Currently listening to: Black Diamond, the second ending theme to the anime serie called Brave Express Might Gaine. It is distinct from other endings from the Brave Fighter series. Those are normally calm or dynamic in a more child-oriented way. However this one is pure genius, being sung by a rocker from the series, who turns out to be the enemy's main henchman. The lyrics are pretty damn expressive:
Let's paint it black,
Let's paint the moon and the sun
Those who stand in the way will be dynamite(d).
Quote of the day: "Yuuta's kindness has given me new strength. I do not need an AI anymore" - J-Decker in the before last episode of Brave Police J-Decker.
Howdy there, I'm back at this blog after months of spouting nonsense about love and the like. I can't even give the links to classmates of mine without risking them finding these overly private thoughts. Ah, who cares. Their risk. *ER-HEM!*
Today's theme is an anime. I haven't done something similar in ages, it seems. This speciffic one is Brave Police J-Decker.
What are Brave Fighter series?
Most of the readers have at least heard one of the Americanized hit called Transformers. Well, in Japan, these Brave Fighter series were born from the desire of selling toys and more toys. Sounds commercial already, huh? Well, they had a few interesting common points.
1. Kid heroes in most series, always male (Excepting Might Gaine and Dagwon)
2. Humanoid robots (with AI or with a soul) - Dagwon is a slight exception, considering the characters themselves became robots, but there are 2 AI robots (I can't really say AI, considering they weren't made by humans)
3. Combinations - These robots could combine into stronger forms, which of course led to more toys being released.
4. Alien enemies, in most cases.
5. The friendship between the boy and these robots. (Dagwon is an exception once more)
6. Catchy plot, which spans over one year of airing the serie.
There are 8 Brave Fighter series to date:
1990 - Brave Exkaiser (Yūsha Exkaiser)
1991 - The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird (Taiyou no Yūsha Fighbird)
1992 - The Brave Fighter of Legend Da-Garn (Densetsu no Yūsha Da-Garn)
1993 - The Brave Express Might Gaine (Yūsha Toukyū Might Gaine)
1994 - Brave Police J-Decker (Yūsha Keisatsu J-Decker)
1995 - The Brave of Gold Goldran (Ougon Yūsha Goldran)
1996 - Brave Command Dagwon (Yūsha Shirei Dagwon)
1997 - The King of Braves GaoGaiGar (Yūsha-Oh GaoGaiGar)
After this introduction, let us advance to the point of this post.
Brave Poice J-Decker
Already, in Might Gaine, the robots possessed AI, and were not vehicles possessed by justice-wanting spirits (In Exkaiser and Fighbird, they came from space, in Da-Garn, they were spirits who protected our blue planet). The approach was definitely more serious, if not dark, considering all the robots get destroyed in the last battle, except for Gaine, the main one. (Of course they are shown being repaired at the end). This time, the enemy was no alien. The foes were 4 villains from our world, one lone wolf-type rival and one evil entity, called suggestively Black Noir (noir is French for black)
Brave Police J-Decker explores a new theme. In the 21st century, due to recent crimes involving robots or biomachines, a new law enforcement method is required. It's name is the Brave Police!
They possess Super A.I.s which make them far more effective than manned machines. However, something unexpected happens very early on... A 10-year old, called Tomonaga Yuuta, stumbles upon such a robot, and accidentally activates it. The robot starts talking very machine-like, like we'd all expect, really, and tells the child that his name is Deckerd. Yuuta teaches Deckerd his name, and here starts a beautiful friendship. Yuuta starts visiting him constantly, and their relationship quickly develops. Among other nice scenes, Yuuta teaches him to walk properly, even to hold his badge and gun properly, while saying his (Deckerd's) future catchphrase: "Hold up! This is Brave Police's Deckerd!". However, one day, the normal police is finally surpassed by the enemy. It is time to awaken Deckerd, decides the Police Chief, Saejima. Deckerd senses that they are coming, and tells Yuuta to hide. He returns to his apparently frozen stance when they come. They were supposed to erase all his memories, in order to activate the AI (they didn't have the slightest idea that Deckerd was awakened and well). This meant that all his memories with Yuuta were going to be lost... Even though Yuuta knew that it was necessary, he jumps out of his hiding place and begs them to stop. Deckerd calls him by his name, causing the mechanics and Saejima to be dumbfounded by the fact that he had talked. He bids Yuuta farewell, as his eyes lose their glow...
Well, Deckerd is send in a transport truck to fight the enemy, but the truck is being attacked before Deckerd could make any move. Yuuta comes out of street, from where he was watching, and stands in front of the truck, as if wanting to stand in the enemy's way, demanding him to stop hurting Deckerd, who is important to him. Of course, the police officials are completely surprised by Yuuta's sudden display of courage and will to protect the now memoryless and robotic Deckerd. Just as the enemy is about to kill Yuuta as well, the latter asks Deckerd to open his eyes and fight. Unexpectedly, it happens just like that! Deckerd calls Yuuta's name, and gets out of the truck, standing tall and saying "Hold up! This is Brave Police's Deckerd!" according to the very way that Yuuta taught him. The main mechanic says that this sudden regain of memories is a miracle, but Saejima thinks that, in fact, Deckerd had just gained a soul. Deckerd performs very well when with Yuuta, which leads to Saejima naming Yuuta as the "Boss" of the Brave Police. From here starts a 48-episoded serie about friendship, love and courage (sounds cheesy, but that's it)
I'll say more next time, but for now, I am signing off with this picture of Deckerd and Yuuta:
