bsu legato Posted April 27, 2004 Posted April 27, 2004 While I've seen it mentioned once or twice on these boards, I think it's high time we formally discussed Gungrave. Video Game. Anime hero. Ass kicking necro-risen action figure. Over the past couple of weekends, my friends and I have been watching a big Gungrave marathon, and I think this show rocks. Right from the intro, with its strangely "Lounge Music" theme and really well done Super-8 lookalike footage (great job on that, Madhouse) this show oozes cool. For those who've been living in a cave with the Taliban, here's the basic premise. After an introductory episode featuring our undead hero killing heaps of "Orcmen" the show proceedes to flash back several decades, to the early days of two young punks named Harry and Brandon. Over the next few years Harry and Brandon join the local mafia, the slightly oddly named "Millenion." Brandon becomes an expert "sweeper" for the mob, while Harry has his eyes set on the top spot. Years pass until a not-so-sudden betrayal sees Brandon killed by his best friend Harry. Now most animes would end here, but Gungrave is just nearing its halfway point. You see, in the world of Gungrave there exists a technology called Necro Rise. Expecting Harry's inevitable betrayal, Brandon has secretly arranged to have himself Necro Risen, so that he may come back when his "family" in the mob needs him. We flash forward 13 years to finally catch up to the point where the first episode left off and Brandon, now known as Beyond the Grave, wages a one man war agaist what used to be his family while protecting the daughter of the woman he loved. That's probably simplifying this show far more than I should, but I don't have time to construct a complete but spoiler free guide to this franchise. All I can say is find this show NOW! Or, you can wait until Geneon releases it, hopefully later this year. Quote
Valkyrie Hunter D Posted April 27, 2004 Posted April 27, 2004 Ahhh Gungrave-great blind, mindless, violence AND the ability to pose after firing a volley of death. I had fun with the game when it first came out, and the show looks promising. Has anyone checked out the action figure yet? I think its one of Kaiyodo's finest works. Quote
Akilae Posted April 27, 2004 Posted April 27, 2004 (edited) I'm still waiting for that last episode to be released subbed, grrr..... The entire anime oozes style, simple as that, although IMHO the animation hits a sort of low somewhere in the middle... the first episode and the last few ones were outstanding though. I think if one liked Trigun, Gungrave would come across as a very good successor... duh, they're both made by the same production team... Is the game worth shelling out the $$ for? I've been told it's rather like ZOE2... "cool!!" but too short and wears thin after a while. Still debating whether or not to buy it... EDIT: Anybody actually have the action figure? I wanted to get it but somehow always put it off... it looked like a VERY faithful representation of Beyond the Grave. Edited April 27, 2004 by Akilae Quote
Valkyrie Hunter D Posted April 27, 2004 Posted April 27, 2004 (edited) I've seen used copies of the game go for $10, and its worth it for that price. Yeah, its a little short, but its just a check your brain at the door blast-a-thon. Swanky cutscenes too. As for the figure, I'll take some pics of mine when I get back home today. Edited April 27, 2004 by Valkyrie Hunter D Quote
gerwalk25 Posted April 27, 2004 Posted April 27, 2004 I've seen used copies of the game go for $10, and its worth it for that price. Yeah, its a little short, but its just a check your brain at the door blast-a-thon. Swanky cutscenes too.As for the figure, I'll take some pics of mine when I get back home today. Agreed! Gungrave for PS2 does indeed kick ass but is quite short, It's one of those games that make you feel like a bad ass just like Dante in Devil May Cry. I bought mine at the Le'Target for the same price too. Quote
