GUNxSWORD

One Comment to “GUNxSWORD”

1. on 31 Jan 2010 at 4:09 am1npc

   I like this one. A lot. But I feel I need to justify that.

   “Gun vs. Sword” is what I’d call a shounen anime on X (X is for ecstasy).

   Because, no matter how you look at it, it’s a shounen anime. There’s mecha, lots of kids (many in adult bodies), lots of pathos, little to no subtlety, no sex, no drugs, and no rock’n'roll. But it’s as if, having formed this basic plot, the writers had popped some pills and had a hell of a fun time fleshing it out.

   There’s the main protagonist, Van, for one. Lazy, moody and irascible. But if it were only for him, he could fit in a shounen anime as, say, a “dark onii-chan”.
   Then there’s the other main protagonist, Wendy. While Van is in his late twenties, Wendy is probably around ten or eleven years old. And the series start with Wendy proposing to Van to be his bride… This as a way of saying that there’s quite a touch of loli in this anime (hey — if mainstream porn is anything to go by, girls without hair are hip!).
   Some episodes of these series can only be described as being completely crazy (I’m thinking especially of the one in “misugi-town”, #17). Hell, I could go on for hours citing crazy and absurd characters and passages.
   But the biggest of them all, the frigging huge cherry on the pie is without a doubt the arch-villain, the “man with the claw”. That cat is such an incredible and utter LOONIE it’s hilarious. No, seriously, seldom have I seen anything like that. At the same time, it’s probably one of best-made arch-villains of all times. This guy’s a gem. A huge “what the…” kind of gem.

   Now for the usual measurements:
   The music’s all right. Opening song is pretty good.
   Visually, this thing’s stunning. This is one of those anime one shouldn’t watch in streaming quality. Grab a torrent, there are plenty around.
   I’ve already said a bit about the characters, see also Lordgoth’s review. They’re great.
   The story is well-made. Just the right tension, neither too fast nor too slow. Don’t let what I said before mislead you, either: this anime has many crazy elements, but these are only cherries on the pie. Fundamentally, this thing’s got a solid story to it, and one that can be quite moving at times — although on a shounen anime level; for this is, let me stress it one more time, a shounen anime.

   But this doesn’t mean only kids can enjoy it.

   8/10. Strongly recommended.

Leave a Comment Below

Name (required)

Mail (hidden) (required)