Sousei no Aquarion - First Impressions
I just went through the first few episodes (seven episodes, to be exact) of Sousei no Aquarion today, and wanted to share my first impressions of the series. I’m sure quite a number of you have already watched it, but bear with me.
Sousei no Aquarion brings with it a post-apocalyptic background, where much of the human race was destroyed in a disaster - causing the Shadow (or Fallen) Angels to resurface from their destruction 12,000 years back. These Shadow Angels are powerful winged beings that send Mythical Beasts (a.k.a. Cherubim Soldiers) into human cities to “harvest” humans - or more specifically, their Prana (breath of life or life energy).
It is in this backdrop that the Machine Angel Aquarion - a three-part mecha - exists, piloted by those with Element abilities (special powers like telekenesis). Just like in Ultraman, Aquarion is used to defeat the Mythical Beasts - one beast per episode. But Sousei no Aquarion does have an underlying plot - about the ancient civilization of Atlantis, reincarnated warriors that now fight as Aquarion’s pilots and the mystery surrounding the Shadow Angels.
Now, so far, I love the soundtrack and the initial seriousness of the show. Character and mecha designs are good. Production values are high. I also love the fact that I currently absolutely detest our hero of the story, Apollo - the brutish and unsightly reincarnation of the legendary hero, Solar Wing. But then SnA started getting cheeesy on me, absolutely cheesy. Try these and tell me what you think:
- Episode 7: Jealousy is the voice that calls for the spirit shard. So it calls energy. Jealousy is energy? Live by embracing it, Aquarion!
- Episode 6: Sirius, the arrow of the heart can reach. If you heart’s arrow pierced my heart, back then…
- Episode 5: Humans are like crescent moons. But if you join the pieces together, it will become a round moon. A full moon. By pouring in the shard of the moon mising in each of us, we bury the darkness of the heart.
Almost every episode has one of these cheesy moments (also called “the lesson of the week” over at Random Curiosity) and most of them are initiated by the Commander. But what I really lurrrvvvv (Damn, I hope that sounded sarcastic) about the Commander’s lines is this:
But I guess all this was due to my over-high expectations for the series, or perhaps it was just me misreading what kind of series this was supposed to be. If I had read the SnA episode summaries by other bloggers (e.g. tokyojupiter.blog and Random Curiosity) first, I would have realised that SnA wasn’t meant to be serious - at least in the beginning.
P.S.: Now, I found these just a little uhmm… unusual:
P.S. 2: Or am I alone on this one?
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This entry was posted on Friday, February 17th, 2006 at 10:53 am and is filed under Anime Reviews, Sousei no Aquarion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
February 17th, 2006 13:06
you found that aquarion was strange when they “unite”?
it’s make me remember goddanar, for this kind of moment.
February 17th, 2006 14:33
You are certainly not alone in find SnA cheesy. Just looking at the transformation sequence picture gives me goose bumps. Poorly disguised fanservice in a mecha series is plain disgusting.
What a shame Yoko Kanno’s fantastic music is used to complement such terrible series.
February 17th, 2006 15:24
hmm. Well not that I always take the opinions of others, and use that to decide myself, but I feel ill take your words as my own. I was going to get around to watching SnA, but now I think I wont.
February 17th, 2006 21:15
gatsu: it’s not really the act of uniting that seemed cheesy to me. It was the way the Commander shouted that really got to me. Then there was the ahmm… orgasm-type sequences when you actually unite, plus other equally cheesy moments by the other characters. Of course, if you take it as humor, then it’s all fine.
Rainy: Lol, disgusting might be a little strong. I still think there’s potential to the series and will continue watching it - though at a much, much slower pace then I started. I’m kind of tempted to read ep. summaries at Random Curiosity to find out how it turns out later, but nah… not yet.
nimvus: You should probably try a few eps and see how it goes. That is, if you don’t have other better series to watch at the moment.
October 15th, 2006 23:52
I am not an anime fan but I am laughing over the pics.
October 17th, 2006 10:26
Sallt: Lol. Thta’s good.
November 28th, 2006 18:58
not bad . not great .but silvia is hot
July 17th, 2007 09:50
where can i watch this anime series?
August 7th, 2007 22:40
# Bercoxx
November 28th, 2006 18:58
7
not bad . not great .but silvia is hot
hmmmm…better have your head checked
July 6th, 2008 23:55
haha…this series is awesome simply because there are moments when it makes fun of itself. Like with the whole uniting/orgasm thing. They actually make references between that and sex many times…and it’s hilarious. I don’t know, I found this anime thoroughly enjoyable.