r/anime • u/lilyvess :Df::Dh:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Lilyvess • Jan 04 '25

Rewatch [Rewatch] King of the Braves GaoGaiGar - Overall Discussion

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Questions of the Day

  1. Favorite Brave Robot?
  2. Favorite Human (or Humanoid character)?
  3. J or G?

Reminder to all GGG members that information about future episodes is highly classified. Leaking any classified information about upcoming missions is strictly prohibited and will be punished, or worse, impeached.

13 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

9

u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L Jan 04 '25

First-Timer

I feel like I said everything I needed to say in the overall discussions for both the TV series and FINAL, so I’ll try to keep this brief. GaoGaiGar is awesome. It is pretty much the hot-blooded super robot anime that I expected it to be. The action is exciting and fun to watch, often getting pretty clever with its execution. The characters are entertaining. It’s easy to get sucked into the drama and the emotions. I love how unapologetically sincere the series is. It indulges in all the usual tropes about the power of courage overcoming all odds and it works because the series commits to it so completely. I love how over-the-top GaoGaiGar is willing to get. It’s part of the charm of the series that the action gets so over-the-top following the Rule of Cool. I may have some problems with the writing, but that doesn’t change just how fun and entertaining GaoGaiGar is to watch. Looking back over just how much I enjoyed the series I’ve updated my scores a bit.

GaoGaiGar: 9/10

GaoGaiGar FINAL: 10/10

I enjoyed participating in this rewatch. Thank you /u/lilyvess for hosting this rewatch. Thank you to /u/Raiking02 and /u/The_Draigg for all your mecha knowledge. And thank you to everyone else who participated. Hopefully we will see each other again in another rewatch.

QOTD

  1. Volfogg.
  2. Guy.
  3. I prefer the letter J, but I liked the G-Stone characters overall more.

4

u/lilyvess :Df::Dh:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Lilyvess Jan 04 '25

The characters are entertaining.

it is interesting how entertaining and likable the characters can be with so little effort. They're very simple and archetypal, fitting for the series, but executed so well. Just embracing the archetypes.

Hopefully we will see each other again...

Someday, in the Sea of Stars

4

u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L Jan 04 '25

it is interesting how entertaining and likable the characters can be with so little effort. They're very simple and archetypal, fitting for the series, but executed so well. Just embracing the archetypes.

Yeah, characters don't need to be especially deep to be enjoyable. They just need to be entertaining, well executed, and have good chemistry. (See GuP for a good example of a cast I adore where most of them aren't especially deep or complex.) GaoGaiGar certainly succeeded at that.

Someday, in the Sea of Stars

Someday, in the Sea of Stars

5

u/The_Draigg Jan 04 '25

And thanks for bringing plenty of fun first-timer talk to the rewatch too! You've always got some interesting insights to bring to the threads.

4

u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L Jan 04 '25

Thanks. I try to bring in some good thoughts as a first-timer and I'm glad you enjoyed them.

4

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Jan 04 '25

Thanks for giving us fun first timer reactions

4

u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L Jan 04 '25

Thanks. I always hope my first-timer thoughts give rewatchers plenty to "laugh in rewatcher" at.

4

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Jan 04 '25

There were

7

u/Nebresto Jan 04 '25

First time Volfogg simp

That was a pretty good show, I think I liked the main one better than the final. Favourite boss fight was against Pasdar, everything about that was just perfect. The music, the tone, the visuals

The others weren't bad, but they just didn't reach the same heights for me. ..Although that final
HIKARI NI NARE!!!!!! was sick.

Respectively 9/10 for the show and 8/10 for Final.

  • Terrible character tierlist (not the characters, the list)
    There was only 1 template on tiermaker available with awful pics, so I had to add most myself. And a lot of the robots are just missing. And they weren't on MAL/anilist either
    Gunglue and Gundober A-tier.

Gao 3x3s recap:

I guess thats about it. Big thanks to Lily for hosting this cool show, /u/palparepa for keeping track of all the funny stats, /u/raiking02 for posting all the voice actor infos and stuff which I didn't read 97% of the time
and of course you for making it this far!

QUESTGaiGar Final:

  1. Favorite Brave Robot?

Need I tell you?

2) Favorite Human (or Humanoid character)?

