Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers

Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers
Based onGuilty Gear Strive
by Arc System Works
Written by
Directed byShigeru Morikawa
Voices of
Opening theme"AXCLUSION" by Ulma Sound Junction
Ending theme"Arika" by Nowlu
ComposerRyo Takahashi
Country of originJapan
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes8
Production
Producers
  • Ken Miyauchi
  • Daisuke Kobayashi
  • Yuuto Utsunomiya
  • Kei Fukura
  • Yusuke Onuki
CinematographyDaisuke Okumura
EditorHatsumi Hidaka
Production companies
Original release
Network
ReleaseApril 4 (2025-04-04) –
May 24, 2025 (2025-05-24)

Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers[a] is a Japanese anime television series produced by Sanzigen and Arc System Works, based on the video game series Guilty Gear.[1] The series aired from April to May 2025.

Plot

See also: List of Guilty Gear characters

The plot centers around "Gears," which are magical creatures made to advance human evolution. Some gears began fighting against humans, leading to a 100-year-long global conflict known as the Crusades. Years after the Crusades, Ky Kiske, a human, and Dizzy, a gear, are officially getting married, hoping to promote peaceful co-existence between humanity and gears. Their wedding is interrupted a mysterious person named Unika and anti-gear activist Nerville Hammers. The story follows Ky and Dizzy's son, Sin Kiske, as he tracks down Unika. Other characters from the Guilty Gear series, such as Sol Badguy (now a human), Ramlethal Valentine, Baiken, Johnny, Bridget, and more also play prominent roles in the plot.[2]

It is revealed that Unika was sent from another timeline to aid Nerville on his scheme to kill all Gears, with a virus he developed by infecting Sin. Nerville sees Unika as disposable, not only because she is a Gear, but also because she is Sin's alternate future younger sister. Nerville learns the virus he created is meant to cause the Gears to go rampage like in Unika's timeline and the past Crusades. Both Nerville and Unika have been manipulated by Nerville's alternate future self, who becomes a malevolent being. Future Nerville absorbed his past-self and attempt to destroy the main timeline. However, Sol uses a bullet he obtained from Dizzy and Ky on eve of Sin losing control of his Commander Gear cell one. The bullet Sol used stabilizes Commander Gear cells without killing them, thus saving Sin, Unika and all other Gears at once. Upon awakening and saw her friend, Bridget becomes critically injured during Future Nerville's attack, Unika is ready to atone her actions into stopping Future Nerville.

The siblings manage to save their parents and defeat Future Nerville, restoring peace. Thanks to an encouragement by the U.S. President , Sol comes to terms with his past and ultimately attends the wedding of his daughter, Dizzy, where their relationships becomes publicly known. After the wedding, Unika departs to roam the world like her grandfather, Sol, before serving as a bodyguard in training, per U.S. government jurisdiction.

Production

The series was announced on June 14, 2024, on the Twitter account of Arc System Works, after which the studio released a trailer for the series on YouTube.[3] The series aired from April 5 to May 24, 2025, on Tokyo MX and other networks. The opening theme song is "AXCLUSION", performed by rock band ulma sound junction, while the ending theme song is "Arika", by Nowlu. Crunchyroll licensed the series to watch online.[4][5]

