Machine Robo

Machine Robo is a long running toy-based franchise produced by toy company Bandai. It debuted in 1982 in Japan and initially ended in 1989. It was revived several times, and its latest incarnation, Machine Robo Mugenbine, is still being released today. A large portion of the Machine Robo toy-line was exported and sold by Tonka in America as GoBots and Rock Lords, sometimes with major color and mold changes, together with toys developed by Tonka themselves.

Several anime series were produced for it:

Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos is a Japanese anime television series produced by Ashi Productions. It ran on TV Tokyo from July 3, 1986, through May 28, 1987. To date, only 15 episodes of the series have officially been released with English subtitles on three DVDs by Central Park Media. The story takes place on the mechanical world of Cronos. A band of villains called the Gyandlar have come to the planet in search of the mythical energy, the Hyribead.

This was followed by Machine Robo: Battlehackers, a loose sequel to Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos, which aired in 1987.

Furthermore, three OVAs were produced from 1988 to 1990 that told the further story of Rom Stol and his sister (especially his sister), Blue Jet, Rod Drill, and Tripple Jim.

2003 saw the release of Machine Robo Rescue, which told the feats of a rescue organisation and its Machine Robo helpers.

Although its current incarnation Machine Robo Mugenbine does not feature an anime, several CG shorts and a manga were produced, and the current releases feature a story on the boxes.


 * Action Girl: Leina Stol, esp. in the Original Video Animation
 * Adorkable: Daichi, from MRR.
 * Ambiguously Gay: Ken from MRR.
 * Badass: Rom.
 * BFS: Kenro and Nagase
 * Big Bad: Gadess in Revenge of Cronos, Dylan in Battle Hackers
 * Big Damn Heroes: Rom Stoll's main forte.
 * Bishonen: Guardi Stoll
 * Brain In a Jar: Grujios
 * Brother-Sister Incest: Leina and Rom are a little too close
 * But Not Too Foreign: Arias "Ace" Honoh from Machine Robo Rescue
 * Calling Your Attacks: Rom
 * Catch Phrase: Rom has a set of it..."WAIT!!!", "*insert speech here, mostly about virtue and justice* People call it *insert meaning here*!", "Scum like you doesn't deserve to know my name!". And to a lesser extent, "SEIBAI!!" (meaning: "PUNISHMENT!!"), usually said after God Hand Smash
 * Phrase Catcher: The villain will ask "Who're you?" or some variation thereof.
 * Chinese Girl: Haruka Lin in Machine Robo Rescue
 * Clingy Jealous Girl: Leina Stoll
 * Cool Old Guy: Kirai Stoll
 * Combining Mecha: Devil Satan 6, Land Commander 5
 * Cute Shotaro Boy: Majority of the cast in Machine Robo Rescue.
 * Dark Action Girl: Diondra
 * Death Is Cheap: Devil Satan 6 is finally killed at the end of Revenge of Cronos... except he's back with no explanation in Battle Hackers.
 * Deceptive Disciple: Bug Newman
 * Delinquents: The entire theme of Battle Hackers
 * Drill Tank: Rod Drill and Drill Crasher
 * Ear Worm: Shouri no Machine Robo
 * Expy: Rom Stoll/Kenryu/Baikanfu is based on the same toy as Protteser/Delinger/Garbin from Gordian. Tough Trailer and Pro Truck Racer are the same design as Titan boy from Choushinsei Flashman. The bad guy vehicle Varigale X is just Jaguar Vulcan from Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan.
 * Faux Action Girl: Sometimes Leina falls into this category, depending on who's writing the episode.
 * Hammerspace: Kenryu and Baikanfu
 * Humongous Mecha: Baikanfu
 * JAM Project: Did the opening and ending themes for Machine Robo Rescue.
 * Kansai Regional Accent: Devil Satan; crosses into The Idiot From Osaka territory occasionally
 * Kazuhiko Inoue: Rom Stoll
 * Kid Hero: The cast of Machine Robo Rescue.
 * Koichi Yamadera: as Drill Crasher
 * Lonely Rich Kid: Sayuri Suizenji in MRR
 * Long-Lost Relative: Guardi Stoll
 * Mask Power: Rom
 * Memetic Mutation: No one deserves to know Rom's that man's name.
 * Merchandise-Driven
 * Naive Newcomer:, after he joins the Machine Robo rescue squad.
 * Names to Know in Anime: Masato Shimon sings the 2nd OP and Vikung-Fu's insert theme.
 * No Mouth: Rod Drill, Triple Jim
 * Not Blood Siblings: Leina and Rom (revealed in the Original Video Animation)
 * Robot Girl: Leina Stoll
 * Show Hayami: Narration, Guardi Stoll
 * Smurfette Principle: There is only one girl in each team in Machine Robo Rescue.
 * Super Robot
 * Super Robot Wars: Compact 2 Trilogy, Impact and MX.
 * This Is a Drill: Rod Drill
 * Transformation Sequence
 * Transformation Trinket: Kenro the Wolf Sword
 * Transforming Mecha
 * Villain Decay: Devil Satan 6, he was Put on a Bus for a while.
 * The Woobie: Taiyoh from MRR.
 * Yakuza: Jingi, Kina, and Koron in ROC; Yasando in Battle Hackers