Soukyuu no Fafner - Dead Aggressor

Specky · Last edited by Specky on Wed Jul 07, 2004 2:53 am; edited 1 time in total

Anime-Source's Soukyuu no Fafner's Synopsis & Reviews

<Warning: the following is coming from the fingers of a fairly die-hard Xebec fan-boy. Reading the folowing knowing that may clear things up a little...>

Finally got some times to pop in the raws and give the first few ep. a spin.

I've been missing out on my giant robo fix since Gundam SEED ended (and missed the Big O 2 due to being in Japan while the DVD's release state-side..) so I am happy to have another giant robot clunking around my anime viewing time.

On top of that I must admit I do think the design for the Fafnir is pretty slick. It is far enough off the beaten Gundam path (Especially the head) and incorperates the Eva torso and from the looks of the OP animation some of the detachable arm weapons along the lines of some of the older classic robots as well. Maybe not the most original (I still give that one to King Gainer) but still pretty slick looking.

As for the plot, I wouldn't say it is anything original either, though the way the story and mechanics work I think it throws enough of a twist on things to hold me over until they actually have time to start digging into the background of what is going on.

The angela songs are pretty good as well, though this is coming from a guy with a signed angela folder and sports towel adorning his walls... ^^;

The OP (Once you get to ep. 2) is pretty nice but I think the second end is trying to be a little too much like the first Gundam SEED ED (Though the art desn't help either) ^^; Aside from not being able to kick that thought it isn't too bad if you enjoy angela's pervious stuff.

I think I have found my giant robo anime for 2004. Here's to hoping it stays interesting.
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Mamonaku, san-bansen ni densha ga mairimasu. Kiiro sen no uchigawa ni sagatte omachikudasai.

Yebyosh · Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 9:17 pm Post subject:

Having watched the first two episodes left me with mixed feelings about this series.

The goods:
The anime crew is able to come up with some very good pieces of animation. Unfortunately there is only one but it left a deep impression on me. When Kazuki was leaving his home in ep1, the viewpoint switched to looking at the picture of the young him and his mother. The panning around the picture was very fluid and outstanding. I had hoped that there'll be other displays of equal capability or better, unfortunately not in the first two episodes. Hopefully it'll be more in the following episodes.

The bads:
The lines below the eyes are somehow disturbing to me... Perhaps its their effect that makes me feel the character designs seem out of place with the whole background graphics, like as if the characters are in one dimension while the rest of the world is in another (they don't mesh well). Quite distracting.

Personally I feel the seiyu for Kazuki does not fit his appearance. Not really sure why, just an irrational emotion perhaps. But when he speaks, it felt kinda weird for me...

Too much similarity with Evangelion. There's simply too much of it that one cannot help but compare it with Eva. The first two episodes' plots, backgrounds & scenes were just too similar. It felt like a plain copycat. Perhaps they are going with what Eva could have been if Eva took the pure action route. But as it is, this could change with future episodes (they could evolve it to something more). Right now, it simply smacks too much to make it a unique experience for those that had watched Eva or Raxhephon even.

Neutrals:
There are references to the opera "The Ring of the Niberlung" as expected from the title. Besides the names, Fafner's hand/lower arm interface is operated through the use of 5 rings in each limb. The island itself looks like a hand or a 5-toed dragon's footprint. Who knows what else they'll try to put into the anime. If done properly, this could turn it into something interesting.

Overall, I'm not too impressed over the first two episodes. But there's still plenty more to form a more solid opinion over this...

darkhunger · Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 9:38 pm Post subject:

Yeah, I can't help but think of Eva and Rah (and in some ways, Brain Powered) when watching this to. But yeah I have to agree that the directing is top notch, especially that crazy panning camera effect in the beginning of Ep 1. So far I am definitely looking for more, but hopefully it can diverge from that Eva path soon.

Bedlam66 · Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 10:04 pm Post subject:

I'll hold my opion for a few more eps but yebyosh hit on something that was bugging me and I couldn't figure it out. The chars do seem out of place like they don't belong in the scene and someone just pasted them into the anime for effect.

Yebyosh · Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2004 2:13 am Post subject:

Added a synopsis to our database for this series. Anyone else still watching this Eva/Gundam hybrid clone?

It is up to Ep4 but so far I still cannot get the Eva-similarities out of my head for this (up to ep3).

darkhunger · Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2004 6:07 pm Post subject:

Well actually, now that I've seen more of it, I have to say that it's not that much like Eva, other than the dark storyline. The plotlines are more on the lines of typical super robot (and some real robot) elements that this and Eva both borrowed. The whole "secret base fighting monsters" thing is pretty much a Super Robot plotline that by no means make Fafner an Eva ripoff, and many other plot elements (gathering young pilots to be able to use these robots, getting them to sync with the robots, etc.) are all plot elements that did NOT originate with Eva but with the Super Robot genre in general.

So nope, this is definitely NOT an Eva "ripoff", and the comparison with Gundam is even worse. I'd say that like Eva and the first Gundam, this is another Super Robot show with a dark twist.

Yebyosh · Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2004 9:56 pm Post subject:

True that Eva wasn't an original creation on its own but when I meant that it is "like Eva", I meant the execution of it for the most of it.

They have the whole island transforming into a battlestation imagery perfectly mirroring New Tokyo's transformation. That with the dispatching of weapons through external structures, again reminiscent of Evas. The entire episode 1 can be construed as early episodes of Eva condensed into one from the ways things are set up. Then we have the "mysterious" being buried deep inside the base (a variation of the "mysterious" crew member/staff) which is executed in Eva. The assimilation process by the Festum which seems to involve piercing through a shield to grow crystals (similar to breaking through ATFs). Then the us vs aliens vs other humans angle. Just too many coincidences that make up one overall image.*shrug*

It is not as similar to Gundam's storyline but weaponry wise, we got the knock-offs in one variant or other.

darkhunger · Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2004 3:11 pm Post subject:

AlDim · Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2004 5:24 pm Post subject:

Oh, boy... Yet another painfully cliched mecha show Rolling Eyes

I won't even get started with this one.

p.s. I don't think it really matters whether this is an Eva ripoff or not. Its ideas are still not its own. Though I guess most mecha is like that; there's no point in bitching about yet another one...

darkhunger · Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2004 8:13 pm Post subject:

atikiN · Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 11:23 pm Post subject:

Don't overlook this series guys. I just watched ep 14 and I must say, it's getting very interesting.

atikiN · Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 11:09 pm Post subject:

Is anyone else watching this besides me?

Yebyosh · Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 11:38 pm Post subject:

I am still having flashbacks of all other mecha shows while watching this series' current episodes ( 16 raw recently ) Laughing

atikiN · Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 4:36 pm Post subject:

I kinda like where this whole brother/sister thing is going. i don't think that's been done yet and I hope it will playa major role in the second half of the series.

Also, when you first started watching this, did any one else think that Kira and the Archangel Captain from GSeed got cast in this anime ^^. (It would explain why they're not in the new Gseed series Wink

)

Yebyosh · Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 8:08 pm Post subject: