After the cancellation of the original Mobile Suit Gundam in 1979, series creator Yoshiyuki Tomino went on to direct another popular giant robot show, Space Runaway Ideon, which was prematurely cancelled. Unable to attain his desired four episode extension, Tomino was forced to wrap up the shows plot in the final two minutes of the last episode, an unsatisfying ending to say the least. However all was not lost as Tomino managed to get the funding to make two movies based on the story, The Ideon: A Contact, a recap of the main plot points of the series and The Ideon: Be Invoked, the grand finale to the series that Tomino was unable to present in televised format. Because of the age of the series (1980), some extremely dated character designs, and its early cancellation and nonsensical ending as a result, it is highly unlikely that we will ever see Space Runaway Ideon in series or movie form on this side of the pacific, the two movies however are both available as Fan Subs through a myriad of channels. This is a review based on those two films.
The first movie in this double billing, A Contact, is similar to the Evangelion "movie" Death and Rebirth as it recounts the events of the series for those who haven't seen it. I have not been able to find the series in any form, but I have read synopsis and while "A Contact" does leave out a lot of plot details, it gives you all the important Character Information that you will need to empathize with the cast, though the entire thing comes across as a little rushed, compressing a 39 episode series into a 90 minute movie.
For the most part "A Contact" and "Be Invoked" follow the adventures of Cosmo, our knight in shining right red afro, The Ideon, the titular giant robot, and a crew of refugees from a colony planet which has come under assault from the brutal Buff Clan, a species of vulcan esque humans from another "Earth" somewhere in the galaxy. The Buff Clan are searching for The Ide, which may be an infinite energy source and also may be the will of "god", unfortunately the translation was not exactly clear on the second part. It also happens to be what powers the titular Ideon robot, and the humans "Solo Ship" which they use to flee from the Buff Clan in a desperate attempt to keep them from discovering Earth proper.
The most important part of "A Contact"'s plot is that it traces the character relationships among the crew of the Solo Ship, setting up the more interesting "Be Invoked", and is fairly important viewing if you really want a feel for the heroes in the much better second movie.
"Be Invoked" picks up pretty much immediately after the ending of "A Contact" with a little bit of recap to keep you in the loop and then pretty much launches immediately into detailing the grand final battle between The Buff Clan and the crew of the Solo Ship. In true Tomino fashion, this battle is long and brutal with many violent casualties on both sides. It has a strong anti warfare message that is really hammered home with the extremely bizarre ending in which both nobody wins, and everybody wins, depending on your interpretation.
Which brings me to my next point, if you are an EVA fan, you should consider these movies required viewing as the grand finale of "Be Invoked" greatly reminded me of the similarly screwed up "The End of Evangelion" only with more character deaths and less 900 foot tall naked albino chicks. The final resolution is greatly open to interpretation and without spoiling anything it is still safe to say that the true fate of the characters and the universe at large is very open to interpretation.
In terms of Animation, "A Contact" is pretty much just a mild clean up of the animation from the series proper, it gets the job done but is never really that impressive. There are fewer instances of extreme cheapitude that often crop up in anime from the last century but the animation is still of a notably lower quality than other anime films of the time. In contract "Be Invoked" requiring entirely new animation, looks fantastic, with cleaned up character designs and a great attention to detail. The bizarre ending is exceptionally well animated and kind of made me think of Disney's Fantasia at times.
It is also interesting to note that the overall feel of these movies is different from a standard "Giant Robot Story" as there is a great deal of action that takes place on the decks of the Solo Ship and other areas where the 100ft + Ideon Robot simply isn't used. A good 50% of the action in "Be Invoked" centers around the Solo Ship's bridge and the little domed forest in its center. Don't take this as a mark against the mecha/space battles however, as they are impressive and exciting, with plenty of missile clusters launching every which way and Ideon's myriad of super attacks devastating large portions of the Buff Clan fleet. Similarly the on foot action sequences are all well directed and convey a very real feeling of chaotic combat, with stray shots and shrapnel causing deaths and so forth.
As a warning however I would caution the faint of heart from watching these, since they both feature some of the most brutal character deaths I have ever seen, not for their bloodiness, but for the sudden and cold way they occur. The worst of which I will detail in a spoiler bar below, if you are concerned. However I would caution you against reading it, since it will spoil a truly shocking and poignant moment in "Be Invoked".
A five year old's head is suddenly vaporized by a stray laser shot, it's not gory, but it's very shocking.
Overall though I found The Ideon: A Contact and Be Invoked to be 3 hours very well spent. Not only is it some of the most poignant anime I have ever seen, but some of the best Science Fiction I have ever seen. The strong focus on characters and the grand apocalyptic finale make the pair a very tight set of anime movies and Tomino's uncompromising storytelling make this a very emotional story. Highly recommended to all anime fans who can handle a little dark retro in their diet.
