Godannar

Godannar (神魂合体ゴーダンナー!!) is an anime series created and directed by Yasuchika Nagaoka.

Background
In 2042, alien threats known as the Mimetic beasts (擬態獣) laid waste to Japan. During a final battle against the Mimetic beasts, Goh Saruwatari defeats the alien "boss" and saves his future wife, Anna Aoi, with his robot, the Dannar.

Now, on their wedding ceremony, the Mimetic beasts emerge after five years of tranquility. Goh and Dannar are called to action, forcing Goh to leave Anna at the altar.

As Goh struggles in his battle against the Mimetic beast, Anna stumbles upon a sealed robot known as "Neo Okusaer". She is able to activate and pilot the Neo Okusaer to save her "husband" by merging it with the Dannar to activate the Godannar's Twin Drive.

During the course of the series, it is discovered that humanity is threatened by the "Insania" virus, which is spread by the Mimetic beasts. All of humanity is infected, but the virus affects robot pilots most severely, since they come into close contact with the beasts on a regular basis. The virus has the effect of transforming human males into Mimetic beasts; females are somehow immune, unless they naturally generate large amounts of male hormones. The virus is stimulated by human hormones, especially those released in great quantities during combat.

During the second season, the pilots of Dannar Base struggle to balance the need to fight the Mimetic beasts with the danger of further infection. Eventually, it is discovered that Mira, Goh's former combat partner and lover, who was trapped inside a Mimetic beast for five years, is the source of the vaccine humanity needs.

The series is famous for its fanservice: 'up skirt' shots, bouncing breasts, and the scantily clad female pilots.

There was also a dōjinshi made by staff which was sold to fund the production of the second series.

Characters

 * Goh Saruwatari (猿渡 ゴオ Saruwatari Gō), 29. The hero of the story and pilot of Godannar. Prior to the start of the series, he rescues Anna in a battle with the Mimetic beasts. Five years later, Goh and Anna are to be married just as the Mimetic beasts begin to move once again, he is infected by the Insania virus, due to exposure from repeated battles with the Mimetic Beast.  His body is covered in a cocoon, waiting to emerge as a Mimetic Beast.  He is placed in suspended animation for seven years until he is given a cure—Mira's blood, which stops his body from transforming.  Since he was placed in suspended animation, his hair covered the length of his body.  Anna made a promise to him, during the last few episodes, to cut his unkempt hair.  She is the first person he sees upon being revived.




 * Anna Aoi/Anna Saruwatari (葵 杏奈 Aoi An'na/猿渡 杏奈 Saruwatari An'na), 17. A high school student and skilled robot pilot, she was to be married to Goh before the re-emergence of the Mimetic beasts interrupted their ceremony. Becomes the pilot of Neo Okusaer, and later Go Okusaer.  She, Goh and Lou form the Godannar Triple Drive when Celleblader fuses with Godannar.  After Goh is cured of the Insania virus, using Mira's blood, she is the first person he sees when he wakes up.  She made a promise near the end of the series to cut his hair because it was become long and unkempt.  Since his hair was not cut for seven years, it was extremely long: covering the length of his body.




 * Shizuru Fujimura (藤村 静流 Fujimura Shizuru) Busty pilot of Core Gunner and a remarkable sharp shooter, who also has a secret crush on Goh, yet is unable to confess these feelings. Much later develops a close friendship with Goh's younger brother, Shinobu, but not in a romantic nature. Killed by Mimetic Beasts at the end of Season 1, Shizuru is resurrected by Mira. She becomes the General Manager of Danner Base while Kiriko Aoi and Commander Kagemaru search for a cure for the infection caused by the Mimetic Beast.


 * Dr. Kiriko Aoi (葵 霧子 Aoi Kiriko) - Anna's extremely busty and sultry mother and Goh's boss (and his mother-in-law). Together with her husband, Tatsuya, she was responsible for the development of the Dannar project.




