(L) Gun X Sword

[UltimaWolf]

I just finished Gun x Sword(About 30 minutes ago, marathoned from ep.18-26 ), and I must say, I thought it was very good.

Spoiler for Ending:

Though I wish the 'ending' could have been a little longer, and I wish Wendy said more to Van after Carmen went to the trouble of dropping her off next to Van, and that Pricilla didn't even get to say goodbye to Van personally.
Though I know after the time-skip Van shows up at where Wendy is, but I still feel kinda sad that they were apart for those years(I don't think it says how long?) Too bad it also didn't show a few seconds of what everyone else was up to during all this time. But I guess I should be lucky they even showed Wendy and Van meeting up again

I also did like the fact that Van actually killed The Claw Man, I kept thinking it might be like Claymore, and Van not kill him, but I was suprised when Van just cut him without a word.

I feel kinda bad too that we don't know if Michael or Fasalina survived the descruction, but I'm hoping they did.

Ah well still a very good show. Is their a manga out of it?

[Berserker]

I finished this series a couple days ago. It was pretty good, and the music was enjoyable. Overall, it was a worthy purchase. Though, I thought Fasalina was kind of annoying. All of you seem to like her, and she may be hot, but she still annoyed me. A bunch of those followers of The Claw should have kicked Michael out of his armour and proceeded to gang-**** Fasalina until she was no more. Hehe, sorry.

Though, speaking of Fasalina, did anyone else notice in episode 21 when Van and Fasalina fight, they show a close up on her face were it looks like she is on her back, and there are scenes with Van thrusting his "sword" a few times as she moans? If you listen to Vans voice in Japanese, he grunt like the guys in hentai. It made me laugh. Am I the only who made that connotation? Please tell me I'm not the only pervert that thought this.

[Zerowinger]

is there anyting continuing this anime? like a manga or someting ?

[Jman]

Originally Posted by lommm

from what i remember CW was quite young in the flashbacks.... i assume they mean for him to be very old... and from what i understood... once an Original Seven pilot was linked up to a suit, then the pilot would live indefinitely, as long as the Armor remained intact... so Gadved should be really old, but he doesn't age.... like how Van doesn't age for the end of the series but Wendy and Kameo did...

CW was a refugee on the moon and apparently, EI was already populated....

The way I interpreted Endless Illusion was that it was Earth, just post apocalyptic or pre-Gunxsword. The claw man in one of the last ep's when talking to Michael who is on the moon mentions that the moon in where he fled to from Mother.

Perhaps mother was the original Endless Illusion, before all the bad things happened. Wouldn't this explain or at least clarify why when Van fights the claw's armour that he says "He's getting his power from Mother"? (mother Earth?)
If so it's not an uncommon theme in show, like Thundercats had 3rd Earth - the Earth had started over twice before. This is how I took it, Mother was the Earth in its innocence before all the crap (at least from the CM's pov). Mother could also refer to mother earth or love itself which could be why when Van thought of Elena when the CM had him knocked down, he got that burst of energy. I mean think about it, what else would the CM mean if he said that mother had given Van his energy? If it was another planet surely it would have been alluded to more prominently throughout the series wouldn't it? Or we would have seen then energy come from another planet. Plus EI has one moon like Earth, as I said, this is how i interpreted it., not saying anythign else is wrong.

On the side, you think about the term Endless Illusion and why they call the planet by this name, it would explain why Ray dies, and then wakes up from a dream and goes to his wife/fiancee. Our existence relies heavily on our brains to interpret reality, i.e. Eyes don't see, they send impulses to the brain which creates an image. Sort of like videogames, I know some people who have made simple games and the whole time the world moves around the characters and not the other way. i.e. We think something is 'real', but in the end nobody knows if anything is, or maybe everything is a dream (like Ray). Ray's death spells it out, if you died and then woke up from a dream, you would never know that you died and it would possibly go on and on etc. i.e. Endless Illusion.

