Line #77 Anime/GaikingLegendOfDaikuMaryu


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gaikingdaiku.jpg]][[caption-width-right:300:[[https://youtube.com/watch?v=kD4Zip8wQHk GAI! GAI! GAI! DAIKU MARYU GAIKING!]]]]
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3	''Gaiking: Legend of Daiku Maryu'' is a SuperRobot anime produced by Creator/ToeiAnimation. It loosely adapts the [[Anime/{{Gaiking}} 1976 anime, Gaiking]], retaining the names and appearances of the the titular HumongousMecha, and throwing in [[ShoutOut little references]] to the original series, such as recurring character names.
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5	Five years ago, [[TheHero Daiya Tsuwabuki]] and his father were attacked by an [[{{Kaiju}} enormous monster]] while out on a fishing trip. During the attack, [[DisappearedDad Daiya's father was lost at sea]], and has been since pronounced legally dead. However, Daiya alone [[CassandraTruth believes that his father is still alive]]. He believes this because he remembers the gigantic dragon of metal that defeated the monster.
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7	Then, one day, another monster appears in the town. The giant metal dragon reappears, and [[MysteriousWaif a girl]] [[CallToAdventure summons him]] to pilot the [[HumongousMecha Giant of Fire]], Gaiking. Defeating it, he learns that the land of Darius, hidden away inside the Earth's centre, is sending these creatures as an invasion force, and the metal dragon - known as Daiku Maryu - and its crew are LaResistance against this attack.
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9	Together with Gaiking and Daiku Maryu and [[TrueCompanions its crew]], Daiya ventures into the land of Darius to defeat the evil army that threatens the very existence of his entire race.
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11	''Gaiking: Legend of Daiku Maryu'' began on the 12th of November, 2005, and ran for 39 episodes. It has also featured in the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' games for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS, ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsK'' and ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsL''. In January of 2011, Toei put up the entire series subtitled... [[BadExportForYou poorly]]... on Hulu. [[http://www.hulu.com/gaiking People living in the United States can view it here.]] The show is also available on Crunchyroll, Crackle, and the U.S. Playstation Video Store.
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14	!! Gaiking: Legend of Daiku Maryu contains examples of:
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16	* ADayInTheLimelight: [[PluckyComicRelief Yanma, Hacho and Bubi]] trying to become more useful.
17	* AcePilot: Puria Richardson and Lee Jenshin each pilot a CoolPlane, and are indispensible allies to Gaiking on the battlefield, helping him out of many stickiy situations.
18	* AlternateContinuity / InNameOnly: The only things the two shows share in common are the mecha (obviously including the Daikuu-Maryuu and Gaiking themselves), and Daiya's last name among other things (attacks, the way certain things in the series look i.e. Dvorak's face being the original Face Open with all the original attacks) Otherwise, the second series is a completely separate series that has no relation to the original.
19	* AnimationBump: Any scene animated by Hiroyuki Imaishi and Creator/MasamiObari. As well as the second opening animation and episode 13 as a whole.
20	* AnimeThemeSong: GAI GAI GAI DAIKUU MARYUU GAIKING!
21	* AppliedPhlebotinum: Flame. Everybody has it as an innate power, and so much of it is stored within the Hydroroot that it's used as a power source for every machine in the series.
22	* ArcWords: Burn up!
23	* AscendedExtra: Kain started out as one of Nouza's direct subordinates. Very, ''very'' quickly, all the other subordinates got killed off. Kain, however, sticks around and pretty much is the only reason Nouza got over his HeroicBSOD. Daiya's childhood friend also becomes very prominent in the last eight episodes.
24	** Kain is also the only one of Nouza's lieutenants that actually makes it into ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsK''.
25	* AxCrazy: [[spoiler: After the Reveal Protist quickly shows herself to be full of rage and bloodlust just waiting to go off. However even when Protist is more lucid she shows a clear sadistic streak.]]
26	** [[spoiler: She generally becomes worse as these series goes on [[AccidentalMurder even killing her father in a fit of rage.]] And [[NeverMyFault blaming everyone else but herself for it.]]]]
27	** [[spoiler: It eventually reaches its climax after she's brought back from the dead. As her madness becames to much that [[ActionBomb she explored in a blast of Dark Flame.]]]]
28	* BeachEpisode: Episode 7 sees the crew disembark to relax on a beach.
