, is a 2003 Japanese-American anime television series produced by Sunrise. The series was released to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Gundam media franchise, and was the first Gundam series to be entirely animated in cel-shaded 3D computer graphics (3DCG), and the first full-3DCG series to be broadcast on Japanese television. The show was directed by Yūichi Abe. Overview A Japan/America co-production, 26 episodes of Superior Defender Gundam Force initially aired on the Cartoon Network in the U.S., and later 52 episodes were broadcast on TV Tokyo in Japan, making it the longest Gundam series ever broadcast. The TV show was the first Japanese anime not to be released on VHS; its home video releases are only available on DVD with each containing three episodes. Though the final 26 episodes were not aired on television in America, fans petitioned for the second half of the series to be released and the last 26 episodes were released in an English-dubbed DVD set in 2008. The title of the show is a reference to the SD Gundam, or Super-Deformed Gundam sub-franchise, though for this show, SD stands for Superior Defender. It is a crossover series based on the three SD Gundam settings that were used in earlier SD Gundam anime and manga: SD Command Chronicles, a science-fiction-styled militaristic setting; Musha Gundam, a setting with samurai-themed robots; and Knight Gundam, a medieval European fantasy-themed setting. It also contains many references and homages to the standard Gundam shows, especially those of the Universal Century, Future Century, and After Colony timelines. In a sharp contrast to the dark nature of most of the other Gundam series, SD Gundam Force is relatively lighthearted, though it does at times get more serious as the series goes on, it is never as dark as the more "traditional" Gundam series. Synopsis The story is set in the futuristic city of Neotopia, a happy peaceful place where humans and robots co-exist, until the Dark Axis, an evil force from another dimension, arrives. Aware of the Dark Axis in advance, Neotopia established the secret Super Dimensional Guard to combat the invaders while keeping the conflict a secret from the public. A young boy named Shute becomes involved accidentally in the first battle between the Dark Axis and the SDG's Gundam Force robot hero, Captain Gundam. Shute's friendship with the Captain is critical to activating Captain's Soul Drive, the mysterious power