Brave Exkaiser
Brave Exkaiser (Yuusha Exkaiser) is the first installment in the Brave Series. It was broadcast in 1990 through 1991, and mostly draws inspiration from Transformers. The story begins with Exkaiser and his men chasing the Geisters through space and their search takes them to the Earth. Soon, a boy named Kouta comes across the titular robot and a bond between them is formed.
Exkaiser was so popular, it soon spawned seven Brave shows after it. Even today, long-time fans still remember it fondly.
Tropes used in Brave Exkaiser include:
- Alien Among Us: The Kaisers, duh.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: The Geisters are alien robots...Alien robots who can smoke, drink sake and eat cuckoo-clocks.
- Badass: Exkaiser and Co. Also, Dino Geist.
- Better to Die Than Be Killed: Dino Geist hurls himself into the sun, to avoid being captured by Exkaiser.
- Big Bad: Dino Geist.
- Big Damn Heroes: The Kaisers. All. The. Time.
- BFS: Great Exkaiser's sword.
- But Now I Must Go
- By the Power of Greyskull: Change, (Name)!!!
- Calling Your Attacks: "JET BOOMERANG!" "THUNDER FLASH!!" "THUNDER ARROW!!"
- Combining Mecha: The Raker Brothers, Max Team, and Exkaiser's auxiliary mecha.
- Cool Big Sis: Fuuko to Kouta
- Cool Car: Dash Max
- Cool Plane: Sky Max.
- Cool Train: Blue and Green Raker.
- Car Fu: More like Car Parkour.
- Curb Stomp Battle: The final battle between Exkaiser and Dino Geist.
- Complete Monster: Dino Geist captures a nine year-old boy to blackmail Exkaiser.
- Deus Ex Machina: There are some in a few episodes.
- Drill Tank: Drill Max.
- The Faceless: Dragon, Dragon Kasier's drone form.
- Five-Man Band
- The Hero: Exkaiser
- The Lancer: Either Sky Max or Dash Max fall into this.
- The Big Guy: Drill Max.
- The Smart Guy: Blue Raker and Green Raker.
- Tagalong Kid: Kouta.
- Hey, It's That Guy!: The Geister robots are "played" by the original Dinobots from Transformers with new paintjobs. Takara actually used modified Transformers designs in every Brave show except Fighbird and GaoGaiGar.
- Hot-Blooded
- Humongous Mecha: King Loader, Dragon Jet.
- Lighter and Softer: Compared to the more grim Jushin Liger anime, this show is about as kid-friendly as it gets.
- Laughably Evil: Despite being the most dangerous space pirates in the Galaxy, the Geisters have a collective IQ of about 5.
- This can't be said about their leader.
- Mid-Season Upgrade: Dragon Kaiser, anyone?
- Monsters of the Week
- Names to Run Away From Really Fast: The Geisters.
- Theme Music Power-Up: In episode 35 Kotomi playing the show's ending theme on the piano causes the battered Kaisers to have a Heroic Second Wind.
- Victory Pose