The world of Armored Trooper VOTOMS is thick with bloodshed and violence. The story takes place in the Astragius galaxy, and after 100 years of war, the opposing forces of Balarant and Gilgamesh aren't ready to quit fighting. The development of the AT, or "Armored Trooper," has served to bolster the violence of the war to even greater levels. But as the story opens, the forces of Balarant and Gilgamesh are silent-- a cease-fire treaty has been signed, and there's a very real possibility of peace. But a secret society with designs on galactic domination aren't about to let this happen.

VOTOMS' lynchpin is Chirico Cuvie, a talented soldier and AT pilot for the forces of Gilgamesh. The show opens with him leading a team of ATs in a raid on a spacebound vessel belonging to Melkia, an ally of Gilgamesh. Naturally, this raid is completely illegal, and only being carried out because it's sanctioned by Chirico's commanding officer, Albert Killy. During the course of the mission, Chirico catches sight of a striking female figure in a suspension tube-- and is immediately double-crossed by his own men, who attempt to destroy his AT and then leave him drifting in space.

Chirico is soon picked up by the forces of Melkia, and after a baffling interrogation by Melkian captain Jean-Paul Rochina, he makes his escape to the seedy underground city of Uudo. It's in Uudo City that Chirico meets up with Gotho, a plump, jolly arms dealer who quickly notices Chirico's aptitude with ATs. Gotho makes a deal with the fugitive soldier-- in exchange for food, lodging, and assistance, Chirico will fight on Gotho's behalf in the Battling, Uudo City's gambling arena where AT combat games take place. Despite Chirico's chilly disposition, he soon makes friends with Gotho and his employees (the black marketeer Vanilla, and the street girl Coconna), and his exploits in AT combat soon draws the attention of Uudo's corrupt police-- led by none other than one of Chirico's betraying fellows from his Gilgamesh days.

Chirico and his friends clash skillfully with the inept police, but their constant skirmishes soon attract the attention of a shadowy secret society and a lady-- a mysterious woman who pilots her own, custom-made Armored Trooper! Chirico's thirst for revenge and his interest in the mystery woman leads him and his friends on a planet-hopping odyssey that spans 52 episodes. He meets a diverse array of friends and enemies. On Kummen, the jungle planet, Chirico again meets his mystery woman, as well as the idealistic Prince Kanjelman and the arrogant "perfect soldier", Ypsilon. On Sunsa, the dead world, he learns more about both himself (his former military career has a few very ominous footnotes) and his enemies, and he clashes repeatedly with the vengeful mercenary, Zophie Faddas. All of the answers, however, lie on planet Quent-- it's there that Chirico will discover his true purpose and the intentions of the secret society, and it's there that he'll have his final showdown with his ultimate enemy.

Armored Trooper VOTOMS is a show that requires a fairly broad attention span. Its political details, huge number of supporting characters, and gritty, squad-based armored combat action should appeal to anime fans hungry for a science fiction series that's both smart and tough. It should be noted that VOTOMS is an old series-- 20 years old, in fact!-- and that it's starting to look its age. The show received a digital remaster several years back, which means that it's relatively free of a lot of the noise and dust that you'll see on older releases, but it still sports some poor animation and sloppy mistakes here and there. Unfortunately, the DVD presentation lacks a dubbed version, but it makes up for that in the sheer extent of its extras. These DVDs are fairly bursting with liner notes and background information-- the translator really did his homework on this one.

Also advantageous is the way that VOTOMS is very clearly broken up into four compact, separate story arcs. It's done so deftly that each of these arcs-- Uudo, Kummen, Sunsa, and Quent-- can practically stand alone themselves. For such a hard-edged, intellectual series, VOTOMS is surprisingly accessible. Viewers may not like the stoic, unfriendly Chirico at first, but the fact is, he's designed to be chilly and unlikeable. Characters in the series find themselves liking him in spite of that, and so will the viewer. A competent soldier and logical thinker, Chirico is also a refreshing change from the usual wimpy, indecisive heroes of recent robot and mecha-based anime.

VOTOMS is also a gearhead's dream. The sheer number and variety of different ATs is a lot of fun to experience. Chirico's favored model is a "Scopedog", a flat green trooper equipped with a rifle, an "arm punch" hydraulic close-range weapon, and a trademark set of three scopes, hence the nickname. Most ATs can't fly or do anything really special-- they're designed to be tank-like, mechanized combat machines. Along with several varieties of Scopedogs, you'll see ATs like the Diving Beetle, a waterproof (normal Scopedogs aren't waterproof-- don't be silly!) trooper essential for swamp combat, and the Quent-based Beserga, which uses a piledriver-mounted bayonet and enhanced radar capabilities. Unlike in many other mecha shows, VOTOMS doesn't really feature fancy technolgy like lasers and booster jets that allow the robots to fly-- everyone uses projectile weapons, and most ATs are equipped with a "roller dash" system that only allows for quick movement on the ground. This variety of straightforward, realistic mecha, courtesy of Ryousuke Takahashi's genius, makes for a huge amount of great military action.