Anime: Gun x Sword 491p5h

Critic's Log - Earthdate: December 17, 2012. Review #26: Gun x Sword

Revenge is a double-edged sword. It often leads justice to either one's
self or for others. It can also lead to ruin to one's self after the
quest for revenge is complete. It is never a happy tale and the path to
revenge may even lead to bloodshed. Revenge is a dish that should never
be consumed. With that said, let's activate the review for Gun x Sword.

Equipped with a metal sash that straightens into a sword, the lanky swordsman Van is traveling through the hot desert, searching
for the mysterious clawed man who killed his bride. Along the way he
picks up a fellow traveler: Wendy, a young girl whose town he saves from
bandits by summoning a giant mech with his sword. These giant mechs are
referred to as "Armors". Wendy is searching for her missing older
brother, whose engraved gun she carries on her back. In their mutual
quest they run into more bandits and villains, a mysterious woman named
Carmen99, and more Armor battles along the way.

To be technical, this is a AIC A.S.T.A production and they don't do many
well-known animes but they are a decent studio that actually made this
show look pretty good for the most part. The animation looks good for
the most part but some action scenes could have looked better but it
wouldn't distract the viewer all too much. Also, the "X" in the title is
not part of the pronouncination. It is pronounced "Gun Sword"

The music by Kotaro Nakagawa is decent in Gun x Sword. The opening theme
is nice to hear and I actually like how the anime changes from time to
time to show new characters and to show if the character is still alive
or dead. The closing themes are alright too. I should note that Kotaro
Nakagawa composed the music for Planetes, an anime I keep hearing is
very good. At the time I am reviewing this, I have never seen Planetes
but I plan on watching it and reviewing it someday. Nakagawa-san also
composed both seasons of Code Geass which the soundtrack to that show is
pretty epic for his career. I don't have much to say about the music in
Gun x Sword, I thought it was okay but not something to write home
about.

When it comes to voice acting, The japanese cast is a solid listen but
the English dub is casted well in Gun x Sword. Before I get to that,
here are some worthy roles in the subbed version. Kikuko Inoue is pretty
good as Carmen99. Saeko Chiba is also good as Priscilla. Takahiro
Sakurai is also nice to hear as Ray. Masaya Onosaka even plays Kaiji and
he was pretty good in that one. Houko Kuwashima is also good as Wendy. I
didn't watch the whole thing subtitled but partially watched it in that
version. Van's the only character I kind of didn't like his Japanese
voice to, I'm not saying Takanori Hoshino is a bad seiyu. I just think
his English voice fit the role spot-on. This is why I stuck with the dub
on this one because it is performed surprisingly well. David Vincent is
terrific as Van. Stephanie Sheh plays a really good role as Wendy. Liam
O'Brien plays the rogue Ray quite nicely. Michelle Ruff brings the sexy
charm to Carmen99 which fits. Carrie Savage plays Priscilla nicely.
Michael on the other hand is voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch and I find this
to be one of his more under-appreciated roles because he played his
role quite believably. Karen Strassman deserves some credit for playing
her role without sounding off at times. There were some good roles she
played that sounded off a couple times and I usually get worried when
her name gets brought up in a new dub, this is a role that doesn't have
that problem. She was good as the flirtatious Fasalina. Yuri Lowenthal
is okay as Joshua but it could've been a bit better. Kirk Thornton does
deserve some ample praise for nailing the villian role spot-on. Kirk
Thorton is terrific as The Claw (no, not the same "Claw" from Inspector
Gadget). Liam O' Brien was the one behind the voice directing for the
dub and he did pretty good at casting these characters, it's no wonder I
like the dub on this anime.

When it comes to characters, the characters are mostly fine except I
find the character development to be quite lacking in some areas. Wendy
develops nicely throughout the whole show. Carmen99 also develops nicely
to some degree. Ray is like Van except with a personality difference.
Michael was interesting as the show progressed. Priscilla is alright,
Joshua is alright. The two characters that I had a problem with are Van
and The Claw. Don't get me wrong with Van. I actually like the character
to some degree. What bugs me a bit about Van at times is that he has
two things that you'll see throughout the show. First is that when he's
hungry, he'll ask for whatever food he wants with all the condiments
that the resturant has. To be honest, I don't think that would taste
very good. Speaking about condiments, I have some friendly advice for
you.

PRACTICE SAFE EATING, USE CONDIMENTS!

