Taiyou no Kiba Dougram

Dougram is one of the first mecha anime that followed the Gundam craze of the early 80's where the emphasis was less on a titular robot usually comprised of multiple parts piloted by different characters to form a super robot that would engage in monster of the week aliens or robots a la a tokusatsu-like style. Instead it opted for the grounded, more serious narrative that focuses on the characters and worldbuilding to formulate a fairly intricate albeit well-put-together story. As is the nature of a show that was inspired heavily by Gundam, the plot and the way it executes its themes are quite similar intone. Just like the Spacenoids that wish to secede from the Earth regime in 0079 Dougram's landscape is of a future Earth colony called Deloyer that advocates for total autonomy from Earth's regime. And following the similarities the story largely focuses on a group of kids and young adults who become guerrillas fighting against the Earth federation for that goal. It's a simple premise but the show does a very good job at keeping things interesting without forcing itself to drastically shift gears or focus on unrelated plotlines and the few subplots that exist are quite engaging and often serve well throughout most of the story. What keeps this story consistently interesting is a memorable cast of characters on both the Deloyer and Earth sides, the villains especially having some surprisingly complex personalities and motivations that are explored a great deal that it never feels that they're acting out of character. Fans tend to state that the villains are far more interesting than the protagonists, and while that's true that doesn't necessarily mean they're bad protagonists. A word would be predictable; archetypal to what you'd expect when you see them. And if anything that serves as a strength to contrast a very pivotal point of war and politics where it establishes how much more intricate a villain's plan can be compared to the hero. The heroes simply want freedom, but the villains have a lot more complicated goals other than simply wanting to maintain the status quo. And while I compare this show a lot more to Gundam it's actually quite similar to Legend of the Galactic Heroes with how it chooses to focus a lot on political developments and jumping around multiple locations with different characters. Not to say that it was an inspiration, but this show focuses a lot less on the titular robot than even Gundam does which had already significantly toned back on that aspect from super robot shows. Unlike other mecha shows from this era the length is not spent on filler or drawn out arcs as an excuse to extend the air time. Dougram is paced well and while there's a couple of recap episodes there's very little actual content that could be considered filler. Again like LotGH it does its best to make every bit of dialogue feel necessary to listen to to understand the buildup to character actions and motivations as well as being immediately relevant to the episode it takes place in. It might be a little wordy for some people but it's the type of show where if you're following along then you shouldn't ever be getting lost. Now it's no mystery to anyone but 75 episodes is not short. This show visually has not aged well at all. Dougram had the unfortunate fate of being produced while the Gundam movies were being released, all the way up until Xabungle, Ideon's movies and Dunbine. Naturally, they'll prioritise the works of Tomino over a newcomer director which leads to its visuals taking a serious hit. Granted there is worse from this period and the storyboards are mostly fine so everything is conveyed in a very clear way. But the art direction leaves a lot to be desired as well as its character designs. While not awful they lack originality and feel like a pale imitation of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's style with a more rough and unappealing look. One detail I never quite got was how some characters can have tiny cheekbones that make them almost look sickly and I can't tell if that's an intentional design or not. With that said characters and mecha designs are rarely off model, it just has very unimpressive art and especially animation. Despite coming out 2 years after 0079, the animation manages to be noticeably sloppier than it is in that show. In addition to that I'm really not a fan of the combat armour designs. Understandably this is always going to be a lot more subjective than other points but Dougram and the many other designs derivative of it throughout the show are ugly. They almost look like monster trucks with legs instead of wheels except there's no visual creativity to reinterpret that concept. It really feels like a truck was copy pasted onto a pair of mecha legs, given some arms and called it a day. This show unlike Gundam does have a lot less supernatural elements so designs that are more comparable to real life designs makes sense but there was very little attempt at making them visually appealing, at least to me. In the end though I'm sure there's still some guy out there that owns every Dougram model kit that's ever been released. Speaking on related topics, the soundtrack is also not particularly great. That's not because it's bad because it isn't, but more due to the lack of diversity and track number. I'm not exaggerating when I say you will hear like half of the entire soundtrack in a single episode on average. A lot of episodes start with the same minimalist percussive track and ends with the same dramatic motif at the climax of a battle. Even if it were mismanagement of using and placing the tracks in the right moments it's still got roughly 30 tracks to spread across 75 episodes which nowadays is the bare minimum for a 24 episode show. And to rectify the earlier point of it not being bad - It's good, there are some absolutely fantastic tracks sprinkled throughout. The main theme in particular is one of the best opening themes I've heard from an 80's anime which is saying a lot. But it suffers from repeating the motifs in many tracks. It feels like there's even less than 30 odd tracks as a result. One more