Line #89 Anime/BraveCommandDagwon


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brave_dagwon_promo_poster_6.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Introducing ''[[Franchise/SuperSentai Brave Squadron Dag-Rangers]][[note]]Yuusha Sentai Dag-Ranger[[/note]]''--[[ShoutOut Wait a minute.]][[note]][[DontExplainTheJoke Of course, don't expect an actual Sentai show titled like that.]][[/note]]]]
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4	Brave Command Dagwon (''Yuusha Shirei Daguon'') is a 1996-97 anime, the seventh entry in Sunrise's ''Anime/BraveSeries''.
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6	Whereas in past entries the protagonists tended to be self-aware robots, the primary characters in Dagwon are high-school students who, after transforming into their Dag-(insert your favorite element here) forms, and then fuse with their mecha - they don't pilot their mecha, they ''are'' their mecha.
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8	The show first aired at around the tail end of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', and is clearly influenced by it - think "well-adjusted high-schooler Shinji" and that's half the show. The other half being an invasion by alien prisoners from the Sargasso prison in nearby space, a plot closer to standard [[{{Toku}} Tokusatsu]] fare.
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10	An OVA titled ''Brave Command Dagwon: The Boy With Crystal Eyes'' was released shortly after the conclusion of the main series. Taking place an indeterminate but relatively short amount of time after the original anime, the team's return to peaceful life is interrupted by a strange young boy named Kenta, who for some reason can't seem to grasp basic concepts and is being chased by TheMenInBlack. When Rai unexpectedly returns as the leader of these men, with his own take on the situation, the rest of the team must come to the right conclusion fast before the world is once again put in jeopardy.
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12	Rather unfortunately overshadowed by ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'', the next ''Brave Series'' show.
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16	!!''Brave Command Dagwon'' provides examples of:
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18	* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Played straight in the anime, of course, but in the OVA, it initially seems subverted after TheReveal, [[spoiler: since Deandozol was only mimicking a human and had trouble speaking language, suggesting it was struggling to learn it. It gets played straight like the rest in the end, though, since it speaks perfect human language in its final form.]]
19	* AnimalMotifs: Fire Dagwon is a ...bird of some sort. Shadow Dagwon is a dragon, a tiger, a wolf, and a hawk. Power Dagwon is a dinosaur. Lian is... a Lion sword.
20	* AnimeThemeSong: Of the ExpositoryThemeTune variety. It's very heroic.
21	* {{BFG}}: Gunkid, a newly-created gundroid with the personality and self-control of a 5 year old. Transforms into the Mugenhou - the "infinity cannon" - and can cheerfully blow away a mountain.
22	* {{BFS}}: Lian, a surviving Ken-seijin ("Sword-Alien", so... "Swordian"?). Can alter his size in sword form, anything from Fire Dagwon-sized to Fire En-sized.
23	* BigDamnHeroes: En and the Dag Base. Everyone else is captured and paralyzed by the BigBad in Sargasso. En can't do anything except shout out [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion "Move! Move!"]] at the unresponsive Dag Base. Then they fuse.
24	* BladeBelowTheShoulder: Shadow Ryu. Also Fire Dagwon's Fire Blade.
25	* ByThePowerOfGrayskull: The command by which the boys access their powers is... '''Try Dagwon!'''
26	** As always, any gattai is announced in a grandiose way. Especially... ''' [[MidSeasonUpgrade SUPEEEEER!!!]] [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique FIIIIIIIRE!!!]] [[PunctuatedForEmphasis DAGWOOOOOON!!!]]'''
27	* CainAndAbel: The villain of the episode 22 is an OmnicidalManiac who has an angelic, pure-hearted sister.
28	* ClarkKenting: While their suits mostly conceal the Dagwon well enough, they still come a little short at being a complete disguise because you can still clearly see parts of their faces inside their helmets and they all use variations of their ACTUAL NAMES as their Dagwon names, ie En transforms into "Fire En", Rai becomes "Thunder Rai" etc. Despite that none of their non Dagwon friends recognize them despite constantly interacting in both forms. [[spoiler: Maria only finds out when En's helmet is shattered in front of her and Gaku finds out in the very final battle because En tells him.]] Although the principal seems to catch on quickly and it's implied Shin's love interest Erika quickly figured it out when she was caught up in the Succubus case, so it's possible Maria and Gaku are just really dense.
