Survivor Series: Spotlight- Bots Master

OK, so I said that from time to time I would bring to your attention shows that I thought deserved more attention then they garner when they first aired , and this one is no exception. The first offering I have for you in this special feature spotlight series is the 1993 French series Bots Master. The reason I ever saw this show as child was because executives at Youth Television(YTV) in Canada though the show would rate well with kids. I think it stood out to them because it had a story that didn’t treat kids as idiots and actually delivered a substantive story at least for a children television show.

The background story as follows; in the year 2025, robots have become part of every day life for many people across the planet. The innovation that led to this new reality occurred in a garage, when teenage prodigy Ziv “ZZ” Zulander created the first of “3A” robot series. Soon after ZZ goes to work for the  Robotic Megafact Corporation aka “the Corp” and mass product of the 3A robots begins. After sometime ZZ uncovers a plot by the president of the Corp, Sir Lewis Leon Paradim, and several other executives at the Corp to take control of the world government through a series of plots involving the company’s 3A robots which are positioned all over the world in key places. ZZ knows that Paradim is a well respected figure in the business world and he plans to run for the world presidency in the election upcoming in the next year, and  most likely no one in power will believe him without hard evidence. Facing this situation ZZ decides to embark on a covert, below the surface, guerrilla campaign to stop Paradim and the Corp and gather enough evidence to bring them to justice. Assisting him are a new generation of robot known as the B.O.Y.Z.Z ( Brain Operated Young Zygoetopic Zoids), robots with the ability to think and reason with very different personalities.  After rescuing his sister from the Corp private school, Blitzy, she joins him, and they together face a long, uphill battle to expose the Corp.

I think the creators of this show envisaged  a world where at some point there would be a one world government, like we see in so many Japanese mech animes like gundam, macross, etc. Now I don’t think there will be a world government by 2025, however its likely that at some point there will be a world government, so I give them points for presenting a possible near future world, which was over 30 years away at the time of production.  I get the feeling Bots Master was meant for an older audience, maybe 14-16 year olds,  given the more mature type of story, and the political, corporate, and social overtones.

There are several themes that appear throughout the series. The major one is the issue of corporate influence over government and methods used by companies to gain influence in political spheres. The role of the media is a also secondary theme, as the media at first has a negative view of ZZ and then as he slowly exposes the Corp, the image becomes more favorable. Another theme is how much are people willing to sacrifice to see their goals through to the end as at times ZZ questions if its all worth it. The theme of artificial intelligence plays a part in this series with the boyzz robots come to terms living in a world where robots are seen just as servants and menial labor workers.

Of course this series has some gimmicks and downsides. The main gimmick is the 3D sequences during each episode when which with or with 3D glasses you could see the action in 3D. As a child this was off the chart for me, but now its just something to chuckle at lol. Some of the characters are annoying and one dimensional and this can wear on your nerves. The use of stock footage is a bit much at times, but as an anime and more importantly an a mecha anime fan, I’m used to stock footage :P.

I would recommend this show to anyone who likes mech shows or anyone that enjoys a show with politics or addresses social themes.If you want to watch the show here’s a link to a youtube channel with all 40 episodes and its been there for years, so don’t worry about copyright law lol. I’m probably going to give it a re-watch myself soon.

http://www.youtube.com/user/cmeister2

http://www.veoh.com/watch/v15644200B5scXPCd?h1=The+Bots+Master+Ep.1

Until next time folks,

Devil_Survivor