Dragon’s Heaven had been on my radar since reading Damien McFadden’s “Could This Obscure Manga Be The Inspiration For Metroid’s Varia Suit?” in 2022 but I hadn’t watched it.
In the year 3195, there was a war between an army of robots and the humans. When Shaian, a sentient combat armor, lost his companion in battle, he shut down until his internal systems spotted a new human. It’s now almost a 1000 years later, and Shaian’s greatest enemy is still alive and doing battle in Brazil. With a new friend`s help, Shaian may be able to stop this evil force before another war rages over the continent.
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The anime is clearly inspired by Mœbius but it’s an incredible retro experience. The giant mech combat, strange characters, fanservice, and gritty setting add up to something genuinely special even if all the components are derivative. If the visuals of Ikuuru in her power armour did inspire Metroid, I feel positively about the lineage of inspiration. The opening shot with a physical model of a mech is not essential to the experience but is an interesting technical achievement.
The original OVA and a 4K fan upscaled version are both available to stream, and at just over forty minutes it’s a worthy quick watch.