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Gunparade March - Arata Naru Ko Gunka
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Animation - 8.5 |
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Sound - 8.1 |
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Story - 7.2 |
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Character - 7.7 |
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Value - 7.6 |
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Enjoyment - 8.0 |
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Average - 7.9 |
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| Average |
9.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| This reviewer would like to qualify this review by saying that he is a sucker for simple love stories. Especially one where a 'strong, demanding girl' actually sees the hidden fine points of a guy who on the surface looks like an absolute turn-off from the go (except in the looks department).
I have always been of the thought that the genre of an anime is dependent upon: 1) the totality of the story, and 2) the ending of the story. In Gunparade March's case, it is ultimately, a love/relationship story against the backdrop of an alien invasion with mecha weapons. And can I very frankly say, a sweet and simple love story. Appeals very much to a simple person like me.
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Saya77 |
(2006-10-29 22:07:13) 2006-10-29 22:06:26 |
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| Average |
2.0 |
| Animation |
3 |
| Sound |
2 |
| Story |
1 |
| Character |
2 |
| Value |
2 |
| Enjoyment |
2 |
| The genre of this anime is listed as "Action-Mecha". What they should have listed was "Action-Mecha for the first 6 episodes, and School-life Romance for the last 6 episodes".
A very compelling warzone is set up in the first half of the series; it is a tragic time: 16-year olds are being drafted while still going through their schooling, 8-year old children are operating nuclear-like bombs in order to defeat the enemy, and Japan is one of the few unoccupied territories in the world.
However, for some reason the series completely abandons this plot and instead shifts its' focus onto a pathetic and cliche love story between two of the most unlikely characters you will ever find. Meanwhile, in between fighting for the survival of the human race (which apparently only takes a mission or two every week or so, with only 4 mecha piloted by a bunch of amateurs to take out the "brains" in about 5 minutes, which makes you wonder what the heck the rest of the world was doing if it is so easy to destroy these things) the "class" has time to put on plays, festivals, and the entire unit (including the commanding officers, adults) are reduced to match-makers attempting to hook up the main characters.
Other faults of the story include: the cliche of having kids in mecha fight bugs who have taken over the Earth (hi Blue Gender and Gundam!); the mystery of why, if the Earth has been completely taken over, Hayami is at one point studying English; the issue of how, if the Earth has been taken over, Japan still has the neccessary resources to build giant mecha, keep up maintenence on buildings, generate enough fabric to create dressed and clothes for everyone, support a seemingly-vibrant capitalist economy, and still have enough oil to keep gas-powered cars around for every day people.
Also, the story gives no background for the Ganju; we learn nothing about where they come from, how they breed, what they eat, why the rest of the world was taken over and not Japan, how Japan has held out so long on its' own, what the Japanese government is doing or researching in attempts to destroy the Ganju, how the PBE works, why children are neccessary to activate it, why battles are always fought with just 4 units, and why Ganju somtimes have helicopters fighting on their side.
Hayami, the male lead, is a truly pathetic being. He is weak, a push-over, clumsy, and makes many mistakes while piloting his mecha (the anime loves to portray Shibamura's ridicule of Hayami's weak piloting skills in a bad light; which I can't understand: it is supposed to be a matter of life-and-death in those mecha, why shouldn't Shibamura be upset if Hayami continually screws up?). Meanwhile, Shibamura starts off as an interesting, if a bit cliche, stoic character with an engaging past and background who is turned into a complete weakling just by coming into contact with Hayami apparently. We never find out why she hates her father either.
The side characters, while they are all cliche (the childish boy who loves battles, the "playboy-wannabe" who only thinks about girls, the clumsy-yet-nice harem-esque main character, the "traditional" girl, the older more "experienced" girl, etc) were poised to be at least semi-interesting; at least, they were before the series turned them into nothing but shallow supporting match-makers.
For that matter, the romance in this series is incredibly trite and contrived; I don't believe a second of it and it seems utterly unrealistic.
The battle animation is simply rehashed for every new scene; this is especially evident in the PBE scenes, the Brain scenes, and scenes in which the mecha move. For a series made this recently, the animation was truly dissapointing; especially its' lack of detail in the backgrounds, mecha, Ganju, and character models.
