#lets-play

Garrod Ran

"I won't let you repeat our mistakes!!!"

Source Material: After War Gundam X

Age: 15

Height: 161 cm

Voice Actor: Wataru Takagi

The Blazing Mobile Suit Pilot himself (self-entitled), Garrod's a determined young man who, throughout his travels, realizes just how much of the world around him is built upon (or, in the case of the actual source material, atop the ruins of) the past generation's mistakes, traumas, and baggage. Throughout it all, his dedication to the taciturn young Tiffa Adill serves as motivation to never turn back, regardless of how much cruelty or foolishness he has to deal with.

I like him a lot :)

Garrod won't wow you, but he's certainly not bad either. High Evasion, high Skill, and high Accuracy are all rather nice to have, but his offensive stats are underwhelming.

However, as the game goes on, his Spirit Command list will prove to have basically everything you could want him to have, except for the all-important Spirit (気合, raises user's Will by 10), which would make firing the Gundam X's signature move a lot easier. Speaking of, said signature move more than makes up for Garrod's lack of innate firepower.

Garrod will become better throughout the game, but it does hurt him that all but one of his "upgrades" are more on the machine side than the pilot side, since you could just stick anybody else on his machine(s). Still, the one that IS a direct upgrade for him is rather strong, even if it's technically a secret.

Fun Fact: Garrod is responsible for the single longest-range sniping feat in the history of Gundam, landing a shot from 15~20 thousand kilometers away. Though it should be mentioned, the target in question wasn't exactly small...

Gundam X

Source Material: After War Gundam X

Model Number: GX-9900

Height: 17.1 meters

Real World Designer: Kunio Okawara

The Earth Federation's trump card, and one of the most powerful Newtype-use weapons ever made. Armed with multiple superweapons and a dedicated support unit that never saw live battle during the old war, even with the relatively small number of deployed units, it made one hell of an impression on the battlefield, and gave Jamil Neate PTSD even though he was the one piloting it.

Today, Garrod Ran pilots it, though he doesn't know the full extent of the machine's history, nor of its capabilities...

Average mobility, average range, average firepower, but man it's got one hell of a trump card up its...

...Huh? Where's its trump card?

...In any case, once it's here, it's a big reason why this is one hell of a machine. I'd honestly say it's better than its upgraded counterpart in quite a few circumstances.

Fun Fact: Kunio Okawara has said that the GX was designed with the motif of the famous samurai Sasaki Kojiro in mind; the diagonal way in which the cannon rests on its back, alongside the way the hilt of the beam saber is pulled from its base, are meant to be evocative of Kojiro's famously long katana, the Monohoshizao (Clothespole).

Jamil Neate

"Don't think, just run!"

Source Material: After War Gundam X

Age: 30

Height: 180 cm

Voice Actor: Ken'yu Horiuchi

A former newtype ace, Jamil now makes his living by leading the Frieden crew. Due to the PTSD the war gave him, he finds himself unable to get back in a Mobile Suit's cockpit, and prefers to lead from the Frieden's bridge instead.

Despite no longer being at the forefront, Jamil is far from a coward, and will go to extreme lengths to protect other newtypes from the same fate he now grapples with. He believes in a future where newtypes are no longer used as weapons of war, and this resolution is exactly what makes people trust him so fiercely.

Jamil boasts the singular strongest Ranged stat out of all battleship commanders in the game (and by a LONG shot), and despite claiming to no longer have Newtype powers, he still has one level of the skill to boot, making him easily the most accurate out of the whole bunch. On top of that, his Evasion is good enough that, coupled with his Newtype abilities, he's capable of making the damn thing dodge sometimes.

If you had to find something to complain about with him, it'd be that his Spirits list really isn't all that good for battleship captain duty, being more suited to a Real Robot pilot.

Also, there's a secret in this game involving him; by a certain chapter, we want him to have 20 kills. Considering how far off said chapter is, it's really not that tall of a task provided you know about it, and i'm sure some people have even managed to get it while not knowing about it. Still, we'd best not forget to feed him every once in a while.

Fun Fact: Flashbacks aside, we never see Jamil without his sunglasses until he takes them off during the final episode, after which point he never puts them back on again.

Frieden

Source Material: After War Gundam X

Length: 130 meters

A modified version of an old Federation Alps-class land battleship.

