Megaton Musashi is a new IP from LEVEL5, the studio behind Yo-kai Watch and Inazuma Eleven, and is a robot anime following in the footsteps of Danball Senki and Gundam AGE, but it has received a dismal lack of attention. There are likely a number of reasons for this, including the title and main mecha being somewhat lame, the time slot and target demographic being unclear, and the game being a huge flop despite the content not being that bad. However! Having watched the first season to the end, my impression was that it was incredibly interesting and made me want to know what would happen next! So, I would like to look back on the first season of Megaton Musashi and share my thoughts!
Episode 1: The Sleeping Lion
Yamato Ichidaiji, a boy living in a peaceful town, feels uneasy about his life there. Occasionally, the image of his family's death comes to mind as déjà vu. Despite this, he continues to live life, cared for by his childhood friend, Kiyoka Nishino, and even getting caught in fights. There are probably many origins for the name, but I don't know all of them. Is Yamato Ichidaiji from Space Battleship Yamato?
Episode 1②
Meanwhile, a mysterious girl possesses the school idol, Kanzaki Asuna, taking over her body and beginning her secret activities. It seems her goal is to assassinate an important person, and her target is Yamato? Meanwhile, Yamato bumps into his fighting buddy, Hijikata Ryugo, whom he met by chance in town. The two are being summoned by a mysterious, bespectacled boy named Asami Teru. Teru gathers a group of people and tries to frame the two, but somehow, the two work so well together that they beat everyone except Teru. Afterwards, Teru declares they passed and leads them to an underground facility. Up to this point, there are still many mysteries. Kanzaki's inspiration is Escaflowne, Hijikata Ryugo is Yamato's Hijikata Ryu and Someoka, and Asami Hikaru is Macross's Ichijo Hikaru, right?
Episode 1③
There, the two learn that the peaceful town is a lie. 99% of Earth has been destroyed by aliens, and the remaining people are surviving through memory manipulation. The alien attacks are still ongoing. The alien invasion theme is reminiscent of old-school robot anime like Fafner, Zegapain, and RahXephon. After a series of events, the two are told to pilot a robot called Musashi and fight. Yamato refuses, but after regaining his memories and remembering the death of his family, he decides to fight.
Episode 2: Burning Earth
Finally, Musashi's first battle begins. Like the Getter, Musashi is a three-seater, piloted by Yamato, Ryugo, and Hikaru. Musashi is a rather ominous robot in robot anime, and I worry it might one day become a megaton-class Benkei. On the front lines, mob soldiers of the Human Army are losing their lives one after another due to the Draktor's mass tactics. Ginta Ibushi, a veteran pilot and commander of the Mob squad, fights alone in his mass-produced model, but finds himself at a disadvantage. Musashi, a megaton-class rogue, arrives, having just completed his combined mission.
Episode 2 Part 2
Despite his first battle, Musashi, thanks to his pilot Yamato's combat acumen, crushes a large number of enemies with his special move, the Megaton Punch. It's not a rocket punch, but more like a Shell Bullet. The enemies then combine and transform into a single gigantic foe. Nevertheless, Musashi triumphs with a centrifugal charge and an X-Break. He's so unstoppable, it's hard to believe he's on a hopeless battlefield where mobs were losing their lives in the early stages. He's strong from the start... Hats off to the strict and beautiful commander, Minami.
Episode 2 Part 3
The scene shifts to a queen, apparently ruling the aliens who've wrecked Earth. They're apparently after some kind of treasure known as the Treasure of Evolution. She's tasked her daughter, Ashem, with assassinating an important Earthling. I wonder if she's short on manpower or something, having a princess assassinate someone, but it seems the queen has other ideas.
Episode 3: Assassin
At the beginning, the beautiful Commander Minami Sayaka appears to be feeling unwell. She then injects herself with some kind of purple liquid. It's kind of erotic. Worried, Teru visits Minami, only to find her unconscious. This... seems like a sign that things have been going on for a while! It seems like a murder has occurred on the streets, and a pilot of a mass-produced aircraft has been killed. Then, Ashem, the Princess of the Dracter, who possessed Kanzaki and took over his body, also attempts to assassinate Yamato. However, her plan proves to be a complete failure. To begin with, if assassinations were just passed around to the main characters, it wouldn't be a work (it's kind of quiet).
