Juusenki L-Gaim

In the year 3990, the immortal Oldna Poseidal rules Pentagona, a war-torn solar system of five planets. Daba Myroad is a survivor of the Yaman Clan, just one of numerous native societies nearly wiped out by the tyrant. Living on the remote planet Koam with his friend Mirao Kyao, Daba possesses L-Gaim, a humanoid mecha known commonly as a "Heavy Metal" and the last known relic of the Yaman Clan. The pair befriend Fanneria Amu, an aspiring actress, and Lilith Fau, the last surviving fairy in Pentagona while on the run from a band of thieves attempting to steal L-Gaim.

Daba promises to fulfill the dying wish of one of the thieves hunting him—an honorable act that leads him to the powerful merchant Amandara Kamandara. With their mission in sight, the ragtag group will face powerful adversaries and become entangled in a rebellion against Poseidal's reign.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Myroad, Daba Main

Hiramatsu, Hirokazu Japanese

Amu, Fanneria Main

Honda, Chieko Japanese

Kyao, Mirao Main

Ootsuka, Houchuu Japanese

Ha Leccee, Gaw Supporting

Kawamura, Maria Japanese

Gablae, Gavlet Supporting

Hayami, Show Japanese

Flat, Full Supporting

Doi, Mika Japanese

Fau, Lilith Supporting

Kawamura, Maria Japanese

Mauser, Heckler Supporting

Shioya, Kouzou Japanese

Ron, Rockley Supporting

Wakamoto, Norio Japanese

Kamandara, Amandara Supporting

Horibe, Ryuuichi Japanese

Tomino, Yoshiyuki Director, Storyboard, Theme Song Lyrics, Original Creator

Imagawa, Yasuhiro Episode Director, Storyboard

Kawase, Toshifumi Episode Director, Storyboard

Iuchi, Shuji Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Mar 13, 2016

Quiddity131

Recommended

Heavy Metal L-Gaim was one of several mecha series director Yoshiyuki Tomino created during the mid-80’s before Sunrise had him working on Gundam practically full-time. As such it provides you with an original story that while sharing certain similarities to his other works, is completely self-contained and can be watched at any time.

L-Gaim takes place in the Pentagona system, a system of several planets, ruled by the immortal Oldna Poseidal. The show focuses in particular on Daba Myroad, a teenage boy who pilots the titular mecha L-Gaim, and his various friends including the goofy Mirao Kyao, the aspiring actress Fanneria Amu, former member of the ... Poseidal military, Gaw Ha Leccee and the fairy Lillith. One of the few still living members of the Yaman Clan, a group of people wiped out by Poseidal, Daba takes a key part in rebel movements, with the overall goal of someday overthrowing Poseidal’s rule.

Tomino’s shows typically alternate between being dark and depressing and lighter hearted and this show is more in the latter camp. While the show is not on the level of say Xabungle or Gundam ZZ, it has a lot of comedy and fun to it. For example the characters are designed as if they are from an 80’s heavy metal band. Kyao and Amu are often providing a lot of comedy relief, as does Gavlet Gablae, a common antagonist for our heroes; the conflict arises because he stole their soup. Yes, that’s right, a series long rivalry comes out of something as incidental as that. Stylistically the show is a lot of fun. There’s not just the design of the characters, but also the music, the mecha, and several different worlds all coming together. As another reviewer pointed out, each episode features a brief shot of an upcoming character, mecha or other plot point, which is unique for a Tomino show (and often treats us to some hilarious engrish).

From the other side though the show features a plot that is one of the more complicated from Tomino’s works, especially toward the end of the series. The show features numerous factions, all with their own intentions and each hoping to come out on top. The number of characters is massive, and since this is a show that doesn’t feature a lot of death, the cast just grows bigger and bigger over the course of the show. Plot twists are both intriguing and deserved.

Supposedly the show had a lot of conflict behind the scenes between director Tomino and character/mecha designer Mamoru Nagano. I think the influence of Nagano on this show is quite notable and you will find many similarities with his later work, Five Star Stories. Nagano doesn’t have the strongest character design, but his mecha designs are almost without fail quite beautiful and he’d continue to work with Tomino in Zeta Gundam. A great addition!

The show does have a few flaws. Like many 50+ episode Tomino shows, the pacing can be tough at times, especially in the first half of the series. Although I think there generally isn’t a stretch of more than 3-4 episodes where the plot doesn’t start moving in a new direction. Certain characteristics can be annoying to some. Daba having multiple female characters after him throughout the entire series, when he never shows much romantic interest in any of them can get old to many. And while I love how complicated the story gets later, I can certainly see that as a turn off for some people. It’s highly unlikely you’ll fully get everything your first viewing.

Overall though, this is a show where the good side outweighs the bad by far. Both fun and intellectually stimulating; I can’t recommend this show enough.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Mar 11, 2026

kazu_hec

Recommended

This series has been so… irregular but brillant? it’s very chaotic, but with astonishing potential.
Not "irregular" in the sense of contrasts between good and bad things, but more because it’s full of brilliant ideas and it feels like they just pass over them; or don’t quite know how to introduce or write them, focus on independent plots instead.... And there’s also a mix of tones and charismatic characters without clear goals…

But the most brilliant part is the artistic one: it makes no sense how beautiful it is, how fluidly the mechas move, the sheer style everything has. The soundtrack is amazing too (even though they ... barely use it…).

A lot of people complain about the comedic tone, but for me it’s actually what worked best. I love the characters, and I adored the first third of the series with that Star-Wars-like adventurous vibe. When it focuses more on the war aspect, specifically in the part about the history of the empire, that’s when the seams of the series start to show and it feels a bit “improvised” and don't know how to tell it. It almost feels like the writers only agree on what the script and the lore actually are about five episodes before the end.

Even so, I had such a great time and loved it so much that I genuinely recommend it a lot for fans of the genre.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Sep 7, 2024

uiorwejklfsd

Not Recommended

Wacky and ridiculous. Really wanted to like this one since I'm a huge fan of the original Gundam and Macross TV series, but this was just painful to get through. It's impossible to take anything in this seriously when everyone is acting like a lunatic. Ridiculous slapping, punching, and kicking in every scene, it's as if they were trying to make Ranma 1/2 in the Gundam universe. The only likeable character is the fairy, but I'm afraid that's not enough to save the show. The story is painfully slow to get going. The first half seemingly has no direction at all. We simply follow around ... these crazy kids as they attack everything in their path with zero repercussions. It's hard to even describe how absurd it is.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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