Mechamato

Mechamato
Screenshot logo from music video
Genre	Action Comedy Superhero Science fiction Coming-of-age
Created by	Nizam Razak
Developed by	Safwan Karim
Written by	Nizam Razak Anas Abdul Aziz Raja Faisal Raja Ihsanuddin Khairil Azwa Syahmi Hafizuddin
Directed by	Dzubir Mohammed Zakaria Raja Nukman Raja Mohd Noordin Hafiz Ashraf Saipul Islam
Voices of	Armand Ezra Adzlan Nazir Ielham Iskandar Marissa Balqis Syabil Syamin
Opening theme	Armoured Hero Mechamato
Ending theme	Armoured Hero Mechamato
Composers	Nur Sharmine Md Bakri Mohd Rizdzuwan Md Jusoh
Country of origin	Malaysia
Original languages	Malay English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	39 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Kee Yong Pin Noor Ezdiani Ahmad Fawzi
Producers	Nizam Razak Yap Ee Jean Ferdiawan Gunarto Rashdan Fahrirurazi
Editors	Dzubir Mohammed Zakaria Raja Nukman Raja Mohd Noordin
Running time	23-24 mins
Production company	Animonsta Studios
Original release
Network	Astro Prima TV3 TV9 Cartoon Network MNC TV
Release	4 December 2021 (2021-12-04) – present
Related
BoBoiBoy BoBoiBoy Galaxy

Mechamato (Jawi: ميچاماتو‎‎) is a Malaysian animated series produced by Animonsta Studios, focusing on a boy named Amato and his partner robot MechaBot, who fight against bad robots. Mechamato is a part of the BoBoiBoy franchise and the series canonically takes place before BoBoiBoy and BoBoiBoy Galaxy.

The animated series, Mechamato: The Animated Series premiered on Cartoon Network Asia from 4 December 2021 to 26 February 2022 for the first season. The first season was also released on TV9 as well as Netflix for the Asia-Pacific region in October 2022. The second season premiered on the 5th of December 2022.

In Portugal, the series premiered on SIC K on 3 September 2022.^[1]

The film, Mechamato Movie, which is the prequel to the animated series,^[2] has been released in Malaysia and Brunei on 8 December 2022.

On 31 October 2023, it was announced that four new seasons and a second movie are expected to premiere in future.^[3]

Premise

Setting

Mechamato is set in Kota Hilir, inspired by Bandar Hilir in Malacca City in the real world, which is also the creator's hometown.^[4] It features the uniqueness of Malaysian culture such as silat, the Peranakan culture and local food, but is embroidered with futuristic elements such as robots and spaceships.^[5]

Plot

A boy named Amato finds a prison spaceship containing bad robots that have crashed on Earth. One such robot is the MechaBot which has the ability to mechanize everyday objects into high-tech devices. Amato manages to outsmart MechaBot and eventually becomes the master of MechaBot. Since then, MechaBot and Amato have started working together to find and capture the bad robots.^[6]

Characters

Amato / Mechamato

Voiced by: Alexander Machado^[7] (English); Armand Ezra^[8] (Malay)

A kind, creative and imaginative boy who becomes the master of MechaBot after he manages to outsmart MechaBot.

MechaBot

Voiced by: Alex Teixeira^[7] (English); Adzlan Nazir^[8] (Malay)

A Power Sphera which is the most powerful destructive robot in the galaxy. It has the power to combine any item with its Mechanize power. However, it has to obey Amato's instructions because Amato has become his new master.

Pian

Voiced by: Katherine Clare Clavelo^[7] (English); Ielham Iskandar^[8] (Malay)

Amato's good friend who is very rich and a clever creator. He is the only one who understands Amato's bad paintings.

Mara / Maskmara

Voiced by: Katherine Clare Clavelo^[7] (English); Marissa Balqis^[8] (Malay)

A female friend of Amato who is a wheelchair user. She is a person with an artistic soul, and also independent, brave and does not give up. She always helps Amato and his friends in solving problems. In the movie, her real name was Tamara. In season 3, she later reveals to be a new Maskmana under young Maskmana program.

Deep

Voiced by: Daniel Cortes^[7] (English); Syabil Syamin^[8] (Malay)

Amato's friend who is always happy-go-lucky. He loves to play games and has high creativity, which is higher than Amato himself.

