Medarot (anime)

Medarot (メダロット Medarotto), known as Medabots in the West, is the first anime in the Medarot franchise, produced by Bee Train Production and originally aired on TV Tokyo in July 2, 1999. The anime tells the adventures of Ikki Tenryou and Metabee as they foil the schemes of the RoboRobo Gang.

Beginning its airing a month before the launch of Medarot 2, the anime serves as a tie-in and adapts its story and characters, though takes considerable creative liberties in doing so. As it progresses, the series also bring in elements from the original game and Medarot R. Following its release, subsequent Medarot games would make various alterations to the characters and setting to more closely match the anime's portrayals.

The series was originally licensed and localized into English by Nelvana and was broadcast on YTV and Télétoon in Canada and Fox Kids and ABC Family in the United States in 2001. Though not the first Medarot media to be released in the west, its prominence and associated marketing blitz made it the main gateway to the franchise for Western audiences. Due to this, the anime was promoted as a standalone product rather than an advertisement for the games, with other products like action figures and videogames being later sold with the marketing of being derived from the anime rather than the opposite. The few Medarot games officially localized for the West (namely (Medabots AX), Medarot 2 Core and Medarot Brave) were designed with the anime in mind.

The anime has a sequel called Medarot Damashii.

Synopsis

Ikki Tenryou is a young boy who loves Medarots but does not have the allowance to buy his own. Through a series of coincidences, Ikki stumbles upon a rare Kabuto Medal and purchases an obsolete KBT-1 set. Ikki's Metabee proves to be surprisingly strong but also much unlike most medarots in personality, being rude, disobedient and with a huge chip on his shoulders. Together with Ikki's childhood friend Arika and her medarot partner Brass, Ikki and Metabee go on a variety of adventures as they help various people and tangle with the RoboRobo Gang, who at first appear to merely petty Medal thieves.

Ikki and his new friend meet a variety of colourful characters as they get dragged into hijinks or attempt to climp up in the national rankings to qualify for the upcoming World Robottle Championship. After hearing rumors of a "Legendary Medafighter", they befriend the caring-if-quirky Karin and meet Kouji, a serious and arrogant Medaroter who grows into Ikki's friendly rival. The pair also acquaint themselves with Rokusho, a wise and honorable wandering medarot whose master is thought to have perished in a fire many years prior. Metabee becomes the target of the Phantom Retort, a master thief (and actually Ikki's friendly mart cashier Hikaru Agata in disguise) who has a keen interest in Metabee's rare medal.

The duo comes under the notice of master medarot researcher Dr. Medarot and Ikki is invited to become his "apprentice". It is learned that Metabee has the ability to perform the Medaforce, a powerful attack thought to only be usable by Rare medals. After foiling a scheme by the RoboRobo leader Dr. Hebereke to harness the energy of Metabee's medal and cause a rebellion in medarots equipped with the mass-produced Kabuto medal, Ikki is told he climbed to the #3 national ranking at the last minute, qualifying him for a spot on the World Robottle Championship's Japanese team.

Before the championship begins, a controversial new rule is introduced which allows the victor of a heat to claim the medals of the losers, a rule that the current world champion Victor doesn't hesitate to take advantage of. Eventually, the Japanese team win their heats and come to blow with Victor's Kenya team. Metabee and Victor's Warbonnet execute their Medaforce attack simultaneously, plunging every Medabots witnessing the match in a dreamlike-state. Throughout Metabee's ensuing dream, it is revealed that the Medabots and their Medals are the remnants of an ancient alien civilization that wiped itself out in a war long ago. The RoboRobo leader was one of the few survivor of the civilization and used Victor and the RoboRobo as his pawns, engineering the tournament to remind Medarots of their origins and have them overthrow humanity. However, the plan is ruined when Ikki manges to enter Metabee's dream and snaps him out of it, restoring all of the medarots to their original condition.

