Gun x Sword

Gun X Sword... There isn't much about this show that hasn't been done before, but then again you can say that to almost every anime made. So what if the plot is rehashed from many other anime. Anime is just like test driving a new car, "It looks real nice, but how does it drive?" As a matter of fact, it drives REALLY nice.

Story (Mediocre)
As i said before this plot has been done at least a good dozen times (in anime AND movies). Hard boiled desperado out to seek revenge for what was lost. Along the way he makes friends and enemies. But happens ... to hit a few speed bumps along the way. Doesn't sound like much of a story but in all honesty, it was a fun trip the whole way through, from beginning to end. A good way they managed to keep it fresh throughout was that they managed to parody some classic action scenes straight from Hollywood. The ones that stand out the most are Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, and even ROBOT JOX (you might have to IMDb that one). It really made some scenes pretty interesting, especially when you realize how close they actually imitated some scenes from their action movie counterparts.

Art (Good)
The art and animation wasn't too spectacular. But as in any mecha anime, you will see all the detail get put in the mechas and the action scenes. They all run so smoothly and blazingly fast. Of course theres the usual cheap action animation but for the most part you'll see the fighters move with accurate fluidity. The character art is very average though, compared to the mechas. Although the art is very average, the settings are varied and vast to say the least. Everything from a barren wasteland, to a lush jungle, to a bustling industrial city are all present here. At first you would think this is a western style anime through and through, but you'll soon realize that is not the case.

Sound (Very Good)
Sound is one thing that is very hard to mess up on and the more sound added to a show the better imo. This show has it in spades. From the environmental sounds, to the flora/fauna/crowds, music and even the voice actors are all there. A wasteland sounds like a wasteland, a large train station sounds like a large train station every environment sounds exactly as it should. The music also sounds like it should, with the exception of the opening theme song. I laughed every time i heard the big band song come on when there was comedy scene. Nothing sounds over used and you'll even hear a few classic movie sounds if you can spot them fast enough.

Characters (Fair)
Now there are a few unique characters in there but for the most part the main/supporting characters are direct ripoffs from other anime either in appearance or personality. Take that as you may but I found it to be a good decision considering how fun this show is to watch. Of course there are a few annoying characters. But overall its a very good cast of characters.

Well once you overcome how insanely plain the plot is and just watch it for what its worth, you'll most likely have a fun viewing experience. Its an audio visual treat!

In a nutshell this anime doesn't stand the test of time. If I watched this 10 years back I might have given it a better rating. 10 years down the road, it feels dated and unoriginal. The pacing isn't good. Although each episode strings the story together and moves the plot ahead, it feels slow and draggy. The characters aren't that likeable and doesn't grow on you either. The mood and setting somewhat similar to Trigun or Cowboy Bebop but unfortunately the enjoyment isn't up to par.

This anime really surprised me. I found it via Netflix. Van, the main character is seeking revenge on the guy (known as the Claw) who murdered his fiancee on their wedding day. Along his journey, he meets many others who are travelling with him for their own purpose. Wendy, the "heroine" of the story had her brother "kidnapped" by the Claw.

The first half of this anime appeared to be episodic. However, I loved how this anime tied each episode together. From the different names that were added to Van, to the way this anime referred back to previous episode. ... The amount of detail this anime had really surprised me.

What made me really enjoy this anime, wasn't the overall story. It was the supporting cast. In face, I really didn't even like Van. His character was rather dull for me. I enjoyed almost all of the supporting cast. They made me give this anime the score that I did. Without them, I would have rated this anime a much lower score.

If you want to truly enjoy this anime, try to get past the first few episodes. As Van starts attracting the rest of the cast, you'll find that this anime starts getting better and better. I even enjoyed the cast of the enemies.

Overall, I give this anime a 9. I wish the ending were a little bit better but I still highly recommend this anime.

I have to be honest here: I kinda expected Gun X Sword to be a little different than what it really was. I thought it was going to be a purely-western anime, and that the main character, who is dressed like the typical main character in a western movie, would wield a weapon that functions as both a gun and a sword (this show is called "Gun X Sword", after all). Well, I got the 'dressed like the typical main character in a western movie' part right, but that's about it.

The story is nothing new. The main character's wife was killed, and now he's searching ... for the bastard responsible, while making some friends and helping others along the way. It's been done before, but that doesn't mean it's bad. In fact, it's actually done really well here. The series takes place on a different planet known as the Endless Illusion, unlike many other series that take place on Earth, though Earth does get mentioned once.

The animation is crisp, clear, and absolutely superb. Every character is well-detailed and very rarely look like one another. The backgrounds and scenery look gorgeous. If you have an HD-capable TV and Netflix, I encourage you to watch Gun X Sword in HD. Seriously, it looks freaking beautiful.

As for the music, the opening theme is amazing. It fits the series well, gets you excited for the current episode, and if your watching Gun X Sword for the first time, it helps the opening itself do what any opening should do: grab your attention and keep you interested. The music varies from adrenaline-rushing, exciting, and fast-paced to calming, peaceful, and emotional. My favorite has to be Paradiso by Hitomi, which has to be the most beautifully sung song I've ever heard in my entire life. I've watched the Funimation english dub, and I must say that the voice acting is also superb. Every voice actor injects voice into their respective character with each line they speak, almost as if they are the characters themselves.

The characters, with the exception of maybe one or two, are all kick-ass and likable. Van, voiced by David Vincent, is a tall, lanky, wandering swordsman who searches endlessly for the man with a claw for a right hand that killed his wife on his wedding day. He's normally calm and tranquil, though any mention of the man with a claw for a right hand will drive him into a fiery rage. Van tries to remain uninvolved in other people's situations, and usually only helps them out of public sight. He wields a shape-memory-alloy sword that he can straighten with an electric jolt and use as a weapon or loosen and use as a grappling whip. Whenever he eats, he always asks for all the spices and condiments available, smothers his food in uncomfortable amounts of them, and upon taking a bite, shouts a phrase like "DAMN, THAT'S SPICY!" or "GOD, THAT'S GOOD!". Van also pilots a giant robot known as Dann of Thursday, which is kept in a giant satellite in outer space when not in use.

Wendy, voiced by Stephanie Sheh, is a teenager who is looking for her older brother, who she believes was kidnapped by the same man who murdered Van's wife. She keeps a pet turtle named Kameo given to her by her brother. She joins Van after he saves her hometown of Evergreen. Unlike Van, she's willing to help others in need, rather than leave them to themselves. She carries her brother's gun with her, which only contains one bullet. She's also irritated when people put her aside due to her coming of age.

