Customer Reviews

Gasaraki - The Summoning (Vol. 1)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This has to be the most interesting and captivating series that I have seen in a while. As the other reviews mentioned there is a resemblance to N.G. Evangelion, but I would argue that it is only superficial. The flavor of this story is completely different. The brilliantly complex plot is set in a geo-political conflict reminiscent of Desert Storm. The creators strived for realism and succeed in intellectually engaging the audience. The mixture and contrast of modern politics, near future technology and traditional Japanese culture and mysticism are spellbinding. The story involves ever increasing layers of secrets and mysteries. These are revealed to us slowly and meticulously. The more details we learn the more we realize how little we know. What I find fascinating is that all the action is played out by secondary characters while the two protagonists are the greatest mystery. The character development is very strong, even though in the case of the two main characters it is very slow. I believe that this adds to the quality of the series. The DVD menus and extras are quite good, but the in-menu navigation is a bit quirky once in a while. I only wish that the entire interview with Ryosuke Takahashi was included. For the rest of the interview we have to go to the ADV website - sneaky way to get those web hits. Gasaraki is a must see. Intelligent, complex and engaging - I'd put it on the top of your anime wish list. My only regret is that I have to wait over a month for the next DVD installment.

This will be perhaps talked about as the Macross series of the next decade or so. Superb animation and character designs. The story is very deep and very intelligent. The armored suits are based on real physics to bring it to a real life world that we can associate ourselves with. The mech designs are awesome. This is the first volume in the growing library of Gasaraki, so get in early and keep buying the DVDs to support this intelligent robot anime. I was surprised at how good this anime is, it really is worth your money if you liked Macross or mech war type movies, but if you just want a bunch of action sequences not tied together by a good story then this is not the series for you. This is story with elements of action, some episodes contain no mech war at all, but others might be entire episodes of war. It definitely is for mature watchers, most likely the 18+ crowd to understand the story well and not be put to sleep by the character interaction. Awesome.

The first DVD in any series (in this case, containing 4 episodes) usually has a difficult task to carry out. Outline the story, introduce the characters, set the tone, and provide a window into how things will look in future episodes. That being said, you will be instantly confused at the outset of this DVD (by design) but by the end, you will know what's going on and the basic conflict of the series.

This is very much a political thriller, techno-intrigue sort of show. The plotis...[directly from] the Gulf War (with the characters that parallel Norman Schwarzkopf and Saddam Hussein looking EXACTLY like their real world predecessors (in addition to the various news footage that echo the Gulf War situation in an exact manner.) War plays a big part in this disc of episodes with plenty of generals and troops and politicians, which might all add up to increase the yawn-factor for some. There are many characters involved, much back-room dealing and ample storyline advancement. But if you were looking...for any bloody action scenes, there are none of those.... This is all very dry stuff, almost like reading a book.

And that's a big part of my misgivings about this: I don't know how many people want the equivalent of a Robert Ludlum or Tom Clancy book in their anime. Makes for some, frankly, very boring tracts of exposition. I yawned several times. I can't really draw any parallels to other anime because this one is very much rooted in reality, and reality-based situations. It does have mecha, and the requisite mysteries yet to be solved (some of which do appear to point to some non-reality based solutions.)

I just don't know if your average anime fan would be willing to sit through all the techno-speak and convoluted political storylines to get to the "good parts." Make no mistake, the story is told very well, reveals little by little the details of what's going on, and does make sense. The animation is adequate, music is sparse and almost absent, the dubbing is superb, though the DVD extras consist of little besides referring you to the Gasaraki website for more in-depth stuff.

I don't know. After seeing the first DVD, I would like to see the rest, but I'm in no great hurry. I guess Gasaraki didn't hold my interest well enough to make me a huge fan.

Breathtaking. It's about time that somebody one-upped Evangelion and created a truly epic "giant robot" series with both a thoughtful, intelligent premise as well as spectacular animation. Like Eva, Gasaraki takes a few episodes to get up to speed (the third and fourth episodes on this tape are where the action really kicks in) and the audience, like the series central character Yushiro, is initially forced to figure out what's going on at the same speed that the hero is. This may bother those with short attention spans, but be advised that this series is well worth the time put into viewing it. Thus far I've seen the first twenty episodes in the original Japanese and the first four episodes in ADV's excellent dub, and believe me, every time you think you've got the next plot development figured out, the writers come up with a new way to knock your socks off. Add in the best animated mecha battles in any anime tv series and you've got one of the best giant robot show ever.

As far as overall review: not worth paying for. (but watch it on TV or borrow it from a friend)

`Gasaraki' starts off slowly but has a nice narrative hook. A very original universe. The UN sends in troops to stop ethnic war in a Bosnia type country. A real life universe! (with only the names changed) But American armored units, Abrams Tanks and Bradley APCs (for those of you not up to date in war news, Abrams and Bradleys are light years ahead of any other tank) suffer a drastic defeat at the hands of enemy mobile suits. That's right, real life mobile suits!!! In a real army!!! In a real war!!!

