Yuusha-Ou GaoGaiGar

In the year 2005, a race of alien monsters called Zonders emerge from underground and launch a series of attacks on the city of Tokyo. The only defense against these creatures is the secret agency known as the Gutsy Geoid Guard (or 3G) and their ultimate weapon, the awesome giant robot GaoGaiGar. GaoGaiGar's pilot, Guy Shishio, is a former astronaut who was nearly killed two years before when the Zonders first crashed to earth. Guy's life was spared when a mysterious robot lion called Galeon pulled him from the burning shuttle and brought him to Earth. Guy's father, Leo, then used Galeon's technology to rebuild his shattered son as a cyborg, in the hopes that he could stop the aliens when they appear. Now, with Galeon as its core, GaoGaiGar fights to protect Earth. He is aided by a team of transforming robots and by a young boy named Mamoru, who has the power to purify the Zonders' cores, and seems to be connected to the mysterious Galeon.

(Source: ANN)

Shishiou, Guy Main

Hiyama, Nobuyuki Japanese

Amami, Mamoru Main

Itou, Maiko Japanese

Soldat J Supporting

Madono, Mitsuaki Japanese

Taiga, Kotarou Supporting

Ishii, Kouji Japanese

VolFogg Supporting

Konishi, Katsuyuki Japanese

ChoRyuJin Supporting

Yamada, Shinichi Japanese

Mic Sounders the 13th Supporting

Iwata, Mitsuo Japanese

Utsugi, Mikoto Supporting

Hanba, Tomoe Japanese

Hatsuno, Hana Supporting

Yoshida, Konami Japanese

Pagliaccio Supporting

Yoshida, Konami Japanese

Yonetani, Yoshitomo Director, Episode Director, Script, Storyboard, Theme Song Lyrics

Takamatsu, Shinji Episode Director, Storyboard

Yamaguchi, Yuuji Episode Director, Storyboard

Mori, Kunihiro Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Mar 25, 2025

RealYRC

Recommended

GaoGaiGar Revived the Super Robot Genre with Flair, but It’s a Mixed Bag Split in Two

Story:
The plot of GaoGaiGar is pretty straightforward but lacks depth early on. Villains corrupt humans to spawn monsters of the week, aiming to purge negative emotions, which inevitably leads to widespread destruction. GaoGaiGar and his team step in to defeat these monsters, purifying the human hosts in the process. However, the first 25 episodes are a slog—barely advancing the overarching story. You could honestly skip from Episode 1 to Episode 26 and miss little beyond the heroes’ gradual growth and the monster battles. Speaking of battles, the early fights feel ... like filler, dragging on with no real purpose. Why pad the runtime with pointless action? Things finally pick up after Episode 27, where both the story and battles gain momentum and purpose, becoming far more engaging. If only the Final Fusion had been greenlit from the start, the pacing issues might have been avoided, making the journey much smoother.

Art:
Visually, GaoGaiGar is a treat. The art style shines with detailed character designs, and the monsters meet their end in spectacular fashion—think massive fireballs and stunning pillars of light. The CG, however, is a jarring downside, especially during the purification sequences, where it clashes with the otherwise stellar 2D animation.

Sound:
The soundtrack is unforgettable, easily rivaling the likes of Gurren Lagann and Star Driver in quality. It’s a high point that elevates the experience. That said, the first half’s audio experience is marred by incessant chatter. The dialogue often states the obvious or devolves into whining about Guy’s predicaments—echoing complaints Nostalgia Critic once made about The Magic Voyage for similar reasons. Add Mikoto’s constant screaming to the mix, and you’ve got a solid case for skipping the early episodes entirely.

Characters:
The main cast is a highlight, brimming with personality. Guy, the fiery cyborg, leads the charge, joined by HyoRyu (an ice-based transformer), EnRyu (his fiery counterpart), Volfogg (a stealthy ninja), and Mic Sounders the 13th, who channels SpongeBob’s rock guitar energy from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Fan-favorite Soldat-J and the mechanoid King J-Der also steal the show with their arsenal—lightsabers, finger cannons, and a flaming bow and arrow. However, the show stumbles with its bloated roster of side characters. Mamoru’s classmates, in particular, feel like dead weight, adding little to the narrative and dragging down an otherwise strong ensemble. Their presence is a big reason GaoGaiGar doesn’t reach its full potential.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Sep 10, 2010

Darklonestrife

Mixed Feelings

I had high hopes that I would be sinking into another EPIC mecha-anime because of all the reviews I read about this beforehand. They all said before "Gurren Lagann," there was GaoGaiGar. What I sunk into, no I mean drowned into was a predictable and "Neon Genesis Evangelion-like" story downgraded for kiddies. At least now I assuringly know which audience this was targeting, so I'll give the fairest and most unbiased review I can.

