- "The greatest roboteers from across the globe gather in a state of the art arena. The four celebrity team-leaders must create the most dangerous team of robots, in order to save humanity."
- — Official Mech+ programme description for This is Fighting Robots, Episode 1
Episode 1 of This is Fighting Robots aired on April 13 2018. Marking the start of the entire one-off series, it primarily focused on the four celebrity team managers selecting their initial robots for the competition. Also shown were the first two group battles determining which additional robots would join their team rosters.
An English-subtitled version premiered on 25 November 2022 on the streaming service Mech+, shown as a two-part livestream with Episode 2.[1]
Competing robots[]
Synopsis[]
In the year 3018, advancements in technology have transformed the 'order of survival' on Earth. Humankind faces displacement and eventual extinction as society is dominated by AI android equivalents. Awakening to this realization, a female android, CH0329 (formatted in Mech+ subtitles as ch0329), sends an "information transmission" to Shanghai one thousand years earlier - April 13 2018 (the original premiere date for the series) – to warn humanity of their impending fate.
- "In the future, the force of nature needs to be awakened. The soul of mankind needs to be liberated desperately. ch0329 will race against time looking for capable warriors and pass them the code of saving mankind. Only one person can be selected to change the process of history. Will humans be controlled by machines... Machines Control Humans, or control machines? Now it's up to them to decide."
- — Voiceover for the opening sequence (Mech+ translation)
As part of her objective, CH0329 selects and summons four Chinese celebrities - Zheng Shuang, Wu Chun, Sa Beining and Zhang Yishan – to determine which one would be able to alter the course of history for the benefit of humankind.
Team and Robot Selections[]
The opening lead directly to a sequence introducing the futuristically-designed pits area - where all 48 robots for the series were on display – with a starfield animation suggesting that this was set on a spaceship deck. From that point, the celebrities entered the complex to take in their surroundings, before receiving an introduction and first briefing from CH0329 on the competing robots.
- "Welcome, warriors. I come from the year 3018 via information transmission. I'm Human No.ch0329. You were chosen to be here for your remarkable courage, creativity, and ability to love and learn. Only with these four abilities can we save ourselves in the future. I will pass the information about the future to the best among you so that you can help mankind build the world in the right way."
- — CH0329's introduction to the celebrity team managers (Mech+ translation)
The setup for the competition itself was then briefly explained - only one of these celebrities would emerge victorious in their role as team managers. First, the celebrities assigned themselves a team – Red, Green, Blue or Yellow – by taking the badges corresponding to their preferred side. In broadcast order, the allocations were made as follows:
- Sa Beining – Yellow Team
- Zhang Yishan – Blue Team
- Zheng Shuang – Green Team
- Wu Chun – Red Team
Once this was completed, the initial robot selection process began. Each manager would be required to select up to five robots from the 48 available based on 'instinct' or their appearances alone. A time limit of 100 seconds (1 minute, 40 seconds) was given for the celebrities to choose at least one robot, the process repeating until all managers had completed their initial groups of five.[2]
Stage 1[]
Zheng Shuang, about to select King of Bots Season 1 champion Spectre
The first robots to be selected in this way onscreen were UK entries Vulcan and then-reigning King of Bots champion Spectre, which were both selected by Zheng Shuang. Shuang was especially taken by Spectre's crusher and animalistic design, and was 'tricked' by Sa Beining into selecting it; Beining himself being oblivious at first to the machine's past competitive history.
Conversely, Beining opted for the less assuming Golden Hoops, impressed with its simple, 'chunky' appearance in spite of criticisms from American roboteers surrounding its potential capabilities. Wu Chun was hesitant in his selection, declining to pick Green Agate, Zen Oh and Earth Mover when the opportunities for these arose. With 40 seconds remaining, Red River Hong piqued Chun and Zhang Yishan's interest, the camouflage pink drum spinner being stealthily chosen by Chun.
Further selections rapidly followed - Sledgehammer, Anchor and Shield and Switch by Zhang Yishan, and Two BBQ by an uncertain Sa Beining just as time ran out. Team board graphics revealed that Zheng Shuang made a further selection - Bonfire, an overhead spinner entered by UK-based Team Immersion, which had in fact been her very first choice. Wu Chun bemoaned his relative lack of robots by this stage, his only choice at that point being Red River Hong.
| Celebrity | Robots |
|---|---|
| Sa Beining | Two BBQ, Golden Hoops |
| Zhang Yishan | Anchor and Shield, Sledgehammer, Switch |
| Wu Chun | Red River Hong |
| Zheng Shuang | Bonfire, Vulcan, Spectre |
Stage 2[]
- "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. It's great."
