Gunparade March: Volume 2

Introduction

I was cautiously impressed by the first volume of Gunparade March a couple of months ago. It's a show that has a lot of promise, and based on a Playstation console game, it turns out to have interesting characters and more than just a linear console game storyline. It also attempts the considerable challenge of combining several genres, an apocalyptic end of the world scenario, bioweapon alien invasion, mecha warfare, and a slice of life show. It's a lot to put on just one plate, especially when the show is a mere 12 episodes in length, but it certainly looks the part, with gorgeous visuals and an ambitious story. I did think it had bitten off more than it could chew, which is why I gave the first volume only a tentative thumbs up. Now that the second volume has arrived, I can see if that promise is delivered.

In 1945, as the second world war was drawing to a close, a strange alien species appeared on Earth, and started attacking humanity, poisoning the land with its very presence. Dubbed Genjyu, it began to overwhelm the land, spreading across the world, leaving nothing but death and destruction in its wake. Mankind was on the back foot, armed with ineffective weapons. But the alien's arrival was the impetus required to unite the world, as they fought against desperate odds to stay alive. Fifty years have passed, it's 1999, and Japan remains one of the few bastions left standing against the Genjyu menace, although the aliens have begun to encroach on Japanese soil. In such a war, an innocent childhood is a luxury, and the military recruits directly from high school, sending children into battle, piloting giant armoured robots called HWTs, Humanoid Walking Tanks.


The next four episodes of Gunparade March are presented on this disc from MVM.

5. Thursday's Child - Withered Leaf
Autumn days have arrived, and the school's cultural festival is imminent. This year, as part of the festival, Unit 5121 are putting on a puppet show of Hansel and Gretel for a local elementary school, and Atsushi Hayami and Mai Shibamura have been given the part of the evil witch, meaning they have to cooperate in performing her puppet, useful experience for their tandem HWT. It isn't a pretty rehearsal, but an alert delays the big show. The Genjyu have picked a lousy time to attack.

6. I Guess Everything Reminds You of Something - After You Left
With Christmas come the school exams, and everyone's working hard at revision. Or rather Atsushi is working hard at revision. Setoguchi and Takigawa are looking for a short cut, and Kato is looking to make some money. She's figured out what the exams are going to be, and she's selling cheat sheets. But the usual hi-jinks and japery are just a thin veneer that cloaks the unit's grief. Then the Genjyu attack again, and this time there is something new in their methodology. The defenders think that they have the infestation controlled when the usual tactics of destroying a brain with a PBE seem to work, but a second brain appears immediately after the explosion. In the mayhem, and the hasty retreat, Atsushi and Mai's tandem HWT is left stranded on the battlefield.


7. In the Forest of Nights - The Long Night
Christmas doesn't look like it will be any fun at Unit 5121 with two of their number MIA. Atsushi and Mai are stuck behind enemy lines, their masks' air filters are running out, and the snow is falling. They are also surrounded by Genjyu, with just 3 hours before the poison gas overwhelms them. Then Atsushi remembers an old fairy tale. Meanwhile back at the school, tempers flare as Takigawa and Setoguchi round on those who issued the order to retreat.

8. With Your Musket, Fife and Drum - In April, She Will
Spring has arrived, and a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of love, and how to avoid it. Somehow, Atsushi's picked up an ardent admirer who is one of the new students. Yumi Araigi is in love, and she's bold and brash as well. She starts off her campaign with a love letter, quickly followed by a confession in the school canteen. Atsushi turns to the class lothario Setoguchi for help… in turning girls down? Yumi is everywhere, trying to find precious alone time with Atsushi, trying to get him to go out on a date with her. The odd thing is the effect it's having on Mai, who is resolutely staying aloof and uninvolved. But then why are her simulator scores dropping? You wouldn't have though Atsushi would ever be thankful for an alert.

Picture

It's just a 4:3 regular image, which is something of a shame given the quality of the animation. The transfer itself is one of the higher end NTSC-PAL conversions, with an image that is clear, sharp, smoothly animated, and free of ghosting and judder. The only slight flaw is the intermittent aliasing that appears on some of the pans and scrolls.

Either the budget has fallen away, or I was overly generous with the first volume, as Gunparade March's visuals didn't hit me with the same impact this time around. It's still a show that would have been gorgeous in a widescreen aspect, and it's a beautiful looking story, certainly not skimping on the atmosphere and the level of detail. However, this time around, I did feel that the actual character animation was lacking, certainly more static than before. I also noticed that a certain combat sequence kept reappearing, especially in the simulator scenes. A reluctance to resort to stock footage is one reason I enjoy anime so much, but to see it used here is disappointing.

