Gun x Sword

What a vibe. The ultimate space western, its a shame its popularity is lower because of poor marketing when this show aired and the fact that space westerns are more popular in America than japan. Its not smooth or perfect but rather has quirks that makes it more enjoyable. its like a home grown tomato that doesn't look the best but tastes better than any factory made tomato you see at a grocery store. Hopefully my comparison made sense but what I'm trying to say is it isn't like all these other shows with generic characters with the same jokes & story. Without spoiling 2 of the quirks I enjoy so much are 2) The way van gets all the condiments and adds them to the food. Its weird its kind of stupid but I enjoy it 1) the way the legend of the main character will spread and they will give him different nicknames "Van that Weird Guy who Helped Out", "Van of a Thousand Conquests", "Van of a Thousand Naps" etc. its funny and a great way to tie in the first few episodic episodes. Overall it thoroughly recomend the show.

This is 100% worth a watch, but you shouldn't follow someone elses word on it, I wouldn't want to drag you down my path. Anyways besides that here is a more detailed synapses of this show. I rated the story an 8, simply because the story is simple. The MC is a representation of life moving on with a new age, even tho he isnt one. I gave the art an 8, because I always liked the art from stuff like Cowboy Bebop, Air Gear, Black Lagoon. Its a very serious art style at the end of the day, it almost as if we imagine the hardships of life to look like this when looking back on it all. The sound is alright, you know classic to this art style. Characters were fine, a couple were good. However there are 6 characters that seem out of place, but in the end you realize why they were there.

GunxSword (pronounced Gun Sword) is simply a stunning 2000s space western mecha anime about a man out for revenge. On his wedding day, Van of the Dawn lost the love of his life Elena, and his only memory of the killer is the strange claw where his right hand should be. And thus, that is the journey we follow till the very end. Aloof and reserved, a real loner, a man whos biggest emotion is anger at anything in relation to The Claw, Van is such a fun protagonist to watch. He really is unpredictable........ ...........to the chagrin of Wendy Garret, a young girl who joins him on this journey because her brother was kidnapped by The Claw. Well more like she tags along, because Van doesn't want her around. Hanging off a necklace is her pet turtle Kameo, cause more anime need live animal reactions to the antics of the protags. And through our protags journey do we come across even more colorful characters, some who join the misadventures of Van as we learn more about the planet they all live in, Endless Illusion. Getting into the plots of other peoples lives and helping out, doing jobs, and then its on the road again for information on The Claw. And this is a space western so we get all kinds of funky gear. Such as Dan's weird shape shifting sword. However, the main thing is of course the Armors. This is a mecha space western afterall, if you're gonna settle your problems, you have to fight it out mecha style. And most peculiar is Van's Armor, with a turn of his hat, descends from the sky as a giant sword........ "Wake Up, Dann!" The mecha action is really great, and all the peculiar designs of the enemy of the week and of those who join Van. The music is by Kotaro Nakagawa, which some would know for Code Geass and Yugioh Arc V. And frankly, the man is an underrated composer, he makes some great music. The OP is one of the rare lyricless songs, and it's such a epic western beat. And the ED is just a nice glass of cold water after the adventure you were just put through, because man are some of the adventures we go through crazy not even halfway into the series. All that said, its important to say that Gun X Sword isn't just a revenge story. It's a story about grief, it's a story about the cruelty of people who forsake human connection. It's about four abuelos. The four abuelos are pretty important. There is not a single boring moment in GunXSword. It does NOT let up. Looking back, I can't believe a certain ep was a 3rd episode, or a 5th episode or a 9th. And then of course when the story starts to comes together and the established cast start racing to the end. Tears and Smiles. You're gonna want to put as much condiments on your food as you watch.

