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Gungrave

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I

isamu

OMFG HOLY MOTHER OF MARY IN HEAVEN I CANT BELIEVE IT WTF WHERE ARE MY SEDATIVES AAAAHHH
What do you guys think of this anime?

I've been watching it on Anime Unleashed the past few days on and off and I have a question.

What the hell is going on? I haven't been paying attention that much but it seems the show just went from them focusing on Bloodwar and him being a badass, to them killing Bloodwar, to Brandon Heat and Harry McDowel looking to work they're way up to the top of the food chain, to Brandon being shot by Harry McDowel in the elevator. Am I now watching the anime started over from the beginning or is this the end of the series? Is the story mainly about Bloodwar? Or is it mainly about Harry and Brandon, or what? *confused*
 
Gungrave is the shit, I've been watching this and RodTV religiously when it's on.

The Bloodwar thing was just one story arc of Brandon and Harry's early years. The beginning of the anime just gets fans up to date about what all happened between Harry and Brandon by chronicling their humble beginnings to their rise to the top, Brandon's fall(no pun intended) and Harry's rise to even more power. Brendan is the main character, he is "Beyond the Grave", hence the anime's name. I think the main bulk of the show is supposed to be about him protecting Mika, Harry and Brandon's old boss's daughter and the child of his love Maria. That, and him dragging Harry back down to the fireydepths of hell with him.

On the forums they said new episodes are going to air sometime around the 3rd of this month.
 
Thanks I appreciate the replies guys but unfortunately that still doesn't address my question....

The episode where Harry shoots Brended in the elevator....where in the series is this? What number episode? Am I watching the begginning, the middle, the end, or what?

Fucking G4 doesn't tell you what number you're on and where you are in the series.
 
Oh, I guess it's kinda the beginning of the end I guess. There's like a handful of episodes from that point, and then the people on the boards say it ends.
 
That happens much later in the anime. Like ep 17 or something. Yea you missed a lot if you started watching from that point.

Its an excellent anime. My fav after Berserk.
 
I don't want to hype it too much, but I thought Gungrave's ending was the best I'd ever seen in an anime (and perhaps in all cinema as well).
 
isamu said:
Thanks I appreciate the replies guys but unfortunately that still doesn't address my question....

The episode where Harry shoots Brended in the elevator....where in the series is this? What number episode? Am I watching the begginning, the middle, the end, or what?

Fucking G4 doesn't tell you what number you're on and where you are in the series.
Click to expand...

Brandon gets shot midway into the show (ep 14 Die).

1st 1/2 of the (save the 1st ep) is the a mob story. After Brandon gets killed and comes back it gradually turns more into the Gungrave from the games.


It really is a great show and I eagerly await the final DVD, I can't wait to see the Brandon vs. Bunji fight :D

You may be temped to skip the mob eps but believe me, getting that back story makes the 2nd 1/2 of the show so much better.
 
I liked gungrave but I didn't like the direction it takes after the elevator. The show could have been so much without the uh... 'gungrave' parts. Harry's political weavings to gain power in the mob was far more interesting.

which, I may as well ask, is there anime anime people reccommend that is more like the first half of gungrave that I may not have heard of?
 
Fantastic show, but I agree that it took a dive after the elevator. Still good and the ending rocked, but...
 
Ugh, bar none this show had the worst cop out ending of any series i've ever seen. Guess it's a preference thing, the way it ended was the exact opposite of how i thought it should have ended. But i guess the ending i wanted is what i would have done had i been in that situation heh. I really really enjoyed it up until the like the last 10 minutes of the series lol. Gungrave only strengthened my resolve to never ever buy a series until i've seen it beginning to end.
 
michael000 said:
Ugh, bar none this show had the worst cop out ending of any series i've ever seen. Guess it's a preference thing, the way it ended was the exact opposite of how i thought it should have ended. I really really enjoyed it up until the like the last 10 minutes of the series lol. Gungrave only strengthened my resolve to never ever buy a series until i've seen it beginning to end.
Click to expand...

word.

Okay, I don't think I'll ever follow that rule of yours, and it's not even close to the worst cop out ending (I hand that award to your choice of Escaflowne or NTHT) but Gungrave was pretty much a mess for awhile there. There was a certain amount of enjoyment with the whole
revenge
half, but as far as I'm concerned it's the "Far Cry" of anime. Blah.

