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Dai-Guard: Difference between revisions
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This is the motto of ''Dai-Guard'', an extremely non-traditional [[Humongous Mecha]] [[Anime]]. Set in [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future|the year 2030]], the show focuses on three employees of the 21st Century Defense Security Corporation, a company that owns a giant robot named Dai-Guard. Dai-Guard was originally built by the military to protect the world against Heterodynes ([[I Thought It Meant|no, not]] [[Girl Genius|those]]), aliens from another dimension that show up to destroy everything they can get their hands on. However, the first and only attack occurred 12 years ago, and when the series starts, Dai-Guard has been retired and is seen as little more than an overblown corporate mascot.
When a new Heterodyne suddenly appears, the protagonists -- young and brash Shunsuke Akagi, rational and hard-working Ibuki Momoi, and aloof and cynical Keiichiro Aoyama -- activate the dormant robot and defend the populace. They become instant heroes, but there is the small matter of dealing with the [[Obstructive Bureaucrat|Board of Directors]], who are [[Bothering
''Dai-Guard'' plays a lot of standard trope arrangements from both ends. It takes a [[Real Robot Genre|Real Robot]] and drops it in alongside the standard [[Monster of the Week|crazy monsters from another dimension]]. It uses [[Power Trio|common character arrangements]], but avoids many anime stand-bys, employing relatively little [[Fan Service]] or [[UST]]. It alternates its focus between the day-to-day "realities" of a company utilizing a giant robot and said giant robot punching things in the face.
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* [[A House Divided]]: Surprisingly, the Heterodyne are a serious threat for only the first nine episodes... out of ''twenty-six.'' At the end of episode nine, the behavior and weaknesses of the Heterodyne have been figured out, and one gets [[One-Hit Kill|one-shotted]] for the first time in a repeatable fashion... only for Shirota to stab the team in the back and assist in the military's attempt to hijack the operation. It takes four more episodes to iron out the mess, after which they pull off a perfect Heterodyne elimination with ''zero collateral damage...'' only for the [[Pointy-Haired Boss|company executives to screw things up in an even more spectacular manner.]] Four episodes after that, just as they get that ironed out, things go ''international;'' [[Eagle Land]] purposefully interferes with a Heterodyne attack in the hopes of capturing one for study, then spins the resulting near-attack on their spy plane into an attempt to shut down the entire operation. While a Heterodyne is wandering around that can ''freeze entire cities solid.'' This arc only lasts two episodes, as it barely dodges a [[Space Whale Aesop]] about Japanese militarization. Safe to say, the Dai-Guard team spends at least as much time arguing with egotistical authority figures as they do fighting monsters.
* [[And the Adventure Continues...]]: It seems that the Heterodyne will ''never'' stop appearing. Like earthquakes and hurricanes, monster attacks are now a fact of life in 21st century Japan. Now that they've developed the tools, skills, and attitude to handle them, the story is over.
* [[Armies Are Evil]]: A variant version where the army feels it's the only ones qualified to battle the Heterodynes, despite having no [[Humongous Mecha]] piloting experience, and only cares (strangely, for [[The Evil Army]]) about civilian casualties and not their quality of life, willing to destroy hundreds of homes so long as nobody dies.
* [[Ascended Fanboy]]: Akagi. He's wanted to pilot a [[Humongous Mecha]] his entire life, to the point of taking an otherwise useless college course to learn how to do it and spending years in a dead-end job just to be around the only one in existence.
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* [[Hot Springs Episode]]: Subverted. Tanigawa and Ijuuen visit one just in time to be interrupted by a giant balloon Heterodyne, but little skin is shown and in Tanigawa's words, they had "separate rooms and boring conversations".
* [[Humongous Mecha]]: Strangely, it's the rare [[Real Robot Genre|Real Robot]] that ''looks'' like a [[Super Robot Genre|Super Robot]]; Dai-Guard was designed for the very specific purpose of getting in close enough to a Heterodyne to destroy its Fractal Knot.
* [[I Just Want to Be Normal]]: It takes Aoyama a long time to get used to piloting Dai-Guard; in episode 3 [[Ten
* [[Indy Ploy]]: This is all Akagi does, much to the horror and annoyance of his coworkers.
* [[Jurisdiction Friction]]: The [[Evil Army]] and the 21st Century Corporation are frequently at odds about who should really be using Dai-Guard.
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* [[Our Monsters Are Weird]]: The Heterodynes. No two are quite alike in design, shape and abilities, but are all based on the same basic composition which is equal parts fungus and octagon-shaped crystal (the "Fractal Knot"). They then form a body out of surrounding matter, making no two quite alike. They can move freely (some even fly), are ''usually'' attracted to EM waves and often have odd powers to defend themselves. That's about ALL they have in common.
** They are considered straight-up monsters by the general population, but specialists consider them tantamount to natural disasters, as they don't have a particular purpose or capacity for thought.
* [[Post Episode Trailer]]: Complete with the page quote as [["On the Next Episode of..." Catchphrase]].
* [[Power Trio]]: Akagi, Ibuki, and Aoyama.
* [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]]: All of Public Relations Division 2.
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* [[Talking to Himself]] Aoyama with [[Mobile Suit Gundam 00|Lockon Stratos]] {{spoiler|both of them}} in [[Super Robot Wars Z]].
* [[Theme Naming]]: The pilots and some other characters are named after colours. Akagi- Red, Aoyama- Blue, Momoi- Pink, Shirota- White, etc.
* [[Tokyo Is the Center of
** Justified in that the dimensional warp is caused by unique tectonic action in Japan.
** It's mentioned in the comic that there are Dai-Guards stationed around the world, as the warps are related to earthquakes - Japan just happens to have a lot of them.
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* [[Rocket Punch]]: Not an actual mechanical ability, but the next best thing: Dai-Guard takes off its hand and ''throws it at the monster''.
** Faithfully recreated in ''[[Super Robot Wars Z]] 2'' as part of the drill arm's animation against air units.
* [[Taking You
* [[Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right]]: In the series finally {{spoiler|Shirou Shirota disobeys orders to stop a [[Nuclear Weapons Taboo|Over Explosion Bomb]] from being dropped on Tokyo to stop the [[Monster of the Week]] from covering the world. His plan works, but the bomb might not have.}}
* [[Ten
* [[Theme Tune Cameo]]. Cellphone ringtones. Baa, ba ba Baa, ba ba Baa, ba ba Bara rara rara ra...
* [[This Is a Drill]]: And drills are [[Awesome but Impractical]]. [[You Fail Physics Forever|Ever heard of "torque"]], [[Gadgeteer Genius|Domeki?]]
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