The soundtrack, like the story, is incredibly contradictory. During tragic death scenes or battle scenes, upbeat cheerful music will be playing in the background, and during school-scenes slow classical songs permeate the background noise. I say 'noise' because the music really detracts from the feel of the story. The fact that the music really stood out to me in various scenes as 'wrong' truly brought this area down for me. As for the voice actors, the characters they were trying to portray were so annoying that no matter how well they tried to act out the parts the dialogue and setting was so bad as to make me cringe during many scenes.
I wouldn't reccomend this; this series is completely random and has no direction. Gunparade March doesn't know whether it wants to be a Sweet School Romance or a Tragic Action anime, and so it loses itself. I enjoyed the first few episodes and had high hopes, but soon the series degenerated into a bad schoollife romance series and it became incredibly boring.
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AxioM |
2006-08-10 22:51:51 |
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| Average |
3.7 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
5 |
| Story |
2 |
| Character |
3 |
| Value |
3 |
| Enjoyment |
3 |
| (NOTE TO READER: If you happen to read this review, whether in-full, or just a skim, please rate the review. I will appreciate the feedback, negative or positive, and will return the gesture if you have made your own review.)
First, I just have to say: At this point, I really have no idea what the hell I just saw.
Gunparade March has a tried and true idea, with a different twist on the chronology involved. The `invasion` takes place in the World War II era, and continues up through our present day. You would think over the span of 50+ years this ruthless race of alien killers would have humanity beaten, or vice-versa.
Ah, who cares right? It`s just the fate of humanity, it`s already been this long, why don`t we go on some dates, have some laughs? How about we put on a play? I wanna be the princess! Give me a break.
Animation:
So I`m watching this show, wondering what kind of references I`ll be able to pick out to past shows of its kind. Most shows give discreit references, a head nod if you will, to their predecessors. Gunparade shamelessly rips the clothes off their backs.
To begin with, the military uniforms strongly resemble those used from the special forces unit of RahXephon. On top of this, our prestigious main character looks just like Akito (more on this later.) Plain-Jane artwork, but noticably better in the close-ups.
I would have rated this section higher, but there is a huge amount of animation rehash in the combat sequences. When combat is used in anime, it is `hit-or-miss` as far as whether or not it can be taken seriously. The ridiculous amount of animation recycling in the action scenes of this show make it seem dilatory and apathetic. If the animators don`t care, than why should we?
Sound:
The Intro Shinjitsu no Tobira, by Yoko Ishida , feels overly upbeat for a show that has the serious undertones of war. I listened to it at least a couple times, regardless.
The Ending theme, Yami o Koete by Masumi Harada, felt like a perfect way to lead out of every episode.
The voice acting here was perfectly average. Although, Akira Ishida, did a great job of acting out his lame character, Hayami. He has played quite a diverse amount of characters, it`s unfortunate that Hayami is on his resumé, because Hayami is redundant, and boring. Akemi Okamura`s character, Mai Shibamura is fairly one dimensional for a very long time, but eventually begins to blossom a bit later on.
Just like its rehashed Animation, the sound effects, and background music are used over, and over...and over.
Story:
Alright guys, man up! It`s time to go kick some Genjyu ass. Combat, tragedy, and a reason to fight. Awesome. I`m in. Oh wait, we`re not going to do the war thing anymore? Now we`re going to go ahead and completely forget about the foundation of the show, and switch the focus to a long-winded, overly complicated, and unrewarding love affair? Oh OK.
If you think I sound disdainful, I am. Gunparade starts off slowly, but over the course of the first half, builds itself into a compelling war drama, with all the potential in the world to hit home as a memorable icon in its genre, which was supposed to be: Action-Mecha, right?
Right at about halfway, let`s shift the direction. I would like nothing more than to laden this review with spoilers on what exactly this story did so wrong, but I`ll just say that this train derailed around the time it decided it would be a good idea to stray from its initial progress, in favor of: Filler episodes about unimportant characters (in a 12 part program, this is already a huge issue, anyway), and wasting time regurgitating the same scene of the main two characters fumbling over how to word their feelings to one another in every episode all the way up to the end.
If you`re anything like me on this one, you`ll be left with a huge, awkward, floating question mark above your head for a majority of the show, wondering when you`re going to get back on track. Well, unfortunately, you never do.
