Genre: Mech/Sci-fi
Studio/Creator: Xebec
Distributor: FUNimation
No. of Episodes: 25
Suggested Age: 13+
My Rating: 8/10
Summary: The remote island of Tatsumiyajima survives in isolation from the rest of the world thanks to a force field protecting them from the Festum, an enemy they thought they destroyed. After several years of peace, a lone Festum discovers the island and attacks. In desperation, the island launches the Fafner Mark Elf, an experimental mecha piloted by the untested Kazuki Makabe. But now that they have been discovered, what is the next option?
Review: I think by now my regular readers can guess that I”m a huge mecha aficionado. I’ve given high marks to GoLion, Gundam 00, Big O, and others. When I started watching this, I wasn’t impressed, but it grew on me. The art style is pretty close to Gundam Seed, (which I highly recommend, by the way). Kazuki looked like a clone of one of Gundam Seed’s protagonist Afrin Zola, and personality-wise, resembles Rahxephon’s hero, Kamina. It’s really not as generic as it sounds. Once you get the “this looks like Gundam Seed” thoughts out of your head.
The characterization is pretty good too. This is an island that has known nothing but peace for years, so we’d expect Kazuki to not be ready for the challenge. He’s headstrong, hot-tempered, and easy to sympathize with. I also liked the fact that there was a variation on the UN that demanded that the island share its secret with them to protect them from the Fafner, because that added some conflict, especially when they became enemies too.
So, is this worth a look? Yes. I’m surprised more people haven’t heard about this title. I really enjoyed it. If you like Gundam and Rahxephon give this a try.
Sub/Dub: One of my favorite voice actors is in this. Johnny Yong Bosch can turn anything into a great dub.
Music/Score: The Warsaw Orchestra does the BGM and gives it an epic feel.
Violence: (6/10) Typical mech-stuff. Some blood here and there.
Language: (2/10)
Sexuality: (0/10)
Nudity: (0/10)
Religion: (1/10) There are numerous references to Norse Mythology, particularly in the mech names.
Lobster Quadrille 