Gungrave

FavoritedFavorite 43
Other (ended 2004)
EDIT

Show Summary

  • Ended

Gungrave - Shounen, Action, Drama (May contain bloody violence, bad language & mild nudity)

For Brandon Heat, death doesn't matter. Driven by his need for revenge, he returns from beyond the grave to cripple Millennion, the huge mafia organization that uses undead monsters as its enforcers. His ultimate goal will be to destroy Harry MacDowel, the leader of Millennion and, at one time, Brandon's best friend.

moreless
8.0
out of 10
Avg Rating: Great
350 votes
  • Your Rating: 10
    "Perfect"
  • Your Rating: 9.5
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 9
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 8.5
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 8
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 7.5
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 7
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 6.5
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 6
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 5.5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 4.5
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 4
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 3.5
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 3
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 2.5
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 2
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 1.5
    "Abysmal"
  • Your Rating: 1
    "Abysmal"
Rate Now!

Episode Guide

See All
S 1 :  Ep 26 Aired 3/29/04
go
Hulu
Free
Fancast
Free
Netflix
Subscription
S 1 :  Ep 25 Aired 3/22/04
go
Hulu
Free
Fancast
Free
Netflix
Subscription
iTunes
Buy
S 1 :  Ep 24 Aired 3/15/04
go
Hulu
Free
Fancast
Free
Netflix
Subscription
iTunes
Buy
S 1 :  Ep 23 Aired 3/8/04
go
Hulu
Free
Fancast
Free
Netflix
Subscription
iTunes
Buy
S 1 :  Ep 22 Aired 3/1/04
go
Hulu
Free
Fancast
Free
Netflix
Subscription

Cast & Crew

See All EDIT

Watch Gungrave Full Episodes

See All

Fan Reviews (16)

See All

  • This is a fantastic show that is driven along at a great pace by some even better characters.

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By drdan2410, Jan 26, 2009
    The show tells the story of Brandon Heat and Harry MacDowel two petty criminals and childhood friends that get recruited into the organisation Millenium. While Brandon maintains his sense of loyalty and honor Harry loses his way and starts to plot to take over the company by any means necessary. Eventually Harry is forced to kill brandon so that he can inherit the company. But for brandon death is only the begining he utilises cutting edge research first used by harry to come back from the grave and take revenge on both Millenium and Harry.

    This is a really great show. Most of the story is set as a long flashback spanning most of the series that tells how brandon and Harry got to where they are and the choices they made on the way. This means that we feel real affection for the main characters and realise that neither one is truly good or bad. Tha animation is excellent and the script is great. All in all it is a must see show.moreless

  • I'm speechless

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By zombieman666, Jul 16, 2008
    Gungrave is about a man named Brandon Heat and his friend Harry Mcdoul. Brandon and Harry are best friends and get involved with a assasin organazation. Harry Is jelous of Brandon because he is getting to powerful and wants him out of the picture.....

    The pacing of the show is realy good the good it combines dramatic moments and action really good. The Dramatic side of the story can be very sad at times and the action is just plane awesome and theres the right ammount in each episode of the show for my final rating i give gungrave a 9/10moreless

  • A heavily character driven story that excels as a mafia show and a drama.

    8.9
    "Great"
    By ZaleIsBackAgain, Apr 25, 2008
    Two street punks find their friends dead thanks to a mobster. With no direction in life, they both join a Syndicate called Millenion. They rise through the ranks as they both provide a strong backbone to the syndicate; ambition on Harry MacDowell's side, and power with Brandon Heat. The two quickly receive the honour of becoming part of the Syndicate's "family"; a prestige status within the mob. However, things change when a smaller gang experiments with the idea of using zombies to overpower Millenion.

    You can pull many similarities of Gungrave with a lot of other animes out there. Most of the scenes, especially the later emotional ones, will have you saying "This is just like this this and this anime". The story isn't terribly deep; in fact, you could probably see what's happening a mile away. Oddly enough it would be wrong to label it slow, even though you could put the pieces together yourself.

    No plot twists, somewhat predictable story, makes you kind of wonder, why do I hold Gungrave so high then?

    The characters. You can have the greatest plot twist in the world and several just as deep plot twists following suit, but if the characters are bland then its impact loses a lot of effect. In reverse context if you have an average story with great characters, it's still going to be a great anime. The portrayal of Harry MacDowell's ambition is executed in the greatest manner. There's no better example of a power hungry person who takes more than he can handle than Harry.

    Brandon Heat is a very mysterious character. He rarely talks and he's the shows' main character. Often he dwells into his own inner monologues about his role within Millenion. I find it annoying that most animes have these strong silent characters for the sake of having a strong silent character in its cast. Brandon Heat is the most down to earth and realistic strong silent character you'll ever know. Most of the early episodes build both Harry and Brandon's character, and they do a great job in terms of pacing and quality.

    The supporting cast is also one of the best I've watched in an anime. Their characters are so great and the show does a great job of developing them. What I like the most is that they fill their roles quite well in context of the story. They're not only there for you to like, and it's a nice change to see characters that you've grown some attachment to actually die. Though Gungrave makes it feel like the deaths were appropriate. It doesn't kill characters for the sake of providing some blood, nor do they keep characters alive unnecessarily like most shounens do.

    While I've never been a fan of mafia or gunfights in general, Gungrave's incorporation of zombies and supernatural abilities make the fights very entertaining to watch, and the great productions just add to its glory. The soundtrack is also very good; fits the mafia environment very well.

