Say Mecha Talk, Lets Have a Brave Series Topic!

[Yaminoseigi]

Sorry for necroing the post but just wondering which Brave series that got fully subbed already?

So far i have watched Da Garn, J-Decker and GGG and waiting for Fighbird

While GGG is awesome just from Gai's Hotblood, i am quite fond of with Da Garn

[YokozunaBulldozer]

I am not sure but I do know Seven Changer was the bombs in Da Garn.
Once again Koyasu proves his voice makes most things better.
How was J-Decker for you by the way?
Cause I personally put it on my top favorites alongside Mightgaine.

[Yaminoseigi]

Personally i find J-decker not too be my cup of tea as i feel the casts are rather one sided with bland antagonists and the idea of 4th Grader kid playing police kinda irks me. Nevertheless the friendship between man and robot is strong in this one and the J-Decker team are proving themselves worthy to bear the Yuusha title.

[AceWhatever]

There's a very high probability that all Brave shows will finally be available in English within a few months, however discussing the details of this is against forum rules.

[Henyo]

i chose Goldran as the first Brave that i will finish.(stuck at episode 25 though.) and contrary to what some had said, i did't really need to turn off moi brain to enjoy this particular entry. the kids and Walter especially are entertaining enough.

[Dustman]

I know this is backwards to how most people have experienced the Braves but the only one I have yet to see is GaoGaiGar! I'm holding out in the hope that we'll be getting the Blu-rays. That seems like the best way to cap off the franchise.

It's actually surprising to me that Goldran is apparently not that well liked. It was zanier and not as character driven but I thought it was a fine follow up to J-Decker. I also loved Dagwon though, despite it being better off as tokusatsu series. I suspect that they'd both see an uptick in popularity if more fans were exposed to them. Overall, I'd suspect Exkaiser to end up being the least favorite since it's the most slavishly formulaic. It's a fine show and it works well as a template for later installments but I also didn't start with it so I was a little disappointed.

All told this is a great franchise and can't wait for my chance to see GaoGaiGar. Oh and I liked Dendoh as well, if that counts for anything. It reminded me very much of the character moments and sentimentality that I always liked about the first Gundam SEED, just without the polarizing self-seriousness that series assumed to suit the brand.

[YokozunaBulldozer]

I know this is backwards to how most people have experienced the Braves but the only one I have yet to see is GaoGaiGar! I'm holding out in the hope that we'll be getting the Blu-rays. That seems like the best way to cap off the franchise.

It's actually surprising to me that Goldran is apparently not that well liked. It was zanier and not as character driven but I thought it was a fine follow up to J-Decker. I also loved Dagwon though, despite it being better off as tokusatsu series. I suspect that they'd both see an uptick in popularity if more fans were exposed to them. Overall, I'd suspect Exkaiser to end up being the least favorite since it's the most slavishly formulaic. It's a fine show and it works well as a template for later installments but I also didn't start with it so I was a little disappointed.

All told this is a great franchise and can't wait for my chance to see GaoGaiGar. Oh and I liked Dendoh as well, if that counts for anything. It reminded me very much of the character moments and sentimentality that I always liked about the first Gundam SEED, just without the polarizing self-seriousness that series assumed to suit the brand.

Nothing wrong with that.
Personally I enjoyed Goldran since it was the show where Takamatsu(who went on to direct Gundam X, Gintama, and Gyrozetter to name a few) was able to finally spread his comedic wings so to speak just before diving into Gundam X and I liked the sort of slapstick Goonies treasure hunt thing they had going on.
I think it was great they went with something comedic given that the show just before, J-Decker, was a more serious cyberpunk police drama in comparison.
In the case of Exkaiser I would like to think of it as since the show was first in line they were still trying to figure out what a brave show is so you gotta give it some slack compared to the later seven that followed.
As for Dendoh it is not a brave show but a super robot show since they finished the franchise at Gaogaigar(of course, there are those from the Brave-related games specifically Baan Gaan from Brave Saga 1, Saber Varion from Brave Saga 2, Ganbar 01 from the Game Boy Color Brave Saga game, and Rayzelver from Yusha Taisen, but Gaogaigar is where they officially draw the line since these four did not have tv shows) and it does not have the core elements that make up a Brave show.