Character:
Shinj-... I mean, Hayami, is the absolute furthest thing from a likeable main character. He is weak, and as calculable as a second grade math problem. If this guy were any more transparent, he`d have been a walking window. Even after the ample time he was given for development, he barely evolves at all. This is of course a big deal, considering that the creators opted to take a huge cast of characters, make them all irrelevant, and focus all their attention on two people, Hayami being one of them.
Mai Shibamura is your typical strong, but silent type. She is fighting with an agenda, and has herself set up to be the main muscle in the show. Unfortunately, around the time the show decides to shift the story, a certain series of actions has her emasculated in the wake of Hayami, the same weak scrub of a main character afore mentioned. This makes her resolve and toughness vastly dillute. From then on, about the toughest thing she does, is keep herself from knocking out her sad choice of a love interest.
Again, around about the mid point in the show, the entire supporting cast is reduced to a band of lackies for what seems like a bad reality television show. Every single characters sole mission in life appears to be hooking up our protagonists.
Last but not least, we have the Genjyu. Who in the world are these guys? How menacing can they be, having let humanity just kind of hang out for over fifty years? The answer, is not very menancing at all. To defeat them, it`s a simple matter of sending in a couple of mechs, which have absolutely no resistance whatsoever getting to the `brain` aliens, and using a weapon manned by an eight-year-old child to take care of business. Rinse, repeat. Other than a brief scene in the middle of the show, there is absolutely no feeling of danger at any point in this show. Last I knew, villains were supposed to produce a feeling of crisis.
I would have been able to enjoy Gunparade so much more, had they just kept on track. Even if they wanted to switch the focus of the show, at least make it a less awkward shift. Finally, when you make a shift like that, and give so much buildup to a single goal, make it worth the wait, so the viewers don`t feel like they were screwed out of their time.
If you`re a fan of Mecha and Action, wait for something more original. If you`re a fan of Comedy and Romance, Gunparade is vastly unrewarding. This wannabe doesn`t measure up in any way shape or form.
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chris |
2006-06-23 00:49:29 |
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| Average |
9.2 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I never played the game, so perhaps this is why I gave it such a high score.
I really enjoyed this series, it was refreshing after watching all the crap thats been comming out lately for mecha (Goddannar, Blue Gender, Gundam Wing, etc etc.) While no where near as complex, the plot was almost as enjoyable (to me) as Evangelion.
Characters were very good- character development in almost all characters (Mai in particular.) Since the series was done in 12 episodes, it's even more impressive that it was pulled off so smoothly.
Whoever mentioned that the character deaths in the series were irrelevant and only fillers, seriously needs to take another look.
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| Average |
5.0 |
| Animation |
5 |
| Sound |
5 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
| No review I’ve read so far here came close of being accurate. Apparently, none of the writers ever played the game (and contrary to 'popular' belief, it is -NOT- hentai), save one.
Gunparade March was developed by Alfa System (http://www.alfasystem.net/game/gp/main.html) and published by Sony in 2000 for the original Playstation. It earned several awards in Japan, including Best Scientific Achievement due to its open-ended storyline, creativity, inspiration, and freedom (just to name a few). Therefore, it should not be surprising, that Gunparade March has a strong cult following in Japan and popular enough to spawn its own anime series.
And I admit, I am a Gunparade March (the game) fanboy.
So how do one make an anime based on a game with multiple extremely well developed characters, multiple endings, multiple rankings, and virtually limitless replay value? Short answer, you don’t.
Most of the game’s accolades were lost in midst of this wreckage. Everything from beginning to end seemed to be a half-witted exercise. Look, most game-to-anime adaptations either remain faithful to the original or act as an independent production. Gunparade March the anime failed miserably by trying to be both in merely 12 episodes.
The main plot line revolves around a particular squad 5121 student militia stationed in Kyushu to defend Japan’s southern flank from marauding aliens, known as Phantom Beasts in both the game and anime.
The focal point to Gunparade March is survival, first and foremost. School life and the always inevitable romances that came along are in fact, secondary. With aliens constantly knocking on Japan’s doors and depriving its resources, Japan was unable to raise enough armies based on its adult population, so it turned to students to fulfill its lack of manpower. This theme could be traced directly back to the end-days of World War II, when Japan braced itself for what seemed to be an imminent American invasion, and raised large student militias as its final line of defense.
