History Anime / AuraBattlerDunbine

** Episode 32: [[spoiler: Then cue ''everyone'' in Byston Well being sent to Upper Earth, [[FromBadToWorse ''Aura battleships'' included]].]]

* CharClone: A Tomino production has a hard time going without one. Bern Bunnings ([[spoiler:The Black Knight]]) ends up filling this role as a Type-1.

* EverybodyDiesEnding: [[spoiler:Nearly every named character on the cast is killed during the final battle, including the main hero, as their souls are carried back to Byston Well to be reborn again.]]

** ADayInTheLimelight: ''Seisenshi Gaiden'''s [=PS1=] game, however, greatly expanded the detail about this kingdom by making the player join them.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: A ''lot'' of the character's names suffer from this, not at all assisted by a number of cases of dissonance between the "intended" English spelling and the katakana used for the names. The official DVD subtitles even change spellings half-way through!
** The names of the mecha don't fair much better as they have been written various ways on official merchandise, even for extremely simple ones like "Wryneck" which is a real word.

* HeroesWantRedheads: [[spoiler:Show in regards to Marvel, later reciprocated.]]

* NewLifeInAnotherWorldBonus: {{Deconstruct|ion}}ed as antagonists summoned from another world share the same merits. When Shot and his partner Zet got summoned to Byston Well, their revolutionary Aura Machines turned the once peaceful afterlife fantasy world into a war zone very quickly. Furthermore, their weapons are not limited to just their world. [[spoiler:When their weapons get sent back to Upper Earth, warfare additionally spreads all over, leaving millions dead and causing massive political chaos.]]
* MookFaceTurn: [[spoiler:They’re never seen in any fighting, but when the battle is taken to the United States, a large portion of the military has defected to liberate their country from Drake.]]

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Early on in the series, if your Aura Machine became damaged in mid-air you would be likely to either crash and die or bail out and fall to your death. After Todd narrowly survived his bailing out by using the forest to break his landing, [[SmartBall he made sure that all his future machines had an ejection system with a portable glider that he could fly to safety with.]]

* BookEnds: The opening to most episodes (and all of the early ones) states that this is the story of Byston Well, as related by the Mi Ferario. [[spoiler:This narration takes a turn for the tragic when the last episode reveals that Mi Ferario was ''singular'', and it was specifically referring to Cham Fau, the SoleSurvivor of [[KillEmAll the entire main cast.]]]]

* OurFairiesAreDifferent: They come in two types: "Mi-Ferario", which are the stereotypical little winged pixies who are troublemakers but are largely harmless, and "Ae-Ferario", which look completely human other than their [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair unnatural hair colors]] but can be extremely dangerous as their powerful Aura makes them [[RealityWarper Reality Warpers]].

** This is taken UpToEleven in the OVA sequel where all things related to electricity has become lost to the people of Byston Well and so their Aura Battlers are almost totally organic.

* TrappedInAnotherWorld: One of the oldest examples of the genre which combines modern technology with fantasy elements. [[spoiler: It also shows how exponentially deadly these combined armaments are in the modern world, where Aura Power is ten times more potent than on the alternate world.]] It also stands as the [[UrExample first]] TrappedInAnotherWorld anime ever made.

* NewLifeInAnotherWorldBonus: Deconstructed as antagonists summoned from another world share the same merits. When Shot and his partner Zet got summoned to Byston Well, their revolutionary Aura Machines turned the once peaceful afterlife fantasy world into a war zone very quickly. Furthermore, their weapons are not limited to just their world. [[spoiler:When their weapons get sent back to Upper Earth, warfare additionally spreads all over, leaving millions dead and causing massive political chaos.]]

* NewLifeInAnotherWorldBonus: [[Deconstruction Deconstructed]] as antagonists summoned from another world share the same merits. When Shot and his partner Zet got summoned to Byston Well, their revolutionary Aura Machines turned the once peaceful afterlife fantasy world into a war zone very quickly. Furthermore, their weapons are not limited to just their world. [[spoiler:When their weapons get sent back to Upper Earth, warfare additionally spreads all over, leaving millions dead and causing massive political chaos.]]

* TrappedInAnotherWorld: One of the oldest examples of the genre which combines modern technology with fantasy elements. [[spoiler: It also shows [[Deconstruction how exponentially deadly these combined armaments are in the modern world,]] where Aura Power is ten times more potent than on the alternate world.]] It also stands as the [[UrExample first]] TrappedInAnotherworld anime ever made.

* TheGoodKing: King Foizon in considerable contrast to [[TheCaligula King Furaon Elf]].

