Following the launch of Bang Bravern and its bait-and-switch super robot reveal, it’s clearer now that Detonator Orgun is probably a bigger influence on it than the Braves series.
To back up a bit, Masami Obari is known for his work on super robot anime. From Dancouga to Dangaioh and obviously across the Brave series, with my personal favorite of his entries being Might Gaine.
Naturally, Obari has worked on all manner of real robot anime too, from Dragonar to the recent Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans and Gundam: The Witch from Mercury.
However, the first anime series that Obari actually directed was Detonator Orgun.
Made around the same time as Tekkaman Blade, which Obari also helped animate, Detonator Orgun was Obari’s interpretation of the original Space Knight Tekkaman.
Dealing with an alien invasion of Earth from an enemy known as the Evoluder, an alien defector known as Orgun flies to Earth and teams up with a human to fight off the invasion.
With excellent character designs by the legendary Kia Asamiya and unique mecha designs by Takehiko Ito, as well as a gripping musical score by Susumu Hirasawa, Detonator Orgun was a pretty potent OVA back in the early 90s.
While the style of Bang Bravern is certainly more super robot themed, the core of its setting and story are very much in line with Detonator Orgun.
I picked up on this in a roundabout way, as I cited Tekkaman Blade after the episode aired (which also has a similar premise), but Detonator Orgun is far closer to Obari’s heart. It’s also a series he regularly and affectionately talks about online (shown above).
So the fact that Obari’s latest directorial offering has a friendly alien mecha helping to thwart an alien invasion means he’s probably referencing the first anime he directed rather than anything else.
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