Gaogaigar

[Tremolo]

I've heard people refer to this as one of the greatest mecha series ever (and being the mecha whore that I am, that obviously sparked my interest), and now that Media Blasters have begun releasing it, my interest has been piqued further. Giant robot lions, mecha playing guitars, bizarre hair... it looks insane, yet awesome.

So, who's seen it? Is it as good as everyone else says it is? And just what the hell is the Brave Saga anyway?

[Zushio]

I have seen GaoGaiGar in its entirety, that being the TV series and the OVA followup. Basically, it rocks. It's old school mecha action, where guts and courage can turn even a 1% chance in to a 100% chance. It's fast furious action in the monster of the week format for the first half, then switches over to some awesome storytelling and more ass kicking.

If you like old school mecha where heros where heros instead of whiney little pissants (Shinji, Kira, etc) then GaoGaiGar is for you. Also you get the amazing Nobiyuki Hiyama doing the main character, a man who is known for his immensely hotblooded screams (he is adult Link in Zelda if anyone cares). I assure you if you like somewhat cliched, old school, awesome mecha action, GaoGaiGar is for you, and you will be tempted to scream along with the attack names.

BROKEN MAGNUM!

Oh, and the theme song kicks ass, Yuusha-oh Tanjou!, where the first two lines of the song are

GAGAGA GAGAGA GAOGAIGAR!
GAGAGA GAGAGAGA GAOGAIGAR!

and yes, you will have it stuck in your head, and yes, you will want to sing along.

As for the Brave Saga, basically what happened was that when Transformers ended in Japan Takara needed another project, so the teamed with Sunrise to produce the Brave Saga. All the shows feature either Sentient robots or something close, all of which look like transformers and typically have combing and transforming action. Basically it stated out as pure kids shows with Brave Exkaiser in 1990 then in every year following released a new show.

In order they are
Brave Exkaiser
Brave of the Sun Fighbird/Fyvard
Brave of Legend Da Garn
Brave Express Might Gain
Brave Police J-Decker
Golden Brave Goldran
Brave Command Dagwon
King of Braves GaoGaiGar
King of Braves GaoGaiGar FINAL

The only ones of real interest are Dagwon, which took an EVAish approach to the show, only without the whiney bastards, and even warrented an OVA sequel; and our Brave King GaoGaiGar, which was so successful that they decided to give up there and cancel the next project Saint of Braves BaanGaan, as GaoGaiGar is as close to perfection as a super robot series can get.

So yeah, check out the show, it kicks total ass, and if they release FINAL here at some point, it's even better and is possibly the single greatest OVA ever produced.

[Kaioshin_Sama]

I have seen GaoGaiGar in its entirety, that being the TV series and the OVA followup. Basically, it rocks. It's old school mecha action, where guts and courage can turn even a 1% chance in to a 100% chance. It's fast furious action in the monster of the week format for the first half, then switches over to some awesome storytelling and more ass kicking.

If you like old school mecha where heros where heros instead of whiney little pissants (Shinji, Kira, etc) then GaoGaiGar is for you. Also you get the amazing Nobiyuki Hiyama doing the main character, a man who is known for his immensely hotblooded screams (he is adult Link in Zelda if anyone cares). I assure you if you like somewhat cliched, old school, awesome mecha action, GaoGaiGar is for you, and you will be tempted to scream along with the attack names.

BROKEN MAGNUM!

Oh, and the theme song kicks ass, Yuusha-oh Tanjou!, where the first two lines of the song are

GAGAGA GAGAGA GAOGAIGAR!
GAGAGA GAGAGAGA GAOGAIGAR!

and yes, you will have it stuck in your head, and yes, you will want to sing along.

As for the Brave Saga, basically what happened was that when Transformers ended in Japan Takara needed another project, so the teamed with Sunrise to produce the Brave Saga. All the shows feature either Sentient robots or something close, all of which look like transformers and typically have combing and transforming action. Basically it stated out as pure kids shows with Brave Exkaiser in 1990 then in every year following released a new show.

In order they are
Brave Exkaiser
Brave of the Sun Fighbird/Fyvard
Brave of Legend Da Garn
Brave Express Might Gain
Brave Police J-Decker
Golden Brave Goldran
Brave Command Dagwon
King of Braves GaoGaiGar
King of Braves GaoGaiGar FINAL

The only ones of real interest are Dagwon, which took an EVAish approach to the show, only without the whiney bastards, and even warrented an OVA sequel; and our Brave King GaoGaiGar, which was so successful that they decided to give up there and cancel the next project Saint of Braves BaanGaan, as GaoGaiGar is as close to perfection as a super robot series can get.

So yeah, check out the show, it kicks total ass, and if they release FINAL here at some point, it's even better and is possibly the single greatest OVA ever produced.

If you search for Nobiyuki Hiyama you will turn up nothing. However, if you search for his actual name Nobuyuki Hiyama you will turn up roles such as Forte from Megaman and Homard from La Pucelle Tactics. Basically everything here is true since it was yet again stolen from my observations in a conversation with Zushio on the phone. And you've got to love a series that can get away with naming its hero something as redundant as The Gold Brave Goldran. Look to 2007 for the upcoming revival of true robot heroes and the hopeful death of the emo hero genre that started with the somewhat interesting and conflicted Shinji and seems to have ended with the laughable Kira Yamato, the most boring and one-dimensional anime character I have ever seen.