Production

Mechamato is created by Animonsta Studios which is known for the BoBoiBoy series. The series itself is an indirect prequel for BoBoiBoy when the main character, Amato is revealed as the father of BoBoiBoy,^[9] which is under the Power Sphera Universe.^[10] The idea for this series came in 2018 when Animonsta Studios pitch the idea to Cartoon Network. The studio wanted a robot-buddy story that represented a child-like imagination that could be associated with each child, such as making a robot costume out of a cardboard box.^[4] The creator Nizam Razak wanted Mechamato to inspire children to imagine possibilities, to use technology responsibly.^[11] He revealed that this idea came while moving house, where his children were playing with boxes and imagined being in a tank. This reminds him of being in a box as a child, pretending to be driving in a car. The thing sparks the idea to create a 'Power Sphera' that can combine with the boxes and turn into a high-tech car or tank, who then noticed that the idea was not limited to the boxes only.^[12] As for the name Amato, it was inspired by two things: Amat, which is a common Malay name, and the use of 'O' at the end of the name of a drink that Malaysians only add sugar without milk, such as Kopi O.^[13] He and his creative team initially envisioned Amato and MechaBot as a duo of superheroes riding futuristic motorcycles and fighting super villains bigger than themselves. The concepts were sketched out five years before the series was released and they look simpler than it turns out. Based on the initial concept, their animator partners and friends in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and France gave positive feedback.^[14]

The grown-up Amato wearing the MechaBot suit, who kept an old photo of him with infant BoBoiBoy and another photo of him sending BoBoiBoy to the train station, was featured in the post-credit scene of BoBoiBoy Movie 2, with the studio giving the hint for this series. The extended version of the first episode of the BoBoiBoy series was also released on Monsta official YouTube channel on 14 March 2021, adding a new scene of Amato sending his son BoBoiBoy to the train station at the beginning of the episode.^[15]

The name of the series was revealed as early as 2019 when Animonsta Studios announced the series on a video for their 2020 plans.^[16] The first look of the series is revealed on 8 April 2020 when the first teaser is released on Monsta official YouTube channel.^[17]

Media

Movie

Main article: Mechamato Movie

The movie of the series, named Mechamato Movie, was originally planned to be released in 2020, but postponed to 2021.^[18] The official trailer was released on 1 January 2021, intended for the release of 2021.^[19] However, due to uncertainty over the COVID-19 pandemic situation and vaccination, the film was postponed several times, from November or December 2020 to March 2021 to May or June 2021 and finally until end 2021.^[20] However, plans to release the film earlier than the animated series were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the animated series had already been developed according to schedule which is set to be released in December 2021.^[21] On 15 September 2022, it has been announced that the movie will be released on 8 December 2022 in Malaysian cinemas.^[22] The final trailer and the official poster were revealed on 8 November 2022, a month before the release.^[23][24]

Second film titled Mechamato Movie 2 has already planned in 2023 after huge box office administration in late 2022 by collecting RM35.88 million in Malaysia with Astro Shaw set to continue co-produced the film.^[25]

Animated series

Main article: List of Mechamato episodes

The animated series, named Mechamato: The Animated Series was announced to be broadcast on Cartoon Network Asia under WarnerMedia for Adult Swim the Asia-Pacific region.^[10] It was premiered on 4 December 2021, with a special sneak-peek episode on 6 November 2021.^[26] Although the series was released before Mechamato Movie, the timeline of the series is after the movie.^[21][27] The opening theme, titled "Armored Hero Mechamato!", is composed by Nur Sharmine Md Bakri and performed by Shah from the indie band Modescape for Malay version and Nil Cardoso for the English version, which is recorded in the US.^[28] As for Japanese version, the opening theme is performed by Tatsuhiko Yoshida.^[29] The series is available in 21 countries with dubbing in English, Malay, Indonesian, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Tagalog and Thai for their respective countries on 4 December 2021.^[30] For Korean, it was available starting 11 December 2021 in South Korea,^[30] while for Japanese, it will be available starting 27 March 2022 in Japan. The voice actors for the Japanese version was announced by Cartoon Network Japan on 31 January 2021, which features Ayumu Murase and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka.^[31] The show premiered in India via Cartoon Network on January 15, 2023.^[32]