Overall, this anime is probably one of the best I've ever seen. If you like giant robots, westerns, and tragic revenge stories, then this is the anime for you. It's available on Netflix for streaming, so if you've got Netflix, check it out.

*******
He appears to be on top of the world. Surrounded by a legion of followers that fervently scream his name and a trio of women that lovingly caress his shoulders, this man seems to be the center of attention, and he’s not only aware of this but he enjoys it as well. This man is Lucky Roulette, the ringleader of a gang known as the “Wild Bunch”. They’re a nasty assortment of thugs, mugging, murdering and inflaming anyone or anything that obstructs their path to riches and renown. The “Wild Bunch” migrate from one town to the next, mercilessly pillaging the inhabitants’ resources before moving ... to the next locale. Their acts of destruction are all overseen by Lucky, who views each undertaking as an opportunity to assess how much luck he possesses.

“It’s the one thing in God’s domain. No training to it. No honing of one’s skills. Nothing. That’s why I want to test it. I want to find out just what God thinks of me,” - Lucky

To that end, he endeavors into each heist without abandon, which simultaneously endangers his life and pushes the boundaries of his good fortune. Cackling maniacally, twirling his pair of revolvers, Lucky obliterates everything in his line of sight and, through pure luck, he finishes with nary a scratch on him. Because of this, Lucky feels as though he’s not only fortunate but exceptional as well. He believes that no matter what activity he partakes in, he’s guaranteed to succeed because of his luck. However, it is when Lucky begins terrorizing the small town of Evergreen and encounters a hopeless drifter named Vahn that everything changes for him.

When Lucky learns that Vahn injured a few of his members during one of their raids, he coerces Vahn into playing a simple card game with him as a method of uncovering how talented Vahn is. In the middle of this game, he promises Vahn that no harm will come to him if he wins. Lucky also claims through a lengthy monologue that attacking Vahn would contradict his personal code of honor, stating that he only engages in fair fights. However, when Lucky loses the card game, he reneges on the promise he made. Valuing his good fortune above all else, Lucky believes that, during the card game, Vahn deprived him of what he cherishes most. As a result, he ambushes Vahn in a dark alley and drenches him with steaming hot lead, which not only triggers his ultimate downfall but also tarnishes the moral principles he claimed to protect.

Lucky Roulette’s characterization is a blatant argument against the concept of an honorable criminal. He discourses at great length on righteousness, claiming to support his moral code, but when circumstances demand he prove where his loyalties lie, he abandons his beliefs. Stripped of his noble platitudes, Lucky is your typical bandit, just as petty, self-absorbed and shortsighted as his peers (if not more so). Lucky’s proclamations of honor only serve to emphasize the extents his hypocrisy reach, which makes him all the more fascinating to watch during his brief appearance in Gun x Sword.

In the context of this show and what it aims to accomplish, Lucky Roulette is but a one-off villain, defeated in its very first episode, never seen (nor referred to) again; he is a pawn, unwittingly participating in a scheme far bigger than he could ever fathom. Lucky’s role is minor, yes, but it does carry some level of significance. With each episode, Gun x Sword would burrow further and further into the concept of an honorable criminal, exploring the nuances of this idea through various individuals (each with their own unique moral code), before ultimately confronting it via its main antagonist (who is arguably the most complex “honorable criminal” of them all). However, this thematic exploration all begins with Lucky and his card games. Honestly, the fact that Gun x Sword created such an insignificant character and used him to establish the groundwork for one of its most essential concepts speaks volumes about the level of writing we’re dealing with here.

*******

It’s difficult not to marvel at the scope of this show’s vision. Gun x Sword (GxS) is ambitious, an anime aiming to integrate a myriad of themes and concepts into a narrative that seamlessly transitions from episodic, small-scale events to a far larger plotline (what GxS accomplishes with the idea of an honorable criminal is but one of many feats its storytelling achieves). During this transition, it ceaselessly diversifies the intent of its individual vignettes, each episode (unique in its own right) serving as an experiment for GxS’s overall purpose. While one episode is a Pulp Fiction parody, another is a high-stakes mecha tournament. This is an anime that can dedicate one episode to elaborating on the dangers of childhood nostalgia and an entirely different episode to waxing poetic on bathing suits. It is this wondrously creative writing that highlights the adventures of Gun x Sword’s protagonists Wendy and Vahn.

Established on the Earth-like planet known as the “Endless Illusion”, GxS is an anime that’s partially defined by its scenic backgrounds, by its gorgeous fight scenes, and by its devastating plot twists but what guides all of this forward are the motives of this show’s central characters. Wendy is an insecure yet assertive young girl, an individual whose arc is focused on retrieving her older brother Michael from the clutches of The Claw (GxS’s main antagonist), alongside surviving and maturing in a world that doesn’t favor her small stature. Vahn is the stereotypical anti-hero, a poor man’s Spike Spiegel that’s pursuing The Claw because he murdered his wife at their wedding three years before this show takes place (as a memento, Vahn still wears the tuxedo from that day).

Together, Wendy, Vahn and their motives are the foundation for Gun x Sword, and all that it aspires to do. They are also the nucleus of an anime that prioritizes its ambitions far too often for its own good.

With its wings stretched behind it and its chest puffed out in front of it, Gun x Sword is Icarus, grasping the heavens above but ignoring virtually everything outside of its line of sight. This show propels its narrative (and the multitude of ideas embedded within it) into increasingly innovative directions but, in the process, it mishandles and (at times) neglects more than a few impactful plot elements. Focused on the bigger picture, Gun x Sword doesn’t apply the same attention to the smaller pieces of the puzzle.

This show is one that attempts juggling several concepts at once but, though this pursuit is admirable, it doesn’t always succeed. While it’s understandable that GxS struggles under this workload, the degree to which this show fumbles with some of its ideas is, at times, baffling. For starters, there is a certain subplot involving a watchdog and its two puppies that exudes the stench of a halfhearted effort. Gun x Sword tries positioning these characters as devices for an overarching message on the human condition but it doesn’t dedicate enough time to properly develop this idea and the result is naturally less than ideal. Then, there are the unsettling implications contained within the dynamic between Wendy (who is in her early teens) and Vahn (who is in his mid-twenties) that Gun x Sword never bothers exploring.