 * Dr. Tatsuya Aoi (葵 竜也 Aoi Tatsuya) - Anna's father, husband to Kiriko Aoi and father-in-law to Goh. He left his family when Anna was a small child.  He disguised himself as several different people to watch over Anna and the rest of Dannar Base throughout several episodes.  He and Kiriko were the founders of the Dannar project.  He appeared during the final episodes to aid Danner Base against the Super Mimetic Beast.  He leaves again, feeling that they can take care of themselves.




 * Kagemaru (影丸) The dashing Commander of Danner Base. Seems to have secret feelings for Kiriko Aoi, but the feelings are not reciprocated. She teases him at times during the end of the series.  They travel together, with Kagemaru as a personal guard, searching for a cure to the Infection caused by the Mimmetic Beast. At the end of the series, he turns down a promotion to the commissioners to become a robot pilot.




 * Milla Ackerman/Mira Ackerman (ミラ・アッカーマン) - original pilot of Neo Okusaer. She was Goh's old combat partner and lover, until the battle 5 years previous in which she was thought to have been killed. When revived, she had no memories of the past, and behaved somewhat childlike. After regaining her full memories, she resumed her old duties as pilot of the Neo Okusaer. She still loves Goh, and claims she is the only one that truly understands him. Her DNA is the cure to infection caused by the Mimetic Beasts.




 * Lou Roux/Lou Lowe (ルウ・ルー) - a young orphan girl taken in by Goh and Anna. Once an operator for the orbital space station that monitors the Earth for the presence of Mimetic beasts, she is the lone survivor when the space station is destroyed and her father killed by Mimetic beasts that somehow managed to stow away on one of their shuttles. She becomes obsessed with becoming a robot pilot to avenge her father's death. At the end of the series, she pilots Celleblader to fight the Mimetic Beasts. She sometimes wanders off to fight the Mimetic Beasts, but returns to Dannar Base just to live there. She promised Ken to look after Goh and Anna to see they can save humanity.


 * Shinobu Saruwatari (猿渡 忍 Saruwatari Shinobu) - Goh's younger brother who lives with Goh and Anna. Shinobu kids his older brother about his age and goes to school with Anna. Though he was once infatuated with Anna, he later refers to himself as her "big brother". He may have later developed close feelings for Shizuru, much to Kouji's chagrin but it is not definite. He later becomes the pilot of the Neo Diver.




 * Konami Sasagure (笹暮 小波 Sasagure Konami/Sasakure Konami) - One of the 2 operators of the main ship's console. She becomes a pilot at the end of the series.




 * Momoko "Momochi" Momozono (桃園 桃子 Momozono Momoko) - One of the 2 operators of the main ship's console. She becomes a pilot at the end of the series.




 * Tetsuya Kouji (光司 鉄也 Kōji Tetsuya) - Easily excitable partner of Shizuru and pilot of G-Gunner. He spends most of the series recovering from injuries sustained in the battle from the first episode. He has feelings for Shizuru and is a little wary of Shinobu who seems to be getting a little too close to her. He is named after the pilots of Mazinger Z and the Great Mazinger, Kouji Kabuto and Tetsuya Tsurugi.




 * Shadow Dunaway(シャドウ) - Pilot of the American giant robot Genesister and partner of Luna whom she secretly loves. Strong, beautiful, athletic, but a bit masculine. The only female to be severely affected by the virus due to her having male hormones. She survives the infection.




 * Luna (ルナ) - Pilot of the American giant robot Genesister and partner of Shadow whom she also loves secretly. Small, petite and cute, but surprisingly strong.




 * Moukaku (モウカク) - Pilot of the Chinese giant robot Goddiner. Loud and brash, he surprisingly has a soft side. He's in love with Shukuyu. He asked her to marry him. Later, he becomes the second case of a full infection by the insania virus, like Max. Because of this, Knight, one of the pilots of the Dragliner, who was with the Goddiner team when this happened, is forced to kill him.