Gorou Taniguchi is singlehandedly the most frustrating Director in the entire anime industry. Propelled forward by his directorial debut in the original "One Piece" OVA, a series of small successes (albeit one of them being one of the few Gundam series that was technically canceled due to low ratings) eventually led him to his "Magnum Opus" Code Geass, after which it was all downhill from there as his old fans grew up and realized that a plot twist carries no true meaning without a logical leadup to it or proper payoff. Not to mention people just got tired of angsty, selfish protagonists who somehow always do the "right" thing with the power of all-encompassing vengeance and black-and-white worldviews tailored to be shallow enough for the average tween to comprehend. Add a series of embarrassing failures to this once-revered Director's repertoire (remember "Skate-Leading Stars"? No?) and a Code Geass OVA series and film that disillusioned a lot of nostalgic old Taniguchi fans, and he is now scraping the bottom of the barrel with the creation of a hilariously awful anime tied to a mobile game which is almost certain to fail due to its advertisement's confusing worldbuilding and nausea-inducingly bad animation. "Gun x Sword" is all of Gorou Taniguchi's potential and problems smashed into an appealing-looking meatball. On the outside, you see a tasty Space Western that uses every trope in the book while mixing in various fun but one-offs that ultimately tie everything together for spice; but when you take a bite you realize that almost none of those flavors are remotely cohesive. In the few works of this Director I have seen, I've come to realize that he has talent where it counts as a conceptualizer. Be it a Space Western with mechs or a political drama (with mechs!) he is able to conceive some truly fascinating worlds to potentially be immersed in. It's such a shame that he never uses those ideas to their full potential and prefers to go off on a tangent that was obviously never the intended destination--if there even was one to begin with. The premise of "Gun x Sword" is simple enough--an angsty, brooding anti-hero (2000's anime patented!) is looking for revenge on the man who killed his wife at the altar just before the hero, Van, and his wife are to be married. Why did the villain kill her? Eh . . . we'll get there. It's yet another reason why I'm sure this series never had an original end goal. On the first episode, Van saves a town from the most interesting character in the entire series, and sets off on the final stretch of his revenge quest with a young teenage girl, Wendy, in tow. This introduces the audience to the second main problem "Gun x Sword" has--the wholly underdeveloped harem who just so happen to fall for the lanky, grumpy hunk. Wendy is certainly a character who will make most viewers quite uncomfortable, if only for the way the script and camerawork portrays her. This is only the third true loli I have ever seen in an anime, and at least SAO had the decency to portray Silica's crush as a comical phase that all young girls will obviously go through at the inception of puberty, and Shiro from "No Game, No Life" completely flips any weird hopes some of the odder otaku would have on its head by making it clear that her brother would give the world for her simply because of natural familial love. But "Gun x Sword" makes it uncomfortably obvious that the script is trying to get Wendy and Van together at some point. Wendy's feelings are never addressed, and, like a lot of things by the end, it's all left loose, wasting a great opportunity to genuinely develop her character and make a commentary on the struggles of growing up in a world that expects kids to leap from their mold even before they are fully cast. And there's the swimsuit wedgie butt shots. This is why I watch anime alone. -_- From bust-o-rama Carmen 99 (the 99 is her bust measurement!) to the peppy Thigh Queen Priscilla, the idea of every most attractive girl (and Wendy) falling for the MC is eventually shoved into the plot as an afterthought just to check off another tired cliche. I mean . . . not that I would mind Priscilla falling for me since she's Best Girl, but a spirited personality and legs that could kill with a single kick aren't enough to make up for a complete lack of chemistry or development. The animation for this series has made me absolutely certain that Taniguchi has an aversion to making mechs actually walk. Aside from Priscilla's fitting speedster Armor "Brownie," (whose main weapon is located on its butt, which she has to fire by thrusting forward with her own, real butt to fire; GOOD LAWD, I didn't need that view in this intense situation!) any mech that should walk rolls forward on wheels, or if it has legs, it is never shown WALKING, but jumping a few times before swinging a staff, shooting a gun, or exploding before the fight can really begin. It's a sad decade for anime when a lot of mechs have objectively worse animation than the original "Gundam." And some of these fights are over with so ludicrously that Ladies Dorothea Ernst and Monica Krushevsky from Code Geass are floating in the depths of C's World laughing at these poor fools' misfortune. One guy dies simply from having the right tube cut on the front of his Armor. No explosion, no damage to his body. HE JUST DIES. Another guy jumps around a bit before Van's love for his dead wife overpowers this nutcase's randomly psychotic Oedipus Complex and explodes despite receiving no major internal damage. Well, he fell through the roof of his castle, but why would the force of Van's sword have been enough to do that when he hit him in the shoulder? The messy character relationships have been covered, as well as the shoddy animation and unfulfilling climaxes, but what about the overarching plot? From a series of random and completely disjointed encounters, a ragtag group comes together--one episode parodying the struggle for dominance of NGE and Gundam, an outcome I very much appreciated (it's the foundation of modern anime for a reason, folks!)--out of literally nowhere and finds the bad guys' base from some contrivance I still can't remember came to be. Did it just pass by too carelessly for me to see, or was there truly no leadup to it? I didn't want to bother backing the episode up so I could be over with it. The pacing of this series is so bad I was glad every time an episode ended around halfway through. A complete lack of setup also seems to be one of Taniguchi's trademarks. "Gun x Sword" yet again pretends to have some kind of grand plan for its biggest climax, and then when it finally gets there, it turns out its just another rip off of Evangelion. You heard it straight from the horse's mouth! Twice in a row, Taniguchi-san didn't want to think of his own master plan for the main villain and opted to cash in on the most famous anime of the last decade, waxing a false dichotomy of "no one is wrong" naivety that talks down to the audience more than a condescending philosophy major. Once that grand climax is over, spouting vague ideals about how one dream must eclipse another for that dream to have success--thus why The Claw killed Van's wife, for some reason--the series is content to shrug off any impact it might have had and close it without care, as if it knows it truly isn't as deep as it wishes it could be. Gorou Taniguchi is a truly disappointing Director. Such potential is constantly wasted on projects which are only made to crank out as cheap of a product as possible. Oh well. At least he didn't insult the audience directly this time around. Will I ever work up the nerve to watch another one of his largely-forgotten works? Only time and my compulsive need to analyze will tell.

