What if Voltron, but It’s a Gritty, Surreal Horror With No Robots at All?
(Content Warning: Sexual Assault, Cancer)
This memory hits me every once in a while, this… fuckin’ impossible-to-find rare as hell anime that was on Teletoon when I was in high school that it feels like nobody remembers but me.
I only kinda sorta half-remember it. It’s one of those ‘fever dream’ memories, like, did I even really see this show? There was never really a show where a woman was trapped in a haunted city and fortified a train to attack the tower in the center of that city so that she could escape her coma, right? It SOUNDS like a weird dream I’d have.
But I know it exists.
Because I found it. I found it by asking about it on a web forum in the mid 10s, back when web forums were a thing that existed, and someone responded with the right show, and I found the whole thing on YouTube, and thought “okay, now to watch it” and then didn’t watch it, I left it, and forgot about it, for another decade, and forgot the name, and the forum, all details gone.
I forgot it again. But god dammit, this time I know that this slippery-ass piece of media actually exists.
I thought about it again today. For the first time in a long while. Now I know: I have to catch this memory while it’s live, strike while the memory iron is hot, or I’m going to lose it for another decade.
This time, I could ask ChatGPT maybe? There’s a lot of info in there.
I’m looking for a difficult to find movie. It’s an anime, from over 20 years ago, that I caught on Canadian Teletoon. The plot of the movie featured a woman in a coma, existing in a dream world, where the inhabitants are fated to die at specific intervals. At the climax of the movie, an armored … truck, or train car, is launched at a giant tower. I can’t recall whether or not the woman wakes up at the end of the movie.
Unfortunately, though, no dice. It thought about recommending “Metropolis” to me a handful of times but visibly talked itself out of that. Best it could come up with was something called “The Place Promised in our Early Days”, because it also featured a tower.
So I try… anime 90s coma in DuckDuckGo, and lo, fuckin’ rights, someone 2 years ago had this same question, and even better: someone answered it:
A woman is in a car accident and winds up in a coma. While in the coma she dreams that she is staying in a strange hotel with her friends. They’re visited at night by a little girl with a wolf who predicts when they’ll die. “You will die in 3 days”. They’re fighting the townsfolk for some reason, I believe that one by one her friends disappear until she is all alone. Then she wakes up in the hospital and they’re all there.
I believe this anime movie (or OVA) was part of a series, possibly a spin-off of a mecha anime. The name might’ve been something like “shogun”. Was most likely made in the 80s or very early 90s
Thanks,
Yeah, that’s the one… except I don’t remember the ending being quite so rosy? Anyways, that’s definitely it.
Way to go, humans.
Sengoku Majin Goushougun: Toki no ÉTRANGER (1985)
Oddly, when translated into English, they translate the Japanese but not the French, so it goes by “Goshogun: The Time Étranger” - I guess because it was also “Étranger” in Japanese. Look, the french word for “stranger” looks cool, that is plenty justification enough.
Like last time, I found it completely uploaded to YouTube, because this movie is old enough and unpopular enough that its copyright cops aren’t really working hard to keep it down.
(this link may break in the future, links like this often do)
Now is the time! I’m going to watch it, and then I can really find out what the deal was. Is it as weird as I remember?
Actually, first, some context.
“Goshogun” makes it sound like it’s part of a series, what’s that?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GoShogun
GoShogun (戦国魔神ゴーショーグン, Sengoku Majin GōShōgun) is a Japanese super robot anime series created by Takeshi Shudo. It was produced and aired in 1981 in Japan, with a movie special released in 1982 and a film sequel, GoShogun: The Time Étranger or Time Stranger, in 1985.
So I think of this as “A Voltron”, which sent me down a different rabbit hole - what exactly was “A Voltron”?
It turns out, it’s kind of a catch-all term! Americans translated and edited together multiple, unrelated Japanese mecha anime to make the show “Voltron” entirely on the cutting room floor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltron
Voltron is an American animated television series franchise that features a team of space explorers who pilot a giant super robot known as “Voltron”. This super robot was created when needed by smaller robots joining together, with the process of that unification varying over time. Produced by Peter Keefe (executive producer) and Ted Koplar through his production company World Events Productions, Voltron was an adaptation of several Japanese anime television series from Toei Company.
At the time, Japanese anime seasons were simply too short to air as North American kids’ shows - let alone how often the content was too adult or too weird or full of references that American kids would find too confusing, so in particular shows from the 80s had a real tendency to cut multiple different shows together with a chainsaw to make something usable in the North American market.
