Raikoh's Reviews: Shinkon Gattai Godannar!

Oh, boy, Godannar. The fastest way to sum this up is with two words: "Robots" and "Boobs." But if you can manage to get the stigma against fanservice that most anime fans seem to have and give it a shot, you'll actually find a pretty solid romance show shoved under the D-cups (well, that is assuming any of the women in Godannar wear bras). The fact that the title literally translates to "Marriage of God & Soul Godannar" definitely implies there's more to this show than just testosterone poisoning. Well, let's not waste any time, let's get to checking out what makes Godannar tick.

STORY: 5/10

In the past, Earth was under attack by the alien force known as the Mimetic Beasts. Sawatari Goh and his fiancee Mira Ackerman pilot the robots Dannar and Neo Okusaer to fight their forces off, destroying the hive queen at the cost of Mira's life. In the same battle, Goh saves the life of Aoi Anna, the daughter of his boss. Attempting to get over Mira's death, Goh decided to move on and propose to Anna, despite the massive age gap.

Five years later, everything is set for Goh and Anna's wedding when the Mimetic Beasts return. Goh has to leave Anna at the altar to fight them, causing her to pursue and enter the piloting seat of the Neo Okusaer. Now, not only does Goh have to deal with the revived Mimetic Beasts, but also with the ups and downs of his married life.

Now, I won't try and sugarcoat this. When it comes to the mecha half of this plot, the story is as generic as it can get. HOWEVER! When you come to the romance half, it's actually really interesting. Most romance stories end when the couple says, "I love you" or "Let's get married" or something like that, but Godannar starts there. It really gives it a unique spin that is also well executed. It doesn't glorify the marriage nor does it have an anti-marriage bias, it just shows a married couple being... Well, a married couple. We also see glimpses into all sorts of other romantic relationships, making the plot of Godannar seem to be more about different types of love than anything else. When it comes to the plot, ironically it's the more fanservice-laden half of the show that comes out stronger.

I will admit that it isn't until season two (technically the second half of the series) that the plot starts picking up.

Premise: 1/2
Pacing: 1/2
Immersion: 1/2
Setting: 1/2
Theme: 1/1
Complexity: 0/1

ART: 6/10

This is my favorite shot in the entire series.

Godannar is not for prudes. That should be obvious just by looking at pretty much any of the character designs. Combine it with the camera's unerring ability to focus on the women's voluptuous figures and you get a series that is unashamedly perverted. Actually, now that I think about it, the men also are subject to being used as eye candy. It isn't to the same degree as the women, but it says something about Godannar being equal-opportunity. I'm just not sure what it's trying to say, because I was too busy staring at Shizuru's ass. This series has so much fanservice in such high quantities that I doubt there's any middle ground when it comes to the art. You either love it or you find it appalling.

Me? I like it for the most part, but I can completely understand why someone might not. There's more to the series than a pair of tits, though. Godannar's visual design manages to capture the essence of oldschool Super Robot art while keeping its own unique identity, and it of course looks pretty damn cool. The choreography of the Heart Breaker and Soul Breaker attacks is unique and fun (luckily, since it's going to be seen around once per episode), the designs are visually distinct and memorable, and Shizuru is ungodly hot - the show is practically worth watching for her alone.

One thing to note is that I actually have wondered if the fanservice is being played straight or for parody. Honestly, there are more than a few scenes of self-awareness that make me think that the series is playing the boobs for laughs. Either way, if you can get over the fanservice then you'll find a decent looking series here.

I unfortunately need to point out that I found most of the fight scenes to be less than satisfying. They mostly were less than memorable, consisting mainly of a Heart Breaker followed by a Soul Breaker. Combat scenes are relatively short and don't really have much going for them, in spite of the cool looking robots.

General Presence: 1.5/2
Visual Design: 1/2
Backgrounds: 1/2
Animation: 1/2
Attention to Detail: 0.5/1
Visual Effects: 1/1

SOUND: 6/10

Godannar's sound is a bit hard to put solid numbers on. I think this might be as good a time as ever to say that unless I state otherwise, I will grade voice acting based solely on the Japanese audio. The voice acting in Godannar is pretty good for the most part, but sometimes characters feel like they might've been slightly miscast, or sometimes just not leaving much of an impression. But if you get down to it, you have a freaking all star cast and any fans of anime should be able to peg a large portion of voice actors here. That's much appreciated.

Unfortunately, I can't say much about the music. The vocal songs are awesome, oldschool, hot-blooded goodness, but for the most part the soundtrack is forgettable. I suppose it got the job done, since I never felt like there was a problem with the BGM. I'll give it a pass for the vocal tracks alone.

Sound effects are the same as the songs. I didn't really notice any real great audio there, but there was never anything off about it. I guess I'd say they were average.

Voice Acting: 3/4
Music: 2/4
Sound Effects: 1/2

CHARACTERS: 7/10

Be honest: How many of you would scoff if I showed you the character designs of Godannar and then would go on to tell you that the entire cast is well-written? How many of you doubt that it's possible for an ecchi series to have an interesting, three-dimensional (and I'm not talking about their bodies) cast? Well, think again.

Godannar's cast is massive. It's bigger than the breasts of the women. I think there are more characters than there are episodes in the series. And yet, the majority of the cast are incredibly developed and have more than enough personality to fill the run time. We get all sorts of different types of people in the series. From serious to silly, mature to childish, masculine to feminine, the entire spectrum is covered and they manage to all fit in. Even the mechanics who work at the Dannar base are well characterized and have their own romance subplots you want to see more of. While it's subtle, every character matures in some way through the course of the story, and that is no small feat I must say. Obviously some grow more than others, but that makes sense. A young teenager or preteen like Anna or Lou are naturally going to be growing up more than an adult like Goh will.

At the core of all the character interactions is romance, which makes developing them a lot simpler. Love is the word of the day in Godannar, and we get a huge spectrum of loves. We get sibling love (it's anime after all), the love between a dominant and submissive couple, same-sex love, interracial love, intergenerational love, and so on and so forth. Unlike some series, where the romance bogs down the characters by making their love one-note, in Godannar it only serves to flesh them out as we see all the different ways they express their affection. The romance isn't just a tumor that envelops a section of the plot, it is the main focus of the story. It's actually the alien invasion that ends up feeling unnecessary. This, along with the characters being a cavalcade of diversity, make the cast really come to life.

If nothing else, they're memorable for cramming so many different fetishes into the 26 episode running time.

Presence: 1.5/2
Personality: 1.5/2
Complexity: 1/2
Memorability: 1/2
Development: 1/1
Pathos: 1/1

To wrap this up, I'll say that if you can get through the solid wall of fanservice, you can find a pretty solid romance story. The mecha half of the series could probably be cut and it'd still be a good show. So if you like cool super robots and big bouncing boobies, Godannar delivers from start to finish.

FINAL JUDGMENT : 6/10

Pros:
+ Strong, well-rounded characters. Including Shizuru and her ass.
+ Interesting romances across the board.

Cons:
-  Fanservice might make some turn their noses up.
- Action scenes are a bit lacking.
- Some romances may be seen as a tad squicky.

Recommended Watch List:
Gravion
Both are early 2000s Super Robot shows with absurd amounts of fanservice which are throwbacks to the old style of Super Robot series.
Futari Ecchi
For what is very similar to Godannar as an examination of married life. Minus robots and aliens, of course. And Futari Ecchi is, believe it or not, MORE sexually charged.
Eureka Seven
Another one of those "come for the robots, stay for the romance" sort of series. If you want a story that puts an equal focus on mecha action and romantic development, but the fanservice in Godannar is a bit off-putting, E7 is a great alternative.