Several hundred years in the future, Earth's natural resources have been depleted. Sixteen year old, Hajiki Sanada, who works part-time at a moving company called Hachisuka Express, encounters a TECHODE (a kind of humanoid robot) named Lightning

The mysterious Gads… Everyone desires them and believes that they will fulfill all their dreams. However, each person will soon come to realize the nightmare that is hidden inside them. A monster woman, a dragon train, a flying fortress, and the beasts said to have destroyed unit Cobalt… Whatever they are known as Technodes, Atechodes, or Gadrains they still develop from a single Gad with the potentialto destroy entire cities.

The second disc in the Gad Guard series contains 4 episodes.

Episode 5 – “And then The Rain will Fall” – Katana and Wonda Woman work to steal a Gad, Akio witnesses the theft and with the assistance of her Technode Messerschmitt find Katana’s whereabouts.Wonda Woman’s greed leads her to be corrupted by the Atechodes an new monster is formed, will the Gad users be able to stop it before it’s too late?

Episode 6 – “The five Masks” – Another Gad has appeared, Katana is hired to protect it, Haijiki was hired to steal it, will the two opposing sides come to a cross roads? What of Takumi’s obession with Katana, will it get him killed?

Episode 7 – “If I could fly” – Catherine hires Hajiki to steal a coffin that could potential contain a Gad. Arashi gets a new job helping to do maintenance work, she is hoping to find her own Gad, and however, Arashi is warned of the risks associated with bonding with Gad. Are the risks worth it?

Episode 8 – “Wandering Pair” – A wandering pair of heavy metal users that are hunting Gadrians, they are survivors from Cobalt a unit which was destroyed after Gads were discovered. They have been hired to hunt Lightning and the other Technodes and destroy them.

The animation for the first disc was nothing short of amazing; from the each of the characters own unique style to the individual appearance of each of the Technodes. One characteristic that is noticeable for this series, is that each of the main characters, have different outfits, for normal day use and then for battle attire. In some instances, some of the characters clothing change on a daily basis. The audio for Gad Guard was just plain amazing, with bilingual Audio featuring English 2.0 and Japanese 2.0. With two English subtitle streams dialog and signs or signs only.

The extras for this disc were slightly disappointing; the only real extra besides an Art gallery showing the different characters and Technodes in different poses, would be the reversible front covers. As an added bonus as in the first disc, there is a small poster of the Hajiki and his Technode Lightning. The other extra’s for this disc include a non credit opening, a promo trailer #1,Geneon previews for currently released or upcoming releases and the DVD credits for those who worked diligently to bring this disc to light.

I am glad to see that my original initial impressions of Gad Guard being a Digimon / Gundam rip off, were just that initial impressions. After viewing the second disc in the Gad Guard series and allowing more time for the story development and better interaction with the characters. As the story develops we see more the of the we see more Gad users forming Technodes, what binds these users and what hardships will the face not just from each other, but from those that might be manipulating events.

After experiencing the second disc, my three noticeable dislikes remain, the first being the English voice actors aren’t really suited to the characters, at some points I was actually annoyed with them. During some of the dialogue, it’s actually quite boring and tedious to sit there, but it is getting better, after time it beings to grow on you. The second problem thus far would be the story, after watching the two discs, the story line is still taking some time to develop, it has yet to take on any form. My third dislike (which is related to my second), is that there’s just enough of a story to keep me interested so that I have to watch the third disc in the series.

Gad Guard, a story about several individuals that have nothing in common, with the exception of being able to turn a Gad into a Technode, without being corrupted by it’s power. What does the next disc have to offer? I can hardly wait to find out.

Animation:9/ 10
Story: 8 / 10
Audio: 8 / 10
Video: 9 / 10
Extras: 6 / 10
Impact Rating: 6 / 10

Overall 45/60 or 75%

by Matt Capranos