Elemental Gelade is based on a manga series written and illustrated by Mayumi Azuma.
The series is set in a world called Guardia. In this world, beings known as Edel Raids co-exist with humans. The Edel Raids can fuse with humans and become a living weapon. The main character in Elemental Gelade is Coud Van Giuret, a 15-year-old boy and member of the Red Lynx sky pirates. The first episode opens with the pirates raiding a ship. After the raid, Coud is going through the loot and finds something that looks like a coffin. This object opens, and what appears to be a blue-haired girl awakens and comes out of the coffin. It turns out her name is Reverie Metherlance, and she is an Edel Raid. Coud ends up becoming her Pledger; a Pledger is someone who bonds with an Edel Raid and promises to escort her to Edel Garden.
The Red Lynx's pirate ship receives three unexpected visitors: Cisqua, Rowen, and Kuea. They are members of one of Arc Aile's Edel Raid Complete Protection Association squads. They have been trying to find Reverie for a while, and try to get her back from the pirates by offering them money in exchange for Reverie. Coud refuses the money. Just as Cisqua is about to start attacking, a group of ninjas suddenly crash their way onto the ship, and an all-out fight occurs between the ninjas, Cisqua's squad, and Coud. It turns out Kuea is also an Edel Raid, and she merges with her Pledger, Rowen, during the battle. At the end of the first episode, Coud and Reverie also bond for the first time while fighting off the ninjas.
Elemental Gelade has a bit of a strange concept going for it, although the execution comes across like many other similar anime series that have been released in recent years. The animation in the series is also rather typical; there's really nothing to make it stand out from the other anime series produced in the mid-2000s. Content-wise, I really didn't see anything in the visuals that would be considered inappropriate for younger viewers. Personally, I would recommend Elemental Gelade to anime viewers who are 13 or 14 years of age and older.
| Elemental Gelade | 26 | 2005 | Shigeru Ueda | Xebec | Geneon Entertainment |
