Ranked #1370

Gaiking

The remake of the classic Gaiking generally stays true to the general aesthetic of classic Super Robot shows of the 70's. But there are subtle changes. The evil villains are not always so evil, and the heroes are never invincible; a simple final move away from winning the match. Like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann after it, Gaiking successfully homages and parodies the super robot shows of the past, while creating its own unique flavor to make in the end, an incredibly satisfying watching experience.

The music is evocative; an outstanding vocal theme kicking in as the heroes turn the situation in their favor, and the voice actress of lead character Daiya is emotional, intense, and enthralling; as is the voice work of almost everyone else in the show. The artwork is a mixed back - while the character artwork sometimes goes between the outstanding and the generic anime look, the mechanical artwork for Gaiking and the rest of the mecha on screen is nine out of ten times absolutely gorgeous and action packed.

This show is a modern super robot classic, and any fan of the genre shouldn't miss it. read more

In a lot of ways, Gaiking feels like Eureka Seven. Boy meets girl, big mecha, boy boards a big ship, girl has mysterious power, etc., except to compare Gaiking to E7 is simply an insult to the latter one. But let's do some comparisons anyways:

Theme
E7: communication leads to understanding, understanding leads to trust.
Gaiking: kill monsters

Plot
E7: finding out the mysteries surrounding the Corallians
Gaiking: kill monsters

Characters
Eureka VS Lulu: Eureka was inspired by Rei from EVA but with genuine character development and actual feelings, the two things make her such a great character (she also has some steels in her!). Lulu likes Daiya, that's it.

Renton VS Daiya: Renton is the most realistic shounen character I've seen. Not only does he receive such a huge amount of development throughout the show, but a lot of things he does, even though making 100% sense, are not entirely right or entirely wrong. Daiya is a good person too. He likes to help out people, he likes to fight off monsters, he works hard, but in terms of a character, he lacks depth.

Mecha Design
Sleek post-EVA-ish mecha VS what looks like when someone took a dump

Animation
Not even a fair comparison between the two.

My final comment is that Gaiking is not worth investing your time in. read more