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Studio : Madhouse Studios
Licenced by : Geneon Entertainment (USA)
Length : 26 Episodes
Year : 2003
Genre : Action - Drama - Horror - Science-Fiction - Mature
Synopsis :
A snowy night, a dead man, and the daughter of the woman he loved. With the help of the mysterious Dr. T, Brandon Heat, also known as Grave, rises from the dead to protect the little girl whose world was destroyed by the same man that killed him. Thirteen years ago, in a greedy bout for power, Harry Mcdowel put a bullet into his former best friend's eye, and threw him down into the city below, killing him. But with the technology that he developed, Dr. T resurrected Brandon, and gave him powers that are unimaginable.
Take a walk down the memories of Brandon, and see how this once gentle man whose sense of loyalty was unwavering become an ice cold killing machine that is the only thing that can stop Millenion, his former employer, from taking over the world. Dark and stylish, this video game adaptation surpasses all expectations, and weaves a Noir story that is unparalleled.
Added : 2003-10-07
Synopsis by : Sleepylafiel
Last update : 2007-03-25
Last update details : Production staff added to studd
Score : 8.71
Number of reviews : 28
Link(s) :
Official #1 : JVC Music Gungrave Website (Japanese)
Official #2 : Official Gungrave Website (Japanese)
Song(s) :
Opening #1 : Family
Ending #1 : Akaneiro ga Moeru Toki / When the Sky Burns Red
Release(s) :
2004-08-18 -- Episode(s) 0 by AnimeONE. BT Link
2004-04-28 -- Episode(s) 0 by AnimeONE. BT Link
2004-04-28 -- Episode(s) 26 by AnimeONE. BT Link
Found 34 releases. Click here to [ Find them! ]
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Posted by : Veld 
Posted on : 2010-05-19  
In a nutshell: Two completely unrelated genres very poorly placed together.
The good:
The first half of the show. The whole gangster theme was very well done. The whole necrolyzing thing was another story. See 'the bad' section.
Animation: The animations were pleasing. Nothing mind blowing but good.
Plot: The whole plot of the show was good. I did not like several of the developments, but they were generally well thought out.
The bad:
Whenever the whole necrolyzation thing came into the show, it just got very weird. The whole progression of technology over time was an interesting theme, but changing from mobsters with machine guns to alien looking super monsters was more than a stretch. If the animators would have shown more restraint and realism in this part of the anime it would have been much more believable. Once the show changed into the futuristic section it lost all of its realism and all of my interest.
Gungrave could have been amazing would the animators have made the story more relevant than ridiculous.
--------------------------
Overall: The first half of the show was very well done and worth an 8.5/10. The last half was another story 5.5/10. 7/10 overall.
Posted by : Terentius
Posted on : 2010-01-10
The one thing I love about anime, is its ability to meld completely different and alien genres together to form at times, inspired pieces of entertainment. Perhaps only in videogames could such a melting pot of ideas come together to form anything closely resembling a discernable story. One perfect example is the bizarre mix of underworld crime, horror and science fiction in the series Gungrave. Review based on MVM entertainment DVD release (UK region 2).
Animation
This was perhaps one of the weakest aspects of the series. I wasn't impressed by how blurred some of the character outlines are. The character proportions were overly exaggerated and it kind of spoilt some of the better action scenes and backdrops. The character designs were good if rather generic and at times it gave me the impression that they had been 'recycled' from another production.
Story
Initial impressions were poor. I honestly did not know what to expect during the first episode. As I alluded to in this review's introduction, Gungrave is an amalgamation (some have said mess) of different genres and as a result I soon became very apathetic. However, after some further episodes, I was soon drawn into the compelling tale of how Brandon and Harry climbed the ranks of Mafiahood. It was almost as epic as the rise of the Corleone family in the Godfather trilogy. Brandon's betrayal and downfall was equally as epic and painful. His prominence as one of the very best hitmen in his organisation, 'Millennion' was telling in the later story arcs as he sets himself the task of exacting his vengeance on everyone who had betrayed him. Perhaps one of the more memorable (and varied) stories I have encountered, I was very surprised to find that the original source was a PS2 videogame. If only other videogame licences were as well portrayed as Gungrave!
