Side story manga: Excellent A.T.
by Kouji Akimoto
In April 1988, a curious manga anthology titled Cyber Comix made its debut. 47 issues were published through November 1992 with a pedigree seen nowhere else. It was a potpourri of original SF/fantasy and spinoffs of anime that leaned heavily into mecha. Managed by Gainax and published by Bandai, it had the patina of something official, but felt more like an elaborate doujinshi project that somehow slipped through the licensing gauntlet. (For anyone not yet aware, “doujinshi” is the Japanese word for “fanzine.”)
In its pages, you could find comics based on Gundam, Dunbine, Gunbuster, UFO, and others. Some were serious, others were parody. And in three issues, you could find comics based on Armored Trooper Votoms. This was a real puzzler, since Votoms was owned by Takara (a rival of Bandai) and there was no indication of ownership anywhere.
Whatever conditions conspired to make this happen, it resulted in three unofficial Votoms side stories. The first, titled Excellent A.T., was a non-canonical prequel that speculates on a machine that predated the Armored Trooper, referred to as an A.S. (Armored Soldier?) Here we see what happens when the first A.T. is deployed against them.
There are three published sources for this story: Cyber Comix 002 (June 1988) and a doujinshi titled Black History Vol. 1. There were two editions of the doujinshi, published in August 2012 (center) and December 2016 (right). I took care of the translation and lettering, so here it is in English! (And yep, the other two comics will follow.)
Author’s note:
This Votoms manga was drawn when I was in high school. At the time, just before it was to be published in book form, I had a bike accident and the manuscript was lost. Because it was based on a copyrighted work, it was destined never to see the light of day, but I’ve had more opportunities to talk with other manga artists. I was often asked about this manga, so at the risk of embarrassment I decided to publish it as a doujinshi. It’s hard to hold onto inventory, but it was meant to be a keepsake.
At the time, from the moment I picked up the pen, I worked on it without sleeping for almost a week until I finished. I was also fortunate that it’s the only manga from those days that was still intact when I asked for Gainax to return it. The art is embarrassing, but it’s a doujinshi, so why not?
Author’s afterword:
Unbeknownst to me, a full-scratch model version of this Scopedog was built. I heard that it won a prize in some contest, and I’d really like to see it.
I wrote this manga in my notebook during class when I was in high school. The battle scene was inspired by the shootout scene in Robocop. Due to budget limits, I didn’t care about the mismatched angles of the screen tones. It’s still the same today. (Laugh)
Thank you for all of these obscure materials.
No charge! And plenty more to come!
Nice, keep it real. Hope you’ll translate some “Votoms : Child Of God” chapters one day, if Sunrise refuses to make a proper anime version of it. Chirico deserves a more fresh ending than the Wiseman light-remake of Phantom Arc.
I’ll definitely tackle that at some point. There are SO many side stories to translate, it’s hard to decide where to start.
“And in three issues, you could find comics based on Armored Trooper Votoms.”
There were also several issues (in the 30’s) that had the individual chapters of Citta Aperta before it was collected as a tankobon.
You are correct. Citta Aperta was serialized in five non-sequential issues. (Definitely want to translate that one down the road.)
I believe the author is referring to this Early Dog model that won a prize in the 3rd All Japan OraTako Championship (a VOTOMS modelling contest) in the July 2008 issue of Hobby Japan:
http://saiteiyarou.web.fc2.com/kazuearydog.html
That is one excellent A.T.
The second to last page reminds me that ‘Polymer Ringer’ irks me. I have no idea if that’s a term that makes sense somehow, but I prefer ‘Polymerine Gel’ as a translation of ポリマーリンゲル.
I don’t know what “Polymerine” is, but “ringer solution” is definitely a thing.
The literal translation of ‘ポリマーリンゲル’ is ‘porimaaringeru’. I learned of ‘ringer solution’ today (thank you!) but I still prefer the more ‘sci-fi’ idea of ‘Polymerine Gel’.
Also, ‘ringer’ would be spelled ‘リンガー’ in katakana.
On the other hand, the katakana for “gel” would be “ジェル” so that’s a wash. But the clincher can be found in all the various AT stats that have been published for decades. Whenever you see the abbreviation “PRS” it stands for “Polymer Ringer Solution.”
If it’s any consolation, for the longest time I convinced myself that “Battling” was meant to be translated as “Battle Ring.” Because “Battling” wasn’t a real word.
Argh, I yield!
I grudgingly accept ‘Battling’ more easily than ‘Polymer Ringers Solution’ for some reason.