I don’t expect this show to present a detailed opinion on underaged relationships but, if you’re going to portray your protagonists with a considerable age difference as a couple (and, dear God, is GxS guilty of this), then a comment or two on how you feel about this topic shouldn’t be too much to ask for. Naturally, there are other concepts that GxS fails to flesh out in one way or another (of particular interest is episode 14’s tragically underdeveloped viewpoint of mass-produced machines) but, in the grand scheme of things, they (and the deficiencies I mentioned earlier) are inessential. When examined individually, that might not appear to be the case. However, in the context of all that Gun x Sword represents and accomplishes, their importance is downsized considerably. What this show forfeits on a conceptual level by botching several of the themes it tackles, it more than compensates by emphasizing its force of personality.

Gun x Sword has quite the theatrical flair. This show doesn’t merely advance its plot lines to thrilling peaks; it revels in those dramatic highs. GxS throws itself wholeheartedly into exploiting each and every twist and turn its story takes for maximum effect. The result is a show whose overdramatic approach is simply irresistible to watch. And for something like this, it requires a soundtrack that’s worthy of its efforts. GxS needs a soundtrack that’s just as gloriously over-the-top as it is, a soundtrack that not only complements the tone of this series but elevates its theatrics to new heights.

Luckily, Kotaro Nakagawa, famed composer of the soundtracks for Code Geass and Planetes (among others), is here to make this possible.

It’s his experience with creating uniquely cinematic scores that allows GxS’s music to flourish. Primarily reliant on a combination of orchestral and jazz, this show’s score is highlighted by the intensity of its sound. Nakagawa’s saxophone riffs awaken with the fervor of a firework display while his violin solos roar with a Hans Zimmer-esque self-importance but GxS’s score really shines in his efforts with Hitomi Kuroishi. A frequent collaborator on Nakagawa’s projects (and a musician I’ve long admired), Kuroishi provides her harp, her drums and (of course) her angelic voice to this show’s soundtrack with her songs “Paradiso” and “La Speranza”.

As awe-inspiring as the songs created by Nakagawa and Kuroishi are, it is Gun x Sword’s opening theme that’s truly the pinnacle of its musical brilliance. Backed by a symphony of trumpets and drums, it is a series of climaxes, energetically transitioning from one to the next. It is also a marriage between flute solos and background vocals. Last but not least, it is an opportunity for Gun x Sword’s supporting cast to be properly introduced.

In the opening theme, they are nothing more than silhouettes. However, in the viewpoint of first impressions, they seem to be nothing more than plot devices; they appear to be mouthpieces masquerading as characters (and not very talented mouthpieces, at that). Every message GxS conveys through its supporting cast makes for an unappetizing watch. Shallow at its best and heavy-handed at its worst, this show’s social commentary is one that not only offers nothing new to the issues it discusses but it also pushes to the forefront a rather limited perspective. When its characters state their opinions on topics like ageism, classism, and sexism, their efforts betray a lack of knowledge on the subject matter.

As more exposure is provided to the supporting cast, these individuals are allowed opportunities to deviate from their mouthpiece roles and to distinguish themselves. While this show falters in communicating social themes through its supporting cast, it shines in developing their personalities. With the benefit of a different approach in place, it’s apparent that these characters are more than tools for GxS to employ however it desires; they are people striving to preserve their beliefs and fulfill their ambitions. Enhanced by these intensely personal characteristics, the supporting cast is rendered human, which ultimately makes investing in their individual journeys far easier. Not only does this cause the supporting cast to be all the more enjoyable but it also adds a layer of nuance to this show’s overall theme of revenge.

A hero falls victim to devastating circumstances, resulting in the deprivation of everything he/she ever cherished. However, instead of succumbing to sorrow, the hero uses their most vulnerable moment as the driving force to settle the score with the cause of their despair. Revenge is a concept that’s both exceptionally alluring... and exceptionally narrow.

In comparison to ideas such as love, power, and prosperity (which are broad and abstract concepts that can be defined however you wish), revenge is specific and concrete, which severely limits the extent to which you can explore it. To its credit, Gun x Sword provides a valiant effort. Through Ray Lundgren and Vahn, this show not only dissects the idea of revenge but how it consumes individuals, alongside those around them and (in the end) it questions the benefit that results from revenge. However, where GxS ultimately falters isn’t in its thematic exploration but in the conclusion it reaches after its analysis.

(A useful aside: It’s impossible to overstate how important revenge is to Gun x Sword as a whole. It isn’t merely among the many themes this show builds upon. Revenge is THE theme of GxS, the concept that everything else revolves around. Vahn’s pursuit of revenge allows him to encounter Lucky Roulette (and Wendy) in the town of Evergreen, which causes this series to move forward. Without the idea of revenge, none of what GxS accomplishes (and wants to accomplish) would be possible)

Revenge for its own sake is not unique, nor is it entertaining. There must be a deeper meaning to the motive if you really want people to be invested in your character. For Ray, a man whose wife was murdered because she remained loyal to her principles, revenge is only part of what he desires. In pursuing his wife’s killer, Ray wants to uncover whether or not the choice she made was correct. For Vahn, however, it’s different. You see, after all of the time Gun x Sword devotes to questioning the purpose behind Vahn’s pursuit, the answer it reaches is the equivalent of a shoulder shrug.

By not providing any depth for Vahn’s motive, this show’s development of the idea of revenge is a half-finished effort. If this flawed thematic exploration were an isolated incident, it would be quite difficult (but not impossible) to properly appreciate everything else GxS has to offer. However, factoring in the other underdeveloped concepts that are scattered throughout this show, the various pieces of the puzzle that (by themselves) seem insignificant, results in something too devastating to overlook. Gun x Sword leans far more towards style than it does substance; this is an anime that amazes with the outlandish ideas it raises but underwhelms with how little it’s willing to develop them. It promotes itself as something of a thinking man’s shonen/mecha but its efforts in justifying this title are inconsistent, to say the least.

I admire Gun x Sword. No; it would be more accurate to say that I admire what Gun x Sword could’ve been. With its joyously overdramatic approach, its experimental narrative, and the overwhelming ambitions it aimed to fulfill, who can’t appreciate the heights this show wanted to reach? When it involves potential, few can compare to GxS. However, when it involves realizing and maximizing that same potential, this show ultimately falls short.

It's been a while since I've seen GunxSword so bear with me. Let me preface this review by saying GunxSword is one of my top five favorite anime of all time, but at the same time the entire anime is somewhat cookie cutter. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure why this anime is one of my favorites because usually I detest mechs.