Episode 3②
If he continued to be such a loser, he would surely be found out and wall-slammed, but in a pinch, Ashem orders his servant, Sarzan, to leave it at that, saying he likes her as a communications unit. Following his orders results in chaos, including for Kiyoka, who was watching nearby. Sarzan, who gave the orders, regrets it was a mistake. In the end, Yamato is ordered to sortie, and the situation is left unresolved.
Episode 3③
Musashi goes out on another mission. The girl in the navigation system informs him that this mission is a defense mission. Then, battle ensues, and the enemies combine again. Working with his fellow mob members whose comrades were killed, he easily annihilates them with his new special move, the Diffusion Blaster. He's a powerful ace from the start, even destroying the enemy with a curved vomit beam. However, it feels a bit too powerful and lacks excitement. After the battle, Kanzaki, who has regained his senses and is no longer possessed, tells him not to get close, and Episode 3 ends.
Episode 4: Cat Strategy
New character Reiji Amemiya makes his full appearance as a lonely boy who loves cats. His appearance is somewhat reminiscent of Leiji Matsumoto's works, which is probably where his inspiration lies. He doesn't try to communicate with anyone, and those around him give him strange looks, but he doesn't seem to mind as he adores his cats. Princess Ashem continues to attempt assassinations and proves to be a complete failure. So far, it feels like a vague robot anime.
Episode 4②
Reiji Amemiya's father, Dr. Simon, is a mad scientist who forces his son to fight against his will in order to utilize his extraordinary abilities. The doctor manipulates Reiji's cat's thoughts, leading him to become a rogue and forcing him to go into battle. It's like Shinji being told to get into an EVA robot and fight because he has the fighting power. However, the fact remains that Zeroshi possesses the rare power of telekinesis, allowing him to control the Rogues. Dr. Simon, who had lost hope in the Draktor invasion, was slightly insane, but still pinned the future of humanity on Zeroshi.
Episode 4, Part 3
Zeroshi is forced to fight in the Megaton-class Arthur Eva. However, perhaps due to his gentle nature, he is unable to take combat action and is hit. His beloved cat, who was in the cockpit, is killed in the attack, and he finally makes up his mind to wipe out the Draktors. Arthur is a four-legged, highly mobile rogue, reminiscent of the Kimari Trooper and the Dan Senki, making it cool. Episode 4 was the fourth pilot episode.
Episode 5: Strictly Confidential
A mysterious, evil group called "KJ" appears in town. Its leader is shrouded in mystery, but it turns out to be none other than Jun Kirishima, a devilish idol at the same school. So, how did this all end? She was bullied for her appearance, but two boys she met by chance encouraged her to enter a beauty pageant, which she won. The boys became her guards, and their numbers grew to become the current KJ, where KJ was Jun Kirishima's initials.
This is the episode where Jun Kirishima, a girl who has appeared frequently, makes her full appearance. Jun felt something was off about this city and wanted to understand its true nature.
Episode 5②
I'm not sure where Jun Kirishima's name comes from (perhaps Flame Jun from Great Mazinger?), but he has a vague resemblance to that red guy from Evangelion. At first, he seems interested in the older teacher, but for some reason, he seems to be interested in Reiji, who was initially reluctant to fight but was forced to do so by his abusive parents.
Episode 5③
The team members are called into action, leaving Jun behind. This time, they'll be fighting alongside Yamato and the three Musashi, along with Reiji's Arthur. The enemy is heavily defended, making for a tough battle, but they utilize a new technique called the Meteor Kick, which involves spinning and kicking like a drill, to dig a hole in the ground and destroy the enemy from a blind spot where their armor is thin. This guy is really strong from the start. Then, Commander Minami and Duke, the mecha developer, hint at the presence of an insider. Who could the traitor be?
