The Family's Defensive Alliance

The Family's Defensive Alliance (地球防衛家族) is an anime series, created and written by Shōji Kawamori and directed by Tetsu Kimura. The series premiered in Japan on WOWOW between January 9, 2001 and March 29, 2001, spanning a total of 13 episodes. It centers on a dysfunctional family tasked with defending the Earth from alien invaders.

The series was aired by the anime television network Animax across its respective networks worldwide, including its English language networks in Southeast Asia and South Asia under the title The Family's Defensive Alliance. It was released on DVD in North America by Geneon under the title The Daichis: Earth Defence Family, but has not yet been broadcast across the region.

Plot
The opening scenes of the anime show the Daichis in a furious argument over a divorce petition. Suddenly a bright flash of light blinds them completely and they are shown their future roles to be played as defenders of the earth.

Reluctant at first, they are forced to accept the responsibility, as refusal means a court-martial from the Galaxy Federation (their employers) and a hundred years of penal servitude. Seiko always gets infuriated at the end of every mission as every weapon they use costs them more money than they are paid for doing their job(s). In fact, this reason is used as a basis for one of the later episodes in the show.

As earth's defenders, they have to fight against every threat that the earth faces from extraterrestrials. Some of the enemies are bizarre, from floating eyes, to alien toys, to heart shaped spacecraft, to a floating weapons factory, to a giant plant. One of the most hilarious (and blatantly anti-communist) is an alien in the form of the Soviet Emblem that uses a hammer-and-sickle attack! The anime ends in an already-predicted ending, with the Daichis becoming a close knit family once again, despite the hurdles faced by them as earth's defenders and their future responsibility as the same.

Main characters

 * Dai Daichi (大地 大)
 * A problem child of the worst kind, he is hyperactive and doesn't think twice before he does anything, which usually puts him in a spot most of the time. He hates his dysfunctional family life, but at times is capable of showing considerable filial emotions and loyalty. And he has a big-time problem with his arrogant sister, Nozomi.
 * He also has an unusual pet with him which he names "Weird", possibly owing to its very unusual nature.
 * He also has an unusual pet with him which he names "Weird", possibly owing to its very unusual nature.


 * Nozomi Daichi (大地 望) (Dai's sister)
 * Dai's older sibling with a severe attitude problem. It is shown in the anime to have originated owing to her mother making her do all the housework. She is for the most part a misunderstood and very confused young lady. She has an optismistic side as well but it appears very rarely. She has a liking for rock music and it is shown in the third episode of the anime.
 * Dai's older sibling with a severe attitude problem. It is shown in the anime to have originated owing to her mother making her do all the housework. She is for the most part a misunderstood and very confused young lady. She has an optismistic side as well but it appears very rarely. She has a liking for rock music and it is shown in the third episode of the anime.


 * Seiko Daichi (大地 聖子) (their mother)
 * A flirtatious, money-hungry lady and a snob. She is extremely mean and has a hint of sadism. She is extremely vain and cares for nothing save for herself, and has in addition a very irritable temper. These attitudes are shown to gradually disappear towards the end of the anime.
 * She also has an affair during the series with a colleague at work, Hayakawa by name, a photographer by profession....Though she breaks up with him a little before the end of the anime. Despite her meanness, she does love her family deeply from within. It is not apparent though at first as in the very first episode, the opening scene is the family on the brink of being torn apart by a divorce petition about to be filed by Seiko.
 * She also has an affair during the series with a colleague at work, Hayakawa by name, a photographer by profession....Though she breaks up with him a little before the end of the anime. Despite her meanness, she does love her family deeply from within. It is not apparent though at first as in the very first episode, the opening scene is the family on the brink of being torn apart by a divorce petition about to be filed by Seiko.


 * Mamoru Daichi (大地 衛) (the husband)
 * A half-absent IT-professional, he is almost always clueless about the situation around him. Very, very obese and fat, he is shown in his lighter moments with some kind of food in his hand all the time. But the man is highly intelligent and sensitive otherwise. Is also a wimp and an easily terrified fellow.
 * Mild-mannered and easily frightened, he is the most hilarious member in the cast. But he dearly loves his family and is very reluctant to let the family be broken. He is very kind and gentle and fundamentally very decent, but very absent-minded and awkwardly slow and clumsy, especially in social situations.
 * Mild-mannered and easily frightened, he is the most hilarious member in the cast. But he dearly loves his family and is very reluctant to let the family be broken. He is very kind and gentle and fundamentally very decent, but very absent-minded and awkwardly slow and clumsy, especially in social situations.


 * Ellen Shiratori (白鳥エレン)
 * The alien who recruited the Daichis as an earth defense force, she is shown as a very small girl of the same age as Daichi. Level-Headed for the most part, she oversees the functionality of the defensive group and reports to her superiors about their status from time to time. She is also the one who makes sure that the identities of the "superhumans" as the public calls them, are never discovered. It seems that Daichi has a crush on her and the feeling seems to be mutual.
 * The alien who recruited the Daichis as an earth defense force, she is shown as a very small girl of the same age as Daichi. Level-Headed for the most part, she oversees the functionality of the defensive group and reports to her superiors about their status from time to time. She is also the one who makes sure that the identities of the "superhumans" as the public calls them, are never discovered. It seems that Daichi has a crush on her and the feeling seems to be mutual.