I am a big fan of trigun and as soon as I started watching this anime I realized how close the two are if you really pay attention. Van is pretty much a second realm vash and the art style is also very similar. While not as good as trigun it is a very awesome anime if you are in to fun action and fight scenes that will make you giggle like a school girl. There is a lot of comedy in this show, they even have a full episode near the start of the series that is a power ranger rip off. This is a show I watched for a while, stopped, picked back up, stopped, and finally picked back up and finished. I wouldn't say this is a show you can sit down for a day and pass it away. But this an anime I would say you can watch in between other things for fun.

Gun x Sword is typical animé with wandering people who are travelling for a reason. At the begin we meet Van and Wendy as two people who travels together but their relationship becomes stronger in every episode. I don't like the input of mecha in the series, it could have been better if Van only fought with his sword. But later in the series it's clear why they putted mecha in the animé. The art design is great. Wendy looks cute and Fasalina is also gorgeous. The effects are also very nice. Great sounds, nice OST and very astonishing sounds effects. Overall I think it's worth an 8. This is action, romance and maybe a little bit of comedy to make it worth watching.

Overview: I'm not sure how many people have noticed this, but revenge tends to be viewed very unfavourably in Japan, especially when compared to the West. While people in America tend to favour "retributive justice" as they call it, Japan generally stick to the belief that seeking revenge on those who have wronged you will make you just as bad if not worse than they are. "Gun x Sword", while not innovating in many ways, is one of the few anime that actually favours revenge to an extent, but does it in a way that doesn't come off as being overly-edgy. How does it achieve this? Well, you're about to find out. Story (7.5/10): "Gun x Sword" is set on the "Planet of Endless Illusion", a planet very similar to Earth that has been colonised by humanity. Van, an anti-social warrior who is linked to a powerful mech that he can call on for aid in combat, wanders this world in search of a mysterious man known only as "the Claw", who murdered Van's would-be wife Helena three years prior to the events of the story. After passing out from hunger in the middle of a desert town, Van saves a 12-year-old girl named Wendy Garret from a bunch of thugs, and after being treated to lunch by her, learns she's in search of her missing brother, Michael. Not long after, it becomes clear that Van and Wendy's interests in fact overlap, as Michael was sold off to the very man Van's searching for. As such, Wendy decides to accompany Van on his journey (with him being less than thrilled by the idea) so the two of them can achieve their respective goals, with them encountering many allies and enemies along the way. In case it wasn't clear already, "Gun x Sword" is a space western, right down to having a protagonist dressed like a cowboy (though his weapon of choice is more like what a samurai would wield). However, this isn't "Cowboy Bebop" meets "Trigun". Oh no, this is more like "Cowboy Bebop" meets "Inspector Gadget", with a whole bunch of other references thrown in for good measure. While the series does start in a desert, it soon becomes clear that that's only one small part of this planet, and there's overall a good amount of variety to be found, from civilizations to fields. The actual story does admittedly take a while to really get going, with the first few episodes following an episodic format where Van and Wendy travel to some place and, after solving whatever problem is there, walk away no closer to their goals. This changes towards the end of the sixth episode (which up until then looked like one you could easily skip), which gets the show's momentum going, and from then on we gradually learn more and more about the Claw, his organization and what his plans are. Even so, there isn't really anything that original about the series, and a lot of the twists are probably things you'll see coming. However, while the story may have some pacing problems and be rather lacking in originality, it is nevertheless one I found myself very much enjoying, mostly due to its unique way of approaching revenge. Rather than going for the old "revenge is bad" message we've heard so many times, the series doesn't necessarily portray Van's desire for revenge as particularly damaging or self-destructive (and it certainly helps that he refuses to let it become that