 * Shukuyu (シュクユウ) - Pilot of the Chinese giant robot Goddiner and partner of Moukaku. Younger than Moukaku, she reins him in. When Moukaku asks her to marry him, she accepts.  She tries to help Moukaku gain control over the virus.  Moukaku ejects her out of Goddiner before Knight destroys him.




 * Ekaterina (エカテリーナ) - Fantastically well-endowed pilot of the Russian giant robot Volspina. Beautiful and magnificently busty, her relationship with her partner Kukrachyov is much like a dominatrix except she doesn't want to cause him harm.




 * Kukrachyov (ククラチョフ) - Pilot of the Russian giant robot Volspina. Tall, thin and quiet, he obeys every command of his partner Ekaterina without question. According to Ekaterina, he wasn't infected by the virus due to him being so submissive, resulting in more feminine horomones in his body.




 * Knight Valentine (ナイト・ヴァレンタイン) - Pilot of the British giant robot Dragliner. Handsome and conceited, he's always chasing girls but loves his stepsister to which he has no blood relation. According to Shizuru, he never flirts with the same woman twice. According to Ellis, he wasn't infected by the virus because he had more feminine hormones due to his perverted behavior.




 * Ellis Valentine (エリス・ヴァレンタイン) - Pilot of the British giant robot Dragliner. Knight and Ellis refer to each other as brother and sister, though they are not related. She is constantly frustrated by Knight's skirt-chasing.




 * Ken (剣) - A rogue Robot pilot who makes it his life mission to defeat the Mimetic beasts after the loss of his wife. While trying to find the Mimetic Beast that took his wife, Rosa, he can be heard yelling, "You're not the one!" to every Mimetic beast that he destroys, alluding to the Mimetic Beast that took Rosa.  He doesn't learn of her fate until later on in the series.  He is often referred, by the world at large, as a "Menage Zero", a code name for a rogue robot acting without authority. He later takes Lou in when she begs Ken to teach her to be a pilot. He gets infected by the virus that almost every male pilot gets. He ejected Lou from the Celleblader out of the Gainer before Ken dies in his last battle and warns her she will become like him if she fights for revenge.  He attacks the Super Mimetic Beast to reveal its weakness to Godannar to finish it off.




 * Rosa - Previous pilot of Celleblader. She saved Ken from a pack of Mimetic Beast several years ago, at the cost of her life.  She and Celleblader were absorbed into one of the Mimetic Beast until Ken killed the Mimetic Beast that kept her prisoner.  Rosa was not inside the cockpit when Ken looked inside.  This would suggest that Rosa was, somehow, absorbed by the Mimetic Beast during her imprisonment.  Lou, after being asked by Ken, becomes the pilot of Celleblader for the remainder of the series.




 * Nanae Hayashi (林 奈々絵 Hayashi Nanae) - One of the mechanics at Dannar base, she becomes infected by the virus after being eaten by a Mimetic beast early in the series and becomes a carrier at the end of the series. During the series, she has a relationship with Morimoto, another mechanic at the base, and eventually marries him. Her children become second generation carriers. She names them after Mira, Anna, and Goh by naming her children Mina, Ami, and Go respectively.




 * "Pops" Shibakusa (芝草 Shibakusa) - Head mechanic, he has a boy and his wife is deceased. He makes ramen for the team on his breaks, constantly refers to Shizuru about her buttocks being large, and is reprimanded by Tonko. He runs a ramen shop with her in the end of the series 7 years later until the base is repaired, in which they go back to it.




 * Sugiyama (杉山) - Second Head Mechanic, he has a wife named Anita but spends so much time on the base she threatens to leave him. She pops up on the base 7 years later.




 * Morimoto (森本) - Another mechanic at the Dannar base. During the series, he has a relationship with Hayashi. Near the end of the series, he asks her to marry him, which she accepts. They later marry and have three children.