[Dustman]

Oh Exkaiser was definitely good and I appreciate it fully. I just think that it's also really bare bones if you've already seen what the franchise can do with itself. I'd say Fighbird is where most of the standards were actually set since it was the first to have continuity and to actually give the hero robots personalities.

In comparison, Exkaiser feels more like a family sitcom. Often times I felt like the robots were an afterthought and was more than a little disappointed that

Spoiler

Exkaiser never revealed himself to Kouta's family.

That always seemed like it would have been a good way to shake up the formula's composition and force the two halves of the show to congeal. What we have definitely works but the simplicity was a little disappointing since I started off with later shows like J-Decker.

Also to explain bringing up Dendoh, that's because I think it requires special mention since it was purportedly cannibalized from shelved setting plans for a Baan Gaan series. I agree that it ultimately shares only a few stylistic similarities but I'd be lying if I said that I didn't find some joy in entertaining that spiritual connection. In my mind it gets the general feeling right even if the end result is independent of brand identity.

[YokozunaBulldozer]

No major objections to what you said.
Fighbird definitely had more polish come to think of it.
If I may alongside Dendoh I would also say Transformers Victory should deserve an honorable mention as well considering that the tropes and gimmicks are very braveish and I like to label Star Saber as the Proto brave because of that.
Now that I look back I just remembered Red Geist from Da Garn was a rehash of Deathsaurus.

[hitokirigarou]

I would also say Transformers Victory should deserve an honorable mention as well considering that the tropes and gimmicks are very braveish and I like to label Star Saber as the Proto brave because of that.

The "proto-Brave" thing started with Transformers: Choujin Masterforce.

Now that I look back I just remembered Red Geist from Da Garn was a rehash of Deathsaurus.

There are quite a number of recycled Transformers designs:
Exkizer - Slag, Sludge, Snarl, and Swoop
Da-Garn - Tigerbreast
Might Gaine - Dai Atlas, Speeder, Sonic Bomber, and Sonic
J-Decker - Sixshot
Goldran - Scorponok and Sky Garry
Dagwon - Grandus and Galaxy Shuttle

Green and Blue Raker from Exkizer were originally designed for Transformers. Duke Fire from J-Decker is based on one of the early concepts of Rodimus Prime. There were plans to use the Micromaster stations in J-Decker but they were scrapped.

[YokozunaBulldozer]

I would also say Transformers Victory should deserve an honorable mention as well considering that the tropes and gimmicks are very braveish and I like to label Star Saber as the Proto brave because of that.

The "proto-Brave" thing started with Transformers: Choujin Masterforce.

Now that I look back I just remembered Red Geist from Da Garn was a rehash of Deathsaurus.

There are quite a number of recycled Transformers designs:
Exkizer - Slag, Sludge, Snarl, and Swoop
Da-Garn - Tigerbreast
Might Gaine - Dai Atlas, Speeder, Sonic Bomber, and Sonic
J-Decker - Sixshot
Goldran - Scorponok and Sky Garry
Dagwon - Grandus and Galaxy Shuttle

Green and Blue Raker from Exkizer were originally designed for Transformers. Duke Fire from J-Decker is based on one of the early concepts of Rodimus Prime. There were plans to use the Micromaster stations in J-Decker but they were scrapped.

Victory feels much closer to the brave series compared to Masterforce for me.
Masterforce was more akin to the Saint Seiya-esque anime henshin heroes and to a certain extent X-men for me though I do agree certain elements from the brave shows are hinted in Masterforce.
It's just that the concept is more visible in Victory for me.
For example, Star Saber felt like the titular brave while the trio that makes up Road Caesar felt like Victory's incarnation of Ultra Laker, Guardian, Sky Saber, etc. while the multi team held the position held by Max Team, Baron Team, Landers, Divers, etc.
And Victory Leo was definitely the Ga Orn, Duke Fire, Leon Kaiser of the bunch with Jan being the human kid ally.
By the way it is hilarious to see the transformers designs get re-used.
Thank you for listing those.
You gor a personal fav amongst them?
Mine is Goryu, Hiryu and Shadowmaru.

