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Generator Gawl
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Title Info
- seen: 1-4 of 12
- type: TV
- grade: worthy
- made: unknown
- Review created: Recently, but I didn't record the date.
- mod: none
Four episodes and I still don't know why one of the characters appears to have a exhaust pipe on her head, what an aggravating series this is. On the other hand it is sort of addictive while still offering lots of action. The setting is in a `research city' sometime in the near future. The story concerns three youths who have come from the future with a mission. It seems that in a number of months an amazing biological discovery is going to be made, but based on some hints and flashbacks this is one discovery mankind could have done without. In addition it seems there are no shortage of people who want to stop them stopping the event. The guys, while appearing quite young seem pretty skilled, with a cool calm master tactician, an expert scientist and one lazy, gluttonous guy who keeps getting them into trouble. This trouble includes forming a love/hate relationship with a schoolgirl, who ends up being the daughter of their landlord (as well as having an exhaust pipe on her head). She can't understand why someone so weird and ordinary is at their specialist school or friends with such talented people. Things begin to make more sense when you realise that the scientific breakthrough, and the weapons of their enemies, resolve around immensely powerful modified humans. And the only weapon that can reasonably stand up to one of these awesome war machines is, well, another combat modified human, otherwise known as a `generator'.
The above is not as spoilerfull as it may sound, because that information is given relatively early and there is a lot more that isn't said. In addition what makes it interesting is that it blends multiple `types' of anime into one package. The whole `generator' bit allows for impressive action sequences and even a bit of horror. The `conspiracy' bit, including the fact that the hero's must be very careful in their actions, adds a significant degree of mystery and subterfuge to the plot. Meanwhile the `normal' girl, who also drags her best friend in, provides some quite reasonable human drama. This is all backed up by strong writing, reasonable dialog and a willingness to let the story develop at its own pace. Of course this combination is also the main source of its weakness. The `normal' human drama can irritate when you are intrigued by how the `conspiracy' is going to play out, especially since the girl currently has no real role in events. At the same time since only one character, gawl, has any role in combat there is a certain conflict between the `combat' parts and the rest of the production. That said it is ambitious, and seemingly rich enough, to capture your interest and keep you entertained. It even takes some stabs, with reasonable success, at deeper philosophical implications of character, action and the control of change.
The animation is not that great, limited by relatively simple linework in most scenes. Strangely enough the animators seem to go crazy in the action scenes, with quite complicated monster designs and relatively complex action sequences. This includes reasonable amounts of violence and collateral damage. Likewise the color palette is fairly drab (or my tape has had too many generations) and the production has a somewhat `messy' look about it. Still, it is perfectly watchable and the interesting world, strong sense of technical design, the tension created by the cloak and dagger stuff and the occasional thrill of super powered monster fights can easily draw you in. The voices are somewhat of a mixed bag and the music didn't seem overly absorbing although there was some nice environmental sounds during some of the fights. This feels sort of like the result of good attention to detail, and belief in the material, but not the presence of a large budget.
None of the sites I source from have a review of this title. In fact there is very little information at all, barring that a DVD release is planned at some point in the future.
Words by Andrew Shelton, Web by Ticti, Last Compile: Wed Aug 5 12:39:18 WST 2009