STORY... The plot of GaoGaiGar is your typical "save the world one day at a time," except it's with robots. You've got your evil mastermind sending his minions to do his bidding; ... you've got your typical "monster of the week" or in terms of GaoGaiGar, "Zonder of the week." And with each enemy encounter, the question isn't if GaoGaiGar will win, it's HOW GaoGaiGar will win. You can expect power-up, after power-up, after power-up, after power-up, after power-up... (Hence, the "typical cycle"). And just like the sentence before this one, (not the one in parentheses), GaoGaiGar is repetitive... Too repetitive for it's own good... It attempts to put in some suspense at times by displaying that some actions of one of the heroes does has negative repercussions, but you can easily tell they will find a solution to fix this problem. And so, the "typical cycle" repeats itself with the introduction of new characters joining the fight. Predictable, right?

For me, the only good points of the plot was with each enemy encounter, you really can sense the degree of difficulty on how to defeat the enemy getting higher and higher or the degree of danger getting higher, however you want to say it. That could possibly spark your interest. The second good point is it's twist- just when you thought the enemy was defeated, guess again... But that too, was unfortunately it's downfall because repeating the "typical cycle" for 49 episodes just got a bit boring towards the end. Also, I thought that if the exact opposite thing happened to the heroes (don't worry, I won't spoil anything, keep reading) in episode 30 and in the final episode, then GaoGaiGar could have been a candidate for an EXCELLENT series or maybe even EPIC.

ANIMATION... The animation is a bit dated, but I won't hold that against it. The robot designs are neatly drawn, and great detail goes into when they perform their transformations. However, a lot of stock footage transformation was used for most of the episodes and you could get bored after seeing it too many times. But you will find yourself amused on how exaggerated characters perform their actions even if it's just for the simplest things like- Mr. Chief's jacket wildly blowing in the wind as he gives approval for certain battle actions and how Mikoto Utsugi has to break glass with her fist just to press a button. Now, this works for the first few times, but after a while, it just gets annoying. As for the enemy designs, I can't help, but think if the designers got lazy towards the end. Watch it for yourself, you'll see what I mean.

SOUND... The soundtrack of GaoGaiGar isn't terribly bad, but it isn't terribly good either. The opening theme may be annoying to some, but after 8 episodes in, I found myself smiling, thinking to myself, "I'm actually listening to this. Haha..." The ending theme is just okay or should I say "meh?" As for the background music, what can I say? It's typical of the 90's? All in all, the soundtrack shouldn't be too much of a bother while watching.

CHARACTERS... Now, this is what I consider to be the "saving grace" of GaoGaiGar. The main characters are likeable, despite the lack of depth. You've got Guy Shishio, your main super hero who displays a fiery courage, along with a boy named Mamoru Amami whose got special powers that help defeat the Zonders, alongside them you've got the team 3G whose cast is also entertaining to a certain extent. However, it's the robots that steal the show, mainly GaoGaiGar's comrades. GaoGaiGar's robot comrades were each given distinct, unique human personalities, and seeing them interact with others and their environment will either put a smile on your face or make you laugh. You might even have favorite robots by the time you're done with the whole series. As for the villains, they are totally one dimensional, just a bunch of dudes always planning to wreak havoc on humanity in whatever way they can. You know, a mastermind wanting to rule the world or universe, something along those lines. Only one villain undergoes character development, but I won't say who that it is. I don't like being a spoiler. Haha...

OVERALL SCORE: 6/10= Above Average

STRENGTHS
+ Likeable characters, despite lack of depth
+ Introduction of new characters is what keeps the show entertaining somehow.
+ Different types of enemies keeps challenges for the heroes fresh.

WEAKNESSES
- Predictable plot.
- Too much repetition in some scenes.

Note: The target audience of this series is obviously kids because kids don't tend to notice character development, plot twists, or other details that serious anime watchers look at. I recommend this series only and ONLY to a younger audience and for people who really love mechas. As for the other viewers, you'll be better off not watching this one.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Mar 12, 2024

ProxyLain

Not Recommended

This is one of the worst mecha of all time.
There is no character development, their relationships are vague. It's 49 episodes of nothing but the monster of the week. Background stories are told through poorly executed flashbacks or rushed in a way that doesn't make sense, considering that 49 episodes are enough to develop a story.
Besides, there are even huge plot holes, as we can see in episode 43. The episodes ago the robots were thrown into space time on Jupiter, but in ep 43 they show them coming to earth in the era of dinosaurs (when they existed) and they were underground for all ... this time. What's the point? Look at the size of the plot hole...
How did they end up in the age of dinosaurs in the same timeline as everything is happening? They wrote this episode with their asses and didn't think.
The ending is stupid. The protagonist simply leaves Earth because a threat can appear at any time in the universe. Couldn't he just stay on Earth? Where did he go? Are you going to be wandering the universe inside a robot? They simply did it to make it look sadder, but it's just poorly written.

The author of this work also made Brigadon and Betterman, I don't know how I expected any quality from this.

The animation is good, but every episode repeats the same transformation and that annoys me. There are episodes where the same transformation happens twice.

The penultimate episode is just a shitty recap episode. Seriously?

There's really nothing to praise about this anime. It wastes time just being the monster of the week instead of wanting to tell something. Like I said, when it tries to tell something, it's rushed and vague. Even the villains themselves were created with a stupid and poorly made excuse. They say this anime is the Gurren Lagann of the 90s, now I understand why it's so horrible (it manages to be worse than Gurren Lagann).

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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