is a Japanese 24-episode

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series produced in 2002 and created by

gímik gímik is a Japanese animation production group, formed by Keiji Gotoh, Megumi Kadonosono and Hidefumi Kimura. In the past, animators have often formed production groups to produce animations, but increasingly animation groups are assuming a ...

and Gonzo Digimation and directed by

Keiji Gotoh is a Japanese anime director, character designer, manga artist, and member of three man production team gímik whose works include ''Kiddy Grade'' and ''Uta Kata''. Works Television * '' Thundercats'' (1985), In-between animation * '' Kiko Senk ...

. The series is licensed and distributed in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

FUNimation Entertainment Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

. In October 2006, news of a ''Kiddy Grade''

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

was announced, under the working title of (K-G.2), to be animated by as read (''

Shuffle! ''Shuffle!'' (stylized as ''SHUFFLE!'') is a Japanese visual novel developed by Navel. It was originally released as an adult game for Windows on January 30, 2004. It was subsequently followed by an all-ages release for the PlayStation 2 ...

'' anime). On February 26, 2009 it was re-announced under the new title along with news of a new manga adaptation, . The sequel is set 50 years after the original series and introduces two new female protagonists, and .

Overview

Story and setting

''Kiddy Grade'' takes place in a future where the human race has expanded and inhabits a multitude of planets in the universe with fantastic technology. Unsurprisingly, crime has grown alongside technology, and thus the Galactic Organization of Trade and

Tariffs A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and polic ...

(GOTT, German for "God") is formed as a sort of universal police force. Within this organization, there is a special (and secret) branch known as the ES Force (ES standing for "Encounter of Shadow-work"), consisting of twelve physically young people who possess amazing superpowers. Each ES member operates with another as a team, and the series' focus is a team of two low-level members, Éclair and Lumière. As the series progresses, they start to see the darker side of GOTT and its secrets.

Characters

Most of the central characters in the series are ES members of GOTT "Shadow Unit". The Shadow Unit is a group of

superpower A superpower is a state with a dominant position characterized by its extensive ability to exert influence or project power on a global scale. This is done through the combined means of economic, military, technological, political and cultural s ...

ed individuals that acts as the elite

enforcement Enforcement is the proper execution of the process of ensuring compliance with laws, regulations, rules, standards, and social norms. Governments attempt to effectuate successful implementation of policies by enforcing laws and regulations. Ena ...

division of GOTT and hence, of the Galactic Union. Their powers are ranked by "class", of which three are named in the series: C class is the lowest, S is high, and G is the highest. At the beginning of the series, it is believed that no ES member possesses G class abilities but it is later revealed to be false. ES members are organized in pairs of the same class and each is issued a customized and very advanced spaceship and a guard

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be c ...

. The protagonists of the series are

Éclair An éclair (, ; ) is a pastry made with choux dough filled with a cream and topped with a flavored icing. The dough, which is the same as that used for profiterole, is typically piped into an oblong shape with a pastry bag and baked until it ...

and Lumière, a C class pair of ES agents, who have a long

back-story A backstory, background story, back-story, or background is a set of events invented for a plot, presented as preceding and leading up to that plot. It is a literary device of a narrative history all chronologically earlier than the narrative of p ...

together from before joining GOTT. Their past is gradually revealed throughout the series as they come to realize and accept it. Their spaceship is called ''La Muse'' (french: The

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

) and their guard robot is Donnerschlag (german:

Thunder Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning pr ...

clap); both are also part of their back-story. As ES members, Éclair and Lumière report directly to the chief of GOTT,

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...

, a strict and collected woman whose orders they cannot disobey. Often accompanying them in the early episodes is the Galactic Union

audit An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon.” Auditing ...

Armbrust Armbrust (German: ''Crossbow'') is a lightweight unguided anti-tank weapon designed and developed by Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm of Germany, who later sold its manufacturing rights to Chartered Industries of Singapore (the predecessor of ST Kin ...

(german:

Crossbow A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long fi ...