FWIW: Gungrave: Overdose (a rather terribly designed PS2 game you can probably find for less than its unbelievably cheap MSRP) actually is a direct continuation of the anime. It needs a shitload of plot holes to keep the story going, but I guess if you absolutely can't live without the characters, there you go.

slayn: No mobster anime that I know of, as this is really more of a godfather sort of story. About the closest I can think of is the yakuza comedy Gokusen.
 
Crazymoogle said:
word.

Okay, I don't think I'll ever follow that rule of yours, and it's not even close to the worst cop out ending (I hand that award to your choice of Escaflowne or NTHT) but Gungrave was pretty much a mess for awhile there. There was a certain amount of enjoyment with the whole
revenge
half, but as far as I'm concerned it's the "Far Cry" of anime. Blah.
Gokusen.
Click to expand...

Escaflowne wasn't that bad but i was really expecting the
happily ever after
ending not the
well it was nice to meet you have a safe trip home
ending lol;, and NTHT was pretty dark all the way through so i was expecting the ending they give you.

Gungrave however was a totally different story, you keep on expecting
something good to happen to Brandon but it never does
.

The checklist
You lose your woman
Your best friend kills your father figure and becomes the most powerful man in the city
In turn you get betrayed and killed by your best friend
Your woman gets killed by your best friend

And what do you do? You forgive the fucker?!?! Yeah that's the obvious option when you're turned into an unstoppable zombie assassin killing machine lol. Hell no, you kill him, you kill his family, you kill his wife, you kill his wife's family (which he does), forgiving him is the last thing you do. Sorry i was raised on real mobster movies and this is what they do heh, they don't forgive.....

I apologize for the outburst but the fact that you people made me remember how much i absolutely hated the ending. Serenity now!
 
how do you know it had those endings?
 
isamu said:
how do you know it had those endings?
Click to expand...

If you mean the checklist i made that was spoilered out, that's not the endings, every single one of those events happens to Brandon during the series. You missed 90% of the plot by starting where you did. Gungrave was fansubbed while it was being aired so a ton of us saw it long before it got on Anime Unleashed.
 
michael000 said:
Escaflowne wasn't that bad but i was really expecting the
happily ever after
ending not the
well it was nice to meet you have a safe trip home
ending lol;, and NTHT was pretty dark all the way through so i was expecting the ending they give you.

Gungrave however was a totally different story, you keep on expecting
something good to happen to Brandon but it never does
.

The checklist
You lose your woman
Your best friend kills your father figure and becomes the most powerful man in the city
In turn you get betrayed and killed by your best friend
Your woman gets killed by your best friend

And what do you do? You forgive the fucker?!?! Yeah that's the obvious option when you're turned into an unstoppable zombie assassin killing machine lol. Hell no, you kill him, you kill his family, you kill his wife, you kill his wife's family (which he does), forgiving him is the last thing you do. Sorry i was raised on real mobster movies and this is what they do heh, they don't forgive.....


I apologize for the outburst but the fact that you people made me remember how much i absolutely hated the ending. Serenity now!
Click to expand...
Wow can you tell me more about the ending, what all happens? I normally don't care much for spoilers, but considering how crazy the order this series has ran in on G4, I don't even really care anymore.
 
micheal000:
Think about the guy who was faced with having to fess up to his son having betrayed the syndicate. He ended up choosing his son despite him being clearly in the wrong... because in the end, his loyalty to his son outweighed his loyalty to the syndicate. That's pretty much the central theme of the entire series, loyalty. ... and in end, despite everything Harry has done, everything Harry betrayed, and everything Brandon did to fix it, Brandon couldn't shoot his childhood friend and the man he pledged his loyalty to for all those years.
 
Hitokage said:
micheal000:
Think about the guy who was faced with having to fess up to his son having betrayed the syndicate. He ended up choosing his son despite him being clearly in the wrong... because in the end, his loyalty to his son outweighed his loyalty to the syndicate. That's pretty much the central theme of the entire series, loyalty. ... and in end, despite everything Harry has done, everything Harry betrayed, and everything Brandon did to fix it, Brandon couldn't shoot his childhood friend and the man he pledged his loyalty to for all those years.
Click to expand...