Anyway, the story I gave a 7.
It's really not very unique; badass seeks revenge on man who harmed his woman, and picks up various companions along the way. It's a bit of a rehash of Cowboy Bebop.

The art I gave an 8.
Fairly well ... done, nothing spectacular and the mechs and fight scenes were fine.

I gave the sound an 8.
I wasn't too fond of the opening as I don't think it really fit the style of the anime, I enjoyed the ending though. The other music was good, nothing mind-blowing; it was adequate.

Characters were a 7.
Some of the characters in and of themselves were a bit cookie cutter (especially the two main ones, yikes!), but all the side characters were interesting and were fleshed out very well.

Enjoyment and overall was a 10.
I loved the ending! To me it was the best ending that could have been done for this show. It was a lovely ending but still left a bit of mystery/hunger for more, which is the perfect combination.
Now here's where I personally get a bit confused with myself. Looking at this show objectively, there's nothing particularly spectacular about it, it was well done but it didn't try to break any boundaries or take any leaps. And yet for some reason I loved it! Maybe it was normal enough not to alienate anyone (or me) but interesting enough to grab and hold the viewer's (my) attention, I don't know. But either way, I definitely enjoyed GunxSword and would watch it again.

Gun x Sword is an anime that is rather different from many of its contemporaries, although it has two obvious comparison points: Trigun and Cowboy Bebop, although I feel the Trigun comparison is somewhat misguided, mostly in that their similiairites are something many anime of its style have anyway, like colorful one shots.

Getting into the show itself, the main character is the tall, dark and lanky Van, who travels the world with a single purpose in mind: To kill the mysterious clawed man who took his wife, Elena, from him on his wedding day. Van isn't exactly your average protagonist, as he is quite apathetic, ... snarky and not the most sane, with him perfectly willing to let the starter village from the first episode burn since it doesn't concern him at the start. Most of his heroics come from other characters baiting him, being on the job for money or the fact that he DOES have a code of ethics which he adheres to to an extent: Slipping out of that, of course, is when he's at his worst. Van is also rather interesting in that the show doesn't take a generic "vengeance is bad" route and shows it in a far more fascinating manner, and Van's contrast between his normal self and when anything regarding The Claw is near are a highlight of the show.

He is primarily joined by Wendy, the gun to Van's sword, a girl from said village who travels with Van in pursuit of her brother, who has been kidnapped by the very same clawed man. Compared to Van, she is much more optimistic and enthusiastic, but she isn't an overeager kid archetype either and is still rather serious. The two are joined by various characters throughout their journey, but going too far into it would be somewhat spoilers, and many of them do not stay for as long until closer to the end, but they end up for the most part good.

The Claw, naturally, is the main villain of the piece and he is a pretty amazing piece of work: In some ways, he feels like a bit of a deconstruction or different look at the idea of a "sympathetic" antagonist, as many of his actions + his personality are somewhat incongruous and his personality is so far removed from the reality of the situation that he comes across as far more insane than most "crazy" villains you will see in media. It also makes him rather hilarious in many ways and the reveal of who he is has to be seen to be believed. He ends up with a fun and crazy cast of minions and underlings as well, but I will say one of the minor issues with this is that his minions don't all get the development they could use, although the ones that do are pretty great, but there is clear missed potential there.

Although the story starts off with a good deal of one shots, most of them are actually quite good, and the show actually goes on to make almost all of them relevant in some manner, some small and some large, leaving the show with shockingly little filler to its name, and the one shots are almost all enjoyable anyway, many of which with some pretty out there concepts. The show especially picks up after Episode 5, which introduces the rival character Ray Lundgren, who is...a rather hilarious rival archetype really, as his primary rivalry with Van is who will get the last hit on The Claw, as Ray ALSO desires vengeance on The Claw.

Artistically, the show reminds me of old school anime in a lot of respects, and it does have some really good shots at points, but the art can sometimes get a bit underdetailed and I feel like the mecha fights while usually good aren't always the best or most well done. The art is at its best when doing stuff like Van's expressions or the cockpits of the mecha. Musically, though, it is a lot better, with the opening being pretty epic and the ending especially being memorable. The music that plays when Van summons his mecha, Dann, is very nice and it has a smooth and noticeable take throughout.

Overall, Gun x Sword is a pretty good anime with some fascinating takes on the concept of vengeance, especially refreshing in that we don't get a generic "vengeance is bad" aesop, a pretty great hero and villain, plenty of good comedy with a good deal of nice action and a solid if sometimes issued story, and a lot of memorable characters. If you're not convinced yet, I'll leave you all with just three words: Mexican Power Rangers.

Again i find an anime that i don't like and noone made a review that gives it a similar rating or properly tells its faults. This is practically a review of the first 2 eps because i don't like this show enough to watch it. Making people watch a whole anime they don't enjoy before reviewing will cause all reviews to be 7+. My real actual average is 5.

Villains are clowns. Combat is well animated and pretty but its just watching the main guy win. Its way over the top. No chance he will lose. That is boring.

Characters and comedy either nice or ... been done before boring. The comedy though is rare. Watching Wendy get her cooking skills by watching vash the tuxedo pour salad dressing ketchup mustard and every other condiment on meat is funny. But that is practically it.

Good voice acting and music.

In the end this show is primarily made up of action that is for fans of black butler, over the top villains villaining and mild character interaction and comedy.

Gun x Sword is an exercise in futility. I had high expectations for this series. When I learned that the plot centered around the protagonist attempting to avenge his dead wife, I was intrigued. Unfortunately, with each passing episode I felt more and more dread that this series would not live up to my initial expectations. I still had a faint sense of hope that the series would prove me wrong in the second half. My prayers were left unanswered and I am left with a 26 episode waste of time. It is soulless and formulaic in every way. It has no depth. It throws ... everything possible at the viewer in a vain hope that something will stick. The simplest way to describe it is that on the surface, it is a Trigun ripoff with elements of Cowboy Bebop mixed in and none of their depth. Once you start watching this trainwreck you will see it lacks the quality and deep writing of its predecessors. This is a style-over-substance series, and in that sense you can say it was a pioneer for what would become of the anime industry. For those of you that appreciate a deep, well-written story with developed characters and thought-provoking situations, steer well clear of Gun x Sword.