Thus, the game invoked a sense of urgency, but such impression was absent in the anime. When the squad 5121 performed well, the squad’s financial consequence ensured increased funding, consistent flow of supplies and lower cost for everyday necessities such as food and water. When they performed poorly, the opposite effect ensued. Yet, in the anime, no matter how well or how poorly squad 5121 performed, they remain cheerful to the very end, throwing parties, staging shows, setting up elaborate dating patterns and conducting fancy dinners, leaving you wondering where they get the money (or food) from. Occasionally, one or two squad mates might fall in battle, but while fallen comrades would have mattered greatly to the squad’s morale and performance in the original, they were little more than side-shows and quickly forgotten in the anime.
The characters suffer from a serious lack of development, due to the fact half of the original casts were dropped in favor of cramming an extended plot with a limited budget and 12 episodes. The only exceptions are Shibamura Mai and Hayami Atsushi, who remain more faithful to the original, even if their roles were reversed somewhat. Unfortunately, many of the supporting characters were just there for being there’s sake. With half of the original cast gone, it is difficult to portray the intriguing relationships each of the characters had with one another. For example, Mai’s brother played a large part in influencing her life, which helped to explain her character. However, since he did not show up at all in the anime version, we are left with very little clues as to how Mai turned out the way she is.
The production value of the anime is a great disappointment. With only 12 episodes, I expected at least some mad CG works and fluidity. Not much could be found. The action sequences were dull and dogmatic, worst of all, the method employed to take out Phantom Beasts were, should I say, technologically retracted from the original just so the production team could make an excuse for the anime to have several close-encounter sequences. Some members of the original cast did make a cameo in the anime version, but with roles no longer fitting the characters.
Nonetheless, a sequel to Gunparade March is slated for release later this year, dubbed Gunparade Orchestra, and while I have high hopes for the game, I have little desire to watch its anime.
In the mean time, lets cross our fingers and wait...
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Pantha |
(2005-09-06 21:30:58) 2005-09-04 19:54:43 |
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| Average |
6.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| With the exception of anime whose premise calls for it (i.e., The Glass Mask and Kodomo no Omocha), there has never been a good anime that has a play in it. When the characters start preparing for a play, it’s a sure-fire sign that the anime would not only be full of brainless filler, but will be an empty watch as a whole. In twelve episodes, Gunparade March manages to stick in not one play but two. It pretends for a very little while to be about protecting mankind from alien creatures called the Genjyu, but it’s really about the methods Unit 5121 will take to hook up the main characters, Hayami and Mai. Indeed, the last four episodes center on just this.
…But I’m not faulting GPM too much for this because the last few episodes (or rather from episode seven on) turned out to be the best part of the series. GPM is essentially a “romantic comedy” that tries to be something more, but it is a compliment that it was the drama (and not the lame comedy) that was out of place here. Unlike other anime of its kind (such as Martian Successor Nadesico and Vandread) this anime shines best when it finally sheds away its charade and gives full attention to what it’s REALLY about.
It succeeds because the two main characters turned out to be fun to watch. Hayami is hilariously idiotic when it comes to certain matters and one can’t help but like Mai, mainly because of her great facial expressions. The supporting cast is derivative, complete with the ever-present prepubescent mascot. Having reasonable animation (there are some great shots involving snow), decent character designs (all the girls with black hair look alike) and a mildly catchy opening theme, Gunparade March manages to be an overwhelmingly average and hollow show. Although you may not remember what you saw the next day, it has enough staying power to entertain you for the moment.
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| Average |
7.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| The animation quality is good but doesn't break any new ground considering the quality of animation currently being churned out. The main characters are well drawn and considering this titles hentai origin, are well propotioned and not suggestive at all. The aliens and the mechas on the other hand are simplistic and reflect their background role in the overall plot. This is not a hardcore mecha v. alien anime, rather it uses these elements as a backdrop to the main story, i.e., the blossoming relationships among these high school kids. In a way the use of the mecha/aliens is very similar to that seen in Hoshi no Koe.