With his plan ruined and his henchmen having deserted him, Dr. Hebereke activates his final trump card, a giant medarot called Primity Baby. Dr. Medarot has Metabee and the other medarots pilot a giant Metabee mecha he had stashed for an eventuality just like this. When the mecha's attack have little ffect, Metabee ejects the other medarots and sacrifice himself by launching the mecha at Primity Baby and detonating it. Soon after, aliens land with Rokusho's old master Dr. Gengoro Fushihara, taking Dr. Hebereke with them and giving Ikki a ressurected Metabee.

With all seemingly being well, Ikki invites Victor to reprise their interupted match.

Characters

• Ikki Tenryou
  • Metabee

• Arika Amazake
  • Brass

• Kouji Karakuchi
  • Smilodonad

• Karin Junmai
  • Saintnurse

• Hikaru Agata/Phantom Retort/Space Medarotter X
  • Arcbeetle

• Kikuhime
  • Peppercat

• Iwanoi
  • Cyandog

• Kagamiyama
  • Keithturtle

• Banchou
  • Bankaran

• Dr. Medarot

• Karasumi
  • Belzelga

• Dr. Gengoro Fushihara
  • Rokusho

• Rintarou Namashina
  • Kantaros

World Robottle Cup

• Tawarama
  • Empress Patra

• Joe Suihan
  • Teepee

• Vermouth
  • Marine Killer

• Victor
  • Warbonnet

RoboRobo Gang

• Sakekasu
  • Shinsaber

• Surume
  • Seagaru
  • Sprytooth

• Salami
  • Gokudo
  • Hakkado
  • Sagodo

• Shiokara
  • Gobenkei

• Dr. Hebereke
  • Primity Baby

English dub

The series and its sequel were licensed by Canadian animation distributor Nelvana, which aired them as a three-season (26x26x39) series between 2001 and 2004, first airing on Fox Kids for its first season before moving to ABC Family for its second and Jetix for the third. Voiceovers were recorded in Toronto. Most western dubs of the series beside the Italian one are based off this version.

As was typical for foreign adaptations of Japanese kids anime, the series was heavily localized in the name of meeting U.S broadcasting requirements and appealing to its target audience. A non-exhaustive list of changes include:

• The dub has a new, shorter opening sequence mixing footage from the Japanese opening and various episodes. A truncated version of its theme music is used as the menu theme for the overseas releases of Medarot 2 Core, Medabots AX and Medarot Brave.
• The episode order was heavily shuffled around with only the first five and the last 13 matching the Japanese episode listing. This causes a number of continuity issues.
• The entire soundtrack was replaced by new compositions.
• Various characters are renamed to simpler or western names.
• Scenes that were originally silent either have music playing or characters speaking from off-screen, often both.
• When a new Medabot is introduced, a "Medabots Vital Stats" screen appears which show's the Medabots name, owner, and special attack.
• The Medabot's model number, although they mostly maintain the same letters as the Japanese version, the numbers were changed to something completely random and with more digits. For example, Metabee changed from KBT-1 to KBT-11220.
• Scenes involving physical violence performed against human character are often edited out.
• Every episodes have small cuts and transition changes to account for different episode length
• The special ending credits montage from the final episode was cut. As such, international viewers are not informed of the outcome of Ikki and Victor's final battle as well as why Hikaru does not appear in Medarot Damashii.

Differences with the games

• As an adaptation of the Kabuto version, all the features of the Kuwagata version had to be implemented in the anime in a storyline that often doesn't exist in the games.
  • Since Metabee is Ikki Tenryou's main Medarot, Rokusho was introduced as a solo Medarot that once belonged to Dr. Fushihara.
  • Since Smilodonad is Kouji Karakuchi's main Medarot, Warbonnet was introduced as Victor's main Medarot.

• Almost all weekly episodic plots don't exist in the game and don't correspond with the plot of each chapter of Medarot 2. Only the main plot has few characteristics shared with the game.

• Although nothing prevents a person from having more than one Medarot in the anime, battles have been simplified to 1v1 instead of 3v3. Because of this most characters only have a single Medarot rather than a collection of them.

