Aura Battler Dunbine

[MoonlessNight]

So I just picked up the first volume of the series, and I have to say that its better than I thought it would be. I wasn't sure if I would like it, as I was not fond at all of Escaflowne, but I saw the first volume for cheap used, and figured that since Tomino made it, I might as well give it a chance. Tomino really does a lot with an offbeat premise, especially considering that its one that very easily could have devolved into your standard giant robot affair. The one thing that has impressed me so far is that it is very clear that there is a lot going on under the surface. I'm certain that there's many untold secrets regarding Shot Weapon, for instance. His story just doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and since Todd points that out, I think the series admits it, so there must be some other explanation there.

Anyway, I think I'm going to continue getting the series, though I'll probably do it at a slow pace because this series is hard to find used, and its ridiculously expensive new.

But with that out of the way, anyone else a fan of this series? Anyone even familiar with it?

 

[PonyBoy&Dally]

I'll look into it.It sounds intresting.

 

[MoonlessNight]

If anyone is wondering about the premise of the anime it basically goes like this (I will use whatever spellings I feel like for things, as there doesn't appear to be anything official. For example Todd's name appears as Todd Guiness in the subtitles and Tod Guines in the character slip):

One night Shou Zama gets transported to the world of Byston Well. Byston Well was apparantly a relatively normal fantasy world, with many types of bizzare creatures. Humans dominate, but there are also fairy like creatures, called Ferario, the most common of which seem to be Mi Ferario who are pixy like creatures whose only power seems to be that of flight.

Anyway, the particular part of Byston Well, the Kingdom of Drake Luft, that Shou was transported to is starting to become technologically advanced. They have electricity, they make integrated circuits in clean rooms, and they even have created a new weapon known as "Aura Battlers." This is apparantly all due to the innovations of a Robotocist named Shot Weapon who was transported from Upper Earth (which is the Byston Well term for our Earth) a while back in much the same manner that Shou was. By combining our technology with some of the creatures from Byston well (as in, using materials from them) he was able to make a new brand of technology never seen on either Upper Earth or Byston Well. Aura Battlers are essentially giant robots that are piloted much like Mech in other anime, but they are called Aura Battler because it is possible to use one's life force, or Aura, to pilot them by will and increase their power. Apparantly people from Upper Earth are much better at doing this than the natives of Byston Well, which is why Shou Zama (along with a few others, such as Todd Guiness and Marvel Frozen) was brought to Byston Well in the first place.

Shou is given high regard as an Aura battler in the service of Drake Luft. But it becomes clear that Drake's new technology has just givn him the desire to conquer the rest of Byston Well. He starts by attacking House Given, trying to make it look like House Given betrayed him. And thus starts the ar at the center of Aura Battler Dunbine.

There's a lot of standard Tomino stuff going on, by the way. For instance, it's clear that Shou's relationship with his parents was pretty bad. There is also a Mi Ferario named Chum who is the standard comic relief character, much like the war orphans and Haro were in the original Gundam. And there are deaths. I mean, I've only seen five episodes and there's been some notable ones, and judging from the preview of episode 6 I have a feeling that another notable character is about to die. It will probably pick up the death count towards the end of the series, like Zeta Gundam did, I imagine.

 

[MoonlessNight]

I just found out that Aura Battler Dunbine is playing on the Anime Network, if you get that (probably because ADV films is trying to milk some more cash out of it... it didn't sell very well. But if they are willing to make sacrifices for Dunbine I really really hope that we will see Ideon sometime soon.)

 

[EclecticDoctor]

I haven't seen Aura Battler Dunbine, but I've played it many times on Super Robot Wars games XD.