29	* {{BFG}}: The Serpent support ship can dock with Gaiking's right arm to be a gun
30	* BigEater: Daiya comments off-handedly about lunch being the most mportant thing in the day.
31	* BookEnds: Daiya's first and last battles both end with him using a point-blank Hydro Blazer while the show's theme plays.
32	** A nice one for the [[RocketPunch Puncher Grind]] attack. When Daiya first uses it, he fires it off without warning, WrongGenreSavvy in his belief that it'll return using propulsion and guidance like any other RocketPunch. The first time he [[spoiler: uses Giga Puncher Grind as Gaiking The Great, it misses Proist completely, who doesn't expect that it has Raiking's wind power and can thus fly through the air with ease (and hit her on the return trip)]]
33	* BreatherEpisode: A whole lot of them take place after [[spoiler: Proist becomes TheDragon]].
34	* CallARabbitASmeerp:
35	** No reference is ever made to "Giant Robot", "Mecha", or "Super Robot" in-universe. The only term used is "Giant of Fire".
36	** The Darius world version of the mosquito is called pelps. Daiya is especially sensitive to pelps bites.
37	* CallingYourAttacks: It is a SuperRobot show, after all.
38	* ComeBackWrong: [[spoiler: Though Protist was already batshit crazy. After she's brought back she losses what little sanity she had left.]]
39	* TheCassandra: Daiya (see below at CassandraTruth).
40	* CassandraTruth: At the start of the story, nobody believes Daiya about the monster he saw five years ago when his father was lost at sea.
41	* ChekhovsGun: In the first episode, when Naoto grabs Daiya's Gridder, it burns. This seemingly is because enemies are approaching, or because the Daiku Maryu entered the human world again. [[spoiler:The real reason turns out to be that Naoto has a flame JUST AS HOT as Daiya. This would come in handy later when Rongo is unable to pilot Daiku Maryu, as he is the only other person capable.]]
42	* ChestBlaster: The Hydro Blazer and the Zaul Geyser.
43	* CombiningMecha: Gaiking, Vulking, Raiking, and Gaiking the Great.
44	** Gaiking can also combine with its three support bots (Stinger/Superior Stinger, Serpent, and the Crab Bunker) to form Sky, Buster, or Marine Gaiking, can combine with any number of them (namewise, a combination would be something like "Sky Buster Gaiking"), and can combine with all three to form Triple Gaiking. The Maryus also technically combine with their respective robot in that the robots chest is the "head" of the Maryu (except for Tenku-Maryu - Raiking's chest is on Tenku-Maryu's chest area as well). And finally, Superior Stinger can combine to form a second head for Daiku Maryu.
45	* ComingOfAgeStory: Going hand-in-hand with the DownTheRabbitHole setting. There's a strong theme about becoming independent from your parents; Garis requests that all the Daiku Maryu crew members are adults - not necessariily in terms of age, but in terms of responsibility, and Daiya has to make the step to part with his mother, not knowing if he'll be alive to see her again. Several characters' arcs involve growing independent from their parents, [[spoiler: most notably Proist, who represents a negative aspect of independence - she emotionally depends on her father, and when she kills him accidentally, she loses what little sanity she had left in her grief]].
46	* CurbStompBattle: [[spoiler: The battle between Chou Maryuu Dvorak and Gaiking the Great. Proist]] doesn't even get a single hit in, and is not only badly beaten but horribly humiliated as well.
47	* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: Subverted. Face Open appears to be this at first, but it's not forbidden, per se - they just hadn't installed the restraint mechanism to turn it off before Daiya collapsed from heat exhaustion. After this, it becomes a standard SuperMode.
48	* DarkIsNotEvil: [[spoiler: the black flame of the Darius is not inherently wrong or evil, although Proist's was potent enough to kill her father without even noticing]]
49	* DarkerAndEdgier: It always is a blend of dark and light, and that never really leaves, but in the late 20s ([[WhamEpisode Episode 27 comes to mind]]) it starts darkening quite a bit.
50	* DeadlyUpgrade: Face Open at first. During his first time using it, Daiya had no way of turning it off and was exhausted of all possible strength. It wasn't until later that an emergency shut-off was installed.
51	* DesignatedHero: Double-subverted in-universe. Daiya finds out fairly quickly that the people on Darius view the Daikuu Maryuu as invaders and he has to face the fact that technically they ''are'' the bad guys. And then we find out they're just helping out a pre-existing rebellion that got started by inhabitants of Darius anyways and the Darius Empire isn't as noble as the citizens think.