The story takes place on an Earth-like prison planet. Somehow, this prison planet was able to develop into a modern civilization with advanced technology, including mechas called Armor which are piloted by the characters in order to fight each other. The setting tends to vary, but for the most part it is similar to Trigun's futuristic wild west. Our protagonist is a tuxedo-wearing cowboy named Van. He is out to avenge the murder of his wife at the hands of someone named The Claw. He pilots an Armor called "Dann of Thursday" that is stored in a floating charging station in space. When Van turns his hat sideways, Dann shoots down from space to someplace near Van's current position. Along the way, we are introduced to a multitude of pointless characters with their own motivations for tagging along with Van. These characters are never developed any further than when we were first introduced to them. The first tagalong, Wendy, is a child who is searching for her brother who joined up with The Claw. Wendy is a defenseless, useless character who is completely out of place in this supposed story about vengeance. She exists to give the story the illusion of having layers and depth, but in reality her character is a hinderance to the core story because her own story does not align with Van's in a manner that develops either of their characters. Her search for her brother is a subplot that runs astray of the main goal. This is a repeat pattern you will notice all throughout this series and it is clear the studio thought throwing new character after new character at the viewer would be a substitute for having to develop the characters that have already been introduced.

The further into the series you get, the more pointless characters seem to fill up the runtime of each episode. A Faye Valentine ripoff, complete with unfinished business from her childhood, named "Carmen99" shows up and tags along with Van for some reason. Now, my first thought upon hearing this was that Carmen99 is an internet username that this character uses to find jobs or something similar. It doesn't sound like a normal name for a character in this series, since every other character has average sounding names like Wendy. I do not remember if it is ever explained why she has this name. However, I later found out that she is called Carmen99 because that is her bust measurement. I am sure the studio thought that was very clever, original, and well-thought-out. Let this set the precedent for things to come.

The two other major supporting characters that are introduced are a Vicious ripoff named Ray, another man whose wife was murdered by The Claw, and his little brother Joshua, who is searching for him. Ray and Van are often at each other's throats as they both want to be the one to kill The Claw but no development of this rivalry ever happens, the closest thing that comes to them reconciling is a brief discussion near the end where they maintain that they want to kill The Claw before the other and then part ways. The only memorable thing about Ray is his hilariously cold and angsty attitude. My favorite part in this entire series is during an Armor fight between the protagonists and two annoying children, a brother and a sister, that are working for The Claw. Ray pulls out a sniper rifle and assassinates the little girl. Rather than ponder to himself about how he just murdered a child, he immediately reloads and says something along the lines of "one down". Joshua is a contender for the most annoying character not just in this series but in anime history. He does not contribute to the story in any meaningful way above creating plot holes and being an all-around annoyance. He has no awareness of what is going on at any given time. He enjoys preaching about morality in a half-hearted, shallow fashion. In one episode, Wendy meets The Claw face to face. Ray then appears and just before he can kill The Claw, Joshua steps in front of him while preaching some nonsense about pacifism. Meanwhile, he has no issue with his brother murdering a child. Once again, this is a character that does not aid Van's quest for vengeance which is supposed to be the main story. This is a quality that is present in the entire cast of Gun x Sword.

The main antagonist, as mentioned before, is an old man named The Claw. True to his name, one of his hands is a claw. Despite being a murderer, he has somehow convinced other members of this show's mentally-incapacitated cast that he actually wants peace, happiness and rainbows and to believe in him despite having already murdered two innocent women. His henchmen acknowledge this inconvenient fact, yet they willingly fight for him anyway. The ramblings of this shallow, one-dimensional villain are somehow so influential that it can turn almost any member of this idiotic cast into his loyal servant. Even Wendy is intrigued by him and briefly leaves to have a conversation with him near the end of the series because she wants to understand his motivations. The writers seem to think that having other characters pick up the slack for a shallow, one-dimensional antagonist is good writing.

By now, you have noticed that I have stopped talking about the story and have spent three-and-a-half paragraphs discussing characters. This is because in Gun x Sword, the amount of characters thrown at you and the shallowly-written subplots they bring IS the story. Character development is non-existent in this series. Rather than deliver thought-provoking perspectives about grief, sorrow and loss, or put Van through interesting moral crises where his quest for vengeance would slowly turn him into a monster, the studio hopes that giving the viewer some shallow exposition will be enough to suffice. The plot is as basic as it gets and serves as a pretext for the nonsense that occurs in this series.

The first half of the series comprises of Van and Wendy wandering from town to town, meeting its inhabitants and assisting them, meeting another tagalong, or dealing with the villain of the week until the episode ends. As I was watching, I thought back to the way the episodes of Cowboy Bebop and Trigun were able to deliver interesting stories that kept my attention. Those series had a modest amount of established characters who grew as they went through their journey because it was about how the characters dealt with the people and situations they came across. No one grows or changes in Gun x Sword. The amount of time spent on the journey does not affect anything except for the amount of characters you will have to keep track of, and the amount of time wasted on this travesty.

It is later revealed via flashback that Van was one of an elite group of security guards for the prison planet and that Dann of Thursday is one of a set of Armor named after days of the week that these guards would use. His wife was a scientist that helped develop these Armor. At some point, The Claw showed up and decided to start a cult centered around him bringing about world peace by resetting the world End of Evangelion style. Because Van and his wife were the only ones to not go along with the ramblings of a one-dimensional murderer that justifies his killings with philosophy, one of the other security guards who was a friend of Van invites The Claw to Van's wedding where The Claw would attack Van and his wife. This doesn't immediately kill them however, and for some reason this "friend" is present in the hospital room with Van and his wife, who is in critical condition. This friend and Van's wife exchange words about healing Van by making his life depend on his Armor or something and then she dies. Then he and Van talk and despite arguably being the one to blame for the death of Van's wife, for some reason he agrees to give Van ownership of Dann of Thursday which is supposedly more powerful and advanced than any other Armor, effectively shooting himself in the foot. This is a completely nonsensical backstory that makes no sense if you assume the characters, and by extension the writers have any intelligence.

The second half of the series only gets worse. Every single minor character and their grandma decides to tag along with Van in what can only be described as "Super Friends" on crack. They live on a knockoff of the White Base and this is where character overload becomes a real problem because instead of dealing with 3 or 4 shallow, undeveloped characters at once now you are dealing with 10+, most of whom only appeared in one episode, for the remainder of the series. At this point I lost all hope of proper character development ever happening. By the time the episode about the woman-only bikini kingdom arrived I lost all hope of this series ever redeeming itself. The finale arrives not with a bang, but with a whimper as Van simply walks up to The Claw after thwarting his world reset and he is stuck in his seat. This angry, vengeful embodiment of wrath and sorrow brandishes his sword and quickly slashes him across the chest exactly once, with no blood or gore whatsoever. We see this from the back so that the animators could avoid having to animate a satisfying death scene for the villain. Afterward, the characters exchange pointless dialogue with each other and part ways. There is an epilogue scene where a slightly older Wendy, now operating a restaurant, is telling the events of the series to a reporter. Van walks in and asks for something to eat. The viewer is supposed to be happy to see them reunite. The only thing I was happy about is that this disaster finally ended.