In my eyes, this is why GunxSword had a constant reference to dreams(and goals), mostly the CM pushing his dreams onto others. Van had a dream, to marry Elena, the his goal became revenge. Wendy dreamed of getting her brother back, then her goal became saving him and helping Van. CM's dream was wiping EI clean and and his goal became starting over with his conciousness living on. He tried to change reality itself because he saw human existence being a burden to the planet, so by making every life form a replica of him, he was also fulfilling the ultimate act of selfishness while believing it was for the good of the planet. It was very well thought out though.

And for those who said that Van's character didn't develop, think back to when he was fighting William and it was Dann vs Metsa. Van wanted to run away, and then he decided to fight on when he finally cracked the code to that trinket Gadved gave him and realised that Elena was still with him in spirit I think he said "Elena why don't you try to live a little more". Van started changing in ep. 11 to being hateful and burning with revenge and almost a madman when he found the CM. He then found out that when Metsa kicked his ass, that hatred alone wasn't enough to fuel his sense of vendetta, and this is when he cracked the code and thought about Elena.

The revenge stayed with him all the way through, however, and in the last episode, he thought of all his friends and Elena(in particular) drove him to succeed. I'm personally glad that Van's character didn't all come out in the last episode and that it was strung out, because that would have been too sappy. As for those who think his revenge was too one-dimensional, I would refute that by saying that Van's burning desire for revenge was so strong that it saved the world. his character development wasn't as obvious as Ray's at the very end when he chose to help everyone (josh in particular) by clogging that machine with a bullet he fired, but it was still there.

[Skane]

Due to the slim pickings in these recent seasons, my endeavour to catch up with older series continues and Gun X Sword is the latest one to be on my current marathon list.

First thing first, I was surprised to find out that it involved mecha. If anything, my primary reason was to see the psychoticism of Van and I must have missed the memo on the involvement of mecha.

Secondly, I am positively delighted to see the play on clichés in the first few episodes, from the post-apocalyptic episode one (ala Trigun) to the "Sentai" episode three, and HELL, it was a Mexican-themed Sentai-team. How awesome is that? I don't care if it's grossly corny. "Adios, amigo." is an AWESOME thing to say during the finality of an explosion; just like "Explosion." "The End." "Hasta la vista, baby." etc...

Thirdly, I was perked to see that AIC was involved in making this. After watching Black Heaven and Seto no Hanayome, I am willing to consider AIC as a pedigree studio. I have high hopes that the entertainment value of Gun X Sword will not nosedive in the episodes to come.

Cheers.

[uberdonut]

Originally Posted by LastDuaL

Agree with Shika and Kagu. Still an awesome series overall, but a few things keeping it from reaching the top. What really bugs me is:

Spoiler:

They never really explain why the claw man killed Van's wife in the first place. From the wedding flashback, it didn't seem like an accidental embrace, more like a sudden slashing massacre...yet no motive, so we're left with him just being a diluded pacifist with random psychotic urges to kill...

Spoiler for Gun Sword:

He needed control of the original 7 armors and I'm guessing he had to gain influence over the armor riders and the crew. Unfortunately for Van and his fiance, the claw wanted to take them out. He succeeded in killing his wife (obviously) but I don't think he let Van live on purpose. Van was able to live because of some special body altering operation that's been mentioned and becoming linked with Dann.

Spoiler for Overall:

Overall I felt that the series was great. But for some reason I felt extremely empty after I watched the last episode. I'm glad that the claw man was killed by Van, I'm glad that Ray was able to die in peace, Josh and Yukiko are going off to do their own thing with Ray's armor and his corpse or whatever, Priscilla is going back to live and protect her family and all that, and those old timers probably just went back home to drink and have a good time, and Carmen is doing what she did before the series started. I guess what saddens me is that Van left without a word (which does seem fitting of him) but left Wendy and we don't really know what he's done in the span of time between his leaving and his surprise reappearance. I do suspect though that he just wandered around looking for freelance work and free food (and all of the condiments). The end though was awesome, Van coming in asking for food and milk and meeting with older Wendy, but it just ends there. I wish it showed more because you don't actually know what's going to happen between them. Do they hook up and get married? Go on another adventure? Does Van just leave without saying anything again?
I do hope they decide to continue this series so that we can see Wendy and Van's relationship develop even further, and maybe see Micheal and Fasalina again. But mostly just to see all of these characters, and new ones, in new situations. I just wish this feeling of emptiness would go away

I just wonder if anyone else feels the way I do after watching this series or if I'm just weird =/

[C.A.]

