Rating: 
Summary: An Evangelion clone?
Review: If you enjoyed Evangelion, you'll probably like Gasaraki. Heck, this is practically a carbon copy of Evangelion with its political intrigue, secret projects, terrific mecha, and two gloomy main characters who could be clones of Rei Ayanami. The four episodes on this DVD start off the series in much same way Eva starts off- right in the middle of things, leaving you with plenty of unanswered questions. The animation is very impressive for a TV series and the overall atmosphere is enhanced very well by the music which combines martial themes with Noh music. And the mecha! They're not flashy, but if combat mecha actually existed, they would probably look like this.Although Gasaraki may seem like an Eva rip-off, it's still quite enjoyable, especially if you like your anime with realistic mecha and lots of politics.
Rating: 
Summary: Confusing, but waring and action packed.
Review: If you thought Spriggan was gonna be the only anime that appeals to Americans, you might be wrong. Ever liked Gundam Wing, but hated the animation? Ever liked Robotech, but had too big of a love story to feed you? The solution to all these problems is Gasaraki. The first episode starts off with Gowa and 3 other people in TAs (Tactical Armor). Gowa's heart rate gets too fast and the training mission stops. Then Gowa has to perform a summoning of.....I think it was Gasarki (maybe). Anyway, Gowa performs the dance to make it come and is almost stopped by the girl with green hair. Gowa listens to her and stops it. The second episode features a little test of just how cool the TAs can be. And some political inteligents get thrown in. The third episode was the coolest! The Multi National forces plans to attack a town with a fleet of tanks. But whats this? TAs? About 3 TAs come in and a cool battle ensues. The fourth episode has Gowa going out for duty at sea. Suddenly, Gowa has this sudden urge to summon again, gets out of his TA and starts the dance again, but before he can even get far, he gets assasiated. He wasn't hurt cause the helmet blocked the bullet, but he was in shock. The episode ends with three enemy TAs coming to fight and one of them is piloted by that green haired girl. This tape was hard top follow, but it was worth watching. The battles are extremely cool. The opening reminds me of Robotech and the ending sequence tells me that the green haired girl and Gowa will soon be in love. Summoning aside, this is the most coolest political war anime I've seen since Gundam Wing.
Rating:
Summary: Gasaraki - Volume 1 - The Summoning
Review: Intrigued by the artwork and content, I was also inundated with confusion. It's a little hard to follow, and a little slow to begin with. The creators of Gasaraki seem to just jump right in, mid-story, and proceed without explanation. Although, I was captivated by the combination of traditional Japanese dance sequences and military efforts to invoke some sort of sentient being. Highly captivating, one that must be watched closely, Gasaraki is beautifully done. Do you like waffles?
Rating: 
Summary: Uhh... What's Everyone Raving About?
Review: Let me start off by saying, I thought the Patlabor films were brilliant and Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of the all time best series. However, Gasaraki doesn't come close to either. The animation is nice and the mecha designs are neat but to put Gasaraki in the same league as a NGE boggles the mind. Gasaraki's story is far too sloppy and conveluded to keep me interested at all. Furthermore the characters are hardly likable including Mr. dancing kabuki man. Two words sum up Gasaraki, pretentious and boring.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow, drug-out version of samle-ole anime...
Review: Slow, too slow. Too much of the same ole theme you'll find in most other fighting movies. Main character is mystic preist who can summon "demons" from another dimension (although this hasn't been figured out yet by the knotheads in charge). He is also a fighting mecha pilot helping prototype the mecha (in essence, this is a "birth of robot combat" theme). Part of demon tissue secured in some previous experiment is being used to make the robot's controls. The writers know nothing about military nor combat, and everything goes the way the writers want. I expect to see a tank jump up on treads and tip-toe across the ground, grab it's own barrel and smash an opponent, it's that hokey. They had mechanical designers to try to make it look and sound realistic, but only kids with experience with their sister's G.I. Joe dolls (G.I. Joe, the ultimate accessory every Barbie has to have...) will be impressed. I'm am sick of seeing someone shoot at someone else and the shots explode at their feet. No wonder these dorks spend so much time shooting and so little hitting: if you are shooting at someones toes you can only get lucky when a bullet richocheting up at their body now and then. Flash and excitement. Not realism. Grade C cenima. No humor. Not enough warm sexual feeling. Too moody and generally constipated. It's like a super mix of Ninja fighting machines, psycho main characters, mystery and combat, magical psionic powers, super sorcery, evil-people out to rule the world, with none of the redeeming humor and lightness and basically human emotions of other series. I can only think, "If the main character ever get's killed, it won't be any tears from me. Hey, maybe they'll replace him with someone with a life..." Maybe someone who isn't a teenie-bopper, single and without a girlfirend. The closest gal-pal is his sister, and - also obvious - the counter-preistess the bad guys have in control will probably turn into his lady love. One more I-was-a-lonely-teenager-looking-for-love-and-then-I-met-you plot theme. Of course, if that's your twist, though, it'll twist you good. I loved the previews on other movies, the title song held great promise, the animation looked great (and is fairly sharp), but I rented it rather than bought it (after being burned by the glut of fighting robot movies). I was glad I only rented. Usually I can at least rent and watch a series (like Blue Submarine, which won't tempt my pocket book until it comes out all on one CD - the price is criminal for an otherwise excellent short series) but this one wasn't even worth the rental. And now you know that any movie I rate "*" will probably be one you think is "*****". And vice versa. What I rate "****" or "*****" will probably not even be worth a rental to you.
