In the past, Earth was under attack from an alien force called the "Mimetic Beasts". They carry the Insania Virus, which usually targets males and mutates them into monstrosities. The Hero, Goh Saruwatari, along with his partner Milla Ackerman, pilots the Humongous Mecha pair Dannar and Neo Okusaer and led the final battle against the Hive Queen of the Mimetic Beasts, driving it away at the cost of Milla's life, but in the same time, Goh saved a young girl named Anna Aoi, the daughter of his boss. Attempting to get over Milla's death (whom he actually loved), Goh decided to move on and...proposed to Anna, despite the age gap (Anna's still a high school girl, Goh is...well, someone that would be of a tenured salaryman).Flash forward Twenty Minutes into the Future.Five years later, all's set for Goh and Anna to get married. Anna already confirms her vow, but right before Goh can declare his...he gets an urgent call that the Mimetic Beasts are back and he needs to go pilot the Dannar and quell them again, thus forcing him to delay stating the vow to Anna. Frustrated, she tries to follow Goh, only to find the Neo Okusaer, sealed after Milla's death. Anna goes on to pilot it (since she's somehow a master of a similar riding game) and helps Goh, and thus their life as a newlywed couple and Humongous Mecha pilot commence. Their two mechs can even combine into the mighty Godannar, complete with a final attack that requires both of them working in tandem to pull off.This show is notorious for the amount of fanservice presented, especially gainaxing. At the same time, it's unique in that it combines over-the-top super robot action with, of all things, a nice dose of Character Development: more exactly, an examination of marriage, as Goh and Anna face difficulties both on the battlefield and in their relationship.This show has the examples of:
Achilles in His Tent: Anna, after learning that Goh still has some feelings for Milla.
Adventure Rebuff: Token Mini Moe Lou Roux is never let into battle due to the dangers. She rebels on her own eventually.
Affectionate Parody: Godannar is a love letter to old-school Super Robot shows and to the Ultra Series tokusatsu, and it's an absolute treat to any fan of either genre. The Super Robot side is well repented: from it's catchy theme songs (the first one sung by Akira Kushida, the second one's sung by Ichiro Mizuki and Mitsuko Horie) to its wholehearted embrace of cliches (Calling Your Attacks, robots "hulking out" into more powerful forms, Combining Mecha) and similar; the Ultra side has its monster designs and even behaviors call back to the old school Toku. That the monsters all explode when hit with the heroes' finisher just adds to the feel. As a result, this show is just one huge ball of awesome.
All There in the Manual: Lou's surname is never mentioned or shown during the series. Likewise, you'd never guess the Valentine siblings aren't blood- related without Word Of God informing you otherwise.
An Axe to Grind: The Goddiner, China's super robot, has a pair of huge tonfas that can be turned into even bigger axes... and into a pair of kusarigama... and can be joined together to form a drill. Yes, Goddiner RULES. And yet it never makes it toSuper Robot Wars.
Back from the Dead: Shizuru Fujimura, killed at the end of the first season, comes back right in season two through sheer force of will. Also Milla.
Actually, it's explained at the end of the series that Mira brought her back with that kiss.
Bait-and-Switch Credits: Specifically, the ending, which gives the impression that Anna's going to die, as are lots of other people, and doom and despair will ensue. The "Lake of Blood" doesn't help things, either, or the fact the song's called Trench Coffin!
Can't Catch Up: Subverted; the Godannar may be the most powerful robot on the good guys' side, but it can't do everything. Its component units, Dannar and Neo Okusaer, are more than capable of winning the day without combining, and the other robots in the series can more than hold their own as well (even Lou's teeny-tiny "Cosmo Diver"). Also, some units specialize in environments in which the Godannar's actually useless, like underwater/in space (Cosmo Diver) and aerial fighting ("Dragliner").
Both the Dannar and Neo Okusaer are launched by being dragged through the launching strip by a mechanical arm. Said arm pulls them by their crotch.
When Shizuru is doing her farewell speech, she says women aren't what they seem; they may be tough on the surface, but they're nice and soft on the inside. Cue a shot of the inside of the monster's mouth, which is meaty and wet and... let's just say a drill wouldn't look out of place inside it. She also destroys said mouth by shooting it with a nice, long, phallic cannon.
The official DVD promo points out the freudian implications of a husband and wife "combining".
Ecchi: Nothing too explicit, but the series is famous for its naughty humor.
Hot Blooded: A massive subversion for mecha: the more hotblooded a guy is, especially a pilot, the more they're likely to succumb to the Insania Virus and enter "Rabid Syndrome". The only exception are perverted or submissive men...or Tetsuya Kouji.
