Gunparade March - Complete Collection
Gunparade March – Complete Collection DVD (MVM Entertainment)
I’ve noticed something with anime and manga, for some reason in the future Japanese school children will save us all. Gunparade March is no different, this videogame, turned book, turned anime of an alternate history where an alien invasion force in 1945 stopped World War 2 and forced the world to fight this extraterrestrial threat is an intriguing premise. With western civilisation over whelmed and swallowed, Japan starts drafting high school kids to pilot huge mech suits (in this show they’re called HWTs), which is where this series kicks itself off with a group of students – Unit 5121- struggling to find normality whilst also fighting alien swarms and the huge ‘alien brains’ with high powered weaponry (the devastating PBE bomb). Haunted however by an overly exaggerated melodrama this very decently animated manga series of massive mechs kicking alien ass is dragged down by its own sense of teen angst and before you know it you’re watching awkward moments, love stories and blushing conversations. It’s not dreadful and it has great moments, but the frenetic action interspersed with girls worrying about whether they’ll get a boyfriend or not dampens the overall impact of the series and it does feel like time filling after a while. For fans of the melodramatic only and once the series settles in and you get to know the characters it does become a little easier to watch. The English dub ruins any sense of drama so stick to subtitles. Alex