It's certainly a battleship. It's got thin armor coupled with no barrier, but it's got large reserves of HP as with all battleships, so it's not exactly easy to take down. Plus, by being a landship, it's got the distinct advantage of being able to get terrain bonuses, something the other battleships can't really do.

In case you were thinking of being silly with it and trying to upgrade its mobility to fit Jamil, don't bother. That'd be incredibly expensive for very little returns, and said upgrades will carry over to later ships that are even less fit for dodging. Even equipping it with mobility raising parts doesn't seem worth it, as it only has a measly two Parts slots, much better dedicated for consumable items for you to cast on nearby allies.

Fun Fact: The german word "Frieden" means peace.

Roybea Loy

"I wonder if there's a Heaven?"

Source Material: After War Gundam X

Height: 184 cm

Voice Actor: Takumi Yamazaki

The Frieden crew's resident playboy. In the original show, his playboy behavior was rationalized as being a way to spread more love than hatred in the desolate world of the After War timeline, but in SRW R's world, i suppose he's just like that innately.

Also, his cut-in art in R is ATROCIOUS, they did him so fucking dirty.

Roybea is alright. He's got average stats all around. Using Garrod as a measuring stick, Roybea hovers slightly below Garrod in most regards, except for being exactly 1 point better in both offensive stats, and being a whopping 10 points behind in Evasion.

Still, he makes up for this with a fairly stellar Spirit command lineup, with an early Daunt (脱力, lowers target enemy's Will by 10) being stellar for boss-slaying, and later getting Assault (突撃, can use any weapon after moving, except for MAP attacks), which can make him a serious candidate for the GX (and its upgrade) in playthroughs where you don't get the big Gundam X secret. On top of all that, he even has 2 levels of Support Attack.

Gundam Leopard

Source Material: After War Gundam X

Model Number: GT-9600

Height: 16.8 meters

A heavy-weapons machine from the same war as the Gundam X, the Leopard was also originally a Newtype-use machine, though the one Roybea uses has been heavily modified, and no longer has the Flash System.

Below average Mobility, below average Movement Range, below average firepower. This thing's not great. It has a MAP attack, but it's weak enough that it won't be very useful for much more than weakening multiple grunt enemies at a time (though it IS nice that it doesn't have a Will requirement). It'll get a couple upgrades later down the line, but even then, there's better options, even within the constraints of Gundam X MSs.

Fun Fact: In the Gundam X timeline, this was the first Gundam ever made, and was once ridden by the very first newtype.

Witz Sou

"Please... Protect the Frieden!"

Source Material: After War Gundam X

Height: 175 cm

Voice Actor: Kazuya Nakai

A hot-blooded, impulsive young man who's often the butt of jokes on the Frieden. He starts off abrasive, but as the crew gets to know him better, he can't help but get attached. He's been trying to get money to help his family back home, but when he returns home after a long while and things have seriously changed, he has a hard time coping with it.

His backstory doesn't really fit with the complicated setting of SRW R, and the large cast in R doesn't really offer Witz the found family vibes that the Frieden crew thawed him with, so here he's just an asshole for no reason and is often designated for scenes where the script clearly just needed someone to be a dick and/or a contrarian. Poor Witz :(

He hovers around Roybea's statline on every metric except Melee, which is REALLY low, but that doesn't really matter when no Gundam X machines really suffer from the pilot having low Melee.

Spirit Commands wise, he's less impressive than Roybea. He's not really missing anything particularly important, but he doesn't have any real standouts other than maybe Accel, which coupled with his Airmaster, let him be wherever he wants to be, whenever he wants to be.

Fun Fact: Witz was Kazuya Nakai's first role, fresh off of giving up the salaryman lifestyle to try and break into the VA business. Judging from certain interviews, it seems he's rather attached to the role because of this.

Gundam Airmaster

Source Material: After War Gundam X

Model Number: GW-9800

Height: 17.2 meters

A high-mobility newtype-use machine from the same war as the Leopard and the Gundam X. Much like the Leopard, this machine seems to have been modified, and no longer has the Newtype-use Flash System.

High base mobility, and BONKERS Movement Range. It does suffer from not having an attack with longer range than 5 tiles, but that issue is somewhat alleviated by the fact that said 5-range attack is post-movement on top of this thing's turbo speeds.

A more genuine issue with it, however, is its lack of firepower. Still, you can do a lot worse than this one.

