kidkonseptual

This was originally a recap on the finale (containing spoilers) as well as the following final impressions. It was originally posted on my old anime blog.

Sidonia no Kishi – Knights of Sidonia, title screen.

Welcome to the literal future. This is a time traveling review about an anime that weirdly became my favorite of the Spring 2014 season. With the initial premise, the computer generated creation, some sneeky-peeky at that source manga — well, let’s just say I wasn’t exactly thrilled at the beginning of the season. Now that’s it over, I am thrilled at the thought of a second season. So what’s this futuristic tale about?

To briefly summarize, it’s a tale of a giant “seed” spaceship, one of many that has left Earth hundreds of years ago, due to an ongoing war with the Gauna, a race of mysterious deep-space flying spaghetti monsters. During the course of the first season, we get to know a lot, but not all, of the Sidonia‘s past, including seemingly ageless crew members and the history of the science and technology used by its citizens.

Hoshijiro photosynthesizing, not gratuitous at all, duh.

Knights of Sidonia is based on the manga by Tsutomu Nihei and was animated by Polygon Pictures, a studio known for their 3-D animation expertise. In North America, the streaming company Netflix, has acquired the rights to air the first season. With the relevant information out of the way, let’s get into what I enjoyed about the story.

First, the series doesn’t pull any punches. When stuff gets real on Sidonia – people die, get eaten by horrifying space monsters, get slapped by a bunch of clones — and that’s just the first 3 minutes of episode 6. The story mostly focuses on Tanikaze Nagate, a younger dude, who was raised under the surface of the Sidonia, but has mysterious ties to several ongoing events.

Humanoid Gauna is pure horror.

Nagate is the least complex and most straight forward character on the show. This is by design however, as he was raised by his grandfather, a just and honest man who we learn about later in the series. We follow Nagate as he becomes a pilot, tasked with defending the giant ship from Gauna invasion. There’s a large cast of supporting characters to familiarize ourselves with as well.

While many of the characters aren’t exactly at the epitome of originality, there tends to be a slight twist to people we meet on Sidonia. Shinatose Izana, for example, is one of Nagate’s friends and a potential love interest. Izana is not a female though. It’s not a male either, but a third gender that were genetically created. Izana makes perpetual sad faces though, because Tanikaze only has eyes for number-one-space-cutie Hoshijiro. Izana is then relegated to being Nagate’s space-bro.

Tanikaze and Shinatose – Space Bros.

I don’t want to make the show out to be some romantic-harem style series. Overall, it’s mostly heavy on the suspense, with a good amount of action, and some lighter comedic and sometimes touching moments. The Sidonia gets repeatedly attacked over the course of the season, which each threat slightly more dangerous than the previous one. In this regard the show has been compared, by myself included, to Attack on Titan.

Both shows feature a ton of gloom and doom. Both sets of characters are facing a threat they know very little about and both shows have researchers who take the monsters hostage to learn more about them. Both Sidonia and Titan also don’t mind killing off some of their characters — especially it’s citizens. The biggest comparison I can make though, is less do with the actual content, and more to do with my anticipation of both series.

Blushing Space Opera, Knights of Sidonia.

Sidonia is a bit more episodic when dealing with its monsters however.  While watching Titan, you’re always aware there’s more to the horrifying creatures than meets the eye. We’re even giving hints as such, and we assume we’ll get some explanation eventually. It’s just another reason to keep watching. I get a similar feeling while watching Sidonia, but there’s no hints, no real exploration of the Gauna besides some history lessons and scientific research.

In that regard, the drama that plays out in Attack on Titan is more multi-dimensional. Although I think that with its longer first season and well explored universe, it was actually a little better than Sidonia, I liked the futuristic space show more. On that note and before some discussion on the production, it’s time for the rating. With its quick 12 episodes, nicely paced action and exposition, I’ll be giving the never-a-boring-moment Knights of Sidonia a 4.5 out of 5 on my Kitsune Scale.

I read reviews, comments, blogs, forums — you name it — and a good number of people seem to dislike the computer generated animation seen in this series. They’re crazy and I’ll explain why. They’re like the same people who think that music on vinyl records sound better than digital, or that shooting films on actual analog film and then converting it into digital film for editing, is somehow better than shooting it digital to begin with.

I hate to break if to you guys, but as computers continue to become more powerful and as users continue to master rendering-type software at younger and younger ages, computer generated anime will one day be the norm. And, studios and directors that prefer hand-drawn anime, will pay more for materials and pay higher salaries for capable artists, because everything in 10-20 years will be done on the computer.

I’m actually an old guy, so I don’t know why I’m more flexible with the design choice inSidonia. Scratch that, I do know why. It’s because I don’t take anime seriously in the first place. I do to certain degree obviously, I consume a ton of it, write about it and take great enjoyment from doing so. But it’s still entertainment.

So, when one of my friends told me they couldn’t get past the CG and how all the characters looked the same, I had to smile, because this is the same person who enjoys every silly loli-based harem style anime ever made. You ever see the shitty character designs on these shows? If you’re watching anime, but a certain style of animation will get in the way of actual story content, you should stop watching anime and take up another hobby. Snob.

Not only was the animation in Sidonia adequate all the time, but was superior at other times. All the action sequences, ship modeling designs, including interiors and monitors, were a visual treat on the eyes. Along with great opening and ending songs, matching the serious nature of the show, the production was top notch.

If I had to nitpick at all, I would start with the 12 episode length of the series. There was always a feeling, with the quick-pacing, that it was a little too quick. That the show was playing catch-up to the source material. Nagate, as a main character is a little cringe-worthy to be honest, but he was isolated from everyone, even carrying the moniker, “Mole Man.”

That’s really it. I loved the show, and each week looked forward to it with building anticipation. I look forward to watching season 2 and I hope you’ll all be watching it with me. Well, not actually with me here, that could weird. You know what? Come on over, anything for my space bros. Special thanks to Underwater Subs for providing quality translation all season.