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MVM are certainly living up to their promise of bringing a host of new anime to the UK in 2007, with Gun X Sword (the X is silent by the way) joining the likes of Ah! My Goddess and Saiyuki Reload on their roster. Gun X Sword follows Van, a lonely
wanderer who journeys from town to town searching for a mysterious clawed man.
Van may look skinny and inoffensive but he is actually an armour rider, a
warrior who can summon a mighty robot suit and is also armed with a bizarre
scarf that can turn into a sword. Despite this he lives constantly below
the breadline and when he wanders into one town in search of food he gets caught
up in a battle between a criminal gang and the town's inhabitants. After
using his abilities to save the life of a young girl caught by the gang he
suddenly finds himself with an unwanted companion. The girl, called Wendy,
is searching for her brother and the clawed man is central to her search.
Recognising that she and Van have a common goal, and that Van is strong, Wendy
follows him on his journey. But with gangs and rogue armour riders
everywhere things aren't going to be easy... |
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Boasting a enigmatic wanderer with unbelievable abilities, a setting that blends sci-fi with the Wild West and a search for a mysterious but deadly villain, Gun X Sword instantly demands comparison with the superb Trigun. At first glance it does seem very similar, but as you watch it more it becomes clear that it has its own identity. The main characters are pretty interesting, Van is kind hearted and usually does the right thing but most of the time he doesn't really want to get involved. Wendy is a young girl forced to |
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witness death and destruction, she may yearn for her lost innocence but she hates being thought of as a child. They're thrown together and work well as a central pairing, plus both have mysteries about their pasts that will no doubt be explored in future volumes. The design of the
cities and machinery is very imaginative too. The city on a
bridge that appears in episode two and the overgrown city from
episode one stand out, and the mecha design is awesome. There
were some nice touches - for example the 'armour' ridden by a group
of old armour riders was very similar to that in team shows like
Power Rangers, a throwback to the eighties and nineties that
contrasted well with the more modern design of Van's armour.
On top of this the episodes on this volume are quite action packed
and enjoyable. |
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The problem is though that some of the villains have been a bit, errr, crap. The thug who leaves everything to luck looked like an extra from an '80's action movie, and the town mayor with a prehensile moustache just didn't work. It's a shame they couldn't have done better as it does let it down considerably. There is also an extreme cheese factor in some episodes which often seems out of place as it isn't played for laughs. Most of Gun X Sword so far has been serious and some of the sillier aspects just haven't fitted well. However, at |
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the moment it is establishing the characters and world, and in the third and fourth episode there are signs of a tortured past for both characters that has yet to be revealed. A past war is alluded to, and there's still the mystery of what the armours are and who the man with the claw is. Gun X Sword vol 1 is enjoyable enough but it suffers from being a bit cheesy and has yet to really delve beneath the skin of the world or the characters. However, there are enough signs that it will do so in future to make you want to stick with it and the action and design (apart from on the villains themselves) is impressive. It is a shame that Van seems to show all his tricks right at the start, but at the moment he remains interesting enough to get away with it. To be fair the series seems like it's finding its feet, and it's certainly not bad. Whether it will become essential viewing or not is unclear from this volume, but there is plenty here to hold your interest and it is a bit different from the usual giant robot show. Worth a look, but I feel everything will hinge on volume 2. Extras: Another MVM title with a decent set of extras! The usual trailers and clean opening and ending sequences are joined by an art gallery and Japanese TV commercials for the series. However, the best extra is Gun X Sword-San, a series of bizarre anime shorts in which the characters are computer animated glove puppets! The first two episodes of this odd comedy spin-off are included on this disc, and they are suitably insane... Ratings Feature:
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