Synopsis: Knights of Sidonia is a Netflix original, and it packs a great look and outstanding music. Earth has been destroyed by mysterious aliens called the Gauna. Sidonia is a multi-generational seed ship sent out to find a new home for the human race. It's been a hundred years since the Gauna were last encountered, but the arrival of a mysterious young pilot, Nagate Tanikaze, coincides with the return of Sidonia's ancient enemy.
Tanikaze has spent his entire life (he seems to be in his late teens) underground with his grandfather, who has apparently restricted him to two activities: eating, and training to fly giant robots. When Tanikaze ventures above deck to steal some rice, he is captured and taken before the ship's captain, who instantly recognizes his innate piloting skills and assigns him to the mech pilot program, just in time to fend off the return of the Gauna. To make things worse, the Gauna can only be killed by spears made of an extremely rare element, of which Sidonia only has twenty-something left, and they can't make any more.
Let's break it down:
Animation: 9.0 This anime is completely 3D CGI. It looks great, allowing seamless integration of the characters with their environment. The series does have a distinct lack of color, in the technology, the environment, and especially in the characters. Everyone has the same skin tone, hair color (except for Midorikawa and Seii), and if they had different eye color, I didn't notice in the two times I watched it. The lack of color and often of lighting makes it hard to determine where computer displays end and the panel/wall/etc. begins. The action, on the other hand, was fantastic. I love a good space mecha fight, and this didn't disappoint.
Characters: 6.0 There is practically no character development. Some die off too soon, others are just there for window dressing (like Lala, who happens to be a bear with a robotic claw, and is never explained.) Tanikaze, the main character, starts out as a socially awkward (for good reason) outsider who happens to be an outstanding pilot, but develops into a socially awkward (for no reason) outsider who is an outstanding pilot. After defeating every threat facing Sidonia for twelve episodes, you would think he might develop a little confidence, or a cocky attitude but no. He's also painfully oblivious to the fact that he's a chick magnet.
Story: 5.0 Highly derivative. Giant spaceship with a city inside, mysterious aliens want to destroy the ship, multi-generational mission to a new home. Sound familiar? It should. It's been done, and here it comes again. It was done SO much better by Macross Frontier that if you enjoy this show at all, you need to immediately start watching Macross F. It's not a complete copy of Frontier, there is the immortal council, like the one in Ergo Proxy. And the part where Tanikaze and Hoshijiro are trapped together for three weeks; that was totally copied from Original Macross, not Frontier. There are also a few scenes that will get you thinking, like when Saitou breaks into a cloning facility to steal an unauthorized copy of himself. When he comes out, he is met by the security forces armed with swords and bows? He actually gets shot with an arrow. If they can produce giant robots, cloning facilities and particle cannons, why the hell can't they figure out how to make a taser or a handgun? Actually, (and I'm not making this up) it's later revealed that they do have tranquilizer dart guns, but they shot Saitou with an arrow anyway. Total dick move!
This series has been praised for its realistic physics. It's good in some parts, but bad in others. When the giant ship makes dramatic course changes, the occupants feel the G forces, sometimes to fatal effect. This is something that almost ALL giant spaceship anime neglect. However, in the scene where Tanikaze flies away from Sidonia to rescue Hoshijiro, he passes, "the point of no return!" What the hell? I'm supposed to believe that if he goes past that point he won't have enough fuel to get back? That's not how space works! All you have to do is get going in any direction, and you will continue to go that way FOREVER! Regardless of if you have fuel left or not! Also, when the mecha have to travel any long distance, they all join hands to form a "clasp formation." Apparently holding hands gives you greater thrust from your engine? Well, yes, four mecha holding onto each other do have four times the thrust but they also have four times the MASS! Meaning no net gain! However, the morale boost from a squadron group-hug cannot be quantified.
Sound: 8.0 The opening song is an outstanding march, which kept me from skipping the credits. I watched it in Japanese and English. Both sound quite good. I didn't really know many names on the cast list, which is strange for me, but I did recognize Christina Valenzuela, who played my favorite character from Madoka Magica, and plays the Honoka sisters here. She sounds nothing like Homura here, and if I hadn't read the credits, I would never have known it was her, which is high praise for any voice actress. The way in which the mouth movements were rendered made the English version problematic. The CGI may have just been too detailed to get the words to match the mouths.
