Long Form:
A show that tries to be a parody of itself. It is a terrible show. Horrid execution of a Super Robot show: Poor plot, dull characters and a tone all over the place. This show is an indirect sequel to the original Dancouga. It has no connection to it other than a couple references. At this point I have only seen one episode of the original Dancouga, however from what I have seen and read, it is better.
The plot of Dancouga Nova is that a being of great power looms over Earth. Named Will, it has a twin that is bent on destroying all life due to it’s cruelty. To combat this threat, Will teams up with L.S to create the Beast mech: Dancouga. Their plan is power up the mech and get suitable pilots to be sampled. Then Dancouga would be sent to the moon to fight the evil counterpart when the time arrives.
Unfortunately the plot is not told until the final two episodes of the show. It ends up to be a incoherent mess feigning to be a mystery to build suspense. Suddenly everything is revealed in a lazy info-dump and it proves that the foundation of suspense does not translate into a good story. If the base plot isn’t revealed or matters until the end of the show than it has little value in the first place.
There's a prologue building up the strength of the super robot, however the pilots nor factions are built up.
Story starts off showing the lives of the four present pilots of Dancouga Nova before they are whisked away to the base of operations. Their lives don’t serve any way to bring conflict or development to the characters nor the story. It’s only there so one can have gun training. They all end up quitting.
Aoi Hidaka is the main character out of the five and is the fiery busty redhead. She’s meek one moment and hot-blooded the next. There’s no development. One moment she’s shouting “Yatte yaru ze!", the next she’s complaining about it being the activation keyword.
Sakuya Kamon would be the hot-blooded male. A homeless bum that’s apparently great at hacking. He has a rushed romance with the reporter.
Kurara Tachibana is the gunslinger girl. An adult with the attitude and look of a teenager.
Johnny Barnett is the nerd of the four. Has a gag. Every machine he is aware of is due to some magazine that he saw the cover of.
Eida is the sixth ranger. A char clone only in name. Has a bad romance with Johnny Barnett and doesn’t have a consistent personality due to her horrid arc.
Besides the five pilots there are not many characters worth mentioning. There the fearless, naive reporter that isn’t aware that the business that she’s been in long enough to get a prized article is prone to corruption article. The enemies are two dimensional villain of the week until the antagonist arrives. The final boss has a philosophy that was never present in the plot until he arrives and isn’t built up.
Majority of the main pilots have tragic backstories info-dumped for one episode and then don’t develop. There is no internal conflict that lasts more than a couple minutes and they’re never any development that isn’t created out of thin air. There’s a problem that a character magically has and it’s solved by the end of the episode. Character’s are more puppets to the plot. The reporter is the only character with an overarching plot, however she doesn’t contribute anything to the plot. If she disappeared there would only be less screen time.
The pilots are transferred from their lives into a home where they are then told they are to pilot Dancouga Nova. They ask why, however they get no answers and then are transported to fight with Dancouga.
No option, they fight and win. Next episode they agree to pilot Dancouga after melodrama that didn’t delve to any depth and then continued to pilot Dancouga until the final boss. Nothing more needs to be elaborated on because majority of the episodes are episodic until the final. It doesn’t progress in plot. And the characters don’t develop.
Tone is one of the problems of the story. Although at points it seems to poke fun at the super robot formula, it then plays the formula straight. It excuses the bad plot with satire, not fixing the problem and creating a dissonance of tone. There are tragic backstories info-dumped right before getting power ups, right beside a therapist moe girl, giddily destroying enemies. Tonal whiplash is very apparent in the show. It tries to be a parody yet it also plays the genre. It cannot have it’s cake and eat it without well execution.
A lot of the ideas they present are nice. However none of them are even lightly touched. Conflict of the pilots only stopping the battle and prolonging the war. Conflict of fighting the side they support. Conflict with the mysterious leader(s) who never answer any of their questions. Internal conflict of joining Dancouga is barely touched upon. It's presented for viewers to look at before it gets thrown away. Although the villains do have points for attacking the other factions, none are ever built up or given screen time to flesh out the points to any degree. They end up being villains with greed or zeal fueling them to 11. The forced plot point of time is one of convenience. Would’ve been fine, however it’s only adding onto the dog turd of the story.
The Villain is Anti-Spiral without the build up. The theme at the end is there. But it wasn't present for the majority of the time.
The action is dry and onenote. Dancouga Nova obliterates episodic enemies until the latter episodes. A red Dancouga arrives and steals the kill of one. It isn’t until the next episode that they fight, and even then it is a poor one. Dancouga Nova loses because character subplot that was only there that one episode. Later on they power up to defeat the red Dancouga and recruit her in preparation of the last boss.
The ending was rushed and came out of left field. The final villain was introduced to die, everyone lived happily ever after, even the lead who suicide bombed the villain. Nothing was built up in the show and nothing came from anything.
Short Form:
Music is fine. Op is good. Visuals are alright.
Dancouga Nova is a poor schlock super robot and worse than their predecessor by existence alone.
Characters 3/10
None of them truly had any personality. They had minor traits that stayed with them. However nothing that mattered. Never changed or developed, never got any depth.
Story 2/10
Relies heavily on info-dumps and keeps itself on a mysterious tone. It makes no steps to try to make sense and rushes itself to the finish line. Nothing is built up and info-dumps are the only way the story is told.
Execution: 2/10
Terrible pacing, no build up, and bad writing all around. The characters do not interact with the plot, they do not react. They are made as plot devices and nothing more. Themes are shoved in areas and do not mesh with the entirety. The tone is not consistent and neither is the plot.
3/10
The only good the show has is the opening song. Nothing else.
Suggestions:
Gurren Lagann is the best Super Robot I've watched.
GaoGaiGar, Gunbuster, Diebuster and Star Diver are other good Super Robot shows.
Dunbine, Gundam X, 08th MS Team, Escaflowne, Armored Troops VOTOMS, and GiTS: SAC are other good mecha shows.