I’m convinced that one of the early Japanese artists who came up with the “combined robot mecha” style was inspired by the British 60’s show “Thunderbirds” - you know, a bunch of pilots, each with their own cool vehicle. What they added was the huge innovation: what if their cool vehicles COMBINED into a BIG ROBOT".
in America, the Voltron “foreign media chop and screw” technique would eventually metastatize into the 90s’ “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers”, which was also pieced together from multiple shows and became a Gigantic Hit.
Perhaps looking at this fella you heard an insane guitar riff in your head. Go, go, Power Rangers.
Well, that’s plenty of good context, “GoShogun is kind of a Voltron.”
The Wikipedia entry for GoShogun indicates that it was a later iteration of the now very popular giant-combining-mecha kids’ TV formula, so GoShogun was funny, irreverent, and kind of hyper-aware of the tropes of the genre.
Perhaps even funnier: the movie “Goshogun: The Time Étranger”, set in the Goshogun universe and featuring the pilots of Goshogun does not contain a single transforming robot. It’s not a big action-packed space fight romp.
Let’s Get Into What Happens
Of course, you can just watch the thing yourself, but if you want it at hyper-speed, let me give you a little tour.
After wandering in the desert with some companions hidden from view, this woman wakes up in a single hotel room in a strange, foreign city, finding an honestly gorgeously rendered gun.
We cut to a different, futuristic city, where this same woman - we don’t see her face in this version of the scene - is stuck in traffic.
“Curtis, you said that this movie didn’t contain a single transforming robot!”
okay, it does, that one, the little toy one hanging above her dashboard, that’s the one.
The traffic is because of bank robbers.
God dammit, let’s fuck ’em up.
Doesn’t this frame look great? This sunglasses shot looks just gorgeous to me. Look at that hand-drawn set of sunglasses.
The cops are startled by this. This car belongs to Remy Shimada, who was some kinda … galactic hero pilot, 40 years ago? Now she’s a 70-year old lady who still drives like a goddamned demon.
She easily runs these goons off of the road, but her health isn’t doing so hot, and she ends up in a nasty crash.
Then, she has a weird flashback of her youth: her mother was a French prostitute and they were poor as hell.
This show is not shy about getting very bold with its camera angles.
Not terribly happy, and it only gets worse from there.
Just a reminder now, we are currently watching a Giant Mecha Anime.
She’s rushed to hospital. This whole time, we’re careful never to show her whole face: we only ever see pictures of Remy when she was young, never current Remy.
Remy doesn’t have health insurance. Or any money.
Two team members were getting back together to meet Remy to talk about something important, but she didn’t show.
Everyone (Remy included) honestly looks pretty incredible for 70-year olds - future space skin care and health care must be absolutely top notch. They’re visibly older, but they look like they’re in their 50s, not their 70s.
While we’re at it, we pan over pictures of the original team when they were young, because - honestly, this movie came out 4 years after a single season of GoShogun aired, even people who watched the show could probably use a reminder of who the characters were.
When the heroes find out about Remy, each of them immediately drops everything to go be with her.
That’s one of my favorite film tropes, by the way - the “cancel everything, I need to be on the first flight” moment.
The heroes assemble at the hospital, to find out that Remy, on top of her car crash, had some pretty late stage cancer. Future space leukemia.
Okay, “progressive leuko-isolation syndrome”. Her blood is… lonely? I think it’s safe just to call it future space leukemia.
Doing anything about it would take a specialist from a different hospital, but she’s too sick to move, and they’re not gonna go pull a specialist for some old lady with no health insurance.
Okay, so, I’m reasonably certain that this was what got me on board when I was a teenager. I had zero context, but something about this team of elderly heroes rallying together to kick the ass of a bitchy doctor to try and rescue an old friend? That feels emotionally satisfying.
Good thing one of their team members (not present) is the literal actual Surgeon General, now.
This guy, one of the more cartoony members of the team, is out in the woods, currently engaged in a dispute with another old team member, trying to get some unused land turned into a hospital.
“i want to turn your land into a hospital”
“no fuck off”
“i can just appropriate your land”
“i’ll cut you”
But then the call comes in.
They need him, and fast!
So we get another “drop everything” moment.
YEAH I WANT TO SEE A SAMURAI FIGHT CANCER WITH A JET
This takes us back to… the weird haunted-ass city from before, and who we now can identify as a young Remy Shimada.
Remy opens the door to her hotel room, expecting that her friends are out there. In an “imagination” sequence it’s made clear who she expects to find: the guys from earlier, but young. They’re all young, here.
Are we in the past, then? Is this a flashback?
Instead of her team, she finds this little girl giving her a letter.
The letter informs Remy that she has 2 days to live.
“How you will die is shown within:”
2 days is also how long the doctor gave her.
