sethjohnson

Fractale is the first good Science Fiction anime I have seen in quite a while.  I expect the story to eventually tank, or disappoint me in some major way, because that is the general destiny of high-minded SF anime, but so far it's maintaining a good balance of tone that is really impressive.

A lot of anime go for the bait-and-switch tactic on their tone (see Mai HiME, Trigun) to lend gravitas to their later developments; this is a tactic I find entertaining, but a tad lazy.  Fractale has instead interlaced a generally cheery atmosphere (lots of big beautiful outdoor shots, doing laundry on the open deck of the airship, etc) with really horrible things, which the main character seems to actively ignore as much as he can.  This contrast is nicely un-explicit (they're not beating you over the head with it), but I believe it is very intentional, since the SF-theme of the show is a decaying virtual reality.

So far I think Fractale is oozing with potential to strike a vibrant thematic middle ground somewhere among Laputa, Haibane Renmei, and Dennou Coil.  It's overly optimistic to expect it to stay there, but a man can dream.