Overall Impression: 7.0 Despite the flaws, it was fun to watch, and that's all I expect from my entertainment. It helps that I like this sub-genre of mecha anime. And even though the story was super- derivative, the action was thrilling. It's just too bad that their weapons were the only aspect that actually developed by the end of the series. Still, I'm looking forward to the second season.
Tanikaze has spent his entire life (he seems to be in his late teens) underground with his grandfather, who has apparently restricted him to two activities: eating, and training to fly giant robots. When Tanikaze ventures above deck to steal some rice, he is captured and taken before the ship's captain, who instantly recognizes his innate piloting skills and assigns him to the mech pilot program, just in time to fend off the return of the Gauna. To make things worse, the Gauna can only be killed by spears made of an extremely rare element, of which Sidonia only has twenty-something left, and they can't make any more.
Let's break it down:
Animation: 9.0 This anime is completely 3D CGI. It looks great, allowing seamless integration of the characters with their environment. The series does have a distinct lack of color, in the technology, the environment, and especially in the characters. Everyone has the same skin tone, hair color (except for Midorikawa and Seii), and if they had different eye color, I didn't notice in the two times I watched it. The lack of color and often of lighting makes it hard to determine where computer displays end and the panel/wall/etc. begins. The action, on the other hand, was fantastic. I love a good space mecha fight, and this didn't disappoint.
Characters: 6.0 There is practically no character development. Some die off too soon, others are just there for window dressing (like Lala, who happens to be a bear with a robotic claw, and is never explained.) Tanikaze, the main character, starts out as a socially awkward (for good reason) outsider who happens to be an outstanding pilot, but develops into a socially awkward (for no reason) outsider who is an outstanding pilot. After defeating every threat facing Sidonia for twelve episodes, you would think he might develop a little confidence, or a cocky attitude but no. He's also painfully oblivious to the fact that he's a chick magnet.
Story: 5.0 Highly derivative. Giant spaceship with a city inside, mysterious aliens want to destroy the ship, multi-generational mission to a new home. Sound familiar? It should. It's been done, and here it comes again. It was done SO much better by Macross Frontier that if you enjoy this show at all, you need to immediately start watching Macross F. It's not a complete copy of Frontier, there is the immortal council, like the one in Ergo Proxy. And the part where Tanikaze and Hoshijiro are trapped together for three weeks; that was totally copied from Original Macross, not Frontier. There are also a few scenes that will get you thinking, like when Saitou breaks into a cloning facility to steal an unauthorized copy of himself. When he comes out, he is met by the security forces armed with swords and bows? He actually gets shot with an arrow. If they can produce giant robots, cloning facilities and particle cannons, why the hell can't they figure out how to make a taser or a handgun? Actually, (and I'm not making this up) it's later revealed that they do have tranquilizer dart guns, but they shot Saitou with an arrow anyway. Total dick move!
This series has been praised for its realistic physics. It's good in some parts, but bad in others. When the giant ship makes dramatic course changes, the occupants feel the G forces, sometimes to fatal effect. This is something that almost ALL giant spaceship anime neglect. However, in the scene where Tanikaze flies away from Sidonia to rescue Hoshijiro, he passes, "the point of no return!" What the hell? I'm supposed to believe that if he goes past that point he won't have enough fuel to get back? That's not how space works! All you have to do is get going in any direction, and you will continue to go that way FOREVER! Regardless of if you have fuel left or not! Also, when the mecha have to travel any long distance, they all join hands to form a "clasp formation." Apparently holding hands gives you greater thrust from your engine? Well, yes, four mecha holding onto each other do have four times the thrust but they also have four times the MASS! Meaning no net gain! However, the morale boost from a squadron group-hug cannot be quantified.
Sound: 8.0 The opening song is an outstanding march, which kept me from skipping the credits. I watched it in Japanese and English. Both sound quite good. I didn't really know many names on the cast list, which is strange for me, but I did recognize Christina Valenzuela, who played my favorite character from Madoka Magica, and plays the Honoka sisters here. She sounds nothing like Homura here, and if I hadn't read the credits, I would never have known it was her, which is high praise for any voice actress. The way in which the mouth movements were rendered made the English version problematic. The CGI may have just been too detailed to get the words to match the mouths.
Overall Impression: 7.0 Despite the flaws, it was fun to watch, and that's all I expect from my entertainment. It helps that I like this sub-genre of mecha anime. And even though the story was super- derivative, the action was thrilling. It's just too bad that their weapons were the only aspect that actually developed by the end of the series. Still, I'm looking forward to the second season.