29	* CaptainErsatz: One of [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi Jabba the Hutt]] appears in episode 20. Dag Drill also bears a ''slight'' resemblance to Advenger from [[Anime/TheBraveOfGoldGoldran the previous installment]].
30	* ChickMagnet: When Rai arrives on Earth to blend in as a normal student, the female students immediately start going after him to the point it starts to terrify him. And then Maria forces him to reveal he's a textbook psychic to the public.
31	%%* ClipShow: Demakka-seijin tries this, and learns all he needs to know about the Dagwon...
32	* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: Super Fire Dagwon is a forced combination, and falls between this and DeadlyUpgrade. Gets used three times in the show, after which En has to spend some time unconscious.
33	%%* DarkerAndEdgier: Oh yes. As much as you can get for an anime appealing to grade-schoolers.
34	%%* DarkestHour: ...Leading up to Dag Base ''Robo's'' appearance.
35	* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: The command for the initial combinations is "Yuugou Gattai", which literally translates into Fusion Combine.
36	%%* DiabolusExNihilo: The actual BigBad, Genocide, comes off as this.
37	* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:En completely shatters as Super Fire Dagwon in order to purge Genocide from Fire Dagwon's systems, with the total breakdown of both mechs killing it outright. Rai believes En to be KilledOffForReal after finding one of the worn-down SpacePolice badges, but everyone else starts searching and breaking down when they can't find him. Of course, En is ''not'' dead; he ejected from Super Fire Dagwon as [=DagFire=] and collapsed back onto Earth, and so he returns, beaten, to the place he promised Maria to return his debt at.]]
38	* DrillTank: Dag Drill. Basically a steam locomotive-turned mecha with a large drill for a weapon. He also likes to tank.
39	* {{Doppelganger}}: [[spoiler: Kenta's appearance is a PaletteSwap of En from when he was a child after Deandozol struck him eight years before the events of the anime.]]
40	* DynamicEntry: How Dag Base Robo enters Sargasso, fist-first.
41	* ElementalPowers: And how! Fire Dagwon is [[PlayingWithFire all about the flames]], Dag Turbo's is SuperSpeed, Dag Armor has [[MoreDakka weapons up the wazoo]], Dag Wing can fly and create [[AnIcePerson chilling]] [[BlowYouAway winds]], Shadow Dagwon is a {{Ninja}}, Thunder Dagwon predictably [[ShockAndAwe brings down lightning]], and Dag Drill burrows through the ground.
42	* {{Foil}}: Rai is the [[AloofAlly unassuming and unaware]] ChickMagnet to Shin's CasanovaWannabe disposition.
43	* GoryDiscretionShot: Mind, this is a kid's show. It's typically the aliens that get this.
44	** Example: there's a train car-sized bug on some train tracks. A commuter train is about to collide with it. Armor Shin shows up, opens fire, (cut to GDS), and the train passes safely over ''the bug-colored splatter on the tracks.''
45	* GratuitousEnglish: Kai's "Don't Say! Four or Five!". And "We Are Dagwon", the English version of the theme song - the lyrics are okay, but it's sometimes hard to understand what they are.
46	* HonorBeforeReason: [[spoiler: Rai doesn't activate the superweapon to kill Deandozol because the rest of the team is still observing it. Fortunately, this is for the better, given what happens next.]]
47	* HotBlooded: En and Geki, Shin to a lesser extent. Fire Dagwon appears to literally have this.
48	* IFellForHours: [[spoiler: Even though En ejected from Super Fire Dagwon while leaving Genocide to crumble to death, they ejected at the stratosphere, meaning that he still took one hell of a fall, and would explain why he's injured in the ending despite having no visible injuries beforehand.]]
49	* JumpedAtTheCall: At the outset, only En really took being a Dagwon seriously.
50	** Geki, upon meeting Brave-seijin for the first time, tells him to "hurry up and make me a Dagwon so I can go save Maria!"
51	* LargeHam: Geki shows shades of this as a Dagwon.
52	* LaserBlade: Galaxy Luna has one of these.
53	* LawOfChromaticSuperiority: En gets the best toys to play with.
