8.2 /10 1 Votes
Studio Sunrise (Studio 7) Final episode date 21 March 2003 | 8.2/10 First episode date 21 January 2000 Program creator Sunrise | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Produced by Hiroyuki OrukawaShinichiro Kobayashi Written by Fuyunori GobuYuichiro Takeda Released January 21, 2000 – March 21, 2003 Similar |
The King of Braves GaoGaiGar Final (勇者王ガオガイガー FINAL, Yūshaō Gaogaigā Fainaru) is a Japanese OVA anime series produced by Sunrise. It is the direct sequel to the 1997 anime television series The King of Braves GaoGaiGar and the first Yūsha metaseries officially funded by Bandai, following its acquisition of Sunrise. The series is directed by Yoshitomo Yonetani and written by both Fuyunori Gobu and Yuichiro Takeda. It was released in Japan from January 21, 2000 to March 21, 2003 with a total of 8 episodes. A 12-episode TV re-imagining, with the subtitle Grand Glorious Gathering was broadcast in TV Tokyo from April 11, 2005 to June 27, 2005. A crossover sequel light novel, which focuses on the unused concept of the series, was released on Sunrise's Yatate Bunko imprint on September 30, 2016.
Contents
![The King of Braves GaoGaiGar Final The King of Braves GaoGaiGar Final DStyle Gaofighgar Plastic](https://alchetron.com/cdn/the-king-of-braves-gaogaigar-final-1a094251-4931-4ce0-9326-1e1ff687e38-resize-750.jpeg)
Plot
![The King of Braves GaoGaiGar Final httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaen884The](https://alchetron.com/cdn/the-king-of-braves-gaogaigar-final-958b8670-e44a-4789-b0fc-0ae78cad42e-resize-750.jpg)
Taking place well after the end of the series, GaoGaiGar FINAL tracks the events surrounding the Q-Parts, mysterious black machines that possess powerful energy conversion properties. Episode 1 begins with the criminal organization BioNet stealing one of the Q-Parts being researched at CERN, and serves primarily to introduce the changes to the main cast since the end of the series. Guy debuts in his new Super Mechanoid GaoFighGar, a combination of upgraded GaoMachines and the reconfiguring jet PhantomGao that was built to replace Galeon after the latter's departure from Earth at the end of the series. This episode also introduces the new cast, including Guy's cousin Renais-Kardif Shishio and the biologist Papillon Noir, a character first introduced in Betterman. The end of the episode sees the appearance of an off-color Mamoru Amami, who was also briefly seen at the start of the episode doing battle with a resurrected Ikumi Kaidou.
![The King of Braves GaoGaiGar Final The King Of BravesGaoGaiGar Final Grand Glorious Gathering Photo by](https://alchetron.com/cdn/the-king-of-braves-gaogaigar-final-4b94f6b2-9e53-4eab-93b3-5ebd9cfb215-resize-750.jpg)
Episode 2 tracks Mamoru as he collects the rest of the Q-Parts, either by guile or by force, and assembles them into their full form, a matter replication device known as the Pas-Q Machine. In the process, Papillon is killed, and Guy takes off after Mamoru. The encounter ends in a battle between GaoFighGar and a copy of GaoGaiGar using Mamoru and a copy of Galeon (Repli-Galeon) as the core component. The battle ends in Guy's victory (at the cost of the helper robo Goldymarg, causing Guy to use Hell and Heaven as his finishing move once again), and both Mamoru and Galeon are revealed to be replicants that dissolve into sand. The machine is promptly taken by a mysterious man with butterfly wings, and GGG prepares to take after him into space.
![The King of Braves GaoGaiGar Final King of Braves GaoGaiGar Final Guy Shishioh GaoGaiGar](https://alchetron.com/cdn/the-king-of-braves-gaogaigar-final-36b1e832-d0eb-4864-aa0c-5dbce359e22-resize-750.jpeg)
Episode 3 is almost entirely non-combat. In order to get around the UN's refusal to allow them to leave Earth, GGG stages an elaborate ploy together with their related organizations and the Secretary General of the UN, Rose Approval. The result is that three of GGG's Division ships and their crew (that is, the entirety of the main cast) are exiled from Earth, and are free to follow Ikumi Kaidou's directions to the Tri-Solar System. Their enemy is revealed to be the 11 Sol Masters, sentient programs designed to regenerate the Tri-Solar System after the Z-Master was eradicated.