Episodes

No.Title [6][7]Directed by [b]Written by [b]Storyboarded by [b]Original release date [8]
1"Ceremony"
Transliteration: "Shikiten" (Japanese: 式典 -Ceremony-)		Daichi OmoriNorimitsu KaihōKozue Oka, Kenta Sasaki, Kotaro Kobayashi, Yuki Maeda, Chisato Ooshima, Daisuke Suzuki, Shoko Mori & Shigeru MorikawaApril 5, 2025 (2025-04-05)
Ky Kiske and Dizzy are set to be married and hope to establish peaceful relations between humans and Gears going forward. The ceremony is interrupted by a girl named Unika who attacks Dizzy, still seeing Gears as evil. Sol Badguy and Ky and Dizzy's son, Sin, manage to thwart the assassination attempt at the expense of Ky and Dizzy getting frozen, and must find out who Unika is and why she is doing this.
2"Belief in Peace"
Transliteration: "Heiwa e no Shinnen" (Japanese: 平和への信念 -Belief in peace-)		Kotaro OgawaKō ShigenobuShinpei Ishikawa, Kenta Sasaki, Kotaro Kobayashi, Yuki Maeda, Chisato Ooshima, Daisuke Suzuki, Dong Sujian & Shigeru MorikawaApril 12, 2025 (2025-04-12)
Sol and Sin track down Unika and must prevent her from getting a key from the President of the United States that could kill all Gears.
3"A Soaring Angel"
Transliteration: "Hane no Haeta Tenshisama" (Japanese: 羽根の生えた天使さま -A Soaring Angel-)		Daichi OmoriNorimitsu KaihōKozue Oka, Kenta Sasaki, Hiroshi Morota, Kotaro Kobayashi, Yuki Maeda, Chisato Ooshima, Daisuke Suzuki & Shigeru MorikawaApril 19, 2025 (2025-04-19)
Sol and Sin follow Unika to a run down city that distrusts Gears in the hope of keeping her from activating her plan. All the while, Sin tries to understand her motives, leading to a confrontation of ideals when they re-encounter & fight each other once more that result in Sin's latent Gear abilities activating.
4"King of Gears"
Transliteration: "Gia no Ō" (Japanese: ギアの王-King of GEARS-)		Kotaro OgawaNorimitsu KaihōKozue Oka, Kenta Sasaki, Hiroshi Morota, Kotaro Kobayashi, Yuki Maeda, Chisato Ooshima, Yuki Ijiri, Futo Suzuki, Akinori Miyahisa & Shigeru MorikawaApril 26, 2025 (2025-04-26)
Unika is found and tended to by Bridget while Sin recovers from the fight, with both starting to reconsider their methods after briefly seeing the others' memories during their fight. Sol and Sin start to reach the conclusion someone else is backing Unika and behind everything. Suddenly Sin finds himself dubbed "The King of Gears" after he unwittingly activated the dormant Gears of the area, putting him in an awkward position with this newfound power.
5"King's Decision"
Transliteration: "Ō no kettei" (Japanese: 王の決定 -King's Decision-)		Daichi Omori, Kotaro OgawaKō ShigenobuKotaro Kobayashi, Kozue Oga, Kenta Sasaki, Yuki Ijiri, Futo Suzuki, Shinpei Ishikawa & Shigeru MorikawaMay 3, 2025 (2025-05-03)
6"Emissary from the Future"
Transliteration: "Mirai Kara no Shisha" (Japanese: 未来からの使者　-Emissary from the Future-)		Daichi Omori, Kotaro OgawaNorimitsu KaihōKozue Oga, Kenta Sasaki, Kotaro Kobayashi & Shigeru MorikawaMay 10, 2025 (2025-05-10)
7"Dark Sun"
Transliteration: "Ankoku no Taiyō" (Japanese: 暗黒の太陽 -Dark Sun-)		Daichi Omori, Kotaro OgawaKō ShigenobuKozue Oga, Kotato Kobayashi, Kenta Sasaki, Shinpei Ishikawa & Shigeru MorikawaMay 17, 2025 (2025-05-17)
8"What Makes You, You"
Transliteration: "Jibun no Katachi" (Japanese: 自分のカタチ -What Makes You, You-)		Daichi Omori, Kotaro OgawaNorimitsu KaihōKozue Oga, Kotaro Kobayashi, Kenta Sasaki & Shinpei IshikawaMay 24, 2025 (2025-05-24)

Reception

Overall reception to the early series was largely positive, with particular praise towards the series' animation and character interactions.[9] Positive reviews pointed out the fusion between 2D and 3D graphics and extensive worldbuilding that the Guilty Gear series is known for.[10] However attention to the first episode was given to the lack of effort put into explaining events that happened prior to the series.[11]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Japanese: ギルティギア ストライヴ: デュアル ルーラーズ, Hepburn: Giruti Gia Sutoraivu: Dyuaru Rūrāzu
  2. ^ a b c Production staff information is taken from the ending credits of each episode

References

  1. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (June 13, 2024). "Guilty Gear Fighting Games Get TV Anime". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on June 14, 2024. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  2. ^ Hymas, Travis (April 12, 2025). "Guilty Gear Strive Dual Rulers Episode 2 Review".
  3. ^ "Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers airs in April, main trailer". Gematsu. January 22, 2025. Archived from the original on February 10, 2025. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  4. ^ Loo, Egan (July 4, 2024). "Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers Anime's Teaser Trailer Confirms Cast, 2025 Debut". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on July 4, 2024. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  5. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (January 21, 2025). "Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers Anime's Trailer Reveals More Cast, Staff, Opening Song, April Premiere With Crunchyroll Streaming". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on January 22, 2025. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  6. ^ "Terebi Anime『Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers』Koshiki Saito" TVアニメ『GUILTY GEAR STRIVE: DUAL RULERS』公式サイト [TV Anime『Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers』Official Website]. anime-ann-e.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved April 5, 2025.
  7. ^ "Watch GUILTY GEAR STRIVE: DUAL RULERS - Crunchyroll". Crunchyroll. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
  8. ^ "Terebi Anime『Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers』Koshiki Saito" TVアニメ『GUILTY GEAR STRIVE: DUAL RULERS』公式サイト [TV Anime『Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers』Official Website]. anime-ann-e.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on April 5, 2025. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
  9. ^ Warner, Noelle (April 5, 2025). "Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers' Premier Episode Takes a Big Swing With Its Style (& It Delivers)". CBR. Archived from the original on April 6, 2025. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  10. ^ Harripersad, Ridge (April 5, 2025). "Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers Season 1 Episode 1 Review - CGMagazine". www.cgmagonline.com.
  11. ^ Hymas, Travis (April 5, 2025). "Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers Premiere Review".
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