Secondly, he gets easily angered once he hears about the Claw, or
fighting someone that is part of The Claw's group, or even The Claw
himself. The whole eating habit is unique to Van but the anger thing is
just a trope that's been used before. What I keep hearing about Van is
that people compare this guy with either Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop
or Vash The Stampede. Spike Spiegel sure... if you look at his head
that is, but Spike was a bit more sophisticated than Van. Thinking back
on Vash the Stampede, he did lose someone he cared about but this person
wasn't his bride so the whole comparison thing can be a bit
misunderstood. Van develops to some degree but his character development
is a bit shallow compared to others which kind of is a slight letdown
for me. Besides that, the other character I had a problem with is The
Claw and I have a bigger beef with this character more than Van. The
Claw really had potential on being a great villian but he is not as well
developed as I had hoped. That's one problem I had with the show.

Another problem I had with Gun x Sword is the story at times. I did not
like Episode 6 all that much. The first episode tends to get mixed
reactions at times and I don't blame those that didn't like the first
episode of Gun x Sword. I thought the first episode could've been
better, but this is a kind of anime that you shouldn't judge from the
first episode because it does pick up a bit after. I will say that the
show was a bit boring throughout the first 6 or 7 episodes. When the
Claw does get introduced, that's when the series does pick up. This
anime does require a bit of patience throughout the series. The story is
pretty average but the animation is above average fof this anime. If
the story's slow pace and some shallow character development wasn't
enough, I will say the biggest gripe I have with this anime is how the
show wraps up everything. Michael was a pretty interesting character but
Michael's send-off is anti-climatic The biggest problem I had with the
final episode is how it ends. I did not like the ending that much and I
felt the final episode as well as the ending was a bit half-assed. But
to be honest, this is a pretty average show for the most part and it's
not mostly terrible. There are a few surprises in the show as well. If
you get far in the show. There's an episode that I would usually refer
to as a "Fanservice" episode, because the majority of this one episode
does show the female characters wearing bikinis. The episode ends in
such a ridiciously over-the-top fashion that I will not mention because
you really have to see it for yourself. There is another surprise moment
that I think you won't see coming and I'll let you see for yourself
when you get there. Anyway, this is an anime that has its flaws and it
found an audience to some degree. I just think comparing this anime with
Cowboy Bebop or Trigun is a bit of an over-statement.

Gun x Sword used to be available through Geneon, they went under a while
back but this anime was rescued and re-licensed. This anime is
available from Funimation. An omake series called "Gun x Sword-san" was
released alongside the volumes of the show back then and it's all in one
disc in the Funimation release. I can't highly recommend the omake
compared with the show. It's worth a try but I have no interest in it
which is why I'm not recommending it too highly.

With all that said, Gun x Sword is your typical average anime that may
be worth checking out but don't get your expectations too high. It does
have a slow start but picks up eventually. It has decent action scenes,
some funny humor, some interesting characters, a decent soundtrack, and
nice looking animation. This may not be everyone's cup of tea due to its
slow start but if you're willing to go further until half of it goes
by, there's a chance you'll might like it. If the first 5 or 6 episodes
got you to the point that you stopped watching it, you're not really
missing out on too much I guess. Gun x Sword-san is a little unnecessary
but the Proposal Video by David Vincent that he made for his "at the
time Girlfriend" was really classy and a nice extra feature. I enjoyed
Gun x Sword for what it is but the flaws in the show do stick out like a
sore thumb. All I can say is that some people might like it, some
people won't.

I give Gun x Sword a 6.5 out of 10, It is DECENT!

[br]Story about a simple, idiotic hero, like Luffy in One Piece, strong beliefs, weak brain. His motivation is vengeance and he got a strong robot, in this anime called "armor", to back him up.
[br]
[br]The animation is pretty good, but average for the time the anime was released. However there are some pretty nice effects in the armor fights, the animation is fast too, if at all, nearly no slow crappy CGI animation, just fast mecha action like you love it. Pretty cool design of mechas too.
[br]8 points
[br]
[br]The sound is solid as well, exspeccialy the main hero has a voice perfect fitting his character. No annoying voice actors either, as far as I can tell. Sometimes I got the feeling it's a bit contorted, though, but maybe that has different reasons and is not the fault of the producers. All in all pretty much average.
[br]7 points
[br]
[br]The story is pretty interesting told and sometimes has some unexpectet turns and exploits you wouldn't expect. The ending was also kind of satisfying. What I don't like about it is the unresolved romance and the one-episode method (instead of creating a stead flow between the episodes with directly linking them together, each episode is finished in it's own) often used. Atleast half of the episodes don't have a direct link to the next one, events between the eps are getting skipped and those the flow drops. However, the series still has enough flow to keep u entertaint or otherwise I wouldn't have watched it to the end.
[br]Consindering the flow drops... 7 points
[br]
[br]More interesting characters than you can count with your hands, though most of them are just little side acts along the way. The ones of importance still have their deep, though. No really annoying characters either. The main hero and the main villian are of exspeccial uniqueness and those value.
[br]A bit better than average: 8 points
[br]
[br]The value is compareable high since there are unique mechs, unusual fights unused character and story ideas. However, since most of the time they just tell you the story and there are rather few fights and the flow drops at some points, you maybe dont want to watch this one a second time...
[br]All in all average: 7 points
[br]
[br]I really could enjoy this anime, as it had nice, fast mecha fights, a cool, unique character and an entertaining interesting story. All in all, this anime had no big mistakes, which is pretty rare even under the best animes, and even though it was just 26 episodes long it felt satisfying when it ended, again something which even the best animes with more than 200 episodes don't manage, but maybe it just felt that way because I myself felt a bit different at that moment (as you probably know your observation is directly linked to your current feelings). In any case, the only things I didn't like were the flow drops and the unresolved romance. I can just recommend this anime to anyone who likes mecha fights since it's one of the few anime jewels.
[br]8 points

