When a powerful alien fleet sweeps into the solar system in 2999 and promptly smashes aside the military forces stationed on Pluto, humanity's only hope is the secret X-Bomber project. Three of the best and brightest cadets from the Space Academy are sent to crew the vessel, even as the aliens approach Earth and begin issuing demands that Earth hand over "Eff Zero One".
If anyone had any idea what that was, maybe we would, but since the alien commander refuses to believe in human ignorance, it seems that a mighty interplanetary battle is imminent.
I have fond memories of this Japanese marionette show from my early childhood. Watching it as an adult dims the lustre of those kid-sized, rose-tinted glasses a little. The script is often very hokey and it is filled with people being uncommunicative and mysterious for no good reason. Also, having two clip show episodes in your single season is a bit cheeky (though not as cheeky as the original Japanese broadcast, which had three).
And yet ... I am still fond of it, and suspect that if you go into it willing to accept its flaws, you might enjoy it, too. For one thing, the visual design is neat. Yes, the X-Bomber itself owes a lot to Star Wars, but the aliens and their ships mostly have this neat insectoid thing going on (except their capital vessels, which remind me of catfish).
Yes, that is a centipede on his face
Plus there's the Dai-X, a giant robot that assembles, Voltron-style out of three spaceships. This is a guy in a suit, of course, who rampages through scale models of alien planets, smashing stuff like a mechanical Godzilla. It warms the heart of my inner eight year old.
And then there's the music. Oh my, the cheesy, synth-tastic pop anthem style music. It is gloriously over the top. Particularly the end credits theme. How gloriously over the top are we talking? Brian frickin' May did a cover of it, that's how gloriously over the top it is.
This has ALL the earworms. You have been warned.
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