piece of criticism I can grant to the story is its lack of theming. The message of this story isn't a large part of its writing which can lead to it feel directionless at times. Not that it loses its footing and has bad pacing but that it doesn't play with any central ideas that drives the narrative and characters other than putting an end to war for the sake of independency. Gundam for instance while being about a war still offers the idea of finding where you belong in a world that you feel alone in and that war can be overcome if humans learn to understand one another even if ultimately it's something that may never happen. A simple premise but these themes drive a lot of the character dynamics further into the story that make for some extremely memorable character arc and story conclusions. And while Dougram does try to do this late into the story it feels like there was a lot more room for this discourse from the beginning. This isn't necessarily inferring to a story without meaning, there are messages and takeaways within the episodes of the hopelessness and harshness of war but it rarely goes beyond that. All in all this show is still good. It's old and before Sunrise hit their stride as a massive studio so of course it's going to have its production problems and be longer than it should be but the narrative is extremely tight, has great characters and it has some fantastic buildup. Even if it came before Votoms and far before 08th MS Team this is still a Ryou Takanashi and Kanda directed anime who are highly respected in the mecha community. I know that I compared this show a lot to Gundam but it's a comparison worth making as it's one of the first mecha shows that was inspired by its grittier premise, themes on war and serves as a good indication of where the genre could be taken with guidance outside of Tomino's lenses; an indication that the genre isn't doomed to poorly copy Gundam. The length and visual quality may deter you from giving this show a try but if you're a fan of the original Gundam that would prefer a more gritty depiction as in other Takanashi shows like Votoms then this may be for you. Don't get distracted by its removal from the annals of history, Dougram is well worth changing the channel to. And with the advent of a recent manga headed by Yasuo Ohtagaki and supervised by the man himself Takanashi who knows. Sunrise never hates the opportunity to shill a new toy line and their fanbase is always chomping at the bit for a new mecha anime series done by them no matter how niche it ends up being. Not to say that it's even remotely likely but it's always up in the air as long as there's proof it hasn't been completely forgotten.

I would recommend this show if you are a fan of war drama/politics in general. If you like UC Gundam, you might like this. The war/politics between two worlds is surprisingly good, but don't watch this if you want exciting Mecha battles as this is the show's main flaw. Though the action does get pretty decent in the last arc. One can easily make comparisons to Gundam First, but they are totally different in regards to focus and execution. The action in Dougram is interesting as each battle is a little different with a clear objective in mind. It can beas simple as crossing a bridge or taking out an artillery battery. These scenarios keep things fresh. The problem is the execution. The battles feel rather wonky up until the last arc. The show excels in drawing you into the conflict between two worlds. It feels like a real conflict with real people on both sides. The game of politics is surprising good and adds to conflict between worlds. The main characters aren't terrible, but do feel a little lacking in character development. The real stars of the show are the leaders of the conflict. They all have their own goals in mind and are either plagued with ideology, pride, ambition, ect which makes for a surprisingly good watch. If you are more a fan of the war/politics side of UC Gundam than the action, then this is a must watch as this show definitely has more meat. Also, no newtype magic crap is present in this show. Some would consider this a plus. Cheers.

Taiyou no Kiba is an anime that highlights human conflict in the military and political spheres, and the repercussions that this has both on an individual and collective level. Trying to get independence through guerilla war movements, TNK shows us the hardness of liberation movements, how idealisms are transformed into realities based on blood and sweat. How these movements can be directed by elites (and also from the people) and the importance of economic power in diplomatic relations. How guerrillas cannot succeed if they are not transformed into a disciplined army (Jackie Zaltsev) and the need for officers. At the same time, specific moments canignite the flame of revolution. The story is guided by emotions not by reason (Donan) and how, in the face of a revolutionary movement, it is possible to calm tempers with good actions, although it is a relatively difficult path (Rick Boyd). The grays of revolutions. There is nothing black or white. And therefore there are no good and bad, so one must follow the bat he believes in (Donan). I recommend watching it, especially if you like politics and other similar anime like LOGH. Howewer bear in mind that this anime has some weak points, like Music, Animation not the greatest, 75 episodes felt too long though few episodes could be erased and also some incoherences regarding the character development, that in general is good. I consider that this anime shapes the POLITICAL world in a proper way and for me thats enough to watch it and recommend it. More information AND SPOILERS: From the military level there is a certain strategy and above all a lot of tactics, usually of good quality but there are some fights that really dont have any sense (Episodes 29 & 30), there gets a point where Dougram feels can beat anyone else and also military incompetence becomes evident. As for the characters, I would say that in general terms, the series is concerned with developing the most important ones, which does not mean that it does it well. Since