Super Robot/Anime Profiles: Gun X Sword

Gun X Sword is an anime you don't hear much about, which is a smidgen odd, since it's available in both subtitled and English dubbed versions in an official release on YouTube.

It's about characters on a planet that resembles the Wild West, only there are giant robots.



(There's no proper introduction posting on YouTube, probably because the intro changed a little bit every few episodes, and was generally rather spoilery. That is the intro song, though.)

The first episode watches like a traditional western, with a mysterious drifter who shows up and rescues a kid (in this case, a fourteen-year-old girl) from a rough and rowdy roaming gang. It goes through typical story paces, with only oddities such as the drifter's weapon being a sword instead of a gun and the gang threatening the town with the impending arrival of an armor (i.e. a giant robot) setting it apart from something that could have been a traditional genre western.

Then the mysterious drifter summons a giant robot that falls from the sky (accompanied by fantastic music).

Aside from the fact that the series is, as noted about three times now, the wild west with giant robots, it's an exceptionally well-crafted series.

It also has one of the best main villains of all time. (There's a scene from the third-to-last episode that cemented him as such forever in my mind, but I can't explain it without majorly spoiling it. See, the villain's reveal is kind of a big freaking deal, and he works best if you're introduced to him by watching the series itself. I'll just say he probably won't be what you expected.)

I don't think there are any bad episodes (well, the beach episode was kind of dumb, and episode six felt mildly like filler, but the beach episode had a purpose and was kind of amusing, and episode six nearly caused my sister to die from laughter), but the last three were really good. Even if I'd thought most of the series was only so-so, those last three would have made it worth it. (Of course, all the fantastic things relied on things set up earlier in the series...)

There are so many threads woven together-almost every character of significance gets at least a second mention in a later episode, even the guy with the freaky mustache from the second episode (though not directly in dialogue). And yes, that will make sense in context.

One of the most interesting parts is the dichotomy that the series presents between the characters Van and Ray. Both men have similar motivations and goals, but in nearly every other way are different from each other (although it's implied that neither of them are prone to eating more than the bare minimum to sustain themselves). The compare/contrast between the two is one of the most defining aspects of the series, and is one of the things that helps make that third-to-last episode so great.

Be warned that there are parts, especially late in the series, that are pretty disturbing. Most of the villains are really messed up people, in one way or another. Some of the heroes aren't exactly well-adjusted themselves (particularly Ray and to a lesser degree Van).

All in all, though, it's a great series that blends elements together in a way that works fantastically. (I still get chills every time I hear the "Wake Up, Dann" theme. And yes, I know that's not the theme's name.)

-Signing off.