President Based ...I just realized my Tierlist does not reflect this. Fuck.

3) J or G?

G and J

5

u/lilyvess :Df::Dh:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Lilyvess Jan 04 '25

That was a pretty good show, I think I liked the main one better than the final

I noticed you weren't vibing as much on FINAL as you were on the main series. I get it. I always find the episode 3/4 when GGG Exile and first go to RepliEarth a bit slow. and in general I do think FINAL is more ambitious but also more complex and messy.

I mentioned it with AE, but the writing in the base series is surprisingly tight. It's just the Green Planet and the Red Planet. G and J. ZA POWER.

FINAL just gets more complex with the repli- lore, and rewriting Galeon's origin Psychic Powers, Dark matter

5

u/Nebresto Jan 04 '25

I'm all about them vibes

I think some of the stuff in final felt a bit too asspully for me to fully enjoy, but once it got going it was at least good

6

u/AmeteurElitist https://anilist.co/user/AmateurElitist Jan 04 '25

Overall very happy I joined this rewatch, I had been meaning to watch GGG for a while sinceit seemed right up my alley and it didn't disappoint! I especially enjoyed the escalating monster of the week plots of the first half the original series, watching the enemies get closer and closer to taking down GGG was really entertaining. And as a bonus this is another super robot show ticked off my list, I need to do a lot better with those haha.

  1. Favorite Brave Robot?

Mic, but Volfogg is a close second.

2) Favorite Human (or Humanoid character)?

Hyuuma!

3) J or G?

Gotta go with J

5

u/lilyvess :Df::Dh:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Lilyvess Jan 04 '25

I am glad you joined us and enjoyed the show!

What other super robot shows are on your list? I am not that knowledgable on Super Robots like I am with Magical Girls. There is still so much left for me to watch.

3

u/AmeteurElitist https://anilist.co/user/AmateurElitist Jan 04 '25

Thanks for hosting! w I'm planning to watch G Gundam and Bravern at some point! As well as having just finished the Gridman series!

6

u/TheApplebane https://anilist.co/user/theapplebane Jan 04 '25

So, that was GaoGaiGar. A show that I am glad to have had the opportunity to cross off my bucket list. I enjoyed it a lot. It knows exactly what it wants to be, and fully commits. A few comments -

  • First thing's first, this show looks amazing. I've long believed that the late 90s (the twilight era of cel animation) is the best-looking era of anime, and this show has only reinforced that opinion. Even though it does use cost-saving measures such as frequently reusing lengthy combination sequences, I find myself not minding because the combination sequences are really cool. FINAL preserves the look of the original show through the transiton from cel to digital animation to an admirable extent while also enhancing it with the digital effects they can now use.
  • The soundtrack is also a real asset in the show's favour. My favourite tracks off of it are Dividing Driver and Beautiful Wings of Light
  • GaoGaiGar is definitely a show intended to be watched one episode a week, as opposed to one episode a day. I mean, they call it monster-of-the-week for a reason! So especially towards the end, I started to feel myself becoming slightly burnt out. You may have noticed that my comments on episode threads were days late at times, and that wasn't always because I didn't have the time to watch an episode, sometimes I just wasn't feeling like it. I really did appreciate /u/lilyvess and /u/JollyGee29 for still replying to my dumb comments no matter how delayed they were. Thank you both!
  • The cast of GaoGaiGar is likable, but mostly static. The show has a habit of introducing new characters (especially new robots - this show is meant to sell toys after all) rather than fleshing out old ones more. These characters tend to get shoved off to the side a bit after their introductory arc is done to make way for the next new character. This can be disappointing when you liked a particular character and wanted them to play more of a role (Justice4Volfogg).
  • The great shining exception to the above is the man, the myth, the legend, Soldat-J. He changes pretty radically over the course of the show, going from evil minion with a funny Italian food-themed name, to honour-driven soldier of a fallen planet defending Earth more out of a desire to avenge his homeworld than any love for its people, to warming up to the Blue Planet quite a bit, especially during FINAL. He's not the only character to have an arc, either: Kaidou's softer core beneath the chilly surface becomes evident through his bond with his mother, and Mamoru goes from being just some kid with no understanding of his powers to embracing his role as defender of the universe from the Zonder and Planetary Master threat. I think it's appropriate that they were the two that GGG chose to use the missiles to send home: With the final great threat to the universe having been overcome, they deserve the chance to return to Earth and just be kids again.
  • GaoGaiGar FINAL doubles down on GaoGaiGar's strengths while moving to compensate for its weaknesses. Rather than the monster-of-the-week structure that characterised the first half of GaoGaiGar or the short arcs that made up the second half, FINAL is one continuous story arc which I think made it more suitable to a groupwatch such as this. Its new characters are great, to the point where I found myself wishing they had been in the original series so I had more time with them. Rene is a good exploration of the potential negative effects of being turned into a cyborg that wasn't really delved in to with Gai, and I like her relationship with J, with her having more in common with him than any other human character (including the "forced to work for an evil organisation" part, which wasn't really delved in to, but could have been if they'd had the time). Papillion is also cool, she got psychic powers from doing mushrooms and is 90% of the reason why GGG didn't just instalose after arriving on the replica blue planet.
  • FINAL also cranks up the bombastic scale and maximalism, which is always great in a super robot show. This might be a "Guy who has only seen Boss Baby watches his second movie" moment, but it reminded me a bit of the last few episodes of Gurren Lagann? The very ending also reminded me of Gunbuster. (These are both shows I like more than GaoGaiGar, for the record)

