forget all other mecha anime and manga
the aliens here arn't different from mankind they too have the good, the bad and the ugly
from partnership/trade to colonization to war and then back to unstable peace
its one of the rarest manga to portrait a fictive future as a lesson about history present and future

For what it deals with, this is an OUTSTANDING manga. Few mangas deal with the overarching actions and effects taken during wartime, but this one does... for the most part. It does rush through things and it is cliche at times, but it isn't squeamish about the gory aspects of war with casualty numbers hitting the millions by the end.

That was really good - but there's a lot to hate here if you're that way inclined. It feels like a throwback to a much earlier decade in terms of themes. I mean, I know ecchi manga in general is not really the bastion of feminism or anything, but this takes it to a level I haven't seen since the last time I read bad 50s science fiction in terms of gender roles and such. Added to the general approach the author takes to war (very brutal, but still glorious and heroic for the hero protagonist), and there's a lot of moral dissonance floating around.

Not that any of that bothered me - adds to the charm. Just a strange thing to see.

Anyway, it's an interesting portrayal of war. Somehow it manages to both be realistic and extremely idealistic. The tactics and technology are all handled really well. The hero is heroic, the damsel is rescued from distress. Hundreds of thousands of people die and it's not glossed over. There's a lot of information war and battles for the minds of the people. The action is all suitably large scale, with gigantic mecha battling it out in cities, knocking over skyscrapers as they go. Some politics on the side. It's really quite comprehensive as far as showing how the whole war plays out.

Anyway, last night I reread the whole 7 volumes in one go. Just to see whether my perspective of this change over the years.

Surprisingly it do change. Lots of things I didnt notice before. And indeed this manga is fun, coherent, and noticable.

On one level this is a manga about the resistance of human against the clearly-superior-in-tech aliens. Even the best weapons mankind has to offer doesnt stand on par with its alien counterpart. We die in big lots, the strongest nation (USA) get a heavy beating in both military and economy, and the end game is pretty much a draw, as in we cant kick the aliens out of Earth.

On another level, it's about the growing up of a hero. A boy who live pretty much normally his whole childhood now has to do the growing up in days, from an innocent to a killer. If at any time you feel irritated with Hoichi, count back that day to the start of manga, I guarantee you not much time has passed.

On one big level, it's about the grant figure of Hosuke. He's one ruthless bastard who never forget the disparity between his (and Earth's) forces and alien forces and literally do anything to lead Earth to victory. He train his sons to be warriors and leaders by pushing and pushing, snap both of them but at least his younger is made of sterner stuff so the boy snap back, the older was brittle and so died an ignomiously death. And he's a great leader too, his harem notwithstanding (All the girls have great abilities in all cuttingedge techs). Tactics, Strategy, Politics, Foresight, all that is requirements of leader he have.

All in all it's a recommended manga you should have.

God i cant read this...he tries so hard to be a hero but when he accidently kilsl civilians he chickens out questioning if hes a hero or not..if he woulda just stfu and finished them off everythiung would have been over... even after one of the students get unfairly shot he doesn't react..hes an idiot IMO...

This supriesed me by actually being quiet good as thought when first started it that it would be rubbish comedy attempt with ecchi in it but was wrong granted the art work are not brilliant 6 to 7/10 I would say.
And story line is not hard to keep up with and probably guess whats coming but this its not bad and worth a look.

at first the main char is okay but at the later vol, the main character gets stupid coz he's too idealistic and doesnt see the big picture.....i stopped reading at vol 3 or 4 coz i cant stand him anymore

I really like.... how the hero struggles with his morals. He's actually very human. Nanotechnology, Antimatter, hacking, gravitational control, enter Cannon God Exaxxion, a fabulous science fiction manga.

Great manga. Funny like hell! must read. But please be advice that it is not suitable for children