The cancer Remy has in the real world was implied to be, like, future space leukemia, so the fact that her fate is to die surrounded by… blood cells? Her own blood? The art direction of this place is going to take on something of a “blood disease” theme.
So this isn’t the past? It’s… a kind of coma purgatory?
Back to the team: despite being able to marshal all of their significant resources, this is late stage leukemia PLUS a nasty car crash.
She’s probably gonna die.
In another France flashback, Child-Remy is getting sexually assaulted by some child bullies.
Well, not quite, because Remy’s more interested in wrapping her belt around her fist and completely obliterating them.
tee hee
Coma Purgatory Remy is being chased down endless dark alleyways by an inchoate mass of citizens.
When I was watching this as a teenager I think I missed how much the artists invoked the “blood disease” imagery, here in coma purgatory.
She is surrounded, and torn to shreds, while discordant, angry jazz plays.
but it hasn’t happened yet.
ain’t no thang, I got this
The shower’s still on, better check on that.
oop, it’s blood. blood shower.
That’s odd, the blood usually gets off on the second floor.
You know, for as unsubtle as this story is about the blood imagery, I don’t think I ever even registered “she has leukemia, a cancer of the blood” when I watched this as a teenager.
Lovingly loading her pistol (again, her pistol gets a LOT of screen time in this) she rushes to the top floor, to the water tower, to confront whoever’s sabotaged her shower, only to find… her squad.
This water’s legit.
Everyone’s investigating the same issue. Also this guy has got great penguin jammies.
I’m beginning to think this stuck in my head for over 20 years because it was rad as hell.
Oh, you got a blood shower and notes telling you all you’re gonna die? Yeah, that’s … that’s this town’s whole deal, didn’t you get the memo? Literally everybody here is dying.
Also, you can’t leave. The fate’s yours, there’s no escape.
Each of them is fated to die on a different day - but Remy’s is the first one, “Day 2”.
So let’s escape!
They drink blood red wine while the samurai plays classy piano music.
But the townspeople aren’t cool with people just leaving. Can’t leave with broken legs.
Fun heroic fight scene, although Remy knocks a mook on to the piano, forcing her to apologize.
The cops show up and massacre the mooks in cold blood. They’re helping!
our heroes are uncomfortable with the level of assistance provided
“We’ll leave.”
“You can’t, this city doesn’t even have an outside.”
While being escorted back to the hotel, the team mulls over their two options: attempting to run, or assaulting the huge spire in the middle of the city. There’s no evidence that assaulting the huge spire will even do anything, but, like, come on. You see a big spire like that, it’s probably the problem.
Remy relaxes with a non-blood shower, only to return to a woman being either eaten or raped by a wolf on her bed, and a grim warning.
Her gun does nothing, doesn’t even dent the wolf, and she has to watch the woman messily (and salaciously) eviscerated in a scene that would make the team at American Horror Story blush.
Once again I would like to remind you that this was a Giant Mecha Anime featuring a big ol’ Voltron robot
In a panic, Remy runs out into the streets, only to get attacked by more citizens. A lot of the rest of this story is going to involve this city’s citizens trying to murder Remy, so buckle up.
One of her teammates had been quietly tailing her and tosses her a knife at just the right moment, letting her stab her assailant in the back.
“Look, we all get you’re a lone wolf who don’t need nobody, but you can’t do this alone.”
Because the team’s fates all have them dying after Remy, they want to put themselves in danger first - it stands to reason, they can’t die before her, right? Killy fights off some more citizens and shoos Remy back to the hotel, but on the way back she runs into the blood cells red hanging cables from the prophecy.
whoops, fate happened and one of the pictures came true:
She gets cornered again, and her six-shot gun - well, there are only six shots and this city has a lot more than 6 angry goons in it.
Good thing there’s another teammate.
Uh, this is getting very violent, they are not afraid to just absolutely murk these mooks.
Again, her heroic teammate stays behind to fight and ushers her along.
And she realizes, in a moment of weakness, that she’s been firing her gun too much, and she’s hurt her hands and wrists - but more mooks show up and she fires on them anyways.
Okay, the pattern is becoming clear, right? Teammates are rescuing her and then leaving her on her own again, in sequence.
Also heyo, the “Japanese pun you missed” translator’s note. I haven’t seen one of those in years.
But we’ve got a motorcycle, so let’s skip ahead and just escape now?
They cruise out of the city. Into a … massive, open-air graveyard.
Then a white oblivion.
Then they’re … cruising back in to the city.
Like Cecily Strong and Keegan-Micheal Key trying to leave Schmigadoon. The exit is just the entrance.
They try again, and it happens again.
Like they said, there’s no outside the city.
Aside from the one, obvious way.