52	* DistantFinale: One that combines with the HereWeGoAgain ending.
53	* DownTheRabbitHole: An unusual example given that, instead of a single child, as in the TropeNamer ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'', or a group of kids, as in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'', a full LaResistance fly down the rabbit hole.
54	* EldritchAbomination: Chouryuu Dvorak is a lesser version of one, but it's still overpowered
55	** Its head is also a ShoutOut to the original Gaiking, as it matches the "Face Open" mode found there and in SRW.
56	* EmpathicWeapon: the various machines respond to certain people's "Fire", which is why Rongo is the only person that can steer the Daiku Maryu even though he's not the strongest.
57	* EyeBeams: The Despair Sight on Gaiking. On Raiking and Gaiking the Great, they are stored in the fingers.
58	** Actually, both Raiking and Gaiking the Great HAVE EyeBeam Despair Sights. Raiking only uses it one time (under enemy control), and Gaiking the Great never chooses to use it.
59	* FastballSpecial: The Shinryu Hydro Blazer (and its Death Fire CombinationAttack) is a variation. While Daiya doesn't exactly throw an ally at the opponent, he does throw a ball-shaped Hydro Blazer either directly at an enemy or towards Dick to launch back at the enemy.
60	* FauxAffablyEvil: [[spoiler: Proist generally maintains a cool, regal air about her person, masking her ruthless nature with a persona of elegance. The illusion shatters whenever she loses face and succumbs to her inner rage.]]
61	* TheFlameOfLife: "Flame" is a power which everyone possesses, and which can be used in large quantities to power HumongousMecha. Notably, ConvectionSchmonvection does not apply here, meaning that a pilot can be knocked unconscious by the heat of their own strength.
62	%%* FragileSpeedster: In premise Raiking and Tenkuu Maryuu are supposed to be this. In ''execution'', they're freaking [[LightningBruiser Lightning Bruisers]] that shrug off some of Gaiking and Vulking's best attacks
63	* GratuitousEnglish: Duh, this is a SuperRobot series.
64	* HalfHumanHybrid: [[spoiler: Ruru. Becomes a minor plot point later on]]
65	* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Vestanuu, Nouza, and all their subordinates, including Kain]].
66	* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Prof. Sakon [[spoiler:until episode 23]]..
67	* HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler: Nouza does NOT handle the fact he's just spare parts for Proist to claim if she ever gets injured very well, though at the time it's more of a Villain BSOD]]
68	* HotBlooded: Daiya broke the record for youngest hotblooded mecha pilot at ''13'' years old. This is the kid who lifts '''CITIES''' with his hotbloodedness.for a fire giant so young he has That white hot molten fire burning deep within his soul with the indomitable will power and unstoppable heroic spirit to defy the most insurmountable of odds in making the impossible possible through sheer force of will and unrelenting determination. he throws himself Headfirst into the worst situations imaginable and comes out on top through sheer force of will using the power of guts, determination, and badassitude. If any one could live up to the example set by the king of braves, it's this kid.
69	* ImportantHaircut: Ruru [[spoiler: after becoming the Daiku Maryu's Captain]].
70	* ImprobableAge: Daiya's piloting a SuperRobot at the age of fourteen. [[spoiler: His best friend ends up piloting the CoolShip, Daiku Maryu, and TheCaptain has his equally-young daughter fill in for him after being gravely wounded]].
71	* InNameOnly: Aside from Daiya's last name, the Daikuu Maryuu and Gaiking themselves (which both use the same attacks) and the names "Darius" and "Death Cross", this series has no other connections to the original series.
72	** It shares a lot more than that. Kill Jaguar bears the same animal theme of the original Gaiking support robots (that is, based on an animal), Death Fire is thrown around a lot more (it used to be a Gaiking exclusive attack, in Face Open mode at that), some attacks used by the originals were moved (The [[ThisIsADrill Miracle Drill]] and Giant Cutter were moved from the Daiku Maryu to the Daichi and Tenku Maryus respectively), and at one point Gaiking uses a CombinationAttack with the Daiku Maryu reminiscent of the Fire Wheel Cutter (for that matter, the shield on the Volution Mode of the Daiku Maryu is reminiscent of that same attack).
73	* InstantExpert: {{Downplayed}}. When Daiya first gets into Gaiking, he knows how to run, jump and fight, but doesn't know how to use any of Gaiking's special attacks.
