As good as the first 13 episodes of VOTOMS have been, this OVA is my favorite of the series thus far. Exploring the war backstory of protagonist Chirico, Roots of Ambition is the most intense, most bloody, and most intriguing VOTOMS has been during this early stage of the franchise. The animation receives a noticeable upgrade, with gorgeous smoke effects and specific attention paid to the damage suffered in battle. Those battles are all meat-grinders more brutal than anything in the show; its mechs have never been this agile or this aggressive. The final confrontation in particular is a blood-soaked close-quarters war of attrition. Works as a gritty military-focused snapshot of the VOTOMS future, while also adding dimension to the series’ Chirico-Pailsen dynamic.

“I’ve searched the Galaxy for years looking for a special boy with plot armor”

Congrats dude! Ya found him!

The direction in this OVA is exceptional — the use of light and fog and perspective and color have clearly been refined, and there’s an artfulness and emotion on display that really impressed me. And not for nothing, the image of the baby opening their eyes in the vacuum of space is truly chilling. I would not have thought VOTOMS capable of something horrific like that.

Most likely way to die in this OVA: Friendly Fire.

Pretty top notch animation, and well delivered story for something that amounts to a exaggerated short film. I really enjoy the way it was framed as well.  But in reality my soft spot for mechs helps a lot!

It has cool moments but this version of Chirico's origin is something that I really ended up not liking, way too many answers to things that I feel would have been better left unknown(his time as a red shoulder is much less interesting than what I had in my head). The weakest of the three classic OVA's.

As good as the first 13 episodes of VOTOMS have been, this OVA is my favorite of the series thus far. Exploring the war backstory of protagonist Chirico, Roots of Ambition is the most intense, most bloody, and most intriguing VOTOMS has been during this early stage of the franchise. The animation receives a noticeable upgrade, with gorgeous smoke effects and specific attention paid to the damage suffered in battle. Those battles are all meat-grinders more brutal than anything in the show; its mechs have never been this agile or this aggressive. The final confrontation in particular is a blood-soaked close-quarters war of attrition. Works as a gritty military-focused snapshot of the VOTOMS future, while also adding dimension to the series’ Chirico-Pailsen dynamic.

23/30

“I’ve searched the Galaxy for years looking for a special boy with plot armor”

Congrats dude! Ya found him!

The direction in this OVA is exceptional — the use of light and fog and perspective and color have clearly been refined, and there’s an artfulness and emotion on display that really impressed me. And not for nothing, the image of the baby opening their eyes in the vacuum of space is truly chilling. I would not have thought VOTOMS capable of something horrific like that.

Most likely way to die in this OVA: Friendly Fire.

Pretty top notch animation, and well delivered story for something that amounts to a exaggerated short film. I really enjoy the way it was framed as well.  But in reality my soft spot for mechs helps a lot!

Chirico is awesome no doubt about it, but this anime is only for fans of the original series. The anime doesn't really give any back story nor does it explain anything aside from giving you a few hints and theories about Chirico Cuvie and his enlistment into the Red Shoulder unit.