Votoms Complete Media Index
The setting for Votoms is the Astragius Galaxy, torn in half by a Hundred Years War between two interstellar factions, Gilgamesh and Balarant. The primary weapon in this war is the Armored Trooper, a 4-meter tall human-driven robot that can serve practically any battlefield scenario. VOTOMS is an anagram for Vertical One-man Tank for Offense and Manuevers.
Strange artifacts from the early days also define VOTOMS as “Voice Operated Temperamental Organized Mandatory System” or “Very Obnoxious Tagger’s Out-of-sight Murder Services.” Neither of those definitions mean anything, so feel free to dismiss them. Another interpretation of the title is “Bottoms,” referring to people at the “bottom” of society. Obviously, this name did not permeate the language barrier.
Most Votoms stories pivot off the end of the Hundred Years War, when the exhausted remnants of this brutal society struggle to scratch out a new way of life. Most ex-soldiers know nothing but fighting, and can only find work in Battling, an arena sport that pits leftover A.T.s against each other. What follows is a media index of all the stories that have been created in this world across multiple forms of media. Some will be examined more closely in future articles.
Armored Trooper Votoms
52-episode TV series, 1983-84
The story of A.T. pilot Chirico Cuvie. His memory burned out by PTSD, he remembers nothing about his birth. In the first episode, he is drawn into the theft of a secret military project called the Perfect Soldier and forced to become a fugitive. The pursuit leads him to the Perfect Soldier (who he names Fyana) and passes through four different stages: Uoodo, Kummen, Sunsa, and Quent. Over time, we learn that Chirico is another kind of perfect soldier himself, a revelation that brings him face to face with the manipulator of all things, the cause of the war itself.
Adapted for manga, novelization, and a Playstation 2 game.
Blue Knight Berserga Story
4 novels, 1985-86
This started as a serialized novella in Takara’s Dual Magazine, written by anime writer Masanori Hama and illustrated by Hiroyuki Hataike. After the Hundred Years War ends, A.T. pilot Kain McDougall embarks on a path of revenge when his best friend is murdered, using Planet Melkia’s Battling circuit to track down the killer. From there, the story jumps forward into the start of the next war and the arrival of cyber-enhanced Perfect Soldiers. The huge variety of mecha design inspired plenty of modelmaking, hobby books, and eventually a Playstation game.
The Last Red Shoulder
OVA, 1985
A “missing link” story set between the Uoodo and Kummen arcs of the TV series. Chirico Cuvie is reunited with three other veterans of the vicious Red Shoulder battalion and strike out on a revenge raid against Colonel Yoran Pailsen, the C.O. who made their lives hell. Pailsen has aligned himself with the Secret Society that pursues Chirico, and aids them in creating a new Perfect Soldier named Ypsilon for the specific purpose of killing Chirico.
Adapted for novelization.
Big Battle
OVA, 1986
A side story that takes place prior to the epilogue of the final TV episode. Chirico, Fyana, and their companions return to hiding on Planet Melkia, but are caught in a secret Balarant plot to develop their own Perfect Soldier. Espionage and capture lead to a Battling match to end all Battling matches, the “Big Battle.”
Planet of Vengeance Shido
Book, 1987
This heavily-illustrated “choose your own path” game book was written by Hiroshi Yamaguchi, who would go on to write scripts for Armor Hunter Merowlink.
Text from the back cover:
An endless war has been raging for a hundred years, dividing the Astragius galaxy in two. On the tiny planet Shido, a man sets out on a journey of revenge! Jake Jaymitt, Chief of the Death Dragoon, a special forces unit of the Gilgameth Army! A man whose friends were killed and himself abandoned! But before him is the Balarant army! The wicked wanderers, the highlanders! The knight of Quent, Berserga! And a mysterious clone warrior stands in his way. What will be his fate?
Roots of Ambition
OVA, 1988
A prequel to the TV series in which Chirico’s history in Red Shoulder Battalion is fully revealed. Discovered by Yoran Pailsen under very mysterious circumstances, Chirico is conscripted and put through every possible test to determine whether or not he actually can be killed. The story leads into a later OVA series called Pailsen Files.
Adapted for comics and novelization.
Armor Hunter Merowlink
12-episode OVA, 1988
This project reunited the core staff of the TV series to create a new story in the same world. It runs parallel to early episodes and suggests a connection to the Perfect Soldier Project. Ality Merowlink is an A.T. pilot, the sole survivor of a battlefield massacre in which his entire platoon was left to die. He retains his weapon, a high-powered Anti-A.T. Rifle, and embarks on a vendetta against his former commanding officers.
Partially adapted for novelization.
Black Unicorn
PC game, 1989
The first of many A.T. battle simulator games. Story content is unclear, but appears to weave in and out of the anime stories. See the opening here. See gameplay clips here: clip 1 | clip 2
Dead Ash
PC game, 1991
First-person shooter game in which the main character enlists in Uoodo City’s Battling circuit and follows a similar path to Chirico. See a gameplay clip here.
Real Battle
PC game, 1992
The first game to put you in the shoes of characters from the anime series, fighting through multiple scenarios. See gameplay clips here: opening/introduction | finale
Equal Ganeshis
Novella, 1993
This project debuted as a serialized novella by Ryosuke Takahashi in the pages of Newtype magazine from Feb 1993 to Dec 1994, then was collected into a single volume. Unfortunately, the prodigious illustrations in its original format were not included. The story is set about 300 years after the TV series in a time when A.T.s and humans have fused together into androids called Robotribes.
The Battling Road
Super Nintendo game, 1993
The first mass-market video game, another Battling simulator pitting a female A.T. pilot against a wide array of enemies in the same stretch of time as the TV series. Written and designed by the original staff. See a playthrough here.
