Admittedly, it has been a long year, so my memory has been a bit worse than usual in regards to all the releases that have come across my desk. But if you were to ask me what my favorite anime release of 2020 was, I’d have to say this SD on Blu-ray release of Armored Trooper VOTOMS – Complete Collection.

I do understand that Maiden Japan released VOTOMS in separate pieces a few years back (we did review the OVA portion at the time), but to have this iconic mecha/military series in one box on my shelf just makes this all the more amazing.

The series is the creation of Fang of the Sun Dougram creator Ryosuke Takahashi. Unlike say the Mobile Suit Gundam series the mechas in this are considered practically throwaway. The series main protagonist is Chirico Cuvie, a solider who fought in the hundred year war in his galaxy, but now finds himself in a very odd circumstance in Uoodo City. While in Uoodo he meets the 3 companions that will help him along his way Coconna, Vanilla, and Gotho. These 3 will frequently complain, but end up helping out Chirico as he gets himself deep in situations across the galaxy.

The show is broken up into 4 chapters, and those are spread out in different localities. The OVA chapters are mostly spin off’s that fuel the story of the original series. So we get mostly prequels that detail specific older battles, or Chirico’s time in the military. All of which are definitely interesting and feed into the series mythology.

The Blu-ray release from Sentai is a mix of HD and SD content (mostly SD), and is a blend of 16×9 widescreen and 4:3, but everything here looks quite solid, without much in the way of compression, and fine colors and details. Audio is HD audio tracks in the original Japanese with subtitles. This release, of course, comes HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.