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.

You know you never really know someone until you see into their past. Katana returns to his roots while Hajiki remembers his father and gathers new direction in his life. However, will Hajiki be able to handle the darker aspects of this world and retain his morals standards when the underground makes use of his services? And will Hajiki be able to complete his job when circumstances seem to continually pull him away? Night town seems to be a little darker now a days. But there are some things in life that can place a little light into the world. Maybe in multiple lights…

The third disc in the Gad Guard series contains four episodes

Episode 9 – “Snow melts the heart” – Katana has traveled to unit Grey, a frozen industrial town to purchase parts for Zero. Secrets of Katana’s past are being to be dug up like so many heavy metal parts. What of Katana’s old friend and mentor, will his history catch up to him too?

Episode 10 – “Bundles of bills in the setting sun” – A strange man is just throwing money from atop of a building. A series of events, leads up to the day, a man tied to the mob, a girl leaving Hajiki’s class, and Katana’s obsession over an item to be delivered, what are their connections?

Episode 11 – “No returning to Rainbow town” – A detective is murdered while attempting to investigate two mob families. Hajiki is used to deliver a bomb without knowing it, and in night town where the price of electricity is at a high premium, and with cost rising, is a third party attempting to control these events and manipulate them to suite their needs?

Episode 12 – “Blue Bird” – Hajiki is out and about delivering wedding invites, but in his rush to get them delivered, he’s neglected to work on his report to explain is absences. Hajiki seems to be overstretched and he’s constantly adding new tasks to his busy schedule, can he keep up with this pace before it kills him?

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; more so then the first two discs they seem to really get skimpy with what bonuses are offered. 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. Geneon previews for currently released or upcoming releases and the DVD credits for those who worked diligently to bring this disc to light.

The third disc in the Gad Guard series, focused more on the past of some of the characters, to help give impressions as to why there are here, what were the moments in the past that created the people that stand before us. Additional information was brought to light concerning Hajiki and the tragic loss of his father, more of Katana’s enigmatic past was presented to us, the people he worked for. As for the story, it’s finally starting to show signs of coming together, a possible character with the power to cover things up, a police force that bends to this power’s will. Some of the kiddy element has begun to fade as well, the violence in the series isn’t along the lines of a hack and slash blood and gore, but in this disc we do see some death.

Gad Guard is starting to offer up a story with enough interest to keep me coming back for more, hopefully in the forth disc in the series we will see more of this power that’s excerting it’s influence on our brave young characters and hopefully see a definitive enemy that must be battled. With this in mind I would definitely say Gad Guard has gown on me to the point in which I eagerly await the next disc to the point where I’m attempting to finish off all of my other reviews so I won’t be too bogged down, when the disc finally crosses my desk.

Gad Guard, a story about 5 young adults, all coming from different paths in life, but they have some mysterious bond that links them. Each with the ability to turn a Gad (a stone with magical properties) into a Technode, with normal human beings, their emotions of corruption and greed pervert the Gad into a monster bringing death and destruction. What do they have in common, what allows them 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: 9 / 10
Audio: 8 / 10
Video: 9 / 10
Extras: 6 / 10
Impact Rating: 7 / 10

Overall 47/60 or 78%

by Matt Capranos