Anime Profile: Gasaraki

The masterminds of Mobile Suit Gundam and Armored Trooper Votoms unite to create one of the greatest mecha shows of the late 20th century: Gasaraki. Even though it was at first described as an Evangelion rip-off, eventually Gasaraki outgrew that tag. Unlike other robot shows, it takes place in the not so far future, its concept is very realistic, and the robots look very realistic.

The Gowa family has been the world's best arms company for over a thousand years. Their newest creation is the TA (Tactical Armor): the Earth's first bi-pedal weapon which has been inducted into the JSSDF (Japanese Self Defense Force). One of the test pilots is Yushiro Gowa, the youngest son of the Gowa family. He is also the test subject for the ancient dance of Gasaraki, which is performed at the ancient stage of stone. Little does he know that the Gasaraki dance is the key to summoning the Kugai, an ancient creature that the TA is based on, that will bring on "The Terror" that will kill almost all the people. When he's close to doing it, a mysterious girl (Miharu) comes and stops the process.

Later, a country called Belgistan is at war. Yushiro and his TA team are sent there to stop it and Yushiro encounters Miharu again. He realizes that she's the top pilot for an organization called Symbol, and she can also summon the Kugai. After the war is over, he finds out that he's the clone of the original Yushiro that died 8 years ago in the first attempt to summon the Kugai. Now he and Miharu travel to the ancient land of Watanabe to rediscover their roots. Afterwards, he travels back to Tokyo to help his team in battling the US's all-out strike on Japan, and to rescue Miharu who's been kidnapped by Symbol.

Gasaraki is one of the greatest. Even if there are quite a few action scenes (like Evangelion, the robots aren't the main focus: it's character development). They are beautifully portrayed. Technological stuff uses a lot of CGI which helps give it a realistic touch, nd the story is both exciting and spell-binding. To sum up, Gasaraki is highly recommended for hardcore anime fans and for newcomers as well.