Yuusha-Ou GaoGaiGar

In the year 2005, a race of alien monsters called Zonders emerge from underground and launch a series of attacks on the city of Tokyo. The only defense against these creatures is the secret agency known as the Gutsy Geoid Guard (or 3G) and their ultimate weapon, the awesome giant robot GaoGaiGar. GaoGaiGar's pilot, Guy Shishio, is a former astronaut who was nearly killed two years before when the Zonders first crashed to earth. Guy's life was spared when a mysterious robot lion called Galeon pulled him from the burning shuttle and brought him to Earth. Guy's father, Leo, then used Galeon's technology to rebuild his shattered son as a cyborg, in the hopes that he could stop the aliens when they appear. Now, with Galeon as its core, GaoGaiGar fights to protect Earth. He is aided by a team of transforming robots and by a young boy named Mamoru, who has the power to purify the Zonders' cores, and seems to be connected to the mysterious Galeon.

(Source: ANN)

Shishiou, Guy Main

Hiyama, Nobuyuki Japanese

Amami, Mamoru Main

Itou, Maiko Japanese

Soldat J Supporting

Madono, Mitsuaki Japanese

Taiga, Kotarou Supporting

Ishii, Kouji Japanese

VolFogg Supporting

Konishi, Katsuyuki Japanese

ChoRyuJin Supporting

Yamada, Shinichi Japanese

Mic Sounders the 13th Supporting

Iwata, Mitsuo Japanese

Utsugi, Mikoto Supporting

Hanba, Tomoe Japanese

Hatsuno, Hana Supporting

Yoshida, Konami Japanese

Pagliaccio Supporting

Yoshida, Konami Japanese

Yonetani, Yoshitomo Director, Episode Director, Script, Storyboard, Theme Song Lyrics

Takamatsu, Shinji Episode Director, Storyboard

Yamaguchi, Yuuji Episode Director, Storyboard

Mori, Kunihiro Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Sep 25, 2023

Ionliosite2

Recommended

Ever wanted to feel like a kid again? Well, I have good news for you, because The King of Braves GaoGaiGar is a show tailor made for that. Made in the aftermath of Neon Genesis Evangelion's cataclysmic effect on the mecha genre, GaoGaiGar is a throw back to classic super robot shows of the 70s ala Mazinger Z and Getter Robo, but its execution of its simple ideas turn it into an effective celebration of the genre, leading it to inspire Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and other future shows.

The plot is simple enough for the first half: Guy Shishioh is a cyborg member of the ... Earth defense force GGG, who can fuse with alien machines powered by courage that turn him into the giant robot GaoGaiGar, and alongside the mysterious superpowered kid Mamoru Amami, the duo have to take down and purify the people transformed into evil monsters known as Zonder, the soldiers of Pasder and his Four Machine Kings in their plan to take over Earth. As you can see, it's a basic mecha plot, with other GGG Brave Robots joining our main duo across the series to form the obvious toyline the series is promoting, and yet, the show never feels like a cynical toy commercial thanks to its sheer eagerness and sincerity on presenting long-used super robot tropes in the most straight and epic way possible. It starts monster of the week like its inspirations, but it gets more plot heavy and darker in the second half, but even then the Zonder battles are always entertaining and never feel like they overstay their welcome.

Aside from its aforementioned simple but engaging plot, another highlight of GaoGaiGar is its endearing cast, starting with the star of the show himself Guy. He's an ideal hero, always determined, optimistic and idealistic, in addition to just being a really badass pilot so hot-blooded he'd make Kamina blush, but he also has a calmer more and intimate side to him the show touches on, showing how he's still a sensitive man even with his bombastic displays. Mamoru starts as a meek kid, filled with insecurities and fear, but his character development towards a true hero thanks to Guy's influence clearly show how he inspired Simon, and I think that it's his arc that serves as the overall emotional core of the show. Other characters aren't touched in as much as this duo, but their lack of depth doesn't stop them from getting a place in your heart, from the incredibly loud but gentle leader Taiga, to the jerk with a heart of gold Kaido, the cool and stoic Soldato-J serving as a foil to Guy, the show is filled with a likable side cast that always help out on the action.

Speaking of action, any fan of super robots has to check out what GaoGaiGar has to offer, as its one of the most hype mecha shows you'll find. From Sunrise, the studio behind other mecha juggernauts such as the earlier Gundam and the latter Code Geass, the beautiful robot action always comes with high energy battles that never fail to showcase the scale of GaoGaiGar's super moves, of which he has a big variety that make anyone familiar with other super robots scream alongside Guy. In particular, Nobuyuki Hiyama's acting as Guy is just electrifying, bringing the much needed vitality these high paced fights need, and by the end of the show certain cries such as "HELL AND HEAVEN!" and "HIKARI NI NARE!" are going to get stuck on your head thanks to his excellent performance. On the topic of sound, the series has no shortage of good OST, particularly GGG's and J's themes, but the amazing opening theme and nostalgic ending theme are such great songs even the sequel would get mileage out of them, I seriously could listen to that "Gagaga Gagaga" for hours on repeat.

Overall, I can't recommend GaoGaiGar enough. It's really nothing deep, and people who don't like monster of the week will find the first 20 episodes too slow, but it deserves its spot in the mecha pantheon as an eternally fun, legitimately well executed homage of the show that gave birth to the entire genre, so for anyone who's into super robots, this show is a must watch, and even if you aren't into them, check it out, you'll be surprised what the King of Braves can offer.

Thank you for reading

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Sep 10, 2010

Darklonestrife

Mixed Feelings

I had high hopes that I would be sinking into another EPIC mecha-anime because of all the reviews I read about this beforehand. They all said before "Gurren Lagann," there was GaoGaiGar. What I sunk into, no I mean drowned into was a predictable and "Neon Genesis Evangelion-like" story downgraded for kiddies. At least now I assuringly know which audience this was targeting, so I'll give the fairest and most unbiased review I can.

