Colonel Nishina of the ANPO army has requested a report on Dai-Guard, and as the one in charge of PR Division 2, it is up to Chief Oosugi to deliver it. Armed with all the data and archive footage he could ever need, Oosugi sets out to put together his report…
As the report centres on Dai-Guard, the robot itself is a good place to begin. Twelve years ago, when the first Heterodyne appeared, the army threw everything they had at it, and just barely managed to destroy it by deploying a highly destructive OE bomb. Amidst fears that another Heterodyne would appear, it was decided that a specific weapon was needed to combat them- Dai-Guard.
Although Dai-Guard was originally commissioned and built by the army, as the years went by and no further Heterodynes appeared, care of the robot and the systems for monitoring dimensional quakes (the precursor to Heterodyne appearances) was passed over to a new company- 21st Century Security. From then on, Dai-Guard became little more than a marketing gimmick, that is, until October 5th, 2030, when the Heterodyne appeared again. Then, it was time for Dai-Guard, now under the jurisdiction of PR Division 2, to take off and head into battle the way it was always meant to.
The Heterodyne themselves, however, still remain something of a mystery- so much so that it is uncertain whether they should be classified as life-forms or just “phenomena”. A few facts have been gleaned about them- Agent Shirota was the first to realise that electromagnetic waves of the right frequency could be used to attract the creatures, whilst Tech Division’s Rika Domeki managed to discover their major weak point- the fractal knot. Armed with this knowledge, the Heterodyne became easier to beat. It’s just a shame that there’s no simple strategy for dealing with the other hazards in life- such as the board of directors, or the ANPO army.
For the second half of his report, Oosugi switches focus to the people who make it all work- the members of PR Division 2. First up is Dai-Guard’s main pilot, the energetic Shunsuke Akagi; he may be loud and tactless at times, but his optimistic attitude and well developed sense of justice make him a well-liked member of the team.
Then there’s Keiichirou Aoyama, Dai-Guard’s engineer. On the surface of it all, he is a cool ladies’ man who never spends more hours at the office than absolutely necessary, but Oosugi remarks that there is more to him than that- he is not taking time off to see a girlfriend, but to care for his sick mother.
Finally, there is navigator Ibuki Momoi, the youngest of the three, but actually the senior of the other two at the office. Bright and dedicated, Ibuki also has a reckless streak, which Oosugi suspects is due to her home life. Still very much attached to her dead father, she has a strained relationship with her stepfather- and this sometimes shows through in her actions on the job.
Of course, PR Division 2 isn’t just about the pilots- there’s also the rest of the team, who run support alongside their other PR duties. As the most senior of the female staff, Ooyama is the one who delegates work and makes sure everything gets done- she’s the ‘big sister’ of the team. Second to her is Nakahara, the quiet yet smart head of security. Rounding out the female side are the cheerful (if gossipy) Tanigawa and the quiet, composed Irie.
Then there’s the male staff- Ishizuka, Taguchi and Ijyuuin- each in charge of a different administrative area. The three joined the company at the same time, and are the “three stooges” of the office. Also part of the team is the chief’s aide Yokazawa, who gets to run around doing all the hard jobs (although at least he gets a bullhorn). And of course, there’s Oosugi himself, head of the division.
Outside of PR Division 2, there are others whose work is vital to Dai-Guard’s continued operation. Among them is Rika Domeki, the genius teenage head of Tech Division, and designer of weapons such as the Knot Punisher, Knot Buster, Drill Arm and Net Cannon. Set-up and maintenance of these weapons is handled by the ground crew, under the watchful eye of their leader, Sumida.
Finally, there is of course one more person of note who doesn’t work for the company- tactical advisor Agent Shirota. Shirota is committed to fighting the Heterodyne, even though at one point that meant collecting data on Dai-Guard so that the army could build their own robot- Kokubogar. Nonetheless, at heart Shirota is a good man, who is only trying to do what he thinks is best to defend Earth against the Heterodyne.
For one giant robot, this may seem like a large team, but they are all good people, and with everyone doing their best, Oosugi is sure that they will always emerge victorious against the Heterodyne. They are the Earth Defence Enterprise- office workers, saving the world…