Defenseless City
Manga, 1993
Written by Hiroshi Yamaguchi, this spinoff bears the distinction of being drawn by a female artist; Yuki Otake, working under the pseudonym Fumiaki Shibata. Originally serialized in five volumes of Bandai’s Cyber Comix anthology, it pits intel officer Keik Karadyne against a rogue A.T. pilot in a prequel to Merowlink. Interestingly, it’s named after a 1945 Italian film titled Citta Aperta (Open City).
Shining Heresy
5-episode OVA, 1994
32 years after the TV series, Chirico and Fyana are recovered from space and immediately thrown back into conflict. In this time, the Marteal Church manipulates the still-warring factions of the galaxy and Chirico has been elevated to the level of a demon who could destroy them all. The church as created a new warrior to face him, a terminator-like “Nextant” named Titania.
Adapted for manga.
Blue Knight
Playstation game, 1997
A loose adaptation of the Blue Knight Berserga novel series, putting the player in the seat of a customizable A.T. and facing off against all the major players in the original story. See the opening title here.
Uoodo/Kummen
Playstation game, 1998
A run-through of the first two arcs of the TV series, putting the player in the role of Chirico Cuvie. See gameplay footage here.
Lightning Slash
Playstation game, 1999
The most extensive game up to this point, making the character an A.T. pilot in the Uoodo Battling circuit. The story expands broadly from there, bringing in characters and mecha from not only the anime but also The Battling Road. See the opening here and gameplay clips here.
Steel Force
Playstation game, 1999
Whereas most of the previous games were first-person shooters, this one changed things up as a text-heavy, turn-based tactical sim putting a team of A.T. pilots through various scenarios in the Hundred Years War. See a complete playthrough here.
AT Stories
2-volume manga, 2005
Great Mechanics magazine featured a serialized Votoms manga called A.T. Stories, written by Masaki Okajima and drawn by Yoshihiro Sono. it follows the exploits of various pilots outside the anime continuity, taking advantage of all this world has to offer. All 21 chapters were collected into two volumes, augmented by some new material.
Commando Vorct
2-volume novel, 2007
This story was a collaborative effort between Novel Japan and Hobby Japan magazines. The first published a serial accompanied by new character and mecha designs. The second had more text chapters and custom model dioramas. The story follows an ace A.T. unit during the Hundred Years War, prior to the TV series.
Armored Trooper Votoms
Playstation 2 game, 2007
This was the last of the home console games and the most extensive, a replay of the TV series with some OVA scenarios as bonus rounds. See a complete playthrough here.
Pailsen Files
6-episode OVA, 2007
Set between Roots of Ambition and the start of the TV series, this addition was the first Votoms anime to use CG for mecha and environments. Pailsen’s private obsession is investigated, causing Chirico and other “special” soldiers to be subjected to one life-threatening trial after another. It culminates with the end of the Hundred Years War.
Followed up by a compilation movie and novelization.
Crimson Eyes
2-volume manga, 2009
Serialized in Champion Red magazine from 2008-09, written and drawn by Mugita Sugimura. Synopsis from Wikipedia: Civil war rages between a military regime and anti-government guerrillas on planet Clavius. One day, a girl named Rekka, wearing an explosive collar, arrives at the guerrillas’ base as the government forces launch an offensive against the stronghold, but they are defeated thanks to her superhuman efforts. After having her collar removed, Rekka sets off to participate in the Grand Duero, a battling tournament held in the capital. Her goal is to kill her brother, Sagut, the president of Clavius.
Phantom Arc
6-episode OVA, 2010
Jumping into the future, this story picks up with Chirico after the events of Shining Heresy and Alone Again, revisiting characters and locations from the original TV series, then sending him off in a new direction as the caretaker of the next superhuman to be born in the Astragius Galaxy.
Case Irvine
OVA, 2010
A single-episode anime spinoff in the wake of the Hundred Years War. The main character is a highly-skilled A.T. pilot who throws Battling matches for a living to earn money that will allow him to leave his dead-end planet. A rival pilot who sees his true abilities challenges him to a violent death match.
Votoms Finder
OVA, 2010
An alternate universe story set on a planet of stark contrast between classes of humans. A.T. pilots live at the bottom of a vast canyon while the rich and privileged live at the top. This line is crossed when a man from the top hires a pilot from the bottom to rescue a kidnapped girl (also from the top).
Alone Again
OVA, 2011
Another “missing link” story, this time set between Shining Heresy and Phantom Arc. Chirico Cuvie’s relationship with Titania is resolved in the course of a white-knuckle ground battle and he is reunited with his friends from the TV series. Production-wise, this is the most recent Votoms anime project. It began as a serial novel in Nikkei Entertainment magazine in 2006-07 and was collected into a single volume in 2011.
Philosopher of the Battlefield
serialized novella, 2016-17
Written by Ryosuke Takahashi and published online. A mercenary A.T. pilot goes from battlefield to battlefield on the planet Palmis at the end of the Hundred Years War. It features extensive mecha and character design, enough to form the basis of an anime project, but it did not go in that direction. Followed up by an art book in 2016.
Votoms Child: God’s Child Arc
serialized novella, 2020
Ryosuke Takahashi returned to Chirico’s timeline yet again, picking up from the end of Phantom Arc and taking him to wherever he’s going next. The story was published online at Web Newtype in 54 biweekly chapters from August 2020 to December 2022. It was then released in a 2-volume paperback edition in February 2023.
both serialized novellas were published online for free and are 100% translatable, so keep an eye on these pages in the future…