Mellow Yellow Posted April 27, 2004 Posted April 27, 2004 (edited) Awesome review there bsu legato I too, am waiting for the last episode to be subbed. Gungrave is one of the most kickass animes out there. It's like If John Woo made the Godfather, threw in some of The Crow to spice it up, and made it an anime, the result would be Gungrave. Hey Valkyrie Hundter D, do you have the big huge Gungrave figure? I saw it at my local comic shop, but I didn't have the money to get it; so I settled for that smaller 4" one, which is pretty freakin detailed for 4 inches Edited April 27, 2004 by Mellow Yellow Quote
soze Posted April 27, 2004 Posted April 27, 2004 Yep yep... hopefully last subbed episode this week. Figure is awesome too BTW. Quote
BoBe-Patt Posted April 27, 2004 Posted April 27, 2004 wow, finally a gungrave anime. After playing the game, you would think they would make an anime of it sometime. I've been waiting for one and never heard or saw anything about it until today. So is this released here in the US already? or the copies you guys watching all bootleg? And how many episodes are there? Quote
bsu legato Posted April 27, 2004 Author Posted April 27, 2004 26 episodes, all but the last have been fansubed Geneon's first volume will come out in July. Quote
bandit29 Posted April 27, 2004 Posted April 27, 2004 I have the 8 inch figure. One of my favorites. I haven't seen the series yet. I'll wait for the US release. There is another PS2 game coming, Gungrave O.D. The first game was good but not worth 50.00 MSRP. Quote
bsu legato Posted April 27, 2004 Author Posted April 27, 2004 I have the 8 inch figure. One of my favorites. I haven't seen the series yet. I'll wait for the US release. There is another PS2 game coming, Gungrave O.D. The first game was good but not worth 50.00 MSRP. You should definitely check out the anime, dejr8bud. Before anything "weird" happens and people start coming back from the dead, it's actually quite an interesting crime story. Heck, they could have just made the show about Brandon and Harry without any of the "Necro Rise" shenannigans and it would still have been a good show. Quote
Mellow Yellow Posted April 27, 2004 Posted April 27, 2004 (edited) Woo hoo, episode 26 is out!! Go get it!! http://www.gotwoot.net/torrents.php Edited April 27, 2004 by Mellow Yellow Quote
wolfx Posted April 28, 2004 Posted April 28, 2004 To clear things up, it is not by the same staff as the Trigun staff. Yatsuhito Nightow the character designer for Trigun was the original designer for Grave in the game, but that's it. Studio Red it seems is made mostly of Chinese and Koreans. (look at the credit's names) Gungrave O.D the game s out for a few months. About 2 months I think. There are no plans to have an English subbed version for it and I read fan-sites that said it might never be subbed. Not sure why. I have the Grave figure by Kaiyodo. The joints are very tight especially its shoulders which make it hard to pose....but otherwise this figure is some excellent crap. Love it. Gungrave anime is good stuff. The 1st episode felt boring and was like crap IMHO....but if you could get past the initial 1st episode, its smooth sailing all the way. Good stuff. Shall watch the last episode tonight. I have to go to work now. Sigh! non-last episode SPOILER I was abit annoyed why they didn't explain the coffin's design and why is there a brain in the skull (as it was shown in the figure). In the battle with Bear Walken, the coffin gets sliced up...WTF? BAHHH!! [/color] Quote
soze Posted April 28, 2004 Posted April 28, 2004 Woo hoo, episode 26 is out!! Go get it!!http://www.gotwoot.net/torrents.php Woohoo.... downloading! Quote
Graham Posted April 28, 2004 Posted April 28, 2004 I was thinking of checking out the Gungrave anime, but a friend who is usually quite reliable told me that it was dripping with teen angst. Is this true? Those who know me know there's nothing I hate more than overly-angsty anime characters Graham Quote