Originally Posted by Skane

Secondly, I am positively delighted to see the play on clichés in the first few episodes, from the post-apocalyptic episode one (ala Trigun) to the "Sentai" episode three, and HELL, it was a Mexican-themed Sentai-team. How awesome is that? I don't care if it's grossly corny. "Adios, amigo." is an AWESOME thing to say during the finality of an explosion; just like "Explosion." "The End." "Hasta la vista, baby." etc...

El Dora V?

Those who don't know, El Dora V is a direct to the King of Braves:

And that El Dora V clip is from the latest SRW, SRWK on the DS.

Anyway some of Dann of Thursday's awesomeness from the game:

[Ottocycle]

Since when did El Dora V took Hell and Heaven wholesale?

Dann doing V-slash was awesome. And they kept the full BGM even though it was a DS game! Woot!

[C.A.]

Originally Posted by humbug23

Since when did El Dora V took Hell and Heaven wholesale?

In the show, episode 3, because El Dora V lost the left arm, it can only do a one handed "Hell and Heaven", so its just "Hell" lol

El Dora V's "Hell" arm was shown charged with power the same as Gaogaigar's. It crushed the enemy, and then exploded with El Dora V posing exactly how Gaogaigar poses with a Hell and Heaven finish.

SRW, they like to complete fanservices, since El Dora V didn't lose the "Heaven" arm in the game, why not do a complete service?

SRW is awesome lol

[golthin]

Originally Posted by UltimaWolf

I just finished Gun x Sword(About 30 minutes ago, marathoned from ep.18-26 ), and I must say, I thought it was very good.

Spoiler for Ending:

Though I wish the 'ending' could have been a little longer, and I wish Wendy said more to Van after Carmen went to the trouble of dropping her off next to Van, and that Pricilla didn't even get to say goodbye to Van personally.
Though I know after the time-skip Van shows up at where Wendy is, but I still feel kinda sad that they were apart for those years(I don't think it says how long?) Too bad it also didn't show a few seconds of what everyone else was up to during all this time. But I guess I should be lucky they even showed Wendy and Van meeting up again

I also did like the fact that Van actually killed The Claw Man, I kept thinking it might be like Claymore, and Van not kill him, but I was suprised when Van just cut him without a word.

I feel kinda bad too that we don't know if Michael or Fasalina survived the descruction, but I'm hoping they did.

Ah well still a very good show. Is their a manga out of it?

Yeah I wish they have done a montage of what everyone was doing, it only would have taken a minute at the most. That was my only disappointment for this series.

[help]

Originally Posted by golthin

Yeah I wish they have done a montage of what everyone was doing, it only would have taken a minute at the most. That was my only disappointment for this series.

It's annoying when they dont wrap up the loose ends.

_______________
http://www.helprandoms.com

[Kizer]

Originally Posted by C.A.

In the show, episode 3, because El Dora V lost the left arm, it can only do a one handed "Hell and Heaven", so its just "Hell" lol

El Dora V's "Hell" arm was shown charged with power the same as Gaogaigar's. It crushed the enemy, and then exploded with El Dora V posing exactly how Gaogaigar poses with a Hell and Heaven finish.

SRW, they like to complete fanservices, since El Dora V didn't lose the "Heaven" arm in the game, why not do a complete service?

SRW is awesome lol

It's a shame it doesn't keep the move in K when you really do get it.

But yea, the attack is called "Cielo y Infenero". Spanish for "Heaven and Hell".
While it took the form of Gaogaigar, it would be dumb to not mention how all the original units were animals like Golion (Voltron) and how they combine also like Voltron or Combattler V or Voltes V. Not to mention they all are actually 5 robots to make one bigger, stronger one.

