King of Braves/Yuusha-Oh GaoGaiGar

R

Rurouni H

Student Council President
I've almost finished watching the end of this great super robot series. Basically its about the fight against the Zonder aliens who cause humans to mutate and assimilate metal in an attempt to mechanise the whole world. Opposing them is the Gutsy Geoid Guard (or 3G/GGG), an organisation formed when the first Zonder crashed onto earth 2 years ago. The main offensive 3G has is made up by the cyborg Guy, who fuses with the mecha lion Galeon and the Gao machines (a shinkansen, a stealth bomber, a drill tank) to become GaoGaiGar, a giant robot with incredible destructive power. The real star of the show however is Mamoru, a 9 year-old boy who finds that, on the first day GaoGaiGar fights in action, he has the power to restore the zonderised humans back to normal, and thus ends up becoming part of 3G.

Ok, Ok, it isn't exactly a deep thinking anime, but if you need a break from with serious giant robot anime like Gundam, Macross, and Evangelion, this is pretty much the antidote (it was aimed at the 8-12 age group after all). Its also the last of the Brave Sagas, which started back in 1990 in an attempt to kickstart the giant robot franchise after Transformers had gone down in popularity (does that ever happen?!?), which is why alot of the mecha designs are Transformers-esque in their appearence. Probably something to avoid if you dislike stock footage (the saviour of all mecha anime!), a lot of cliches, or a plot that doen't get seriously started until around episode 24/25 though.

But whatever, its good fun. The true victory belongs to those who are heroes!
 
I've heard that it is a good series, but I heard the OVA is even better (GGG Final I think it was called). You should make that the next thing on your list.
 
Thats the plan. I'm one episode away from finishing this series. After that, Final is on my list of things to watch - and if it doesn't get subbed, or picked up by Bandai (fairly unlikely) I'm importing.
 
Just watched the last episode. Damn, that was one satisfying ending, both uplifting and bittersweet. The whole Guy/Mikoto thing is nicely brought to finality when they admit their feelings for each other, plus Guy got his body back! The final fight was not quite as thrilling as some of the others in the series (episode 30 is probably the best), but it was still pretty well executed. The Gao Machines having the AI of nearly all the Yuusha robots was definately cool to see though. There are a couple of cons: the final 2 episode plotline seemed like it was just thrown in at last minute, there wasn't really any build up to it beforehand. It would have been better to try it earlier and given it more time to develop. Similarily, Mamoru and Hana's relationship is kind of finalised (well, as much as a relationship between 2 nine year-olds can BE finalised, anyway) but not quite - what the hell, it was pretty cute to see. The ending leaves the storyline open enough for Final to pick up the story though, should hopefully that'll be next on the subber's lists.

All in all, I love this series to bits. Never mind the cliches, the stock footage, the Engrish - I love it all, dammit! The ending is optimistic, and everyone is happy (moreorless). In fact, I can't recall one moment of this anime where any of the characters were angsting over things. The main theme of the series is confidence and positive thinking, points that I haven't seen alot of other anime push. So what if its for kids? Indulge yourselves and give it a go. And then maybe, if we're really lucky, Bandai will get off their backsides and do a release. Here's hoping!
 
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Woohoo! It's so great to find another GGG fan in the UK :D

GaoGaiGar is indeed fantastic... the epitome of courageous mecha battling! The Final OVAs are simply amazing... an awesome new story, huge cliffhangers and plot twists, and a magnitude of catastrophe that I've never seen before... the situation just gets worse and worse! Easily the most satisfyingly epic anime that I've ever experienced.

I'm currently subbing all 8 of the GGG Finals, and looking to release in a few weeks. At the moment, the scripts need a proofread and TL check, but things are definately going ahead.

Oh, and AyaCon was amazing... post-con depression sucks though.
 
That's great to hear! I've been really looking foward to them since the series finished.

Yeah, Ayacon was great, but not for my bank account!
 
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