Instant Armor: A borderline use in the Mimetic Beasts, who can rapidly construct bodies for themselves out of whatever materials happen to be handy, including people.
Jumped at the Call: When Goh ran off to fight the Mimetic Beasts, Anna's first impulse was to jump in a mech and run right after him.
Killed Off for Real: Poor, poor Moukaku...and he just proposed to Shukuyu in the same episode, too....
Love Dodecahedron: Goh has three women going after him: Anna, Shizuru and Milla, though the latter two back down for Anna. Shizuru herself has Kouji and Goh's little brother Shinobu swooning over her.
Male Gaze: Without it, this series would not exist. Period.
Oh, Shizuru. Camera focus goes to her lovely butt. Her butt is so big◊ it gets her stuck while entering her mecha.
Married to the Job: Protagonist Goh Saruwatari is married to Anna Aoi, daughter of his boss Dr. Kiriko Aoi, who is also now his mother-in-law.
May-December Romance: Goh is a Salary Man, Anna is a schoolgirl. Subverted later, when Go is put into stasis and wakes up years later... and he and Anna are the same age, physically speaking.
Meaningful Name: "Okusaer" is taken from the word "okusa", which means "wife" in Japan. "Dannar" is taken from "danna", meaning "husband". "Godannar" is a combination of Project "God" and "Anna".
Mistress and Servant Boy: Ekaterina and Kukrachyov, the pilots of Valspinner, which actually used the combination command "Slave On". It even became a plot point of how submissive and "unmanly" Kukrachyov is when the male pilots one after the other flip out from the virus. Just to drive the point home, Shadow, one of America's lesbian pilots, is the only girl affected by it because she's the "manly" one of the two girls.
Ms. Fanservice: Nearly any notable female would count, but the trope champion of Godannar is undoubtedly Shizuru. Oh god, Shizuru!
Multinational Team: Other than Japan, there's Russia, USA, Britain and China.
Super Robot Wars K takes it a step further, by making it a something of an expy of Van, who just happens to be in the same game. It even has the ring jingling...
Not Quite Dead: Kouji, shot down near dead many times, but his response is always "I'm not dead...".
Odd Couple: Goh and Anna: a man at work with a high school girl that hasn't even graduated. Some May-December Romance, huh?
Tetsuya Kouji's name is taken from the heroes of Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger (Kouji Kabuto and Tetsuya Tsurugi). Also, look at the Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot entry. The show's second theme song is even sung by Ichiro Mizuki, THE singer for anime robot theme songs, including Mazinger, Combattler V, Dangaioh and many other classics.
Tatsuya Aoi, Anna's dad, is voiced by Hiroya Ishimaru, the voice actor for Kouji Kabuto in Mazinger Z. And the first thing he does when he reveals his identity is order the Z MISSILE to be fired. Ye-he-hea! Not to mention that this is how he looks like in his youth.
In episode 2, Goh is reading a Newspaper that has the Marriage of Gai and Mikoto (of GaoGaiGar fame) as it's headline. This show is really all about shout outs from hommages to attack names, seiyuu and character's names. There would be far too many to list.
Musical homage to a tune from Space Sheriff Gavan is used during several battle sequences. Specifically, the Laser Blade theme, which has gotten a lot of mileage (also getting an homage in Dan Gai Oh).
Super Robot Wars: Makes a less-than-appreciated debut in Scramble Commander 2, but a "proper" one in K. Although none of the non-Japanese mecha and characters make it in so it still hasn't gotten a complete showing. L has some late mechs cameo, but the playable mechs remains the same.
Right after Anna debuts in piloting, she's subjected to this.
Lou also goes through one when being trained to pilot by Ken, set to a training montage, to boot.
Transforming Mecha: The Cosmo Diver has a vehicle mode for underwater and space mobility in addition to a humanoid form. Dragliner first separates its somewhat underwhelming humanoid Real Robot cargo, and the remainder of the bomber goes into Beast Mode.
Tsundere: Deconstructed. Shizuru was this for Go, but she only managed to push him away from her. When she decided that she did love him... he was with Anna already.
UST: There's SO much UST in this series, it's probably what fuels the robots. Plasma Drive be damned.
Vapor Wear: Not one female on the show wears a bra.
The Tease: Shizuru does this Kouji with glee, which does nothing to squelch his ginormous crush on her. It's implied that since Shinobu like her too, she does this purposely get them to fight over her for the lulz.
Your Tomcat Is Pregnant: A conversation between Anna and her mother reveals this had taken place off-screen regarding Anna's by this time very visibly pregnant cat. Mew.
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