Rating:
Summary: Recommended, but with a few misgivings
Review: The first DVD in any series (in this case, containing 4 episodes) usually has a difficult task to carry out. Outline the story, introduce the characters, set the tone, and provide a window into how things will look in future episodes. That being said, you will be instantly confused at the outset of this DVD (by design) but by the end, you will know what's going on and the basic conflict of the series. This is very much a political thriller, techno-intrigue sort of show. The plotis...[directly from] the Gulf War (with the characters that parallel Norman Schwarzkopf and Saddam Hussein looking EXACTLY like their real world predecessors (in addition to the various news footage that echo the Gulf War situation in an exact manner.) War plays a big part in this disc of episodes with plenty of generals and troops and politicians, which might all add up to increase the yawn-factor for some. There are many characters involved, much back-room dealing and ample storyline advancement. But if you were looking...for any bloody action scenes, there are none of those.... This is all very dry stuff, almost like reading a book. And that's a big part of my misgivings about this: I don't know how many people want the equivalent of a Robert Ludlum or Tom Clancy book in their anime. Makes for some, frankly, very boring tracts of exposition. I yawned several times. I can't really draw any parallels to other anime because this one is very much rooted in reality, and reality-based situations. It does have mecha, and the requisite mysteries yet to be solved (some of which do appear to point to some non-reality based solutions.) I just don't know if your average anime fan would be willing to sit through all the techno-speak and convoluted political storylines to get to the "good parts." Make no mistake, the story is told very well, reveals little by little the details of what's going on, and does make sense. The animation is adequate, music is sparse and almost absent, the dubbing is superb, though the DVD extras consist of little besides referring you to the Gasaraki website for more in-depth stuff. I don't know. After seeing the first DVD, I would like to see the rest, but I'm in no great hurry. I guess Gasaraki didn't hold my interest well enough to make me a huge fan.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful
Review: The first volume of Gasaraki on DVD is a must have for anyone who doesn't have DSL and can't download the Divx DVD rips from Gquan in #animedivx on dalnet
Rating:
Summary: The best of both worlds, traditional theatre and anime.
Review: This DVD is incredible, it not only focuses upon the next generation of technology, but it also deals with traditional theatre. I have been privledge to view several authentic "No -Gia" theatre presentations and I am amazed how close this DVD comes to real theatre.
But enough of that, This title is a wonderful blend of fantasy, psychic phenomina, and super technology. Almost like Mia the Psychic girl meets Mobile Suit. Enjoy. David
Rating:
Summary: You have to see this! Trust me.
Review: This has to be the most interesting and captivating series that I have seen in a while. As the other reviews mentioned there is a resemblance to N.G. Evangelion, but I would argue that it is only superficial. The flavor of this story is completely different. The brilliantly complex plot is set in a geo-political conflict reminiscent of Desert Storm. The creators strived for realism and succeed in intellectually engaging the audience. The mixture and contrast of modern politics, near future technology and traditional Japanese culture and mysticism are spellbinding. The story involves ever increasing layers of secrets and mysteries. These are revealed to us slowly and meticulously. The more details we learn the more we realize how little we know. What I find fascinating is that all the action is played out by secondary characters while the two protagonists are the greatest mystery. The character development is very strong, even though in the case of the two main characters it is very slow. I believe that this adds to the quality of the series. The DVD menus and extras are quite good, but the in-menu navigation is a bit quirky once in a while. I only wish that the entire interview with Ryosuke Takahashi was included. For the rest of the interview we have to go to the ADV website - sneaky way to get those web hits. Gasaraki is a must see. Intelligent, complex and engaging - I'd put it on the top of your anime wish list. My only regret is that I have to wait over a month for the next DVD installment.
Rating:
Summary: Starts Off Slow but gets better
Review: This is a great series however the first several episodes can be very slow at developing the characters and plot. After the first volume, things start to make more sense. This series is very complex and can be confusing at times but if government cover-ups, top-secret missions and robot battles are your kind of thing, you'll probably enjoy this. I recommend this series however before you buy it, I think you should rent the first couple volumes to make sure you like it. People will either love this series or hate it
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