Armored Trooper Votoms: Red Shoulder Document - The Roots of Ambition

Title:Armored Trooper Votoms: Red Shoulder Document - The Roots of Ambition
Overall:Rent
Keywords: , , , , ,
Notables:
Certain officers of the Melkian Space Force High Command are suspicious about a newly formed elite unit, known as "the Red Shoulders". The unit is shrouded in such top secrecy that even they know virtually nothing about it, except that it consumes tremendous amounts of resources and requires an amazing number of replacement soldiers. Colonel Peruzen, the Red Shoulder's commander, is uncooperative, pointing to evidence of fatal security breaches. Rumor has it that he is conducting bizarre research in hopes of creating "unkillable" soldiers. Meanwhile, a new batch of recruits arrives at the Red Shoulders' training camp--including one Chirico Cuvie...

OVA prequel to Armored Trooper Votoms 1: Uoodo City
[edit] The ↗Votoms Franchise:

The four arcs of the original TV series:
Prequels or concurrent with the TV series:
Sequels:
Spinoffs:
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Rent 7 6 7 6 7 Ggultra2764 [series:1749#1552]
Origin of Ambition serves as a prequel to the Votoms TV anime in that it explores Chirico's beginnings as a member of the Red Shoulders and some mysterious elements of his past that would later be dabbled into with the anime, such as Chirico's miraculous ability to seemingly survive any fatal encounter. The OVA depicts enough corruption in the ranks of the military with weeding out elite soldiers among new recruits in brutal fashion and seems Chirico's superior officer, Pailsen, seems somewhat aware of our lead character's abnormal nature. Plus the short depicts Chirico having mental trauma in regards of being subconsciously aware of his inhuman nature that is shown at a few points in the series, adding some more depth to his character. The artwork here noticeably has a bit more polish to it compared to the TV series and earlier OVAs, though animation is still nothing too groundbreaking. Another OVA worth checking out only if you've seen the Votoms TV series.

Last updated Thursday, April 09 2020. Created Thursday, April 09 2020.
Rent Stretch [series:1749#628]
When I first saw this OVA listed among newly available downloads, I thought it must be part of the new remake/sequel/whatever Soukou Kihei Votoms - Pailsen Files (OVA), but that didn't turn out to be true. It is in fact an 80's vintage Votoms OVA, and not the only one, either. Altogether, there are "The Last Red Shoulder" (1985), "Big Battle" (1986), "Red Shoulder Document: The Roots of Ambition" (1988), and "Shining Heresy" (1994?). According to "Guitarman555" The first three are all one-shots that take place at various points during the Armored Trooper Votoms TV series but "Shining Heresy" is a genuine 5 episode sequel to the show. Anyway, this particular OVA seems to be a prequel to the main Votoms saga, involving Chirico's adventures before becoming a outcast from the Melkian military. For all it's problems, there was a distinct "coolness" to the original Votoms, which is still evident here. The mecha are neatly designed and animated, giving them a style of their own. Another factor which quickly became clear was that this is pretty violent! Largely (but not entirely) mechanical violence--in fact, I'd call this a mecha slaughter-fest. The plot has some problems (has Chirico somehow just had good luck bred into him?), but for the most part makes sense, and anyway it's the trademark Votoms coolness which carries the story along in a pleasing manner. Another trademark of Votoms is that stories drag on longer than necessary; I thought the story was over when yet another mecha battle broke out. This is one of those shows which you know ended with a touch of irony and cleverness--you just don't understand exactly why.


Last updated Tuesday, January 01 2008. Created Monday, December 31 2007.

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