Rating: 
Summary: A Great Idea Brought Down By Poor Execution
Review: The Gasaraki premise is unique and intriguing: only two people--young Yoshiro Gowa and Miharu, both opposing "pilots"--are blessed with the ability as "kai" to summon the Gasaraki, a powerfuly, mysterious, but extremely destructive force. As kai, they are also endowed with wonderful physical abilities, such as extreme endurance, and the ability to raise and maintain their pulse rates at exceeding two to three hundred beats per minute, a quality that makes them ideal pilots of battle-ready robots thrown into the mix in a middle-eastern war.A 3.5 star rating would be more appropriate for this series which seems to show so much promise. The art is of a newer sort that promises to be the medium in which all subsequent anime will follow: cleaner, flatter characters, drawn more thickly and with less of the lines that make some anime attractive. The main characters, Yoshiro and Miharu are extremely inviting and well-developed characters. The battle scenes are fluid, and the designs for the kugai (as the legend goes, the kai perform a Noh Dance to summon the Gasaraki, which takes or kills the kai, leaving a kugai--a primal, predator-looking giant robot in the Eva mode) are spectacular. The movie moves at a good consistent pace, with few slow spots, and the important section flashing back to the history of the kai in ancient Japan is extremely compelling, and could survive as a show on its own. Yet how does it fail? The biggest culprit is in its ambition. The plot is extremely heavy and disorganized, loaded with plenty of philosophy, politics, legend, and politics. And politics. This would have been okay if it had the background story and character development to support it, but other than Yoshiro and Miharu, the characters are all given fluctuating levels of importance, with little or no exploration of who they are. There are so many characters anyway that doing that would be impossible. To better muddle through Gasaraki, separate characters into these groups before watching:
Yoshiro and Miharu, the kai/pilots; the Gowa corporation, Yoshiro's family, which basically rules Japan; the Symbol corporation, most noted by its CEO; Yoshiro's squad mates on Japan's battle mecha team; the US, Japan, and another Middle Eastern countries as separate entities; and a side group that includes Yoshiro's younger sister, mother, and Noh dance teacher. Understanding that these groups exist and that they each have their own motivations will hopefully be helpful. It's a good watch, but requires plenty of patience. The ending is almost a side note to the climactic section on the kai flashbacks. It's an ending, but not a satisfying one. A decent watch, and a questionable addition to your collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Great anime
Review: The Gowa family has been helping Japanese Special Self Defense Forces develop Tactical Armor, a combat mech. They are not the only ones developing combat mechs. Symbol, a international syndicate, has made their own.
Now a battle between Symbol and Gowa begins, set in the middle of world politics, international terrorism and family secrets.
Yushiro, of the Gowa family, and Miharu, of Symbol, are both mech pilots of great skill. In fact they are many times better than any other pilot and seem to be linked in some way.
WHAT is going on? Is it just a power struggle or is something BIGGER happening? Are we talking about just another war or the end of civilization? And how is Symbol linked to America?
You have to watch it and figure it out for yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: A story of greed and power...
Review: The Gowa family has been helping Japanese Special Self Defense Forces develop Tactical Armor, a combat mech. They are not the only ones developing combat mechs. Symbol, a international syndicate, has made their own.
Now a battle between Symbol and Gowa begins, set in the middle of world politics, international terrorism and family secrets.
Yushiro, of the Gowa family, and Miharu, of Symbol, are both mech pilots of great skill. In fact they are many times better than any other pilot and seem to be linked in some way.
WHAT is going on? Is it just a power struggle or is something BIGGER happening? Are we talking about just another war or the end of civilization? And how is Symbol linked to America?
You have to watch it and figure it out for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good Anime despite some dull moments.
Review: The plot of Gasaraki rotates around the actions of the powerful japanese family "Gowa". Yushiro , the youngest member of the family and also the expert "mech" pilot, turns out to be the true center of all the events that will unfold along the 22 episodes of this series, as he sets on a quest to discover his true identity and unusual powers.
On the other hand, the existance of a foreign pilot with similar powers, Miharu, will take the viewer into a plain of love and romance as both pilots discover that they are bound in ways they could never have imagined and that their inner connection surpasses even their current existance!
Overall , I find this Anime to be quite exciting and also perfect for those who enjoy a good "political plot" behind the common "mecha theme". It is certainly one of the best choices if you like a VERY deep and consistent plot, that will leave you thinking quite HARD for most of the time, in order to fully understand the several events going on at the time!
