Silent Mobius Review

story 8/10

This is an interesting series which I feel is very underrated, more people should watch it. What we've got here is a nice cyberpunk story with a mature cast and a mature story. The AMP department consists entirely of women, women which are in the beginning in their mid twenties, not in their teens, as is the case with lots of anime out there. The character designs also feel very mature. If you like fanservice then this is the wrong anime, it's not something which belongs in it. Sure, we've got well trained police women wearing a leather police uniform..but that's pretty much it.

The story kicks off with some police action and our main protagonist is introduced in the first episode. From there on we've got some episodes where the whole cast interacts with each other before the story focuses on the individual characters. All main characters have their own episode about themselves, and the key players get more screen time.

The second half of the series focuses on the plot which has been built up in the background during the "introduction" episodes. From here on we don't see much happiness or comedy. The main plot surfaces more and more and things only get darker from here on. The whole story builds up in a very structured way which works well.

animation 7/10

Hmm, I'm a bit split here. When I watched the first episode I got this "80's" feeling, meaning that it looks a lot like how cyberpunk was made back in the days, e.g Bubblegum Crisis, Venus Wars etc. Dark colors were used during the night to make the environment more hostile, and then during the day, vibrant almost gleamy colors. The cities are also very "hi-tech" with the buildings covered with steel plates, gigantic structures and so on.

The character designs are mature. The women actually look like women. The age differences are also depicted visually well. The oldest woman of the group looks oldest with the most accentuated face and the voice carries more experience and authority. The youngest looks like the youngest with a softer face, a more carefree style and eyes which doesn't look fully as experienced.

This show was from 98 but might as well have been animated in the beginning of the nineties; there are however a couple of giveaways in the FX department; There are some lightning FX and explosions here and there. It's done in an okay way and I don't have anything bad nor good to say about it.

The original Silent Möbius manga which spawns over 12 volumes was supposedly started at the end of the 80's and this would explain why the whole environment in the anime also look like it. I like this "old-school" animation and it fits in well into this genre.

sound 7/10

This is also another thing which enhances the whole 80's feel. The music is standard keyboard made music in many cases, there are some classic pieces as well though. The music is fitting and not bad in any way albeit cheesy at times, it also fits with the animation style. What surprised me a bit was the English tunes being played in the show. We've got some well known artists from US helping out here, like the singer from the 80's band Chicago to mention one.

I watched the Japanese version of the show and liked the VA:s. They did a good job in acting out their role as I hinted at during the "Visuals" section.

characters 8/10

The characters are given time to develop and all of them grow, some a lot more than others. In this story we also have some love aspiring between some of the characters (not between the women) and it's done very nicely and believable. All in all I'm satisfied here.

This is where the show stands out, becuase this is what the show is mostly about, it's a slice of their lives, how they live and interact with each other. It's well depicted, everything from the younger one experiencing what it is like to fall in love and the more expensive one dealing with complicated political matters. They all have their quirks though as is shown during one episode. But don't we all have our quirks?

overall 8/10

I give it a well deserving eight. I'd like to give it a 9 but it didn't capture my absolute, unconditional interrest until awhile into the series, once it did, however, I was stuck in my sofa. This is cyberpunk which has a lot to offer for those who are interested in this genre, even if you normally wouldn't be. I'd still recommend it seeing that it focuses alot on relationships, spiritual powers and such things as well.

I am currently collecting the 12 manga volumes as I am interested in reading what the creator originally had in mind, since the TV series is based upon the manga.