vbarton - 2015-09-24 16:37:30

Critic's Log - Earthdate: December 17, 2012. Review #26: Gun x Sword

Revenge is a double-edged sword. It often leads justice to either one's self or for others. It can also lead to ruin to one's self after the quest for revenge is complete. It is never a happy tale and the path to revenge may even lead to bloodshed. Revenge is a dish that should never be consumed. With that said, let's activate the review for Gun x Sword.

 

Equipped with a metal sash that straightens into a sword, the lanky swordsman Van is traveling through the hot desert, searching for the mysterious clawed man who killed his bride. Along the way he picks up a fellow traveler: Wendy, a young girl whose town he saves from bandits by summoning a giant mech with his sword. These giant mechs are referred to as "Armors". Wendy is searching for her missing older brother, whose engraved gun she carries on her back. In their mutual quest they run into more bandits and villains, a mysterious woman named Carmen99, and more Armor battles along the way.

To be technical, this is a AIC A.S.T.A production and they don't do many well-known animes but they are a decent studio that actually made this show look pretty good for the most part. The animation looks good for the most part but some action scenes could have looked better but it wouldn't distract the viewer all too much. Also, the "X" in the title is not part of the pronouncination. It is pronounced "Gun Sword"

The music by Kotaro Nakagawa is decent in Gun x Sword. The opening theme is nice to hear and I actually like how the anime changes from time to time to show new characters and to show if the character is still alive or dead. The closing themes are alright too. I should note that Kotaro Nakagawa composed the music for Planetes, an anime I keep hearing is very good. At the time I am reviewing this, I have never seen Planetes but I plan on watching it and reviewing it someday. Nakagawa-san also composed both seasons of Code Geass which the soundtrack to that show is pretty epic for his career. I don't have much to say about the music in Gun x Sword, I thought it was okay but not something to write home about.

When it comes to voice acting, The japanese cast is a solid listen but the English dub is casted well in Gun x Sword. Before I get to that, here are some worthy roles in the subbed version. Kikuko Inoue is pretty good as Carmen99. Saeko Chiba is also good as Priscilla. Takahiro Sakurai is also nice to hear as Ray. Masaya Onosaka even plays Kaiji and he was pretty good in that one. Houko Kuwashima is also good as Wendy. I didn't watch the whole thing subtitled but partially watched it in that version. Van's the only character I kind of didn't like his Japanese voice to, I'm not saying Takanori Hoshino is a bad seiyu. I just think his English voice fit the role spot-on. This is why I stuck with the dub on this one because it is performed surprisingly well. David Vincent is terrific as Van. Stephanie Sheh plays a really good role as Wendy. Liam O'Brien plays the rogue Ray quite nicely. Michelle Ruff brings the sexy charm to Carmen99 which fits. Carrie Savage plays Priscilla nicely. Michael on the other hand is voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch and I find this to be one of his more under-appreciated roles because he played his role quite believably. Karen Strassman deserves some credit for playing her role without sounding off at times. There were some good roles she played that sounded off a couple times and I usually get worried when her name gets brought up in a new dub, this is a role that doesn't have that problem. She was good as the flirtatious Fasalina. Yuri Lowenthal is okay as Joshua but it could've been a bit better. Kirk Thornton does deserve some ample praise for nailing the villian role spot-on. Kirk Thorton is terrific as The Claw (no, not the same "Claw" from Inspector Gadget). Liam O' Brien was the one behind the voice directing for the dub and he did pretty good at casting these characters, it's no wonder I like the dub on this anime.

When it comes to characters, the characters are mostly fine except I find the character development to be quite lacking in some areas. Wendy develops nicely throughout the whole show. Carmen99 also develops nicely to some degree. Ray is like Van except with a personality difference. Michael was interesting as the show progressed. Priscilla is alright, Joshua is alright. The two characters that I had a problem with are Van and The Claw. Don't get me wrong with Van. I actually like the character to some degree. What bugs me a bit about Van at times is that he has two things that you'll see throughout the show. First is that when he's hungry, he'll ask for whatever food he wants with all the condiments that the resturant has. To be honest, I don't think that would taste very good. Speaking about condiments, I have some friendly advice for you.

Secondly, he gets easily angered once he hears about the Claw, or fighting someone that is part of The Claw's group, or even The Claw himself. The whole eating habit is unique to Van but the anger thing is just a trope that's been used before. What I keep hearing about Van is that people compare this guy with either Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop or Vash The Stampede. Spike Spiegel sure... if you look at his head that is, but Spike was a bit more sophisticated than Van. Thinking back on Vash the Stampede, he did lose someone he cared about but this person wasn't his bride so the whole comparison thing can be a bit misunderstood. Van develops to some degree but his character development is a bit shallow compared to others which kind of is a slight letdown for me. Besides that, the other character I had a problem with is The Claw and I have a bigger beef with this character more than Van. I cannot say why but Van and The Claw are not as well developed as I had hoped. That's one problem I had with the show.

 Another problem I had with Gun x Sword is the story at times. I did not like Episode 6 all that much. The first episode tends to get mixed reactions at times and I don't blame those that didn't like the first episode of Gun x Sword. I thought the first episode could've been better, but this is a kind of anime that you shouldn't judge from the first episode because it does pick up a bit after. I will say that the show was a bit boring throughout the first 6 or 7 episodes. When the Claw does get introduced, that's when the series does pick up. This anime does require a bit of patience throughout the series. The story is pretty average but the animation is above average fof this anime. If the story's slow pace and some shallow character development wasn't enough, I will say the biggest gripe I have with this anime is how the show wraps up everything.  I did not like the ending that much and I felt the final episode as well as the ending was a bit half-assed. This is an anime that has its flaws and it found an audience to some degree. I just think comparing this anime with Cowboy Bebop or Trigun is a bit of an over-statement. At least, Goro Taniguchi directed a decent anime.

