Mobile Battler Gunvarrel

Mobile Battler Gunvarrel (機動バトラー ガンヴァレル, Kidō Batorā Ganvareru), often shortened to Gunvarrel, is a famous in-universe anime in the Science Adventure Series, and it is particularly prominent during the setting of Robotics;Notes. Akiho Senomiya is a longtime fan of the show, and much to Kaito Yashio's annoyance, she frequently references it in conversations with him. The series broadcasted a total of 155 episodes from May 2012 to 2015 which were later compiled into 39 separate Blu-ray volumes. As of 2019, no other mecha anime has been produced in Japan since Gunvarrel.

The Mobile Battler Gunvarrel anime theme song, “ANubis”, appears in Robotics;Notes DaSH and was sung by Konomi Suzuki. 

Characters

• Genki Doto - The protagonist of the series. He is a 14-year old boy who pilots the martial arts robot "Ka-Trooper".
• Rosetta Yuuki - The show’s main heroine.
• Erly Cain - A boy piloting "Steingma", a Ka-Trooper robot specializing in aerial combat. Erly is a friend of Genki.

Overview

Akiho describes Mobile Battler Gunvarrel as a monumental work, inspired by the numerous successes of mecha anime that aired throughout the 50 years before it. The worldwide popularity explosion surrounding robots and the robotics field is largely accredited to Mobile Battler Gunvarrel, wich had, as part of its marketing, first started its broadcast in 110 other countries before being released in Japan. By the time the series aired half a year later in Japan, it had become immensely popular overseas which seemingly boosted its viewership domestically, the series gaining a high viewership in Japan. In the end, the anime had been broadcasted in 168 countries due to its popularity.

The anime’s final episode was mysteriously cancelled before the final episode could be aired, leading to worldwide confusion and curiosity about the show’s ending. Frau Koujiro explains to Kaito that the final episode never aired because 13 members of the staff were mysteriously killed beforehand. The anime’s director and Frau’s mother, Minami Furugoori, disappeared after being suspected of murdering them. It is later revealed to the characters that all is not as it seems, and a larger conspiracy surrounded the incident than initially thought.

Kill-Ballad, a popular fighting game and Kaito’s favorite pastime, was heavily inspired by Mobile Battler Gunvarrel and features Gunvarrel as a playable robot. The game was developed by Frau to keep her mother’s memory alive and to not allow Mobile Battler Gunvarrel to fade into obscurity.

Meaning of name

The first word in its name, “Mobile” (機動, Kidō) is a reference to the real-world Mobile Suit Gundam (機動戦士ガンダム, Kidō Senshi Gandamu) anime. Then “Battler” (バトラー, Batorā) is actually not a reference to anything other than battling; some people might think it is a reference to Aura Battler Dunbine (聖戦士ダンバイン, Seisenshi Danbain, literally Holy Warrior Dunbine), but the word “Battler” is only used in the English localization of that anime to avoid controversial holy war​/​crusade​/​jihad references, and there is no similarity at all in the Japanese names.

Finally, “Gunvarrel” (ガンヴァレル, Ganvareru) is a reference to the Japanese word “Ganbaru” (頑張る, which would be ガンバル in the katakana alphabet), which means doing one’s best through hard times, working with perseverance, toughing it out, and committing oneself fully to a task and bringing that task to an end, focusing on finishing the task and never stopping until the goal is achieved, putting in a continuing effort to overcome obstacles, even if not successful. Another common form of the verb Ganbaru is “Ganbare” (がんばれ, which would be ガンバレ in the katakana alphabet) which means “Hang in there!” and is said to encourage people when times get tough. If you compare the 3 words in katakana, they are very similar; “Ganvareru” starts with ガン “Gan” just like Ganbaru and Ganbare, then it has ヴァ (“Va”) in the middle which sounds similar to バ (“Ba”) in Ganbaru and Ganbare, and then it ends with レ (“Re”) from the end of Ganbare followed by ル (“Ru”) from the end of Ganbaru.

The spirit of Ganbaru, of never giving up on fighting for your goals no matter how hard things get, is one of the main themes of Robotics;Notes, as well as the vast majority of not just giant robot anime but Japanese media in general, and many giant robot anime besides Mobile Battler Gunvarrel have names that sound similar to “Ganbaru” to reference this theme. It is not just a theme of giant robot anime, though; the idea of Ganbaru is universal in anime, manga, and visual novels, from giant robot anime like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Mobile Suit Gundam, and Neon Genesis Evangelion to shounen fighting manga and anime like Naruto and Bleach to magical girl anime like Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha to Type-Moon visual novels like Tsukihime and Fate/stay night to Science Adventure Series visual novels like Steins;Gate and Robotics;Notes. In the vast majority of anime, manga, and visual novels, the main protagonist is driven by the spirit of Ganbaru (e.g. how Naruto never gives up on becoming Hokage and works on it for years), and even in cases like Evangelion where the main character Shinji is notably lacking in Ganbaru spirit, there are plenty of other characters like Misato, Gendo, and Asuka who are completely driven by it, stubbornly pursuing their goals and refusing to give up no matter what the odds. A perfect example of a character completely driven by Ganbaru spirit is Inspector Zenigata from the Lupin III franchise, who doggedly pursues the goal of arresting Lupin III, putting him in jail, having him serve out his sentence, and getting Lupin to reform his ways over many decades, never giving up no matter how many hundreds of times he fails, always giving it his all.

But no anime ever captured the spirit of Ganbaru better than Mobile Battler Gunvarrel, at least within the Science Adventure Series universe, and this is what gives Akiho Senomiya the inspiration to never give up on her dreams no matter how bad things get, helping her lead the Robot Research Club. In the real world, the anime that has the most over-the-top levels of Ganbaru spirit is, of course, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, such as when Simon says “MARK MY WORDS...! This drill will open a hole in the universe. And that hole will be a path for those behind us. The dreams of those who have fallen! The hopes of those who will follow! Those two sets of dreams weave together into a double helix, drilling a path towards tomorrow! And THAT’S Tengen Toppa! That’s Gurren Lagann! My drill is the drill that creates the HEAVENS!” So Mobile Battler Gunvarrel can be thought of as thematically similar to Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann except even more popular, taking things even further, and going on for over a hundred episodes, inspiring not just Akiho Senomiya but millions of people all over the world to never give up on fighting for their dreams no matter what the odds.