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Generator Gawl Anime Review

Generator Gawl Box Art

Generator Gawl

3.5 stars / TV Series / Action / 13-up

Bottom Line

An all around solidly constructed series.

It’s Like...

...A more serious Full Metal Panic, with mecha replaced by monsters and time travel.

Vital Stats

Original Title

ジェネレイター ガウル

Romanized Title

Jenereitaa Gauru

Literal Translation

Generator Gawl

Animation Studio

Tatsunoko Pro

US Release By

Section23 (also ADV Films)

Genre

Light Sci-fi Mystery Action

Series Type

TV Series

Length

12 25-minute episodes

Production Date

1998-10-06 - 1998-12-22

What's In It

Categories

Look For

  • Superpowered Fistfights
  • Beasties
  • Near-future Super Technology
  • Causality Paradoxes

Objectionable Content

  • Violence: 3 (significant)
  • Nudity: 1 (mild)
  • Sex: 1 (mild)
  • Language: 2 (moderate)

full details

See Also

Sequels/Spin-offs

  • None

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Plot Synopsis

In the near future, in a quiet college town constructed as an experimental educational institution for the best and brightest, three young men appear from the future--two intelligent ones and a rather unruly fellow named Gawl. They don't seem to be much more than new students, but the three of them aren't really there for an education--their mission is far more important than anyone in the world could know. But one classmate, the daughter of their landlady, is determined to find out what those three suspicious and studly fellows are up to!

Quick Review

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Generator Gawl has retread sci-fi action written all over the premise, but the series is solidly produced and the tale strikes a good balance of light banter, humorous attempts by the heroes at fitting in with normal folk, darker drama, and plot meted out as implications and hints. It starts strong and carries through smoothly, managing to be enjoyable, dramatic, and engaging from start to finish both as a mystery and a nice-looking action show.

It's not terribly deep, and not wildly original, but it is creative and solid enough that it's worth a shot for anybody who enjoys a relatively light drama/action sci-fi yarn.

Read the full-length review...

Related Recommendations

A very good match in mood and mysterious technology for the first Full Metal Panic series, although Gawl has a more solid overall plot and isn't quite a silly. Outlaw Star is another match in terms of general mood.

Notes and Trivia

Generator is an original concept by Tatsunoko Productions. There was a short (two-book) manga adaptation by Jun Sasameyuki to coincide with the TV run, as well as a light novel side-story subtitled "Song of the Swan," written by Fumihiko Shimo.

The story is set about ten years in the future, relative to when it aired. Which, of course, means that it takes place in the futuristic year of 2007.

US DVD Review

ADV's DVDs (originally four individual volumes, later a 4-disc set of the same material) are basic but solid productions; the video is very sharp, the audio is crisp, and the subtitles are accurate, although the subtitles on the theme songs are hard coded for some reason (at least each disc does have the themes with translations, transcribed Japanese lyrics, and no subtitles at all alternating between episodes). There aren't a whole lot of special features--just some character sketches--but the menus are attractive and as with other ADV releases include clips of the soundtrack.

There are also a couple of other new-at-the-time things that set the stage for later ADV releases: On the down side, the preview trailers automatically come on when you put in the disc, which is annoying but can be skipped. On the positive side, they finally got the cast thing right--the credits list both English and Japanese casts, without any silly alternate angles or hoops to jump through.

Parental Guide

Not terribly objectionable, but a bit of mildly raunchy humor and some violence account for ADV's 12-up rating.

Violence: 3 - Some big bad creatures killed and a few brutal scenes, but it's not very graphic.

Nudity: 1 - Nothing of note.

Sex/Mature Themes: 1 - Just some "pervert" allegations and a couple of mildly gross jokes, plus some innuendo.

Language: 2 - Some mild swearing in the subtitles.

Availability

Formerly available in North America from ADV Films on a 4-disc Perfect Collection of hybrid DVDs, currently out of print. Was originally available on four individual DVD volumes, as well as four subtitled or dubbed VHS volumes; the first DVD volume (only) was re-released a few years later with different cover art.

Though all of the above are out of print, at last check Amazon had plenty of used copies for sale. Notably, the individual discs are much cheaper than the box set, even factoring in shipping: Generator Gawl - Perfect Collection, Generator Gawl - Human Heart Metal Soul (Vol. 1), Generator Gawl - Future Memory (Vol. 2), Generator Gawl - Secrets and Lies (Vol. 3), Generator Gawl - Out of Time (Vol. 4), Generator Gawl - Vol. 1 (2005 re-release).

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