 Gun x Sword used to be available through Geneon, they went under a while back but this anime was rescued and re-licensed. This anime is available from Funimation. An omake series called "Gun x Sword-san" was released alongside the volumes of the show back then and it's all in one disc in the Funimation release. I can't highly recommend the omake compared with the show. It's worth a try but I have no interest in it which is why I'm not recommending it too highly.

With all that said, Gun x Sword is your typical average anime that may be worth checking out but don't get your expectations too high. It does have a slow start but picks up eventually. It has decent action scenes, some funny humor, some interesting characters, a decent soundtrack, and nice looking animation. This may not be everyone's cup of tea due to its slow start but if you're willing to go further until half of it goes by, there's a chance you'll might like it. If the first 5 or 6 episodes got you to the point that you stopped watching it, you're not really missing out on too much I guess. Gun x Sword-san is a little unnecessary but the Proposal Video by David Vincent that he made for his "at the time Girlfriend" was really classy and a nice extra feature. I enjoyed Gun x Sword for what it is but the flaws in the show do stick out like a sore thumb. All I can say is that some people might like it, some people won't.

 

I give Gun x Sword a 7.2 out of 10, It is GOOD!

 

Feel free to comment below and practice safe eating!

clinton41 - 2015-05-26 00:37:38

This is a Western with giant robots...two amazing genres.  It is done with pathos and humour and...well, a lot of fan service too.  Still, the mecha are delicious and the fighting is fantastic.  This is not a series to be missed!

santa78 - 2013-11-13 15:03:09

Story

The story is a nice mix of Trigun and Cowboy Bebop. It starts with 10 episodes where Van, a badass with a black treanch coat in the desert with a mecha that comes from space, and Wendy are basically questing and looking for someone; Van for the man that killed his waifu and Wendy for her brother. When they reach him the plot gets serious. A lot of characters are introduced; every one of them is a very interesting one with their life goals and ambitions. But the best part about the show is the shounen parody; know those annoying speeches villains have before the fight? They are stopped sometimes even by them getting cut in half. Comrade, the main villain, is extremely charismatic and often wins people over to his side. But not Van. He refuses to lisen to them and is blinded by revenge. That is what makes this show different and fresh.

Animation

The animation was very nicely done, the character design was awesome and the mechas were very well designed. The setting is a desert planet called Endless Illusion. It is a nice mix of Wild West and sci-fi. The fanservice is here but it is not overdone and no there are no moe characters for ya fanboyz.

Sound

The sound was interesting but was nothing special. The opening looked very good and sounded nice. The ending was much better. The song is performed by an acoustic guitar and a male vocal.

Characters

Now this is the part that gives Gun x Sword its interesting flavor. We have strong contradictions in four main characters, Van and Wendy and Ray and his younger brother. Van and Ray are blinded with revenge, having lost all other meaning in life; Wendy and the kid are full of hope with aspirations for a happy, full life. There are many other characters, most interesting ones being The Claw (also known as Comrade) who wants, well to be a god and Priscilla who is a young talented pilot who falls in love with Van.

Conclusion

All in all this anime is one of my favorites. While taking a lot of elements from Cowboy Bebop and Trigun it gives those elements a nice twist and brings us a great story I would highly recommend checking out.

schuppe.glenna - 2013-03-31 18:29:37

Many people compare GUNxSWORD to Cowboy Bebop or Trigun. These comparisons are not true. Not true at all. I consider GUNxSWORD to be an animated Kill Bill with mecha.I removed spoilers from my original review, so if something sounds funny. You'll know where when you read this. Story - 9/10On the planet of Endless Illusion, a lone man adorned in a tuxedo roams the wild and lawless frontier... Armed with a shape-shifting sword and a powerful Armor, Van's sole purpose in life is to find the mysterious clawed man. So, his story begins... Art - 8/10The animation, done by Studio AIC, is quite solid and fluid, its nothing very special or unique. It's pretty cookiecutter, if you will. It looks very shiny and very clean throughout.Sound - 10/10The soundtrack is just beautiful. The OP is an instrumental piece with a unique animation sequence I haven't seen in anime since sCRYed. I can't really descrive it, but somthing about it is just beautiful. The music is very similar to sCRYed's instrumentals and "moaning" songs, which GUNxSWORD has -- it gives off that mysterious, wierd feeling. The ending songs are plentiful. They change every now and then, but the original ending song is sung by Shuntaro Okino of Last Exile Opening fame. If you liked the Last Exile Opening, you'll like this Ending song. Character - 9/10They are pretty much a cookiecutter cast. They do keep it pretty interesting throughout, with revelation after revelation. You'll love some, you'll hate some. My favorite characters were Pricilla, Ray, Fasalina, Michael Garret, Carossa, Melissa and The Claw Man. Best characters of the series to me. That's mostly all of them, so I guess I did like most of them. Enjoyment - 10/10The most fun series I've watched this year, easily. It's just a very fun and enjoyable series. Goro Taniguchi of Code Geass fame truly makes a masterpiece -- the overall feeling of the series really gets your blood hot and going. Very andrenline-packed. Overall, I give GUNxSWORD a 9/10 - it would've been higher if I included spoilers, but I'll let you watch and decide for yourself. Excellent script, excellent directing, cookiecutter cast, solid animation, beautiful music. Everything just clicked.