Fun Fact: Kazuya Nakai has a model kit of this machine, but refuses to actually build it out of sentimentality. I've always found this story really sweet.

Fa Yuiry

"Humans are emotional animals!"

Source Material: Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack

Birthday: October 9th

Age: 17

Voice Actress: Miyuki Matsuoka

A determined and kind young woman who ended up involved with the AEUG during the Gryps Conflict. Though not as impulsive as some of her compatriots, she too has a strong sense of justice, and held deep resentment for the Titans.

In SRW R, the Gryps Conflict has already concluded (though evidently in a very different manner from how the TV show concluded), and now she searches for Kamille's whereabouts.

There's no sugarcoating it, Fa's terrible. If you must find any positive quirks of her, she gets Blocking up to level 5, which is really high, and she gets three levels of Support Defense. Couple this with her being a Newtype, and i guess you could try and make her a Support Defense battery? Obviously this would be a terrible use of a deploy slot, but if you absolutely MUST deploy her because you are madly in love with her, that'd be the move. Here's some rot13'd paragraphs with future unit spoilers if you're someone who MUST use Fa and find this non-negotiable.

if you're wondering why i even bothered with this, it's because i really really like theorycrafting and will take any excuse to do it

Fb lbh jnag fbzrguvat gung'f fgheql rabhtu gb gnax uvgf va pnfr Oybpxvat qbrfa'g cebp, naq vqrnyyl unf Shaaryf be fbzrguvat fb gung fur pna znxr hfr bs ure Fhccbeg Nggnpx, gbb. Gb ortva jvgu lbh cebonoyl jnag gb or chggvat ure arkg gb Xnzvyyr fvapr fur qbrfa'g unir znal bgure eryngvbafuvcf, cyhf vg'yy znxr obgu bs gur gjb fgebatre (bssrafviryl NAQ qrsrafviryl). Va fubeg, lbh'er onfvpnyyl gheavat ure vagb jung Enva vf sbe Qbzba va guvf tnzr, ohg n ybg jbefr.

Fb urer'f fbzr znpuvar fhttrfgvbaf:

MM Thaqnz Trgf lbh n Pbzob Nggnpx jvgu gur Mrgn, pna nezbe chetr bapr vg hctenqrf gb SN MM, unf qrpragyl ybat enatr fb vg pna znxr hfr bs ure Fhccbeg Nggnpx novyvgl, gbb. Sn nyfb unf Yhpx, fb fur pbhyq gurbergvpnyyl znxr tbbq hfr bs gur ZNC nggnpx? VQX, qba'g pbhag ba gung gbb zhpu jvgu ure bssrafvir pncnovyvgvrf. Vg nyfb qbrfa'g unir n fuvryq hagvy vg nezbe chetrf, ohg gur Ornz Pbngvat vf n avpr genqrbss.

Ah Thaqnz Gur V-Svryq ernyyl urycf znggref urer, naq lbh pbhyq rira chg Xnzvyyr va gur ZC Ah Thaqnz gb unir n pbzob zbir gbtrgure.

Fnmnov Gur gnaxvrfg HP znpuvar, naq vg qbrf unir gur shyy Fjbeq/Tha/Fuvryq ybnqbhg. Gbb onq vg qbrfa'g unir na V-Svryq yvxr gur Ah.

Methuss

Source Material: Mobile Suit Z Gundam: Char’s Counterattack

Model Number: MSA-005

Height: 26 meters

Power Source: Nuclear Fusion Reactor

Real World Designer: Mamoru Nagano

An experimental mobile suit created as a testbed for the Zeta Gundam's transforming mechanism.

It's also one of my favorite Mobile Suits, period!

It's terrible. Its only saving grace is its ability to Repair, which is admittedly rare in R, but... it's really not worldchanging enough to justify how bad this thing is.

They even gave it a B rank in space. This thing spent most of its time in space in the damn show, man, what the hell

Fun Fact: Despite prominently serving as a fuel tank for the Hyaku Shiki's big beam cannon (official name, trust me), the Methuss has never had the ability to Resupply by default in SRW games, only recently acquiring as a Full Upgrade Bonus (or Half Upgrade Bonus).

This is a great injustice.

Lucrezia Noin

"Zechs... it's been 1 year and 22 days..."