The bottom line is that Harry killed Brandon and that he did it purely to further his own ambitions. There was no nobility or justice involved it was pure greed. In my eyes nothing more needs to be said than that. I totaly believe in loyalty and friendship but i'm of the belief that once you betray and i mean truly betray all bets are off. Harry deserved to die and he knew it, the failure of the series IMO is Brandon's character development. He ends up being a weak willed character that's manipulated till the very end. All of his sacrafices are in vain and none and i mean none of them change anything for the better. It makes the entire series pointless when your hero is absolutely irrelevant, that's just my opinion though.

hobbitx said:
Wow can you tell me more about the ending, what all happens? I normally don't care much for spoilers, but considering how crazy the order this series has ran in on G4, I don't even really care anymore.
Click to expand...

I haven't watched this show since the first time i finished it (for reasons that should be obvious in previous posts lol) but the last few episodes if memory serves me right follow this pretty closely

-Mika decides if she can just live with Grave she'll give up her revenge, Grave refuses
-Grave kills all of his former comrades (who're all genetically altered) and in one of the fights gets shot by a bullet that's meant to destory the necro whatever process he's undergone
-The professor is killed during one of the skirmishes, removing any chance of Grave being cured
-Mika is kidnapped
-The other members of the syndicate plan a coup to overthrow Harry from power
-Mika is rescued but somehow ends up in the hands of the "anti-harry" syndicate (i don't remember exactly how) but isn't harmed since she's "Big Daddy's" daughter
-Harry's wife is killed by "anti-harry" members of the syndicate in a drive by
-Harry and Grave finally meet again at the bar from the very beginning and decide to talk for abit before they try to kill each other, in the meantime they end up being surrounded by the "anti-harry" syndicate
-Instead of killing Harry, Grave starts fighting the "anti-harry" syndicate to help and save him
-Harry ends up being hit and Graves body finally stops running on him
-They both die and the "anti-harry" syndicate quits
-Sometime during the gunbattle Mika is brought to the bar where she's left in tears because of Grave's death.
-Final scene is a flashback (surprise surprise!) of Brandon and Harry first meeting as kids
 
-Final scene is a flashback (surprise surprise!) of Brandon and Harry first meeting as kids

I got something in my eye at that point.
 
michael000 said:
I apologize for the outburst but the fact that you people made me remember how much i absolutely hated the ending. Serenity now!
Click to expand...

Man, you have Kisaku the Letch for your avatar... that is AWESOME :lol
 
I had something like 6 episodes of this. I watched the first one, didn't like it much at all, and scrapped them all in favor of more time to look for something else. You're telling me this actually gets good?
 
Wraith said:
I had something like 6 episodes of this. I watched the first one, didn't like it much at all, and scrapped them all in favor of more time to look for something else. You're telling me this actually gets good?
Click to expand...

Yeah, sort of. I totally wrote it off after the first episode too. But then it turns into a great "godfather" style drama for at least a dozen eps before spiralling back into the blahness of the first episode.
 
I just wanted to say, that that tune at the intro of the show is fucking GROOOOVEY!!! Damn, what a simple, yet infectious little melody. Is this tune available on the GG OST?

Oh by the way

They just aired an ep showing Mika arriving at the lab and Brenden "ressurrecting" so to speak....are they gonna continue this part of the series tomorrow? I sure hope so!! Brenden looks like he's getting ready to rip shit up! :D
 
isamu said:
I just wanted to say, that that tune at the intro of the show is fucking GROOOOVEY!!! Damn, what a simple, yet infectious little melody. Is this tune available on the GG OST?
Click to expand...

Yep, it's available on the first OST "Uno-Righthead".
 
Uncle Dukey said:
Yep, it's available on the first OST "Uno-Righthead".
Click to expand...

is it longer than the version played in the broadcast?
 
G4 finally showed the final ep, and it was a lot better than I thought it would play out.

Harry and Brandon do in fact kill each other at the very end, they don't show it on screen but the implication was enough.
.

He ends up being a weak willed character that's manipulated till the very end. All of his sacrafices are in vain and none and i mean none of them change anything for the better. It makes the entire series pointless when your hero is absolutely irrelevant, that's just my opinion though.
Click to expand...