For outside Asia, Jetpack Distribution has acquired worldwide rights, which includes season one.^[33]

On 23 June 2022, it is announced that Mechamato: The Animated Series is currently streaming on HBO GO.^[34] For the Malaysian market, the series is also broadcast on Astro Prima, starting 16 July 2022 where it would be aired each Saturday and Sunday at 7 pm.^[35] Mechamato also gets a release in Portugal, which is aired in SIC K from 3 September.^[36][37]

On 15 September 2022, alongside the movie date release reveal, it is announced that it will be released on various platforms before the movie release. For streaming platforms, it will be released on Netflix for the Asia-Pacific region on 1 October, YouTube on 7 October and Vidio on 21 October. For the TV release, it will be premiered on TV9 on 3 October, MNCTV on 30 October and TV3 on 4 December.^[22] For Netflix release, it is available in 6 languages, namely Malay, English, Thai, Mandarin, Korean and Japanese.^[38]

On 11 November 2022, it is confirmed that there would be a second season, in which the creator mentioned that they already had submitted all 13 episodes to Cartoon Network.^[39] The second season premiered on 5 December 2022 on Cartoon Network in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines,^[40] and on 10 December 2022 in Japan,^[41] while for South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan and Hong Kong, MONSTA is still waiting for the schedule.^[42]

Video games

Mechamato Robot Battle, an immersive game experience on Roblox, has been announced in October 2022. It is an online gaming space where fans and players can explore the vast open world of Kota Hilir, as seen on Mechamato: The Animated Series.^[43]

Reception

Reviews

The series received positive feedback in general, in particularly for its animation, action and comedy. The series also caught the attention of fans in Japan after it aired on Cartoon Network Japan and Netflix Japan, where positive reactions could be seen on Twitter.^[44]

Mechamato has been nominated for the Anime Fan Award at the 2023 Tokyo Anime Awards Festival, in which the highest position ever achieved by this series in that category is 3rd place.^[45] For second round, Mechamato managed to beat Spy × Family, One Piece Film: Red, Extreme Hearts and many more to steal the first place.^[46][47] Mechamato also peaked at No. 2 for Top 10 TV Show on Netflix Malaysia,^[48] and managed to break into Top 10 Kids Show on Netflix for Indonesia, Singapore and South Korea.^[49][50][51]

In public figure

The film based on the series, Mechamato Movie was appeared in the 5th minute of Astro Shaw 2024 film on the background, The Experts when Luqman Hariz, an Astro Awani news anchor reporting the news of RM40 million worth of gold missing after being stolen by family.^[52]

