n an anonymous slum in an unnamed city in the unspecified future of Gungrave, a grizzled scientist type and a weary-looking, limping girl named Mika preside over the naked body of a shaggy, scarred, gray-haired man strapped into an intimidating-looking machine. According to the scientist, the man's name was Brandon Heat, but he should now be called "Grave ... Beyond the Grave" instead.
In a flashy series-opening sequence, presumably taking place further in the future, Grave shoots down a dozen or more attacking vampirelike creatures, which shatter like ice upon their deaths. But in the present, Grave is little more than a corpse awaiting revivification, and Mika is a wounded victim on the run from the crime syndicate Millennion, which supposedly killed her mother Maria and is trying to kill her, too. Before the first episode of Gungrave ends, Grave is fighting gigantic mutant mobsters, much to the horror of Millennion leader Harry McDowell. When Harry gets the news, he vows to kill Grave/Brandon again, as many times as it takes.
The rest of the episodes on the first Gungrave DVD head back into the past, for a look at a simpler (and less monster-riddled) time. As carefree, headstrong teenagers, the ebullient Harry and the nearly silent Brandon were members of the same petty-crime crew, stealing small items, scamming people and kicking back a share to the low-level crooks above them in the hierarchy. Maria is a pretty young woman living with her "uncle" Jester, a retired crook with a horrible secret. Maria and Brandon have a special friendship, though they're both so shy that the relationship seems to operate only at arm's length. But that still isn't enough space for the protective Jester.
But a conflict with another local small-timer named Deed makes Jester's protests moot. The tiny quarrel escalates when Deed's Mafioso brother "Mad Dog Ladd" returns to town and takes on Harry's crew on Deed's behalf. At the same time, Ladd is causing trouble for the rival outfit Millennion. The bodies begin piling up as Harry and Brandon are pushed toward a new course and the grim future that Gungrave has already shown.
Silence can be golden
For an anime series based on a shooter video game, Gungrave is surprisingly sophisticated and character-focused. The first episode certainly has its video-game moments, with horrific, distorted creatures attacking in packs and a boss monster popping up for an extended fight. But the entire episode simply sets up the question "How did they get there from here?" As teenagers, Harry and Brandon are appealingly loyal and good-natured; Harry seems a tad selfish and a little too ambitious, but there's no obvious reason he has to wind up as a bad guy. Knowing their future in advance puts a tragic, adult spin on the story, and it also heightens the anticipation, as the significance of each new development becomes clear. With the series so clearly working toward an established goal, every interaction along the way seems significant.
It helps that Gungrave looks terrific. The designs are based on the game's characters, created by Trigun writer/creator Yasuhiro Nightow, and the animation was handled by Trigun's ace studio, Madhouse, but the series is still more reminiscent of Hellsing. The characters aren't as malleable as Hellsing's, but they're drawn with the same severe palette, deep shadows and sharp angles, and at their worst they look equally crazed. Gungrave has some of Hellsing's dark, apocalyptic feel, as well. That does ease off during the venture into the past, which actually feels a bit like Cowboy Bebop's similar explorations of Spike Spiegel's criminal and romantic history. But in either mode, Gungrave is well directed, with a focus on the immediacy and intensity of life inside a criminal world where the balance of power is constantly shifting.
Brandon's silence is both a draw and a drawback; it makes him mysterious, unique and oddly sympathetic, but he also sometimes comes across as a cipher in someone else's story. Again, knowledge about his future fills in some of the immediate gaps: Whenever Harry's in danger of becoming the lead character, it's enough to know that there are major turns of fortune ahead along the 26-episode run of this series. And the first installment of Gungrave makes it look like those turns are worth waiting for.
Gungrave's one major flaw may be in the overwrought, unintentionally silly intros and extros in which audiences get glimpses into Brandon's head. Given thoughts like "Life and death are like two sides of a coin. Each of us can take, and each of us can give. And the unseen force that decides who will give and who will take pours over everyone without discrimination. Just like this rain," it's no wonder Brandon chooses to stay silent most of the time—and thank goodness he does.
— Tasha
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