Super Robots View Broadly Ver. 98
by Matt Alt, February 14 1999

This book, whose Japanese title is simply "The Big Book of Super Robots," covers essentially the same ground as the previously-reviewed Super Robot Chronicles. The focus is slightly different, however: Super Robot Chronicles is more of a "reference work" organized by show, while View Broadly is more of a catalog of each giant-robot character itself. View Broadly also gives several important shows, such as Macross, two -- and even three-page -- spreads to effectively highlight each mechanical character therein. It also includes a black-and-white photo-catalog of the Sentai robots as well.

Those who own Super Robot Chronicles won't find a huge amount of new information here. However, there is one aspect of View Broadly that can't be beat: the numerous and beautiful full-page renderings of many of the robots.

Most of these large pictures are rendered with a decidedly "updated" sensibility, designed to make the robots look more realistic. In fact, this may be the first time Mekanda Robo has EVER been drawn with anything approaching realism. It's also probably the first book to offer a shot of Daimos that looks even remotely cool. Whatever the case, it's these shots that make View Broadly worthy of consideration.