wolfx Posted April 28, 2004 Posted April 28, 2004 I was thinking of checking out the Gungrave anime, but a friend who is usually quite reliable told me that it was dripping with teen angst. Is this true?Those who know me know there's nothing I hate more than overly-angsty anime characters Graham Teen-angst?? Gungrave? Is your friend watching the right anime? Gungrave is more about brotherhood, friendship, family, and betrayal in a mafioso setting. Think of it as Godfather with an anime twist and throw in a technology to raise undead soldiers and you get Gungrave. It explores how 2 best friends slowly turn on each other as they rise up the mafia ladder and the consequences they have to live with. I'm not sure where that teen-angst your friend saw.... Quote
Solscud007 Posted April 28, 2004 Posted April 28, 2004 I loved the game. I played it thru and only thing disapointing was that it was so short. Anmd I have only seen one episode of teh anime. I really liked the blending of Trigun and Cowboy Bebop. Quote
bsu legato Posted April 28, 2004 Author Posted April 28, 2004 (edited) Graham, The lead character really redefines "Strong & Silent" but make no mistake; there is NO teen angst to be found here. Brandon Heat is the polar opposite of Eva's Shinji and whats-his-name, the femme guy from Yukikaze. And if any of you decide to check out Gungrave, make sure to watch more than the first episode!! I cannot stress this enough. Episode one is really more like episode 16 or 17. In fact, I'm sure you could watch it from Ep. two through to the end with little ill effect, since much of the first episode is repeated when the series catches back up to that point in the narrative. Edited April 28, 2004 by bsu legato Quote
Akilae Posted April 28, 2004 Posted April 28, 2004 I think Brandon Heat = Luca Brasi from The Godfather... quiet, very quiet, and really believes in what he's doing... If you hated Shinji's teen angst, Brandon Heat's cool decisivness will be very refreshing. Quote
Graham Posted April 28, 2004 Posted April 28, 2004 OK guys thanks. Ill give it a try soon. Graham Quote
soze Posted April 28, 2004 Posted April 28, 2004 Just finished.... very touching. Great series. Now I gotta find something else to watch... Quote
Valkyrie Hunter D Posted April 28, 2004 Posted April 28, 2004 Well, I don't know if this was the big figure Mellow Yellow pointed out, but I was expecting it to be bigger. But here are the pics as promised: Quote
Valkyrie Hunter D Posted April 28, 2004 Posted April 28, 2004 Grave's alternate head with his gameface going (its got real good detail in the eyes): Quote
Valkyrie Hunter D Posted April 28, 2004 Posted April 28, 2004 Complete with ratcheting shoulder joints (it needs it with that heavy coffin chained on the arms): Quote
Valkyrie Hunter D Posted April 28, 2004 Posted April 28, 2004 Getting that coffin chained up isn't as bad as assembling Monev's ammo belts: Quote
Valkyrie Hunter D Posted April 28, 2004 Posted April 28, 2004 Grave does the dew, and so should you! Quote
Valkyrie Hunter D Posted April 28, 2004 Posted April 28, 2004 I probably should've done more poses without the coffin... Quote
Valkyrie Hunter D Posted April 28, 2004 Posted April 28, 2004 The detail on the coffin is excellent: Quote
Akilae Posted April 28, 2004 Posted April 28, 2004 Okay... you just made me WANT one... one of the best 2D image -> 3D sculpt transfers I've ever seen.... anybody know anyplace online that still carries this figure? Gungrave doesn't seem popular to start with... Quote
Mellow Yellow Posted April 28, 2004 Posted April 28, 2004 Damn that last episode was good. It ended much differently than in the game (from what I saw in an AMV of the game). One of the best series ever Quote
bsu legato Posted April 28, 2004 Author Posted April 28, 2004 Has anybody seen THIS airsoft version of Grave's Ceruberus pistol yet? Make sure you watch the videos. Quote
BoBe-Patt Posted April 28, 2004 Posted April 28, 2004 ok, I remember wanting this figure, but it was hella expensive. How much did you guys buy it for? Quote
wolfx Posted April 28, 2004 Posted April 28, 2004 ok, I remember wanting this figure, but it was hella expensive. How much did you guys buy it for? Got mine for about 73 bux. Worth every penny. Quote
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