(alternate spellings include '''EXO Squad''', '''ExoSquad''', and '''Exo-Squad''') was an
American Soft Science Fiction Animated Television Series that ran on the
USA Network and
Fox from
September 1993 to
November 1994 . It was created by
Will Meugniot and
Universal Animation Studios as a response to
Anime ,
1 and was canceled after two seasons.
See Also: q:Exosquad#Opening narration
l1=Opening narration of Exosquad
The series is set in the years 2119-2121 AD,Dates on the tombstone of , descendants of Terran criminals exiled to the
Outer Planets and now living off looted Homeworld space
Freighter s. The first episode opens with the Earth Congress dispatching the entire
Exofleet , humanity's
Space-based Military , to crush the Pirate threat.
With war with the Pirate Clans looming, an uprising is about to begin among the
Neosapien s, an artificial
Humanoid race coexisting with Terrans. In the
Back-story , the Neosapiens were used primarily as
Slave s during the
Colonization of Mars and Venus and therefore have been
Engineered to be physically stronger and better adapted to hostile environments than humans. Their mistreatment by Terrans led to the
First Neosapien Revolt fifty years before the series' begin, which was mercilessly crushed but had brought some positive changes into their lives. Still not content with his fate, the Neosapien Governor of Mars,
Phaeton , sets a new insurrection, codenamed "Operation
{Link without Title} Destiny", in motion as soon as the Exofleet leaves to chase after the Pirate Clans. Its absence is a part of his plan, as well, so the Neosapiens capture the Homeworlds without much effort.
The two seasons that the series was on the air follow the progress of the s are carefully planned and reconnoitered in advance, etc.. For example, separate
Story Arc s detail Exofleet's
Reconnaissance of Venus prior to its recapture, the actual invasion, and the repulse of the first Neosapien reconquest attempt. Moreover, even after Venus is retaken by Terrans, several episodes deal with the remaining Venus
Resistance and Neosapien forces who hid across Venus, refusing to surrender and awaiting reinforcements.
The second season ends with the defeat of the Neosapiens and the liberation of Earth. The series was canceled soon afterwards, however, it ends with a
Cliffhanger , suggesting that the third season were to describe a war against a new
Alien Race , and that the Terrans and the Neosapiens would have been forced to ally with each other (see
Production ).
. Counter-clockwise from top-right: Marsala, DeLeon, Takagi, Weston, Burns, Bronsky, Torres. Middle: J.T. Marsh]]
See Also: List of Exosquad characters
''Exosquad'' features an
Ensemble Cast that portrays eight members of the titular Able Squad.
- as ''' Lt. / Wing Cmdr. J.T. Marsh '''. The original leader of the Able Squad, Marsh is a responsible and capable officer respected by troopers and superiors alike.
- as ''' Lt. Nara Burns '''. The least experienced member of the team, whose parents died during the Neosapien assault on Venus. Her relationship with Marsala is a recurring theme in the series. After Marsh's promotion, Burns becomes the new squad leader.
- as ''' Lt. Margaret "Maggie" Weston '''. The field repair specialist of the squad. An introvert and a loner, she has a hidden crush on Alec DeLeon.
- as ''' Sgt. Rita Torres '''. The second in command of the Able Squad and a perfect soldier, often juxtaposed to Wolf Bronski. She has a soft spot for children and harbors intense hatred towards the Pirate Clans.
- as ''' Alec DeLeon '''. The intelligence and communication specialist. Of French origin, he is very intelligent and well-educated, making him J.T. Marsh's right-hand man.
- as ''' Wolf Bronsky '''. The longest serving trooper in the Able Squad and a slob. Despite his appearance, he has a heart of gold, knowledge of arts and is a very romantic person.
- as ''' Kaz Takagi '''. The "rookie" of the team, who respects all fellow members deeply but often causes them trouble. He especially regards Bronsky as his mentor, with all due consequences to his discipline.
- as ''' Marsala '''. One of the few Neosapiens serving in the Exofleet, Marsala is a complex character, who often makes insightful comments on the situation at hand. Over the time, he develops a deep emotional attachment to Nara Burns.
While the main focus of the show is on the Able Squad, individual episodes and
Story Arc s are frequently dedicated to other characters, as well. For example, the
C5 Jumptroop Squadron , several
Homeworlds Resistance cells, prominent
Pirates , and high-ranking
Neosapien Officers (first of all,
Phaeton ) are all given much screen time.