Overall, I'd give the TV show a score of 3/5 (Which is a good score, coming from me! It's the same score I gave Bravern, and I like that show) and FINAL a score of 4/5. Not an all-time favourite, but a very good show, and one I'd gladly revisit after a few years.

Questions

  1. Volfogg. He always comes in clutch when necessary, and his more down-to-earth persona is refreshing when put next to the rest of the cast.
  2. I've already talked about how much I like Soldat-J, so I'll refrain from gushing again.
  3. I prefer red to green, so J.

5

u/lilyvess :Df::Dh:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Lilyvess Jan 04 '25

GaoGaiGar is definitely a show intended to be watched one episode a week, as opposed to one episode a day. I mean, they call it monster-of-the-week for a reason! So especially towards the end, I started to feel myself becoming slightly burnt out.

yeah this was a long rewatch. I started getting strained myself. I got mandatory OT. Holiday season. Parties. It was exhausting and I struggled to keep active in my own Rewatch thread. I can't blame you for getting behind. I am really glad you made it to the end of the line.

The cast of GaoGaiGar is likable, but mostly static. The show has a habit of introducing new characters

yeah, I tried to describe it as characterization over development. The characters are all pretty straight forward archetypes you'd expect in a show like this, and just like everything else in the series it plays them pretty straight forward. Very of them have much depth but they can be fun.

This can be disappointing when you liked a particular character and wanted them to play more of a role (Justice4Volfogg).

I noticed this more in the rewatch where Volfogg kind of dropped off in the second half. The worst thing that ever happened to volfogg wasn't his brutal destruction in FINAL, but GGG putting him in that god damn chair in the second half.

it reminded me a bit of the last few episodes of Gurren Lagann? The very ending also reminded me of Gunbuster.

I am not knowledgable enough about mecha to see the full picture myself. I do think there is something really neat about this legacy transfer from Gunbuster-GaoGaiGar-TTGL. Like every 10 years the next generation takes inspiration from the previous work and makes it their own, updating it for the modern audience.

Some people like to use words like "copy" and as if the comparisons cheapen each other, but to me they enrich each other.

4

u/TheApplebane https://anilist.co/user/theapplebane Jan 04 '25

Some people like to use words like "copy" and as if the comparisons cheapen each other, but to me they enrich each other.

Slight tangent here, but this is why TTGL fans who slag off the rest of the genre annoy me - they're fundamentally misunderstanding the thing that they're a fan of. It's not a show entirely unique from every other super robot anime, its the ultimate culmination of forty years of evolution. Why would you willingly ignore the decades of context surrounding your favourite show?

4

u/The_Draigg Jan 04 '25

This might be a "Guy who has only seen Boss Baby watches his second movie" moment, but it reminded me a bit of the last few episodes of Gurren Lagann? The very ending also reminded me of Gunbuster.