    If I could compare Gungrave to any one anime, it would be The Twelve Kingdoms-even though the settings and theme are like apples and oranges. Great character development, good productions and soundtrack, awesome pacing, though what Gungrave is lacking is a truly awesome and kickass story. Nonetheless you won't find a lot of gangster movies or shows that even compare to Gungrave. It's a great watch if you're not a whore for action that fast forwards in each episode to the fights.moreless

  • Brilliant

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By ChodaTheDread, Apr 15, 2008
    Ok when I saw first episode of Gungrave i was thinking deep in my mind : "This is another SF-action anime with some s**t story" , but then I saw next episode and another one and another one till last episode and I was stoned of admiration. This is one brilliant (if I can use theat word)anime covered with story of true friendship between two completely different persons led by different look on life side. Emotions of evere single character is showed to thear limits.....retrospection is definitely one more thing theat draw my attention. I can't say much about it because I am not expert on theat fild but it amaze me. Now whay I cut score of this anime is the music and episodes 19-23 all this is nothing in comparing with other segments of this anime so my finale word is watch this anime it is worth of your time........

    P.S. Sorry for my bad english....this is because it is my second languagemoreless

  • A show which had the potential to become the first anime mafia classic. Barring some of the flaws of this show, it could have easily been regarded among some of the greats in the genre of mafia/organized crime stories like the Godfather or Scar Face.moreless

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By mspyderl, Jun 19, 2007
    (This review is supposed to be broken into several paragraphs but TV.com is being stupid right now and won't let me)

    This show tells the story about 2 young orphans who became best friends, who later become street punks, who later still reach the height of a syndicate known as Millenion. It tells the story of the relationship between a charming and cunning Harry MacDowell and strong silent type Brandon Heat. The story centers mostly around Brandon who coincidently hardly speaks at all throughout the whole series but helps to highlight the character development all around him. Harry who later becomes known as "Bloody Harry" thirsts for power while Brandon who later becomes known as "Beyond the Grave" or just "Grave" seemingly just follows Harry wherever he goes but actually has a love interest which becomes complicated with his involvement in the syndicate and the role Harry plays in it. The character development in this story is superb. It surpasses the story of Scar Face and is on par with Michael Corleone from the Godfather. You can't help but feel for the characters. You fall for Harry's charm and innocent ambition. You root for Brandon and his love interest. You understand and appreciate the loyalty between these 2 friends and yet, you don't know what should happen next. The story even stirs within you a conflict. You develop mixed feelings for the characters and THAT my friend is a sign of good character development. And there is a betrayal but who betrayed who? Who's right and who's wrong? All these questions arise throughout the series, a sign of a great a story. There are also a myriad of other characters that are likable. Since the story covers a time span on the order of 20 plus years, it does a good job of conveying certain nostalgia on the reappearance of these characters or even places such as Brandon's friends when he first started off in the mafia or the place they used live in in the slums. One thing I liked in particular were the soldiers in the mafia. You had the regular joe shmoes and then you had the sweepers, the mafia equivalent of elite soldiers or special forces. Who would have thought lowly Brandon would become a top notch sweeper and a leader of his own group called the True Graves who are said to even surpass Bear's Overkills. Now thats just cool talk. Now to speak of the flaws. Without these flaws, like I said, it could have easily been regarded as one of the best mafia stories ever told in Anime form. But even despite being an anime, it could have been highly regarded with the likes of Scar Face or Godfather. But sadly yet understandably, it was not without its flaws. One has to keep in mind that this was based on a video game afterall. Gungrave for the Playstation 2 console. Now to speak of the flaws themselves (at least for this reviewer). 1) The Orcmen and Superiors, or rather their design. I mean c'mon, what were those little batwings on the shoulders of the orcmen? And whats up with Bob Poundmax's and Bear's "superior" design? Organic helicopter and missiles?! Floating hands?! It's very outlandish and quite ridiculous for this story which for the most part and up until this point was rather realistic or at least believable. Why couldn't they all just look like Bunji who looked normal but was just very powerful? But I assume thats how they looked like in the game (I haven't played it but I want to now because of this series. I also happen to like first person shooters). Even the initial experimental batch of necros under Brad Wong was much more tolerable (what more could you ask for for zombie and mafia fans?). 2) The pedophilia. I don't know, I guess its a japanese thing to include some kind of sexual perversion in all their anime. I wasn't too fond of the idea between Big Daddy and Maria but it was kind of central to the story, a forgivable flaw. But then there was Harry and Sheri, now that was unnecessary. All they had to do was make her look a little older like in her mid/late teens when they met. Harry was in his early twenties but Sheri looked like a 12 year old when they met. Granted they didnt become involved until years after but still. And then there was Mika and Brandon. Nothing happened but it was implied or conveyed wrong (keeping in mind I saw it in Japanese with english caps and all she says is, "I love you" which could be taken in different contexts. To me, it felt like she was IN love with him). Mika is the daughter of Maria, Brandon's love interest. Yeah, her daughter. But luckily Grave wasn't having none of that. I guess one could write this off as just a childish love. Anyway, aside from these flaws, this was a great mafia story. Quite unlike something you might expect from an anime. The action was pretty good whenever it was shown. However, its not a typical action series one might expect given the pilot episode and the cover with Grave wielding his dual pistol cannons. Imagine my surprise when I figured out that it was actually a pretty damn good mafia story!moreless
WRITE A REVIEW
 

Gungrave Forums


Add a Topic See All
Last Activity
Replies

Contributors

Become a contributor
More
Less

TV Listings

Full Listings

More Info About This Show

Categories

Animation, Drama

Themes

Anime, Thrillers

TV.com Properties | Shows | Videos | News | Listings | Forums | People | Photos | TV.com Blog

CBS Entertainment | About TV.com | About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Ad Choice | Terms of Use