Source Material: New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz

Age: 19

Voice Actor: Chisa Yokoyama

A smart and level-headed woman, Noin graduated from military academy with top marks. She did her best to revive the Sanc Kingdom, which her stalking target lover old friend Zechs hailed from, alongside his younger sister Relena. Even after the kingdom fell once more, she and Relena continued to steadfastly expouse and protect the virtues of total pacifism, the ideal on which the Sanc Kingdom was built. In the Preventers, she goes by the codename "Fire".

In SRW games featuring Endless Waltz, she's usually the first or one of the first Preventers to join you.

Noin's stats are all middling to bad, with the one standout being, weirdly enough, rather high Defense.

If you use her at all, it's for her rather good support-oriented Spirit Commands, but her machine isn't particularly fit for support duty, so she just feels aimless. If only we could put her in the Methuss...

Fun Fact: She's often overshadowed by Zechs both in the source material and in all of their countless SRW appearances, but in-universe, she's shown herself to be a lot more competent than him on various occasions.

Taurus

Source Material: New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz

Model Number: SK-12 SMS

Height: 16.8 meters

Real World Designer: Jun'ya Ishigaki

Imagine if the Airmaster didn't have its cracked Movement Range, nor its great base Mobility. Now imagine Witz was pilot-locked to it.

Yeah, i'd advocate for total pacifism too if this hunk of junk was the best i could get my hands on.

Whew, that sure turned out to be one LONG rollcall.

Char: "Why can't you understand? The humans you trust so much will destroy the Earth..."

...Hmm. That's... that's it? Something's missing. He didn't even say anything relating to his deep-seated mommy issues.

Oh well, I'm sure there's nothing to worry about.

In any case, Bright orders everyone to return to the ship, and he moves in to commence the Axis detonation operation.

...But something's wrong. Amuro feels something absolutely horrible. It's not malice... but it feels very dangerous. As if on cue, we hear quite possibly the worst thing you can hear over comms after your friends have boarded an unknown space vessel.

Astonaige: "Captain, what is that!?" Bright: "Wh-What in the world is that!?"

Amuro: "BRIGHT, RUN!!"

Terror fills the bridge. No one, not even Amuro, knows what just happened, but everyone felt that explosion just now. Astonaige calls in. It's an enemy, one he's never seen before...

...And it just killed Bright.

Before any arguments about the chain of command can occur, or Hathaway can process the death of his father, Astonaige too is killed.

A loud voice booms.

"This was your error. Your mistake."

Raul immediately recognizes this voice. Regardless, it continues.

"It's impossible to know of a mistake in advance. Thus, it was also impossible to have known me."

Tired of this, Raul deploys once more.

Raul: "Show yourself! I know what you did! I'll get you back for what you did to us on the Moon!"

"Raul Gureden, you and your friends' continued existences are my mistake."

"...I see, making mistakes leads to situations like this one."

"I never thought i'd end up in the Creator's position. But there's no way around it. This was my mistake."

All of this is flying over Raul's head. All he wants to know is who is the owner of this voice.

"My name is Duminass."

Just as Raul asked, it showed itself, much to the terror of everybody still alive. And to answer Raul's provocations...

"I must fight those who reject me..."

The frame is a mess, and the engine is leaking. If there was ever a time to put the spare Excellence to use, that time is now.

Crammed together into the cockpit, Raj and Mizuho set off to rescue Raul. This frame isn't suited for space combat, but they can't afford to be picky right now.

As they rescue Raul, Duminass readies its second strike.

The trio can't even consider themselves lucky in a grim sense for not being hit while they were wide open, as the damage to the Ra Cailum was critical; its nuclear pulse engines are going to explode.

And as if things couldn't get any worse, the first Excellence unit's Timeflow Engine is overloading. Raul can't stop the turbines, they're spinning on their own no matter what he does.

"...What is happening? I cannot comprehend..."

This probably isn't good.

The engine's output rises to over 200%. The engine itself should have no way of handling this much energy. And there's no way to stop it.

Gai Daigoji

"A true ally of justice doesn't let himself get dragged down by the past! Muster your courage, and let's carry out justice together!!"

Source Material: Martian Successor Nadesico Age: 18 Height: 185 cm Hobbies: Biking, Karaoke Favorite foods: Curry, Steak Voice Actor: Tomokazu Seki Character Designer: Keiji Gotoh

The TRUE main character of Nadesico, Gai Daigouji is a central character to the show, its plot, its themes, its sex appeal, its comedy, and most of all, its heart.