Well Grave did sort of
usher in a new Millenium group of sorts (several people in Millenium seemed to realize that all Grave wanted was Harry, and that if Harry was out of power then Grave would leave them be
), and Mika was
free
near the end.

Brandon actually admits that
he keeps making the same mistake - choosing Harry
in the end, which I did find oddly surprising.

To me the ending felt pretty different, in that they somehow managed to avoid the typical revenge epic ending and yet somehow managed to deliver a sense of closure to the whole thing.
 
That ending was just beautiful, they were right, that was one of the best anime endings ever. Oh, and I agree, the themesong to this show is godly, I've been meaning to get this one and the Ghost in the Shell:SAC themesong, another really good one.

I'm wondering about something else though, how do the games come into play? What's the plot behind the games? I think I remember hearing OD takes place after the anime, is this true?
 
hobbitx said:
I'm wondering about something else though, how do the games come into play? What's the plot behind the games? I think I remember hearing OD takes place after the anime, is this true?
Click to expand...

From what I can tell, yeah. If you want an explanation of the ending from it, look elsewhere, but it does seem to be a full continuation of the story (or rather, a sequel with a connecting story, half the time). All of the art is from the anime studio and the dub is from the same people you heard on TV.

Too bad the gameplay is clunky and repetitive.
 
slayn said:
I liked gungrave but I didn't like the direction it takes after the elevator. The show could have been so much without the uh... 'gungrave' parts. Harry's political weavings to gain power in the mob was far more interesting.

which, I may as well ask, is there anime anime people reccommend that is more like the first half of gungrave that I may not have heard of?
Click to expand...


I am watching it from the start on G4 and I must say I agree wholeheartedly. The first several episodes are absolutely FANTATSIC. I was just wondering, during the G4 airing, did they cut many scenes out of the original un-edited version? Some scenes felt a bit rushed.
 
michael000 said:
The bottom line is that Harry killed Brandon and that he did it purely to further his own ambitions. There was no nobility or justice involved it was pure greed. In my eyes nothing more needs to be said than that. I totaly believe in loyalty and friendship but i'm of the belief that once you betray and i mean truly betray all bets are off. Harry deserved to die and he knew it, the failure of the series IMO is Brandon's character development. He ends up being a weak willed character that's manipulated till the very end. All of his sacrafices are in vain and none and i mean none of them change anything for the better. It makes the entire series pointless when your hero is absolutely irrelevant, that's just my opinion though.



I haven't watched this show since the first time i finished it (for reasons that should be obvious in previous posts lol) but the last few episodes if memory serves me right follow this pretty closely

-Mika decides if she can just live with Grave she'll give up her revenge, Grave refuses
-Grave kills all of his former comrades (who're all genetically altered) and in one of the fights gets shot by a bullet that's meant to destory the necro whatever process he's undergone
-The professor is killed during one of the skirmishes, removing any chance of Grave being cured
-Mika is kidnapped
-The other members of the syndicate plan a coup to overthrow Harry from power
-Mika is rescued but somehow ends up in the hands of the "anti-harry" syndicate (i don't remember exactly how) but isn't harmed since she's "Big Daddy's" daughter
-Harry's wife is killed by "anti-harry" members of the syndicate in a drive by
-Harry and Grave finally meet again at the bar from the very beginning and decide to talk for abit before they try to kill each other, in the meantime they end up being surrounded by the "anti-harry" syndicate
-Instead of killing Harry, Grave starts fighting the "anti-harry" syndicate to help and save him
-Harry ends up being hit and Graves body finally stops running on him
-They both die and the "anti-harry" syndicate quits
-Sometime during the gunbattle Mika is brought to the bar where she's left in tears because of Grave's death.
-Final scene is a flashback (surprise surprise!) of Brandon and Harry first meeting as kids
Click to expand...


I'm sorry you're wrong, and are simply trolling! Grave's sacrifices were NOT in vein. So you're saying the organization wouldn't have been better off had Sid stayed alive? Or if Brandon hadnt jumped in front of Big Daddy back at that banquet?
 
michael000 said:
The bottom line is that Harry killed Brandon and that he did it purely to further his own ambitions. There was no nobility or justice involved it was pure greed. In my eyes nothing more needs to be said than that. I totaly believe in loyalty and friendship but i'm of the belief that once you betray and i mean truly betray all bets are off. Harry deserved to die and he knew it, the failure of the series IMO is Brandon's character development. He ends up being a weak willed character that's manipulated till the very end. All of his sacrafices are in vain and none and i mean none of them change anything for the better. It makes the entire series pointless when your hero is absolutely irrelevant, that's just my opinion though.