''Exosquad'' had a very serious approach to the plot with several intertwined
Narrative Thread s and a number of memorable characters displaying a full spectrum of human relationships, such as friendship,
Love ,
Hatred , personal tragedies,
Treachery , taking responsibility for others, etc. Michael Edens, the story writer and editor in the second season, credited the show's
Realism for much of its success. Interplanetary
Politics and
Space War typical for
Military Science Fiction were presented with an assumption of the history of the
Solar System up to that point. The Able Squad's duties became more spread out as the second season unfolded, and there were separate story arcs on Mars, Venus, Earth, and in space.
Espionage and intrigue were often featured instead of straightforward battles.
Will Meugniot , the executive producer of the series, once compared anime series ''
Mobile Suit Gundam '' and ''Exosquad'' to the
Pacific and the
European Theater s of the
World War II , respectively.
2 Michael Edens also recalled in an interview that the plot was supposed to remind of the Second World War, e.g. with the Neosapien reconquest attempt of Venus, capture of the Moon, and battle for Chicago paralleling the battles of
The Bulge ,
Okinawa , and
Berlin , respectively.
3
The series owes its title to the
Exo-Frame s (commonly referred as ''E-frames''), multi-purpose
Mecha -like
Powered Exoskeleton s mostly utilized as armored combat vehicles or reinforced body armor by the characters. Sources of inspiration for them may have been ''
Robotech '', ''
BattleTech '', and, most likely,
Robert A. Heinlein 's ''
Starship Troopers ''.
See Also: List of Exosquad episodes
''Exosquad'' was one of the first animated series by
Universal Animation Studios (then known as ''Universal Cartoon Studios'') and was created under heavy influence of
Anime imported from Japan. As a result, its complex storyline covered a large number of topics from war through romance to genetic engineering and was able to appeal to a broad audience. Although the first season ran for only thirteen episodes in 1993, the rising popularity of the show allowed Universal to make the second one thrice as long. In its second season, ''Exosquad'' was put into the "Universal Action Hour" together with ''
Monster Force ''.
4
As the second season progressed, some characters, according to Michael Edens, "took on a life of
{Link without Title} own": for example, Nara Burns killing
Phaeton and the Neosapien
Thrax becoming a major recurring character after his initial appearance were decided upon impulsively. Another character, Alec DeLeon, was supposed to perish in the destruction of Mars but the Universal executives strongly opposed it, so he was killed several episodes later, on the Moon, only to be promptly resurrected in a
Neo Mega body.
The show was purportedly canceled after 52 episodes because many independent production companies were being taken over by larger networks, who wanted to produce their own content.
Universal syndication managed to do reasonably well for the show, but it was shunted to poor time slots such as 4 o'clock in the morning. The idea of a movie based on ''Exosquad'' was being promoted by Jeff Segal, an
Executive Producer of ''Exosquad'', but when the poor ratings numbers killed the possibility of a third season, the notion of a movie went down with it.
5
The final episode detailed the
Post-war political and social climate prevalent in the ''Exosquad'' universe, and closed with J.T. Marsh engaging a group of alien space vessels, whose exact nature was to be explain in the third season or a feature movie. Michael Edens later remarked that the staff originally planned the aliens to be
Insectoid and that the Pirates' dark matter,
Dr. Ketzer 's experiments, and the unactivated clone of Phaeton would have played a great role in fighting them. It was also planned to expand the fictional universe with a
Spin-off series, then codenamed ''Exo-Pirates''. As with the third season and movie, these plans were scrapped.
The first season of ''Exosquad'' has been released on seven
VHS cassettes shortly after its original run.
6 No official DVDs were produced by Universal, although
Bootleg copies have been circulating through the
Online Store s. Between 1993 and 1996,
Playmates Toys has produced a line of
Action Figure s and
Model Kit s of
E-frame s and spaceships featured in the television series.
78 The descriptions of the toys are a major source of ''Exosquad'' universe lore. The toys were often compared to the popular ''
Robotech '' franchise, and Playmates acquired the license to ''Robotech'' to produce both toy lines under the same label, spawning rumors of a possible
Crossover .
9 This possibility has been considered by the authors but abandoned together with that of the third season. Additionally, a
Sega Genesis arcade
Video Game under the
Same Name was developed by
Appaloosa Interactive , and a
Comic Book ,
10 an
Interactive Movie book,
11 and a
Board Game 12 based on the series were published.
Both Will Meugniot and Michael Edens commented that ''Exosquad'' was the best show they've worked on.
13