The bgm and seiyuu are very appropriate to the series, and the opening and ending themes are rather catchy. All of the seiyuu fit the characters extremely well, therefore contribute to the overall character designs, especially ensuring that there are no annoying characters.
The story as I mentioned above follows a typical pattern found in this genre; indecisive people finally mustering enough courage to say what they feel. Again with the setting and storyline, this anime kept reminding me of Hoshi no Koe.
The characters are well thought out but not particularly memorable, and despite being simplistic don't come across as shallow or hurriedly thought out, nor do they bog the viewer down in past trauma like some other anime characters in similar animes do.
A good light anime that is enjoyable enough to merit having in your collection if you're into this genre.
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I just finished the series within the past hour and I would have to say that it is one of the best series that I have seen in a while.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
7.5 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| I found it pretty odd, that a show supposedly based on a hentai game could turn out to be, well, any good at all. so it came as a surprise to me that at the end of Gunparade March i didn't feel as if i'd wasted my time at all.
there's no fanservice, no over-the-top mecha fights, no popcorn hard-to-follow plot, no eye popping candy visuals and a style of animation thats anything but revolutenary. in fact what GPM presents the viewer with is a (somewhat) simple and lighthearted look at a bunch of kids in school. of course, school is actually an army base where said kids pilot simplistic looking mechas against haphazardly looking aliens whose existence gets explained promply in the first few minutes of the first episode.
the only real complaint one can harbour here is that the entire Phantom Beast setup, is just a dismissable plot device that fortunately doesn't hamper with the rest of the show.
another odd point to note is that for once, here is a show that imo, managed to portray these kids quite realistically. fortunately there wasn't a character that one could say was misplaced or felt that they bordered on a stereotype. granted that the cast is a little large for everybody to get some sort of exposition, but nonetheless, it never felt as if they were just there to fill the background. if anything, despite providing the viewer with little reason to remember everyone's name, the cast manages to entertain you enough so as not to get annoyed with them.
one thing though that really irked me personally was the absolutely awful looking design of their uniforms. i guess they were going for a mix between a formal school uniform, and an army uniform, but it just didn't work. i just don't see how you can take someone seriously when their uniform consists of a white jacket with black trimmings, a red tie, and baby blue shorts/pants. they really should've reviewed this area. aside from that eyesore the designs are quite acceptable. mechas are nothing spectacular and in fact share an odd resemblance to the ones in FMP, however this isn't too much of a hindrance since it's seldomly part of centre stage.
to finish it up, watch it if you're in the mood for some lighthearted viewing that isn't demanding at all. in fact i should also mention to not be put off by the first episode(and 2nd). i myself was not impressed at all and didn't expect GPM to be all that special. fortunately they just serve to set the stage and the rest of the show really follows a much more laidback and relaxing pace.
it's a short show so it's not that big a deal to sacrifice a few hours.
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| This is an enjoyable romance anime with some mecha action on the side. The anime begins with an action episode that is rather odd, in that you don't know the characters at that point. However, it soon becomes clear that character relationships will play a greater role than action. In fact, the plot of fighting the aliens never comes to any conclusion, while some of the relationships reach a satisfactory end.
The two main characters begin as polar opposites and gradually develop an understanding of each other's strengths and weaknesses. I had to laugh at something in the booklet in the US edition: the seiyuu who plays the male lead, Hayami, was given a script that called Hayami the heroine of the story, followed by the note "this is not a typo." There's something to be said for this, as Hayami is more sensitive and apologetic than the apparently stronger and more arrogant female lead, Mai. On the other hand, it turns out that Mai has weaknesses too.
I thought the technical parts were great - animation and sound. The plot moves right along - I noticed only one episode that I thought was clearly a filler. This isn't the most profound anime I have ever seen, but the story is a good one and worth watching again.
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JTran |
2005-04-06 16:02:17 |
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| Average |
9.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| One of my favorite animes...for many reasons. First thing, there's one thing that this series does better than every single series I've seen...namely, "atmosphere". The setting is so well done in that throughout all the happy and exciting moments, you're constantly reminded that they're in the middle of a war and the constant threat of danger that prevades throughout the world. They do this EXTREMELY well...because you constantly feel the sense of danger. Then you have a really nice story to back that up, with a sweet romance. I liked MOST of the characters except Hayami...who I thought was a wouss...but, I guess he's a nice complement for Mai. With that aside, this series really creates a strong sense of attachment to the characters. When someone is in danger, I found myself on the edge of my chair hoping that they'd be alright and that everyone would turn out well and everything.