way). Nevertheless, the series doesn't shy away from the fact that revenge can definitely turn you into something you're not, with one character showing this in a truly disturbing fashion and being made to directly contrast Van. The series also almost consistently improves in quality as it goes on, with the last few episodes in particular being highly memorable, culminating in a highly satisfying ending that, while not the best I've ever seen, is nevertheless notable for delivering exactly what the series promised. Art & Animation (8/10): "Gun x Sword"'s studio AIC ASTA isn't all that well-known, and it shows by the fact that "Gun x Sword" doesn't have any particularly standout visuals. While the character designs are very cool and unique, the models are fairly rough around the edges and the environments aren't amazing-looking either. There are some very nice special effects, however, with probably my favourite being the one when Van summons his Armor, Dann of Thursday, to fight for him, and we see it come down from space and him merging with it. Overall, the series does look pretty good, especially considering it came out in 2005. Sound & Dialogue (8/10): "Gun x Sword"'s music really isn't all that standout or memorable. There are some decent tracks worth listening to, like the opening and a couple of the ending themes (of which there are five in total), but it doesn't really feel like anything you've heard before, though it does definitely fit with the series. The voice acting is generally very good; David Vincent captures each aspect of Van's character very well, Stephanie Sheh delivers a great performance as Wendy, and the cast as a whole is quite solid, including a number of big names like Michelle Ruff, Yuri Lowenthal, Liam O'Brien and Johnny Yong Bosch, though some performances are certainly better than others. One part of the sound design I really wasn't a fan of, however, is the ridiculous narrations that begin each episode. These narrations aren't clever or provide any more context to the series, they just waste time and are clearly trying way too hard to be philosophical, overall feeling like a complete waste of Jamieson Price. Characters (7.5/10): For the most part, Van plays the part of an apathetic bystander, often refusing to help people with their problems for the simple fact that he has no reason to and getting annoyed when people, especially Wendy, take a liking to him. That being said, pushing him into doing the right thing is very possible (especially if somebody does something that pisses him off) and he's ultimately just very reserved and anti-social as opposed to actively unpleasant. Furthermore, while he is extremely focused on his quest for revenge, to the point that him passing out from hunger due to forgetting to eat is something of a running gag, he has no intention of letting his quest consume him or making it his sole reason for living, as he (rather rightfully) believes that becoming a man different from the one Helena loved would be an insult to her memory. This is evident when he meets a man with near-identical circumstances, but is willing to do anything in order to get his revenge, and Van is so disgusted that he refuses to team up with him despite them sharing the same goal, showing that while his goal may be personal, he also has very strong moral standards. Beyond that, Van is also a huge badass, and while that's pretty much a given when you're linked up to a giant robot, he's more than capable of kicking ass even without Dann, and only really summons it when he needs it, which he very often does. While he isn't the most complex lead character out there, he's nevertheless very likeable all around and more than worthy of being the protagonist of a story like this. Second in importance to Van is Wendy, who is also my second favourite character. While Van does encounter and befriend many people over the course of his journey, as well as getting acquainted with several people from his past, Wendy remains his most consistent companion over the course of the series, and is generally the one to push him into helping others. Fortunately, rather than just being some tagalong kid, she is a character with her own subplot and character arc- a point constantly made in the series is she's coming of age. She is often irritated when people put her aside as a child and she has attempted various times to be more adult-like in Van's presence from when he dismissed her as a brat in the first episode to go back to her town. With each progression in the story, she learns more and more about the world, developing her own thoughts and opinions in the process. And yet, despite being quite mature for her age, she'…