The art style and animation were fine. Pleasing colors and hit-or-miss character designs. Van has the best and most memorable character design out of the entire cast, everyone else is forgettable or a ripoff of a character from another series, while others like Wendy's brother or the whore that works for The Claw have that weird, "big anime eyes" look that clashes with most of the other characters. The designs of the Armor, for the most part, are unmemorable. The movement of the animation isn't very fluid or intricate and while they did not go above and beyond, they at least gave the series its own style and it usually works.

The sound design was also fine, I did not care very much for the song used in the OP as it was clear they were trying too hard to make it sound epic or imposing. I think the best parts of the OP song were the flute and the choir. The ED has a melancholy song that would have fit well had this series decided to stay the course with its core plot, play it completely straight and develop it into something interesting. The majority of the insert songs were unmemorable. The sound effects weren't particularly memorable and there were no instances where I was amazed at their use.

I was sad and disappointed by how much of a disaster this series turned out to be. I was expecting something much greater than what it really was. Gun x Sword suffers from serious cases of clashing tones and character overload. You will not find character development or well-written, meaningful stories in any of its 26 episodes. It is a complete waste of time, and it is a shame because it could have been much better if they actually cared about telling a good story centered around the human condition instead of trying to appeal to casual audiences that tune in for nothing more than mecha fights and fanservice. If you value your time, stay far away from this trash.

An usual plot gains a certain amount of specialness.

Story - 5/10
The usual stuff. There isn't anything new here. I don't even know what to comment about it. The main character, Van, is in a quest searching for a man with a claw, who killed his bride. As soon as he get to this claw man, he will kill him. Van is driven by vengeance. And at each episode, there is a mini story involving a mecha fight to save the town where Van is, and to get information about the one he seeks. And i can't forget, at the first episode, a girl named Wendy ... starts following him, in search for her brother, that was kidnapped by the Claw. As time passes, they encounter various characters and armors - the robots - , and the plan of the Claw starts to be uncovered. All the story is set in a planet called the Illusion Planet, a prison, or at least it were a prison.

Art - 7/10
The art has nothing really impressive to show, in a general view, but the design of the mechas is cool, and the animation is good enough. Sometimes, the lazers and stuff like that may seem a little awkward, but the action scenes are good, overall.

Sound - 6/10
I think i watched only once the opening. It isn't appealing at all. Even the video isn't good, its generic, and its a mess. The background music is not at all remarkable, but at least its not bad. The sound effects are good, they fit the ambient nicely, and seem natural.

Characters - 5/10
While i did enjoyed some of them, others are annoying as hell. Van, the main character, is like many many others, he likes to eat, has his unique way of doing it (with a lot of tempers), and only drinks milk. He is great at fighting, and sometimes, he isnt really the ideal hero, with actions like being uncareful or just dont giving a crap. But at the end he always do the right thing. He has a sword that looks like a gun. Wendy. I hate Wendy. The stereotypical girl who cares so much about everyone, speacialy for her "nisan". OH, ISN'T HER KAWAI DESU?! I simply hate naive characters like her. "Don't treat me like a child", "I will find you, nisan". And she has a turtle. Oh yea, a turtle, hanging on her neck: The turtle, Karmelo (something like that), is a gift from her brother, to bring luck. Wendy starts following Van since the first episode, because they have the same objective, finding Claw, the man who killed Van's bride and kidnapped Wendy's brother. Carmen, the usual clever hot woman. She is an agent (they never specify that, so im not certain) who already knew Van from the past, and helps him get information, sometimes asking for info too. I think they should have developt her a little more. And as they journey goes, they find Ray, a pilot also looking for Claw, as his bride was also murdered by him. He has a gun that looks like a sword (totally unpractical), and will do anything to find Claw. He has a annoying brother who try to follow him, and convince him to not kill Claw. His younger brother, Joshua, starts following Van, because he thinks they will meet Ray in the future. I wont go in any more details, the characters are not very good. I like the old mans, though. In a town, Van encounter with some old guys, that were pilots in the past. They are actually kinda fun, talking about the past, and being some sort of comedy relief. The Claw, the villain, is also interesting, as he sometimes is clearly the bad guy, but in certain occasions he may seem correct. His henchman are boring.

Enjoyment and overall - 7/10
GunXSword isn't at all innovative, it follows a famous recipe, but it has some great action scenes and the Claw is an incentive to keep watching.

Overall: This series is a clever pastiche of different genres (Western, sci fi, mecha) which manages to bind together elements of drama, comedy, heroic adventure, and just a hint of potential romance with a distinctive style. I highly recommend it, but I recognize that the distinctive style/atmosphere of the show won't suit everyone's tastes.

Story: As many other reviewers have pointed out, Gun x Sword isn't particularly innovative when it comes to story. It's a revenge drama, and it borrows elements from a long tradition of such revenge dramas. As the series progresses, however, the plot becomes increasingly complicated. Van's simple quest for revenge ... becomes intertwined with a crusade to save the world (from what? I can't say; that would be a spoiler). The pacing of the series is a bit uneven at first, but if you stay with the show until episode 11, you'll likely be hooked until the end.

Art and Sound: This is a beautiful anime to watch and to listen to. The artwork at its best is lush and detailed. As the characters wander from town to town, they encounter snow-covered mountains, tropical beaches, and a great many deserts, some of them starkly beautiful. Some of the character designs do borrow from other series, but they are almost all appealing. Van's tuxedo and red eyes make him the perfect badass; Wendy's design as a redhead with wide green eyes perfectly matches her feisty-but-sweet temperament.The soundtrack is primarily instrumental, with a somewhat folky ending theme song and a few inset songs. The soundtrack has offerings ranging from poignant to dramatic to outright comic (matching the style of the show; see below).

Characters: There are lots of quirky supporting cast members and some truly formidable villains, but what really made the show for me were the two main characters. The protagonist, Van, is a classic jerk with a heart of gold, with an added touch of apathy and gloom. (He's got plenty of reason for his gloominess, as you'll slowly learn). Wendy, on the other hand, OUGHT to be have been absolutely crushed by all the blows life has dealt her, yet she remains optimistic and compassionate. Her hopefulness and naivete might make her annoying if it weren't tempered by her bossiness, occasional bitchiness, and sheer stubbornness.