Animation and sound are both very good. I absolutely LOVE the ED track...beautiful song with very meaningful lyrics. Overall, great series...definitely one of my top 5.
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Max |
(2005-02-05 17:39:40) 2005-01-20 16:33:23 |
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| Average |
5.3 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
2 |
| Enjoyment |
3 |
| Everything about this movie is half-assed and unsatisfying. I really feel that if anything my mind has degenerated by watching this. I can only shake my head when I even think about how this might affect someone in any other way.
"Gunparade March" follows the basic "wiener boy is center of attention, especially with women, for no other reason save the fact that similarly wiener boy audiences can indulge in this wet dream" stereotypical plot. This isn't so bad in the context of an anime such as "Love Hina" because that's a comedy and a farce and it knows it just as we do. It's surreal in "Love Hina," and that makes it acceptable to me. This though was so infuriatingly mundane that, again, I can't believe I watched it all the way through to it's disgustingly contrived climax. I always try to give art the benefit of the doubt, even if I hate it. Dostoevsky (if I remember correctly) made the statement that you can always count on Russian critics to finish any book, etc. that they review, because they want to know that their assumption that it was crap was right all along (I totally mangled that, but you get the idea). I agree with their way of thinking, but "Gunparade March" seriously makes me want to rethink this tenet.
Please do not waste your time watching this, it has no worth. Nothing about it will move you, rather it will insult your intelligence - you'll just sit there puzzled that anyone could have possibly thought this would affect anyone over the age of 12. And don't even get me started on how much I think something like this would stunt the emotional maturity of a pre-12 year old.
The only way you could possibly NOT be offended by this is if you're in a phase where you like just about anything. I went through one recently for the first time, it lasted about a year and was quite enjoyable. It can be a nice change of pace to not view everything with such a skeptical, critical eye. But please, see this for what it is. It may seem perfectly harmless on the surface, but that's no excuse to get sucked into it. If you get the feeling to give in to it, slap yourself awake and watch or go do something better.
Not recommended. People who make worthless derivative trash like this should be forced to become garbagemen (no offence to garbagemen).
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|
|
| Average |
8.5 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| This is a very good case where "don't judge a book by its cover", and clearly what you see and hear at first is the cover.
It comes close to FMP, but with a better love story, but the fighting is less than FMP. Its quite easy to understand, and more on character development/knowing each other in a not-so-outstanding story line with a definate conclusion.
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|
|
|
| Average |
7.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| GunParade March by all means isn't anything unique. Even so, there are some aspects of this anime that will present you with a good watch. It never becomes in depth about "Why" or "how" at all, rather focuses on a point. That being, how these teenage mech-pilots are able to cope with reality as is; attempting to live normal lives to the best of their abilities. One annoyance i did have was the dub for Hayami. It was terrible, he was way too passive. Almost to the point where you'd like to punch the guy if he were real. Well, that being said, if you can handle all the flaws in GunParade March, you might come out with something that you liked.
Overall, it's just a watch to keep you busy.
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Sinai |
(2004-11-08 06:29:27) 2004-08-17 03:06:17 |
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| Average |
8.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| You know the story. It's about a young boy and a young girl who meet and...wage the endless war against aliens in a giant mecha.
Actually it becomes apparent very shortly that the mecha and alien gunk is just window dressing, and instead focuses mainly on a simple romance, which is well backed up by comedy and drama(all of which serve to move along the romance). It actually displays little, if any originality, but displays such a fine artistic sense it rarely seems to matter.
Gunparade March is kind of a anti-Saikano, since they deal with nearly identical themes but handle them in almost completely opposite ways.
Each episode consistently develops either the background story or the characters effectively, and I was genuinely distressed to find out it was only twelve episodes. With this limitation in mind, the writers keep very tight rein over time usage and it all amounted to motivation to keep watching episode after episode despite a complete lack of cliffhanger.