there are many subplots, this gives rise to many characters, which is appreciated. However, some of the main characters in my opinion remain unexploited. This is the case of Crinn. How is it possible that someone who risks his life does not know why he is risking it, and also risks it for those who tried to kill his father? The series tried to argue it, but I don't think it is a feasible point of view. (EPISODE 12, example). Crinn is a character that for me could have evolved into an insurgent leader, more than the mere soldier who pilots Dougram.His relationship with Daisy at the same time is undoubtedly empty. The same goes for Rocky and Cannary, two certainly flat characters. The only point where we see a different Rocky practically at the end. It could be said that being in a constant war does not give us time to reflect or be "more human", but the series does show us certain moments of unrest, which could have been used to develop these characters. Crinn comes to have deep reflections about what he is doing and why he is doing it. Also with his alleged harassment and demolition by enemies, which causes fever. But the mere fact that they came to suspect the professor at the last moment leaves a lot to be desired on the part of Fang of the Sun. When we thought we had reached a certain level of maturity, it is still not there. In the end it turns out that they are the most idealistic, wanting to continue fighting even without having sufficient resources. . Does a person who leaves everything behind like Professor Shamalin really let a coup d'état hit him in the face? In this sense, it is credible, but I personally am not convinced. At that point, I think the professor would have done everything necessary to continue to the end, and not resign himself to being removed from power. At the same time, his last speech, in my opinion, makes little logical sense. He tells them to look for a new life to form a new society. But how will they achieve it if they will continue to be subject to the same ties of economic-political power? With what happens in the end with Lecoque it seems that Deloyer will gain some power, but deep down that is not the case. Even so, his idea of ​​human cosmopolitanism must be made compatible with the defense of the rights of his people. In the end the most developed character is the villain Lecoque, who goes from seeming like a helpful secretary to boasting monumental ambitions. It is true that the music can be repetitive, but this way the theme of each of the characters is precisely identified, which is fine. also some chapters are a repetion of previous ones, but maybe they are like 4 as maximum. It's not an anime that I regret having seen, but I might think about it if I watch it again.

Dougram is a really mixed show. Its strengths are strong design work (unfortunately excepting the main characters dorky outfits), well thought out world-building, a willingness to address aspects of war such as propaganda, combined arms and logistics. You can really see how this was a key inspiration for Battletech. The story of colonisation, rebellion, collaboration and the economic motives underlying it all is well constructed. Finally, the series really improves in the final third as more time is spent away from our main cast with the high level politics which turns out to be the strongest part of the show, with frankly more interesting characters and moresophisticated storytelling. These sequences don't just stand out in the show- they're top class for the medium. The battles scale also increases, much to their benefit with a greater focus on strategy than derring-do. The closing third of the series is a really fabulous showcase of interweaving perspectives, intrigue and battlefield action. Its ambitious and it really hits the right notes. However, it also has a number of serious weaknesses. One is that, by and large, its characters are fairly static, not that engaging and a lot of the early arcs which don't progress the war are therefore not very impactful. Ultimately, the series gets better basically in proportion to the amount of time it spends away from the Dougram crew, who ultimately end up being much less interesting than the Liberation and Earth Federation leadership perspectives. A lot of time is spent in combat, and throughout- but most especially in the smaller scale battles of the first two thirds of the series- the enjoyment of this is undermined in a lot of ways. The animation isn't very good, and this can impact the realism/choreography as much as the pleasure of watching. Theres a tendency to undermine serious action scenes with awful slapstick (attaching plastic explosive with snot, for example), especially- again- in the first half. Most fatally for a self-serious war story, only one main character gets a Mobile Suit. This might seem refreshing compared to Gundam, where everyone does, but before expanding into large scale warfare (and a good half the time afterwards) the result is that the backup is half a dozen folks with a jeep and one bazooka- tearing apart entire military units. Its pretty ridiculous and really undermines all the self-seriousness. And they very largely get away with it for free. For a war story, theres a real reluctance to kill anyone that matters. This plays into a more low-key weakness, that while it paints a realistic picture of war (the final political sequences are standout in this regard) in many ways, unlike LoGH or Gundam it doesn't really tie this into greater thematic elements. It also gradually saps tension from Dougram related action sequences- part of the increased interest in the high-level politics sequences is a greater willingness to include serious consequences for those involved. On the other hand, the politics in the last third of the anime are some of the best in anime space opera. Its complex, it leads to a bittersweet ending and it generally makes a lot of sense. The first two thirds of the show are probably a 6; the last third is a solid 9, if you are in the right audience. Given the shows length this makes it hard to straightforwardly recommend, but for me it was ultimately a rewarding journey.