In terms of SOUND, Gasaraki is also very good, as it can create the actual sensation of being INSIDE the series, which only deepens the already intricate plot.
The only problem I've seen in it, were perhaps some "dull" moments from time to time, but I also understand they are quite necessary in order to completely show you the complex personalities of each character.
In conclusion, I can only say that Gasaraki is a great choice if you're into Anime that leaves you thinking about it HOURS after you've finished watching it. If you're looking for something "light", then Gasaraki isn't for you!
Rating:
Summary: no one ever reads titles, just the review...look below
Review: The success of an anime series hinges on many factors, such as animation, plot, character development, etc., and Gasaraki does not fail to satisfy any of the demands any serious fan has. However, the plot is perhaps superfluously convoluted, which results in a somewhat boring and drawn out story which is used a fortiori to introduce the goals of Yushiro and to extend the series even further (thus leaving the plot open to even more expansion). It is certainly possible to start watching the series from the 13th episode, as it succintly summarizes and clarifies the previous 12. Although this is possible it is not recommended because it leaves out the details and, of course, the superlatively excellent animation. Contrary to popular belief, this series falls short of a mecha anime, as mecha battles are minimal, and personal problems and international disputes abound. Gasaraki should be viewed for the story and not for the action. Only one factor contributed to the four star rating which I so graciously conferred to this series, and it deals with the voice acting. Although many people prefer the original Japanese voice actors, the English actors presented on this series perform splendidly and do not fail to capture the emotions, or lack thereof in some instances, conveyed by the characters. However, the actor for one of the SSDF's captains (his name escapes me) annoyingly resembles Humphrey Bogart and the orangutan from the 1980s American cartoon show, Shirt Tails. His voice was completely unbefitting for the role, especially in such a serious series such as this. His voice exacerbated my already weary tensions that this series induced via volume 7, which notably has a narcoleptic aspect. Despite my somewhat harsh but compulsory criticism, I found Gasaraki quite enjoyable. The animation is by far among the best I have seen, and the story, as complex and elaborate as it was, had a magnetic quality that prevented me from leaving the television. I believe that fans of Japanese voice actors should watch this series in English without apprehension due to the superb job of the English actors (with exception to the orangutan). Additionally, Gasaraki is a rather pleasant alternative to the typical action, magic, mecha, etc. animes out there that most people should enjoy. (Although this series is shrouded in mysticism, the overall militaristic nature has a stronger hold on the viewer).
Rating:
Summary: Mind Blowing
Review: This series isnt for the "kiddie" crowd or the "super deformed" silly anime fans. This is for the military Giant Mech fanatics that love serious and deep storylines in anime. The story is VERY well told and the animation is very well done. The story is set to the fact that if we did use mechs in battle THIS is close to how it would be! Now, as I stated the anime isnt a mindless action anime but very deep seated in the fact that the characters are what shine here not their mechs etc. If you like strong technical Anime like "Appleseed" , "Ghost in the Shell" or "Akira" then you should give this a try. Remember it is about military and giant mechs but storyline driven about the characters themselves. Its one of those series that you either watch disc after disc or get bored easily. If you get bored go watch your dragonball z or sailor moon however it is an AMAZING set to own and watch again and again! High tech military mech drama at its BEST!
Rating:
Summary: If you like action and some story
Review: This was the first box set i bought, i saw a trailer for it on a Robotech disk when i saw it i new i had to have it. if you like story it is there but can get hard to follow. i'm a freak about anime/manga (i own 33 dvd disks of anime) so i rate every thing a little then it should be. so if you like cowboy bebop, akria and princess mononoke. you will like this.
Rating:
Summary: Complicated but worth watching
Review: Unlike the Editorial Review I don't think that Gasaraki borrows much from Evangelion. The Storyplot of Gasaraki is more political and in my opinion also more complex than that of Evangelion.
Set in a possible near Future, the Story is driven by the political Ambition of the Gowa-Family and of a mysterious Group, who is following the same goal: to call for the Gasaraki - an ancient mythical Figure with unknown Powers. This Power can be called or chanelled only by special peoples, known as KAI. Although sometimes the story becomes difficult to understand when reaching deep into the esoteric and mystical "Kai"-Plot, it is exactly this need of deeper understanding that makes Gasaraki unique and worth watching it (besides the great animation and music...). In a collection where you can find Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Beebop, Princess Mononoke and Samurai X, Gasaraki should not be missing.
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