Where to start the Braves (Yuusha) series?

For most people the most well known Braves show is The King of Braves: GaoGaiGar released in 1997 and then followed up with the GaoGaiGar FINAL OVA in 2000. It was the final show in the Braves franchise and studio Sunrise went all out delivering a tour-de-force in the Mecha genre, it was beloved both by Mecha fans and casual viewers when it was released.

Although still very popular today, not many people know that GaoGaiGar is the final show in a series. This post hopes to illuminate some of the other shows in the Braves / Yuusha franchise you may be interested in.

(Note: Yuusha is the original Japanese name that is translated as Braves for this series, when searching for information on these shows if you can’t find what you are looking for using the Braves keyword, try using Yuusha instead.)

The Braves or Yuusha series was a long running Super Robot series from the 90s produced by the animation studio Sunrise (most well known for Gundam and countless other Mecha series) and sponsored by Takara. Previously Takara had worked with Toei animation on Transformers and thus many of the Braves robots bear a striking resemblance to Transformers both in design and personality. The Braves series produced 8 shows over the decade as well as a popular video game on the playstation called Brave Saga which utilized assets and story from a proposed Braves project.

Each of the Braves shows is independent from one another but they all tend to have some commonalities between each other. The franchise was initially aimed at a very young audience so nearly every show has a child protagonist or deuteragonist with the show.

All of them have sentient talking Robots, while in many of the shows the Robot serves as a protector to the protagonist (only in a few shows are they piloted) with nearly all of the robots behaving very noble or altruistic manner.

Last but not least, many of the shows have a transformation gimmick or combination sequence. You will see dinosaurs and fire trucks transform into giant robots and you will also see them combine with each other or support equipment to form even greater robots.

The Brave Fighter Exkizer

The first show in the Braves series is Yuusha Exkizer or Brave Exkizer. (Be careful on the spelling here, it’s Exkizer vice Exkaiser). It was marketed towards a very young audience so we see a young protagonist named Kouta Hoshikawa in a very episodic show that you can tune into anytime without needing to worry about an overarching plot, it also has some very goofy villains.

Exkizer and company are space police chasing down the Geister space pirates. Exkizer and company takes over earth vehicles such as the sports car of Kouta’s father, and the Geisters who have taken over the body of giant dinobots.

The Geisters are dumb as a box of rocks which is used to great comedic effect, in one episode for instance they learn that time is a treasure so they go and steal all the clocks in town. Many people remember the iconic Christmas episode where they take over a giant robot Santa Claus who Exkizer must battle.

The Geisters are led by Dinogeist, the primary antagonist of the series. A giant T-Rex who transforms into an unbeatable robot and the final enemy of Exkizer and the space police. It’s an overall very fun show and a great way to start watching the Braves series.

Check out the OP for it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SH26jiKGfI

(This channel is by a dedicates Braves fan who does upscaled content)

Brave of the Sun Fighbird

The second show in the Braves series, this one changes the formula up a bit from Exkizer by having the space police instead inhabit an android the protagonists Scientist father built instead of inhabiting the family car.

The protagonist is Fighbird, a space police officer inhabiting a humanoid android who can combine with a giant robot of the same name wielding a sword with a FireBird motiff. Fighbird alternates between being the overly naive comedy relief but also the hot blooded action hero quoting lines from TV shows he’s been watching with the family he’s staying with. With Obari providing Mecha designs and hot blooded action this show is a very enjoyable watch. It also has one of the more action packed finales.

Oh and if you’ve ever wondered where this meme originated from? Well, now you can watch the show.

You can find the OP for Fighbird here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jltZgWj0I8

The Brave Fighter of Legend Da Garn

Next up we have a personal favorite of mine, Da Garn. This show appears to be where the Brave series found its footing and a number of directorial decisions and story beats were repeated in future series. In this show our protagonist Seiji Takasugi, is a mischievous middle schooler who inherits the power to defend the Earth with Da Garn. Many of the early plot involves Seiji and Da Garn searching for other Braves Stones who would then help them defend the earth from the invading aliens.

The series does a great job alternating between comedy and serious moments and it cycles through several different villains with many of them being very sympathetic to the viewer. Seiji in particular was a fan favorite protagonist, often using his new extraordinary powers for his own benefit but at the end of the day he still retains a heart of gold throughout the show. The supporting cast of both the humans, aliens and robots are all terrific as are many of the recurring gags such as the Police man having his police car (which is currently Da Garn’s body) “stolen” over and over again.

Contrasting Da Garn with Exkizer, many of the episodes can be watched individually but the story is generally broken into several arcs each starring a different antagonist or group of antagonists which it handles well both in regards to pacing and characterization. The only flaw in Da Garn is that while the show has excellent pacing until the ending which ends the power of legend storyline somewhat abruptly. Still it gives a great finale for the robot rival Seven Changer.

Check out the OP for Da Garn here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMn0kQ3g7Rw

The Brave Express Might Gaine

Recently featured in the Super Robots Wars titles SRW V, X & T is Might Gaine. This series follow’s Maito Senpuuji the young CEO of a very successful company by day who fights crime by night. Might Gaine tends to be a bit more episodic early on with each episode rotating through the cast of villains.

Maito has a great rogue’s gallery of various over-the-top yet silly villains including Shogun Mifune who greatly wishes to return Japan back to its feudal trappings, but in actuality he is just an American obsessed with Samurai. Like Da Garn before it, it does a good job of handling comedy and serious sections although while Da Garn has more comedic and light hearted moments Might Gaine leans heavier into serious and more dramatic moments.

