Gekiganger III

Gekiganger III(ゲキ・ガンガー3,Geki Gangā Surī)is ananimeserieswithintheanimeseriesMartian Successor Nadesicothat plays a critical part in the plot thereof. Gekiganger III was designed  to mimic 1970s Super Robots, especiallyGetter Robo. Initially, onlyGai DaigojiandAkito Tenkawaare depicted as enjoying the series.  Later in the series,Hikaru Amanobecomes the other resident anime fanatic, and towards the end of the series everyone on the ship learns to love the series.
Gekiganger IIIexists only as brief clips withinNadesico, but a basic storyline can nonetheless be determined. As seen in theOVA, the story began withProfessor Kokubunji(a character similar to the professors seen in other Super Robot series, such as Professor Saotome ofGetter Robo) discovering cave paintings somewhere underground placed by the "Super Paleolithic people". The paintings predicted that theKyo'akk Empirewould invade the Earth, and provided plans for a super robot, Gekiganger III.
Other clips seen throughoutNadesicoestablish the characters and setting. The main characters, and pilots of the titular robot, areTenku Ken(A reference to Voltes V's sword name),Umitsubame Joe, andDaichi Akira. The characters are similar in appearance and personality to the Getter Team fromGetter Robo, as well as having counterparts inNadesicoitself (most prominently Gai and the Jovian robot pilots).
Also similar toGetteris the Gekiganger robot, which is made up of three machines: the Gekiga Jet, piloted by Ken; the Gekiga Marine, piloted by Joe; and the Gekiga Tank, piloted by Akira. The names of the machines are similar to three of the component parts ofCombattler V, bringing another 70s mecha anime into the influence on the series.
LikeGetter, the machines assemble in three different ways to form three robots:Gekiganger IIIis formed withJetas the head and torso,Marineas its waist and upper legs, andTankas its lower legs, and is similar toGetter 1in its preference for air combat.Umigangeris formed withMarineas the head and torso,Tankas the waist andJetas the legs, and is the fastest, but weakest, form of Gekiganger. Finally,Rikugangeris formed withTankas the head and torso,Jetas the waist andMarineas the legs, and is slow but has great brute strength. These last two, however, switch their best areas of battle fromGetter Robo: Umiganger works best underwater and Rikuganger works more on land, whereas Getter 2 was the land-based robot and Getter 3 was for water in that series.
The villains ofGekigangerare the Kyo'akk Empire, an alien race from the "Dark String Universe" (a galaxy shaped like theinfinitysymbol). They are led by the Emperor Hyperion, and under him Prince Akara. ThroughoutNadesicowe see that Akara sends out many "mecha-monsters" to fight Gekiganger.
There are only a few major plot advancements that occur inGekiganger, many of which are actually shown out of order inNadesico. In one clip, a new character,Cowboy Johnnyis introduced. He is from America, and pilots the "Texas Robo" machine, an obvious parody of Jack King and the "Texas Mack" fromGetter Robo. Another clip features the death of Akara'ssidekick, Mii-e Mii-e who was in love with the oblivious prince. Akara himself is killed later after infiltrating a highschool finding to his shock that humans are capable of emotions.
By far the most important plot moment inGekigangeris the death of Joe, at the hands of Prince Akara's replacement, General Masaka. InNadesico, seeing this scene is a major bonding moment between Akito and Gai, and it is seen and heard several times in the first few episodes.
The characters continue to watchGekigangerpast this point, though not much is known about the remainder of the series. Joe is replaced by a new character,Ryuuzaki Tetsuya, and the Gekiganger III is replaced by Gekiganger V. (LikeCombattler V, the V is pronounced as the letter V; the English dub, however, referred to it as "Gekiganger 5"). Eventually, it is seen that Masaka is defeated. The final episode features a battle between the Gekiganger V (upgraded into "Spaceganger") and Emperor Hyperion, which Gekiganger is losing until the original Gekiganger III appears, piloted by Joe. With a final Super Passion Slash and Double Gekigan Fire, Hyperion is defeated. However, by this point most of theNadesicocharacters have given up their fanaticism over Gekiganger; several characters criticize the ending.
TheGekiganger IIIOVA, "Hot-Blooded Great Battle!" includes all clips ofGekigangershown inNadesico, a few never-before-seen clips, and a new "movie" featuring a battle between Gekiganger III and the Super Paleolithic people who designed it. Akara is also seen here, but later allies himself with the heroes against their common enemy. The opening mimics that ofMazinger Z vs. The Great General of Darkness, showing pictures of Gekiganger III that children drew, and involves a similar plotline to that movie as well.
AsNadesicoprogresses, we find that the very reason the Jovians (who are really humans) are attacking Earth is because they believe their cause to be just and that their path is the only true righteous one as they idolize the Gekiganger anime series. Toward the end, even CaptainYurika Misumaruis a Gekigangerotaku. In the end, the Gekiganger series becomes a lesson on why people should not be narrow minded and think that their point of view is that of everyone else. That their moral code is the only one. A lot of violence and death occurs as a result of the Jovian's adaptation of this point of view into their society and their leader's attempts to preserve this adapted moral code.
Episode 14 ofNadesico,Let's go with hot-blooded anime, is both a recap episode for that series and an episode ofGekiganger III. In that episode, the characters fromGekigangerwatchNadesico's recap episode and comment on it at times. Both the heroes and villains ofGekigangerdraw inspiration fromNadesicofor their new technologies, with Prince Akara copying the Nadesico's distortion field and Professor Kokubunji countering it with the Gekigan Flare, which he later admits was inspired byNadesico. At the end of the episode, theNadesicocrew is seen watching theGekigangerepisode. Despite the continuity paradoxes this relationship causes, this episode is apparentlycanontoGekiganger, if not toNadesico, as Akara uses the distortion field again in the movie. The comments made byRuri Hoshinoin regards to the story and how the next episode will get back on track with it at the end of the episode along with the fact that the placing of the episode seems odd giving the events in the episodes before and after episode 14. seem to suggest the Nadesico episode being non-canon at the very least.