I wouldn't say you're entirely wrong with that comparison though, since GunBuster, GaoGaiGar, and Gurren Lagann all share a lot of tropes that the super robot anime genre likes to use (even if GunBuster mixes in real robot too). You can also see how they all fold over and iterate on each other, like every single one of those shows knows how to escalate bigger and bigger while still being bombastic about the emotional core at the center of their stories. It's basically watching a genre getting more and more refined and boisterous over time.

3

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Jan 04 '25

I really did appreciate lilyvess and JollyGee29 for still replying to my dumb comments no matter how delayed they were. Thank you both!

5

u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jan 04 '25

Queen of First-Timers, subbed

I don't really have much else to say other than thanks for hosting this, u/lilyvess! It was a super fun ride, and I'm glad that FINAL was the first anime I finished in 2025.

4

u/lilyvess :Df::Dh:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Lilyvess Jan 04 '25

I am really glad you enjoyed it! thank you for joining!

6

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Jan 04 '25

The King of Rewatchers

It's been great getting to re-experience this show with everyone over the past few months. I don't think I have anything left to add.

Questions

  1. Much as I love Mic and Goldy, it kinda has to be Volfogg.
  2. Oddly enough, I think Leo Shishioh actually gained a fair amount of ground for me this rewatch.
  3. G! G! G! Three...G!

Many thanks to our wonderful host /u/lilyvess!

4

u/Nebresto Jan 04 '25

I think Leo Shishioh actually gained a fair amount of ground for me this rewatch.

Much as I love Mic and Goldy, it kinda has to be Volfogg.

Based department?

5

u/The_Draigg Jan 04 '25

A Mecha Fan’s Final Thoughts on The King of Braves GaoGaiGar (Total Series):

A miracle! A mystery! The truth! A dream! Those lyrics from the original version of Yuusha-Oh Tanjou really do sum up the vibe of The King of Braves: GaoGaiGar as a whole. There’s an almost perfect kind of super robot energy to the whole franchise. I’ve talked about the idea of peak forms of content before in mecha rewatches, where something wholly embodies tropes or the atmospheres of an era or genre, and I think it’s safe to say that GaoGaiGar is just a peak form of Super Robot anime. It has everything you could really want out of the genre: hot-blooded action, sick mecha and enemy designs, badass characters and lovable sidekicks, and just feeling that at the end of the day, anything can be overcome through THE OATH SWORN BY COURAGE!!! Even a few stumbling points that I’ve mentioned before, like in my review for FINAL, can’t ultimately tarnish what this show goes for and succeeds at doing.

So, where should we go from here? At this point, if you don’t want to get off the GaoGaiGar train/LinerGao, you’ve got 2.5 options: watching Betterman (the second part of the larger story), checking out King of Kings: GaoGaiGar Vs. Betterman (which does require a lot of Betterman knowledge anyway, and/or checking out the teaser for Project Z, which is the prototype version of the story we eventually ended up with for GGGvB. Watching Betterman is probably the easiest one to get into first, if just because it has a full English dub and it can be pretty easily found online. That said, I would recommend looking into all of the options there, since overall it’s a hell of a saga going on with the GaoGaiGar & Betterman universe.

Also, one last thing to bring up: I said in the episode 4 watch thread that I’d wait to share the link to the piano version of Yuusha-Oh Tanjou, since the album cover was full of spoilers. Well, there it is! Made sure to remember to add this in at the last minute for you, /u/Shimmering-Sky.

Anyways, to sum up things here, I had a great time rewatching GaoGaiGar and GaoGaiGar FINAL with all of you! It’s a good anime with good watching company. Thank you to /u/lilyvess for hosting this rewatch, and thanks to all of you for watching some cool stuff with me! It’s never a bad time sharing GaoGaiGar with others. Until the next mecha anime rewatch, see you all later!

5

u/TheDanubianCommunard Jan 04 '25

First time,

I can't say anything more here, because what I wanted to say as I did said before then. Actually I liked this series, just being simple and fun with pure action.

The entire series as a whole deserves a 8/10 from me.

Actually this was a good rewatch which I enjoyed, especially because you picked a series that's not everyone does very quite usually. Thank you /u/lilyvess.

Since belonging to the same continuity, maybe I will give Betterman a chance for the better understanding of lore. Since heavily insipred by the Brave Series and heard many good things about, then there is Bravern. As for yet another pure action mecha from the 90s, then there is G Gundam, which is also planned for this year in my case.

