Juusou Kikou Dancouga Nova

Title: Juusou Kikou Dancouga Nova Dancougar Nova: Beastial Assault Mech Kemono Soukikou Dancougar Nova Overall: Rent Keywords: 2007, Adventure, Mecha, Sci-Fi, Shounen, Spinoff, TV Notables: FUJIWARA Keiji GOTO Saori IKEZAWA Haruna KUWASHIMA Houko NEYA Michiko SUZUKI Tatsuhisa TAI Yuuki YAO Kazuki In the 22nd century, there are no longer any world wide wars. Instead, small scale wars break out all over the Earth. Meanwhile, a large robot appears who protects the weak. It is called “Dancougar Nova”. Some even call it God. However, no one knows the reason for its existence - not even its pilots. Then, another robot, beyond anyone's expectations, reveals itself as the true enemy and begins its attack on the Earth. Dancougar Nova retaliates against this enemy with a power that was kept secret until now. Will Dancougar Nova be able to save the Earth? The prelude to this explosive confrontation rings out. (Synopsis courtesy of AnimeNfo) A spinoff of the old 1985 Choujuu Kishin Dancougar. 12 episodes first airing 2007-02-15. Animation by Ashi Productions.

Episode Details
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 98, 99

Overall	Art	Animation	Character Design	Music	Series Story	Episode Story	Reviewer
Rent 4							Stretch	#
Juusou Kikou Dancouga Nova (All episodes watched): While rewatching some old VHS tapes recently, I stumbled across trailers for the original Dancougar series and became curious. Then, lo and behold, episode one of this new series appeared at AnimeSuki--nice timing! Basically, exactly one hundred years in the future, two young men and two young women find themselves somehow transported to a strange base on a remote island. They are offered a fantastic "contract": they are to serve as the new crew of Dancougar, an incredible robot about which there are many rumors but very few hard facts. The OP sequence was quite snazzy and left an immediate impression of neat animation and artwork. The series as a whole clearly had a limited budget, but they did a good job with what resources they had. I couldn't help giggling and enjoying myself as I soaked up the first episode's mix of mecha combat (twice), Formula One racing, and a drug bust to boot! Though I was somewhat skeptical going in, since the original series doesn't exactly seem to be a classic, this opening episode quickly grabbed my interest, which never flagged as I watched it. Having seen some of the original version, the impression I get is that the 1985 version of Dancougar was largely designed as a sell-mecha-toys-to-k­ids show, whereas this one appeals to the tastes of the same (now adult) viewers. It's kind of amusing, actually, you might say it appeals to the kid within all of us. Dancouga Nova follows a radically different plotline--no alien invasion in episode one, for one thing--and I'd classify it as a spinoff. Also, it does get pretty funny at times, such as when the new candidates are shown to their quarters. Plenty of action and adventure, needless to say--no signs of angst, which is fine with me. It's hard to put into words, but I like the style of this show--the dialogue, artwork, timing--and especially the way it skillfully maintains a high level of excitement. The sheer coolness of this show is overwhelming--provid­ed you can take Dancougar's transformation into animal modes seriously (it only happens once or twice, probably because the makers felt obligated to maintain a link to the old TV series). Whereas Dancouga Nova got an average grade of around C+ at another website, as for me this was one of the handful of shows which I enjoyed so much that I was seriously tempted not to watch the final episode, because I never wanted it to end. Not a particularly original series, but instead one which deftly uses tried-and-true techniques just the way they work best. (See a Hidaka Aoi montage at Mecha Chicks and a Tachibana Kurara one at Cute Girls with Guns) My favorite line: "That's what you get for wasting food!" --Kurara Last updated Tuesday, February 19 2008. Created Wednesday, February 28 2007.

Other Sites

Name	URL
Japanese Language Web Site	http://dancouganova.com/index.html