References

1. BERNAMA (28 July 2022). "Mechamato Animated Series to debut over top Portugal TV station". BERNAMA. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
2. @nizamabdrazak (30 November 2022). "(1/5) Ramai yang bertanya; perlu ke tonton Series Mechamato untuk layan Mechamato Movie? Jawapan pendek saya; Tidak Perlu. Jawapan panjang saya:" (Tweet) (in Malay) – via Twitter.
3. "Archived copy". Retrieved 31 October 2023.
4. Melanie Chalil (29 November 2021). "Malaysian-made Cartoon Network animation series 'Mechamato' showcases Melaka's charm, diversity (VIDEO)". Malay Mail. Archived from the original on 20 January 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
5. Serimah Mohd Sallehuddin (6 October 2021). "Mechamato tembusi 21 negara Asia Pasifik". Berita Harian (in Malay). Archived from the original on 20 January 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
6. "Mechamato". Monsta. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
7. "Mechamato English Voice Actor Revealed!". YouTube. 6 March 2022. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
8. "Pelakon Suara Mechamato didedahkan!". YouTube (in Malay). 1 March 2022. Archived from the original on 25 May 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
9. "Monsta Memperlihatkan Siri Animasi Mechamato Secara Rasmi – Pengembaraan Baharu Buat Power Sphera Universe". Aksiz (in Malay). 8 April 2020. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
10. "Cartoon Network Picks-Up Monsta's 'Mechamato' for Asia Pacific". Animation World Network. 9 October 2020. Archived from the original on 6 April 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
11. "Digerati 50 – Animonsta's Nizam Razak is a man of characters". Digital News Asia. 20 November 2021. Archived from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
12. Paul, Sharmindrila (9 December 2020). "Exclusive: 'Mechamato's uniqueness and popularity lies in its simple yet captivating concept: Monsta team". Animation Xpress. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
13. @nizamabdrazak (10 December 2022). "(1/2) TRIVIA; Kenapa nama AMATO? Ada yang katakan bunyi seakan-akan Jepun. Sebenarnya nama Amato berkait dengan budaya kita. Nama panggilan asal dia ialah Amat. Tetapi dia suka sangat order air koko-o, teh-o, kopi-o ... semua nya kena ada 'O'. Sebab itu dia digelar Amato" (Tweet) (in Malay) – via Twitter.
14. Dennis Chua (7 February 2022). "#Showbiz: 'Foreign animators had strong faith in Mechamato' - Animonsta Studios". New Straits Times. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
15. Hanafis Haris (15 March 2021). ""Menangis Weh Scene Tu, Sedih Kena Berpisah" - Ayah BoBoiBoy Akhirnya Muncul, Filem Mechamato Dijangka Tayang Hujung Tahun Ni?". Gempak.com (in Malay). Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
16. "MONSTA 2020 - A NEW ERA!". YouTube. 27 December 2019. Archived from the original on 6 October 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
17. "Mechamato™ Series - Teaser Exclusive First Look TOMORROW! (8.4.2020) #ANewEra". YouTube. 7 April 2020. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
18. "'BoBoiBoy Movie 3' due in 2022, after 'Mechamato Movie' in 2021 say Animonsta Studios". The Star. 15 September 2020. Archived from the original on 17 September 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
19. "MECHAMATO MOVIE - OFFICIAL TRAILER [HD]". YouTube. 1 January 2021. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
20. "Enggan rugi, filem animasi Mechamato tangguh tayangan". Berita Harian (in Malay). 6 January 2021. Archived from the original on 25 November 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
21. "Mechamato Bakal Mengubah Industri Animasi Tempatan – Kenapa?". Aksiz (in Malay). 24 November 2020. Archived from the original on 6 October 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
22. "MECHAMATO MOVIE 8 DECEMBER 2022". YouTube. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
23. "MECHAMATO MOVIE™ - Final Trailer (8 DECEMBER 2022)". YouTube. 7 April 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
24. @nizamabdrazak (8 November 2022). "Main poster #MechamatoMovie. Genap sebulan lagi untuk Mechamato Movie ditayangkan di Malaysia dan Brunei. Jangan lupa beramai-ramai menonton di pawagam bermula 8 December 2022!" (Tweet) (in Malay) – via Twitter.
25. "[MONSTA CON 2023 LIVE UPDATE!] Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif MONSTA, Nizam Abd Razak turut berkongsi dengan orang ramai akan rancangan dan program bakal disajikan kepada penonton untuk tahun 2023 dan 2024.--#Monsta #Mechamato #PapaPipi #BoBoiBoy #KembaliBeraksi #MonstaCon2023 ⚡". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
26. "'Mechamato The Animated Series' arriving on Cartoon Network this December". Animation Xpress. 23 September 2020. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
