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Copyright © Sugizaki Yukiru * Wani Books / Bandai Visual * Megami Kouhosei Production Committee
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—by John Yung
A young boy stumbles into the cockpit of a robot and that
starts off a chain of events. Sound familiar? This is the
classic formula that opens the plot of MEGAMI KOUHOSEI
(THE CANDIDATE FOR GODDESS). While the series adds some
original touches to the clichés, ultimately it is
a disappointing story.
MEGAMI KOUHOSEI is centered around Zero Enna, candidate
88 at the Goddess Operator Academy (G.O.A) where he
aspires to become a pilot. The G.O.A was established
to train candidates for the five goddesses that protect
mankind from the threat of monsters called Victims. The
goddesses are actually ingrids (robots), but their operators
require a rare EO blood type that grants them EX abilities
and the trainees must undergo an extensive three-year
training. Aside from making his hair glow, Zero's EX talent
appears to be acceleration, but there's also something
different about him...
This difference manifests itself when Zero accidentally
stumbles into one of the ingrid cockpits and starts
synchronizing with it, even though the goddess already
has a pilot. Inside the ingrid, Zero meets a green-haired
girl who shows him a flashback of when the ingrids saved
his space colony from a Victim attack. The monster was
defeated, but the weakened colony dome ruptured, expelling
any colonists locked out of the shelters into space. A
young Zero was one of these unlucky people, but he was
rescued by the white goddess, Ernn-Laties. Apparently,
Zero is destined to become an ingrid pilot, but right
now, he's not ready and rejects the synchronization in
time for the ingrid's current pilot to pull an unconscious
Zero out of the cockpit and prepare for a battle with an
approaching Victim. Zero awakens after seeing a vision of
the girl who tells him that they'll meet again. Strangely,
he doesn't seem very concerned about his unusual experience.
Instead, he's more excited about getting a good view of
the space battle with the Victim.
The Victims take on different forms, sort of like the
angels from EVANGELION, but MEGAMI KOUHOSEI doesn't
really focus on them. The series seems to concern
itself with the initiation of the new candidates and
the lives of the ingrid pilots. Another important sub-plot
in the series is the introduction of the female technicians
who are partnered to the candidates, especially Kizna
Touriik, Zero's cat-eared partner. These technicians
support the candidates on and off the battlefield by
monitoring their partner's health and the status of
their robots.
The most striking thing about the show is the use of 3D
computer graphic imagery with 2D cel animation, similar
to the use of both animation techniques in BLUE
SUBMARINE NO. 6. The mix of the two media clashes in
both series, but Gonzo Studios' production had better
direction and showed improvement over the course of the
series. The joint effort of IKIF+
and XEBEC on MEGAMI KOHOUSEI probably
suffered from a tight budget and
production schedule, but those restrictions don't
excuse director Hongo Mitsuru (OUTLAW STAR) for using
boring camera angles and slow scene pacing. This sort
of problem could have been spotted early in the
production during the storyboarding stage. It's
pretty sad when you see more 3D stock footage than
2D stock footage in a show. It's even sadder when
the 2D animation quality is better than the 3D
animation. The robots are nicely modeled in 3D,
but the ingrid designs lack the grace and finesse
of the mortar headds from FIVE STAR STORIES. The
poor line quality, muddy textures, bad lighting
and low framerates of the stiffly animated 3D rendered
elements just stick out like a sore thumb in contrast
to the solid and brightly colored cel-painted elements.
With all the boys in the cast of MEGAMI KOUHOSEI, it seems
like somebody wanted to cash in on CLAMP CAMPUS DETECTIVES
and GUNDAM WING's market. Unfortunately, most of MEGAMI
KOUHOSEI's characters are one-dimensional personalities
that make the show hard to watch. Zero may be acting his
age by being brash and cocky, but his rivalry with Hiead
goes beyond stupidity. Ever since his offer of friendship
was rejected, Zero goes out of his way to annoy Hiead and
he doesn't seem to outgrow this childishness by the end
of the show. Hiead's no help either, since he has problems
of his own, but he doesn't take any steps to resolve them
within the 12 episodes. Possibly the only well-rounded
character of the show would be Kizna because we get to
see more of what makes her tick than any other character
in the cast. If the series were episodic, the lack of any
growth in maturity may be forgivable, but the plot is
clearly trying to tell a story.
However, the large part of the problem with MEGAMI KOUHOSEI
is that it's based upon a work in progress, the manga by
Sugizaki Yukiru (also responsible for the manga version
of BRAIN POWERED). Since the manga didn't have an ending
when the anime production started, the show's writer, Okeya
Akira (GUNDAM: THE 08TH MS TEAM), was left with the difficult
task of somehow fitting an incomplete story into a coherent
12-episode format. Unfortunately, Okeya didn't meet the
challenge, and the resulting plot seems faithful to the
manga but also very directionless. The ending of the 12th
episode was unsatisfying, leaving too many questions
unanswered, and it probably would be better if Okeya
had re-packaged the story to either tighten up the
sub-plots or expand the character development. There
was a moment when Teela, the lead ingrid pilot, questions
if they are doing the right thing in fighting the Victims,
but that potential sub-plot is ignored for the rest of the
episodes, and this is typical treatment for the sub-plots
that crop up in the course of the series.
MEGAMI KOUHOSEI is like a spectacular car accident —
it's a horrible thing to look at, but you can't quite tear
your eyes away. This is a shame because there are hints of
potential quality peppered throughout the production that
just don't come together. This salad dressing approach to
making anime is exemplified by the opening animation set
to some 1950s orchestral music straight out of the LAWRENCE
WELK SHOW. By themselves, the elements are fine, but in
context of the series, they don't relate very well with
the story. MEGAMI KOUHOSEI is a confused and rushed effort
that will leave viewers feeling cheated. For a better story
involving teenagers in space, watch MUGEN NO RYVIUS. For a
better example of Hongo's work, watch
OUTLAW STAR instead,
and let's hope that he can redeem himself with his next
project.
Released in Japan by Bandai Visual
Vol. 1
VHS: BES-2523 approx. 49 mins. ¥2800
DVD: BCBA-0450 approx. 72 mins. ¥6000
Vol. 2
VHS: BES-2524 approx. 49 mins. ¥2800
DVD: BCBA-0451 approx. 72 mins. ¥6000
Vol. 3
VHS: BES-2525 approx. 49 mins. ¥2800
DVD: BCBA-0452 approx. 72 mins. ¥6000
Vol. 4
VHS: BES-2525 approx. 49 mins. ¥2800
DVD: BCBA-0453 approx. 75 mins. ¥6000
Available now in Japan
Where to buy
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