Characterized by his burning passion for mecha anime, Gai Daigoji is a man of the people. He'll share the tapes for episodes that were long thought to be gone, he'll educate you on the highs and lows of the classic Super Robot Anime, Hot-Blooded Robo Gekiganger (both 3 and V, though he's not as big of a fan of the V's design), the sort of trivia that only hardcore fans could divulge (such as the existence of the Dragon Ganger!)... If the topic is super robots, Gai's got your back.

Gai was the original pilot of Akito's Aestivalis, but had to relinquish it to the inexperienced cook due to a grievous injury he suffered during his training. As Gai was being wheeled away to safety, he asked Akito to retrieve his dearest treasure from the cockpit of the machine; just then, the enemies attacked, and being in the cockpit already, Akito had no choice but to deploy. Though no match for Gai's skill, he held his own decently enough to earn Gai's respect, and once his injuries healed some, they would fight side by side on multiple occasions.

Though after the first few episodes Gai seemingly loses relevance in the story, this is only the impression you get from a passing glance. By the time this shift occurs, you have already been trained to ask yourself where Gai is whenever he's not onscreen, and once you start asking yourself that, you start to notice that his presence and influence are directly driving the story forward, and this only becomes more apparent as the narrative unfolds. It's no exaggeration to say that Gai is quite possibly the most important character to both the greater narrative of Nadesico and to Akito himself.

if you've seen nadesico and you think i'm joking you might wanna rewatch it

Also, he's my second favorite character present in this game!

Gai's stats are all solidly alright. He's better at Melee than Akito and he's the most sturdy of the Nadesico crew, but these are both rather low bars, all things considered. His Defense specially is very strangely low for a Super pilot. But his Spirit Command learnset brings it all together; he gets absolutely EVERYTHING a Super pilot would like to have. Of note is Valor being here from the very start, making him a potent bosskiller.

He does suffer a bit from the Neo Getter Team issue of a lack of survivability Commands, but much like the Gekiganger trio, the Nadesico crew works best together, and with Akito at his side, he'll show the mettle any true Super pilot ought to be able to display. Couple that with the Gekiganger 3's versatility, and you'll find Gai able to both tank hits and dodge them effortlessly.

Fun Fact: Gai has a cameo in episode 23 of Dai-Guard, another banger mecha anime also made by Studio Xebec!

Gekiganger 3

Source Material: Hot-Blooded Robo Gekiganger 3 Material Constitution: Gekiganium Alloy

Built based on ancient cave inscriptions left by the Super-Ancient-Race, it was designed to protect the freedom and brilliance of humanity from the ambitions of the Kyoakkians. Utilizing the skies, the sea, the land and mankind's power, its three distinct forms allow it to adapt to different situations. The Gekiganger 3 is what gives humanity the strength to heed their dreams which call for tomorrow. Now muster your courage and shout with me:

LET'S GEKIGA IN!!

You'll have to forgive the strange adaptation of the design. The GBA must have not been able to handle the Gekiganger's more traditional look, so they had to make design changes.

Much like the Neo Getter, the Gekiganger has three forms; one for Air, one for Land, and one for... Space, strangely. the Umiganger IS traditionally meant to be the aquatic one, as the name implies, but perhaps for balancing reasons, it's adapted into a Space-use form here.

Also perhaps for balancing reasons, the Gekiganger can only change forms inbetween stages. It's a baffling decision, but it's likely in order to keep it standard with the other Nadesico pilots' Aestivalis units. This standardization is necessary because the Gekiganger (and the Umiganger, but NOT the Rikuganger) has a secret weapon, the Double Gekigan Flare, which can only be done alongside Akito's Aestivalis, a representation of Gai and Akito's unshakeable bond.

Though it has noticeably low Armor for a Super in all forms but Rikuganger, it makes up for it in all forms thanks to its signature Gekigan Field, which ends up allowing it to display far more hardiness than you'd expect it to, given proper investment. Coupled with Gai's high level of Potential, lategame it's rather common to see it at 25% health, dodging everything and deflecting what does hit it entirely without taking any damage. Do not underestimate the Gekigan spirit.

Neo Getter Team

Source Material: Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo

Voice Actors:

Go Ichimonji: Takahiro "Cheated on His Wife" Sakurai Sho Tachibana: Yuu Asakawa Gai Daido: Toshiharu Sakurai

Following in the steps of the original Getter team before them, these three youths' dreams shall light the path forward to stand against Emperor Gore's black shadow.