) who appears to have multiple hidden agendas. Other ES members are: Alv and Dvergr (S class), an arrogant pair who eventually become Éclair and Lumière's

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist. Etymology The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, riv ...

s; Tweedledee and Tweedledum (S class),

fraternal twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

s with a complicated relationship towards the protagonists;

Viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

and Cesario (C class) who are generally on good terms with Éclair and Lumière; Un-ou and A-ou (S class), former

mercenaries A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

with a long-standing rivalry with them; and Sinistra and Dextera (S class), a

bishōnen (; also transliterated ) is a Japanese term literally meaning "beautiful youth (boy)" and describes an aesthetic that can be found in disparate areas in East Asia: a young man of androgynous beauty. This word originated from the Tang dynasty ...

pair held in high regard by all their colleagues for their professionalism. Also of note are Mercredi, Eclipse's

personal assistant A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task,. it is a sub-specialty of secretarial duties ...

with a hidden agenda, and Chevalier d'Autriche, the Secretary General of GOTT whose past is intertwined with Éclair's.

Media

Anime

''Kiddy Grade'' originally aired on

Fuji Television JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba today is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. Odaiba was initially b ...

in Japan from October 8, 2002 – March 18, 2003. The series ran for 24 episodes and was produced by

Gonzo Gonzo may refer to: People * Gonzo (nickname), a list of people with the nickname * Radislav Jovanov Gonzo (born 1964), Croatian music video director Radislav Jovanov, also known as Gonzo * Matthias Röhr (born 1962), German musician whose stage ...

. The series currently airs on the

FUNimation Channel Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

in both its "syndicated block" and its 24-hour channel. In 2007, the series was re-released as three movies (each 80–90 minutes in length) to specific Japanese theatres. The following are the individual titles for each film and their release dates. #''Ignition'' (initial screening April 8, 2007, DVD released July 27, 2007) #''Maelstrom'' (initial screening June 23, 2007, DVD released September 28, 2007) #''Truth Dawn'' (initial screening September 1, 2007, DVD released December 21, 2007)

Crew

– Director *

Hidefumi Kimura is a Japanese artist, writer and animator. He is a member of gímik, along with Keiji Gotoh and Megumi Kadonosono, and is responsible for composing the scenarios and writing most of the episodic screenplays for their anime, and for writing so ...

– Scenario *

Megumi Kadonosono is a Japanese animator, animation director and character designer from Osaka, Japan. Anime credits *'' Aquarian Age: Sign for Evolution'': Animation (OP/ED) * ''Clannad'' movie: Character Design *'' D.N.Angel'': Animation director (ep 20) *''Gene ...

– Character design *

Shirō Hamaguchi is a Japanese anime composer, arranger and orchestrator. He is best known for composing music to the anime franchises ''Girls und Panzer'', ''One Piece'', and ''Oh My Goddess!'' and arranging/orchestrating music in the ''Final Fantasy'' series. ...

– Composer

Theme songs

* Opening # by

Yuka Yuka may refer to: *Yuka (music), an Afro-Cuban style of music *Yuka (mammoth), mammoth specimen found in Yakutia, Russia *Manshu Yuka Kogyo K.K. Ssuningkai, a Japanese-German pre-WWII industrial co-operation People *Yuka (name), a Japanese perso ...

* Ending # "Future" by Little Viking

Print media

The Kiddy Grade franchise started right in the form of a series of light novels, published by Kadokawa Shoten under the label of Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko from 1 September 2001 to 1 February 2002 and later collected into two volumes (Kiddy Grade Pr1, September 1, 2001 and Kiddy Grade Pr2, February 1, 2002). Following are other light novel dedicated to the characters of the series were published: Kiddy Grade, 3 volumes published from 1 November 2002 to 1 September 2003; Kiddy Grade EX-Partner, single volume published September 25, 2003; and finally Kiddy Grade Secret Affair, single volume published January 29, 2004. The series was adapted into two manga series. The first, Kiddy Grade Reverse was made by Hiyohiyo and published in the magazine Shonen Ace of Kadokawa Shoten, before being collected in a single volume published on 1 March 2003. The second series, Kiddy Grade Versus was made by Hidefumi Kimura and Arikui Fujimaru and published in the magazine Dragon Jr Kadokawa Shoten, before being collected in two volumes published February 27, 2003 (the first volume) and 1 November 2003 ( the second volume).

References

External links

*
Official FUNimation ''KIDDY GRADE'' website
* {{Monthly Shōnen Ace 2001 Japanese novels 2002 anime television series debuts 2002 Japanese novels 2003 Japanese novels 2003 manga 2004 Japanese novels 2007 anime films Anime with original screenplays Films about reincarnation Funimation Gonzo (company) Hidefumi Kimura Kadokawa Dwango franchises Light novels Science fiction anime and manga Shōnen manga Yukari Higa