Fortunately for the UN a giant Japanese corporation Gowa has been developing giant mobile suits for just such a war. But now Gowa has its sights set on more than just being soldiers for hire. Gowa wants to AVENGE JAPAN'S LOSS IN WWII.

The plot is further complicated by the mobile suit pilots' digging further into the Gasaraki mobile suit program. It turns out that mobile suits are not entirely the result of science. They are the result of conjuring Japanese demons and giving them physical form.

`Gasaraki' starts off with some very original concepts, what if mobile suits really did exist? Would evil dictators try to take on the UN and fear no one? Would global corporations fear no one? And most importantly, with enough power, would the Japanese ever try to avenge WWII? These are the burning questions which kept me interested throughout `Gasaraki'. It was very realistic; I recall only one joke during the entire series.

None of these questions are answered by `Gasaraki'. The story slowly goes nowhere. There is no war, there are no battles. `Gasaraki' degenerates into a boring mindscape into the human soul. If Cartoon Network ever runs this, it might be worth your time but `Gasaraki' is not worth your money.

I strongly recommend `Full Metal Panic.' It's a similar story, except a comedy.

Don't just SEE it. Any serious anime fan should have this series. I've seen up to disk 5, and it is one of my favorite animes (and I have a huge collection on DVD). I highly recommend it for older viewers, but make sure you have toys for the young 'uns, because they will get bored pretty quickly. It takes the level of appreciation that you only get from maturity to enjoy anime like this. The action is amazing, but there is a lot of politics, and quite a lot of old Japanese tradition in it as well. It's very rewarding anime for intellectual crowds in the college-and-up age levels. Think almost of the Rurouni Kenshin OVA's (but with big friggin machines and lots of tanks).

The first thing you'll think when you watch this DVD it is: "What the heck are they doing with those robots". But by the fourt episode you will fully understand the story and will get into it.

I'm a fan of big robots and military stories, so if you're into this type of anime go ahead and get it. The main character is misterious and instantly drags you into the plot, and without you thinking about it you'll want to know what the purpose of the TA system really is. I give it four stars since the anime is a little too old for me.

Over all Gasaraki is one of the best looking anime of recent years and any fan of big robots and well chorographed action secuences will more than enjoy this series.

Intrigued by the artwork and content, I was also inundated with confusion. It's a little hard to follow, and a little slow to begin with. The creators of Gasaraki seem to just jump right in, mid-story, and proceed without explanation. Although, I was captivated by the combination of traditional Japanese dance sequences and military efforts to invoke some sort of sentient being. Highly captivating, one that must be watched closely, Gasaraki is beautifully done. Do you like waffles?

If you thought Spriggan was gonna be the only anime that appeals to Americans, you might be wrong. Ever liked Gundam Wing, but hated the animation? Ever liked Robotech, but had too big of a love story to feed you? The solution to all these problems is Gasaraki. The first episode starts off with Gowa and 3 other people in TAs (Tactical Armor). Gowa's heart rate gets too fast and the training mission stops. Then Gowa has to perform a summoning of.....I think it was Gasarki (maybe). Anyway, Gowa performs the dance to make it come and is almost stopped by the girl with green hair. Gowa listens to her and stops it. The second episode features a little test of just how cool the TAs can be. And some political inteligents get thrown in. The third episode was the coolest! The Multi National forces plans to attack a town with a fleet of tanks. But whats this? TAs? About 3 TAs come in and a cool battle ensues. The fourth episode has Gowa going out for duty at sea. Suddenly, Gowa has this sudden urge to summon again, gets out of his TA and starts the dance again, but before he can even get far, he gets assasiated. He wasn't hurt cause the helmet blocked the bullet, but he was in shock. The episode ends with three enemy TAs coming to fight and one of them is piloted by that green haired girl. This tape was hard top follow, but it was worth watching. The battles are extremely cool. The opening reminds me of Robotech and the ending sequence tells me that the green haired girl and Gowa will soon be in love. Summoning aside, this is the most coolest political war anime I've seen since Gundam Wing.

This is definitely an anime to get if you are a die-hard mecha or drama fan. Other viewers however might get a bit bored after wading through numerous scenes promoting the political and spiritual aspects of the plot. The fight scenes are sparse and short compared to other mechas such as Evangelion and Macross. The mech designs in Gasaraki are unique and realistic (as far as weaponry is concerned) and their battles are fun to watch despite its shortness in length at times. This is definitely an anime to get if you have the patience to watch the whole series through as it develops, but not for those looking for a fast-paced high-action mecha anime fix.