I haven't watched this show since the first time i finished it (for reasons that should be obvious in previous posts lol) but the last few episodes if memory serves me right follow this pretty closely

-Mika decides if she can just live with Grave she'll give up her revenge, Grave refuses
-Grave kills all of his former comrades (who're all genetically altered) and in one of the fights gets shot by a bullet that's meant to destory the necro whatever process he's undergone
-The professor is killed during one of the skirmishes, removing any chance of Grave being cured
-Mika is kidnapped
-The other members of the syndicate plan a coup to overthrow Harry from power
-Mika is rescued but somehow ends up in the hands of the "anti-harry" syndicate (i don't remember exactly how) but isn't harmed since she's "Big Daddy's" daughter
-Harry's wife is killed by "anti-harry" members of the syndicate in a drive by
-Harry and Grave finally meet again at the bar from the very beginning and decide to talk for abit before they try to kill each other, in the meantime they end up being surrounded by the "anti-harry" syndicate
-Instead of killing Harry, Grave starts fighting the "anti-harry" syndicate to help and save him
-Harry ends up being hit and Graves body finally stops running on him
-They both die and the "anti-harry" syndicate quits
-Sometime during the gunbattle Mika is brought to the bar where she's left in tears because of Grave's death.
-Final scene is a flashback (surprise surprise!) of Brandon and Harry first meeting as kids
Click to expand...


I'm sorry you're WRONG, and are simply trolling at this point! Grave's sacrifices were NOT in vein. So you're saying the organization wouldn't have been better off had Sid stayed alive? Or if Brandon hadnt jumped in front of Big Daddy back at that banquet?
 
Gotta a question....why did they kill Randy? He posed absolutely no threat to the organization.
 
isamu said:
Gotta a question....why did they kill Randy? He posed absolutely no threat to the organization.
Click to expand...


Harry's power continues to increase within the organization, but one of the executives, Randy, finds out about Harry's embezzlement of organization funds. For some reason, Harry's embezzled money ends up in Randy's secret account. Unaware of the truth, Brandon, along with Bunji, executes Randy and his men as traitors. Big Daddy is in agony over seeing the changes in the organization and he confesses a big secret to Maria.
 
.hacked said:
Harry's power continues to increase within the organization, but one of the executives, Randy, finds out about Harry's embezzlement of organization funds. For some reason, Harry's embezzled money ends up in Randy's secret account. Unaware of the truth, Brandon, along with Bunji, executes Randy and his men as traitors. Big Daddy is in agony over seeing the changes in the organization and he confesses a big secret to Maria.
Click to expand...


Ahhh, I see. Thanks :)
 
"The bottom line is that Harry killed Brandon and that he did it purely to further his own ambitions. There was no nobility or justice involved it was pure greed"

No Harry killed brandon cause he thought brandon would take the Boss' s side instead of harry and when brandon pulled hte gun on harry it sealed the deal.


The ending was great because it was NOT the typical revenge ending. Some ppl need to pay more attention while watching anime.
 
No Harry killed brandon cause he thought brandon would take the Boss' s side instead of harry and when brandon pulled hte gun on harry it sealed the deal.
Click to expand...

I loved how Harry
freaked out and yelling about "HE BETRAYED ME!" and break down all emotionally after he "helps" that kid by shooting the abusive boss

I may be wrong about this but, Gungrave's ending fits very well into the noir mold I think (well least based on what I know/understand about film noir type endings)

There were just sooooo many bizarrely compelling scenes in the series too. Towards the end of the series Harry becomes this really odd walking contradiction of sorts, where he would be this power hungry psycho that would do anything to make it to the top, yet somehow there was still an attachment to where he came from
based on how he kept and mounted those pictures of the old gang at his desk when Grave walks into his office near the end of the series
. That and Harry seemed to paid regular visits to an orphanage + gave out toys..

and all of it was really really captivating.

Oh and Bunji totally rocked :lol
 
yea i think they made it clear that Harry missed Brandon and actually regretted killing him. Eventhough he tried to convince himself otherwise.
 
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