[br]Synopsis: [br]On a planet called the: “EndlessIllusion”, a mysterious man named Van wanders the wasteland searching for the man with a claw hand who murdered his bride as they were about to get married. Armed with a magical sword that can shape shift, and his mech “Dan of Thursday” which he can summon from the heavens using is sword. Van is ed by Wendy a plucky little girl with nothing to live for, she is searching for her brother who has been kidnapped by the man with the claw hand. The very same person Van is searching for,so she decides to him in his journey to find this man with the claw hand.[br][br]Story:[br]The story is about a wanderer named “Van”dark and moody more of a skilled fighter than his looks leads you to believe, who is out seeking revenge for the death of his lover.GunxSword does not break any new ground when it comes to a unique story or plot. Rather it takes and uses ideas from shows like: Cowboy Bebop,Trigun and Samurai Champloo and pays homage to these classics. You can instantly draw similarities between GunxSword and these shows from the characters down to the story and action scenes.[br][br]Some reviewers have viewed this in a negative light but personally I believe that if used correctly in a show it can work. GunxSword does this perfectly and take all the elements out of all these shows that you loved and bundles it into one show. Yes it has been done before,yes we have seen it a hundred times over, but were GunxSword differs is the fact that it makes for highly entertaining watching material.[br][br]You will find yourself cheering out loudly for the good guys, getting pissed off at the bad guys, laughing at the silly filler episodes with their tongue in cheek humor and crying for there past and future losses. And that is the core of what GunxSword is a highly entertaining story, something you can sit down and watch with no heavy thinking required.[br][br]Characters:[br]At first glance GunxSword looks like it may be another adventure series where the central characters, Van and Wendy don’t exactly come any closer to achieving their goals during the course of the show. But rather they learn more about them selfs and people around around them, as they become more knowledgeable of their circumstances over the course of the show. In other words the entire series focuses on character development until the last episodes.[br][br]It’s not a popular approach to storytelling, because there is less interaction between the audience and the show, but ultimately it gives the show a more complete feel by the end of the series. Van is a obsessed and troubled man, with a empty lost look in his eyes. He’s always alert and is always thinking and that rarely grants you the opportunity of knowing what he is thinking during the course of the show[br].[br]Then of course there is Wendy she’s just a teenager who has more fortitude than Van at times during the course of the show, and serves to “ground” Van during the moments when reason is lost to him someone who motivates him, when he feels like giving up. But yet she also struggles with her own fears, her fear of being seen as a child and her fear of growing up and loosing her past. This shows us that Wendy is more than just your average sidekick, she has her own internal conflicts that are just as meaningful as that of Van’s.[br][br]Of course there is a multitude of other characters you will learn to love and hate characters like: Carmen 99(Her real name is Carol Mendosa the 99 stands for her bust size.), Ray Lundgren and of course the always drunken “El Dorado Five”. There are so many to mention that I would not have the time or space to do so int his review.[br][br]Animation:[br]Every single scene in this show is superbly animated, from the surroundings like the towns, buildings and forests is remarkably detailed. This only serves to pull you into the believability of the world called the “Endless Illusion”. This and the character design by Takahiro Kimura is flawlessly done. Together these aspects of the show make it truly flawless.[br][br]The character designs are different from the norm that we are used to, and that is a real treat. The diversity and freshness is good, since more than often we find recycled “spiky haired heroes” designs in most Anime shows these days. But I was happy and surprised to find something totally different than the norm in the animation style of this show.[br][br]Sound:[br]The shows soundtrack is really catchy and upbeat with jazzy tunes and acoustic Japanese melodies thrown into the mix, this really reminded me of the soundtrack to shows like Cowboy Bebop and Trigun which makes it even more enjoyable. A special mention goes to the English dubbing of this show, which is of the highest quality.[br][br]Van’s English voice (David Vincent) is monotone, but sounds exhausted in nature matching his anti hero disposition in the show. But it quickly changes when he goes into a fit of rage, so much so that it caused me to get goosebumps during the course of the show. Wendy doesn’t sound too whiny as so often happens with younger female characters when it comes to English dubbing of a show.[br][br]Enjoyment:[br]If you are looking for a Anime with a very high entertainment value then I can whole heartedly recommend GunxSword, especially if you are planning a Anime marathon weekend with a loved one or with friends. But if you are looking for something that is 100% original then rather go look somewhere else.

