2008 Woodie Awards
Anime Review: Gunparade March
Morgan De Sena
Issue date: 4/20/07 Section: Campus Life
The Stevens Anime club's latest showing is of the anime Gunparade March. Gunparade March is a 12 episode action/sci-fi anime that is based off the manga Gunparade March which is based off the Japanese video game of similar title, Koukidou Gensou Gun Parade March.
The anime opens with an alternate history of the world, starting from 1945. A hostile alien race known as the Phantom Beasts, also known as Genjyu in Japanese, has appeared on Earth and is violently terminating the human race. Weaponry of that time, including the atomic bomb, has little to no affect on these monsters. In order to combat these invaders, the forces of Earth have created Humanoid Walking Tanks (HWTs). High school- aged students are recruited to pilot the HWTs, for there are not enough pilots to fight as a result of this long war. They are responsible for destroying the Brain, a Phantom Beast creature that controls and recreates the Phantom Beasts. Unless a Brain is completely destroyed, Phantom Beasts will keep re-spawning. The most efficient way to destroy a Brain is to stick a PBE missile directly into its body. These missiles are extraordinarily powerful, and are capable of destroying an entire town. Interestingly, these missiles must be activated by a small child, who acts as a kind of catalyst for activating the missile. For this reason, these children are required to enter battle with the rest of their platoon. Most of the world has already been overrun by the beasts. Up until the year 1999, Japan has been fortunate enough to not be invaded by the Phantom beasts. However, it seems that their luck has run out, and they must now defend themselves lest they be destroyed.
Gunparade March focuses on the life of the 5121st Platoon. The platoon mostly consists of students who are 16 or 17 years of age and are coordinated by a handful of adults who teach them typical high school subjects as well as train them to fight the Phantom Beasts and defend Japan. Part of this platoon is a little girl, Nonomi Higashihara, who is responsible for activating the PBE missile. Tension is created amongst some of the students when pilot Shibamura Mai is transferred into the platoon. Her serious and anti-social attitude unnerves some of the more shy characters, such as pilot Hayami Atsushi, and her fighting skills both intimidate and challenge the other pilots, such as Mibuya Mio.
Gunparade March is reminiscent of other anime such as Full Metal Panic and Neon Genesis Evangelion. While the story focuses on a commonly used theme teenagers-pilot-giant-mecha-to-fight-aliens-in-order-to-defend-and/or-save-the-world. Gunparade March definitely captures the viewer's imagination with its well-drawn characters, well-animated action sequences, beautiful music, and catchy story. Character development is not forgotten, as it often is in other short anime series. By just a few episodes into the series, it won't be surprising if the viewer finds him or herself in someway attached to a few of the characters. While Gunparade March isn't the first of its kind, it certainly does a good job providing a fun and enjoyable story.
Gunparade March will conclude this Friday, April 20th at 9:00 PM in Buchard 118.
The anime opens with an alternate history of the world, starting from 1945. A hostile alien race known as the Phantom Beasts, also known as Genjyu in Japanese, has appeared on Earth and is violently terminating the human race. Weaponry of that time, including the atomic bomb, has little to no affect on these monsters. In order to combat these invaders, the forces of Earth have created Humanoid Walking Tanks (HWTs). High school- aged students are recruited to pilot the HWTs, for there are not enough pilots to fight as a result of this long war. They are responsible for destroying the Brain, a Phantom Beast creature that controls and recreates the Phantom Beasts. Unless a Brain is completely destroyed, Phantom Beasts will keep re-spawning. The most efficient way to destroy a Brain is to stick a PBE missile directly into its body. These missiles are extraordinarily powerful, and are capable of destroying an entire town. Interestingly, these missiles must be activated by a small child, who acts as a kind of catalyst for activating the missile. For this reason, these children are required to enter battle with the rest of their platoon. Most of the world has already been overrun by the beasts. Up until the year 1999, Japan has been fortunate enough to not be invaded by the Phantom beasts. However, it seems that their luck has run out, and they must now defend themselves lest they be destroyed.
Gunparade March focuses on the life of the 5121st Platoon. The platoon mostly consists of students who are 16 or 17 years of age and are coordinated by a handful of adults who teach them typical high school subjects as well as train them to fight the Phantom Beasts and defend Japan. Part of this platoon is a little girl, Nonomi Higashihara, who is responsible for activating the PBE missile. Tension is created amongst some of the students when pilot Shibamura Mai is transferred into the platoon. Her serious and anti-social attitude unnerves some of the more shy characters, such as pilot Hayami Atsushi, and her fighting skills both intimidate and challenge the other pilots, such as Mibuya Mio.
Gunparade March is reminiscent of other anime such as Full Metal Panic and Neon Genesis Evangelion. While the story focuses on a commonly used theme teenagers-pilot-giant-mecha-to-fight-aliens-in-order-to-defend-and/or-save-the-world. Gunparade March definitely captures the viewer's imagination with its well-drawn characters, well-animated action sequences, beautiful music, and catchy story. Character development is not forgotten, as it often is in other short anime series. By just a few episodes into the series, it won't be surprising if the viewer finds him or herself in someway attached to a few of the characters. While Gunparade March isn't the first of its kind, it certainly does a good job providing a fun and enjoyable story.
Gunparade March will conclude this Friday, April 20th at 9:00 PM in Buchard 118.
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