However, the difference between Gaogaigar and BetterMan lie in their tone. Gaogaigar was intentionally over the top in its attempt to bring back the feel of Heroic Robot Anime of the 1970’s. Everything about it was done as loving tribute to shows like Yuusha Reideen, Dangaurd Ace and Gaiking. You know the type of shows I’m talking about, where the hero knows he’s doing the right thing and is unswerving in his heroism. Gaogaigar was the anti-Evangelion, reminding us that people want to cheer on the hero not slap him in the face for being a wuss. Betterman’s strength lie in the mood the series sets. This isn’t over the top fighting robot action. This is the anime version of Ridley Scott’s Alien with a dash Godzilla and Ultraman thrown in. This is people putting together the pieces of a smaller mystery to try and understand the greater mystery at hand. Betterman is horror, slasher films and giant monsters all wrapped into one beautifully animated 26-episode package.

Studio 7 went the extra mile on this show. The animation is mostly traditional cel hand drawn animation but every now and then a little dose of digital animation is thrown in for effect. Damn is this show well done. The animation is crisp and clean; the quality of it barely drops at all. I mean we are talking better than most of the “High End” animation seen on TV these days. It is on a par with the animation from the “Pierre Le Fou” episode from Cowboy Bebop, which puts it in some pretty incredible company. Its use of black and gray is perfect, using tones of black to accent the already present animation, as opposed to shows like Hellsing and Soul Taker where black is used to cover up those shows lack of animation. All of this is presented in loving detail and given to the viewer in wide screen format. They didn’t reformat this show for wide screen, no sir; the entire show was originally made in this format.  Does this give you any idea on how much love Studio 7 put into this show? Does this tell you how much Studio 7 loves their fans?

All this to tell the tale of how one boy stumbles across a project who’s purpose to save the world from a threat known as “Algernon”.

It seems Keita Aono was destined to have an interesting day when his female friend Hinoki Sai entered his life again. Especially since he had just been dreaming about Hinoki the night before. Even odder, Hinoki is called away from school leaving everyone in school wondering, “What is up with the new girl”?

Keita finds out Hinoki’s secret, completely by accident as he takes shelter underground during a rainstorm only to be sucked into the horror that has become “Bottom World”.  It seems “Bottom World” was supposed to be a giant underground amusement park due to open in a few days. Bad news is, Algernon manifested in “Bottom World” and now the organization Mode Warp working with Akamatsu LTD are here trying to stop Algernon at any cost. Keita stumbles around the remains of “Bottom World” and finds Sakura, a young strapped to a chair with large amounts of sensory equipment. She assures Keita that she is ok and thanks him for being concerned. Of course later Keita stumbles across the secret weapon made to stop Algernon, the powered armor Kaku Seijin and one of its 2 pilots is none other than Hinoki Sai. It turns out Hinoki and Sakura are limited psychics known as Dual Kind. Hinoki’s designation as a pilot is that of Head Diver. She is one of the few people capable of piloting the Kaku Seijin but her co-pilot Cactus Prickle left the mecha to go investigate their surroundings. It’s then that Algernon attacks in the form of “Bottom World” mascot Chika-chan. Keita acts as the co-pilot to help Hinoki but the “linker Gel” that fuels the mecha runs out. All seems lost when a mysterious figure arrives sending the Mode Warp and Akamatsu tech support teams in to a panic. Everyone except Sakura who says only one word… “BetterMan”.

This is all just in the first episode. Yes the question of exactly who or what BetterMan is asked and to some extent answered in the next episode but the mystery of BetterMan and who he is looms throughout the series. The show resonates with tense moments that most times see the main characters fleeing from whatever threat Algernon throws at them this week. Don’t think that this is the basic “Kid gets a mecha and becomes a hero” show because the Kaku Seijin is very limited in what it can do against Algernon. No the show revolves around solving the mystery of BetterMan and what exactly his role in the fight with Algernon is.

I was blown away by this show upon first viewing and I’m still in awe of it. How this show got overlooked is a mystery but I’m happy that Bandai is releasing it here I nthe U.S.  So far this is the best release this year as far as TV series goes and probably the second best overall release behind Metropolis. The animation is superb while the story and characters are all well thought out and engaging. Why can’t more shows be this well made? Overall this is a perfect companion piece to Gaogaigar and even if you aren’t a fan of Gaogaigar you need to see this show if no other reason to see how a well made tension filled thriller can be done in anime. BetterMan gets my highest recommendation. Buy it today!

BetterMan Volume 1
Available from Bandai Entertainment
MSRP: $29.98
Running Time: 125 minutes (5 Episodes)
Presented in 1.85:1 Non-Anamorphic Wide Screen.