OBSCURE O.V.A.S, *Hades Project: Zeorymer

"Supervillains in Giant Robots vs. other Supervillains in Giant Robots" would be the ideal tagline for this 80s gem. This 4-episode OVA was based on a very adult mecha manga by Yoshiki Takaya, best known for creating The Guyver. The original source material was particularly more explicit than the anime as producers wanted to reach a broader audience. That doesn't downplay the action though as there are plenty of Super Robot Wars thrills to go around.

In the not too distant future, a clandestine criminal organization known as Hau Dragon has been implementing a plan to take over the world called the Hades Project. They use their connections from their big business links, their elaborate plot is to connect to every computer system to launch all the world's nuclear weapons, but to spearhead the project they construct eight giant robots, each one piloted by an elite member of Hau Dragon, all of which were test tube babies, including their organization's empress. However, one of Hau Dragon's more zealous scientists in charge of the setup, Masaki Wakatsuki, steals the main robot, Zeorymer, along with the the test tube babies of its two pilots. He gives them to the Japanese government apparently for their own defense, and the seemingly disappears. Fifteen years later, Masato Akitsu is dragged out of his humdrum life and forced to be the pilot of Zeorymer along with the enigmatic Miru as it turns out they're the two test tube kids grown for this operation, except the Japanese want to use them to defend their country. Hau Dragon sends their robots out to bring back Zeorymer, but Masato and Miru manage to stop them. With their last three remaining mechs, the bad guys launch a final assault on the military base, just before their plan to ignite all the world's warheads comes to fruition. It's revealed though that Masato is really the vessel for Masaki Wakatsuki, the deposed ex-Hau Dragon scientist who really wanted to use Zeorymer to take over the world himself, and Miru is in fact and android that transforms into a power booster for their robot. However, Masato takes over his other personality, and manages to fight off the other mechas, and leads to an explosive final battle with Hau Dragon's flying battle fortress, of which they seem not to survive.

This was pretty damn good for a late 80s mecha OVA. The giant robot fights are pretty intense, although usually kinda one-sided when Zeorymer lets out its big bang attack. There are some serious shades of what would eventually become Evangelion. Point of interest, the OVA was written by Nadesico creator Kia Asamiya, who here used the pen name Michitaka Kikuchi, who also has done official manga of Batman and Star Wars. Hades Project: Zeorymer has been released on 2 separate DVDs from Central Park Media that are currently out of print, but hopefully this dynamite blast from the past will get a license rescue someday.