Sound

It's also a little disappointing then that the Japanese and English audio tracks are in vanilla DD 2.0 Stereo, but it does get the job done. The action is as meaty as you would expect, and the dialogue is always clear in both languages. There are some nice tunes book-ending the episodes, and the incidental music is suitably grand and orchestral in feel. My opinion of the English dub has also changed over the two volumes, although in my defence, I usually only sample it, rather than experience it for any particular length of time. With Volume 1, I must have picked an exceptionally good sample, as what I heard here was certainly not top quality. In fact it was decidedly mediocre and unimpressive. Japanese is definitely the way to go with this series.

Extras

Once again, we lose out to the Region 1 disc in terms of extras, but only a textless ending sequence. What the Region 2 disc does get is the usual animated menu and jacket picture screen. This time there is a 51-image Production Art Gallery, and trailers for FLCL and The Adolescence of Utena movie.

Conclusion

That 'Jack of all trades' mentality comes back to chomp on Gunparade March's posterior with the second volume, and it's a case of promises unfulfilled. In an attempt to do too much at once, in a short timeframe to boot, Gunparade March can't fail to disappoint, and from the very first episode on this disc, I had a sinking feeling. It wants to be a slice of life show, a mecha combat show, sci-fi, action, a little romance, and comedy as well. The ingredients are all there, but the mixing bowl is too small, and everything seems to end up in the wrong place. With just 12 episodes to tell its story, and with so much to accomplish, something has to give, and the first casualty is character development, which can be fatal in a show of this nature.


It's the middle of a war, a situation where combat and casualties are inevitable, and we've already seen in flashback that the students of 5121 have suffered loss. Well in episode 5, they suffer it again, as one of their number fails to make it to the end credits. It is pretty realistic to expect something like that to happen. The trouble is that this isn't realism; it's a narrative, and we as viewers need to know the characters and empathise with them to make a character death meaningful. Episode 5 is far too early to be dealing out grief and loss, especially in a show that tries to cram everything into its short running time. I certainly didn't know the casualty well enough to feel his or her loss, while the character's relationships with the rest of the class never had the space to develop enough for me to sympathise with what the survivors were going through. In fact, at this point, aside from Mai and Atsushi, none of the characters have been sufficiently rounded to allow for any audience empathy.


Another problem is the pace of the show, which on occasion works against the story. Unlike the first volume's episodes, which seemed pretty much contiguous, we're jumping forward in the three-month chunks now. The first episode takes place in autumn, but the loss of their comrade is still an open wound three-months later come Christmas time for the next, two-part episode. This is a nice enough, if clichéd story that focuses on the romantic pairing at the heart of this show, Atsushi and Mai. While they have been an abrasive and awkward pairing, what they've really needed is some time alone to bond, which is just the sort of thing being stranded behind enemy lines is designed for. With Mai injured, it falls on Atsushi to be the dominant member of their partnership, determined to keep them alive. She gets to see him in a new light, while he gets to face the depth of his feelings for her.


And then nothing happens at all for another 4 months between them. When we catch up with them for the final episode on the disc, it's April, spring has arrived, and so it seems has the romantic comedy antics of a Love Hina type crossed wires scenario, as Atsushi picks up a groupie, and Mai learns what jealousy is. It's an entertaining enough episode in and of itself, but taken in the context of the series as a whole, it stands out like a sore thumb. Less than ninety minutes previously, the group were mourning the loss of one of their number, and now they are having fun playing the dating game. My mistake, not 90 minutes, 6 months.


There were some interesting ideas developed in this volume, particularly with regards to how humans interact with Genjyu, and the revelation that Genjyu only attack humans who feel aggressive emotions, while those that are placid, and free of fear and rage are ignored by them. There is also the revelation that Nonomi isn't as young as she looks. Only children who have special abilities can activate PBEs, and they are in short supply. It turns out that humans have been up to some pretty chilling genetic engineering in their battle against the Genjyu.


Gunparade March may have looked promising with the first volume, but there just isn't the space in a 12-episode run for what it wants to achieve, and some clumsy scripting and a failure to develop the characters doesn't help that. It still is wonderfully pretty and atmospheric, even if the animation takes a knock in these four episodes, and taken on their own merits, I have to say that they entertained me. It's just when you put the episodes in the context of the whole series that you see the glaring flaws in the execution. With just one volume to go, the only way for Gunparade March to salvage something is to ignore the extraneous and concentrate solely on resolving the Atsushi Mai dynamic. It may have an interesting and compelling world, and there are many aspects that I would like to see developed and explored further. But realistically speaking, four episodes aren't enough to do that. Volume 2 of Gunparade March is entertaining, but unfulfilling, yet I'm still swayed by how pretty it looks.