Movie: Gad Guard: The Complete Series is a futuristic story about a 16 year old boy named Hajiki Sanada. Hajiki lives in the bad part of town where poverty is a fact of life and most people seem to make ends meet by doing whatever needs to be done without asking too many questions. Unlike many of his peers, Hajiki is a hardworking lad who helps his family make ends meet as part of a delivery service working for a jaded old man named Hachisuka; a man with quite a past that learned to get by using his brains to stay out of trouble. Okay, stories about hard working slobs generally don't sell too well unless there is something more to them and thankfully, that is the case here. On one of his delivery jobs, Hajiki is entrusted with a small metallic box known as a Gad. Given that the Earth's resources are pretty much played out and the poor don't have access to much education, Hajiki is unaware of what the device represents until it is being stolen by a small gang of thugs known as the Jack Gang.

Well, as he tries to keep them from stealing it, he touches it just right and all sorts of mysterious things happen. The box emits a light and starts to reconfigure itself, changing into a giant robot known as a Techode (the devices are also referred to by their common name of Heavy Metal's) that Hajiki uses to fight off the gang. This brings him into an encounter with a dark, dangerous man known as Katana, a mercenary who seems far older then his 18 years. Katana also has a Techode, called Zero, and he has been hired to take the Gad now known as Lightning from Hajiki. In the battle between them, it becomes clear that both wield incredibly powerful robots, much to Katana's surprise since he has been one of the top operators for some time now. The gang and Katana are eventually driven off and Hajiki runs into others with similar robots, knowing precious little about their capabilities or value (though his boss tries to settle up a debt by selling Lightning to a client).

As the episodes progress, Hajiki meets a hero wannabe named Takumi Kisaragi and his Techode named Thunder as the two hunt down a jewel thief, a cute gal named Aiko and her robot Messerschmitt, a classmate that knows his secret named Arashi, and a women that will stop at nothing to take Lightning away from him called Catherine. Getting a crash course in Gads from all his new acquaintances, it is apparent that the general thought is that the Gads grants all your wishes but the reality is that Hajiki's life has never been more complicated. The show puts the lad in various circumstances that test his resolve as he tries to make use of his new gift in a way that keeps him honest but the temptations of his new powers and his desire to do the right thing sets morally ambiguous at times as the circumstances swirl around him.

The season set ended on a weird note as Hajiki's past and the secret of the Gads converge with the boy searching out his destiny, resulting in a surprise visit from his missing father that was thought to be long gone as part of a space program. I don't want to spoil the show for you unnecessarily so consider that there was a lot more depth and detail here but the show is largely geared towards younger children rather then adults such as myself (something John alluded to in his previous reviews) and the anime style looked almost unfinished but what some will like and others will hate is the structure of the series in general. There were a lot of stand alone episodes that focused on the individual characters and their techodes. Some of these worked far better then others and there were times when I got the impression that some of them were filler episodes designed to confuse the heck out of my as they looked like they were steering the story one way and then totally blew off the bigger picture elements.

Thus, while those of you looking to see a few new twists on the giant robot theme may be slightly disappointed at times, others may appreciate the non linear manner in the use of flashbacks. So for the younger crowd, the show will likely be more fun (but there were some fine moments to like for the rest of us too). Considering the nature of the show, the value priced box set will probably be a better buy for those of you into the genre though I'd suggest you Rent It first or at least check out a volume first to make sure you appreciate the style that original production company Gonzo used for it. Here's a look at the episodes in the order they appear in the seven disc set:

1) Looking Up At the Same Sky
2) Putting the Pieces Together
3) On A Street Corner In Night Town
4) With Bright Eyes
5) And Then The Rain Will Fall
6) The Five Masks
7) If I Could Fly
8) Wandering Pair
9) Snow Melts the Heart
10) Bundles of Bills in the Setting Sun
11) No Returning to Rainbow Town
12) Blue Bird
13) Dwellers of the Dark
14) Seeking Lost Time
15) A Garden in the Sun
16) The Day We Bare Our Fangs
17) Gun Sword Beast
18) The Logic of Those Who Leave
19) A Road Companion
20) The End of This World
21) Blue Slumber
22) Spiral Dance of Glass
23) The Atoning Man
24) The Will to Strive for the Heaven
25) Time Towards the Sky
26) Young Traveller

Picture: Gad Guard: The Complete Series was presented in the same 1.33:1 ratio full frame color it was shot in for Japanese television by director Hiroshi Nishikiori and Gonzo several years back. The animation style was simplistic and relatively clean with few problems noticed when I held my double anime weekend recently (watching the series in two parts along with another boxed set title). When I had the opportunity to watch it on a high end, up converting player on an HD television, it looked really solid; nearly enough to get me to buy a set up like that myself. Most issues I found were the result of my regular equipment so your own mileage may vary but it was nice looking, if showing less detail and budget than some of Gonzo's bigger budget titles.

Sound: The audio was presented with a choice of 2.0 Dolby Digital in the original Japanese as presented in Japan or the dubbed English track, both with optional English language subtitles listed on the back cover. I'm not a language snob so I alternated between the tracks, finding the dynamic range and bass to be better on the dub, especially during the fighting scenes that dominated the series, but the music appeared to be the same in each and the vocals were a toss up. The Japanese track sounded more fluid but I can't deny that the dub showed a good amount of care and talent too. The subtitles were easy to read and seemed to be similar to the dub though not exactly the same.

Extras: Most of the recent boxed sets have dispensed with extras in order to provide some awesome value so I wasn't expecting much. What I found was the extras and discs themselves were the same as the original releases, complete with the occasional Easter Eggs, all having paper inserts, and the volumes sporting some art work, trailers, and double sided covers all continued in the seven disc set. There were not a lot of extras but at least they were the same as the previous versions.

Final Thoughts: Gad Guard: The Complete Series was an okay boy with giant robot bent on saving the universe story designed for younger teens (maybe preteens too). I really think that this intended audience would appreciate it more than I did but the heavy borrowing from the genre in general, the simplistic animation style, and the relative lack of extras made it a bit less attractive to me but as a gift for a child, it might be a decent purchase. In general, Gad Guard: The Complete Series was cute and had a lot of fighting that didn't rely too heavily on the tried and true antics that many other shows focus on but it had some rough edges nonetheless. Check it out.

If you enjoy anime, take a look at some of the recommendations by DVD Talk's twisted cast of reviewers in their Best Of Anime 2003, Best Of Anime 2004, and Best of Anime 2005 articles or their regular column Anime Talk.