The depiction of a society embattled and at war for 50 years was brilliant as well. Normal society is NOT turned on it's head. People are still people, and kids are still kids, there just happens to be a few things that jar our reality, like 16 year olds dying on the field of combat on a daily basis, or high school students going into combat alert during their school festival. I greatly appreciated the downplaying of drama, melodrama, and angst in general. It also displays a pretty good sense of comedy, which I always appreciate.
It would be very, very easy to dismiss Gunparade March as uninspired, derivative, and bland. Yet, somehow, without the least bit of flash, Gunparade March gets almost everything right. Recommended, but overall forgettable.
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Annex |
2004-08-16 22:53:53 |
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| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| An anime with exceptional quality. The animation is super smooth, while the sound, ranging from the opening song to alien sound effects, are also very well done. Gunparade March starts off a little slow and boring, but does catch up on character development and storytelling.
Enough said on that, all other aspets of the anime seem pretty average to me. Many of the characters, although unique and nicely drawn, are a bit 1-dimensional. The story is not so original, with aliens invading the earth and kids trying to save it. The anime is overall quite enjoyable, but not something I would consider rewatching.
Finally, there is quite a bit of romance in this anime, espiecially in the later episodes. I recommend it for those who are looking for an... above average mech/schoolkids/romance anime.
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| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| OK, animenfo state this anime to be action, mecha, and sci-fi. But in my mind it alway been romance/mecha/drama. There not much of an action and the real story is love not robot! Fortunately I'm a love story kinda guy, so i really like anime, even so the I hate mecha things. So... the whole is base on the 2 lovers, come from differnt place different backgroud. The characters kidna predictable and play on the plot that used many times b4. Even so, this anime had a good ending... it make you forgot all the bad time they had in the middle story. Directer really crop the whole idea and try not to go our the bound. less scean from sad time, and more happy scean. This anime is good! watch it! it will not wated your time!
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|
| Average |
9.2 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| This is a really good anime. The characters relate to kinda like Love Hina without the humor. After i saw the first episode i thought i was going to have to force myself to watch a military anime that seemed kind of boring. But then on the 2nd episode it changed its spotlight from the military action to the character interactions with one another. The characters were likable but the main character was a little boring. Sometimes though the story got off track the main characters, and lets face it, this is a short series already, why would you want to waste whats little of the episodes on non important characters that werent even that interesting. The ending is pretty good though, i think this anime wouldve been really good if it was longer. The animation is top notch also. Check this one out too.
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bluechees |
(2004-06-13 21:33:29) 2004-04-15 22:44:30 |
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| Average |
5.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
4 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
4 |
| There are distinctly two parts to this anime - the aliens story and the character relations. Both of which didn't get sufficient time and this anime fails in both department.
Animation is crisp and smooth and the music is fine, but like I said above, the story is what I found to be lacking.
The aliens story didn't get enough attention and was never fully explained, nor did it reach a satisfying conclusion.
The character relationships don't really go anywhere either.
The music isn't particularly memorable. It's just your average stuff.
The idea of teens piloting mechs to save the world is also very trite. I guess the director wanted to ride on the late wave of success of previous mecha shows. He failed to impress or entertain me.
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Gunparade March had a promising start, and ends with you whimpering for more. The story is sterotypical. In an alternate history, aliens invade the earth in 1945 and all of humanity unites against this threat. Now the year is 1999. As usual, Japan is the lone nation left standing against this alien threat. And of course, since we have seen in numerous series how Japanese Adults are too afraid to fight their own battles, they force their children to fight for them...again. So for the millionith time, the fate of humanity lies in the hands of high schoolers...again.
Sorry, had to get that humor out of my system, but obviously you see what type of series you're pretty much in for. It has all the makings of a Stereotypical anime series...and yet it works. Don't ask me how but it actually does a fairly good job. The only problem is 12 episodes is just too little to do so much. So in the end, the mecha part of the series is sacrificed for the romantic part of the series. And although a satisfying conclusion, it still leaves the series itself very open-ended and will have you screaming for a sequel to tie up probably the biggest loose end of the series.
Casual anime lovers will like the series. Those into romantic anime will love it. Those into mecha...it will be more like a like/hate relationship for this series. I think the series is very overrated, but I still like it. I just hope they do more in the future to conclude the main storyline.
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