Episode 4 sees GGG arrive to find a replica of Earth - like all the previous replicants, this is an off-color version. Its only inhabitant is a replica of Papillon, who reveals that this replica of Earth was created moments prior to her original's death by a misfire of the Pas-Q Machine, which produces imperfect duplicates. Papillon was the only human duplicate that was stable enough to survive for more than a few seconds. The Galeon and Mamoru previously met were also Pas-Q Machine duplicates. GGG scours the Earth for Mamoru and the Sol Masters, but fails to find so much as a hint of them. Over time, the majority of GGG becomes lethargic, and most eventually slip into sleep. The Mobile Unit is shut down by them prior to this, leaving only Guy, Papillon and Renais active. Guy hunts for the source of all this, and is accosted by the Sol Masters. He faces off against Palparepa, the man who stole the Pas-Q Machine, but falls against Palparepa's God and Devil attack when he sees that one of the Sol Masters is Cain, leader of the Green Planet.
In Episode 5, GaoFighGar is destroyed by Palparepa, and Mikoto awakens from her slumber. Papillon reveals that Mikoto is an invincible life-form like the new machine species Zonuda (the first of which was fought at the end of the previous series), and thus was able to recover from the nerve-relaxing Paras Particles Palparepa had spread across the replicant Earth. Papillon begins work on an antidote, while Mikoto goes to find the imprisoned Soldato J, now mankind's last hope. In the process, she meets the real Mamoru, who had been in the Tri-Solar System for a year and a half. Upon meeting and freeing J (with the help of Renais), Mikoto is attacked by two more Sol Masters - the bee-like Pillnus and the reaper-like Pia Decem, respectively Renais and J's counterparts. The heroes escape on the reborn J-Ark, which is dragged up into the upper atmosphere and forced to do battle with replicants of the entire Mobile Unit and a replica of GaoFighGar piloted by none other than Guy, now under Palparepa's control.
Episode 6 concludes the battle and results in Guy's purification. J's J-Quath is shattered in the fight after the Repli-Mobile Unit rebel and sacrifice themselves to take some of the blow from the Repli-Goldion Hammer, destroying the Repli-Goldymarg soon afterwards. The Soul Masters attack J-Ark directly, and in the process Guy, Mamoru and Mikoto escape to the G-Crystal located on the replica of the moon, while J finds his J-Jewel shut down. The G-Crystal is the only thing left from the original Tri-Solar System, and it is here that Mamoru has been hiding out all this time, working to restore Galeon to its original form and programming. The Sol Masters attempt to destroy the Crystal, and their duplicate of Cain attempts to conduct Fusion with the new Genesic Galeon. It refuses, and instead reveals that Guy is within, alive and well. Guy conducts Fusion with Galeon, and Mikoto breaks a crystal plate to release the Genesic Machines, the original GaoMachines. Guy performs Final Fusion for the last time to form the God of Destruction, Genesic GaoGaiGar. Mikoto, however, is critically wounded in the aftermath. She is left nearly dead - however, if what Papillon said is true, Mikoto cannot die.
Episode 7 is mostly Genesic GaoGaiGar demonstrating its sheer destructive power against the Sol Masters. GGG arrives partway into the battle, now awakened by Papillon's antidote. The members of the Mobile Unit (as well as J-Ark) end up faced off against their counterparts, with J's power being restored and enhanced by proximity to Renais's G-Stone. The battles end up spread across the entire Earth, and Genesic GaoGaiGar's fight with Palparepa is shown to be very one-sided until Palparepa powers up by injecting himself with his own Doping Cylinders. The episode ends with Palparepa using his improved God and Devil as Guy unveils the true form of Hell and Heaven.
Episode 8 is fifty minutes long, as opposed to the normal half-hour length. It chronicles the individual fights, where GGG fares well initially against each of the Sol Masters. However, the Soul Masters are capable of regenerating infinitely, and ultimately manage to overpower the heroes. Each member of the Mobile Unit uses their desperation attack, most of which were formerly only listed in tech specs, and emerges victorious. Guy manages to defeat the powered-up Palparepa even after he undergoes yet another transformation, and reveals that the G-Stones convert courage into life force. Against this power, the Loud G-Stones that power the Sol Masters lose their strength; furthermore, the G-Stone's power can grow indefinitely, exceeding the Loud G-Stone's limit. As the Sol Masters fall, their Regeneration Machine - Pisa Sol - proceeds to revive and duplicate them a hundred times over. This drains its power, giving GGG the opportunity they need to use their ultimate weapon, the Goldion Crusher, to destroy it and thus end the menace of the Sol Masters. Unfortunately, GGG is faced with the discovery that this Repli-jin universe is collapsing, and there is only a 1-meter gateway that will be open for 2 seconds for anyone to escape. In the end, Mamoru and Kaidou are sent in torpedoes out of the universe, bidding tearful farewells to their comrades. Upon their return to earth, Mamoru, Kaidou and Hana create a memorial to honor GGG's sacrifice. The final moment of the episode closes with the narrator saying that we all hope and believe that GGG will return again someday.