Robots
Japan - Dannar Base (The names of Godannar's partner units play off the Japanese root おくさ (o-ku-sa), which means wife.)
 * Dannar Base-During the fight with the Super Mimetic Beast, Dannar Base transforms into a flying battle ship, armed with a multitude of weapons.
 * Godannar (Its name is a combination of the pilot's name and a play on だんな (da-n-na), meaning husband in Japanese.) (Pilot: Goh)
 * Neo Okusaer (Pilot: Anna / Mira)
 * Go Okusaer (Pilot: Anna)
 * Godannar Twin Drive (Godannar and Neo Okusaer/Go Okusaer merged)
 * Godannar Triple Drive (Godannar, Go Okusaer and Celleblader merged)
 * Core Gunner (Pilot: Shizuru)
 * G Gunner: A humanoid robot which also serves as an armored carrier/shell for Core Gunner. (Pilot: Kouji)
 * Club Mariner (Pilot: Max / Kouji)
 * Jet Boy: Unmanned AI Jets that can attach to robots, allowing high-speed flight. Can transform into humanoid form if required.
 * Cosmo Diver (child): Originally from the orbital space station Cosmo Base, it is capable of transforming into shuttle form, also serves as an attachment to the parent Cosmo Diver on its back. Capable of operating in space or underwater. (Pilot: Lou)
 * G Zero Gunner: Upgraded version of G Gunner. (Pilot: Kouji)
 * Operatiger (Pilots: Konami and Momoko)
 * Lab Defender (Pilot: Kagemaru)
 * Neo Diver (Pilot: Shinobu)

England - Union Base
 * Dragliner (Pilots: Ellis and Knight)
 * Drag Fighter: A humanoid robot hidden in the Dragliner's fuselage. (Pilot: Ellis)
 * Beast Mode: Once Drag Fighter separates, the winged portion of Dragliner can change into this dragon-like robot. (Pilot: Knight)

Russia - Vega Base
 * Volspinner (Pilot: Ekaterina)
 * Slave Wing (Pilot: Kukrachyov)
 * Volspina (Volspinner and Slave Wing merged)

North America - Silicone Base
 * Geneshadow (Pilot: Shadow)
 * Lunasister (Pilot: Luna)
 * Genesister (Geneshadow and Lunasister merged)

China - Dino Base
 * God Horn (Pilot: Moukaku)
 * God Sonic (Pilot: Shukuyu)
 * Goddiner (God Horn and God Sonic merged)
 * Fat Boy: AI mobile ground artillery units.

Outer Space - Cosmos Base
 * Cosmo Diver (parent): At the start of the series, was one of the two robots capable of fighting in space. (once piloted by Low)
 * Cosmo Diver (child) (see Japan - Dannar Base above) (Pilot: Lou)

"Menage Zero" (Rogue Fighters)
 * Gainar. A robot wearing a cloak, uses a katana-like blade as its primary weapon. (Pilot: Ken)
 * Celleblader: Female styled robot once piloted by Ken's wife, its back-attachment separates to form the sword of Blade Gainer. Celleblader merged with Godanner to form the Godanner Triple Drive. It was used in its blade form to help Godanner destroy the Super Mimetic Beast near the end of the series. (Pilot: Rosa / Lou)
 * Blade Gainer (Gainer and Celleblader merged)
 * Jet Crow: Gainar's AI support unit, joins to Celleblader's back when Gainer and Celleblader merge.

Boy Series
 * Jet Boy (see Japan - Dannar Base above)
 * Fat Boy (see China - Dino Base above)
 * Thunder Boy: AI fighter jets - slightly similar to Jet Boys but armed.

Godannar's Attacks
The Godannar by itself, is shown to be rather unimpressive in the series, as it carries no external weaponry, and doesn't do anything spectacular. However, once Godannar merges with Neo Okusaer (and later, Go Okusaer) to form Godannar Twin Drive, its power is dramatically increased. Godannar's blue armor plating turns red, giant revolver chambers in the machine's forearms and lower legs are revealed, and a long plume of red flame (Blue when merging with Go Okusaer) bursts from the back of Godannar's head, resembling a long scarf. In this combined form, Godannar has access to an impressive array of attacks, all of which are loudly announced by Godannar's pilot, Goh Saruwatari.