27. @nizamabdrazak (6 December 2021). "In term of timeline, Mechamato series come after Mechamato Movie. Mechamato Movie will focus on Amato's 1st encounter with MechaBot. However, due to the Omicron variant, we are still unsure when we can release Mechamato Movie. After 1st season or maybe even later🙃" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
28. Aref Omar (3 December 2021). "#Showbiz: Empowering kids with creativity". New Straits Times. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
29. @MechamatoJP (27 March 2022). "#メカアマト OP - 日本語版 🎵 歌　吉田達彦 @tatsuhiko_hiko" (Tweet) (in Japanese) – via Twitter.
30. @mechamato (7 October 2021). "Mechamato series officially dubbed into Japanese and Korean on Cartoon Network!🇲🇾🇯🇵🇰🇷 More languages to be added soon!🔊🌏" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
31. "カートゥーン スペシャル メカアマト". Cartoon Network Japan (in Japanese). 31 January 2022. Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
32. "New show | Mechamato | 15th Jan, Sunday 12.30 PM & 6.30 PM | Cartoon Network". YouTube. 27 May 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
33. "'Mechamato The Animated Series' arriving on Cartoon Network this December". Television Business International. 22 September 2020. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
34. @mechamato (23 June 2022). "📢Mechamato The Animated Series is now available on HBO GO‼️ Subscribe and watch now!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
35. @mechamato (12 July 2022). "Siri Animasi Mechamato akan datang tidak lama lagi ke Astro Prima! #Mechamato #Mechanize! Best kaaannn 👍 Nantikan pada 16 Julai ini, setiap Sabtu dan Ahad jam 7 malam~!" (Tweet) (in Malay) – via Twitter.
36. "Animasi Mechamato tembusi stesen TV utama Portugal". Berita Harian (in Malay). 4 August 2022. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
37. Shahrin Zulkifle (29 July 2022). "Mechamato Mendunia! Setelah ke Korea Selatan, Jepun, New Zealand dan Lain-Lain, Kini Siri Mechamato Tiba Di Portugal!" (in Malay). Astro Gempak. Archived from the original on 29 August 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
38. "'Mechamato The Animated Series' to be available in 6 languages, including Korean and Japan". The Star. 20 September 2022. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
39. @nizamabdrazak (11 November 2022). "Submitted 13 New Episodes of #MechamatoSeries to Cartoon Network! Thank you #TeamMONSTA" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
40. @mechamato (5 December 2022). "📢NEW Bad Robots are in the town‼ Stream Mechamato The Animated Series Season 2 NOW on Cartoon Network to watch NEW EPISODES!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
41. @mechamatojp (1 December 2022). "#カートゥーンネットワーク#メカアマト 放送予定📝🎄１２月🎄・平日毎日放送🗓️5日~27日⏰11:30~・日本初放送直前SP🗓️3日(土)⏰10:00~＃12＃13・日本初放送🆕🗓️10日(土)⏰10:00~＃14＃15🗓️17日(土)⏰10:00~＃16＃17" (Tweet) (in Japanese) – via Twitter.
42. Nizam Razak (8 November 2022). "MECHAMATO Series Season 2 bakal ditayangkan di Jepun, Malaysia, Indonesia dan Philippines dalam bulan Disember ini! Masih menunggu schedule untuk Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan dan Hong Kong". Facebook (in Malay). Archived from the original on 4 December 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
43. "Mechamato Robot Battle now available on Roblox". The Star. 16 October 2022. Archived from the original on 17 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
44. NST Entertainment (4 October 2022). "#Showbiz: 'Mechamato' series gets lauded by fans in Japan". New Straits Times. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
45. "Mechamato dalam senarai 3 teratas bagi Anime TV Terbaik di Tokyo". Harian Metro (in Malay). 16 November 2022. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
46. "TAAF2023 アニメファン賞は『メカアマト』！" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
47. Bernama (15 March 2023). "Mechamato terima Anugerah Peminat Anime di Tokyo" (in Malay). Astro Awani. Archived from the original on 29 August 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
48. @mechamato (6 October 2022). "Macam ni lah rakyat Malaysia!🇲🇾👍 #MechamatoNETFLIX Terima kasih kerana menempatkan siri #Mechamato di tangga ⭐NO.2 'Top 10 TV Show on NETFLIX Malaysia!'⭐" (Tweet) (in Malay) – via Twitter.
49. @nizamabdrazak (9 November 2022). "(THREAD) 5 Fakta menarik tentang Mechamato di Kre8tif!" (Tweet) (in Malay) – via Twitter.
50. @mechamato (12 November 2022). "🇰🇷🇲🇾 대박‼️ Congratulations #Mechamato The Animated Series for entering ⭐'Top 10 KIDS Show' on NETFLIX South Korea!⭐" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
51. @mechamato (13 November 2022). "🇸🇬🇲🇾 AWESOME‼️ Congratulations #Mechamato The Animated Series for the 22 days position at ⭐'Top 10 KIDS Show' on NETFLIX SINGAPORE!⭐" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
52. Astro Shaw (17 May 2024). THE EXPERTS - TAYANGAN PERDANA | DI PAWAGAM 23 MEI 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024 – via YouTube.

External links

• Mechamato on Facebook
• Mechamato on Twitter
• Mechamato on Instagram
• Mechamato at IMDb