Characters
This perhaps was another area which was questionable. I found the peripheral cast to be quite a fun mix of characters. Each to his or her own, they contributed something to the story with Harry MacDowell being the best of the bunch. All of them except the main protagonist Brandon Heat. He was perhaps one of the most uncharismatic lead characters I've ever seen. Aside from his postulating and broodiness he was such a dull character. Were it not for his exploits and his thirst for vengeance I would have added uninspiring to that list. This was more than ably compensated by the scene-stealing antics of his former best friend Harry MacDowell. He was like an anime powerhouse of Don Vito and Michael Corleone, with a splice of Darth Vadar's ruthlessness and mountains of charisma much like Gary Oldman's character, Stansfield from the 1994 movie Leon. If only all bad guys were made like him. If the production team had made Brandon more like a character rather than a wooden caricature then I would have awarded a higher score.
Music/Sound
The music was adequate. The OP was quite a sombre instrumental piece that fitted the opening animation well, but the ED was rather anonymous. The score again was something that never really stood out.
Summary
Gungrave was one interesting show. Aside from the random first episode and some of the later episodes towards the show's conclusion, I found the story-telling to be rather entertaining albeit far-fetched). This was a brave production in that it took the concept from a videogame (never one of the best form of originality in entertainment) and turned it into a very entertaining series. Naturally the process would be flawed as was outlined above. Nevertheless I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Were it not for the problems stated, I would have had difficulty awarding anything other than perfection. However, Gungrave will have to settle for 4.5 stars.
Posted by : ErwinRommel
Posted on : 2009-09-10
Gungrave the anime suffers from being in the shadow of its origins as a game. A decent mafia story gets butchered into a bad mix of zombies, monsters, and a hero that looks like a washed out pro-wrestler. This works for games like Devil May Cry but not TV shows or anime. Nor does the anime understand that a quiet character should actually speak and show more than two to three stock emotions. I cannot recommend this anime.
First impressions are everything in anime. How else can a poorly produced anime get air time? The first episode of Gungrave cuts to the chase and tells their audience how bad it can get. Just imagine a main character that never talks. He wanders around in generic places. The action scenes are just the usual pre-determined stances from Naruto, and the camera pans out for a lazily organized attempt at suspense. Add in music that sounds like it's in the eighties, and we get a very corny picture of what Gungrave is. I emphasize the first episode because the climactic scenes will be *Spoilers Alert*...identical to this episode.
Perhaps the only silver lining is the origin story to Brandon Heat. With influences obviously from the Godfather (One guy looks identical to Old Michael Corleone down to the suit) the anime manages a good description of someone trying to climb the criminal syndicate ladder. Most impressive of all the characters is Harry Macdowel. He is far more interesting than any of the monsters on screen, and it's a real shame that he had to lose screen time to white pasty zombies and a main character that resembles a wall.
Brandon Heat is a great example of someone who should never be a main character. He does not talk when necessary and shows little to no emotions. Brandon Heat has the ability to suck the life out of a scene and force the camera to focus attention on his lifeless carcass.
I can see why people like this anime as the mafia story is quite entertaining. But the poor choice of a main character and the baffling transition to science fiction really destroyed Gungrave.
Thus, 6/10
Posted by : joem20
Posted on : 2009-05-17
Gungrave is certainly one of the best I’ve ever seen. It’s a story about friendship, family, love, loyalty, self sacrifice and undying revenge. If you are a fan of matured and serious storyline, this is definitely the anime you should not miss.
Animation
One of the best animations ever! You can’t even realize that you are watching an anime series because it’s too real! The drama, action scenes, the characters, its absolutely great. The expression of their faces are really detailed. Its quality is constant throughout the series.
Character
The character design is great. Its amazing they can really make the young and old versions of each characters. The character development of Brandon Heat and Harry was really good. It was amazing that they still treasure each other after all that happen in their life.
Music
The opening song is cool to listen, and the bass line of the ending song is really great. However, some scenes lack background music to it but it is needed to show the seriousness of those scenes.
Overall
To sum things up, its great, however some of the scenes were a little bit boring because of the silent pauses and long conversations. It may not be the anime for all viewers because of its seriousness but overall a great anime to watch.