Premise
The series is comprised eight episodes and is chronologically set after the events at the end of the original television series, featuring new and returning characters from the television series and other GaoGaiGar media. Notable inclusions are the return of Mamoru and Galeon; the first anime appearance of Renais Kerdif-Shishioh, Guy's cousin from GGG's sister organization Chasseur (as first seen in the novel "The King of Braves GaoGaiGar: Queen of Leo <Leon Reine>". as well as GaoGaiGar's successor mechanoids GaoFighGar and Genesic GaoGaiGar.
Themes
Final has a very different set of themes from the original series, focusing primarily on two central themes. The first is "together with the oath sworn through courage", a phrase which Guy and many of the other heroes reference many times throughout Final. The oath is not an actual oath per se, but rather an embodiment of the will of the heroes to fight to their last breath. It is the concept that, as Papillon Noir says in the finale, they will always overcome the difficulties ahead of us as long as they have courage.
The second primary theme is the recurring imagery of God versus the Devil, a concept briefly touched on during the last fight of the original series. It forms the core philosophy of the Planetary Master Palparepa, who believes that when two great powers clash, the victor becomes God and the vanquished becomes the Devil. He quite clearly sees himself as God, and at two points he mentally sees Guy as the Devil, the demon who brings ruin. The theme is also evident in Palparepa's ultimate attack, "God and Devil"; a powerful technique that mirrors Guy's "Hell and Heaven" attack. Later in Final, Guy (or rather, Genesic GaoGaiGar) is revealed to be the God of Destruction, the one who brings the hope of a fresh start from zero, the challenge of infinite possibility. The dualist nature of GaoGaiGar suggests that there must then be a God (or Goddess) of Protection - all factors indicate that this would be Mikoto Utsugi, herself an invincible life-form formed from the remains of the power of Zonder Metal.
Grand Glorious Gathering
Starting in April 2005, a twelve episode "re-imagining" of the series, GaoGaiGar Final: Grand Glorious Gathering, aired on TV Tokyo. Due to the different running lengths of the OVA versus the space allowed on TV, the episodes were re-edited and spread across those twelve episodes. Footage from the original TV series and new voice recordings were used to fill in the allotted time, as well as new footage which almost exclusively serves to further establish a connection between GaoGaiGar and the anime series "Betterman," which takes place in the same world and setting. Several incidences of nudity found in the OVA were also censored or omitted.
Anime
The original OVA series ran from January 21, 2000 to March 21, 2003. The opening song from Episodes 1-6 is titled "Yuusha Oh Tanjou -Mythology Version-" (勇者王誕生!-神話(マイソロジー)バージョン-, Yūshaō Tanjō! Maisorojī Vājon-) by Masaaki Endoh while Episode 7 is titled "Yuusha Oh Tanjou -Ultimate Mythology Version-" (勇者王誕生!-究極神話(マイソロジー)バージョン-, Yūshaō Tanjō! Kyūkyoku Maisorojī Vājon-) by Masaaki Endoh with the GGG Sound Choir. The first ending song is titled "Leon Reine" (獅子の女王(リオン・レーヌ), Rion rēnu), performed by Saeko Suzuki for Episodes 1-6 and by MIQ in episode 7 while the second ending song is titled "Itsuka Hoshi no Umi De -Character Version-" (いつか星の海で -Character Version-, "Someday, in the Sea of Stars -Character Version-") by the anime's official cast.
The anime remaster was then broadcast in TV Tokyo from April 11, 2005 to June 27, 2005 before being replaced by Gun Sword on its timeslot. The opening theme is titled "Yuusha Oh Tanjou -Gathering Mythology Version-" (勇者王誕生!-集大成神話(ギャザリング・マイソロジー)バージョン-, Yūshaō Tanjō! Gyazaringu Maisorojī Vājon-) by Masaaki Endoh while the ending songs reuse the songs from the OVA except for certain episodes.
Light Novel
A sequel web light novel, titled King of Destruction: Gaogaigar VS Betterman (覇界王~ガオガイガー対ベターマン~, Hakaiō ~Gaogaigā tai Betāman ~) was released by Sunrise under the Yatate Bunko imprint on September 30, 2016. It serves as a crossover to Betterman, following after the events of the OVA, and uses unused concepts from GaoGaiGar Final Project Z.
Video Games
The series has been included in various video games, including Brave Saga 2 for the Sony PlayStation and Brave Saga: Shinshou Astaria for the Game Boy Color, both published by Takara. It is also included in Bandai Namco Entertainment's long running Super Robot Wars franchise starting from 3rd Super Robot Wars Alpha: To the End of the Galaxy.