Giant Gorg: Complete TV Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Giant Gorg: Complete TV Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Giant Gorg is an mecha anime classic. Created by Hajime Yatate and Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, Giant Gorg is a beloved classic of Japanese animation. Featuring animation produced by Sunrise (City Hunter, Cowboy Bebop), Giant Gorg was first broadcast on Japanese television on TV Tokyo. Featuring the voices of Mayumi Tanaka, Kazumi Amemiya, Keaton Yamada, and Masao Imanishi.

Yuu Tagami (Mayumi Tanaka) finds himself encountering a strange and unexpected adventure following the unexpected loss of his departed father. Yuu wasn’t super close with his departed dad. Nonetheless, Yuu still follows the words of his deceased father when he reads a letter written to him and instructing him to meet Dr. Wave in New York.

Dr. Wave is as strange and unique a character as ever was. Dr. Wave is obsessed with the New Austral Island. For one thing, there is even a giant robot on the New Austral Island known as Giant Gorg.

Dr. Wave wants more knowledge about the island. The island seemingly appeared out of nowhere and a mythical legend of sorts was instantly created. Meanwhile, the diabolical GAIL corporation is similarly determined to learn more about the island. The GAIL corporation wants to discover any potential science that the island might possess.

Can Yuu Tagami work alongside Giant Gorg and be a protector of the island while uncovering secrets along the way? The island seems to be capable of disappearing in the blink of an eye and for what reason? Adventure, mystery, and action awaits.

The series has a compelling lead character. Yuu Tagami is a fun lead protagonist and someone that the audience will enjoy. The character has a determination to push forward with the adventure as he is drawn into the mystery of the island. The character element is a big part of the production.

The character designs by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko (Mobile Suit Gundam, Venus Wars) are an essential element of the production. Yasuhiko is a talented character designer and these are fun designs. Excellent design work adds to the style of the production.

The animation is breathtaking. The animation direction by Tsukasa Dokite (Urusei Yatsura, Dirty Pair) and Yoshikazu Yasuhiko (Mobile Suit Gundam, Arion) is one of the best things about the production. Superb animation enhances Giant Gorg and its wonderful aesthetic qualities. The animation is an essential, classic, and invigorating part of the production.

The art style exudes creativity and abundance artistry. The team of animators involved with the production of Giant Gorg delivered so much classic artistic sensibility to the production. Giant Gorg is above-and-beyond compared to many productions. The style of art looks cinematic and as invigorating as one could hope to discover. As a result, this is an enormously pleasing anime production and there is so much to appreciate about it.

Written by Masaki Tsuji (Urusei Yatsura, Flying Phantom Ship) and Yumiko Tsukamoto (Dirty Pair, God Mazinger), Giant Gorg is a well-scripted anime. The scripting is well-written and the storyline is one offering a compelling narrative. Fans of ambitious mecha anime series will appreciate the style of storytelling. A classic anime and one that will appeal to fans of more ambitious productions.

Directed by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko (Venus Wars, Arion), Giant Gorg is a classic for a reason – much of which can be attested to the filmmaker at the helm. Venus Wars and Arion are two of the greatest anime films ever made and Giant Gorg is an equally ambitious anime series. Fans of director Yasuhiko will be quite thrilled to discover the legendary filmmaker at the helm of an iconic mecha classic. Giant Gorg is a fun series and one that anime enthusiasts won’t want to miss if looking for ambitious, creative, and bold filmmaking.

Yasuhiko understands the importance of epic storytelling combined with bold action-adventure. The sense of adventure in the action scenes is something that genre fans (especially action fans) will be appreciative of. There is a lot of merit to a quality action anime series – the best action anime series wouldn’t be iconic classics without top-notch action to accompany the storytelling. Looking at anime classics like Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Neon Genesis Evangelion – none of these action classics would be classics without the great combination of solid directing, characters, and action sequences. It takes a special combination of ingredients to make a classic anime. Yasuhiko brings the action with class and Giant Gorg is a classic for genre enthusiasts.

Giant Gorg: Complete TV Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Discotek Media, Giant Gorg is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full frame. The presentation is an immersive one with quality high-definition video. The hand-drawn animation looks incredible on the release. There is so much to appreciate about the art style and what it brings to the table. The superb animation is crisp and well-detailed. Background animation and line art are excellent. Colors "pop" with considerable depth and immersion.

Discotek Media has provided Giant Gorg with an excellent encode. The encode provides the series with good depth and detail. One of the great things about physical media and the Blu-ray disc format is the superior encoding quality. Even if the streaming era, there is something to be said about the superior video quality possible with physical media. Physical media can have higher video bit-rates and more impressive encoding.

Giant Gorg: Complete TV Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (with English subtitles). The lossless audio quality on the release is quite excellent overall. The audio clarity has great depth, clarity, and detail. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand. The soundtrack score is superbly reproduced and is something that sounds remarkable on the release. The soundstage is quite good given the age of the anime production. Discotek Media has done a great job with the encoding.

Blu-ray has a significant benefit over streaming services: lossless audio. For home theater enthusiasts and audiophiles wanting to eek out the absolute best in audio quality, the physical media format has clear advantages. Streaming video services simply do not stack up in terms of audio quality. For the connoisseurs of the home theater world, Blu-ray is a great advantage and stands as the best on the market.

Giant Gorg: Complete TV Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The first print-run o-card slipcover features an impressive cover art design. The artwork underneath the slipcover remains the same as the cover-art highlighted on the slipcover. Alas, no "dual cover art" as on some releases (which is always my preference when available). Even so, the slipcover quality is nice. It certainly is a nice quality slipcover and something that adds to the collectability of the release.

On disc supplements include:

Clean Opening (HD, 1:31)

Clean Ending (HD, 1:11)

Promo (HD, 00:31)

Unfortunately, the release of Giant Gorg doesn't have a more expansive supplemental package. The release could have used a more in-depth bonus features assortment. The release would have been better and more well-rounded with some audio commentaries, behind-the- scenes documentaries, production footage, cast/crew interviews, photo galleries, art galleries, and more. Alas, Discotek Media doesn't provide as robust a supplemental package on Giant Gorg as on some of the other releases with more expansive supplements and distributed by Discotek. Even so, Giant Gorg at least provides a nice looking slipcover and better packaging design.

Giant Gorg: Complete TV Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Giant Gorg is an outstanding anime classic from a master anime filmmaker – the legendary Yoshikazu Yasuhiko (Arion, Venus Wars). The anime series features outstanding animation and production. The series is ambitious, bold, and creative. There are a lot of wonderful creative elements. Mecha anime done right.

The Blu-ray release is impressive with excellent high-definition video and lossless audio encoding. The Discotek Blu-ray release also comes with a nicely designed o-card slipcover for the first print run. Fans of ambitious classic mecha anime and the works of director Yasuhiko will be enormously pleased with the release. Highly recommended.