Video - 3/5 This set was ripped from the (at the time) recently reissued Japanese discs. There's plenty of film grain (gee, what a surprise for a show from 1981) but it's not a distraction and I like the older look. Where this release loses points, though, is the fact that the disc count is insanely high - 10/10/11. I'd gladly have paid more to have an 8/8/8/7 release instead. As a result of the high compression, scenes with lots of flashing lights, fast cuts, and the like (including the opening at times) tend to suffer from noticable compression if not total picture breakup. The discs are pretty full too, with around 8.2 GB (of 8.4GB possible) being used.

Audio - 4/5 The series is in its original mono. There's a little hiss, but again, the age of the materials doesn't make this surprising - not every show gets the Macross treatment. Nothing is wrong with the sound, and it does its job well. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand.

Audio - 4/5 The series is in its original mono. There's a little hiss, but again, the age of the materials doesn't make this surprising - not every show gets the Macross treatment. Nothing is wrong with the sound, and it does its job well. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand.

Packaging: 4/5 This set is packaged like a normal DVD boxset, with three standard keepcases being stored in a (filmsy) cardboard box. The three discs form a spine scene and the back of the box forms a spine scene with the second collection. The box also has some holofoil on the logo, and looks extremely cool, especially considering that this is a knockoff set. The only thing to seriously note is that being an older set there's some serial number burnoff on the discs, but they don't get into the playable region so you're OK. Menus: 3/5 The menus are static, with an image of God Mars's torso in the background, and the series and robot names at the top. All the episode titles are in Japanese on the front menu, and you can choose to chapter through. All episode menus and selections are in Japanese. I don't really mind this, since the numbers are Arabic Numerals (opposed to Kanji or Roman Numerals), and it's not hard to figure out "Opening", "Ending", "Part A", etc. Where the menus really lose points, though, is with the subtitles. THERE IS NO SUBTITLE MENU, AND THE SUBS MUST BE ENABLED AFTER STARTING THE VIDEO. Extras: 5/5 This is an EXTREMELY nice grade, but the fact that there ARE extras on knockoff discs, especially for a show this old, is incredible. What you get is a clean (no-kanji) copy of the opening and ending. They are accessible from the top menu (but not the chapter menu), and are therefore easily accessible. There's just two odd/annoying things, though. First, they're on disc 3 which already has an extra episode to contend with for space issues, and secondly, rather than being off in their own title or at the end of the disc, they're between the second and third episode on the disc. Your guess is as good as mine as to why. Content: 3.5/5 It sounds cheesy, and with some of its later plot twists, can be reminiscent of a shoujo soap opera story (family, betrayals, brainwashing, etc.) but God Mars is one of the more human super robot shows out there. A number of the early episodes deal with the reaction of the Crasher squad to Takeru's outing as an alien, and character interaction and development is not sacrificed. If anything, the robot battles get in the way of the earlier episodes, and feel forced at times. The writers do a better job of integrating the battles as the series developss, so it's nothing to turn you off for long. A quick warning, though: There are times when the story is great and intense and you want to watch a lot of it, and there are times when you'll find yourself dragging yourself through things. Things always pick up again, but there are definate lulls and valleys. The only other thing to warn about is that they use the OP song whenever the robots combine. In the words of a robot loving friend of mine, "get an insert song!". However, I'd rather have the (usually) strong writing instead. The first set contains the entire Gishin arc (eps 1-25) as well as the first six episodes of the Marume arc (eps 26-31). The set ends on a cliffhanger, so be prepared to buy both at once. Also, all OP/ED/Preview segments are present and, as is typical with AV, there are no watermarks. As far as the animation is concerned, it's typical of the time. Lots of recycled footage in the robot combinations, as well as some repetition within the fight scenes. Sure they can do more with computers nowadays, but some of the lighting effects used are definate signs of the times and reminders of nifty things that they did with cels. The acting is also standard Super Robot fare, and it's well done for the material, although you won't find yourself breaking down over some of the more emotional scenes. None of the voices are annoying or obnoxious, although you may find yourself wanting to smack Namida around during the Flore arc. In summary: This show is something of a robot institution, and was popular enough in Japan to be rebroadcast immediately after its original conclusion. Despite some pacing issues starting off new arcs in the story, and the cheapness of the animation (as well as the ugly robots, which can be overcome), this is a must-have for all fans of old school or giant robot anime. It really doesn't matter if you get the AV or MI set, as MI released a direct rip of the AV discs. It comes down to packaging, and I like real keepcases better than gatefolds.