Posted by : seraphine
Posted on : 2007-12-23
Gungrave tells a convincing story of a man who gave up everything for his friend and loved one. It remains one of my favourite animes todate.
Admittedly, the 1st episode is weird and unnecessary, as it neither engages the viewer, nor gives a good feel of what to expect in the immediate episodes that follow. Beyond that episode, however, you will be rewarded with a good story that tells of life in a slum, steadfast friendships, chaste love, loyalty and betrayal, the ways of the (under)world and corruption of the human heart in the struggle for power. It has great character developments and is mostly action-packed in the later episodes, which surprisingly is enjoyable to me, someone who tends to avoid shounen-themed animes because of the many fighting scenes.
Brandon Heat must be one of the most self-sacrificing characters in animes that I've seen. Yeah, he's an extremely fine and dependable man, but I swear there were moments when I just wanted to shake him up really good for being so nonchalant, especially where his feelings for Maria is concerned! (can't blame me, his friends couldn't stand him either!) That aside, he truly is one cool and skillful hitman, and when he is in action, he is a marvel to watch (the only one to top him so far being Hei from Darker Than Black, imo). Harry Mcdowel, the other main character and Brandon's best friend, in his quest for power, veers further and further from their course of friendship and eventually, brings about the existence of Beyond The Grave.
Music wise, the BGM is more enjoyable than the OP and ED, as the latter are really boring. But the topnotch storytelling more than makes up for that, so overall, this gets a score of 9 from me.
Posted by : SuperSteveSlider
Posted on : 2007-07-23
This anime, even though not one of my favorites was admittedly great. Though this is not a 10 in my view it was a great story that kept me craving more. The story progressed at a good pace and the characters developed at a steady pace allowing for peeks into the pasts of the characters as well as developments in the current storyline. Probably my favorite aspect of the show were the weapons of the show, they were incredibly cool and I would say its worth watching the show just so you can see the weapons the main character has. Another positive aspect of the show is that even minor characters are shown to develop through the story instead of being forgotten as in other animes. All in all I would recommend this anime to anyone who has the time.
Posted by : reaperxtreme
Posted on : 2007-04-30
Gungrave, comes to shoot both the quick and the dead
Story 9/10
The story is about a man called Brandon Heat. It takes you from his life as a teenager, working for a mafia, till the day he dies gets resurrected and gets revenge on the whole mafia.
Characters 9/10
During the life and afterlife Brandon meets various people with different mannerisms and beliefs all linked to the organization known as Millennium. Brandon himself is a quiet person who keeps to himself and would only confide in the leader of the organization Big Daddy. His best friend is Harry who is very ambitious, talented and charismatic he moves through the ranks of the organization at incredible speeds with his best friend Brandon. Big Daddy is the leader of the organization known as Millennium and is a caring man who founded the organization on trust. There are many other characters in this series such as Big Bear, Maria, Ballard Bird Lee, etc.
Visuals 10/10
Gungrave consistently provides amazing visuals each episode and plenty of style. Gungrave has some serious gun action and the characters are wonderfully brought to life through the quality of animation.
Sound 7/10
To be honest I was not impressed with the sound the opening music does not do justice to the animation. On the brighter side the lip syncing is spot on, the sound effects are great and the characters do happen to have voices which match.
Overall 9/10
Gungrave is a really interesting anime to watch as I have not seen many animations which use the mafia as the motivation for the main character and so many cool characters in one anime.
Posted by : MrSentimental
Posted on : 2007-04-15
Very interesting Mafia/revenge storyline with an "undead" twist. The pretty good action scenes and the "undead" made this right for Anime. Otherwise, this one could have been just as good in "live action" format, with some good actors of course, because there was tons of talk and character development. It kept my attention pretty much throughout, and had some very appealing characters both good and bad. A good gambit of strong emotions, which I like.
The artwork was fine. Nothing special, but it did help in making the characters appealing. The beginning theme was OK, and the rest of the background music was OK. Nothing special here.
I guess I'm getting impatient with age, or something. I swear, these guys could have made a super kick-butt series if they had just cut it in half (13 episodes instead of 26) by leaving out so many of the talk scenes. Character development is very enjoyable... ...to a point! I did find myself leaning on the fast-forward button on my remote during many a slow scene. But these scenes in no way stopped me from very much enjoying the series in general.
