Gunparade March

Gunparade March
Cover of the Playstation video game
ガンパレード・マーチ (Ganparēdo Māchi)
Genre	Action, Mecha
Game
Kōkidō Gensō Gunparade March
Developer	Alfa System
Publisher	Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform	PlayStation
Released	28 September 2000
Manga
Anime television series
Gunparade March: The New March
Directed by	Katsushi Sakurabi
Studio	J.C.Staff
Original network	MBS, TV Kanagawa
Original run	4 June 2003 – 20 August 2003
Episodes	12
Anime television series
Gunparade Orchestra
Directed by	Yutaka Sato, Toshiya Shinohara
Studio	Brain's Base, Bandai Visual
Original network	ABC, NBN, TV Asahi
Original run	5 October 2005 – 29 March 2006
Episodes	24 + 3 OVAs

Gunparade March (ガンパレード・マーチ, Ganparēdo Māchi) is a Japanese video game that was later turned into a 3 volume manga and a 12 episode anime.

The video game, Kōkidō Gensō Gunparade March (高機動幻想ガンパレード・マーチ), was released on 28 September 2000, for the PlayStation. It was developed by Alfa System and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Due to its creativity and attention to detail, it won the prestigious Seiun Award in 2001.

The manga by Hiroyuki Sanadura was serialized in the magazine Dengeki Daioh. The three volumes published by MediaWorks between 2001 and 2003 were translated by ADV Manga between 2004 and 2005.

The anime, Gunparade March: The New March (ガンパレード・マーチ 〜新たなる行軍歌〜, Ganparēdo Māchi: Atanaru Kōgunka), which was produced by J.C.Staff was broadcast on MBS from 6 February 2003 to 23 April 2003. It is licensed for distribution in the United States by Media Blasters as simply "Gunparade March".

The game and anime take place in the Kyūshū province of Japan, where many (if not all) sites are modeled after their real-life counterparts. For example, the Kumamoto Castle, where one defensive mission takes place (game only), is a famous landmark of Kyūshū. Others, like 'Ajinoren', a local restaurant, and 'Shoukei' Highschool, the protagonists' main base of operations, are both actual locations.

Plot

In 1945, World War II was abruptly ended when an alien race appeared on Earth and began to slaughter the human population. This alien force, known as the "Phantom Beasts" (or Genjyu in Japanese) had effectively taken over more than half of the Earth. The year is 1999 – 54 years later, mankind is still fighting to survive against the alien forces. Earth forces now use advanced mecha called Humanoid Walking Tanks (HWTs) to combat the invaders, but throughout the ordeal, far too many pilots have been killed in action. To ensure the future of the human race, the Japanese government enforced a student draft which recruited high school students to become HWT pilots. Gunparade March follows the lives of the 5121st Platoon, which consists mainly of drafted high school students and their struggle to defeat the Phantom Beasts and at the same time, lead a normal social life.

Characters

Atsushi Hayami (速水 厚志, Hayami Atsushi) Voiced by: Akira Ishida

One of the main protagonists in the story and an HWT pilot. Hayami is probably one of the most shy and naive characters in Gunparade March. His personality renders him to be dubbed a "goof" among his fellow colleagues and become somewhat an interest for several of the female characters. When he meets Mai, he develops an interest for her and gradually becomes infatuated with her. However, his timidity prevents him from admitting his true feelings and publicly, he considers her as a "good partner on the job". As an HWT pilot, his attributes are quite balanced and this caused him to be teamed with Mai for piloting the two-seater "Tandem" HWT. However, Hayami tends to be nervous during battles and has the habit of messing up. He also seems to be well aware of the concept that the Genjyu feed upon Human's fear and hatred for them which causes them to attack. This is shown when he elaborates a fairy tale (it is speculated that a fairy tale can bring one's childhood innocence back which eliminates most of one's hatred and fear) aloud while carrying Mai to a safe area when they were stranded in a forest full of Genjyu and the Genjyu were rendered motionless. Later on, the whole platoon tried to pair Mai and Hayami up by setting false tasks and trying to trap them into admitting each others true feelings. It initially appeared to be successful until Hayami's naive personality ended the operation in failure. During the New Year's Eve of 2001, Hayami admitted love to Mai and still pilots the Tandem with her.

Mai Shibamura (芝村 舞, Shimabura Mai) Voiced by: Akemi Okamura

Another main protagonist in the story and an HWT pilot. Mai was a transfer pilot to the 5121st Platoon. She initially separated herself from everyone in the division but formed a friendship with Nonomi and eventually, the whole female crew of the platoon. She first saves Mibuya and Hayami when they were in the effective range of the PBE. Afterwards, she gained the gratitude of Hayami and a slight rivalry with Mibuya. Her skills as an HWT pilot are at near perfection. However, her teamwork is as relatively poor as her communication skills. Later on, Mai reveals that is the daughter of the head of Shibamura Industries. Despite that, she tries to lead a normal life and care for Nonomi, thinking she is responsible for her condition. When Hayami and Mai were stranded, she revealed why she came to join the army despite her status as being the daughter of the head of Shibamura. When she was in her old high school, she became infatuated with an elite HWT pilot but never admitted her feelings to him as he died fighting the Genjyu. Holding a grudge against the Genjyu, she trained to be an elite pilot and was eventually transferred to the 5121st platoon. After Hayami saves her, Mai begins to be infatuated with him but again, she is too shy to admit her true feelings to him.