[oompa loompa]

Just finished watching gun x sword today, and I thought it was a very good show. On the surface its great, its a fairly over the top mecha series, with colorful well drawn characters. the villains are different, the hero is different, and while the show generally followed a route one would expect, the main antagonist and protagonist, are what made the show a little different. As far as characters go, I liked quite a few of them. I thought Wendy was adorable, Joshua was hilarious, and you grow to like Van as the show goes on. As far as villains go, the Claw Man is one of the few villains I could actually consider 'unhinged'. Fasalina, ( yeah yeah, I know ) was probably my favorite character in the show, up until the last couple of episodes shes just soo badass. no one could touch her. and I found her character extremely sexy (Especially in a swimsuit *drool* ). Michael on the other hand, I was slightly dissapointed with, as I felt a lot could have been done with him. The 'conflict' in him only shows towards the very end of the show, and while it was hinted at, that aspect of him could have been developed better. If theres anything that makes this show suffer, its lack of character development. Dont get me wrong, its there, but I would have liked to see more. Another complaint is that I thought there were few too many characters in the ' group of misfits '. Apart from that there isnt much I can really take away.

Thats on the surface. Underneath the plot and characters, are the themes and motivations, which I thought was done very well. The discussions about how people find meaning in life, and the importance of dreams, (while they may seem silly and exaggerated, I found that close inspection of them yielded positive results) were done very well. My personal two cents shows something rather odd about the show. There is a very strong theme of 'right versus wrong' that goes throughout the show, but is always vaguely done. I point this out, because ( in my opinion) the two characters with the most obscure sense of 'right and wrong' are of course Van and the Claw Man. In the end, what I felt was everyone is just trying to live their lives the way they see best, without it being the black and white of ' I live selflessly or I live selfishly '. In the end, its just the power and sorrow of a man whos had everything taken from him, doing what his ( perhaps slightly warped) heart tells him to do. Van is a very 'human' character that way, and is not simply mad. He suffers a lot throughout the show. I also love the fact that Van's feelings are never just strung out, they have a character ( Ray ) specifically for that.

The ending, was slightly dissapointing, I wouldve liked to see Michael and Fasalina continue living ( well.. just for Fasalina ), as well as what happens to the other characters. Still, a good watch overall - I am thoroughly satisfied

[r2rainier]

Originally Posted by TougeSil80

He's bringing their bodies back to Moonier for burial. I guess that's their home planet. Van's commenting on the journey will take a few hundred years. (I guess they would probably have the technology to do suspended animation where they can just sleep during most of the trip)

Originally Posted by Shiryuu

You sure about the planet thing? I thought they were just talking about Volcain and how long it would take to recover its pieces or something. I don't even think Joshua would know the coordinates to any other planet (other than the moon) if he didn't already knew it before (since he didn't seem to know everything about space travel when they we're trying to get Van up there).

You guys must be so forgetful.....Moonier or Meuniere is the town full of water in episode 10 where we first meet captain Kaiji not some other planet. Vivian and Zanaku are there. Joshua says "I'm going back to Meuniere. Im going to bring Vivan and Zanaku, Volkein (hes going to bring Volkein to Vivian and Zanaku for them to REPAIR it, most likely since they are good with machines as you can see in episode 10) and my brother". Van says that will take 100 years maybe cause of finding the parts and Volkein was such a good mecha built by Shino. And he will bury his brother there.

Also why does everyone keep saying Joshua and Yukiko hooked up?? where is the sign of that? Yukiko just helped cover for Joshua while he looked for the main cable and is going to help in bringing Volkein and Ray to Meuniere and maybe help in repairing.

I do agree with people saying the death of Michael and Fasalina was ambiguous as they can just as easily be alive or dead (i mean if they can do crazy sht like pilot a mecha with a stripper pole they can evade a rock right...)

Originally Posted by Residentbadass

That being said, I have a concern thats not addressed in the show. The Claw Man said he crashed on the moon where a civil war broke out. Now, my question is a.) How the hell did he get to "Planet Endless Illusion", and b.) how did he live so long if he was one of the first to scout the planet. I probably missed something in the anime itself.

a.) The Claw Man and a bunch of people came from Planet Mother to the Moon using the spaceship inside the huge liquid-state material guiding system. He must have used an escape pod after his friends killed each other or maybe he killed them all and went to Planet Endless Illusion.

b.) He is not one of the first people to scout the planet. The anime just says he went there to "escape" from Mother. Endless Illusion was just another planet like Mother so he didnt live THAT long and is not THAT old.