* JerkassGods: Despite the rampant destruction the Aura Machines have caused, when Show attempts to ask the Ae-Ferario for help, their queen Jacoba Aon tells him that they won't get involved with human affairs. [[spoiler:And when the Aura technology finally threatens to destroy Byston Well, Jacoba Aon uses her Aura to transport all Aura Machines and their pilots to Upper-Earth to simply move the problem elsewhere.]]

* TheGoodKing: King Foizen in considerable contrast to [[TheCaligula King Furaon]].

* BittersweetEnding: Very heavy on the bitter side, to the point of being a hair's breadth away from DownerEnding. [[spoiler: All of the antagonists were slain thus bringing peace to both Upper Earth and Byston Well, but all of the heroes (save Cham) died in the process - with Ciela guiding everyone's souls back to Byston Well to be reborn again in the next life.]]

* BookEnds: The opening to most episodes (and all of the early ones) states that this is the story of Byston Well, as related by the Mi Ferarrio. [[spoiler:This takes a turn for the horrifying when the last episode reveals that Mi Ferrario was singular, and it was specifically referring to Cham Fau, the SoleSurvivor of ALL THE MAIN CAST.]]
** When Show first meets Todd he asks if being in Byston Well is a dream and Todd smacks him and tells him it isn't. [[spoiler: When Show deals the killing blow in their final battle, Todd remarks that it was a nice dream with Show tearfully replying that it wasn't.]]

* CastFromHitPoints: As Aura is drawn from one's life energy, it's possible to drastically increase one's Aura to preform miracles by sacrificing your life force. [[spoiler: Jacoba Aon becomes an old woman in exchange for expelling all the Aura Machines from Byston Well. While Elle and Ciela sacrifice their lives to disperse the evil Aura in the final battle.]]

* ColorCodedArmies: Whether they're foot-soldiers or piloting Aura Machines, the armies of each nation have their knights wear armour of a specific color to indicate to the audience who is who - Drake's wear red, Bishott's wear dark green, Ciela's wear pale blue etc etc. The only subversions are individual combatants like the mercenary Black Knight who wears black no matter who he fights for, and the Zelana crew who due to being a makeshift guerrilla force don't have a unifying set of armour and thus their members have a variety of colored armour.

** The Aura Bomber ''Bubuly'' which is considered the final form of the Aura Machines as it outperforms every other non-Battleship machine. Though in a twist it does not become the FinalBoss that Show fights.

* DifficultButAwesome: Several of the later Aura Battlers become this, but none more so than Shot's final creation -the Bubuly. Statistically, it outperforms every other Aura Machine, but not only does it have the highest Aura consumption of any Battler [[note]]20 Units of Aura to make it fly whereas in comparison the hero's ultimate machine only requires a minimum of 16 Units.[[/note]], it's so complicated to use that not only do you need a top class pilot to fly it but also ''three'' competent sub-pilots to handle the weapons, radar, and other systems. [[spoiler: It's no wonder that for the final battle, Bern ditches it for the slightly less powerful Galava since it can be operated solo and requires much less Aura to power.]]
* {{Escapism}}: The common denominator amongst the humans who were summoned to Byston Well, whether it be poverty from unemployment or parental neglect, all of them wished to escape from their miserable lives. It's why several of them express the desire to not return to Upper Earth.

* EverybodyDiesEnding: [[spoiler:Nearly every named character on the cast is killed during the final battle, including the hero as their souls are carried back to Byston Well to be reborn again.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The second OP features Show and the Black Knight having a sword battle which comes across as odd considering that Aura Battlers have completely replaced sword and cavalry battles. [[spoiler: It's how the pair finish their duel after their machines are rendered inoperable.]]

* JacobMarleyWarning: [[spoiler:Discussed by the officers onboard the USS ''Carl Vinson''. The Captain theorizes that the warring factions of Byston Well were sent to warn the consequences of seeking military power, considering the [[UsefulNotes/ColdWar era the anime was made]]]].
* JerkassGods: Despite the rampant destruction the Aura Machines have caused, when Show attempts to ask the Ae-Ferario for help their queen Jacoba Aon tells him that they won't get involved with human affairs. [[spoiler:And when the Aura technology finally threatens to destroy Byston Well, Jacoba Aon uses her Aura to transport all Aura Machines and their pilots to Upper-Earth to simply get rid of the problem.]]