Godannar raises into the air and spins rapidly, creating a tornado of flame around its body. Primarily a defensive move.
 * Spiral Fire

Godannar fires a short range energy burst from its fist via punching motion. Primarily used to counter enemy ranged attacks (hence the name of the move) allowing Godannar to engage its target at close range, where it can make use of its truly powerful attack options.
 * Counter Knuckle

Godannar swings around with a spinning kick to an enemy.
 * Breaker Shot

The first part of Godannar's finishing combination. Godannar executes a powerful straight punch, burying its fist into the target's body. The co-pilot (who was piloting one of the 2 Okusaer units before merging with Dannar) then pulls the trigger on a gun-shaped control device. This fires one of the shells in Godannar's revolver chambers, causing a massive energy burst. The exact effect is not stated in the series, but it seems to cause all the organic components of a Mimetic beasts to harden into a stone-like substance, immobilizing the target and making it more prone to being shattered by Soul Breaker, the inevitable follow up to Heart Breaker. While Anna only pulls the trigger once, Milla (the original pilot of Neo Okusaer) pulls the trigger multiple times, amplifying the effect of the attack, to the point of being able to destroy a Mimetic Beast without the need for Soul Breaker.
 * Heart Breaker

After stunning an enemy with Heart Breaker, Godannar leaps high into the air, and comes down with a powerful diving kick that shatters the target's body. When merged with Go Okusaer, this move becomes Fire Soul Breaker. When using Fire Soul Breaker, Godannar is wreathed in blue flame.
 * Soul Breaker

An alternative finisher to the Soul Breaker, used when Milla is piloting the Neo Okusaer. Godannar uses a diving, spinning kick with both feet, wreathed in flames. In one battle, this attack was used on a midair opponent, and was modified into a flipping axe kick.
 * Soul Spin Crusher

There is no name for this finisher. The move was created when Celleblader merged with Godannar to form the Godannar Triple Drive. The move was used to destroy the Super Mimetic Beast near the end of the series. Celleblader was used in its blade form in the hands of Godannar. Godanner jumps high into the air and performs a finisher similar to Gainar's "Death Slash". The attack was so powerful, that Godannar and Celleblader's power systems overheated and caused a total system shutdown.
 * Godannar Triple Drive Attack