54	** However, this is in the sense that his mecha are the most well-rounded. Super Liner Dagwon is better at fighting multiple targets at once, Shadow Dagwon's Ga-oh Giri can destroy without collateral damage, and Thunder Dagwon is incredibly fast and agile in air or space.
55	* LawOfInverseRecoil: Waffles with the Mugenhou; Super Liner Dagwon and Shadow Dagwon together are blown away when they try to use it, while Fire Dagwon can withstand the recoil but slides back an enormous distance. Power Dagwon's SuperStrength is shown off by being able to fire the Mugenhou with no recoil at all once it plants its shovel in the ground behind it.
56	** Note that everyone is tuned to their own weaponry, and the trope is otherwise played straight.
57	* LogicalWeakness: [[spoiler: Being a possession-based entity, Genocide is killed when his struggle with En begins to shatter Fire Dagwon, the mech he possessed, as the latter ejects from Power Dagwon unscathed.]]
58	* TheMagnificentSevenSamurai: Well there ''are'' seven of them...
59	* MaleGaze: Galaxy Luna has a brief one when she transforms.
60	* MeaningfulName: All the characters.
61	* MidSeasonUpgrade: Super Liner Dagwon and Power Dagwon. Super Fire Dagwon actually averts the typical ''Brave'' trend where it would be one of these by instead being an EleventhHourSuperpower, with En continuing to use Power Dagwon as his primary form even after getting it.
62	* MotionCaptureMecha: The characters directly fuse with their Dag Vehicles post-transformation.
63	* {{Ninja}}: Shadow Ryu, Dag Shadow, Shadow Dagwon... Ryu himself, when he feels like it.
64	* NoBiochemicalBarriers: Averted in episode 27. The monsters of the week, a band of ravenous rat-like aliens who've been stealing food across the city, suddenly keel over after their giant robot is destroyed despite being seemingly uninjured. Turns out all that Earth food they ate disagreed with them...
65	* OddballInTheSeries: Dagwon, from top to bottom, does not resemble most other entries in the Anime/BraveSeries and suffered in ratings as a result. That said, its successor, Anime/GaoGaiGar, actually took some of the better ideas and refined them into the Crowner we know it to be.
66	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: [[spoiler: One of the reasons the last episode hits hard. Kai starts crying for once despite having hated En the whole time, Yoku starts to destroy his work, Shin and Geki are visibly deflated, and Maria starts to forget about the fact that En's late to the meeting he promised, even in jest. Rai is pessimistic from the start, after he finds the worn down SpacePolice badge from Fire Dagwon's chassis. Ryu is the only person not affected by this (whether or not the scene where he asks his sister if she dreamed of En coming back counts is up for debate.)]]
67	* PocketProtector: When Ryu is blackmailed into killing En, En is protected by a shuriken throw by a book of poetry in his pocket in order to fool the alien blackmailing him. It helps that Ryu specifically asked En to get this book for him and asks if En had just picked it up and does a mental note of where he knows En's shirt pocket is before deliberately aiming for it.
68	* PowerGlows: And burns, for Fire Dagwon.
69	* ThePowerOfFriendship: Dag Base Robo, when running on this, is capable of ''ripping an asteroid apart from the inside''.
70	** [[spoiler: This is what causes Deandozol to spare Earth and assimilate into the human race in the OVA; it's far too grateful for meeting young En and his dog Kenta in order to explore humanity.]]
71	* PrettyBoy: The main characters were designed this way (even ''Geki'' to an extent), and are proportioned fairly realistically. The effect is... actually a little jarring in a mecha show.
72	* PsychoRangers: The team encounters a DefectorFromDecadence named Deathcop, who is essentially an evil generic Dagwon that also has a mech to fuse with like the rest of them.
73	* PunctuatedForEmphasis: The last thing En yells as a Dagwon: I'M! A! DAGWON!
74	* RammingAlwaysWorks: Drill Geki ''and'' the Drill Liner live and breathe this trope. And, in order to stop Arc-seijin from freezing the world, En has to use the Fire Jumbo this way.
75	* {{Reconstruction}}: This show came out a bit before [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Evangelion]] ended, and while it liberally borrows visuals (quite a few of the aliens could pass as Angels) and some other ideas, it wholeheartedly rejects the self-destructive nature of that show. ''Especially'' in the endgame. If you look closely, you can even see some of the elements that made it over to Anime/GaoGaiGar.
