AoD Advance Review: Gad Guard Vol. #6

[Chris Beveridge]

Review

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In Summary:
With most series, you usually really look forward to the last few volumes even if you don't want it to end because some of the best material is usually there and it provides the culmination of things. With Gad Guard, it's almost feeling like I'm looking forward to the last volumes so that I can be done with the series as the second half of the show has been so uneven and the story so scattershot that it's causing me to lose interest more and more with each new episode. This volume again has some interesting material to it but it's still got far too much of a filler feel to it and then loses its other drawing power by having the Techodes continue to wind down. The show had great promise when it started along with style but seems to have forgotten what it was after along the way.

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[guyver83]

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Chris Beveridge said:
Review

[ QUOTE ]
In Summary:
With most series, you usually really look forward to the last few volumes even if you don't want it to end because some of the best material is usually there and it provides the culmination of things. With Gad Guard, it's almost feeling like I'm looking forward to the last volumes so that I can be done with the series as the second half of the show has been so uneven and the story so scattershot that it's causing me to lose interest more and more with each new episode. This volume again has some interesting material to it but it's still got far too much of a filler feel to it and then loses its other drawing power by having the Techodes continue to wind down. The show had great promise when it started along with style but seems to have forgotten what it was after along the way.

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damn, I was hoping for some good stuff in this volume. I'm still gonna finish up this series cause def love the animation. I hope the story gets back into gear and atleast a decent ending.

[bctaris]

I must be crazy to still not care if the story wraps up well or not. [img]/images/graemlins/sweat000.gif[/img]

This show I suppose may have worked this last year as a sort of foil for every other convoluted and pretentiously-plotted show I watched. It has been something that I could relax and enjoy without really worrying about what's involved--sort of like some show I loved in my childhood, know intellectually is not that solid (though I think the character setups and interactions in GG have actually been first class), but still enjoy going back to it for the nostalgia and emotional balm.

I think into the first volume I was so intrigued by the visuals, sound, direction and characters that I never made any expectations for whatever sort of story may be involved. And so, five volumes in (as I haven't seen six yet) I'm not in the least concerned about the less than tidy story-telling. It just wasn't the point for why I was watching Gad Guard. Or maybe I am crazy.

[Dagger]

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bctaris said:
I must be crazy to still not care if the story wraps up well or not. [img]/images/graemlins/sweat000.gif[/img]

This show I suppose may have worked this last year as a sort of foil for every other convoluted and pretentiously-plotted show I watched. It has been something that I could relax and enjoy without really worrying about what's involved--sort of like some show I loved in my childhood, know intellectually is not that solid (though I think the character setups and interactions in GG have actually been first class), but still enjoy going back to it for the nostalgia and emotional balm.

I think into the first volume I was so intrigued by the visuals, sound, direction and characters that I never made any expectations for whatever sort of story may be involved. And so, five volumes in (as I haven't seen six yet) I'm not in the least concerned about the less than tidy story-telling. It just wasn't the point for why I was watching Gad Guard. Or maybe I am crazy.

[/ QUOTE ]
That pretty much sums up why I've enjoyed Gad Guard. First of all, it looks and sounds gorgeous. The characters are surprisingly un-flat, and they don't get in the way of the atmosphere, the distinctive setting & the superb visuals. It's almost a slice-of-life series, and I just love its strange sense of calmness; the quirky humor has also worked well for me. Plus some of the episode stories have been really awesome, IMO.

I'm definitely looking forward to this volume.

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bctaris said:
I must be crazy to still not care if the story wraps up well or not. [img]/images/graemlins/sweat000.gif[/img]

This show I suppose may have worked this last year as a sort of foil for every other convoluted and pretentiously-plotted show I watched. It has been something that I could relax and enjoy without really worrying about what's involved--sort of like some show I loved in my childhood, know intellectually is not that solid (though I think the character setups and interactions in GG have actually been first class), but still enjoy going back to it for the nostalgia and emotional balm.

I think into the first volume I was so intrigued by the visuals, sound, direction and characters that I never made any expectations for whatever sort of story may be involved. And so, five volumes in (as I haven't seen six yet) I'm not in the least concerned about the less than tidy story-telling. It just wasn't the point for why I was watching Gad Guard. Or maybe I am crazy.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not alone. I liked it in the beginning for the main characters, and I still like it for the main characters. Good animation and music was just icing on the cake for me.

[Hayate Kurogane]

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Dagger IX1 said:
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bctaris said:
I must be crazy to still not care if the story wraps up well or not. [img]/images/graemlins/sweat000.gif[/img]

This show I suppose may have worked this last year as a sort of foil for every other convoluted and pretentiously-plotted show I watched. It has been something that I could relax and enjoy without really worrying about what's involved--sort of like some show I loved in my childhood, know intellectually is not that solid (though I think the character setups and interactions in GG have actually been first class), but still enjoy going back to it for the nostalgia and emotional balm.

I think into the first volume I was so intrigued by the visuals, sound, direction and characters that I never made any expectations for whatever sort of story may be involved. And so, five volumes in (as I haven't seen six yet) I'm not in the least concerned about the less than tidy story-telling. It just wasn't the point for why I was watching Gad Guard. Or maybe I am crazy.

[/ QUOTE ]
That pretty much sums up why I've enjoyed Gad Guard. First of all, it looks and sounds gorgeous. The characters are surprisingly un-flat, and they don't get in the way of the atmosphere, the distinctive setting & the superb visuals. It's almost a slice-of-life series, and I just love its strange sense of calmness; the quirky humor has also worked well for me. Plus some of the episode stories have been really awesome, IMO.

I'm definitely looking forward to this volume.

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I can't comment specifically on the volume in question, or the volume prior to it, as I'm a bit behind on the show, but bctaris and DaggerIX1 pretty well sum up my thoughts on the series as a whole. I've known since the beginning that the show doesn't do a very good job of trying to tell some sort of concise and well-plotted story (actually, it was more like, "why the hell are you interested in pointless old Gad Guard" and things of that sort [img]/images/graemlins/sweat000.gif[/img]), but I'm enjoying this ride almost purely for the style, as I've noted several times in the past. I mean, I like the cast a lot, but to sit down and take in an episode for the music, the great animation, and most of all Osamu Kobayashi's phenomenal design works, is plenty for me. [img]/images/graemlins/happy.gif[/img]

Feel the same way about the series in general. It's a low committment show. I can sit back and chill like I do with an album.

The characters are pretty cool too.

[Nylock]

I'm way behind on it (vol.3 was the last) but I thought it was an enjoyable show. If the rest of the series follows volume 3's style then I won't be disappointed. Since there's no fixed direction things seem to be heading in, it's tended to get dropped from orders for stuff that my inner LE whore tells me I need. I'll probably pick it up when R.O.D finishes

[Hayate Kurogane]

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Nylock said:
it's tended to get dropped from orders for stuff that my inner LE whore tells me I need.

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That's largely the reason why I haven't been keeping up on it too. [img]/images/graemlins/sweat000.gif[/img] It's why I'm also way behind on Gungrave, and why Samurai Champloo volume 2 has been kicked off the "go get it now!" list.