Galaxy Angel Rune

""Ru-rurun Rune!""

The Galaxy Angel gameverse was a serious Space Opera Dating Sim series. The Galaxy Angel anime was a comedy version that parodied the concept of Adaptation Decay, as well as everything else in existence.

Galaxy Angel Rune discarded the former, tried to emulate the latter, and (arguably) failed miserably. The original series lasted for four seasons, while Rune barely managed to make it through one.

Apricot Sakuraba and her friends from the Galaxy Angel II games are given counterparts from the anime-verse. As usual, Character Exaggeration is employed. The high points of the series are largely considered to be the catchy Dancing Theme, which underwent Memetic Mutation, as well as two episodes where the original Angel Troupe made cameos.

What went wrong? It may simply be the fact that Madhouse, the studio behind the original series, were unavailable and instead, Broccoli (the company behind the games) took up the project in-house, which meant that characters who were owned by Madhouse (Normad, Volcott, the Twin Stars, etc.) were unable to put in any appearances (save for a Lawyer-Friendly Cameo by a Normad-Missile). Perhaps the new writers were the kind of people that far preferred the games to the anime and were bitter about ruining the drama. They certainly attempted dramatic plots that would have been more appropriate to the games, while throwing in non sequiturs to try and make it funny.


 * All Devouring Black Hole Loan Sharks: Subverted for Anise. She thinks Mint is coming to extract her pound of flesh but throughout the series she never does and it's later revealed that she's more interested in sitting at a bar drinking while wearing a kigurumi. Is there something wrong with that? *ears perk*
 * Bad Export for You: Licensed by Bandai Visual USA.
 * Balloon Belly: Lily and Anise in Episode 12.
 * Brainwashed and Crazy: A peach-shaped Lost Technology does this to everyone except Apricot in the final episode.
 * Censor Steam: KEEP OUT
 * Character Exaggeration: Done in an attempt to mimic the original series, but can feel forced at times.
 * Combining Mecha: Nano-Nano takes this Up to Eleven in episode 7. The girls' ships become this in the final episode for no reason at all except Rule of Cool.
 * Conspicuous CG: The Emblem Frames used by the girls.
 * Continuity Nod: In episode 7's Where Are They Now Montages of the Moon Angels, Ranpha and Forte keep their less-revealing uniforms from the later seasons of the original series.
 * Cool Ship (The Emblem Frames employed by the girls, and their mothership, the Luxiole.)
 * Dancing Theme: The opening theme, Uchuu de Koi wa Rururune.
 * Gag Series
 * Harmless Villain: When Lily gets Brainwashed and Crazy in the final episode, she lets out her "evil impulses"...by jaywalking and keeping a coin she found on the street.
 * Hot Springs Episode: Episode 12 takes place on a hot springs ''comet'.
 * Idol Singer: Nano-Nano and Natsume become this in episode 6. The other girls all join in by the end.
 * Implacable Man (In episode 10, the girls are pitted against a completely unstoppable combat instructor who has to carry his dog when they go out for walks because he surpasses the poor critter's limitations, takes out a firing range target simply by chucking a piece of his dismatled gun at it, is capable of lifting a massive space whale, and is totally unaffected by anything the girls throw at him.)
 * Fundamentally Female Cast: Even more than in the games; in fact, there seem to be no men in the immediate vicinity at all aside from Kuchen and the Faceless Masses.
 * Konami Code: On the Volume 1 DVD, the directional portion is used to remove episode 1's "KEEP OUT" tape. Later volumes did away with the tape by default.
 * Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: A missile looking largely like Normad makes a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance in episode 6 -- Right before it blows up a planet a second later.
 * Specifically, it looks like Normad's stuffed animal body, as his original missile body would be much less recognizable.
 * Mythology Gag: Milfeulle is shown working as a traffic conductor at an interdimensional crossroad, a reference to her role as a Gatekeeper in Galaxy Angel II.
 * Non-Indicative First Episode: With levels of Fan Service not reached again until the penultimate episode. There's a Panty Shot of Anise, Male Gaze shots of Nano-Nano's rear, a Lingerie Montage of Rico, and a Les Yay scene between Tequila and Rico. All this coupled with episode 1's masochistic villain caused some to abandon the show prematurely. Bandai Visual USA releasing the first DVD with only the first episode didn't help either.
 * Putting the Band Back Together: For one very special episode, the Moon Angel Wing is preparing to visit the Luxiole. Hilarity Ensues.
 * Self-Serving Memory: The subject of an episode centred around Lily and Anise.
 * Shout-Out: Aside from the multiple throwbacks to the original series, any combat sequence not taking place inside the girls' ships has them randomly transporting to a barren field and taking down whatever bad guy they happen to be facing a la Super Sentai. In addition, a chubby Char Aznable clone appears in episode 10 as a training instructor for the girls, and Milfeulle summons the Luxiole and uses it to bat away the Lost Technology in the final episode in what can only be a GaoGaiGar homage.
 * Thirteen Episode Anime
 * Too Kinky to Torture: Toyed with in the first episode. An Affably Evil baron grows to planetary proportions and goes on a rampage, but because he's a massochist, the girls' attacks don't bother him. When they decide to ignore him for several hours instead, he loses his powers and shrinks back to normal.
 * With Friends Like These...: Lady of War Lily and Space Pirate Anise never quite see eye to eye, which predictably leads to violence.