Dai-Guard

Encyclopedia : D : DA : DAI : Dai-Guard

Dai-Guard is an anime television series, produced in North America by ADV Films and directed by Seiji Mizushima. It aired from 1999 to 2000, ran for 26 episodes, and 6 volumes of videos were released on VHS and *DVD. The series also had a very brief run (two episodes) on Cartoon Network through Toonami's "Giant Robot Week."

Contents

1 Series background
2 Characters

2.1 The Dai-Guard Pilots

3 Theme songs

Series background

The series is based around three office workers of the 21st Century Defense Corporation who, with the company's giant robot, Dai-Guard, fight interdimensional alien beings called heterodynes that reappeared after no sign of them for twelve years. However, Dai-Guard, was used merely as a corporate logo in the time between the last Heterodyne attack, and goes into battle ill-prepared and unarmed due to the headstrong nature of one of the workers. Unlike most giant robot anime, Dai-Guard performs on much more realistic physics, making it heavy, slow and a hassle to control. After fighting off the Heterodyne, more weapons are developed for Dai-Guard in order to combat the Heterodyne creatures. However, the heterodynes seem to be the least of the 21st Century Corporations problems as they experience opposition in the form of massive damage claims, lawsuits, rivals and a jealous and antagonistic military who wishes to take back Dai-Guard for themselves. Dai-Guard's alien fighting sometimes takes a backseat to the Office antics and bureaucratic troubles the Corporation faces. As the Heterodyne attacks get bigger, stranger and more numerous, the three pilots struggle to keep themselves in the fight.

Characters

The Dai-Guard Pilots

Akagi Shunsuke

Headstrong, idealistic and impulsive, Akagi can be seen as the heart and brawn of the three Dai-Guard pilots. Beforehand, he was merely an office worker for the 21st Century Defense Corprotation, but he manages to achieve his (anime) dreams of becoming a "Giant Robot pilot." During the return of the Heterodynes, he and his two friends Ibuki and Aoyama become the pilots of Dai-Guard, and intend to put it to use in order to fight off the Heterodyne threat. Akagi loves his job a little too much and manages to stick out among his fellow workers as the more enthusiastic one. However, he is usually at odds with the more bureaucratic methods of his company and his superiors. Akagi always has the best intentions, even though they usually get him into trouble on occasions.

Ibuki Momoi

Years ago, during the last Heterodyne attack, Ibuki's father (who was a scientist wanting to prove his theories on the Heterodynes) was killed in the attack. Ever since that incident, Ibuki wanted revenge against the Heterodynes. She becomes the 2nd Pilot of Dai-Guard for this very reason. However, she learns the less than heroic truth about her father, and it leaves her without an emotional anchor. Ibuki has a rather strained relationship with her stepfather, who at first is against Ibuki piloting Dai-Guard, but becomes the person who helps understand her father and fight her personal demons in time to save the world with much more clarity.

Aoiyama Keichiro

Both a veritable ladies man and also somewhat mysterious, Aoyama becomes the 3rd pilot of Dai-Guard. Most of the time, Aoyama disappears after work. While his friends believe he's off womanizing, it turns out that Aoyma is caring for his sick mother. (Who personally doesn't want her to become Aoyama's top priority over piloting Dai-Guard) As his experiences grow during the course of piloting Dai-Guard, he meets more people from his past that he once again crosses paths with.

Theme songs

Opening

"Rojiura no Uchuu Shounen [Back Alley Space Boy]" by The Cobratwisters (Eps. 2-25)

Endings

"Hashire Hashire [Run, Run]" by Kyoko Endou (Eps. 1-25)

"Rojiura no Uchuu Shounen [Back Alley Space Boy]" by The Cobratwisters (Episode 26)

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.