[Yaminoseigi]

Finished watching Fighbird and this makes the 4th Yuusha title that i have finished so far

Personally i find the series to be really mediocre as it was still trying to create distinct identity for Yuusha series but simply without this series Gaogaigar could have been different. While Katori is not as flashy as Gai Shishioh, he is still really likable fellow.

[YokozunaBulldozer]

Finished watching Fighbird and this makes the 4th Yuusha title that i have finished so far

Personally i find the series to be really mediocre as it was still trying to create distinct identity for Yuusha series but simply without this series Gaogaigar could have been different. While Katori is not as flashy as Gai Shishioh, he is still really likable fellow.

Agree with you on that one.
I think one of the best things about Fighbird was Draias' mechanical form.
It oozed "I AM EVIL ROBOT BOW DOWN AND KISS MY FEET SO THAT I CAN KICK YOU IN THE FACE".
Sadly Organic Draias(yes, that is the name of his final form) gave more of a Bio-Broly vibe for me.

Another would be Dr.Amano and Inspector Satsuda.

And the pet monkey.

[Dustman]

It's nothing special but I liked Fighbird. It reminded me of a Saturday morning cartoon that I could have grown up with. There's no arguing that it's on the lower end but it was a step HUGE forward from the Exkaiser formula. It's a fun superhero show. Speaking of which...

Has anybody here seen Dagwon? That's one of my favorites. If you're a big fan of tokusatsu programs from the Showa era then it's a real treat. Among other things, there are a ton of Tsuburaya homages, many episodes seem to specifically riff on the atmosphere of Ultra episodes directed by Akio Jissoji, Yutaka Hirose and Jouji Nakata (both from Liveman!) play supporting characters and the head writer himself even contributed scenarios to Jetman. The love it has for classic tokusatsu is really authentic but it's also not afraid to be itself and doesn't deviate too much more from the brand than Fighbird so that gives it a really unique flavor as a Brave series.

If you ever feel inclined to look into it firsthand, give the series a chance and really stick with it, at least until the sixth hero joins the team in the early 20's. I seriously didn't think that I was going to like it at all when I started but I completely fell in love with it. The start of the series might feel unusually dry if you're expecting a more traditional Brave formula but it develops some great character humor and is the kind of show that only gets better as it progresses. When it inches toward that third act and it starts to become darker and more dramatic, it's the kind of thing that feels like it has been earned and the monster of the week format from earlier disappears completely.

[YokozunaBulldozer]

It's nothing special but I liked Fighbird. It reminded me of a Saturday morning cartoon that I could have grown up with. There's no arguing that it's on the lower end but it was a step HUGE forward from the Exkaiser formula. It's a fun superhero show. Speaking of which...

Has anybody here seen Dagwon? That's one of my favorites. If you're a big fan of tokusatsu programs from the Showa era then it's a real treat. Among other things, there are a ton of Tsuburaya homages, many episodes seem to specifically riff on the atmosphere of Ultra episodes directed by Akio Jissoji, Yutaka Hirose and Jouji Nakata (both from Liveman!) play supporting characters and the head writer himself even contributed scenarios to Jetman. The love it has for classic tokusatsu is really authentic but it's also not afraid to be itself and doesn't deviate too much more from the brand than Fighbird so that gives it a really unique flavor as a Brave series.

If you ever feel inclined to look into it firsthand, give the series a chance and really stick with it, at least until the sixth hero joins the team in the early 20's. I seriously didn't think that I was going to like it at all when I started but I completely fell in love with it. The start of the series might feel unusually dry if you're expecting a more traditional Brave formula but it develops some great character humor and is the kind of show that only gets better as it progresses. When it inches toward that third act and it starts to become darker and more dramatic, it's the kind of thing that feels like it has been earned and the monster of the week format from earlier disappears completely.

I have actually and it felt like the toku fanboys and fangirls of Sunrise just went all in regarding all things toku.
Even the part that introduces the episode title is a homage to Ultraman.
I did like the toku parodies going on and the designs of the braves were awesome(surprised no one has modified a Wheeljack toy to resemble Dag Fire since both of the share the same alt mode, the Lancia Stratos).