Go is, as we've just seen, a complete outsider, but Sho and Gai have been receiving proper training to be Getter pilots for longer. Together, they fit the three roles the Getter Team always needs: Go is the hotblooded pilot of the Neo Getter-1, Sho is the cool and collected pilot of the Neo Getter-2, and Gai is the large and jolly pilot of the Neo Getter-3.

Ahh, multiseaters. Take a good look at that; three different sets of spirit commands. As a result, there's very little missing! But what IS missing is dearly missed. Mainly, we don't have anything for extended survivability as of right now. What i mean by that is that we have Indomitable, we have Alert, and we have Guts, but we're sorely missing something like Focus or Wall, which we can use preemptively to last longer when we can expect the Getter to be focused upon. Alert and Indomitable, even if cast together, will only be saving you from two attacks, and Guts is worthless if you don't survive the turn in the first place.

As for stats, they're basically what you'd expect if you've played a SRW game before. Go, the Getter-1 pilot, has the best Melee stat, Sho, the Getter-2 pilot, has the best Evasion and Accuracy, and Gai has the best Defense. Nothing groundbreaking here.

Neo Getter Robo

Source Material: Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo

Energy Source: Plasma Engine

Heights:

Neo-1: 42 meters Neo-2: 45 meters Neo-3: 40 meters

After the infamous fallout of the (seemingly) final battle between the original Getter Team and the Dinosaur Empire, the Getter laboratories were forced to branch out to other energy sources, as Getter Rays proved too dangerous for the japanese government's liking. After much effort, the Neo Getter is the fruit of research into an alternatively-powered Getter Robo. Though its power is no match for a hypothetical "true" Getter Robo, it'll have to do, so long as we can't justify the risks that go into attempting to harness the Getter Rays' immense power...

Also, as an aside, this is my favorite Getter Robo. All other ones have at least one form i don't particularly care for, but with the Neo, i feel like all three forms hit it out of the park.

The Neo Getter is... serviceable. It seems very solid at first glance, but as you look closer you realize its setbacks; for one, all three forms have rather low stats. Coupled with the aforementioned issues of survivability on the pilot side of things, you can't get too cocky with this thing on the frontlines.

Its other issue is one of post-movement range; across the board, all three forms have a post-movement range of a whopping 3 tiles. You might try and circumvent this issue by making use of Getter-2's incredible movement range, but its frail Armor and mediocre Mobility means you can't really leave it in the frontlines by itself. Further, it's got a B-rank on the Ground, limiting its damage output if the opponent isn't flying. You'll just have to suck it up and cast Accel often.

Also, its firepower in all three forms is rather underwhelming. On top of that, since it has no EN recovery, you'll have to be careful about overusing its already rather modest finishers.

All of these issues most likely stem from its rather slapdash nature. Hayato just needed something out the door to fight the Dinosaur Empire in time for their return. Oh, if only there was a new Getter Robo, that used Getter Rays to their fullest potential... alas, it was not meant to be.

Fun Fact: Emblematic of its position as an amalgamation of both stories, the Neo Getter and its forms take design elements from both the Getter Robo G and the Getter Robo Go.

Everyone breathes a sigh of relief now that it's all dealt with. The base might be wrecked, and lord knows what became of the other people in there besides the Excellence trio, but at least our protagonists are safe!

Well, with nowhere else left to go, you guys should probably tag along with one of these ships for now... but the question is, which one? The game just springs the question on you immediately and leaves explanations for later, but let's have a brief rundown of your two paths here.

Going with the Nadesico B means you'll be investigating the mysterious phantom mecha which has been staging surprise terrorist attacks against various space colonies. These attacks start out of nowhere, with no trace of a mothership deploying the "phantom", and after its attack is complete, it vanishes without a trace. The crew of the Nadesico B is scrounging for clues wherever they can find, in desperate hopes of figuring out what exactly could explain these attacks...

Going with the Ra Cailum will pit you against Char Aznable, the man once known as the Red Comet. His Neo Zeon, tired of the New UNE's authoritarian regime, has met the UNE's stubborness with attacks on the Earth itself; they plan to capture the asteroid Fifth Luna, equip it with thrusters, and propel it torwards Earth itself, to strike at the New UNE's headquarters, regardless of how that might harm civilians or the Earth itself. Should they not be stopped, lord knows what they'd resort to...