So, I definitely recommend Gungrave. I wasn't blown away or anything, but I did enjoy some very thoughtful, quality entertainment. It's a keeper. 8 out of 10 Rating. 4 out of 5 Stars.
Posted by : natopa16
Posted on : 2007-02-19
This is how you do a show based on a license. Strong story, production values, and memorable characters help to create what should be the text book example of adapting a video game. It also probably helps that Gungrave had little story to begin with, so the director had plenty of room for creativity.
Gungrave is an interesting mix of inspirations, from the creator of Trigun. It's half Berzerk, half Vampire Hunter D, with just a hint of Cowboy Bebop's interpretation on a futuristic Yakuza, all of these inspirations come together to help create a show that can easily stand among their ranks.
However, it's easy to compare the show to Trigun since Gungrave is created by the same man. The most obvious comparison is between these two shows protagonists, Beyond the Grave and Vash the Stampede. Vash is without a doubt my favorite character from any anime (closely followed by Ippo and Naruto), so its not exactly a fault of the show that its hero didn't exactly raise to that level of coolness, which is ok since the story in Gungrave is overall much more well told, and its really the villian, Harry, that steals the show this time around.
This is were the Berserk influence comes from. The first episode gives a taste of what Grave will be like towards the end, then immediately goes to the beginning of the story and follows two friends as they eventually become enemies, torn apart by different views and goals. Where Gungrave excels over Berzerk is that i actually finishes the story, rather than stopping halfway, leaving the reader to seek out the manga like Berserk did.
In many ways, this show is top notch. It's really refined and memorable, but it doesnt stand out in my memory as much as its many influences does, simply because it borrows so much without offering that much originality.
Posted by : snowmay2
Posted on : 2007-02-11 
Action, Drama, and Sci-fi are the 3 genres that are combined to make up Gungrave. As for the elements in this show there is mafia, zombies, betrayal, love, pride and much more. Gungrave although has a lot of Cowboy Bebop influences and adds some zombie and sci-fi bits to it but it manages to hold its own. The main character Brandon Heat himself is a very interesting character to watch. Strong and silent. Cant say I know any other characters in anime who is like him (Except for Ichise from Texhnolyze). The anime also has a great pace and gets down to just about every nook and cranny a anime can get, plus there are so many interesting characters that it may be hard to decide which is your favorite by the end of the series (although most say Brandon Heat). So if you loved Cowboy Bebop, and don't mind having a Count of Monte Cristo betrayal story, with a few zombies involved (called orgman in the show) than go ahead and give this anime a try. Its my personal favorite.
Posted by : mushmouth
Posted on : 2006-12-11
Gungrave has got to be one of the best anime that I have ever had the pleasure of viewing.
It's best to think of it as a sci-fi Godfather or The Sopranos (which isn't as ridiculous as the idea might seem). The series follows Brandon Heat and his best friend Harry MacDowell, their rise to power, and their tragic fall. There is also a recurring theme of friendship and brotherhood.
Gungrave has it all: fleshed out characters, an engaging story, impressive visuals and a great sountrack.
My only fault with the series is the unnecessary first episode. My advice is to avoid it if possible. Gungrave revisits it later on, and it makes more sense when it does.
Posted by : Joeanime
Posted on : 2006-10-21
Aside from incredibly odd looking orgmen, this is a great series with excellent art, music, plot, character development, and ending. Very little, if any, 3D art was used, which I really appreciate because I feel the more 3D a series has, the less of an Anime feel it has. Once again, Tsuneo Imahori has blessed us with another great music score for this show. The plot is amazing, especially how he ends it, if he had any other ending I would have labeled this series crap. My favorite section of the show is the flashback episodes; because I love watching the characters develop in that setting. Over all I think this is a great Anime series and should be watched by all who can get their hands on it. But then again, what else would you expect from Yasuhiro Nightow?
Posted by : Faebinder
Posted on : 2006-09-18
Two... that's the number of episodes you need to get hooked on Gungrave.This series is a diamond in a clay jug. Absolutely fantastic. Details..
