Gasaraki: Difference between revisions

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From there, '''''Gasaraki''''' delves into the political, with the Gowa family and the mysterious organization called Symbol essentially using governments as proxies for the battles of the Tactical Armor units and Symbol's "Metal Fakes". ''Gasaraki'' also delves into the spiritual with the history of the Kai, who used the power of the summoned Gasaraki to essentially rule ancient Japan; the continued attempts to summon the Gasaraki; as well as the question of just what the "Gasaraki" are.
 
''Gasaraki'' was produced by [[Sunrise (company)|Sunrise]], directed by Ryosuke Takahashi of ''[[Armored Trooper VOTOMS]]'' fame and originally aired in 1998. [[ADV Films]] released a translated version. It is a bit notable for more recent anime fans as the first big "series-wide" directoraldirectorial job a certain Goro Taniguchi had - he was "assistant director" for the entire show and helped to make it (somewhat) comprehensible. His work here would lead to him being allowed to fully write, direct and produce ''[[Planetes]]'' (which could not possibly be more different from this show) and ''[[Code Geass]]'' (which, on some level, might be seen as ''Gasaraki'''s spiritual successor - it takes on a lot of the same fundamental themes as ''Gasaraki'', just [[Byronic Hero|from a different viewpoint]]).
 
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* [[Calling Your Attacks]]: The TA pilots have to give some commands vocally, making this a rare [[Justified Trope]] for a mecha anime.
* [[Chainsaw Good]]: Miharu's Fake mounts a claw weapon with a slide out chainsaw in its center.
* [[Clingy Jealous Girl]] Misuzu does NOT''not'' like Miharu being around Yushiro; plus, the way she dotes on Yushiro is rather creepy given that [[Incest Is Relative|he's her brother]]. {{spoiler|Even when, well, he's not the ''real'' Yushiro.}}
** And for worse? {{spoiler|When she connects with one of the mechas as the ''kai'' she is, Kazukiyo uses her jealousy of Miharu so she will keep brainwashing her.}}
* [[Colonel Badass]]: Colonel Hiyakawa.
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** Miharu wears one of the female-style masks, probably the Ko-omote (young woman). There are seven or so variations of this mask with different names. The difference between most of them is the styling of the hairline.
** The Kai-summoned units have faces patterned after the Hannya masks.
* [[Cooldown Hug]]: Averted; Daizaburo is about to give one to his daughter, Misuzu, to dissuade her from {{spoiler|using her powers as a Kai}} -- and right then, {{spoiler|his eldest son Kazukiyo shoots him in the back, killing him.}}
* [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]: Most of the Gowa clan.
** Something of a deconstruction, it's revealed that most of them (except Kazukiyo) abide by ''some'' code of morality as the series goes on. i.e., upon learning that {{spoiler|Miharu is a Kai}}, Kiyotsugu refuses to disclose said knowledge {{spoiler|to protect her from Kazukiyo. And when Kiyoharu is the one who spills the beans, Kiyotsugu is all [[Oh Crap]]}}.
* [[Dead Person Impersonation]]. {{spoiler|The protagonist Yushiro was raised under the identity of the real, '''and long-dead''', "Yushiro Gowa".}}
* [[Demonic Invaders]]
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* [[Good Samaritan]] ( {{spoiler|Wan}})
* [[Good Scars, Evil Scars]] (Nishida has a horizontal scar that goes across the bridge of his nose and over both his eyelids, from where he cut his own eyes out.)
* [[Heroic BSOD]] (Miharu has one 2/3rdstwo-thirds of the way into the series; {{spoiler|Yushiro eventually snaps her out of it at the end. TA pilots Takayama and Kitazawa also have one inside their TA's during a riot.}})
* [[Heroic Bystander]] (when first introduced, Wan appears to be one of these {{spoiler|then its revealed that actually one of Symbols former field agents}})
* [[I Just Want to Be Normal]] (variation; a third person example from Kaburagi, who feels that Yushiro shouldn't be in the TA platoon as a) he's a civilian not a soldier, and b) its unfair that he hasn't been given a choice in the matter.)
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* [[Improbable Age]] (Yushiro is 16; justified in that he is still a civilian, and that the TA squadron he's assigned to wasn't meant to serve in combat at all. This is also lampshaded during episode 6, when Yushiro disappears:
{{quote|'''Ataka''': Just how many teenage boys in SSDF uniforms do you think are here anyways?
'''Mirai''': Um...actually iI've been [[Bifauxnen|mistaken for one]]...a few times... }}
* [[Intrepid Reporter]]: Deconstructed, said reporter is a no name balding overweight middleagedmiddle-aged war correspondent, and his reasons for following the TA platoon in Belgistan (after coming across them on a lucky break) are less than noble, (hoping that his report will get him an Emmy), he and his cameraman then get unceremoniously executed by their own guide, who seemed to do it [[For the Evulz|For Teh Lulz]]
* [[Jerkass]] (Kitazawa is one of these briefly, and even remarks on it later on in the series.)
* [[Jigsaw Puzzle Plot]]
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* [[Loads and Loads of Characters]]
* [[Mad Scientist]]: Subverted in Kiyotsugu Gowa's case; he appears to be amoral at first, but does have lines he will not cross over, to the point that he {{spoiler|intentionally avoids telling his brother Kazukiyo that Misuzu is a kai because "there's no telling what he might do." He's also horrified when Kiyoharu tells him instead.}}
** Mr. Yonetani plays this straighter, injecting pilots with the [[Psycho Serum|Eyeglobulum]] even though he knew of the risks, because Kiyotsugu was unprepared to do the same. He even tries to justify it when one of the pilots lapses into a coma.
{{quote|'''Yonetani''': If the human race gave up on everything with a 25% failure rate, we'd still be sitting in trees eating bananas.}}
* [[Man Behind the Man]]: {{spoiler|Phantom}}.
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* [[Mini-Mecha]]
* [[Normally I Would Be Dead Now]]: Yushiro miraculously {{spoiler|avoids being pulverized by an artillery bombardment}}.
** And even earlier {{spoiler|he gets shot in the head by a sniper and lives, though in all fairness he was still wearing his helmet}}.
* [[Not So Crazy Anymore]]: The United States invades a Middle-Eastern dictatorship in pursuit of weapons of mass destruction that apparently never existed...
** Also the idea of using unmanned flying/gliding drones for reconnaissance.