GUN×SWORD: A Band of Elderly Heroes Cloaked in a Western Mecha Action Flick
In this 2005 series GUN×SWORD, viewers are presented with a familiar setup: mechas, a wasteland, duels, formidable foes, and a taciturn protagonist with a singular goal. Within minutes, your brain automatically concludes that this is likely a fast-paced, straightforward action flick.
The protagonist is calm, decisive, and sparing with words, with a goal so clear it's almost singular. The world is a lawless frontier planet where the rules are simple and brutal—might makes right—and the combat is snappy, leaving almost no room to breathe. Putting these elements together, it's easy to associate it with a familiar genre: a hybrid of a Western and a mecha anime.
Most mecha or shonen works are designed with a growth curve. The protagonist gets confused, adjusts, levels up, their goals evolve, and the world continues to expand. This anime does almost the exact opposite; the protagonist is near-complete from the very beginning. He doesn't need to learn, rarely hesitates, and never deviates from his path. His world is compressed into a straight line, moving forward until his revenge is complete.
The fact that the protagonist barely changes actually causes those around him to constantly evolve. Some are influenced, some are consumed, and others see their own end in him—this is the narrative charm of the work.
However, what is truly worth raving about is the band of elderly heroes that appears. The combined mecha they pilot has a completely different art style from the rest of the world's mecha designs, following a pure "Brave" (Yuusha) series aesthetic. The mecha is named EL DORA V, which actually sounds a bit like "Eldran" (the Blue-Ray series). Although the combination sequence is simple, the limited budget didn't diminish the frequency of EL DORA V's appearances or its flashy move sets, making it a major highlight of the anime.
This series has been included in the rosters of Super Robot Wars K, Super Robot Wars T, and Super Robot Wars 30.
Does anyone else remember this? Long-time fans should understand the true value of EL DORA V, right?
The protagonist is calm, decisive, and sparing with words, with a goal so clear it's almost singular. The world is a lawless frontier planet where the rules are simple and brutal—might makes right—and the combat is snappy, leaving almost no room to breathe. Putting these elements together, it's easy to associate it with a familiar genre: a hybrid of a Western and a mecha anime.
Most mecha or shonen works are designed with a growth curve. The protagonist gets confused, adjusts, levels up, their goals evolve, and the world continues to expand. This anime does almost the exact opposite; the protagonist is near-complete from the very beginning. He doesn't need to learn, rarely hesitates, and never deviates from his path. His world is compressed into a straight line, moving forward until his revenge is complete.
The fact that the protagonist barely changes actually causes those around him to constantly evolve. Some are influenced, some are consumed, and others see their own end in him—this is the narrative charm of the work.
However, what is truly worth raving about is the band of elderly heroes that appears. The combined mecha they pilot has a completely different art style from the rest of the world's mecha designs, following a pure "Brave" (Yuusha) series aesthetic. The mecha is named EL DORA V, which actually sounds a bit like "Eldran" (the Blue-Ray series). Although the combination sequence is simple, the limited budget didn't diminish the frequency of EL DORA V's appearances or its flashy move sets, making it a major highlight of the anime.
This series has been included in the rosters of Super Robot Wars K, Super Robot Wars T, and Super Robot Wars 30.
Does anyone else remember this? Long-time fans should understand the true value of EL DORA V, right?
