Dai Guard - The Bottom Line (Vol 6)

Rating:
Summary: An ending that's not an ending, which is an ending in itself
Review: First of all, I would like to state that at the time I watched this volume, I had thoroughly enjoyed the series up to this point. The animation is superlative, and the series was quick to abolish the stereotype of all anime characters being young, exceptionally thin, and able to somehow maintain that incredible hair style even while it's being narrowly missed with all manner of bladed and projectile weapons. Despite a few cliches, the viewer comes to understand that these are real people, and (while some of them *do* have hair that just won't quit) they both look and act the part.

The basic story is, to say the least, not the most original thing out there, but the way in which it is told more than makes up for this. The characters were well developed, and equipment used was - in the first episode - proven to be as fallible as said characters. It's an almost-real world situation, with almost-real world characters, who just happen to be the pilots, support staff, and strategists of and for a giant robot designed to counter a menace of unknown origin (The leading civilian scientist assigned to the project even refers to them as 'something similar to an earthquake', in that they are simply natural disasters, not alien invaders, and even the question of whether or not they are alive comes into play).

The music I also found suitably impressive, and this is from someone who usually prefers music more classical or jazz-like in nature, though with a slight predilection for ska. However, the music always fit very well with what was happening on the screen at the same time, and at no time did I find myself wishing it were something else. Much as with the locations depicted in the various episodes, the music just works.

Now that that's out the way, I must say that this volume did nothing to change my quite-impressed mind. The first thing I noticed when I bought it was that it was five episodes long, just as the first volume; a boon to any who, like me, are on something of a small budget when it comes to purchasing just about anything.

Not long after I noticed this fact on the main menu (after having noticed it on the box before-hand, I assure you), I was skimming through the Extras, and once again finding myself suitably impressed by the production sketches, though somewhat underwhelmed by the lack of anything else new (just as with all volumes before it, it contained a clean opening and closing, as well as 6 ADV previews). But really, that's the Extras menu... Does it really matter that it could have been a little better when compared with the content of the series? Emphatically not.

And just how was the content? It kept very much in form with my expectations of this series. The episodes linked together a bit more than they had in previous volumes, but that is due to the "climax" towards which the series had been rushing, as is usually the case with the last few episodes of a 26-episode series. This is a good thing, I believe, as most of the characters had been about as developed as they can become without further flash-back episodes that would just disrupt the story. The art, of course, was brilliant, and the storyline continued on to its logical conclusion.

... Did I say its logical conclusion? Well, I suppose to an extent that's true. This volume is where we truly see that the series is about the characters, not about the giant mecha, not about The Enemy, not even 21st Century Security or ANPO. The series ends (AND RIGHT NOW I WARN YOU THAT THIS WILL SPOIL THE ENDING FOR YOU, SHOULD YOU BE THE SORT TO DISLIKE THAT, AS I KNOW I AM) with only one new thing resolved, and that is the destruction of the rather large, self-propagating heterodyne in the sky. There is no mention of an end to the heterodynes, nor of the army turning over the keys to either Kokubogar in recognition of 21st Century Security's accomplishments. We simply see a climactic battle come to its conclusion, and along the way we see a few other things of interest, such as Akagi's logical replacement - and MY but his animation looks similar to another robot enthusiast with an intense desire to fight The Enemy in a different XEBEC anime - should there ever come a time he wants to retire from the good fight, a true and final reconciliation between Momoi and her step-father, the budding of a seemingly odd romance for Aoyama...

But otherwise, it doesn't end. Normally I detest series that do this, as the lack of closure leads to far too much speculation on my part. With Dai-Guard, however, it works. We see Momoi and Aoyama once again flustered and more than a bit angered at Akagi's "Off the handle" attitude when it comes to fighting, we see the crew return to their office jobs... and we see, that even though Dai-Guard gets put in the disabled list for a few weeks, that the men and women of Public Relations Division 2 are committed to their secondary jobs of saving lives at any cost... so long as it doesn't exceed the budget by *too* much.

A good buy if you've got the rest of the series, a reason to get the rest of the series if you haven't, and a really long review. Thanks for reading it, but go buy the DVD now!