STORY... The plot of GaoGaiGar is your typical "save the world one day at a time," except it's with robots. You've got your evil mastermind sending his minions to do his bidding; ... you've got your typical "monster of the week" or in terms of GaoGaiGar, "Zonder of the week." And with each enemy encounter, the question isn't if GaoGaiGar will win, it's HOW GaoGaiGar will win. You can expect power-up, after power-up, after power-up, after power-up, after power-up... (Hence, the "typical cycle"). And just like the sentence before this one, (not the one in parentheses), GaoGaiGar is repetitive... Too repetitive for it's own good... It attempts to put in some suspense at times by displaying that some actions of one of the heroes does has negative repercussions, but you can easily tell they will find a solution to fix this problem. And so, the "typical cycle" repeats itself with the introduction of new characters joining the fight. Predictable, right?

For me, the only good points of the plot was with each enemy encounter, you really can sense the degree of difficulty on how to defeat the enemy getting higher and higher or the degree of danger getting higher, however you want to say it. That could possibly spark your interest. The second good point is it's twist- just when you thought the enemy was defeated, guess again... But that too, was unfortunately it's downfall because repeating the "typical cycle" for 49 episodes just got a bit boring towards the end. Also, I thought that if the exact opposite thing happened to the heroes (don't worry, I won't spoil anything, keep reading) in episode 30 and in the final episode, then GaoGaiGar could have been a candidate for an EXCELLENT series or maybe even EPIC.

ANIMATION... The animation is a bit dated, but I won't hold that against it. The robot designs are neatly drawn, and great detail goes into when they perform their transformations. However, a lot of stock footage transformation was used for most of the episodes and you could get bored after seeing it too many times. But you will find yourself amused on how exaggerated characters perform their actions even if it's just for the simplest things like- Mr. Chief's jacket wildly blowing in the wind as he gives approval for certain battle actions and how Mikoto Utsugi has to break glass with her fist just to press a button. Now, this works for the first few times, but after a while, it just gets annoying. As for the enemy designs, I can't help, but think if the designers got lazy towards the end. Watch it for yourself, you'll see what I mean.

SOUND... The soundtrack of GaoGaiGar isn't terribly bad, but it isn't terribly good either. The opening theme may be annoying to some, but after 8 episodes in, I found myself smiling, thinking to myself, "I'm actually listening to this. Haha..." The ending theme is just okay or should I say "meh?" As for the background music, what can I say? It's typical of the 90's? All in all, the soundtrack shouldn't be too much of a bother while watching.

CHARACTERS... Now, this is what I consider to be the "saving grace" of GaoGaiGar. The main characters are likeable, despite the lack of depth. You've got Guy Shishio, your main super hero who displays a fiery courage, along with a boy named Mamoru Amami whose got special powers that help defeat the Zonders, alongside them you've got the team 3G whose cast is also entertaining to a certain extent. However, it's the robots that steal the show, mainly GaoGaiGar's comrades. GaoGaiGar's robot comrades were each given distinct, unique human personalities, and seeing them interact with others and their environment will either put a smile on your face or make you laugh. You might even have favorite robots by the time you're done with the whole series. As for the villains, they are totally one dimensional, just a bunch of dudes always planning to wreak havoc on humanity in whatever way they can. You know, a mastermind wanting to rule the world or universe, something along those lines. Only one villain undergoes character development, but I won't say who that it is. I don't like being a spoiler. Haha...

OVERALL SCORE: 6/10= Above Average

STRENGTHS
+ Likeable characters, despite lack of depth
+ Introduction of new characters is what keeps the show entertaining somehow.
+ Different types of enemies keeps challenges for the heroes fresh.

WEAKNESSES
- Predictable plot.
- Too much repetition in some scenes.

Note: The target audience of this series is obviously kids because kids don't tend to notice character development, plot twists, or other details that serious anime watchers look at. I recommend this series only and ONLY to a younger audience and for people who really love mechas. As for the other viewers, you'll be better off not watching this one.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Mar 12, 2024

ProxyLain

Not Recommended

This is one of the worst mecha of all time.
There is no character development, their relationships are vague. It's 49 episodes of nothing but the monster of the week. Background stories are told through poorly executed flashbacks or rushed in a way that doesn't make sense, considering that 49 episodes are enough to develop a story.
Besides, there are even huge plot holes, as we can see in episode 43. The episodes ago the robots were thrown into space time on Jupiter, but in ep 43 they show them coming to earth in the era of dinosaurs (when they existed) and they were underground for all ... this time. What's the point? Look at the size of the plot hole...
How did they end up in the age of dinosaurs in the same timeline as everything is happening? They wrote this episode with their asses and didn't think.
The ending is stupid. The protagonist simply leaves Earth because a threat can appear at any time in the universe. Couldn't he just stay on Earth? Where did he go? Are you going to be wandering the universe inside a robot? They simply did it to make it look sadder, but it's just poorly written.

The author of this work also made Brigadon and Betterman, I don't know how I expected any quality from this.

The animation is good, but every episode repeats the same transformation and that annoys me. There are episodes where the same transformation happens twice.

The penultimate episode is just a shitty recap episode. Seriously?

There's really nothing to praise about this anime. It wastes time just being the monster of the week instead of wanting to tell something. Like I said, when it tries to tell something, it's rushed and vague. Even the villains themselves were created with a stupid and poorly made excuse. They say this anime is the Gurren Lagann of the 90s, now I understand why it's so horrible (it manages to be worse than Gurren Lagann).

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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