Megas XLR

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.

Ah, Megas XLR. Despite the TV-Y7 rating, in many ways it felt a show aimed at older audiences, not only because all the characters were adults, the sarcastic humor and the somewhat obscure references probably totally would get over the heads of the kids watching it back then.

I guess that was the reason of why the show was unfairly cancelled, despite the high ratings: It wasn't as "marketeable" as Ben 10, and (As the cancellation of Young Justice can confirm) the executives care more about toy sales than audiences liking a show, which is why so many terrible series are still on air.

But even if Megas XLR was never destined to become a super-marketeable franchise, it will always remain as a beloved cult-classic from the 2000s which is always fun to rewatch, like Drawn Together.

Cartoon Network could give it some love, instead of acting as if this series never existed.

I have never been a big fan of mecha cartoons. Sure I'd watch MS Gundam with my brother-in-law when staying at my in-laws house, but I was just NOT interested. When first saw the commercial for this 'toon, I bemoaned "Oh no! Not another one!" But one Saturday night, while half asleep, the show started. I was too tired to reach the three feet for the remote, and I was too comfortable to just roll over. So I watched the show. There was this one line (I can't remember for the life of me what it was, but it had something to do with video games [of course]), and It reminded me of something my husband would say and I started laughing so hard, I woke up and started watching the show. I've tried to watch it every Saturday ever since.

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!

The premise of this sounds just like any 'giant robot' (or cartoon sf) show - battle robot needed to save the (future) world, agent sent back to retrieve it from the past to which its been banished. OK, fine. But the makers take this and turn it into a weird, fun, crazy parody of such things.

The robot has been obtained by two new-jersey lamers, who turn out to be a super-robot- pilot and well, a lamer (sorry, Jaime.) The future-agent is stuck here (acting alternatively as the fish-out-of-local time-water, and voice of reason, and super-fighting-chick). OK, fine. But the makers take this and use this basic parody to parody pretty much every cliché in the genre (and some other genres) with a gusto that is just plain fun to watch! If you know stuff about Japanese animation stuff, you'll appreciate the parodies of plots, characters, and even scene stylings. If you don't, its still funny enough on just a joke-level (Coop dreaming of smashing the DMV to tiny bits, for instance) to make it fun. Keep your eye on button labels and general sign age, there's good cleverness there.

All in all, a great, high-morale program -- people having fun making a good show. Nice!