- — Sa Beining weighs his thoughts on Anchor and Shield
Prior to the next stage of selections, the four managers gathered round and discussed Anchor and Shield. Sa Beining touted the full-body spinner's low center of gravity, while Zheng Shuang remained sceptical of her opponents' rationales behind their decision-making. Once this stage began, Wu Chun again hesitated while evaluating the British pneumatic flipper Tánshè, while Sa Beining beat Zhang Yishan to the American bar spinner Bonesaw. Tánshè eventually piqued Zheng Shuang's interest, resulting in its selection to the delight of builders Gabriel Stroud and John Reid.
Sa Beining plots to offer Fango to his rival managers
Next to be selected were White Tiger Guardian (Wu Chun) and Indian entry Yesaji (Zheng Shuang). Sa Beining then attempted to convince Shuang to pick the Australian walker Fango, out of suspicion that its high center of gravity would be its main weakness. However, Beining's plan backfired when Zhang Yishan visited Fango's stand and chose it on the spot, before Beining had a chance to carry this through. UK roboteers including Gabriel Stroud, John Reid and Ian Watts commented on Fango being the first walking robot to appear in televised Chinese competitions, along with established weaknesses for these designs including slow speed and fragile 'leg' mechanisms.
- "Our robot Eater's gonna pull his legs off!"
- — Ian Watts comments on Fango's exposed 'legs'
By the end of the second 100-second process, the following robot selections had been made:
| Celebrity | Robots |
|---|---|
| Sa Beining | Two BBQ, Golden Hoops, Slash Boy, Bonesaw, EarthShaker |
| Zhang Yishan | Anchor and Shield, Sledgehammer, Switch, Fango, Snow Leopard |
| Wu Chun | Red River Hong, ORBY Blade, Eater, White Tiger Guardian, Earth Mover |
| Zheng Shuang | Bonfire, Vulcan, Spectre, Yesaji, Tánshè |
The managers briefly exchanged comments surrounding the selection process, with Sa Beining and Zhang Yishan both joking about their perception as "amateurs" in light of potentially missing out on other competitive designs. Beining issued a statement where he had "nothing to regret" over his robot choices thus far, immediately before CH0329 announced the arrival of the competing teams themselves.
Stage 3[]
- "The team leaders know their robots best. Each of you has two chances to re-choose. You have 15 minutes. Make the most of this opportunity."
- — CH0329's briefing to the team managers, marking the start of the third phase of robot selections
Once all team members for each robot had been assembled, team managers were given a 15-minute window to change up to two of their allocated robots over for other machines. The opportunity was also taken by roboteers to persuade the managers to keep machines that had already been provisionally selected, or select their robot instead of another. An official English-language guide released by Mech+ suggests that roboteers were given the same 100-second limit to do this.[2]
Sa Beining quickly opted to speak with the captain of Golden Hoops, learning about its Meltybrain-esque weapon system, modular chassis configurations and 2,000rpm spinning capability. Beining also spoke with the captains of Sledgehammer and Polar Opposite - a successor to King of Bots fourth-place finisher Thunder and Lightning - while attempting to pick out potential flaws with each machine's designs.
Wu Chun, as tentative as ever, asked South Korean entrants Team ORBY about their horizontal bar spinner ORBY Blade; the exchange revealing that the robot itself was making its competitive debut. Moving on to Earth Mover, Chun learnt that its builder had previously fought in - and lost - another regional competition with an unspecified machine. A similar story was told by the captain of White Tiger Guardian, who also explained the robot's use of a steel chassis and HDPE armor. The former left Chun - realizing the lack of proven competitiveness in his initial roster - particularly embarrassed.
- "If you hesitate, you're wasting your time here."
- — Zheng Jianfeng, criticizing Wu Chun's tentative approach to selecting robots
Potential salvation for Chun came in the form of Xiake - the successor to King of Bots Season 1 runner-up Chiyung Jinlun. Xiake captain Zheng Jianfeng had previously commented on Chun's hesitancy in the previous selection rounds. Dressed in robes and conical hats along with his teammates, Jianfeng brought up Chiyung Jinlun's previous success while offering to advise Chun on how to increase his chances of overall victory. This was not enough to fully convince Chun, however, who opted to spend more time thinking about his selections.
Tungsten, about to be selected by Zheng Shuang
Chastising her rivals for not being confident in their choices, Zheng Shuang received complimentary gestures from Grant Cooper and Alan Young, both of whom were attempting to convince her to retain Spectre and Vulcan respectively. Gabriel Stroud successfully dissuaded Shuang from picking Chronos - an American rim spinner - over Tungsten, a brand-new vertical spinner from UK Robot Wars champions Team Carbide.
