Pledging Love on the Great River
| ||||||
"Pledging Love on the Great River" "大いなる河に愛を誓え"
("ooinaru kawa ni ai wo chikae") | ||||||
Production company | Ashi Productions | |||||
Airdate | 11 September, 1986 | |||||
Written by | Nobuaki Kishima | |||||
Directed by | Kiyoshi Murayama |
Having a cast of robots doesn't get you out of the obligatory star-crossed lovers episode.
Official release coming!
This Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos section |
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
Rom, Leina, Triple Jim, Blue Jet and Battleflex arrive at the Dragon River. On the southern bank lies the Cronos Tribe city Konan led by Dart; on northern bank is the Battle Tribe city of Dakota, home of Rod Drill and under the command of Bison. Rod himself is not with them; when roused that morning he had punched Jet and insisted on sleeping longer. The group head in to Dakota anyway but Rom is uneasy, feeling the locals are wary of them. Leina believes he is being too serious, especially when a young boy offers her a flower. However, she then has a restraint placed on her neck as the townsfolk turn hostile, with Jim being shot with an arrow. Rom and Jet are reluctant to fight back against Rod's friends and surrender, being carted away by Highway Robo hoping he will turn up soon and sort the misunderstanding out. Rod meanwhile has finally woken up but his journey to Dakota is further delayed when he finds a Konan resident called Melodia caught in a trap. Gallantly he frees her and they talk. She explains that Konan and Dakota are at war, both blaming the other for the destruction of their source of romtron energy in a flood - which killed family members of both city chiefs, including her mother. She hopes that love between herself and a member of the opposing Battle Tribe will help bring about peace, something which puts a spring in Rod's step until he realises his friends have walked straight into the war. He sets off to help, with Melodia begging him to end the conflict. Bison meanwhile is interrogating the travellers along with his son Combat Buggy, asking them what they know about Hyribead being kept under the Dragon River; when they refuse the chief has them left in an underwater chamber to drown. Rod has discovered the reason for this strangeness - the Gyandlar captain Casmodon is in Dakota, forcing its' people to mine for the Hyribead, and it is at their command that his friends have been imprisoned. He resolves to save them, drive out the Gyandlar and bring peace to the cities through his love of Melodia.
After finding no help from Offroad Robo, Rod is almost instantly captured by Combat Buggy - however, Bison's son is an old childhood friend of his, and Rod is soon able to persuade him his friends are not the real enemy. With Combat Buggy's help, Rod saves Rom's group from death and leads them to the mine where the Gyandlar soon show their true colours, Casmodon grabbing Bison by the neck and threatening to kill him. Combat Buggy tries to rescue Bison from Casmodon, helped by Rom, Jet and Rod. All of this is seen by Dart and Melodia from Konan, and they lead their army join in the fight on the side of Dakota - having realised the Gyandlar were the real cause of the flood. Rom is knocked off a cliff battling the Gyandlar captain but summons Kenryū to save himself. Outclassed by Casmodon's second mode, he then calls up Baikanfu and makes short work of the Gyandlar. Combat Buggy leads the miners against the rest of the Gyandlar troops and the allied tribes soon drive them off. With the battle over and the two towns ready for peace, Melodia runs towards her lover from the Battle Tribe to cement the new alliance - Combat Buggy. Drill is left unhappy, but soon reverts to his old self when Jet attempts to console him and is threatened with another punch.
Featured characters[edit | edit source]
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
Machine Robo | Gyandlar |
---|---|
|
Notes[edit | edit source]
- While the dialogue and plot requires the population of Dakota to be Battle Tribe the vast majority of those in the town are Cronos-style robots with no visible alt-mode parts, though they do have face-plates and visors.
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- Casmodon is the first Gyandlar since Devil Satan 6 to be based on a toy; his previous heritage as a Devil Invader is naturally not mentioned and beyond converting to his vehicle mode in the battle against Rom/Kenryū/Baikanfu he's not treated any differently to the various other past Gyandlar captains.
Home video releases[edit | edit source]
- Laser Disc
1992 — Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos Box (Toshiba EMI)
- DVD
2001 — Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos DVD-Box 1 (Pioneer)
2004 — Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos Volume 3 (Central Park Media)
- Blu-Ray
2022 — Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos (Discotek Media, USA)