Once I first noticed the opening of Blue Comet SPT Layzner, I used to be blown away. The music, the animation, the dramatic aptitude, the large robots—all of it labored collectively to make me wish to see the present for actual sometime.
This was my introduction to Layzner, and it could be a very long time earlier than I used to be capable of watch the sequence. Now that I’ve, I’ve come away feeling that this Chilly Conflict relic just isn’t solely a superb work regardless of main setbacks, however really extra related than ever, for higher or worse.
Earlier than really watching it, I continued to come across Layzner in several kinds. Within the first TV sequence of my beloved Genshiken, there’s an episode preview narration the place the characters are speaking about anime that acquired their runs lower quick. The character Madarame (i.e. the nerdiest of the nerds) posits the curious notion that it’s not a lot that nice reveals typically get canceled however that getting canceled is the very signal of a fantastic present. One of many sequence he mentions is the thinly veiled title Dizner, which taught me that Layzner was an anime that acquired kneecapped.
Was this abrupt finish a case of a present burning brilliant after which truly fizzling out? Or possibly the merch merely didn’t promote; that occurs on a regular basis. However the fact is more odd, and tells the story of a sequence cursed by circumstances past its management—a defective kerosene heater made by the first sponsor of Layzner, Sanyo Electronics, meant funding ended up being pulled.
Later, I’d command the characters of Layzner by my import copy of Tremendous Robotic Wars GC, however as a result of my Japanese was not all that nice on the time, my understanding of the story was restricted, as was my consciousness of how precisely it was rushed. (Having Shin Getter Robo and Mazinkaiser present up doesn’t precisely mirror the story of Layzner with nice accuracy both.)
However now, in 2025, I can say I’ve watched all 38 episodes of Blue Comet SPT Layzner, plus the three OVAs made to provide the sequence some semblance of an actual conclusion. However earlier than I get to the top, I would like to speak in regards to the starting and all of the potential this anime held and certainly lived as much as, till issues went sideways.
Watching Layzner
Sooner or later yr of 1996, the Chilly Conflict between the US and USSR has expanded into the celebrities. Throughout a go to to an area station by a youth tradition membership, a mysterious determine seems. His title is Eiji Asuka, and he has come to warn the Earth of an impending invasion by his house planet, Grados. Eiji is half Earthling, and he doesn’t need his father’s world destroyed by struggle. The superior big robots often known as SPTs are far superior to something humankind has created, however fortunately, Eiji has an SPT of his personal: the highly effective Layzner. Nonetheless, his abhorrence in direction of killing weighs closely on him when he might need to show his weapons on the very individuals from his house planet. That is made doubly troublesome as a result of the A.I. of Layzner appears to carry a harmful secret that makes it a lot much less merciful than Eiji himself.
Layzner drew me in immediately with its compelling story, its characters’ political and philosophical conflicts, and its general animation and elegance—80s “actual robotic” anime at its best. Each episode brims with drama and depth, and the motion is constantly thrilling. Central to all of it is Eiji himself, who positively has a spot within the Mecha Angst Corridor of Fame. In contrast to the stoic Chirico Cuvie from director Takahashi Ryousuke’s Armored Trooper VOTOMS, Eiji is deeply keen about his love for each Grados and Earth, and the willpower he should maintain whereas his coronary heart aches makes for one of many best (and certainly angstiest) protagonists ever. His compassion additionally helps win over a number of the extra skeptical Earthlings, who go from mistrusting him to being a few of his closest allies. A kind of people, a 14-year-old lady named Anna Stephanie, acts because the narrator for the sequence.
The Mid-Sequence Tonal Shift
Like with so many anime which might be set to run for a whole yr, the “midway” level for Layzner comes with an enormous shift and altering of the established order. Whereas the primary 26 episodes are about Eiji making an attempt to achieve the Earth within the hopes of stopping or a minimum of slowing down struggle, the second half sees the plot leap ahead a couple of years to a time when the Earth is coping with a brutally regime that’s making an attempt to stamp out all practically elements of human tradition, together with books and artwork. Given our present political local weather—the place right-wing leaders who’re largely fascists, racists, and grifters who’re making an attempt to drive their backwards view of humanity onto the world and bilk us for all we’re value—I discovered myself taking a little bit of psychological harm. Seeing the principle New York Public Library being set on hearth hits slightly too near house, and it makes me all too conscious of the truth that I might need considered this sequence in a different way if I had watched it even 10 years earlier.
Eiji himself modifications throughout this time, abandoning a few of his extra pacifist tendencies in favor of outright opposition towards the powers that be. He additionally goes from that angsty younger man with a thinner construct to a brooding and brawny freedom fighter. Whereas he isn’t Fist of the North Star Kenshiro ranges of being a barrel-chested Greek god, the distinction is noticeable.
Nonetheless, the largest transformation goes to Anna Stephanie, who grows into a powerful 17-year-old lady and has mainly discovered what it means to struggle within the face of oppression from her time with Eiji. Anna could be a sticking level for viewers, as her youthful self appears designed to attraction to lolicon followers, they usually arrange a burgeoning romance in direction of the top of the primary 26 episodes that’s made extra blatant after the timeskip (together with an ending theme speaking about love and longing). Whereas Eiji is meant to be 16 (later 19), his design is such that he seems to be far more mature than Anna, and I’ve to marvel if the timeskip designs are supposed to make the pairing extra typically palatable.
The Early End
It’s pretty clear round when the sponsorship acquired pulled as a result of the present begins to make big leaps ahead in time with solely the briefest explanations as to what has modified. The ultimate episode solutions subsequent to nothing, functioning like a canceled manga’s non-conclusion. The third and closing OVA episode mainly replaces Episode 38 and offers a larger sense of closure to Layzner as an entire, however nonetheless has to endure from the truth that the sequence was initially pressured to hurry by its story by the top. That stated, it’s actually fascinating to see what a piece of fiction prioritizes when it out of the blue doesn’t have sufficient time left, and Layzner chooses to up the political and emotional drama of its characters.
If there’s a big flaw of the sequence that’s not wholly associated to having its year-long run lower quick, it’s that Lazyner generally doesn’t appear to know what to do with sure characters. For instance, the preliminary picture of Eiji’s sister comes from the ending sequence, the place it implies that she is a few type of light soul draped in a white gown. Nonetheless, once we lastly meet her within the sequence, she is a targeted warrior intent on revenge. Then, after the timeskip, she turns into extra like a messianic non secular chief whose pacifism offers hope to the individuals. One other character whose objective appears to alter over time is Le Cain, the proficient and highly effective son of the Gradosian commander who’s main the assault on Earth. Launched later within the sequence, he swings from smug and brutal antagonist to honorable rival to naive noble determined for his father’s approval, with some romantic sparks between him and Eiji’s sister. I get the sense that Le Cain ended up being a well-liked character, and that the present tried to lean into this.
Remaining Ideas
Hobbled by elements exterior of the manufacturing’s management, Blue Comet SPT Layzner is however an all-time nice that tragically may have been even higher if it was allowed to inform its full story. It has the characters, the story, and the thematic messages to be a timeless traditional, and sadly for us, it’s maybe extra related than ever earlier than. I’m very glad I watched Layzner in any case these years. Whereas it might need taken without end, the timing might need been good: On the planet we stay in now, Lazyner makes me really feel extra invigorated to face up for human dignity.