Meanwhile, Adam Hamilton described Bonfire's thickly-armored front end to Shuang, along with its main tactics of deflecting, trapping and bringing its axe spinner down on opponents. Seemingly wanting to remove Bonfire from the Green team, Shuang questioned its use of plastic top armor on the basis of it being vulnerable to 'sharp' weapons. In actuality, Team Immersion had forgotten to place an extra layer of armor beneath the plastic, which was enough for Bonfire to be dropped in favor of Tungsten. Shuang made a similar decision concerning Yesaji, much to the surprise of the Blanka Botz team.
Zhang Yishan also began negotiations to bring Xiake to the Blue team, succeeding in obtaining knowledge of its four-wheel drive system and 'steady' approach to competitions. Wu Chun intervened, with Yishan being forced to deny his true intentions while complementing Zheng Jianfeng on his likeness to a 'kung fu master'. Yishan and Chun left without either of them selecting Xiake at all, to Jianfeng's annoyance.
- "They came to me and hesitated and didn't choose me after all. I was really disappointed. I hope to show them later in the competition how good my robot is. They'll know what a mistake they made by not choosing me."
- — Zheng Jianfeng
Yishan next complimented the designs for Red River Hong and Chronos, but initially deciding not to change any part of his line-up after all. This prompted criticism from the captain of Anchor and Shield concerning the quality of the robots he had selected.
Elsewhere, Golden Hoops' captain attempted to persuade Sa Beining to select Megabyte - the returning third-place finisher from King of Bots Season 1 - instead of his own machine. Beining conversed with John Mladenik and other members of Robotic Destruction Company, ultimately deciding to swap one of his existing machines in order to secure the damaging and proven American shell spinner. The machine Beining planned to axe was Two BBQ, citing his unfamiliarity with its vertical spinner design. However, his reasoning was questioned by Two BBQ's captain Song Peng, who had previously finished in the top 8 of King of Bots Season 1 with an earlier incarnation of it.
Megabyte also drew attention from Zheng Shuang, who was complemented and presented with a heart-shaped card by John Mladenik. Brian Nave - captain of the similarly-designed Shrederator Tiger Claw - attempted to divert Shuang's attention to his team's RFL championship-winning machine, initially succeeding and leaving Mladenik disappointed. This exchange prompted British roboteers already selected by Shuang to persuade her to choose Megabyte instead. This proved successful, with Megabyte joining the Green team, though not prior to a brief intervention by Sa Beining.
A crestfallen Beining "apologized" to and patted Megabyte on the shell, before regrouping with Golden Hoops' captain during the final three minutes. This allowed an opportunity for him to speak directly to Brian Nave about picking Shrederator Tiger Claw as a like-for-like alternative to Megabyte. Convinced by Team LOGICOM's success with similarly-designed machines in BattleBots, Sa Beining added Shrederator Tiger Claw to the Yellow team, forcing him to sacrifice Bonesaw's place as a consequence. Michael Macht remained silent in the pits, opposing the decision in jest.
- "You're so stupid! Why would you not choose me? He picked poor robots. I'm the best robot there."
- — Michael Macht responds in jest to Bonesaw being deselected from the Yellow team
The finalized line-ups prior to the battle stages were as follows:
| Celebrity | Robots |
|---|---|
| Sa Beining | Two BBQ, Golden Hoops, Slash Boy, Shrederator Tiger Claw, EarthShaker |
| Zhang Yishan | Anchor and Shield, Sledgehammer, Switch, Fango, Snow Leopard |
| Wu Chun | Red River Hong, ORBY Blade, Eater, White Tiger Guardian, Earth Mover |
| Zheng Shuang | Megabyte, Vulcan, Spectre, Tungsten, Tánshè |
Group Battles[]
Rules[]
After the first 20 robots were chosen, the remaining 28 robots which went unselected would be randomly drawn into a series of seven group battles, for a chance to be selected for the main competition. No winners or losers would be declared at the end of these melees. Instead, in a similar manner to The Voice or the Got Talent franchise, each team manager had free choice to select any robot on their own volition, based on factors including performance and design appeal. The latter condition applied until time ran out or only one robot remained mobile. Robots which were not selected during this phase - often as a result of being knocked out before being chosen - would be eliminated.[2]
Bonesaw vs Green Agate vs Mr Hippo vs Weber[]
Bonesaw is thrown over upon contact with Weber
Weber self-rights, impressing a celebrity
At the start of the battle, Bonesaw spun up its blade, but became unstable and hit the floor, with Green Agate also slamming into it. Weber and Bonesaw then made weapon-to-weapon contact, and Bonesaw was thrown over, unable to self-right and thus immobilized. Weber was also thrown over, but self-righted successfully, despite taking damage. The act of Weber self-righting impressed one of the celebrities, and Weber was immediately selected to join his team, allowing it to advance to the next round.