Gunxsword is a hard piece of work to review, because of its up and downs. It is not unique in any way, in fact, it seems like a rip from many other animes such as Trigun, Cowboy Bebop with a mix of typical mecha anime robots. There are so many cliches in gunxsword that i wont even try to name them all. You got the typical revenge filled main character, a bunch of girls by his side who end up liking him, a totally incoherent and crazy villain who wants to change/destroy the world with his brain-washed followers who think he's some kind of god. There's even a power ranger rip, with a bunch of old men combining their robots into one multicolored super robot. The low score in my review is probably due to these not-so-impressive cliches. However, it must be noted that despite all that, gunxsword remains a watchable anime. Shinsen-Subs did a nice job up until it stalled, and the rest by SHRIMPS was of a lesser quality. I don't understand japanese, so i got confused at a few spots due to either poor translation or confusing dialogue used by the characters.

Animation is decent, the characters are well drawn, although I did not really like the style. The fighting scenes are poorly done in my opinion, and there's the typical reruns everytime Van calls his armor(robot). I thought Van looked awkward most of the time, he was too skinny and all scrunched up like an old man with his bent back, so it looked pretty weird. But that's anime for you. The movements of the characters are fluid in general, so besides disappointing fighting scenes, the animation fares okay.

The sound is pretty nice actually. The opening theme is only instrumental, but has its charm. Actually, perhaps it is the fact that the opening always changes (i mean, the images that are shown, so that the characters shown in it are hidden before they actually appear in the story, in order to avoid spoilers) that made it interesting. I ended up watching/listening to the opening theme nearly every episode. The voice actors did a good job in general, and portrayed each of the characters very well.

Storywise, gunxsword is nothing special. Van is introduced as a super-strong main character with a dark past, and then we follow his journey to kill the one he set out to kill. A number of other characters him along the way, despite his opposition to them following him. Just as a normal cliched story develops, Van's small goal of revenge ends up being a world-scale battle in order to prevent the destruction of the known world. The story was predictable at times and boring at others, which is reason for the low rating. I honestly cannot say that the story was what kept me watching the anime. Normally, I like to watch my animes in one shot, but for gunxsword, it took me a lot longer, because of my lack of interest in the plot.

The characters are decently done. Van is nothing special though, because he's a cross between Vash and Spike. He looks like Spike, and dresses like Vash. He's got a dark past, and seeks revenge. He's got a stupid eating habit. The only difference between him and the other 2 is that he pilots a robot that falls from the sky. The other main character, Wendy, is a girl who's about 11 or 12 years old. She's trying to find her brother, and ends up following Van. I hated her, because she's so annoying and cliched that during the "serious/emotional parts" concerning her, i was rolling my eyes. Of course, this judgement is perhaps not exactly accurate, because I'm sure that some people can identify themselves as Wendy and therefore like her character, but for me, it was too much to take. The rest of the characters on Van's side are nothing special. There's a money-hunting woman with huge boobs, a weak and annoying brat who hangs around with Wendy, the older brother of the brat who is competing with Van to kill the same target, a teenage girl-pilot who's infatuated with Van, and a couple of old robot pilots who are like 60 years old power rangers. On the enemy's side, however, the characters are more interesting. The main villain is totally crazy and out-of-sync, and he's so contradictory that it actually made me wonder about how Van&crew would end up dealing with him. His followers are all pretty messed up, which make them fun to watch and it made me wonder about each of their backgrounds.

I would not rewatch this anime, because there are so many better works out there. However, if you've run out of animes to watch, just like I seem to have recently, you can give this a try. Don't try to watch it in one go though, you won't make it.

I still enjoyed watching gunxsword to a certain degree, because I was curious about how Van and ppl would deal with the main villain. However, I found that there were so many annoying things in this anime that it almost drove me crazy. When I think back, I really cannot find a single outstanding concept in gunxsword, save for its constantly changing opening and ending videos.