74	* {{Jerkass}}: Dick and Puria. Dick proves to have HiddenDepths and is still rather trustworthy, Puria eventually mellows out somewhat, and both are at worst a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
75	** [[spoiler: None of them have a hand on Protist. From manipulating Ruru into (almost) killing Garis. To executing thousands of people simply for not being beautiful enough. To [[SelfMadeOrphan Killing her father]] in a fit of rage. To [[SadisticChoice trying to force Daiya into killing his father]] that [[IWillFindYou he spent so much time serching for.]] Protist stands out as possibly the biggest jerk in the entire series.]]
76	* JackOfAllStats: Gaiking and the Daikuu Maryuu, of the three sets of CombiningMecha, are considered the most balanced of the three.
77	* JumpedAtTheCall: Daiya becoming the pilot of Gaiking and member #47 of the Daiku Maryu's crew was a chance to find his father, and he jumped at the oppurtunity to do so.
78	* KamehameHadoken: The Shinryu Hydro Blazer.
79	* {{Kaiju}}: Suspage's Demon Beasts.
80	* TheLegendOfX
81	* MadeOfExplodium: The Kaiju cause the dock to explode with every step they take in the first episode.
82	* MeaningfulName: "Puria" is a subversion; she's not exactly pure in personality.
83	* MidSeasonUpgrade: Superior Stinger (Puria) and Vulking (Lee). Nouza also gets a power up when he turns good in Raiking (far stronger than anything he had as a villain). Daiya gets three, technically - one when he unlocks Face Open, one when he figures out the mechanics of Lee's martial arts style (leading to the Shin Ryu Hydro Blazer), and one with Gaiking The Great.
84	%%* MightyGlacier: In contrast to Raiking and Tenkuu Maryuu who subvert the FragileSpeedster trope, Vulking and the Daichi Maryuu play this one straight.
85	* MonsterOfTheWeek: Follows this format for the first few episodes, before Darius start attacking the Daiku Maryu with armies of {{Kaiju}} and {{Robeast}}s.
86	* MoreDakka: Vulking's ultimate attack involves it firing all of its cannons at once. Fittingly to the "Fire" theme and to the attack, it's known as [[BottomlessMagazines Endless Burn]].
87	* MoreThanMindControl: [[spoiler: Proist convincing Ruru not once, but ''twice'' to attempt to kill her father]]
88	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Mecha variation. Puria is one of the very few people who refers to the Crab Bunker by its actual name. Everyone else pretty much uses Daiya's nickname for it, "Kani Tank", which pisses off Puria. Daiya takes the nickname further when the Crab Bunker docks with Gaiking by calling the new combined form "Kaniking".
89	* PocketDimension: The land of Darius is one located inside the Earth.
90	* PunchCatch: Episode 31 has Gaiking The Great do this [[spoiler: to a HumongousMecha several times its size. Daiya then asks if that was Proist's best punch, then say that if it was, then she's lost, just before crushing Dborak's fist and part of its arm.]]
91	* RocketPunch: A DiscussedTrope. As soon as Daiya learns that Gaiking has a move like this, he fires it off immediately. It doesn't come back, before Ruru radios in to tell him that it doesn't have a mechanism to return to Gaiking, and that he should only be using it as a finisher move to avoid leaving him without an arm. He later improvises a return mechanism by using the grappling dart technique, Zecter Hook, to snatch it back from the air.
92	** And when he's in [[spoiler:Gaiking The Great, it can return on its own because it has Raiking's turbines on it.]]
93	* {{Robeast}}: Daiku Maryu and Vestaanu's Mechanical Beasts.
94	* SerialEscalation: [[SuperMode Face Open]] increases the power of Gaiking's Flame Power by eight. [[CombiningMecha Gaiking the Great]] has ten times the flame of regular Gaiking. [[spoiler: The FinalBattle gives us Face Open: The Great, which is Gaiking the Great using Face Open - eighty times the Flame Power of regular Gaiking!]]
95	** Daiya has the habit of mispronouncing Puria's last name, Richardson, as "Richard-san". Puria does not like it at all.
96	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: It turns out that, when something you're holding if shot and explodes, a lot of dust gets in your eyes, and will probably blind you for a significant period of time.
97	* TrueCompanions: The crew of the Daiku Maryu, even going so far as to remember every single member by the order in which they joined - for example, Daiya is member #47, Dick is member #42, and so on.
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Context Anime / GaikingLegendOfDaikuMaryu