Mimetic Beasts

 * Type 12- Appeared in episode 1, takes over another robot before the start of the battle.
 * Type 13- Appeared in episode 2, spawned from what remained of Type 12.
 * Type 14- Appeared in episode 3 as a gigantic aquatic type that resembles Gamera.
 * Type 15- Appeared in episode 3 as a legless insect creature spawned from Type 14's underside.
 * Type 16- Appeared in episode 4 as a burrowing mantis type that resembles the Ultimate Blue (or the Queen Blue) from the last episode of Blue Gender.
 * Type 17- Appeared in episode 5, took over a satellite that crashed to Earth and reproduced asexually very quickly.
 * Flying Type- Appeared in episodes 8 and 9 as a flying manta ray type creature.
 * Earth Type- Appeared in episode 9 as a giant underground burrower that emits an EMP field and attempts to hunt Flying Type (although in the second half of the series this is proven wrong as mimetic beasts begin to fuse with each other, although why Flying refused is a mystery). A second one appears in episode 23.
 * Type 18- Appeared in episode 10 as annelids capable of moving on land and underwater. It is later revealed in episode 22 to be the same type that ate the Celleblader.
 * Type 19- Appears in episode 12. Appears as a black worm with the head of Ultimate Blue (or Queen Blue) from Blue Gender. Like types 17 and 18 they appear in large quantities.
 * White Fuser Type- Appears in episode 12 as octopi and a similar color scheme to Leliel from Neon Genesis Evangelion.
 * Type 20- Appears in episode 13. Appear as brown and gorilla-like, are essentially the primary invasion force in the United States although they have been stated to appear in Africa.
 * Type 21- Appears in episode 13. Appear as green and frog-like, are essentially the primary invasion force in Russia.
 * Type 22- Appears in episode 13. Appear very similar to the Type 18, are essentially the primary invasion force in China.
 * Type 23- Appears in episode 13. Appear very similar to the Flying Type, are essentially the primary invasion force in the United Kingdom. Reappears in episodes 15 and 20.
 * Type 24- Appears in episode 13. Appear similar to the White Fuser Type, are essentially the primary invasion force in Japan lead by a Type 19. Reappears in episode 15.
 * Type 25- Appears in episode 15 as a black mushroom-like creature with a head that resembles that of Orga.
 * Type 26- Appears in episode 16 as blue centipede-like versions of Type 18.
 * Type 27- Appears in episode 16 as more aquatic versions of Type 19. Is the first mimetic beast to be fused with a White Fuser Type while alive.
 * Larva Type- Appears in episode 17 as an evolved piece of another mimetic beast much like Type 13.
 * Type 28- Appears in episode 18. Appear as green and caterpillar-like similar to Battra with white toothy tentacles.
 * Scout Type- Appears in episode 19. Appear as fat brown worm with teeth, limbs similar to an alligator, and a set on inner jaws like a xenomorph.
 * Rose Type- Appears in episode 19 as a dark green plant that bears great resemblance to both forms of Biollante. Serves as the leader of the scout types.
 * Type 29- Appears in episode 20 at the beginning as asymmetrical and turtle-like.
 * Type 30- Appears in episode 23. Appear as gray versions of Type 12 with yellow eyes.
 * Type 31- Appears in episode 23. Appear as black demonic bats with large ears.
 * Infected Type- Appears in episode 23. Are essentially Fat Boys taken over by mimetic beast parasites.
 * Trojan Horse- Appears in episodes 23 and 24. Is essentially a large carrier type that stores dozens of single-eyed ghost types.
 * Ghost Type- Appears in episodes 23 and 24. Are essentially human sized infantry also used for naval warfare.
 * Super Type- Appears in episodes 24 and 25 as the most powerful mimetic beast of the series spawned from many lesser types fusing together.

Episodes
Shinkon Gattai Godannar!! '''Shinkon Gattai Godannar!! SECOND SEASON'''
 * 1) Wedding Bells on the Battlefield (戦場のウェディングベル)
 * 2) Burning Virgin Road (炎のバージンロード)
 * 3) Battle Royal Honeymoon (バトルロイヤル・ハネムーン)
 * 4) Shizuru, Once Again (静流、再び)
 * 5) The Girl From the Sky (空から来た少女)
 * 6) The End of the Dream (夢の終わり)
 * 7) Death by Reminiscing (追憶ニ死ス)
 * 8) The Graceful Shooting Star (華麗なる撃墜王)
 * 9) The Castaway Survival (流されてサバイバル)
 * 10) Lu Takes Off (ルウ出撃)
 * 11) A Flawless Departure (汚れなき旅立ち)
 * 12) Those Who Have Departed (去り逝く者たち)
 * 13) Last First-Kiss (ラスト・ファーストキス)
 * 1) The Reviving Soul (蘇る魂)
 * 2) The New Confession (新たなる告白)
 * 3) Its Name Is Go Okusaer! (そのなはごーおくさー!)
 * 4) Tonko, My Love (TONKO MY LOVE)
 * 5) Ice Cold Smile (氷の微笑)
 * 6) Genesister Out of Control! (ジェネシスター暴走!)
 * 7) Sorrowful Song of the Plum Blossoms (桃花哀歌)
 * 8) Godannar Ground Order! (ゴーダンナー出動禁止命令!)
 * 9) Crash! Danner vs. Gainar (激突!ダンナーVSガイナー)
 * 10) Dannar Base S.O.S. (ダンナーベースＳＯＳ)
 * 11) After the Mortal Combat (死闘の果てに)
 * 12) The Eternal Couple (永遠のふたり)
 * 13) The Inevitable Tomorrow (来るべき明日)

(26 in all)