In terms of secrets, the Nadesico B path will give us the Uvtu Zbovyvgl Oynpx Fnenan, while the Ra Cailum path will give us the Znff-Cebqhprq Ah Thaqnz and the Thaqnz Zx-VVV.

Good luck picking!

Ginga Izumo

"The universe doesn't need no 'king'!"

Source Material: GEAR Fighter Dendoh Age: 11 Birthday: May 5th Height: 145 cm Hobbies: Watching anime Voice Actress: Youko Mitsuoka Character Designer: Hirokazu Hisayuki

A little boy who enjoys practicing karate at his mother's dojo, playing sports, watching anime, and idol bands... until one day, through a series of convoluted events, he finds himself alongside a classmate he can't stand in the cockpit of a mysterious robot! A story as old a time.

As 11-yos often do, the two very quickly conciliate their differences and become friends.

His dad is often travelling around the world, but he doesn't really miss him, because he tends to bring the customs of wherever he last went along whenever he comes to visit, which tends to cause a lot of embarrassment for Ginga...

Compared to Hokuto, Ginga has better Melee, Defense and Skill. All around, both of them have fairly good stats, but defensively they're not so impressive.

Hokuto Kusanagi

"This isn't some sports match! We can't just say 'oh well, i lost!' and go home!!"

Source Material: GEAR Fighter Dendoh Age: 11 Birthday: July 7th Height: 147 cm Hobbies: Watching anime, playing billiards and football, building plastic models Voice Actress: Naomi Shindou Character Designer: Hirokazu Hisayuki

A timid boy who enjoys spending time with his parents, with his computer, with plastic models, and most of all, with his beloved dog. One day, the Galfa Empire attacks his town, and in the commotion, he ends up in the cockpit of the Dendoh alongside a classmate he can't stand!

As 11-yos often do, the two very quickly conciliate their differences and become friends.

Lately, his duties as a Dendoh pilot have been getting in the way of his personal life. He's no Peter Parker, but he finds himself having less time to spend with his dad, and his mom seems so distant recently...

Compared to Ginga, Hokuto has better Ranged, Accuracy and Evasion. They're both fairly competent in terms of statline, but even though i like Hokuto more, it's kind of a fact that Ginga's a better pilot in a vaccuum. Still, you'll be shifting between them many times a stage if you're deploying them anyway.

GEAR Fighter Dendoh

Source Material: Gear Fighter Dendoh Height: 24.5 meters Power Source: double a batteries 2 Hyper Dendoh Batteries Real World Designer: Jun'ichi Akutsu

A mysterious robot that can only be controlled when both Gear Commanders (in essence, control units) light up, which only happens when Dendoh itself judges the pilots to be worthy. The Gear Commanders allow the pilots to catch "Data Weapons", large bioelectrical cryptids who become weapons for the Dendoh, powering it up.

In other words, it's the closest SRW will ever have to a "summoner" type character, which (combined with how great the show is) really endears me to this thing.

We get the Dendoh with the Unicorn Drill already acquired, and shifting to it will swap the pilot to Hokuto. Unicorn Drill grants us Fire Wall, a decent barrier ability, and most importantly, having a Data Weapon grants the Dendoh the ability to use the Final Attack, a move that deals more damage the more EN the Dendoh has remaining, but that will always leave it with only 10 EN remaining. As of right now, we have no way of refilling Dendoh's EN without putting it back in the ship (which will RAPIDLY drain the pilots' Will, especially in R), and all of its moves spend at least a little bit of EN, and most spend quite a bit. As such, the Dendoh is a potentially VERY powerful unit, but it requires wise utilization, and i find it to be one of the most fun and rewarding units to use in the game.

Both forms are clearly meant to be Super Robots, but have fairly unimpressive HP and Armor. Unicorn Drill's Fire Wall will prove very useful to us in the future.

Vega

"Rushing in blindly out of rage is the same as admitting defeat."

Source Material: GEAR Fighter Dendoh Age: ??? Birthday: ??? Voice Actress: Kotono Mitsuishi Character Designer: Hirokazu Hisayuki

The mysterious second in command at GEAR HQ. She finds herself tasked with taking care of the Dendoh's young pilots, and she's quite adept at her job. She's extensively trained in CQC, and can fight beyond the limits of a normal human, demonstrating superhuman abilities at multiple points.