Rating:
Summary: An ending that's not an ending, which is an ending in itself
Review: First of all, I would like to state that at the time I watched this volume, I had thoroughly enjoyed the series up to this point. The animation is superlative, and the series was quick to abolish the stereotype of all anime characters being young, exceptionally thin, and able to somehow maintain that incredible hair style even while it's being narrowly missed with all manner of bladed and projectile weapons. Despite a few cliches, the viewer comes to understand that these are real people, and (while some of them *do* have hair that just won't quit) they both look and act the part.

The basic story is, to say the least, not the most original thing out there, but the way in which it is told more than makes up for this. The characters were well developed, and equipment used was - in the first episode - proven to be as fallible as said characters. It's an almost-real world situation, with almost-real world characters, who just happen to be the pilots, support staff, and strategists of and for a giant robot designed to counter a menace of unknown origin (The leading civilian scientist assigned to the project even refers to them as 'something similar to an earthquake', in that they are simply natural disasters, not alien invaders, and even the question of whether or not they are alive comes into play).

The music I also found suitably impressive, and this is from someone who usually prefers music more classical or jazz-like in nature, though with a slight predilection for ska. However, the music always fit very well with what was happening on the screen at the same time, and at no time did I find myself wishing it were something else. Much as with the locations depicted in the various episodes, the music just works.

Now that that's out the way, I must say that this volume did nothing to change my quite-impressed mind. The first thing I noticed when I bought it was that it was five episodes long, just as the first volume; a boon to any who, like me, are on something of a small budget when it comes to purchasing just about anything.

Not long after I noticed this fact on the main menu (after having noticed it on the box before-hand, I assure you), I was skimming through the Extras, and once again finding myself suitably impressed by the production sketches, though somewhat underwhelmed by the lack of anything else new (just as with all volumes before it, it contained a clean opening and closing, as well as 6 ADV previews). But really, that's the Extras menu... Does it really matter that it could have been a little better when compared with the content of the series? Emphatically not.

And just how was the content? It kept very much in form with my expectations of this series. The episodes linked together a bit more than they had in previous volumes, but that is due to the "climax" towards which the series had been rushing, as is usually the case with the last few episodes of a 26-episode series. This is a good thing, I believe, as most of the characters had been about as developed as they can become without further flash-back episodes that would just disrupt the story. The art, of course, was brilliant, and the storyline continued on to its logical conclusion.

... Did I say its logical conclusion? Well, I suppose to an extent that's true. This volume is where we truly see that the series is about the characters, not about the giant mecha, not about The Enemy, not even 21st Century Security or ANPO. The series ends (AND RIGHT NOW I WARN YOU THAT THIS WILL SPOIL THE ENDING FOR YOU, SHOULD YOU BE THE SORT TO DISLIKE THAT, AS I KNOW I AM) with only one new thing resolved, and that is the destruction of the rather large, self-propagating heterodyne in the sky. There is no mention of an end to the heterodynes, nor of the army turning over the keys to either Kokubogar in recognition of 21st Century Security's accomplishments. We simply see a climactic battle come to its conclusion, and along the way we see a few other things of interest, such as Akagi's logical replacement - and MY but his animation looks similar to another robot enthusiast with an intense desire to fight The Enemy in a different XEBEC anime - should there ever come a time he wants to retire from the good fight, a true and final reconciliation between Momoi and her step-father, the budding of a seemingly odd romance for Aoyama...

But otherwise, it doesn't end. Normally I detest series that do this, as the lack of closure leads to far too much speculation on my part. With Dai-Guard, however, it works. We see Momoi and Aoyama once again flustered and more than a bit angered at Akagi's "Off the handle" attitude when it comes to fighting, we see the crew return to their office jobs... and we see, that even though Dai-Guard gets put in the disabled list for a few weeks, that the men and women of Public Relations Division 2 are committed to their secondary jobs of saving lives at any cost... so long as it doesn't exceed the budget by *too* much.

A good buy if you've got the rest of the series, a reason to get the rest of the series if you haven't, and a really long review. Thanks for reading it, but go buy the DVD now!