* MadScientist: Shot Weapon and his partner Zet Light who designed the Aura Machines.
* MaskPower: The Black Knight

* NewLifeInAnotherWorldBonus: Deconstructed as antagonists summoned from another world share the same merits. When Shot and his partner Zet got summoned to Byston Well, their revolutionary Aura Machines turned once peaceful afterlife fantasy world into a war zone very quickly. Furthermore, their weapons are not limited to just their world. [[spoiler:When their weapons get sent back to Upper Earth, warfare additionally spreads all over, leaving millions dead and causing massive political chaos.]]

* OurFairiesAreDifferent: They come in two types: "Mi-Ferario" which are the stereotypical little winged pixies which are troublemakers but largely harmless, and "Ae-Ferario" which look completely human other than unnatural hair colors but can be extremely dangerous as their powerful Aura makes them [[RealityWarper Reality Warpers]].
* OutsideContextProblem: The creation of Aura Machines was alarming for Byston Wellians. Any nation or noble house that didn’t have them were on the receiving end of a CurbStompBattle and those that were stuck with [[FlawedPrototype crude, shoddy prototypes]] that they had to improve on their own.

* PsychicPowers: Once someone has trained their Aura it grants low-level powers such as sensing people's presence, projecting one's thoughts to one's allies, and in the rare cases of Elle and Ciela it grants future sight and mind reading respectively.

* TransformingMecha: Several Aura Battlers towards the end of the show possess this ability but the most noticeable is Show's Billbine which has both a humanoid mode and its jet like "Wing Calibur" mode.

* TrappedInAnotherWorld: One of the oldest examples of the genre which combines modern technology with fantasy elements. [[spoiler: It also shows how exponentially deadly these combined armaments are in the modern world, where Aura Power is ten times more potent than on the alternate world.]] It also stands as the first anime with the TrappedInAnotherworld trope at all.

* WarFromAnotherWorld: Perhaps the ''earliest'' example, when [[spoiler:the war in Byston Well undergoes a MassTeleportation into Upper Earth.]] Everyone then struggles to deal with the consequences and ensure they do not result in calamity.
* WarriorPrince: Being one of the rare cases of a Komon who can naturally pilot an Aura Machine, King Foizen takes it upon himself to fight on the front lines and manages to hold his own against even more experienced Aura Battlers like Todd.

** Episode 32: [[spoiler: Then cue EVERYONE in Byston Well being sent to Upper Earth, [[FromBadToWorse AURA BATTLESHIPS included]].]]

''Dunbine'' is mostly known not for its rather standard Tomino mecha plot, but for its interesting concept of setting HumongousMecha battles in the middle of a MedievalEuropeanFantasy. The mecha themselves take fluid, organic shapes and are [[MiniMecha much smaller]] than most mecha designs. The show starts off much more light-hearted and enemy-of-the-week than your typical Tomino anime, but the second half undergoes a massive [[CerebusSyndrome tone shift]] and becomes much darker and serious with an explosive climax as "KillEmAll Tomino" returns to form.

* KillEmAll: [[spoiler:Nearly every named character on the cast is killed during the final battle, including the hero as their souls are carried back to Byston Well to be reborn again.]]

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: The only difference separating the humans from Byston Well to their Earth counterparts is that they often have unnatural hair colors such as blue, pink and silver.

''Dunbine'' tells the story of Show Zama, a Japanese motocross fan who survives a botched trick by being summoned into the fantasy world of Byston Well. There he meets Drake Luft, a local lord who tells Show that he summoned him to be an "Aura Battler" and pilot the Aura Machines to put a stop to a civil war that is tearing Byston Well apart. Everything starts off well, until Show by chance meets local [[LaResistance resistance]] member Marvel Frozen who reveals that she was also summoned to Byston Well from America and that Drake's true intention is not to save the world but to take it over with the Aura Machines. Horrified at the revelation, Show takes his personal mecha - the Dunbine and defects to the resistance, making new allies and enemies along the way as he tries to make up for his mistakes and stop his former lord.

* EvilMatriarch: Drake's wife Luuza. You will be hard-pressed to find a worse mother in ''any'' anime. (And that's before we meet Precia, Ren, and Ragyo!) [[spoiler:Of course, it's not like Show's mom is any better...]]

* BittersweetEnding: Very heavy on the bitter side. [[spoiler: All of the antagonists were slain thus bringing peace to both Upper Earth and Byston Well, but all of the heroes (save Cham) died in the process - with Ciela guiding everyone's souls back to Byston Well to be reborn again in the next life.]]

* [[spoiler:DownerEnding]]

* TheGoodKing: King Foizen in considerable contrast to [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen King Furaon]].