RobiHachi: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

RobiHachi: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

A science-fiction journey begins.

RobiHachi is a science-fiction action anime series. The series comes from creator Taiga Umatani. Breaking from the norm of most modern anime productions, RobiHachi is not an adaptation of a original manga and is instead inspired from classic Japanese literary works (updated for new exploration on the anime series).

The anime features animation by Studio Comet (Bleach, Initial D). The series is produced by Kento Yoshida (Restaurant to Another World, Rumble Garanndoll), Manami Kabashima (Somali and the Forest Spirit, Girly Air Force), Masayo Kudo (Fairy Ranmaru, Kase-san and Morning Glories), Noriko Itou (Rinshi!! Ekoda-chan, Skull-face Bookseller Honda- san), Shota Watase (How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord, Infinite Dendrogram), and Yoko Kawahara (Desert Punk, Peacemaker). Science-fiction fans will appreciate the action-packed series.

Robby Yarge (Kazuya Nakai) hasn't had it easy as of late. The down-on-his-luck space explorer has been struggling to pay his bills. An angry debt collector, Yang (Tomokazu Sugita), is searching for Robby to try and get all of his missing money back.

Robby has no means to pay back his debt collector in full and so he decides it might be time to leave the debt behind and flee to another planet: the mythical and beloved planet of Isekandar. Can Robby make it off the planet alive? More trouble ensues when stowaway Hatchi Kita (Keisuke Koumoto) decides to tag along for the wild ride – could the stowaway be colluding with Yang to retrieve the unpaid debts?

The series works in part because of the central protagonist. A underdog story, Robby Yarge is a good leading character for RobiHachi. The storyline focuses on exploring the journey of the lead and his series of trials and tribulations. Robby is a goofy guy in some respects – and that gets him into an enormous amount of trouble sometimes.

Take flight.

The animation is reasonably impressive and seems well-suited to the intergalactic material. The series features art direction by Reiji Kasuga (Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Darkness TV Special, Sasami: Magical Girls Club). Kasuga did a solid job handling the art direction. This is certainly a nice looking series and the team of animators involved in the production did a solid job exploring the tale.

One area of the production which could have used some improvement is the mecha designs. The mecha designs by Ikuro Ishihara (B- Daman CrossFire, Scan2Go) aren't as sophisticated as what one sees on anime series set in the Gundam franchise and other high- profile mecha creations. The efforts here manage to feel comparatively average by comparison. This is one element that could have been strengthened.

The series is a nice looking production. The cinematography by Hyo Mok Yang (My Little Monster, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU) does a solid job of presenting the colorful environments set in outer space. The use of color and lighting on the series is commendable and fits the material well. Yang certainly put forth a lot of effort in to the production.

The score composed by Tomohiro Yamada (Encouragement of Climb: Gift of Memories, Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!) is a reasonably good backdrop to the action-packed excitement. The original score selections do a solid job of enhancing the tone of the series – without detracting anything from enjoyment. A solid effort by Yamada.

The screenplay by Hiroko Kanasugi (Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, Monster Hunter Stories – Ride On) does a solid job of exploring science-fiction and anime tropes while managing to be unique in the genre. Without a manga to adapt, RobiHachi is a bit of an odd duckling in the anime stratosphere as most productions go underway after a manga publication. Kanasugi takes inspiration from Japanese stories, including Tokaidochu Hizakurige.

Shinji Takamatsu (Gintama, After War Gundam X) directs. RobiHachi is entertaining science-fiction fun with a nice concept to keep audiences engaged. The core idea of the series allows room for adventure, action, and comedy. The series balances these tonalities and audiences will find the production effective at delving in to its own mythology. While not a perfect series, RobiHachi is worth checking out.

RobiHachi: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Funimation Entertainment, RobiHachi is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The production looks sleek and crisp in high-definition. The series is a native high-definition encode. RobiHachi is not a simple upscaled presentation. Colors have an adequate degree of "pop" and everything on the series looks well-detailed (with nice consideration for line-art on the series).

RobiHachi: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 stereo (with English subtitles). The lossless, high resolution audio presentations are worthwhile and help to enhance the experience. The lossless English dub is worthwhile and has some decent ambiance because of the expanded surround sound design. The original Japanese soundtrack might be limited to 2.0 stereo but also benefits from the lossless audio encoding.

RobiHachi: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Episode 10 Audio Commentary

Promo Videos (HD, 2:30)

Textless Opening Song (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song (HD, 1:32)

RobiHachi: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

RobiHachi is an entertaining science-fiction anime creation. The series is not adapted from an original manga and instead takes inspiration from classic Japanese mythology (including the story of Tokaidochu Hizakurige). The anime series blends science-fiction with action and adventure. The Blu-ray release features a strong video-audio presentation. The release includes a small selection of extras. Recommended.