Finally, I have to say something about the overall style or sensibility of the show. What first drew me to the series is the quirky sensibility behind it. While Gun X Sword borrows heavily from more famous works which came before it, it also isn't afraid to laugh at generic conventions. It includes some parodies of earlier works (and not just anime). At the same time, the humor doesn't seem disconnected from the rest of the series. In fact, some of the running gags (Van's love of condiments; his collection of nicknames which are never explained) may seem simple gags, but they are also used in surprisingly subtle ways to indicate real character development. In at least one case, a scene from early in the anime that was originally played primarily for comedy is invoked seriously and touchingly late in the series. In the end, one of Gun X Sword's greatest strengths may be the way it can laugh at itself AND deliver a powerful emotional impact.

This anime is captivating from beginning to end. The main character Van is just sooooo spontaneous you never know what he'll do next. I enjoyed this anime a lot for all of the action and adventures it presents. The character development is also great. When you finish watching you feel as if you've known the characters your whole life and you just don't want it to end. Overall i think it's a great anime from beginning to end. My favorite part was the ending but if you wanna know what happens you have to watch it and find out

Usually when I review an anime a lot of thought goes into every piece of that anime, and the result is a well constructed reasoning on why that anime deserves that rating. Gun Sword seems to be an exception from this system. I really enjoy Gun Sword, it is still one of my favorite animes to this date, and I first saw this anime almost 5 years ago at this point. I've tried and tried to think about why it is such an amazing anime, but something I've noticed is that there is two different types of people when it comes to this anime. There ... are people who see it as a standard futuristic mech anime that doesn't do anything special, and those that think its the best thing ever and cant explain why.
If you are going to like this anime you will know by episode one, Van is a hilarious character, simply because in a world surrounded by crazy people he is pretty much the calmest one of them all, because he pretty much knows he will win. Whenever he pulls out that belt sword and brings down Dan you know its about to get good real quick. Wendy is an amazing companion character, being literally a complete opposite of Van, but the two cope with each others quirks and get along. Carmen99 might not be around, and mostly shows up to advance the plot, but she brings a good form of humor by showing that Van still has points where he isnt the best. Ray is simply one of the coolest characters to ever come out of anime, his mech is amazing, and he stands to show how serious the whole show really is as he never really jokes around like everyone else.
I think one of the biggest draws to this anime is Vans determination to achieve his goal. He gets mad when he loses his chance to face the man with the claw, and he takes down whatever stands in his way to get to him. But also, Van is still human, and he does get hurt, and has to rely on Wendy at some points to get through situations.
The Man with the Claw is a depiction of what an anime villain should be. A character that isn't really evil by any means, but just has his own goals that conflict with the world view. He is a calm person, there isn't a single moment that he gets angry, seeing every situation against him as a chance to grow, and every time his plans go wrong he reflects on that event and grows himself. Him and Van make a perfect Hero vs. Villain situation because of how opposite of each other they are. Van is determined to kill the man with the Claw, while he just wants to love everyone in the world.
The villains in this anime are simply amazing. All the minor people in the beginning show how the world has changed from what type of society we are used to, then the main group on mech riders steps in and the whole world just turns upside down, you don't know if Van is really in the right anymore.
The only character i really dislike is Fasalina, she just goes against everything this anime wants to be.
The setting of this anime is also great. When it first starts out its shown as a desert world, kinda like the world Trigun made, but then it changes, there is entire cities and oceans and forests and ruins and all sorts of changes in the environment you don't expect, and all to find out later what the real point of the planet itself is and it just blows you away.
Plus every Mech is different in this anime, but each is so different that they are all kind of equal because they can all do something that the other can't. There is never one truly superior mech, everything has a weakness to exploit, even the super mechs the main villains use (this kinda sounds like what Aldnoah Zero did but its better because its not all based on some super smart kid making all the moves).
There also is not a single boring episode, I remember each and every single episode of this anime, mostly because of how unique every one of them are. The show goes from forcing Van to conform to dress attire for a formal event on a Zeppelin to Bokimi (Which is a shameless fan-service episode for the sake of fan-service, and brings a moment of humor to conflict with the progression of the anime thus far).
I think that anyone that thinks this anime is bad doesn't see past the main plot. Its about a guy riding a mech in the future trying to get revenge, nothing really original, but if you look at what the anime does with that plot, and the characters it uses to make it happen, it becomes something completely new. Every character is like a different condiment, you need them all to make something be good :)

OK, after revisiting and re-watching this amazing anime for some years. I can say honestly say, without being bias, that is a underrated, low profile, anime thats needs more recommends. Plot is based on vengeance, dreams and other crazy ideas (so its not boring). I does have a slow start but its picks up quickly. The art style is great. Music is the same. But the MC is the best thing about this show. He`s not weak, doesn`t kill everything in one punch, and has a strong roll in this show (basically things would go to shit if he died). Takanori Hoshino put a lot ... of effect into Vans Character (you`ll see it later on) it shows in the best scenes. All side characters are well developed. All Antagonist are well made. This anime has a bit of every geners, also in some scenes lewds scenes (that doesn`t come soon you need to be patient). SO if someone who is debating whether to give it a try, you should do it I Recommend it. Its one of my top 10 anime of all time for me.

This anime starts out looking very derivative. For the first six or seven episodes, I was counting all the movies and anime shows that it seemed to be echoing. I thought it was going to be a competent and enjoyable re-do of old cliches.

Then, around the seventh or eight episode, the plot, which had looked to be formulaic, started getting deeper and deeper. The characters demonstrated considerable realism. In particular, the main bad guy of the series should earn the screenwriters some kind of prize. They managed to put realistic moral problems into a very shallow show and to make ... it fit seamlessly. At the same time, the generic setting got both visual and story-related depth.

The production values are very high on every part of this series. The director and writers ripped off all those old shows because they knew a huge number of old shows inside out, they could think about *any* show in terms of tropes, and they were determined to give their favorite tropes a new treatment.

This show is the goal to which many similar shows should aspire. In particular, if you thought the setting and themes of Avenger showed promise but failed to find a coherent story, and if you thought the characters of Shinkon Gattai Godannar showed promise but were too derivative, shallow, and cheesy, you owe it to yourself to watch Gun X Sword.

