Gad Guard

Gad Guard (ガドガード) is a 26-episode anime television series directed by Hiroshi Nishikiori and produced by Gonzo, which was broadcast across Japan by the anime satellite television network, Animax, and the terrestrial Fuji Television network. It has been licensed for North American distribution by Geneon Entertainment, and also aired on Anime Unleashed in 2005. With FUNimation's "New Show A Go-Go", they have acquired the distribution rights of the anime, and it will be available in early 2009.

Story
Several hundred years in the future, the resources of the Earth runs out, and the progression of the human race has stagnated. The world is now divided into "Units". A boy named Hajiki Sanada lives with his mother and sister in Unit 74, in a place called "Night Town", in which all electricity is shut down at midnight. The key in this story is an object called the GAD. GADs have the ability to reconstruct materials while reacting to feelings of an organic life. The size and shape of the resulting product seem to be different depending on the kinds of feelings that the life possesses. When Hajiki comes in contact with one by accident, it transforms into a huge robot—a Techode, or "Iron Giant"--which Hajiki names Lightning. And soon he realizes that he isn't the only one with a Teechode, and must find out how to deal with those others who he feels are the "same" as himself.

Unit Blue
The central Unit in which Gad Guard takes place is Unit Blue, which is separated into three levels: Gold Town, Day Town and Night Town.

Gold Town is the upper-class area, where the wealthy and well-off live in comfort and luxury, and plays host to Global Electronics, the foremost provider of electricity in Unit, a commodity not everyone can afford to have all the time. The characters Takumi Kisaragi and Aiko Mary Harmony live in Gold Town.

Day Town is a middle-class area, equipped with running water and electricity and is busy and metropolitan in most places. The character Arashi Shinozuka is originally from this area where her father owns a karate dojo. While not as perfect as Gold Town, Day Town is seen by people on the other side of the tracks as the place where they'd rather be.

Night Town is the ghetto of Unit Blue, and is called "Night Town" because of the fact that all the electrical power shuts off at midnight and does not come back until dawn. In Night Town gangs and punks run the streets, and all the local kids go to school at a church, taught by a nun and a young teacher, in hopes of giving them what they need to escape their meager living. Leaving something outside at night is guaranteeing having it stolen, and even walking around in broad daylight can be dangerous. Night Town is the dank and grimy setting for most of Gad Guard, where Hajiki and his family live along with Katana, the Jacque Bruno Gang and a host of other characters.

Gads
Known in the Gad Guard world only as "powerful stones", everyone desires Gads and believes that they can fulfill people's dreams. However, each corrupted person to handle a Gad soon comes to realize the nightmares hidden inside them. Though the real importance of a Gad is unknown, they are used as very high sums of currency and are usually only owned by the rich in the color-coded sectors and units. A Gad has many peculiar abilities and can take shape into a number of things depending on the personality and thoughts of the owner. These creations are separated into three groups: Techodes, A-Techodes and Gadrians. Upon a Gad's transformation into something, all metal and most other material around it are violently absorbed and used as a base for the final product.

Techodes
A Techode is one of the three things that sprout from a Gad, and is also called a "Gadrian" occasionally by characters who aren't aware of the differences between the two. It usually takes the form of a large, humanoid robot roughly 20 ft tall fueled by the emotional bond between the robot and the owner. These robots are "born" after contact with the Gad's owner while they're having a strong or serious emotion in an area occupied by a lot of metal. On other occasions Techodes have taken the shapes of humans, objects and other things depending on what sort of emotion or will the owner imposed on a Gad.

The five main Techodes of the series; Lightning, Zero, Thunderbolt, Messerschmitt and Hayate are all named after World War II-era fighter planes.

A-Techodes
An A-Techode is a manifestation of one's greed or lust for a Gad. Most Gads take the form of A-Techodes, Techodes being very rare. They generally take the shapes of chaotic-looking monsters and are formed in the same way Techodes are.

Gadrians
A Gadrian is what is formed when feelings of hate or greed completely consume the owner of a Gad, and likewise, the Gad itself. The Gad then absorbs these thoughts of greed and anger, usually killing the owner of the Gad and creating a monster, organic in nature with technological modification. A Gadrian's creation can also be the result of a Gad falling into the hands of someone without any kind of strong, impacting emotions or intentions, such as a young child. The result being a sentient manifestation of whatever the child was thinking about at the time.

Music
Opening Theme: Ending Theme:
 * Boomerang Boogie ~Nanpudou no Ojisan~ by PE'Z
 * Song for My Buffalo by PE'Z