longing for a good game. Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon is an experience you have to play to believe.

Universes collide as the cast of Gridman and Dynazenon is caught in a dimensional anomaly. But what’s more troubled is Yuuta – who has to become Gridman again with a troubled heart.

When you talk about the most badass mecha, you have to mention SRW OG and Masami Obari. And when these two combine, you get the best SRW anime of all time.

A unique series where the true pacifism versus justice. A bold premise and interesting gimmick make Planet With a very selective series in terms of audience – but it definitely deserves a chance.

From the studio that created Buddy Complex and Valvrave, Cross Ange is another Sunrise’s original that challenges the limit of its audience once more .

What will you do if you’re teleported to a time with giant grotesque monsters? For teenage student Daisuke Doujima, it’s a perfect chance for him to become a hero, and a saviour. But can he?

After 2 lukewarm series, Gundam Build rose to form again with Re:Rise. A story with deep characterization for a diverse and likeable cast and awesome Obari action.

Time to go digital! Build series is going full SAO and virtual with Build Divers – a light-hearted series and fun to enjoy without the need to complicate things.

The Super Graviton God is back! And this time the threat just got more vile. But Gravion also receive an upgrade…in true Obari fashion. Let’s see how the sequel holds up!

Following GBF, Sunrise wanted to capture the magic with TRY. However, they fell just short of greatness but still create a series with amazing Gunpla battles.

A hobby turned combat sport. Sunrise’s effort to attract new fans turned into a compelling series with gorgeous battles featuring iconic MS from the franchise.

The first animated Build series, Beginning G opened up new venues and excitement for the hobby, with light-hearted yet intense traditional MS battle.

The shortest tv series Gundam ever, but was one of the most popular. G-Witch put Gundam back on the mainstream map, but do fans love it like non-fans do? The answer is quite divisive!

A heavy-weight in Masami Obari’s repertoire. Choujuushin Gravion is average in production quality, yet it is imbued with the spirit of the most badass over-the-top director of all time.

Do you want a Gundam series with a brighter tone but still has banger battles? Then Metal Armor Dragonar is a perfect series for you!

A Super Robot versus Alien mecha series, but this time it’s also infused with the intricacies of human’s most sacred bond: Marriage. Godannar put that relationship to the test!

A series about building regular model kit, and using them to find inspiration in life. A very uplifting and chill series for mecha fans to change their perspective on their hobby.

The sequel to SEED – a series that brought Gundam on top of the radar. Destiny is a sequel that earned both the intense love and hate within the fandoms.

The 3rd Tokusatsu series by Director Anno Hideaki. Shin Kamen Rider revisits the core message of what it means to be a Rider and to fight for justice while putting a modern spin on it.

The most ambitious superhero crossover is here! Infini-T Force is where heroes from different universes come together to save a girl and protect the multiverse.

An anime adaptation of a sci-fi novel with the same name, Yakitori really stir up the scene with its unusual storytelling and animation style. However, the characters really hold the series up.

A Fafner novel written by Tow Ubutaka – the person who understand Fafner the most. Explore Kazuki’s POV and his relationship in a way you’ve never seen before.

After the Transformers wave subsided, Takara made a bold move by partnering with Sunrise to produced one of the best Mecha franchise ever. Start the Brave journey with Exkaiser!