Armor Hunter Mellowlink

Armor Hunter Mellowlink (機甲猟兵メロウリンク) was a twelve episode anime OVA spinoff of Armored Trooper Votoms. It takes place in the same universe (and time, in some episodes, almost the same places) as Votoms, but the two stories are entirely independent of each other.

Mellowlink is the story of a soldier whose unit is sacrificed on the battlefield for reasons unknown. Although he was not meant to survive, the main character, Ality Mellowlink, manages to survive only to be framed for a crime he did not commit. Mellowlink escapes his captors and begins hunting down his former commanding officers, both to get revenge for his dead platoon members and to find out the nature of the conspiracy that led to their death.

The series is available for download on Bandai Visual's official website and the Japanese DVD boxset was released on December 6, 2006. The series was previously issued twice on laserdisc, once as six individual volumes, and once as a three disc box set along with the two soundtracks.

Characters

 * Ality Mellowlink (メロウリンク・アリティー)
 * The protagonist of the story is a former AT soldier whose squad, for reasons unknown, is stripped of their status near the end of the war and forced to fight as an infantry unit without armor and using only obsolete or old weapons. Basically they become a last stand unit that is not expected to survive. Episode 5: Battlefield shows us the reason why Mellowlink is in the position he is in. The challenges of fighting Armored Troopers out in the open eventually takes its toll on his squad and the majority of his squadmates are killed in fierce fighting with the enemy. His commanding officer Shoutaichou Shuepps, shields him from a pair of soldiers sent by the top brass to finish off the unit once and for all. Mellowlink the lone survivor then becomes a scapegoat from which the top brass all seek pin blame on him and his unit for anything that went wrong, ignoring the orders they gave to his squad. This becomes known as the Pranbandol Scandal and with the trap well laid Mellowlink storms out of the court, steals the AT rifle he used during the war as well as the dogtags of all his perished comrades. Escaping into the wilderness he plans his revenge on all the commanding officers that sentenced him and his unit to the miserable fate he now bears witness to alone.


 * Lulucy/Furureru C. Helumesion (ルルシー・ラモン)
 * Pretty and adventurous, Lulucy is a young girl that has a serious interest in Mellowlink. After meeting in the first episode Lulucy became a fixture of the world in which Mellowlink inhabits. She is worldy, streetwise and willing to help Mellowlink in his mission on a few occasions. She is fond of referring to him simply as "Boy" using part of his last name, "Mellow" sparingly. It is revealed in episode 7 that she has a history with an important Commander in the military. Episode 8 further reveals that she is indeed the niece of Commander Oscar von Helumesion, a higher up in the military that is connected to the incident concerning Mellowlink's units disgrace and destruction. It is also revealed in episode 8 that she is a princess of the Kabia Nobility and her full name is Furureru C. Helumesion. Her father died and her mother unable to bear the loss committed suicide. Her uncle apparently stole the families money and prestige leaving her a drifter.


 * Keak Cardine (キーク・キャラダイン)
 * Tall, blonde and handsome, Mr. Jui is a shadowy figure that seems to always be in the same place as Mellowlink. Having first met Mellowlink in Episode 1 Mr. Jui randomly shows up in the vicinity of Mellowlink as his revenge mission progresses. The exact purpose of his interest in Mellowlink is hidden.

Episodes
Armor Hunter Mellowlink consists of twelve 30-minute OVA episodes released in pairs from November 21, 1988 to April 28, 1989.

Theme songs
Opening: Soldier Blue (ソルジャー・ブルー)
 * Performed By: Norio Sakai

Ending: Vanity
 * Performed By: Kikou Ryouhei