Gasaraki

[Big s]

Out of nowhere Bandai is bringing a new action figure. I couldn’t find a thread for the show, so I figured I’d start one in case other items appear like new kits other action figures or just a rerelease of the series.

[no3Ljm]

That looks nice. The head reminds me of Ludens. I guess that's where Kojima got the idea from.

There's some old Gasaraki kits thread from Bandai and Max Factory. But yeah, no Gasaraki anime thread.

 

[Bolt]

This looks cool. Does remind me of something else I've seen , years ago. 

So what am i looking at here? Is this where the pilot gets inside? What scale is this model?

 

[Big s]

I didn’t think this would fit in the kit section and it may be being done for some type of upcoming rerelease or something. But if it gets more products, I’ll be happy. Gasaraki was one of my favorite anime’s from the 90’s

[Big s]

It’s robot spirits, so non scale action figure 

[no3Ljm]

Yup, I realized that it's a Robot Damashii figure based on that photo and the background that they always used. I just added those Gasaraki links for kits.

But since it's a Robot Damashii figure, you can use this thread if you want.

 

[Big s]

It should probably be in that thread , but who knows. If other things do get released other than robot spirits, then at least Gasaraki has a thread of it’s own.

[TehPW]

Gasaraki… I vaguely remember this... wasn't this sort of another kind of EVA (but no angels)?

[Keith]

21 minutes ago, TehPW said:

Gasaraki… I vaguely remember this... wasn't this sort of another kind of EVA (but no angels)?

No, it's Votoms without action.

Edited January 10, 2020 by Keith

[CoryHolmes]

24 minutes ago, TehPW said:

Gasaraki… I vaguely remember this... wasn't this sort of another kind of EVA (but no angels)?

It tried to copy the feel and character aesthetic of EVA, and it had some genuinely good ideas.  But, like EVA before it, the good ideas got swallowed under a mess of attempted introspection and too much complication.

 

The mecha designs remain some of my favourite, though.  I love how having an onboard AI to handle most of the movement, and the pilot really only picks a route from the options the computer gives, is an actual plot point instead of just being glossed over.

[kajnrig]

16 minutes ago, TehPW said:

Gasaraki… I vaguely remember this... wasn't this sort of another kind of EVA (but no angels)?

It came out around the same time as others that are commonly thought of as being influenced by Eva. While there's almost certainly some influence, they all also probably drew from the same creative wellspring, too. As for the show itself, I don't remember much about it, honestly. There WAS a bit of... a similar "man and his metaphysical connection to his machine" vibe to it, I think the main character slowly starts to mind-meld with his mech over the course of the show? I remember there also being a big Shinto ritual thing, with one of those dudes with the traditional garb and the long red hair/scarf...

Anyway, this is pretty cool to see out of nowhere. Not sure it's something interesting enough to get, but it's neat all the same. Clearly it was someone's passion project, which I can respect them being able to see it all the way through to production.

As for scale, in-universe these things were really small, maybe like... 4-5 meters only? Votoms, yes, like @Keith says. I remember in one of the introductory episodes they go up against tanks, rappel up and down buildings, etc.

[anime52k8]

I'm not sure if I vaguely recall this show or if I'm just thinking I recall this show while actually remembering bits from other shows.

anyways, does anyone else find the way the hands look like human hands in gloves kind of off-putting?

 

[Sanity is Optional]

Mainly I just remember the opening music.

 

[tekering]

2 hours ago, anime52k8 said:

 does anyone else find the way the hands look like human hands in gloves kind of off-putting?

Oh, they looked that way in the show, too... but the fingers weren't so flesh-colored.  

[anime52k8]

BTW, I found the show on youtube. Man is it tedious and boring.

[hachi]

16 minutes ago, anime52k8 said:

BTW, I found the show on youtube. Man is it tedious and boring.

It's going to be boring for those looking for action/pew pew pew. Personally I think it was an OK show.

If you finish it, could you give your thoughts on this take? It's been years since I watched this show. To be honest I don't remember details anymore haha. If I get bored enough with current shows I might give this series a rewatch.

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

Gasaraki,  the OP is probably my strongest memory of this show.

It wasn't particularly bad,  but it tried to have some "meta" type elements and I don't think it pulled it off very well.

The mecha were pretty interesting and not way out spacey there like Gundam..  mostly because it was supposed to be sold as a modern day possibility utilizing current technology.

There was a scene where one of these had an air battle with some Russian styled Flankers..  that was pretty interesting.    

 

 

 

 

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

2 hours ago, Stampeed Valkyrie said:

The mecha were pretty interesting and not way out spacey there like Gundam..  mostly because it was supposed to be sold as a modern day possibility utilizing current technology.

This is what initially attracted me to the show, and the Kotobukiya kits looked nice. Unfortunately, it took a turn towards the metaphysical which turned me off the show entirely.

[Major Tom]

These were preview at Tamashii Nation several months ago 

 

Edited January 11, 2020 by Major Tom

[hachi]

Looks good and I'd love to have a collection for Gasaraki, unfortunately there's no space in my budget for these.

[technoblue]

For me, Gasaraki was a product of its time, and what it did differently from other mecha shows in the late 1990s helped it to stand out.  On subsequent viewings, though, the metaphysical/religious tones don't hold up as well to make it a timeless story. Oh well, there are a handful of episodes that I still like to revisit from time to time.

In any case, it's very cool to see Bandai giving this show the RD treatment. 

On a side note, I think the RD brand is better served for mecha deep dives like this than HMR, myself. Let HMR be exclusive to Macross. Alas, that ship has sailed.

[Lonely Soldier Boy]

Missed on this, OTOH it doesn't come with a pilot figure so I dunno. I guess it'd look cool displayed it next to the Kugai and the Ishtar, (the TA from the other faction), if they ever get around to release those. I'm always biased towards smaller mecha, since giant robots never seemed realistic enough to me. Macross being an exception since it's so well justified, still the Q-Rau is my favorite Macross mecha tho' technically it IS giant.  

[Big s]

I feel the same way about smaller robots like Votoms, or the ones from Blue Gender and even Ghost in the Shell. They just seem more practical to mass produce. I don’t hate the giants like Gundam or Eva or anything though.

[Shadow]

I still have the VHS tapes of this I picked up at Suncoast way back in the early 2000s.

[Syngyne]

On 1/9/2020 at 2:29 PM, Bolt said:

This looks cool. Does remind me of something else I've seen , years ago. 

So what am i looking at here? Is this where the pilot gets inside? What scale is this model?

 

Yes, that’s the cockpit. The hump in the middle is like the seat of a motorcycle. I think a person would come up to just under the knee joint.

[Big s]

Like shadow above, I got my set from suncoast as well. I remember in the late 90’s every mall had a Suncoast and most employed at least one guy that seemed to know every weird bit of trivia about every movie or tv show. And if you were interested in a movie he would find you the best version of that film and somehow convince you to pay extra for it.