Panda-Z: The Robonimation (Vol. 1)

Reviewed By: Andrew Kaplan

DVD Bandai Entertainment

Review based on first disc (episodes 1-5)

Rating 14-up

What it’s (basically) all about: The giant animal robots of the Warunimal Empire attack the Robonimal World.  Their sole line of defense: giant robot Panda-Z, piloted by Pan-Taron.  Hilarity ensues.

Nitty Gritty: This first disc contains five comedic five-minute shorts.  The stories include:

The Strongest Warrior, featuring Panda-Z’s battles against a series of Warunimal giant robots.  One of which is a giant robot who fires rocket-powered breasts at her opponents.

Table Manners, showcasing the difficulties in eating a plate of batteries (with repeated warnings to viewers not to try this at home).

Certain Death!  Rocket Punch!  This one points out some of the practical problems that most giant robot stories never address.

A Quiet Duel manages to compress an epic series of Old Maid games into five minutes of hilarity.

The Midnight Angel, which is just weird.

These silent shorts—the only dialogue is conveyed through intertitles—are all appropriate for younger viewers, with the possible exception of the rocket-powered breasts, and the implied drunkenness of The Midnight Angel.  The minimal back story isn’t necessary to understand the shorts, and is actually only given on the back of the case, not in the program itself.

More than anything, this DVD reminded me of a less-story-oriented Powerpuff Girls, and should appeal to the same audience.

Extras include a clean opening and a 3-D animation clip.

Trailers include Mars Daybreak, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and Planetes.  The trailers contain more mature content than the actual Panda-Z episodes.  Ghost in the Shell is particularly mature, with guns firing, characters getting punched, explosions going off, and a character exclaiming, “Who the hell do you think you are?”  The content of the trailers may affect where this DVD is placed in the library.

Survey says: Unless breast-missiles are a concern, the content of the Panda-Z episodes could comfortably sit next to Powerpuff Girls or Dexter’s Lab in a juvenile collection.  However, the trailers for more mature stories may make it more prudent to put this disc in a YA collection.  Older kids and adults will appreciate the humor, and younger kids won’t be demanding that their parents find them a copy of Planetes.  Because the price is relatively high for a half-hour of content, this is an optional purchase.

Personal Ad: I love pandas, and I love giant robots, so a giant robot panda?  This is a gimme.  And this passes my most important comedy test: it made me laugh out loud.  I may have found a new favorite show, although only getting half an hour of content for $15.00 doesn’t give very good value for money.