Dai Guard
It is the year 2030, twelve years ago the world was ravaged by a mysterious enemy known only as the Heterodynes. The army commissioned the creation of Dai-Guard a giant fighting robot to defeat these dangerous creatures however the heterodynes were defeated before his completion and Dai-Guard was all but forgotten.
To recoup their costs the army sell off Dai-Guard to the 21st Century Security Company, a privately owned company who use Dai-Guard to promote their wares and garner some extra publicity. The accountants would never think of activating it, as the cost to the company would be astronomical.
However it’s not long before the Heterodynes renew their assault and despite the companies best efforts to stop him noble wage-slave Shunske Akagi takes up Dai-Guard’s controls and brings the fight to the enemy. After a hectic scuffle Akagi and his co-workers manage to defeat the Heterodyne, the army and the accountants aren’t too pleased with his over zealous actions but
nevertheless Dai-Guard becomes Earth’s primary defence against this frightening new danger.
The first thing that strikes you about this series is its keen sense of satire, unafraid to quietly subvert the staples of the mecha genre, it’s a show in which budgetary constraints come before giant robot action. The heroes of Dai Guard may save Japan from imminent destruction but they’re more likely to come face to face with a mound of paperwork and an angry tribunal than an adoring public. Dai Guard’s pilots aren’t existential teens with deep seated emotional issues they’re browbeaten salary men looking for a taste of adventure, protecting their citizenry out of moral duty and a desire to do the right thing.
This realistic no frills approach to the mecha genre really differentiates Dai-Guard from the current crop of Eva pretenders and lends an otherwise imitative show a degree of distinction. In fact the Eva comparisons aren’t that persistent, Dai-Guard is more reminiscent of series such as Patlabor and New Dominion Tank Police in which the robo action takes a turn for the utilitarian, it takes elements from all of the aforementioned shows so you can still expect the odd eva nod but more on that later. Dai Guard himself is a triumph of classic design and retro aesthetics, more Optimus Prime than Unit 01 he’s in stark contrast to the shows more pragmatic styling.
Dai-Guard isn’t all corporate machinations and office place shenanigans and a strong comedic undercurrent stops it from becoming too tedious. In fact this is a very funny series and Akagi’s ceaseless bumbling leads to many laugh out loud moments, this is nicely balanced out with plenty of dramatic instances and whilst the sentiment employed can be blunt it’s certainly effective.
The action sequences are a real highlight showcasing a flair for Kaiju battles rarely seen since the days of Go Nagai, one memorable instance sees Dai Guard ripping off his own arm to perform an impromptu ‘rocket punch’ it’s a great moment and really encapsulates the shows tongue in cheek nature. The show isn’t without it’s problems and certain elements do come across quite forced, you get the feeling Xebec were under pressure to add more eva-light aspects to the show leading to some moments in which Dai Guards feels like nothing more than a brightly coloured Evangelion clone.
This is most prevalent in the design of the Heterodynes, a few of which bear a plagiarized resemblance to the Angels, it isn’t a major problem and won’t interfere with your enjoyment of the series it just shame Xebec took a familiar direction in this one respect especially as the rest of the series strives to be different.
In Summary
A light-hearted and pleasing romp that takes a distinctive approach to a staid genre, the allusions to Eva are a bit of a hindrance but not nearly bad or frequent enough to spoil your enjoyment. Whilst it never demands too much from the viewer this is a fun forward thinking series that will appeal to all but the most discerning mecha devotee.
