An original mecha series from Bones, the same studio that brought us RahXephon and Eureka Seven, Star Driver is quite a bit different from your typical mecha fare. On the island of Southern Cross there is a mysterious masked organization known as Glittering Crux. Their mission is to discover the island's four seal maidens and shatter their seals. Each time they do so, they gain more power over the mysterious stone figures that lay in the mine that they use for their headquarters. With each seal that is broken the more power these “Cybodies” have, until the final seal is broken, and they will be able to be unleashed upon the world.
Unfortunately for Glittering Crux, the island has a newcomer, teenage boy Takuto Tsunashi. Takuto posses a Cybody of his own, the Tauburn. Each time Glittering Crux tries to unleash one of its Cybodies, which become usable in the mysterious dimension known as Zero-Time, Takuto is able transform into the "Galactic Pretty Boy" and wield the Tauburn, being perhaps the world's only way to stop Glittering Crux from accomplishing their plans. At the same time Takuto must maneuver a love triangle involving his friend Sugata Shindou and his fiance, Wako Agemaki, who is one of the island's maidens.
Star Driver is a fairly interesting take at first on the mecha genre. It is written by Yoko Enokido, the same person who wrote the show Revolutionary Girl Utena. That show's influence on the style of this show is quite apparent. The show is neither your traditional super robot show nor the gritty real robot type of show that Gundam has made popular. Rather it is something completely different. Similar to a show like Code Geass, high school drama is a big part of the show; in fact to a level where you sometimes think the mecha battles are complete after thoughts. The mecha themselves are quite pretty (arguably the highlight of the show) and the storyline is structured that Takuto is only able to fight one Cybody at once, and it is quite complicated for them to be repaired, What this means is that we typically have a new mecha battle practically every episode. Both the design and the animation are fabulous, and the music just adds to it. If I was viewing this show purely on its visuals and styles, it would get a very high mark.
When your main character proclaims himself a "Galactic Pretty Boy" you learn that you can't take things too seriously, and that's really the way to approach this show. It is a fun viewing, but usually not very thought provoking. Several aspects of the plot are quite laughable, most notably that nearly every single member of Takuto's school is a member of Glittering Crux but they often don't realize each other are members when it should be quite obvious. Other rather foolish aspects of the storyline include the perverted school nurse and one of Takuto's classmates being married to a wealthy senior citizen who lives thousands of miles away and doesn't speak the same language as her. The love triangle between Takuto, Sugata and Wako is also quite a focus although we do eventually add to it other dynamics from several angles to liven things up.
Where the show falters is that it becomes very formulaic at times. You generally know exactly how each episode is going to go; namely 12-15 minutes of character development, often focusing on a supporting character, a singing sequence (much like Utena) as Zero-Time appears and Takuto gets in the Tauburn (along with his pretty boy costume) and Takuto quickly defeating his opponent. Rince and repeat. The best episodes are those that completely eschew this formula. The show also has an overabundance of characters. Most notably, a pair of characters are introduced approximately 2/3 into the show, get a lot of focus, and end up being completely useless to the overall storyline. Trimming them as well as several others would have helped, especially as the show rushes its way through its conclusion.
If you can get over those faults though, there is a lot to like about this show and it provides a high level of entertainment and enjoyment.