Mr Hippo slams into Weber
Green Agate's limited input in battle
Mr Hippo slammed directly into Weber, which misfired with its weapon, throwing the robot onto its back. Mr Hippo also collided with the side of Agate. In a comedically-edited sequence highlighting its supposed indecisiveness, Green Agate continued to offer very little to the proceedings, only making slight movements with no real purpose, hovering around the beaten Bonesaw.
Mr Hippo's attack on Weber which led to its selection for the team
Green Agate drives into the wall, moments before its selection
Mr Hippo drifted around the arena, leaving skid marks behind it, and it bumped the back of Weber while not utilizing its weapon. After getting its drum up to speed, Mr Hippo charged into the back of Weber, throwing it into the air powerfully. This impressive attack led to a celebrity adding Mr Hippo to his team. Weber promptly self-righted, and both robots bumped into each other face-to-face. Finally, Green Agate made another glancing impact with Weber, having failed to do anything of note in the whole battle, even bumping into the arena wall twice. Despite this, the charm of Green Agate's design convinced Zheng Shuang to select it for her team, to the surprise of the other celebrities.
Mr Hippo catches fire
Time expired on the match, with Green Agate, Mr Hippo and Weber all being selected to compete in the main competition. Mr Hippo celebrated its qualification by gyro-dancing - the action leaving Zhang Yishan in awe - while Weber fired its weapon and spun on its rearward-placed wheels in a similar fashion. Wu Chun's excitement, however, quickly turned to despair - while in the process of gyro-dancing, Mr Hippo dramatically caught fire and required extinguishing from a firefighter. Zheng Shuang and Sa Beining both remarked that the fire resulted from the Dream Giant machine 'showing off', though the former was quick to retract that presumption when she realized that it was indeed a malfunction. Beining, on the other hand, ridiculed Wu Chun for selecting Mr Hippo in the first place, while erupting into laughter once Chun replied to his question, and retrospectively commenting on Chun's reactions to Mr Hippo's triumphs and tribulations.
- "Mr. Hippo was over-excited. When the cup of success overflows, disaster follows. It burnt itself when showing off its dancing skills."
- — Sa Beining responds to Mr Hippo's internal fire (Mech+ subtitles)
Robots selected: Green Agate, Mr Hippo, Weber
Cat King vs Greedy Snake vs Spike Head vs Whirlwind Cut[]
Cat King's blade catches Greedy Snake
Spike Head topples itself and Greedy Snake qualifies
Whirlwind Cut immediately started spinning its blade, while Greedy Snake rammed into Cat King. Greedy Snake was in turn rammed by the Brazilian Spike Head, which briefly fell over, but quickly righted itself. Greedy Snake's crusher made contact with Cat King's spinning blade, releasing the American machine from its wedge. Suddenly, Spike Head drove into Greedy Snake and threw itself over, landing on its back. Zhang Yishan credited Greedy Snake for this attack, adding it to his team. The Brazilian machine could not self-right, and was deemed immobile.
Whirlwind Cut attacks the beaten Spike Head
Whirlwind Cut delivers a blow to Cat King
Whirlwind Cut landed a light blow on Cat King, throwing sparks. Having already qualified, Greedy Snake continued its assault and drove straight under Cat King to drive it backwards. Whirlwind Cut then landed a direct blow to the inverted Spike Head, sending it recoiling away, and Whirlwind Cut also struck Cat King on its escape. Greedy Snake pushed Cat King back into the wall, and Cat King sustained another direct blow from Whirlwind Cut, sending it straight back into Greedy Snake's grip.
Greedy Snake holds Cat King aloft
Cat King overturns Whirlwind Cut
While pushing it back, Greedy Snake clamped down on Cat King and lifted it up, to the delight of its celebrity captain. Greedy Snake released its grip, dropping Cat King, which suffered from another Whirlwind Cut attack. This time, Cat King retaliated, and used its vertical spinner to trade with Whirlwind Cut's own spinner, throwing the Chinese robot onto its back. Whirlwind Cut had no method of self-righting, and was eliminated.
Greedy Snake lifts Cat King in the cliffhanger of the episode
With only Cat King and Greedy Snake remaining, Cat King struck the weaponry of Greedy Snake, but the Chinese entry pushed the American robot into the Grinder. Pinning Cat King in the corner of the arena, Greedy Snake grabbed it once again, and lifted it into the air. At this point of the episode, the battle was cut early, creating a cliffhanger. When the battle concluded in Episode 2, it was revealed that Greedy Snake was able to overturn Cat King, which was rendered immobile, and Greedy Snake was the only robot to be selected by a celebrity in this battle.
Robots selected: Greedy Snake
References[]
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