Artwork: 8/10. Probably the weakest thing about this anime is the artwork. The characters are very typically drawn and some are classic icons. Still, the slightly above average artwork does not drop the value of this sweet series. The flash and cut style fits the bullet fights.
Music: 9/10. Awesome ending, good opening and good intraepisode music. I loved the ending.
Story: 10/10. Spectacular. A great mature story mixing mafia, sci-fi and *gasp* an actual story. I can't do justifce describing this suffice to say... there are no garbage filler episodes or some stupid unnecessary scene like the garbage you see in some of the weaker anime. There is a lot of killing (and I am not just speaking of minor characters) and a lot of mature themes, so be wary.
Character Design: 10/10. This is one of the best animes when it comes to character design... why? Because the characters change personality subtly but surely. The characters are also faced with serious and real decision (despite the sci-fi setting) and react with a mature style to things. The second best thing about the character design is that antagonists and heroes are all given a lot of screen time, allowing you develop anger/empathy/happiness or whatever emotions you will develop form watching the characters. Well done.
I highly recommend this anime for people who enjoyed Cowboy Bepop and Berserk. Avoid this if you are into comedy and cute chicks mixed with romance.
Posted by : DagetAwayMaN421
Posted on : 2006-07-25
This was a pretty cool anime series, the cool thing is that instead of this being based on a manga, it's based on a video game, which I think is pretty sweet. The first half of the show deals builds the story and then the story from the game takes over. Brandon Heat, back from the dead to protect Millenion from his best friend Harry who betrayed him and killed him. This is some pretty cool stuff.
Animation: 10/10~ I have to say the animation on this series was pretty cool. Brandon Heat looked awesome when he came back from the dead, and the way the fights were drawn were awesome.
Story: 9/10~ One of my friends told me that the story reminded him of a cross between Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, and Hellsing. It's like Trigun because Brandon Heat protects as many innocent lives as he can. When he works under Millenion as a hit man, he would wait till the target was alone and away from his family before carrying it out and always helped out those that used to work with him. Also, when he's brought back from the dead, it seems as though he can't be killed and has to continue living. It's like Cowboy Bebop in the fact that he worked with a guy to get to the top only to be betrayed by him and is supposed to be dead, but when he comes back, he works to bring down his best friend. Last but not least, it's like Hellsing because Brandon can't be killed by any normal means and he's the only one that seems to be able to kill the freaks with, what else? guns. Special bullets and all. Not the most original story, plus I didn't like how it finished, but it was a pretty good one.
Characters: 10/10~ I liked how the two main characters were portrayed, Brandon and Harry. Best buddies, and their past was shown in great detail. I liked how it showed Brandon maturing while Harry stayed mostly the same. Brandon went from a quiet kid who could fight like no other and managed to win to a hit man who cared about those around him and made sure that Millenion was protected. Harry went from being leader to leader. Really no change, but it shows that his ambitions "the freedom to do anything" was finally achieved.
Music: 9/10~ I think it was pretty good, especially during the fight scenes, I didn't really like the ending, but the opening was pretty cool. Something new in terms of openings for animes to me, no vocals, all music.
Fun Level: 10/10 I liked watching this, I went on a 2 month hiatus from watching anime and then I opened this up and finished it in 2 days, then I watched it again, because it was that good, something well worth watching more than once.
Posted by : olyyy
Posted on : 2006-04-03
Why 8 points?
I watched the first episode wondering "what the hell is that?" and forgot about this anime for like a good whole week. I was really not convinced ("who the heck is that guy with that weird look? And what the heck are those paper made monsters called orks?").
Then I watched the other episodes and come to realize that I’ve had been mistaken all along. Gungrave was in fact awesome after all. The graphics were absolutely great and the story started to really impress me bits by bits. Whereas I thought the first episode was a failure, all of a sudden I enjoyed the story and start to understand the reason behind the first episode.
This great story comes with very well worked out characters. (Many of them and each one with a very well portray personalities.)
I won't say anything about the ending of the anime except that I really liked it. The OST is pretty good, and the ending theme is nice to the ear.
Hence, only 8 points because Gungrave would probably loose a lot of potential audience just with its first episode. But still, once you've been through that episode you’ll discover a really deep and interesting story. Worth watching, definitely!
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