For whatever reason, she sometimes finds herself uncomfortable around Hokuto.

You would be excused if you thought she was a support unit, but make no mistake, Vega is a real robot pilot geared to be dealing damage through and through. Her stats are all quite decent, and her Spirit learnset does not disappoint either.

Valkyrie

Source Material: Gear Fighter Dendoh Real World Designer: Jun'ichi Akutsu

Vega's specialized combat bike. It's loaded with missiles and various lightweight CQC weapons that make use of Vega's fantastical skillset. So long as they're on the ground, Vega can stand up even against Mobile Suits, Mechabeasts and the like.

It can also hover above water, although "hover" may be an incorrect way of putting it; rather, it's capable of driving atop water.

It's no powerhouse, but this thing can actually put in some work. It's nigh impossible to hit (especially with upgrades to its Mobility), and while it'll never hit quite as hard as a dedicated combat unit, it can hit hard enough thanks to Vega's stats.

The true draw of this thing, however, is that it shares upgrades 1 to 1 with another unit we'll get much later, and that other unit can be piloted by other characters. If you really want to, you can pump upgrades into this machine and get two competent machines to decently upgraded levels for the cost of one.

Both happy to meet a fellow Gai, Daido and Daigoji pledge to get along well.

The rest of the Nadesico's pilots introduce themselves as well. Akito is both a pilot and a cook, and the rest are the sporty Ryoko, the quirky Hikaru and the gloomy Izumi.

The bridge crew introduce themselves as well; Megumi Reinard is in charge of comms, and Haruka Minato is the helmswoman.

As is standard at this point, Uribatake Seiya, the Nadesico's mechanic, shows interest in tinkering with the Excellence.

Finally, Banjo Haran, who spoke up earlier, finally formally introduces himself. He's one of the richest men on the planet, and he's accompanied by three assistants; Reika Sanjo, an ex-Preventer, Beautiful Tachibana (ACTUAL BIRTH NAME), the daughter of the head of a tourism conglomerate, and Garrison Tokita, the eternally coolheaded yet noticeably quirky butler. Together, they use the Daitarn 3 and their various skillsets to crush the ambitions of the wicked Meganoids.

Raul is aptly stunned at the idea of someone having a personal butler in this day and age, especially one as stereotypical looking as Garrison, but that's rich people for you.

So from now on, the group will remain here at the GEAR HQ and act as needed. Until then, they'll just remain on standby, hanging out at the base, which is rather large and has a lot of ways to pass the time.

It's a VERY old-timey Super Robot setup, and one that i'm surprised isn't more common in SRW games; it makes for a very comfy feel all throughout, and i think if this game was properly translated, the setting would be a lot more appreciated. It's a lot easier to imagine Ryuugo "Nightmare Delinquent Boss of Hokkaido" Netsuma and NeurodivergentTeen McRealRobotProtag sitting around and talking about the weather around the water cooler when just hanging out and shooting the shit at the base is their status quo than on a grand continent spanning adventure where every single day they have to emergency deploy and fight 5 waves of enemies from 8 different shows (though they will definitely be doing that in this game still).

The group only has one issue. Right now, having been merged, they're not really the "Nadesico crew" or the "Frieden crew", or the "Preventers", nor are they even "GEAR"; the official denomination for their group is the Earth Sphere United Nation Defense Force, or ESUNDF for short. While certainly functional, it's very long (ESPECIALLY in japanese), and, well... it just doesn't sound cool. Shibuya concedes that this is true, and they decide to try and pitch names. How long could it take?

...no, seriously

Ruri: "...8 hours later..."

Well, everyone's at an impasse. No one can settle on a good name. Which means it's up to the player!

The default (and canon, probably) name is Round Knights, which to me evokes less "The Knights of the Round Table" and more Gladimon from Digimon, but it certainly sounds cooler in japanese. Plus, it has an R in the name to match the game's name, and alluding to the Knights of the Round Table is particularly apt considering some later plot implications.

All that said, however, when i'm faced with the option to rename something, i can't help but feel the urge to be silly with it overtake me. Imagine naming the team something stupid like "TUMBLR" and having the final 15 chapters be full of villains saying shit like 「おおのれTUMBLR…貴様たちさえいなければ…！！」 in their dying breaths... Still, i wouldn't want to pull a Shirogami Kodama just because of a fit of contrarianism, so you can all rest easy; we're going with Round Knights.