[Forbin]

Originally Posted by r2rainier

a.) The Claw Man and a bunch of people came from Planet Mother to the Moon using the spaceship inside the huge liquid-state material guiding system. He must have used an escape pod after his friends killed each other or maybe he killed them all and went to Planet Endless Illusion.

b.) He is not one of the first people to scout the planet. The anime just says he went there to "escape" from Mother. Endless Illusion was just another planet like Mother so he didnt live THAT long and is not THAT old.

a) I have to watch the ending again , I didn't quite get that idea.

b) Illusion was a prison planet. They don't explain how but the old 'Wardens' had all died and the robots needed new masters. Each master was granted immortality. So it is implied that Claw Man was linked with the big ship behind the moon.

[fukarming]

I am glad someone is discussing Gun X Sword and here is my view of this anime.

Someone said this is an anime about right and wrong and I completely disagree. To me, This anime is about revenge. Even at the end of the series we don't know why the claw man killed Van's girlfriend and what the claw man trying to acheive (is he working for a greater good or for his personal gain?) I believed the director purposely left that out. It is easy for the director to add a couple scene to show the claw man is truly evil if he wants to make it a "right and wrong show" but the director chose not to.

My opinion, is that whether the claw man is good or evil is not important at all. The important point is the claw man killed Van's gf and Van is out for revenge. I don't think Van will give up his revenge even if he knows the claw man is "good" (thus making his gf evil) because to Van, his gf is the most important person in the world.

There are two scenario in Gun X Sword:
The claw man is evil and he fools everyone who works for him (those who works for him looks like genuinely good people). Van's gf find out his evil plan and the claw man kill her.

The claw man is actually good and Van's gf is actually evil. The claw man discover her evil deed and decide to kill her himself. For someone as smart as the claw man he can totally kill get someone else to kill her and do not get his hand dirty. The claw man choose to kill her himself because he has a sense of honor in him.

Both scenarios are deeply flawed as the anime never truly explained what happen. However, it doesn't matter which scenario is closer to the "truth", as Van will execute his revenge none the less.

[Forbin]

However, the Claw Man's ultimate purpose was to brainwash everyone into believing Claw Man was god.

That's pretty evil.

[fukarming]

Originally Posted by Forbin

However, the Claw Man's ultimate purpose was to brainwash everyone into believing Claw Man was god.

That's pretty evil.

Well, no offense to Christians, but isn't Jesus Christ do the same thing?

If the claw man succeed, the claw man will also "die" (as of loss his human body/form) and yet he will "live" in the heart of everyone, and we still don't know the exact mechanics of how the claw man will make people believe he is god (since he failed). I don't think the show said that he uses virus or machines to achieve his objectives (I don't think anyone will support a person if you know he is going to plant some sort of bug in your body)

Jesus Christ sacrificed himself (he had plenty of chances to escape, but he choose to stay and be crucified) and his sacrifice leave a mark to humanity for 2000 years. His blood "washed the sins for all humans". Of course that is not "physical" (Jesus Christ did not do a blood transfusion for everyone) but in a spirtual sense. Can you say for a certainty that the claw man is not doing the same thing?

I use Jesus Chirst in the argument because it is the first thing that comes into my mind but please, do not turn this into a religious argument. I am not a christian so I might be wrong in some of my Jesus Christ argument. However, my view is what a regular person would think of Jesus Christ.

[Forbin]

Well that's because you aren't that you have that view.
the Claw Man does not believe in Free Will. That's the major difference.

EVERYONE will become a worshipper of the claw man. Whether they want to or not.

The example you are using is based on the fact that the Catholics used the Crusades to force people to change by the sword. Well they don't do that anymore (or did it for very long).

That's why it's plain wrong. Free Will is important part of the western world and why it allows many different faiths to exist and 'hopefully' not kill each other off.

Allowing a small group of people to convert everyone else with no other choice is wrong.

[xx MonkeyZ xx]

i really enjoy the series, and and the english dub VA for van was really great..well thats my opinon anyways