3

home / june 2002 / feature

Animefringe Coverage:
Cannon God Exaxxion
By Adam Arnold

Riofaldian Occupation

Ten years ago, a race of aliens came to Earth bearing technological gifts. These aliens, called the Riofaldians, quickly learned the ways of our world and patented their ideas in order to use them as collateral to ensure that they could be integrated into society on equal ground with humans. Equal-opportunity hiring practices were instituted to ensure the Riofaldians jobs in every work sector for risk of the aliens pulling their valuable patents.

Riofaldian technology has become common place in virtually every aspect of our lives from cell phones to pocket watches, yet one man seems to disagree with all the good the aliens visitors have provided the Earth with. This man is Hosuke Kano and in his book, The Great Invasion, he tried to expose the Riofaldians for what he believed them to really be -- alien hostiles set on taking over the world. The book was publicly scoffed and widely panned, but that didn't stop it from gaining a large amount of support.

On the day that the United Nations and the Riofaldians were set to unveil an interstellar elevator ship, to coincide with the ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Riofaldians' arrival on Earth, the rambling madman's predictions came to pass. The Riofaldians destroyed the entire United Nations armed forces, wiped out the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and sent patrol droids to every corner of the globe.

To top it all off, the Riofaldians rubbed the Earth's nose in the mess by showing the destruction from the aliens's point of view on international television. To say the Earth was at a standstill would be an understatement.

Now, it seems the only thing standing between complete Riofaldian occupation is the sudden appearance of an unknown hero and the emergence of a gigantic triple-X robot known as Exaxxion.

Resistance Forces

On the day of the unveiling of the space catapult, a well-proportioned girl named Isaka Minagata transferred into a Japanese high school. Her mission was simple -- find Hosuke's grandson, Hoichi "Gun" Kano, before the invasion started and prepare him to take the mantle of a hero.

Isaka found Gun with his friend Akane Hino, reporting on the events going on around the school and trying to get Gun to set-up and interview with his grandfather. Gun left with Isaka and Akane went on reporting as the invasion kicked into high gear.

A terminal drone appeared at the school to keep order and sliced apart a teacher who was arguing with a Riofaldian teacher. Akane was splattered with blood and fell into to shock, unable to move as the drone loomed over her ready to exact punishment for filming the events. Gun raced to the scene in the new Gunner suit which Isaka had equipped him with. He managed to destroy the drone and royally pissed off the Riofaldian oppressors in the process.

They then fired a destructive blast from the gigantic Sorosarm robot that obliterated Mt. Fuji and devastated anything in the blast path that wasn't reinforced by Riofaldian building materials. It seemed that the war to defeat the alien oppressors was on.

A Hero's Armor

No hero would be complete without a cool costume, and Gun's Gunner Suit is nothing short of awesome. The Gunner Suit consists of a voice recognition glove that is voice activated and provides full body shielding to the wearer. The helmet on the unit preserves the face and skull as well as the identity of the wearer through the use of a voice distortion system.

The suit is made up of nanomachines that can form around the wearer in one thousandth of a second and can deconstruct the wearer's clothing, saving it until the suit is recalled. At that point, the clothing is then reconstructed, often better than it was originally made, around the wearer.

The main piece of weaponry at the Gunner Suit's disposal is a fifty-caliber rail gun (technically referred to as a "magnetic linear accelerator") that fires armor-piercing slugs at a speed of mach eight. The gun is powered by a backpack connected to the gun by and umbilical cord.

In addition to the weaponry, the suit gives the wearer almost complete protection from harm, and endows the wearer with super strength and speed by a full power-assist system.

At the suit's disposal is the android Isaka who can transform into an aerial motorcycle, as well as make repairs to the suit, heal injuries, disable enemy robots and perform a variety of other tasks. By transforming into a control seat, Isaka can also act a key component in the Exaxxion unit.

The Exaxxion unit itself is Earth's secret super weapon in the battle against the Riofaldians and can move at over 120 miles per hour (though from the cockpit point of view it doesn't seem that fast). The unit comes equipped with excellent body armor, but seems to have a problem with inadequate head shielding.

All of these items, though, are mere accessories. For Gun to truly be able to defeat the enemy, he must not let them know all of the suit's capabilities. To do this, he must not always hit when he has the chance, but rather endure by standing there and taking a few hits. If Gun can't take a little damage, then how can he possibly fight against an entire alien empire?

Classic Robots and Reinvented Designs

Stylistically speaking, Cannon God Exaxxion has Kenichi Sonodas unforgettable anime look blended with robots that seem to have been ripped right from some old black and white sci-fi movies. All the robots are very fluid and metallic-looking, and Gun's suit seems to be an evolved form of the Night Saber's hard suits, minus the high heels. Plus, let's not forget the trademark high-adrenaline action and all the talk about guns and cars that Sonoda is so famous for.

In fact, Gunsmith Cats has done so well over the years, Studio Proteus and Dark Horse Comics were just waiting for the series to wrap up so that they could unleash this baby on the market. If a comparison must be made, Cannon God Exaxxion is like reading a kick-ass male version of Bubblegum Crisis.

One of the fun aspects of the series is it carries a lot of fan service and it's easy to see why, with big-breasted Isaka at the fore front. Grandpa Hosuke made the android to not only look drop dead gorgeous, but to be functional on a primal level. In fact, the sexual humor is just half the fun of the series. Just watching Akane pat her breast with a sigh when thinking about how breast size must really matter is just too priceless.

Fan service is just one of the things that helps make Cannon God Exaxxion dish out a little bit of everything for anime fans. Lots of cool mecha, a hoarde of alien invaders, and tons of drop-dead gorgeous girls are just some of the other things to expect in a series overflowing with awesome artwork.

CANNON GOD EXAXXION - CHARACTER DOSSIER
Hoichi "Gun" Kano The nickname "Gun" was given to Hoichi by Akane because the kanji of "ho" in his name means gun in Japanese. He inherited his grandfather's prejudice against Riofaldians and now fights them with the help of the Gunner Suit and Isaka. Gun is a little rough around the edges and doesn't care much for school, but when given the chance to be a hero, he rose to the occasion.	Akane Hino Akane's parents are both in the media industry, so she was born and bred to be a journalist herself. She may only be a vidfile reporter for her high school's media club, but she remains objective, emotionally distanced and will go to any lengths, even risking her own life, for a story. Akane is a an honor student, but seems to have feelings for Gun which she hasn't been able to express properly.	Isaka Minagata A reconfigurable android programmed with a vast knowledge bank. Isaka's large chest is "not merely an exaggerated secondary sexual characteristic," but rather a mass reservoir of nanomachines capable of both cellular repair and transformation. Isaka transferred into Gun's class on the day the Riofaldians took contol of the Earth.
Ambassador Zobrozaphka The United Nations wants him dead, his bodyguards would gladly lay down their lives to protect him and he himself could care less. He is a Riofaldian ambassador and commander of the occupation forces that took control of the land, sea, and air of the planet Earth. He is a hardcore "stereotypical alien" bent on mass genocide and the completion of the master plan.	Hosuke Kano Grandpa Hosuke was the first person to publicly shun the Riofaldians in his book. He is Gun's grandfather and always projects a perverted exterior. In reality, Hosuke is an accomplished inventor who has enough patents and money to his name to afford pretty much anything in life and it's no wonder that he has devoted the last 40 years of his life to the Exaxxion Project.

Images Copyright Dark Horse Comics. All rights reserved.

3