Episode 34 High Res (Patreon)

And now we return to our regularly scheduled updates.

Finally finished watching all of the NG/VS Knight Lamune & 40 franchise. I watched it in reverse, starting with the final OVAs before watching the original series. Overall I think I prefer the first series the most, as it's dumb childish fun with world/planet traveling with an amusing cast of characters. The VS Knight series' antagonists weren't as fun, and Da Cider losing Lesqua as his straight man messed with his dynamic.

The part I liked the least was definitely the final OVA's (Fresh). Gone is the super dumb childish humor and instead we're given sex and violence and a overall darker plot. The original series came out in 1990, and Fresh came out around 1997, so maybe they were targeting the teenage crowd who watched the original series? But it doesn't make much sense because Fresh is a sequel to VS Knight, which would've aired just a year before and still had roots in the child friendly territory. Da Cider wasn't even in it! The goofy vehicles with giant faces replaced with typical 90s anime scifi aesthetics. Don't get me wrong, I like those aesthetics, but it gave the franchise a bit of an identity. Then again, VS didn't have much of it either.

Maaaan!

Bottom line, I think they're still fun to watch if you like child friendly, giant robot, isekai/sucked into the game series. It's incredibly silly and dumb and Popeye even shows up in an episode if that tells you anything.