Amazon.com

Hajiki Sanada, the teenage hero of this drawn/CG mecha adventure, works as a delivery boy to help his family survive in the gritty slums of Night Town. When he handles a mysterious cube, it transforms into a Techode, a powerful robot that obeys only him. He soon discovers three other Techodes: one belongs to Princess Aiko, tough girl Takami pilots a third, and thuggish Katana uses the fourth. The Blade Runner-influenced backgrounds (complete with animated billboards) look better than the animation in front of them. The weightless, rubbery movements of the Techodes don’t convey the mass and power of multi-ton robots. It would be easier to forgive the limits of the animation if the story were more compelling, but the characters remain underdeveloped. Hajiki struggles to earn an honest buck on mean streets, but little distinguishes him from other anime heroes who unexpectedly become mecha jockeys. (Rated 13 and older: violence, brief nudity, alcohol and tobacco use) –Charles Solomon