“Oh, yeah, this lady is definitely gonna die.”
Remy reloads her gun, although her hands are so injured she’s not confident she’ll be able to fire it many more times. As she soaks her hands in hot water, the creepy girl and wolf taunt her some more, but Remy just waves them off dismissively.
Her and her friends spend the night loading weapons and preparing themselves for a final assault on the big creepy tower.
Even going so far as to turn the streetcar we saw earlier into a reinforced battle wagon.
There’s a full on musical “let’s get ready to fight” montage, which would be so great if the soundtrack weren’t soft 80’s pop. I don’t think they picked the right song for this.
Back in the past, child Remy has been chased into a pit by the families of the kids she walloped. Alone and scared, she’s about to give up, but she’s cheered by imagining a group of other lonely kids who she might one day meet.
The doctor is ready to turf Remy, she’s not gonna make it.
Ain’t nobody in town is cool with their “let’s attack the tower” plan, but armored car don’t care.
okay this has become a little goofy
tower’s a nightmare hellscape inside, whoops
jesus christ
Someone really went to town on the “blood disease” and “time running out” spec on these shots.
While everyone else was rescuing Remy in the previous cutscenes, these guys didn’t get to do anything cool… because they were preparing to blow up the entire city
fuck you, fate! when life gives you lemons, blow up the city.
But, surprise surprise, destroying the city doesn’t do anything, because it was just a metaphor for blood cancer all along!
Can’t beat that!
Also: the wolf is huge. And your friends aren’t really here! You’re just imagining them!
“Oh, by the way, I never said when fate said I was supposed to die.”
Fate’s a fuckin’ chump, Remy, you go get ’em.
Her friends rush off to fight the fight. The friends she imagined when she was a lonely child. The friends who are even now gathered around her hospital bed as a 70-year old woman.
Sad defiant song!
She’s gonna fight this fuckin’ wolf.
She has to tie the gun to her hand for support.
And she does it. She kills the wolf!
But it’s not enough.
Her heartbeat stops.
Her friends leave the room sadly.
Yeah, this grave we’ve all been standing around? It’s Remy’s grave.
“Hey, about that whole beating fate thing - you were lying, right? You weren’t actually fated to die yesterday?”
“Bang!”
and so the nurse tidies up in an empty room.
But….
maybe….
From nothing, a heartbeat - a weak heartbeat.
Her friends sadly leave the hospital, but they hear something behind them.
It’s Remy! … Young Remy!
We have never once seen old Remy’s face in this whole story.
They’re all young! They’ll be together forever!
Time doesn’t exist, really, they’ll be together forever!
Remy and her friends walk into the light.
Roll credits.
That’s a happy ending, right? The redditor with the story on the tip of their tongue remembered it as “then she wakes up in the hospital and her friends are all there”.
But I remembered it as “I can’t remember whether or not the woman wakes up at the end of the movie.”
So, like, it’s actually kind of unclear how this ended, right? She died, but then, it feels like she pulled through in the suspiciously-too-happy ending, got up out of her hospital bed, actually got up and walked out of the hospital and they were all young and happy again.
The story ends right there.
No, I don’t buy it. I don’t think you’re intended to. Did she just imagine that last bit? “Going into the light with your perfect best friends, who are young again” ain’t exactly what it looks like when someone beats cancer.
And it’s intentionally ambiguous. I think it’s kind of beautiful, either way - either she beat cancer with SHEER GRIT, or she went out fighting and utterly confident that her friends had her back. And the story doesn’t really want to let you know which one it was.
I was not okay with ambiguous endings as a teenager. I wanted a real answer - but now I think the story has a lot more nuance and beauty if it doesn’t tell you how the story ends.
That’s not really the point, now, is it?
….
And, uh, after re-watching it, I know exactly why my subconscious would invoke this weird old movie I saw once, 25 years ago - why I thought about this movie again, now. I know precisely what life event I’ve dealt with recently that would make me think of this bittersweet movie where you don’t get to know whether the courageous protagonist lives or dies, but the only thing that really matters was that she felt loved and supported and fought to the very end.
So This Was Great, Actually
When I found out that this movie I’d been thinking about for all of this time was a giant mecha anime from the 80’s, I figured “this is going to be dorky as hell”, but you know what? I think it holds up really well. It deserves the tiny corner of my mind it’s been squatting in for a quarter of a century.
This is an interesting movie.
It was goofy, thoughtful, horrifying, surprisingly artistic, and told a nuanced story about an aging mecha pilot struggling with leukemia that also featured a samurai with a fighter jet and surreal horror elements.
All because someone thought “okay, the protagonists of this goofy kids robot show- what if 40 years pass and they all get together because one of them has got blood cancer?”