Garaga

GARAGA (1989)

Format: 100-minute feature

Rating: PG-13 (GV)

Type: Sci-Fi

American Production: U.S. Manga Corps

English Dub Production: Audioworks Production Group

Japanese Production: Asmik

Grading
Premise:	C
Story:	D
Writing:	D
Character Design:	C-
Mecha Design:	C
Animation:	B-
Artistic Merits:	C+
English Dub:	D
Musical Score:	C
Songs (closer):	C

Humor Content:	D
Action Content:	C
Drama Content:	C-

DVD Presentation:	Not reviewed
DVD Extras:	Not reviewed

OVERALL:	D

Synopsis

In the year 2755 a cargo ship goes off course while passing through a warp gate and crashes into the planet Garaga, a planet torn by strife between an apelike races and a race of human-looking psychics. The crew must battle for survival and to thwart the plots of humans and androids with nefarious intent while watching out for potential traitors within their midst and attempting to rescue a kidnapped passenger, the daughter of a prominent general.

The Long View

Plot-wise, Garaga is a mess. Take a myriad of plot elements and stick them into a blender without adequately explaining any of them and you more or less have the story. What I can confirm is that there are various power struggles happening on the planet Garaga, both between and amongst the indigenous races and with a human who wants the planet made suitable for colonization. There’s also a megalomaniacal android intent on ultimately wiping out all life forms, one character that seeks revenge, others that are undercover commandos or secret agents, a ridiculous robot. . . oh, hell, I give up trying to sort it all out. Best just to go with the flow on this one and try to appreciate it.

The artistry and animation on Garaga isn’t bad, but its purely cel-based renderings look cheap and dated compared to current CG-enhanced series. Character designs are uneven, with three female characters being quite attractive and other characters being rendered with unappealing and/or ridiculously stocky builds. The writing needs some serious work, however; either the translation is bad or there wasn’t much in the original script to work with. The dub is just awful, the kind of thing that sub-favoring people point to as an excuse to refuse to watch dubs. The voices lack distinction and emotion and don’t match well to the lip flaps.

The graphic content in Garaga is limited to a few somewhat bloody scenes, but it is mild compared to many other series with the same rating. This is not a series that I would bother showing to anyone, however, much less a younger crowd. It just isn’t worth your time.

DVD Extras

Not reviewed.

Principle English Voice Actors

Role	Voice Actor
Jay	Walter Barnes
Min	Jane Lancaster
Kisarl	Frank J. Sullivan
Randy	Ringo Farkas
Borgie	Curt Gebhart
Captain	Wally Cole
Alf Dolf	Tristan Goddard
Farla	Ami Shukla
Paula	Shannon Conley
General Yun	Keith Howard
Kina	Lotus
Galleigo	Timothy Breese
Heran	Alannah Molloy
“Countless spectacular death scenes” and minor roles	Tom Waylan, Barry Banner