Brave Series

The Brave Series (or Yuusha Series) is a toy and animation franchise formed after toy company Takara had ended the animated "Generation 1" storyline of Transformers in Japan. Following a decline in the series' popularity that led to the cancellation of the OVA series Transformers Zone, Takara struck a cooperative deal with the animation studio Sunrise (known for the Gundam series) to develop a new franchise and set of toy lines. This would lead to the development of the Brave Series a landmark Super Robot series in the 1990s.

The Brave Series includes:
 * 1990 - Brave Exkaiser
 * 1991 - The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird
 * 1992 - The Brave Fighter of Legend Da Garn
 * 1993 - The Brave Express Might Gaine
 * 1994 - Brave Police J-Decker
 * 1995 - The Brave of Gold Goldran
 * 1996 - Brave Command Dagwon
 * 1997 - The King of Braves GaoGaiGar

A ninth series The Saint of Braves Baan Gaan was planned but never produced, development was so near complete however that Sunrise considers material from it canonical. The material meant to be used in this canceled series was later recycled into the plots for the Brave Wars Video Game Quantum Leap Rayserver, and later into the unrelated Super Robot anime GEAR Fighter Dendoh.


 * Combining Mecha: All the shows have at least one team of mechs that combine on the protagonist side. Exkaiser, in a case of Early Installment Weirdness, had a three-bot combiner team and a two-bot symmetrical docking team. Fighbird through to Might Gaine have a three-bot and a four-bot combiner team, with the three-bot team getting a fourth member around the middle of the show. J-Decker through to Dagwon have just the three-man team which gets the fourth member later on. GaoGaiGar, in a case of Later Installment Weirdness, has a pair of symmetrical-docking brother teams, with FINAL adding a sister team to the mix. Baan Gaan was meant to have a top-bottom symmetrical docking team (an idea that eventually got recycled for Transformers Energon) as well as a three-plus-one team, except this team would also get a complete Mid Season Upgrade into a vastly more powerful form.
 * Humongous Mecha
 * Hot Blooded: One of the main reasons why even adult people love the series so much.
 * Mid-Season Upgrade: Every main mecha gets one, usually through some sort of Mecha Expansion Pack. Starting from Da Garn, the upgrade would be another mech instead of just a trailer or vehicle, while Might Gaine introduced another upgrade member that transformed into a BFG for the main mecha. Dagwon was the only series to have two weapon mecha, one the traditional BFG, the other a huge sword. Again in a case of Later Installment Weirdness, GaoGaiGar steps away from the formula by having the main mecha be composed of several components, with the weapon mecha becoming a giant hammer instead.