Sorta off topic but if you check out what Sunrise was pumping out that year Dagwon and Chousha Reideen or Reideen the Superior both seemed to try to target female anime fans who are teenagers and onwards given that both had a bishonen cast and some popular voice actors at the time, such as Koyasu Takehito, Yuuki Hiro, Miki Shinichiro, etc.
I guess that was the thing to do that year in 1996 for Sunrise, try to gain more female fans and recreate the fangirl craze that happened with Samurai Trooper or as most of us know as Ronin Warriors(I heard that back in the day when Samurai Trooper aired in Japan the toys sold diddly squat but the female fanbase was very strong, probably explains why they managed to get 3 ovas out after the show ended, pretty impressive for something that seems like it was created to try and capitalize on the Saint Seiya craze).

Come to think of it remember when it was reported Hollywood will adapt Fighbird?
I guess that is cancelled or on indefinite hiatus like the majority of anime-to-live action adaptations.
I agree with your impression on Fighbird, Hasbro should have imported that and slap it on Nickelodeon or Fox Kids' Saturday morning timeslot like a merit badge.
I think Cam Clarke or Townsend Coleman would have done well as Katori.

[Dustman]

Also in terms of the Ultra/Tsuburaya references, the first episode was an homage to how Jumborg Ace got his powers.

Anyway, I grew up on that corny old Ruby Spears Mega Man cartoon and Fighbird kinda gave me the same vibe. Well, at least in the sense that it resembled the Mega Man show that I thought I was watching at that time and how I remembered it prior to the shock I felt when the DVDs were released. Incidentally, Kenichi Araki went on from Dagwon to write every season of the Rockman.EXE (and Ryuusei no Rockman) anime. Starting with the second series, it did its own toku-themed retool. Dagwon worked because of some precedents set by Fighbird but I think, against all odds, it ended up working even more brilliantly for the EXE series since Rockman has had classic toku like Kikaider and Ninja Captor hard coded into his DNA since the first game in 1987. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the writing quality improved quite dramatically from the first series once Araki found his comfort zone with this setting!

[Yaminoseigi]

Finished watching Fighbird and this makes the 4th Yuusha title that i have finished so far

Personally i find the series to be really mediocre as it was still trying to create distinct identity for Yuusha series but simply without this series Gaogaigar could have been different. While Katori is not as flashy as Gai Shishioh, he is still really likable fellow.

Agree with you on that one.
I think one of the best things about Fighbird was Draias' mechanical form.
It oozed "I AM EVIL ROBOT BOW DOWN AND KISS MY FEET SO THAT I CAN KICK YOU IN THE FACE".
Sadly Organic Draias(yes, that is the name of his final form) gave more of a Bio-Broly vibe for me.

Another would be Dr.Amano and Inspector Satsuda.

And the pet monkey.

I think Draias mecha form is easily the best mecha design in Fighbird though i forgot if he ever use his Jet Fighter mode. Also Draias could have easily passed off as a protagonist mecha and feels like Sunrise doesn't have any spare designs at that time give Draias such design.

used to have the toy when i was a kid too

[YokozunaBulldozer]

Finished watching Fighbird and this makes the 4th Yuusha title that i have finished so far

Personally i find the series to be really mediocre as it was still trying to create distinct identity for Yuusha series but simply without this series Gaogaigar could have been different. While Katori is not as flashy as Gai Shishioh, he is still really likable fellow.

Agree with you on that one.
I think one of the best things about Fighbird was Draias' mechanical form.
It oozed "I AM EVIL ROBOT BOW DOWN AND KISS MY FEET SO THAT I CAN KICK YOU IN THE FACE".
Sadly Organic Draias(yes, that is the name of his final form) gave more of a Bio-Broly vibe for me.

Another would be Dr.Amano and Inspector Satsuda.

And the pet monkey.

I think Draias mecha form is easily the best mecha design in Fighbird though i forgot if he ever use his Jet Fighter mode. Also Draias could have easily passed off as a protagonist mecha and feels like Sunrise doesn't have any spare designs at that time give Draias such design.

used to have the toy when i was a kid too

You are not wrong on that.
His jet form was seen here and there in the anime, normally when he retreats or does some jerk move and says "Peace out".
I am sure he used it when he first debuted in that form.