Quentin Tarantino is one strange guy. His cult films are homages to the genre portrayed. Reservoir Dogs was an homage to such mob movies as The Godfather and Scarface. Kill Bill was and homage to the western genre of well... westerns as well as the Eastern Kung-Fu or samurai genre. I bring this up because Gun X Sword is a real cult anime that pays homage to it's genre.
Gun X Sword is a mecha anime revolving around Van and Wendy. Van must find "The Claw" whom killed his wife and Wendy must find her brother. This premise, you would think, is very simple and ... you know what, you would be right. Much like Tarantino's "Kill Bill" a good old classic revenge story is what this show is. This is a very strait forward show but that is the charm of the show. It's simplicity is very refreshing. There are no long-winded narrations about the mechs or the weapons used in the show and the story itself is cliche but what will keep you coming back to the show is it's over the top style and nature.
This show is basically "Kill Bill" with giant robots. The action scenes are very over the top and fun to watch, making the main character (Van) look totally badass. Action is the main focus in this show and there is one new encounter every episode (exept for maybe 1 or 2). They get progressively better and better until the final action scene which is just absolutely awesome.
The over the top nature that I mentioned earlier is always present in Gun X Sword. How over the top you ask? Well you see, Van wears a tuxedo, all the time, with this large brimmed cowboy hat with a ring on one end. He has a blade that, when inactive, he wears as a belt with a hilt on his waist for the handle. When he draws his sword, it hardens and turns into an actual blade. He then slashes at the air to make a blue "V" shape. His mech is then launched down from a satellite shaped like a cross, in the form of a sword. It then transforms into a human-looking robot and Van gets in. To activate it he call it by its name, Dann. The robot that shot down from the havens is named Dann. It is exactly this unexpected nature that keeps you coming back to the show.

Premise:
a man in a tuxedo is wandering in a desert and is starving to death and complains about not having food. He hears a bell ringing in the distance then looks to see above the hill there is a town off in the distance and he arrives at a church looking for someone to give him some food where a young girl is immediately shot. The men who shot the girl, aimed their weapons at the man in the tuxedo asking for his valuables. Now Tuxedo man defended himself from these criminals and noticed the girl wasn’t dead. The girl aimed her Revolver at ... Tuxedo man thanking him for his help. He said he wasn’t trying to and introduced himself as Van but then was rudely interrupted from his stomach pains and passed out in front of this girl named Wendy. Which begun a great adventure between the two chasing their own pasts.

Art:
The Art is early 2000s, which I love and really appreciate as a fan of anime of this decade. I think the Art really shines because of the Character and Mech designs.
https://images.app.goo.gl/udMWfSzvyCovjNdj6
On just Van’s Design alone, you can see a design that is just recognizable from a silhouette and has inspirations from other wandering archetype like the Wild Western American Cowboy in terms of tuxedo choice. Also, having his Gunsword on his waist like a cowboy revolver’s holster. His hat is a western hat with a twist, a wedding ring on the end of the right side of its brim. A very interesting design that strikes mystery and intrigue.
https://images.app.goo.gl/LpyZ2SwpiemPL2ss8
https://images.app.goo.gl/9XJEFaeXeVuSmFUa6
Picking a Mech design is hard honestly but if I need to pick one to show the show just it will have to be Van’s Mech: Dann of Thursday. Dann is a design that at first wasn’t crazy about but after second viewing of a show, I see the symbolism in just his visual design. So, Dann of Thursday has two forms: a sword form and battle mode. Sword mode is just the symbol of him being Van’s Sword of Victory, his Excalibur. Because of this a sword needs a sheath and Dann’s sheath is a Satellite that orbits Illusion, the planet. Dann in battle mode is the sword ready for battle and the way Van pilots him is with the Gunsword on his waist stabbed into Dann’s cockpit like a joystick or lever. Dann has a sword connected to its body that can be fuel with Dann’s blood to make it an energy great sword. Honestly, it’s one of the only melee focused armors in the show.

Sound:
Voice acting:
For the Dub was my first experience and I have listened to the subs which sound great although I don’t speak the language. David Vincent did a great job as Van in the show and Personally, one of my favorites from his roles for sure.
Music:
I really love the score really put me in the mood for either action, tense or thrilling, or even happy scenes. Favorite songs are Desert Rose and Opening.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI4sWlyk6jg&list=PLACo-Et6RabTL2cJHCpI8UfwYJauKlzCn&index=15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiI3mz9ED00&list=PLACo-Et6RabTL2cJHCpI8UfwYJauKlzCn&index=33
Sound Effects:
most of them are pretty routine except for the robot transformations each of their animation’s sound effects are unique has a slicing and piercing ring sound for Dann and El Dora has a classic machine binding sound.

Character:
I consider Mechs to also be characters in this show just for the fact the mechs reflect their pilot in their abilities and represent a side of the character that is crucial to their motives and beliefs such as the Voltron inspired Mech titled El Dora V. This Mech is made of five mechs combined into this large giant fighting robot and its pilots really bring great personality to the show. Each of the pilots are one dead woman and 4 old man who have retired as heroes that come back from retirement for to relive the glory days and for Justice. This is just one mech that helps express the character(s) related to it.

Overall & Enjoyment:
So, I love this anime one of the first anime I ever sought after to watched and one of the few anime I have re-watched. The adventure with Van and Wendy is adrenaline pumping, thrilling and especially fun roller-coaster.

Gun X Sword is not excellent or great, but is a good anime.

Gun X Sword is not a excellent or great, but is a good anime. The story is decent, but the last few episodes leading to the ending was a let down. The characters weren't very interesting to me. I really didn't care about Van and his search for revenge of his murdered wife, Wendy and her search for her brother or Carmen99 who did nothing for me except remind me of Faye Valentine and the much better anime she was in. Now the thing I liked the best about Gun X Sword would ... be the animation, which looked great. Overall I gave the show a 7, and I think I'm being nice. It's just that there's nothing special about it. I think if you haven't seen that much anime you will like it a lot, but if you've seen a lot of anime like the classics Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, and other anime, this show is inspired from than you won't like it as much or at all.

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 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 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.

This anime is not good in visuals but the story and action sequence are so good . this story is based on revenge a fight for justice. This story is about Van whose wife is killed by claw . This story is rated as PG - 13 but it contains a adult content . It can be watched after 18 years .

I liked this story but not the visuals

its sound track is also good . I liked only character of van and claw. I think claw should be an epic villian he is calm and quite villian

wendy is worst character I saw in ... my life . This role is not important in whole story