Episode 6: From Beauty to Beast
Due to a supposed traitor, Yamato and his friends are forced to exodus from the Ixia habitat. However, this is not just a temporary escape; it is also intended to gather fragmented data on a new weapon that will bring hope to humanity. However, this escape requires a program for the ship's navigation system, and they are faced with the problem of not having enough time to write that program. Perhaps an advanced AI could solve the problem...
Episode 6②
Akutagawa Kota, a mysterious afro-haired boy who was bullied at school, had a secret. He wasn't human, but an android. Kindaichi Takumi, a mysterious boy with glasses who approached him, discovered that Kota was a stress relief android. The android solved social problems by intentionally becoming the target of bullying. Afro-haired characters in mecha anime are reminiscent of Yuki Cosmo from Legend of the Giant Ideon and Amuro Ray from Gundam. Now, the bespectacled boy, Kindaichi, has uncovered the city's secret on his own. Is this Shotaro Kaneda from Tetsujin 28-go?
Episode 6, Part 3
Jun is selected as a successful candidate and unintentionally learns the secrets of Yamato and the town. Kindaichi's talent is recognized and he is scouted as a mechanic, but it turns out that Kindaichi's father was actually the designer of Musashi. Reiji is captured by a Draktor assassin, and Musashi enters the battle alone. However, Yamato, with his usual outlandish ingenuity, annihilates the Draktor. Furthermore, a secret is revealed: the town is matching lost children with their parents through memory manipulation. Later, Yamato is nearly attacked from behind by a Drakter assassin, but Ashem intervenes.
Episode 6, Part 4
The assassin transforms and attempts to kill Yamato along with Ashem. Ashem, the queen's daughter, refuses to listen. Instead, he clearly expresses his murderous intent, suggesting that even on their planet, social status can significantly affect how people are treated. When the transformed assassin nearly kills Yamato, Ashem transforms and kills the assassin. Afterward, only Kanzaki and Yamato, freed from their possession, and Reiji, who escaped on his own and rushed to their aid, remain. It feels like the story finally starts to move forward from here.
Episode 7: Individuality
After Kanzaki wakes up, Yamato learns that aliens have the ability to possess and control humans, and Kanzaki also learns the city's secret. Kanzaki begins to sense the aliens' presence, and together with Yamato, they visit the hotel where the aliens are hiding. However, there are no aliens there, but he remembers that his teacher, Hakamada, is involved.
Episode 7②
After a series of events, Kota's true identity is discovered by the martial arts girl Momoka Saotome. On the verge of being rendered useless, Kota escapes with Momoka's help, but Commander Minami, witnessing the incident, attempts to recruit the two.
Episode 7③
Jun joins the team full-time from this episode. However, for the first episode, there's no enemy in sight, and he trains with Ibushi, his boss at his part-time job, in a mass-produced Rogue. As expected, a Dracter appears and they're forced into combat. Jun puts up a heroic display despite being a mass-produced robot, but is possessed by one of the enemy robots and finds himself in dire straits. However, veteran Ibushi saves him just in time, and he learns the reality of the battlefield. He continues to be cornered by a superior enemy. It feels like Jun is more of a robot anime protagonist than Yamato, who is strong from the start.
Episode 7, Part 4
Yamato and the others rush to the scene, and Jun and Ibushi switch to the new megaton-class rogue Maximus and engage in combat. However, the battle itself is overwhelmed by Maximus's multi-target missiles, wiping out the Dractors in one fell swoop. Initially training with a mass-produced robot, they demonstrate overwhelming talent, but in practice they learn the reality of the battlefield and are helped by a reliable senior. They then switch to a new robot and perform at their best, acting like the protagonists of a robot anime.
[Megaton Musashi] Season 1 Review, Part 1 Summary
I've looked back on the first season of Megaton Musashi. Up until this point, Musashi was a difficult show to grasp as a robot anime, with a theme that was unclear: was it realistic or super? Was it a battle with aliens or reconciliation? However, around episode 6, after the introduction of the characters and worldview, things started to pick up and become more interesting. And from the second half onward, it really becomes a robot anime. While I can understand why you might want to quit at the beginning, watching it to the end is an inescapably interesting show that will make you want to see season 2 as soon as possible, so I highly recommend you check it out!
