Legend of the Elmedia Hero

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Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos ep 12
ROC1201.jpg
"Legend of the Elmedia Hero"
"エルメディア英雄伝説"
("ERUMEDIA eiyuu densetsu")
Production company Ashi Productions
Airdate 18 September, 1986
Written by Toshimichi Okawa
Directed by Tomoyuki Yokokawa

What is the secret of Below Cronos? (a.k.a. "The One with the Penis GIF")

Celebration time!
Official release coming!

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Synopsis[edit | edit source]

ROC1202.jpg

Blue Jet, Triple Jim, Rod Drill, Rom, Leina and Battleflex are in an artic area of Cronos when Gadess, Grujios and Diondra used a new laser on the area from orbit, striking an underwater prison and causing a criminal known as Number 96 to be ejected from the ship. While the weapon is not yet as powerful as they would like, 96 is equipped to recover the Elmedia crystal to boost the device. Rom and his band follow the ejected capsule to the wasteland settlement Above Cronos; there they spot Max and his sister Meryl are playing before they are attacked. Rom saves Max, who is from Below Cronos. The boy leads them down in a lift, explaining that Above Cronos and Below Cronos used to be part of the combined capital before war between the parts broke out. Below Cronos is idyllic and largely untouched. When asked about the fugitive Max explains that it is Black, a fugitive from the settlement, before his father Carib appears and admonishes the boy for playing above ground; while initially thankful to Rom and his friends his attitude changes when they ask about Black. The travellers carry on their investigation but Leina is attacked by a strange creature outside a cemetery; Rod fends it off and the deformed stranger flees. They find out from Hearse Robo that the creature is Karas, keeper of the cemetery, sometime thief and Black's former partner. However once again the conversation turns hostile when they ask him about Black. Instead they find Max again, and he shows them a statue of Black, who is a hero thanks to his feats in the war against Above Cronos. Their musings are interrupted by the arrival of Number 96, who easily takes out Rom, Jet and Rod and begins attacking the city before fleeing with Karas, having taken the sword from Black's statue.

Karas

Max believes Black will return to stop 96 while Rom, Jet, Rod, Leina and Jim are accused of taking the sword from the statue by Carib, despite Max pleading otherwise. Rom orders his friends to stand down and surrender quietly. In prison he speculates that Black and Number 96 are one and the same but that the townspeople don't like acknowledging it. Outside, 96 attacks Max's family to get the Elmedia crystal, taking the boy hostage. In the commotion this causes, Rod frees the travellers from their cell and they set off to rescue Max. 96 has reached the statue of Black, making short work of the Below Cronos militia who try to stop him; he retrieves the crystal from its' hidden location in the base of the statue only for Black himself to reappear and challenge him. However the hero is no match for Number 96, who easily knocks him out of the sky. He is found by Rom's party who discover that the hero is Karas, trying to protect his old partner's reputation. He reveals to Rom and Leina that Black is indeed Number 96 and was a criminal from the start, but Karas - his thief sidekick - was so inspired by the legends he decided to live up to them. He dies from his wounds and Rom swears vengeance. Kenryū confronts 96, but soon Rom has to summon Baikanfu. The fight still seems to be going Black's way until he hits the Elmedia crystal with an energy beam from the Dragon Sword, giving Baikanfu an opening to destroy him. The group buries Karas, promising that the legend of Black as a hero will live on.

Featured characters[edit | edit source]

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notes[edit | edit source]

Black's real form.
LegendOfElmediaHeroBaikanfuFoot.jpg
  • This is the first appearance in the series of Crane Robo (with a very suggestively-placed crane in robot mode, which has become a minor meme), Scooter Robo (making his sole appearance), Bike Robo (albeit recoloured in yellow and grey), Police Car Robo and Hearse Robo.
  • Below Cronos uses an artificial sun.
  • Leina easily beats up two leery guards while wearing handcuffs.
  • There are some very violent dismemberments in this one of the human-looking Below Cronos people - though Ashi make sure they're covered in electric sparks to remind everyone they're robots.
  • The original Black had always intended to steal the crystal.
  • A blue Bulldozer Robo (in vehicle mode only) is seen in the wasteland of Above Cronos.

Errors[edit | edit source]

Continuity and plotting errors[edit | edit source]

  • How exactly the massive Black fitted in that armour isn't explained.

Animation and technical errors[edit | edit source]

  • Blue Jet is coloured blue in the scene at Karas' grave.

Trivia[edit | edit source]

  • Hearse Robo is based on a prototype of Limousine Robo, which may have influenced Stretch's character design in IDW's Go-Bots comic series.
  • At one point a Bandai copyright stamp is visible on Baikanfu's sole, a cute joke from the animators.

Home video releases[edit | edit source]

Laser Disc

1992Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos Box (Toshiba EMI)

DVD

2001Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos DVD-Box 1 (Pioneer)
2004Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos Volume 3 (Central Park Media)

Blu-Ray

2022Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos (Discotek Media, USA)