If you have already seen GaoGaiGar then you will almost certainly enjoy Might Gaine. They even share the same voice actor.

Can’t forget the music either, Might Gaine has a the most distinct sound track out of the Braves Series, here’s a sample of it from the new bluray release of Might Gaine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi4OU4A_OtQ

The Brave Police J-Decker

Most recently featured in SRW 30 J-Decker is a show regarding a police force of Brave robots (with their own giant police desks for paperwork) commanded by the young Yuuta Tomonaga. This show is aimed at a younger audience and features some of the best characterization in the supporting robot cast.

It also answers the question of why there are so many lions on their chests.

You can watch the OP here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AJ0hfmV7Bk

The Brave of Gold – Goldran

Goldran is another of the shows aimed at a younger audience. It stars three kids in grade school who are seeking out Power Stones to revive the other braves similar to Da Garn. Although Da Garn had Seiji travel in the luxury of his robot jet, Goldran instead has the kids ride in a wondrous flying locomotive who can transform into Advenger.

While Goldran leans a lot more into the lighter and sillier elements it does have its share of serious moments in the mid-point and the end of the show. The heroes, villains and supporting cast often get into some zany adventures, one of the more notable ones has Goldran accidentally become a father to quadruplets robot kids.

It also gets bonus points for having a great Captain Harlock parody. Overall, Goldran has a good variety of bad guy mecha designs and plots to go along with them but where Goldran really shines is with its villains who are the most endearing in the Braves franchise.

You can find the Goldran OP here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaVuqhDwgMc

Brave Command Dagwon

Dagwon is the Braves version of a Super Sentai or Power Ranges type show. If you enjoy those shows then you will most likely enjoy this one. If you’re not familiar with either it’s still worth a look, the series focuses heavily on the characters who will often transform and fight on the human size level with the giant robots coming in near the end of the episode. Overall it’s an enjoyable show but for the giant robot enthusiasts it probably has the least amount of robot action in the entire franchise. Which might be for a reason, this was the last show before GaoGaiGar whose production values were enormously higher than all previous Braves series.

You can find the OP for Dagwon here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T30ZYZdJMxU

The King of Braves GaoGaiGar

The most well known and popular of the Braves series, this was the final show produced and you can tell the staff put their all into it. Boasting terrific production values, stellar voice acting, and some of the most enjoyable stock footage you’ll get to see; GaoGaiGar truly is the King of the Braves series.

While the Braves series initially targeted a younger audience, 7 years later they were growing up. GaoGaiGar very successfully targeted the older brother / younger brother demographic by having Guy Shishioh and Mamoru Amani has dual older and younger leading characters. While the show initially focuses on the younger Mamoru, Guy and his unfaltering courage later steals the show.

But that’s not all, we have an iconic and over the top support staff and very distinct robot AIs that leaves a favorite for everyone.

If you have zero experience with GaoGaiGar the Final Fusion Program Drive sequence should give you a good idea of what to expect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R87OCLZlU70

(It looks like a lot of the GaoGaiGar videos were scrubbed off Youtube recently, but here’s a segment from the first episode that includes the GaoGaiGar transformation sequence.)

The show starts off episodic for the first half and gives you time to get to know the characters and various robots. The show finishes off the first arc a little past the halfway point. It finishes with an amazingly animated clash.

From there it kicks it into high gear and begins introducing the next set of villains, the 31 Machine Primevals who are more than a match for the world’s most powerful robot. Around this time we also get the fan favorite rival robot, King J-Der. A transforming battleship robot who is so massive you rarely see its entire body onscreen.

GaoGaiGar and King J-Der and the rest of the GGG team battle it out throughout the solar system, culminating with the formidable Goldion Hammer blasting its way through the moons of Jupiter. I’d rather not spoil anything so I’ll just say give the show a watch, you won’t be disappointed.

GaoGaiGar recently received a US Blu Ray release from Discotek along with its sequel OVA GaoGaiGar FINAL. You can watch the very catchy OP to GaoGaiGar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgAazreoQqA

Summary

• Exkizer (Exkaiser) – Fun episodic show, aimed at a younger audience with a few gags for parents watching with their kids. Great way to start the Braves series
• Fighbird – Fun show with great Obari action sequences and lighthearted comedy
• Da Garn – Great show with a great cast of characters, robots and villains. Has the best balance between serious and light hearted moments.
• Might Gaine – Another great entry point, a wealthy crime fighting protagonist faces off against a diverse rogues’ gallery. Good mix of serious and light hearted, many moments are similar to GaoGaiGar.
• J-Decker – Aimed at a younger audience it has the some of the best characterization of the AI Robots
• Goldran – Aimed at a younger audience has a lot of whimsical adventures intermixed with a few serious moments. Has the most endearing villains in the franchise.
• Dagwon – Great series to start if you like Super Sentai / Power Rangers.
• GaoGaiGar – The best of the best, can be enjoyed as your first entry or your final entry.

If you enjoyed reading this post we have other “Where to start posts?” for the mecha genre. Here is one for Mazinger and one for Getter Robo. You can find tabletop profiles for GaoGaiGar and other Yuusha mecha on the MechaStellar game downloads page: https://mechastellar.com/game-downloads/

Click here to return to the “Where to start mecha anime” landing page.