Gad Guard – Volume Two: Corruption + Volume Three: Persona
(Animé TV)
Picture: C+ Sound: B- Extras:
C Episodes: B-
Gad Guard Volumes Two and Three lift a little higher off the ground than Volume One, with regards to
plot and character. These eight episodes
don’t add enough depth to the characters to warrant the term
“three-dimensional,” but we do learn a few more of their motives, and a tidbit
is dropped here and there about various people’s pasts. The requisite Mysterious Bishonen is given
special attention in an episode devoted to his history, and while it’s a bit
“too little, too late,” it does make him seem like less of a random stock
character. Also, we’re finally given
enough information to piece together some details about this story’s
world. Cities are named after
colors. The city in which the story
takes place is “Unit Blue,” while “Unit Cobalt” was destroyed some time ago,
supposedly by the same type of Techodes (giant robots, remember?) that our heroes
are befriending. Some different districts
of Unit Blue are Day Town (the rich neighborhood), Night Town (the wrong side
of the tracks), and Rainbow Town (a nice residential area, I gather). Hajiki, our main man, still dreams of one
day moving his family back to Rainbow Town, which they had to abandon for the
more affordable Night Town after his father left them.
One of the things I find
interesting about this series is the naming pattern of the giant robots, which
a friend was quick to pick up on. By
episode five, we’ve already met Lightning, Zero, Thunderbolt, and…
Messerschmitt? A little quick research
confirmed my friend’s hunch – the robots are all named after WWII fighter
planes. And, a pleasant surprise, each
one’s design actually reflects the design of that airplane! Lightning has a strange, muffler-like pair
of yellow pipes, which are similar to the American Lightning’s bright yellow dual exhaust. Thunderbolt is snub-nosed and sturdy, with two spikes on the
sides of its head reminiscent of the Thunderbolt’s
stubby wings. The Messerschmitt even
sports the ochre, black, and gray color scheme of its namesake, and its
shoulders reflect the strangely cog-like circumference of the plane’s
nose. Zero echoes the Japanese plane’s
spare design of red on black, and, in keeping with the original Zero’s appearance, is the most slim and
streamlined of the robots. It’s almost
frustrating that more of the show doesn’t go down the 1940s track, in terms of
costume or setting.
All in all, these two
installments actually entertain me, and make me curious about what’s coming
next. We learn that there’s a dark side
to the Gads, and are left wondering if they’ll remain a positive force in the
hands of their current owners. Hajiki,
our main character, starts exploring new options with his Techode. A new Gad is discovered and consequently
claimed. We learn about the other city,
Unit Cobalt, though we don’t know how or why the Techodes were able to destroy
it. And we still don’t know why that
saccharine little girl thinks the murderous Mysterious Bishonen is her
friend! Thankfully, the campy original
villains seem to phase out of the picture, leaving room for a more structured
Nefarious Scheme™ to take their place.
I’m surprised to find that an overarching plot is beginning to
form. If you can put up with the
overuse of unfocused bright white lighting, and the occasional gratuitous adult
content (mostly a scene where we’re tricked into thinking a girl is applying to
work as a prostitute, when she actually isn’t – they stretch reality a bit far to
make their joke on that one), the show’s got some entertainment value. And hey, it’s no more 2-D than a comic book,
and that’s what teenagers fighting crime on giant mecha is all about!
Oh, and additionally? The full screen color image is not bad, while
the Dolby digital 2.0 Stereo even has some Pro Logic surrounds in both English
& Japanese. There are some hidden
Easter eggs on these DVDs, mostly bloopers that occurred during voice
recording. Not very funny, as most of
them are just someone trailing away in the middle of a line, but do make sure and watch the first volume’s outtakes for the
Mysterious Bishonen doing his impression of Homer Simpson. Marvelous!
- Anne Moffa