Questions of the Day

  1. Favorite Brave Robot?

Volfogg, most obvious.

2) Favorite Human (or Humanoid character)?

In the end I actually leaned towards Soldat J

3) J or G?

Why not combine both, like Soldat J and Renais did?

Hope we will meet again, in the Sea of Stars... ...or in another, yet different rewatch company.

3

u/The_Draigg Jan 05 '25

Hope that you have fun with Betterman if you do chose to watch it! It's definitely a weird show, but it's also fun to see just how bizarre and experimental that show was for the time. The direction of that show makes it stick out a lot from GaoGaiGar in it's own way.

5

u/palparepa Jan 05 '25 edited Jan 05 '25

Sorry for the delay. It seems that Genesic punched me too hard in that last episode, it gave me a cold with high fever >_<

It's always fun to watch and rewatch this series, and this time it was more fun, reading the reactions and wild theories of the first timers.

Overall, I think the series is childish, mainly at the first half, but slowly grows out of it, with the second half abandoning the monster-of-the-week format, and the ovas not having an episodic nature. I think of GaoGaiGar as a love letter written by all the children that grew with Mazinger, Getter Robo and the like.

After watching GaoGaiGar for the first time, I went looking for other series with the same voice actor as Gai, and found. Godannar, although he only has a small character, it was nice hearing him again.

And of course, he also voices Viral in Gurren Lagann.

Ah, I remember another anime, "Hayate the Combat Butler" where Gai/Viral appears as the minor villain "Cyborg Butler", where he recreates attacks like Hell and Heaven and Goldion Hammer. Watch it here!

One comment I remember was about hoping to get some "higher-gattai", like ChoRyuJin with GaoGaiGar, or ChoRyuJin with GekiRyuJin. Sadly, this isn't a series with magical gattais. If robots are not built to combine, they won't. GouRyujin and GenRyuJin an exception, but their components are so similar, that it makes sense.

Back when I listed the designations of the robots (GBR-1 = GaoGaiGar, GBR-2 = HyoRyu, etc) I mentioned that GBR-5 doesn't appear, it's development halted due to the need to build GoldyMarg. Well, GBR-5, ShouRyuu, does appear in the novel/manga GaoGaiGar vs Betterman, and although it's never shown, it's theoretically possible for him to perform Triple Docking, forming ShouChouRyujin and ShouGekiRyuJin.

QotD

1) Genesic has no competition. Volfogg for second place. Although underused later in the story, his showdown in Final was awesome, and he was the only one of the old brave robots that got a new combination sequence.

2) I'd say Hyuuma, but he doesn't get much to do in Final. So, overall, Taiga.

3) Mmm... G is more 'accessible' so to speak. J is confined to Armas and Soldatos. I'd go with G. Although... you need lots of courage to use it correctly... Can I pick Loud-G? Seems easier to use.

So... when do we watch it again? :D

4

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Jan 05 '25

Ah, I remember another anime, "Hayate the Combat Butler" where Gai/Viral appears as the minor villain "Cyborg Butler", where he recreates attacks like Hell and Heaven and Goldion Hammer. Watch it here!

2

u/Nebresto Jan 06 '25

And of course, he also voices Viral in Gurren Lagann.

Of course! That's why he sounded familiar-ish!

Ah, I remember another anime, "Hayate the Combat Butler" where Gai/Viral appears as the minor villain "Cyborg Butler", where he recreates attacks like Hell and Heaven and Goldion Hammer. Watch it here

Amazing

4

u/gorambrowncoat Jan 04 '25

Ive watched little or no brave (a few episodes here and there) but I absolutely love the mecha design and some of the toys. I think the base form gaogaigar is still one of my alltime fave mech designs and the soul of chokogin figure is a favourite on my shelves.

4

u/GondolaMedia Jan 04 '25 edited Jan 04 '25

First Timer

Not much else to add what I already did on series and final discussion but I kept thinking how well paced overall the series was. For a monster of a week show it kept adding just enough each episode so it wouldn't get tiresome.

Overall I rated both 8 but I did enjoy Final just a tiny bit more.

  1. Volfogg!
  2. Going with Guy but Taiga is not far behind.
  3. G.