Kenran Butohsai

Kenran Butoh Sai
絢爛舞踏祭 (Kenran Butōsai)
Genre	Adventure, Comedy, Mecha, Romance
TV anime
The Mars Daybreak
Directed by	Kunihiro Mori
Studio	Bones
Licensed by	Bandai Entertainment
Network	TV Tokyo
Original run	April 1, 2004 – September 23, 2004
Episodes	26
Game
Developer	Sony Computer Entertainment
Publisher	Sony Computer Entertainment
Rating	CERO: 12+
Platform	PlayStation 2
Released	July 7, 2005
Anime and Manga Portal

The Mars Daybreak (絢爛舞踏祭 ザ･マーズ･デイブレイク, Kenran Butōsai Za Māzu Deibureiku^?) is a science-fiction anime series that aired on TV Tokyo from April 1 to September 23, 2004. Directed by Kunihiro Mori and co-produced by TV Tokyo, Dentsu and Bones. The anime series is licensed by Bandai Entertainment

Kenran Butohsai (絢爛舞踏祭, Kenran Butōsai^?) is a simulation game based on Kenran Butohsai. It was developed and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 video game console.

Plot

The Mars Daybreak takes place in a future where Mars is covered in one massive ocean, except for the peak of Olympus Mons, with humans living in drifting city-ships. The Martian economy is based mostly on water, a readily available resource and the planet's main export. A cease fire in the Pan-Galactic war, however, has reduced demand for the export of water, driving the Martian economy into recession.

The ocean-covered environment makes a perfect setting for commercial trade ships and pirates using submarines, who regularly raid the city-ships for supplies. The most renowned and feared of the pirate vessels is the Ship of Aurora, which makes a habit of reselling its booty cheap so that it can be redistributed to the less fortunate folk. The pirates pose such a problem that the Earth government, which controls Mars, dispatches elite units to deal with the threat of piracy. The use of specialized underwater mecha, called Round Bucklers, allows them to seek and engage their talented and very elusive prey. Ironically, one of the elite Round Buckler divers of the Earth Forces is an old friend of Gram, the main protagonist. Thus, the setting for Gram to team up with the crew of the Ship of Aurora is set.

Soon after being fired from his most recent place of work, Gram is offered a job helping a smuggler steal goods from the military warehouses. He refuses, and instead finds himself going to the warehouse district to help a friend. During their escape, the Ship of Aurora attacks the city-ship Adena. While in the process of saving his friend, Gram falls into the ocean. Gram is saved by a Round Buckler that appears, which seems to come for the pendant he wears. Gram would soon find that this pendant is a Mars Aborigine's artifact called the "Mark of the Chiefs." With a link to this mysterious Round Buckler, Gram is led into an association with the crew of the Ship of Aurora.

Mars Aboriginies

The first colonists of Mars and only ones to experience Mars as a world not covered in water, the Aborigines were meant to be the first phase colonizers of Mars until the flood that would cover Mars in water. After centuries had passed, Earth, believing that Mars was unpopulated soon allowed another group of colonists to populate Mars. Instead, they found people surviving in such violent environment without advanced technology required to survive. The second migration occurred around 200 years before the time of the series.

Characters

Main article: List of Kenran Butohsai characters

• Gram River- Johnny Yong Bosch
• Vestemona "Vess" Lauren- Melissa Fahn
• Enora Taft- Colleen O'Shaughnessey
• Rich- Crispin Freeman
• Chrysalis Milch- Jamieson Price
• Niall Poe- Michael McConnohie
• Yagami Arian- Steven Blum
• Junior- Yuri Lowenthal
• Elizabeth Liati- Barbara Goodson
• Bon- Brianne Siddall
• Garma- Catherine Battistone
• Achilles Polandwood- Erik Davies
• Ester- Kate Higgins
• Kuberness- Lex Lang
• Sala Sesa- Megan Hollingshead
• Poipoider- Michael McConnohie
• MAKI- Peggy O'Neal
• Megumi Higashihara- Stephanie Sheh

Technology

Ship of Aurora

One of the most notorious pirate ships on Mars, where the mere mention of the name and/or just the sight of the Auroras' crewman puts fear in pirates and Earth Force service men alike. Other pirates would run away from encounters with the Ship of Aurora. In the series this is first shown during episode seven when the Black Whirlpool proclaimed that service shuttle form the Ship of Aurora is in the Whirlpool's personal berth. The captain soon reverses his proclamation once he notice Milch, torpedo room officer in also being a formidable crewman of the Aurora, leaves the berth to the shuttle.

Just like any pirate ship, the Ship of Aurora is crewed by many different species from a cat to a Naval Witch. The ships AI, MAKI, is also considered a crewman with its own personality. The submarine is armed with torpedoes, cannons, missiles, grappling hooks and several Round Bucklers. Its two most infamous attacks is the Daybreak, (which basically a ramming technique), and the Elizabeth Cannon, (which is just the Captain screaming at the top of her lungs), causing all those in the immediate vicinity to flee in absolute terror.

City-Ships

City-Ships are literally floating cities that drift in Mars huge ocean. The city ships have been around since Mars was colonized for a second time and some are over a hundred years old.

Round Bucklers

The front and rear side of a Round Buckler, The Vector of Hope. Piloted by Gram River.

These are mecha designed solely for an underwater environment. RBs can come in two different build designs, but all RBs are unique since they are completely based on the equipment used in the construction process. The size of an RB varies form as roughly larger than basic pressure suit to a small iceberg. Throughout the series other mecha units are shown and used but are given no name and used in a variety of Jobs.

Cordless

A "Cordless" Round Buckler means that the pilot himself is contained within the unit itself, this most commonly used by pirates since the Earth Forces view Cordless designs as archaic. Throughout the series there are only five Cordless Round Bucklers. Some details of how an RB is built is shown when the captain of The Ship of Aurora orders a crew member's RB sim pod to be scrapped and then be used in the construction of another Round Buckler.

Corded

Round Bucklers controlled externally (known as "corded") come in pairs, usually commanded by most simply a pressure suit to a Seahorse, a control unit used by the Earth forces. Cables are attached to the RBs which are usually smaller, faster, capable of extreme maneuvers since there is no actual pilot within the RB itself compared to cordless; yet through the series whenever cordless and cord RBs are in combat a cordless RB is victorious, this may merely be because of the relative skill of most cordless pilots. Though technically attached to control unit most cables have a beacon at the end of the cable that allows the RBs to move beyond the cables maximum length, usually several nautical miles further before the pilot is unable to control the RB

References

External links

• Kenran Butousai Official Anime Site (Japanese)
• TV Tokyo's Daybreak Website (Japanese)
• Kenran Butohsai (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia