[DreamSword]

Episode 1: Galactic Pretty Boy

And we're back! This time with an anime that I've seen before!

The last time I watched Star Driver was back when it first aired way back in 2010, and so I only really remember maybe half of it clearly.

So imagine my surprise when the very first episode was filled not only with some rather impressive foreshadowing, but so much imagery that would become iconic of the show itself. You have no idea how tough choosing a thumbnail was!

But, I'm getting ahead of myself. What exactly is Star Driver anyway? As the subtitle of Radiant Takuto might suggest, it follows Takuto Tsunashi, an ambitious boy who ends up washed up on the Southern Cross Isles. He's eager to join the academy and live his life to the fullest.

Unbeknown to most though, the Isles and their academy hold a dark secret: Many of the students there are members of a secret group known as the Glittering Crux Brigade. Their goal is to break a magical seal sustained by the islands' four Maidens, and proceeds to pilot giant mecha known as Cybodies for their own selfish gain.

Takuto, however, is the Galactic Pretty Boy, and thus is the only one who can fight against the Glittering Crux using his own Cybody known as Tauburn. There's alot of other details, such as time freezing whenever a Cybody is summoned, but if I went over it all we'd be here all day. You know what might be the absolutely most important detail in all of this, though? The soundtrack. The soundtrack is every bit as important as anything else in this show.

I spoke of iconic imagery earlier, and there is alot of it. The "Glittering Star!" salute, the morphing sequence for the Galactic Pretty Boy, Zero Time in general, but even more iconic than all of that is Star Driver's' soundtrack, which is all around beautiful and even plot important. Monochrome is easily the most popular song of it all, and why wouldn't it be? It's absolutely beautiful, and premieres right here in the very first episode. And get used to the Maiden Songs too, as they tend to play whenever Cybody action starts,

In terms of story content of the very first episode though, it throws a handful of stuff at the viewer rather quick, but it does alot to get you ready for the kind of show you're in for. Like, when people talk about the possibility of a Power Rangers cartoon, I'm not kidding when I say that Star Driver serves as a great example of how it could be pulled off. You've got all the makings of it and other tokusatsu: School life, mecha action, transformation scenes, you name it. Heck, if not for the fact that his suit as the GPB is primarily white, Takuto has all the makings of a Red Ranger.

It's a really fun start to a really fun show, and I can't wait to see what all I can pick up from it the second time around.