Adaptations

Anime

Gunparade

Cast

• Atsushi Hayami: Akira Ishida
• Mai Shibamura: Akemi Okamura
• Mio Mibuya: Junko Sakuma
• Takayuki Setoguchi: Hideyuki Umezu
• Yohei Takigawa: Akio Suyama
• Maki Tanabe: Chiaki Maeda
• Matsuri Kato: Junko Noda
• Motoko Hara: Emi Shinohara
• Seika Mori: Tomoe Hanba
• Nonomi Higashihara: Mayumi Yoshida
• Hisaomi Sakaue: Keiichi Sonobe
• Keigo Tohsaka: Kouichi Kuriyama
• Tadataka Zengyou: Shouto Kashii
• Haruka Yoshino: Miki Inoue
• Ginga Kurusu: Tomoyuki Shimura
• Yasumitsu Wakamiya: Yoshihisa Kawahara
• Michiru Katou: Satsuki Yukino
• Nami Koumi: Mai Nakahara
• Sarasa Wichita: Mariko Suzuki
• Setoguchi's girlfriend (ep 6): Mamiko Noto

Episodes

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Gunparade Orchestra

The story focuses and revolves around the 108th Guard Squad, stationed in Aomori. A poorly equipped unit with very little military standing, it is often viewed as a 'reject camp' for pilots not making the grade for the elite units based in Hokkaido. The apparent helpless nature of this force is hardly a deterrent for the encroaching enemy armies, ever closing in on both the 108th and the rest of the empire. The young pilots of the 108th, who had dreamed on returning home, are plunged forcefully and unwillingly into a war.

Cast

Character Name	Voice Actor/Actress
Junji Majima	Hiroshi Ishizuka
Megumi Toyoguchi	Sara Ishida
Yuuto Kazama	Kenji Gen
Akeno Watanabe	Kaen Yuuki
Akiko Kimura	Yukiko Araki

• Atsuko Enomoto as Tomomi Tsujino
• Aya Hisakawa as Ayako Miyako
• Ayumi Tsunematsu as Miki Kinjou
• Chihiro Suzuki as Kentaro Matsuo
• Daisuke Kishio as Yuki Makihara
• Harumi Sakurai as Azusa Hikomura
• Hirofumi Nojima as Kou Kojima
• Hiroki Shimowada as Masatoshi Fukazawa
• Hiroshi Kamiya as Nakatoshi Iwasaki
• Jin Yamanoi as Taihei Oosako
• Junichi Suwabe as Michiya Noguchi
• Junko Shimeno as Senju
• Katsuyuki Konishi as Shion Ryuuzouji
• Kotomi Yamakawa as Mizuho Kurano
• Kousuke Toriumi as Seiji Sakuma
• Kyoko Hikami as Satomi Kozeki
• Mai Nakahara as Nami Koumi
• Mari Toudou as Kuuka Hashira
• Mayuko Omimura as Haruka Yoshida
• Rie Kanda as Natsuko Saitou
• Ryo Naitou as Hirokazu Takeda
• Sachiko Kojima as Yukari Tanoue
• Saeko Chiba as Noeru Sugawara
• Sakiko Tamagawa as Saika Murata
• Satsuki Yukino as Michiru Katou
• Shinichirou Ohta as Sora Kojima
• Shinji Kawada as Torao Ueda
• Taisuke Yamamoto as Takeharu Shima
• Takeshi Watabe as Touji Kazama
• Takkou Ishimori as Sencho
• Takumi Yamazaki as Eiri Shibamura
• Tarusuke Shingaki as Eitaro Nagano
• Yasuyuki Kase as Junichi Tajima
• Yuriko Yamaguchi as Hakushaku
• Yuu Asakawa as Momoka Kudou
• Eri Sendai as Mao Suzuki
• Fumiko Orikasa as Ester Kurenai
• Jun Fukuyama as Yuuto Takeuchi
• Kazumi Okushima as Hadzuki Yamaguchi
• Masaharu Satou as Commander (ep 15)
• Masumi Asano as Ami Yokoyama
• Norio Wakamoto as Hard-boiled Penguin
• Satsuki Yukino as Newscaster (ep 1)
• Sayaka Narita as Arisa Watanabe
• Shizuka Itou as Ryota
• Takayuki Kawasugi as Naoya Satou
• Tetsu Inada as Ryouma Taniguchi
• Yumi Takada as Yumi

Episodes

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External links

• Official game web site (in Japanese)
• Official Gunparade March anime web site (in Japanese)
• Gunparade March (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia