Gun X Sword Episode 3: Mecha and Nostalgia

Hello

I want to open this post by saying hi. My name is Scott and I run a blog called Mechanical Anime Reviews. Follow my blog by clicking on the title. Right now, I am in a special monthly event called Mecha March and this is a post sort of attached to it. This is my first time writing a post for this blog and I am hoping to write more of them in the future not attached to Mecha march. Thanks for having me. 

About Gun X Sword Episode 3

Gun X Sword is a mecha show from 2005 directed by the great Goro Tanigichu. It was also written by Hideyuki Kurata and produced by AIC. The show itself takes place on a planet called Endless Illusion. Yes, already the show is like a fever dream just by the name alone. A protagonist by the name of Van who controls the Dan of Thursday is chasing a man named “The Claw” who has a claw by revenge. A girl named Wendy is following him to find her brother. 

The episode in question that I want to discuss is an earlier one, episode 3. An episode that involves Van and Wendy’s appearance in an old town that has older men talking about their golden days with their giant robot called the El Dorado 5. The golden days that everyone in the diner/bar around them find annoying because they are older men that don’t do anything but talk and talk and talk. So what happens? The old men use their robot, with some help from Van, to save the day. 

Goro Taniguchi And Older Mecha References

If you have watched a Goro Taniguchi series in the 2000’s to even the mid 2010’s, then you see this theme shows up in a lot of his work. Especially since he really does enjoy at least referencing older mecha shows even if he doesn’t actually want to say as much with them. Let’s count some of the older references he throws at it. Let’s mention something like S-Cry-Ed where one guy dressed up as the original Kamen Rider has a power that is like Exkaiser from the braves series.

Or we could go further where the idea behind the older robot comes from the older knightmare frame that shows up in Code Geass. A knightmare frame that is there just to help make the world’s largest pizza, but it is still there to place more history into Code Geass. Then I could mention something like Active Raid where a giant robot that is an outdated concept also shows up. Active Raid is a series where people use iron man like suits to fight crime against other people in Iron Man suits, so robots have been an outdated concept for a long time. 

This was an aside, but it is to show you that this is not a one of a kind theme or story idea in a Goro Taniguchi series. Just like all over creators, Taniguchi has some things he likes to return to.

Back to Episode 3 And Why It Connected To Me

This episode of Gun X Sword feels like a harder hit to me in 2023 then it probably did in 2005. Let’s think about the year 2005 in terms of anime. Mecha was still going strong. While Gun X Sword was coming out, Eureka 7 was also coming out. Then there would be shows like Code Geass, Gurren Lagann, Gundam 00, and many other series coming out right after Gun X Sword. So the episode itself was a call back to Goro Taniguchi’s nostalgic days. Days that he probably was nostalgic for when he was growing up and enjoyed watching Mazinger Z, Getter Robo, and the Robot Romance trilogy then fell in love with the Braves series. 

In 2023, Mecha isn’t as common anymore. Anime has changed so much in all the years it has existed and mecha has too. We don’t see as much combining mecha series anymore either let alone mecha in general. 2021 was a crazy year for mecha because there was so much, but that is rare. This age of people not watching mecha shows and calling it an old pastime is a little frustrating and I say this as a person who watches a lot of newer shows. But there is a massive sort of dislike for it from mecha being considered too old and/or out of touch. 

I connect that sort of perspective with the people at the diner/bar who wanted these old men gone after their stories have gone on for so long. Which I kind of get because old people who think only about who they used to be and not who they are now are some of the most frustrating people. The ending of this episode where the four surviving members of the El Dorado Five fighting off the person that hates their town and getting the crowd behind them is pretty wonderful stuff. Not just positive for the four living members, but for the crowd enjoying something old become really cool again.

In reality, I don’t think that older mecha shows will get as much wide acclaim with newer audiences as much as these Eldora 5 members did after saving the day. But, there are some people like me who are entranced with older mecha shows and the way things used to be while also accepting and enjoying where things are now too. I also know that I am not alone with this and older mecha shows have captured other people’s hearts too in different ways then me, which is pretty cool to talk about.