Criticized for being a lot like Cowboy Bebop+Trigun - is it really just a clone with lots of mixed elements? Not exactly; it doesn’t have a nouveau edge by far but it’s pretty entertaining. In fact, even though I watched it a year ago I still remember most of the characters and episodes. It’s directed by Goro Taniguchi (who also did Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion which I loathe even though I’ve seen the series, with the exception of special episodes 24 and 25…but I digress) who as I rambled in the brackets, has now recently directed quite a popular show (most blogs I’ve seen, seem to like Geass or at least be entertained but I’ll leave Code Geass for its own review some day).

Don’t be discouraged by my title, I actually think positively of this anime.

The setting of GunxSword is in on a planet like Earth. The first episode begins with a Wild West sort of theme, in a desert-esque town with gun slickers, rough dudes and Van. The lazy, nonchalant, but smooth (oh so smooth) Van - who’s gangly, ill-mannered and pretty much unwilling to do anything relevant in life. Every episode begins with a pre-amble about “The Planet of Endless Illusion” where you got a feeling that this world is pretty messy (but it’s not a grim series by far, anything gloomy is very subtle). Not knowing much about the story, I didn’t expect the giant mecha in the first episode but that’s what this show goes down the path of: giant mechas. That, and a harem to boot.

The basic storyline follows certain people who have a vendetta against an old man with a claw hand, involving some high-end mechas whose names end with a day of the week. For example, Van has Dann of Thursday. The Claw Man has a plan to take over the world/modify it and who’s gonna stop him? Van!

The characters are actually “developed” well…sort of. Van is mostly an archetype kind of character, the nonchalant overly cool tough guy who’s just getting by and doesn’t really want to intrude in anyone else’s business. But as cliches and archetypes go, he gets himself into a plot to save the world from inevitable ruin and ends up forming friendships or potential romances with etcetera etcetera. But there’s a certain depth to that, he has the most hilarious facial expressions - it’s a dour look, and since his face is long - it looks almost donkey-like. He also has an odd sense of humour, which really spoke to me because I like oddness. Not to mention, I looked forward to watching him put every condiment, garnish and sauce on his meat. Quirky. The good thing is that he doesn’t predictably open up to some girl and a blatant romance begins and then gets thwarted. There are very subtle signs that he does care about people and that there is some effort in him. While I admit that he resembles Spike of Cowboy Bebop, both in character design and deposition - he’s definitely more grumpy, very lethargic at times and more like you just want to poke him good with a stick! While Spike has a bit of fey cleverness in him, Van is more the stubborn mule. Another hilarious motif that runs throughout the show is the acquisition of titles like “Pretty Van from the Garbage Dump”, right after he saves the town.

The other positive aspect of this anime is that the harem isn’t annoying or overly generic. While there are obvious archetypes represented here of harem girls, they’re fleshed out and likable. To start with, we have Wendy. Who is voiced by now, a veteran - Houko Kuwashima.

Her design reminds me slightly of Anne of Green Gables, orange pigtails and greenish eyes. She has those 4 giant strands of hair that flop over her face, which I find kind of awkard but oh well. She carries a turtle around, which another amusing aspect of this show. I actually find it extremely hilarious at certain points, one of its strong points if you enjoy that kind of humour. As you may surmise, Wendy Garrett being a teenager girl and probably not a super fighter - she’s kind of weak and can’t do much. Although she’s a goody two shoes, extremely loyal and impossibly kind, not to mention persistent, I can’t help but root for her (WendyxVan! Usually I go for someone with flaws, Carmen 99 is my second favourite girl.). He usually grudgingly succumbs, which indicates that he also grudgingly respects her. They travel together, Wendy looking for her brother Michael who disappeared when their town was attacked. Van doesn’t reveal much, except when anything resembling “The Claw Man” comes up, he becomes 180; alive, agitated. And for good reason as his shady past is revealed; what main character doesn’t have a shady past? Well the ones that are any bit interesting, at least. I’ll have to admit that Van’s shady past doesn’t leave much to the imagination because it’s one of those cliches that pops up ever so often (re: Trigun, Trinity Blood, even Cowboy Bebop). There’s nothing to spoil: it involves a dead lover.

Along the way they meet a mix of people sans the harem, like Ray Lundgren who’s voiced by one of my favourite male seiyuu ever, Takuhiro Sakurai <3. Of course, he's typecast again in this show as the arrogant sometimes selfish "bad-ass" who's out for hell and acts like he's too cool to be yo' friend. But his voice, I can tell it in 3 seconds that it's Sakurai (Refer to Kanda from D.Gray Man for an absolute clone except with darker hair). Ray's brother, Joshua, who's chasing after him because Ray has a vendetta - ends up tagging along with Van and Wendy. There's Carmen 99, the busty Faye Valentine-esque female of the group who may have bi-sexual tendencies (Fasalina anyone?), Priscilla the outwardly ditzy trying-to-get-with-Van-blatantly mecha pilot and on the periphery, Yukiko the nice girl who takes care of the El Dorado Five. WHICH...is a bunch of old men who happen to pilot a mecha that alludes to Power Rangers (I actually didn't enjoy that episode).

If anything, you must watch the donkeyed out episode with the harem in bathing suits. I have to say, the bad guys weren't that memorable except maybe Fasalina. She's just in your face and in the end, I prayed that Carmen 99 would beat her up good! Plus, Carmen 99 is voiced by Kikuko Inoue (Belldandy anyone?). As you see, the show is able to relay some sympathies to the audience to root for one or two or more of the protagonists. When the show draws to an end, you see that the antagonists can be justified in their own way - that they truly believe in the Claw Man's gospel, who I have to say is a well designed villain. He seems harmless, he's well-spoken and he's soft-spoken but there's a reason he's a villain (and it's just creepy!).

The pacing of the show is very typical and probably mundane for the first 12 episodes or so, but it picks up a lot afterwards and becomes extremely addicting at points. You have no doubt that goodness will prevail, but there is nonetheless a good amount of suspense, humour and of course, giant mecha fights. To be honest, the fights weren't all that memorable for me but the animation and design are decent. Not excellent or mind-blowing, but it's bearable for sure. The character designs themselves are for the most part, moderately attractive. I thought Joshua looked like a doofus but maybe he was just annoying. I thought the ending was done pretty well; it wasn't one of those abstract open-ended endings or lame where everyone dies - it was just right and for the most part, it satisfied the tensions maintained by the series.

I liked the opening, it’s an instrumental but it’s sort of quirky and upbeat. The opening sequence is interesting, where, if the character hasn’t met Wendy or Van only the silhouette is seen and it’s filled up later when they meet the character. The EDs reminded me of the ones for Last Exile, done by Shuntaro Okino and Hitomi. They’re very nostalgic, soft and melancholic but the high level of engrish-ness sort of ruins the songs. All in all, a very entertaining series - some good laughs and a lot of fun.

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Category: Series Reviews

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