76	* RedOniBlueOni: Kai is the Blue Oni. The Red Oni is... everyone else, really, but mostly En.
77	* RedShirtArmy: The Zagos-seijins are based on ants, and fight with numbers.
78	* RecruitTeenagersWithAttitude: Essentially what Brave-seijin does.
79	** Subverted slightly, though - the teens he picked actually had useful skills, but with the exception of Ryu these don't really match the powers and equipment he assigns them. Kai is pretty good with a wooden sword, but becomes the speed-themed Dag Turbo, ''who doesn't have a sword''.
80	*** That's because Brave-seijin simply choose them because they were the first qualified people he ran into and he was on the clock because the attack started sooner than he expected. Ideally he'd have searched the entire population of Earth to find the best 5 people that matched each Dagwon set perfectly which would most likely NOT been 5 random teenagers. But he simply didn't have the time and just gave them the powers and vehicles and hoped they'd work things out.
81	* {{Robeast}}: Occasionally, but most of the invaders are intelligent. The team also has three of their own in the form of the Shadow Guards.
82	* RocketPunch: Fire Dagwon is designed in such a way that would allow this, but it's sadly averted.
83	* ShoutOut
84	** This show is basically ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' fighting [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Angel]]-style [[Series/{{Ultraman}} alien invaders]].
85	** The Mouser-seijin mecha attempts to use the [[Anime/CombattlerV Chou-Denji Spin]] on Fire Dagwon - complete with a Choudenji Tatsumaki-style holding effect.
86	** Brave-seijin is pretty obviously an ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'' ShoutOut, right down to the "Tearduct Eyeholes" at the corners of his eyes[[note]]The original ''Ultraman'' costumes, had little holes in the lit-up eyes, close to the nose, with the effect being that they were cross-eyed[[/note]] (only visible in closeup, though).
87	** The Thunder Shuttle is summoned with [[Anime/{{Daitarn3}} "Come here! Thunder Shuttle!"]] and one of Thunder Dagwon's finishers is the [[Anime/{{Zambot3}} Moon Attack]]. The Thunder-Lancer-from-the-chestplate thing is probably too broad to be a shout out, though.
88	** One of Dag Shadow's attacks has him [[Anime/TransformersSuperGodMasterforce combine the powers of Heaven, Earth, and Man]].
89	* SomethingPerson: Not quite how it usually works, but naming scheme is "Element-Name", ie: Turbo Kai.
90	* SpoilerOpening: Combined with BaitAndSwitchCredits: the opening prominently features Super Fire Dagwon from episode 31 onward, despite Super Fire Dagwon being another ten episodes away and only appearing three times in the whole show. Rai and Thunder Dagwon are also shown in the opening four episodes before his official appearance.
91	* StockFootage: Well, yeah - it's a mecha show.
92	* TankTreadMecha: [[MidSeasonUpgrade Power Dagwon]] transforms from an excavation vehicle, with the lower frame and treads becoming its legs. It can also assume a PartialTransformation where the legs remain untransformed.
93	* ThemeMusicPowerUp: All of the characters have their own themes for each individual combination. [[spoiler: Genocide also gets one when he possesses Fire Jumbo, gaining a muted version of the Kaen Gattai theme.]]
94	* ThemeNaming: The 7 main characters all have single-kanji personal names related to the element or style of their Dagwon battle armor. Geki is the exception, since his name refers more to his attitude.
95	* TooAwesomeToUse: Super Fire Dagwon's extremely rare appearances might be related to the fact that it's ''ridiculously'' overpowered.
96	* TransformationSequence: Human -> Dag Tector battle armor, for the 7 main leads. Unlike most examples however, the sequences aren't overly flashy - pull the bracelet, suit comes on, easy peasy - and are ''[[Franchise/SuperSentai Sentai]]''-derived.
97	* TransformationTrinket: The Dag Braces.
98	* TransformingMecha: Of course! This does lead to some possible BodyHorror, however...
99	* WouldHurtAChild: Rai is not afraid to aim his upgraded guns at Kenta to kill him in the OVA. [[spoiler:Subverted when it's revealed it's Deandozol using a discolored version of young En's appearance to mimic Earth's lifeforms.]]
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Context Anime / BraveCommandDagwon