Megas XLR

Megas got its start as a sort of You Pick short, and while it didn't make the final cut as I remember, it must have made a good impression. The suits in Atlanta wisely decided to run with Megas, one of their most brilliant decisions since the creation of Toonami and Adult Swim.

Absurdity is the key to humor these days, at least for me. And what could be more absurd then a couple of burned-out 20somethings in control of their own Mecha? And in Jersey, no less! Throw in a token Anime-style chick, insane villains, monsters, interplanetary hijinx, and (most importantly) a killer mock-metal soundtrack - These are a few of my favorite things... Whoops. Sorry.

And how about the details on the Megas! What geek WOULDN'T pimp out their own Mecha with flames, nekked chick reflectors, an 8-Ball gear shift knob, and Playstation Controllers? It's every nerd's dream come true.

You have GOT to love this toon. If you don't... Well, then, heck with ya. Mindless fun for everyone, Mecha destruction for the Anime geek in a lot of us, and oh, the METAL!

Wow. I used to LIVE for Saturday Mornings. Now I LIVE for Saturday Evenings. How corny is that...?

So me and my friends wake up one Sunday morning after a party and flip on the TV, and end up watching cartoon shows. We got a blast from the past in Captain Planet, we were nostalgic over Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (have you seen the new version? it's terrible!), and then we wandered across Megas about halfway through the episode "Ice Ice Megas." Good god, I've never laughed so hard. All three of us were splitting our sides over the writing of this show. What got me hooked was how all the characters, main or otherwise, bounced off of each other. Little moments just made the show for me, where the ice man yells "We are saved!" after Coop smashes a bad guy, only to change his mind with "We are doomed..." when Coop knocks over a building not ten seconds later.

Not to mention the total lack of continuity in Megas' abilities. The contents of his chest cavity change ALL THE TIME.

For its sharp writing and and phenomenal ability to parody genre after genre, I can say without doubt, that I DIG GIANT ROBOTS!

At first when I saw some commercials for Megas XLR, I thought it was a Transformers rip-off. But then I changed my mind about the show and watched a few of the episodes and it was pretty cool and it's funny too. The show is about two teenage slackers named Coop and Jamie who discover a giant robot in a New Jersey junkyard He attached his car to the top of the robot. But...then evil aliens called Glorft land on Earth. Now 3 total opposites named Coop, Jamie, and the robot's creator Kiva must team up to stop the Glorft(and many other evil forces) from obtaining "Megas XLR"! I think the Glorft character is a little weird but yet one of my favorite sci-fi villains! My favorite characters are Coop and Jamie. This show first aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami back in May 2004. This is one of my favorite shows on Toonami!

User Rating: 9/10

BOTTOM LINE: I DIG GIANT ROBOTS!

Like many people, when I first heard about Megas, I was skeptical. I have never been a huge fan of giant robot shows (Voltron, Gundam W, Big O, and G Gundam being the exceptions) so I figured this would be nothing special.

Boy, was I ever wrong when I finally started watching the show.

Megas XLR is about a super robot from the future built by the destructive race known as the Glorft. With their next target being Earth, a human girl named Kiva steals the robot and sends it back in time. It's found in a junkyard in Jersey City by a slacker/gamer/anime fan/wrestling fan/gearhead named Coop and his girl-obsessed sidekick Jamie. Coop completely rebuilds the robot, using his car and various video game controls to pilot it. When Kiva attempts to reclaim Megas, she finds that she can't even pilot it anymore! Kiva then recruits Coop and Jamie to help her fight the Glorft, who have also traveled back in time to reclaim Megas.

The show parodies nearly everything from the 1980's to the present, be it movies, anime, video games, or whatever else the creators think of that day. The blend of action, comedy, and even some serious moments cause the show to be downright entertaining on nearly every level. If you have not watched Megas XLR yet, I advise you to give the show a try.

I've only been watching this cartoon less then a week but already I love it.I watch it on Toonami every day.When I first seen it I was like "OH great another crappy japan-amation-mech crap.But I watched it and couldn't stop laughing.The humour is fantastic.They rip-off everything imaginable(especially MTV)but also McDonalds,Mario Brothers and many more.The action is top drawer.Wall-smashing and buildings crumbling and general devastation prevails.Destruction is top-drawer here(We're looking at least 20-30 buidlings been destroyed every episode)The two main characters,two teenage wasters by the names of Coop and Jamie cause farce after farce.They end up saving the planet but always destroy a large portion of their home town or cause a nuclear fall-out or something(The episode with the REGIS Mk 5 had me in bits,some of his lines are hilarious"This planet shall return to the Cosmic dust from whence it came"and stuff like that.A very,very funny cartoon and has a surprising amount of substance.Id recommend this to any cartoon fan,it will have you laughing your ass off.