• The idea that Mr. Uruchi always appears to be the judge of every battle between Medarots doesn't exist in the games. He is only responsible for being the judge at tournaments.

• In the anime Iwanoi uses Cyandog, while in the game he uses the sucessor Bluesdog. Due to this Bluesdog was replaced by Cyandog in the Medarot 2 Core remake since the game tried to be more accurate to the anime.
  • However, the whole plot point about Cyandog using the Monkey medal (which is incompatible with his parts) doesn't exist in any version of the game and is exclusive to the anime.

• Although the anime places Arika and Karin as two possible romantic interests for Ikki, the plot ultimately opts for Arika's path over Karin's. While in the game you have the freedom to choose Karin instead.

• The whole plot about Karin being a legendary Medarotter doesn't exist in the game as gameplay-wise Saintnurse is completely unable to win a battle alone due to her lack of offensive skill.

• Despite their roles in Medarot 2, Kirara, Hachiro and Nae are completely absent in the anime.
  • Nae, however, appears in Medarot Damashii as a major character.

• Although the anime makes some allusions to the events of Medarot 1 similar to the game, the presence of adult Tawarama in the anime doesn't happen in the game. Also, Joe Suihan knowing Hikaru in the past is a bit incorrect, since who Hikaru faces in Medarot 1 was Jaw Suihan, Joe's father.

• Some Medarotters, especially Roborobo Gang, have Medarots that they don't have in the game. A notable example of this is them having some from the Elemental series, which in the games only Nae initially had them because they are still being tested in the laboratory.

• The anime states that Medaforce is an ability exclusive to rare medals and that clone medals are incapable of such feat (Although this is later contradicted with Smilodonad being capable of using Medaforce). In the games, any medal is capable of making Medaforce.
  • Also, in the games a Medarot is capable of using up to three different medaforces, while in the anime the Medarots apparently only had one.

• As obvious as it is that Hikaru and Phantom Retort are the same person, the anime ends with this plot point open and even showing the two in different locations to increase doubt. In the games, Phantom Retort is revealed to be Hikaru in the story's climax.

• Hikaru/Phantom Retort is shown with an Arcbeetle. This is impossible in the games as Arcbeetle would only be introduced in Medarot R and 3. In Medarot 2 Hikaru always uses the same starter Medarot as Ikki, Metabee or Rokusho.

• Hikaru has a third identity as Space Medarotter X, which doesn't exist in Medarot 2.

• The game's Island Tournament was replaced by the World Robottle Cup in the anime. Although they have some participants in common, the entire event happens differently.

• In the anime Dr. Hebereke is the leader of the Roborobo Gang, while in the game he only cooperates with the group for his own plans. The reason for his actions in the game are more comical than truly evil.

• While in the game God Emperor is recognized as the final boss, the anime opted for Primity Baby. Probably because Primity Baby is indeed an extra (and harder) battle after God Emperor in the games. Also Primity Baby is indeed the final boss of Medarot R (which the second half of the anime uses some elements), which makes Dr. Hebereke have an equivalent role to Katekin Ten from Medarot R than his own Medarot 2 counterpart.
  • Primity Baby's gigantic size and Metabee's gigantic body never happened in the games.
  • God Emperor was placed as a major enemy from the first half of the anime, right before the start of the World Robattle Cup arc.

Reception

In a press release by Nelvana, Medabots was stated to be Fox Kid's "#1 new-season program for fall 2001".

In a 2010 interview, Horuma Rin said he was impressed by the thoughtful and fluid way the anime series translated his designs to animation, singling out Peppercat's portrayal.

Medarot 2 writer Kana Hirano spoke highly of the series, calling it a masterpiece on her account of Medarot 2's development. In a 2023 twitter post, she added that seeing the characters she named brough to life by the anime series was highly motivating during the "death march" of Medarot 3 and Medarot 4's development.

See also

• TV Tokyo page (Archived)

• Official Medabots Website (Archived)

• Nelvana page (Archived)

• IMDb page

• ADV Films page (Archived)