Tatsumiyajima is the central island in the middle of a small cluster of islands, in a sleepy backwater of the Japanese isles. Not much happens there, and the island's young people go to school knowing that their lives are likely to remain peaceful and undisturbed. Or so they have been taught... but the truth is different. The fate of mankind is on the line, and Tatsumiyajima is the last line of defense against a hostile and incomprehensible enemy. At the center of it all, fighting for Humanity's continued existence, is the giant robot Fafner, the dragon that guards this final treasure of mankind.
(Source: ANN)
Nenhum episódio encontrado.
Comentários
KaminaKai
This review is based on 4 rewatches of the anime in 2 years. So I hope this will be as unbiased as possible. As a long time Xebec fan, I must say this is by FAR the best mecha anime they've produced to date. Now I shall try to break it down to different components. Story: The story began with a paradise-like environment, but it quickly turned into a scene of chaotic desperateness. With tons of downhill battles to begin the story, it certainly illustrates how desperate the situation is for the protagonists (and the small group of humans living on that remote island). For amecha anime, it is not very common to start the story the way Fafner did.
Art: The animation is directed by the same guy whose responsible for Gundam SEED and Destiny. So it is only natural that people see similarities between characters (for example, I find Kazuki very much like Shinn). With that being said, I find it a bit lacking in originality so minus 1!
Sound: Absolutely stunning. The battle music is very unique and alive! I especially love the drum beat. The OP and ED are by Angela (who sang FFXII's opening).
Character: Most character development occurred during the 2nd half of the anime (when things become less gloomy), which was a good thing because there was no room in the first half to fit those in with all the intense battles and basic background storying telling. Again minus -1 for some unoriginal character design.
Enjoyment + Overall: Although it was hardly advertised (ie. lack of media attention), Fafner's success was undeniable. Just ask yourself this, how many anime (or how many anime done by Xebec to be more precise) actually got a prequel/sequel to further expand on the story? Well Fafner is one of those! With a touching story that can make even the toughest man cry a river, this anime is definitely one of the "emo-est" show ever!
kazue
I will agree with one of my club members regarding this anime. It is underrated as a series. I've watch this anime 1 year ago but I'll do my best to write the review about it. Story: The story has a nice flow. Like all mecha series, it got fantastic mechas with specialized specification for each mechas, skills training and conflict between characters, powerful enemies and realiable reason(s) for fighting. Not to mention 'best friend theme' where we can find alot in other anime is also included.The start of this anime which shows peaceful school days for main characters, Kazuki and his friend make a nice twistwhen the secret of the island and the reason the island is the last line of defense is exposed. As we goes more into the episodes, more secret/mystery will be reveal. I guess that was attracted me the most. The anticipation of 'what's more' and hard to guess 'what next'.
Art and Sound:
I have no comment on the arts and sound due to my limited knowledge. But I would say, the arts and sound is good, really helping in making you enjoying the stories.
Character:
All the characters are well made. The relations between the characters are well explained and there's nice development of characters along the series. What interested me the most is, how fair development of characters is given to all cast, not only focusing on the main characters. You will also noticed the variation of attitudes and issues between the casts is brought up in the series.
Overall , I enjoy the series. It's one of the series where I can't put down until I finished it. And I would love to have a rewatch of this anime *if only my sis will return it to me rite nw*. The only reason the anime didn't get a full 10 from me is due to ending which left me a little unsatisfied/sad. But it's the matter of opinion. But really, it's only the last part that I'll leave it to your opinon, the rest of the anime is great!!.
TheLlama
Sokyuu no Fafner is an anime of the good old Evangelion school; a postapocalyptic setting where mankind faces annihalation at the hands of a mystic supernatural species, a band of mentally depraved kids as this world's saviours, and a plot with what is, at times, fairly cryptical content. Whether or not it does it well is hard to say however; it has its strengts but also its distinct weaknesses. The series start off quite calmly on your average tropical Japanese island, where a group of kids are attending school as if life was nothing unusual. However, soon a Festum (the series' supernatural/extraterrestrial race) attacks the island,and it is not long before it is revealed that the island is in fact a moving fortress, and the last remnants of a Japan annihalated in the human-Festum war. Also, these kids, with Makabe Kazuki as the lead acre, are revealed to be the only characters capable of piloting a series of robots known as the Fafner - and thus mankind's main hope for survival.
From here the plot accelerates, slowly, but steadily. It tends to stumble at points, and it, like many mecha series of its kind, has all these weird concepts and technologies, many of which are hardly, if even, explained. A pill you have to learn to swallow, I guess. The pacing is generally good, though, taking time to relax and develop the characters inbetween the more action-filled sequences.
Unfortunately, it suffers from the "frequently not making sense" syndrome, and from time to time characters say absolutely nonsensical things, or explain concepts in such a manner; I can only assume this is an attmept to be deep and mysterious gone slightly awry.
Its charcaters are a mixed bunch; your average cast of mentally depraved teenagers; most of them having troubles with depressing pasts, extreme self-confidence issues or other such negatively laden emotions and experiences. They're handled respectably, for the most part, and some of their stories are quite fresh and almost touching. Some, however, fall short of the stereotype treshold both in concept and execution, while others are victims of the "repetitive gag" syndrome, and one or two at least are victims of "not making sense" syndrome.
As a whole however, both the characters' conflicts and the plot made me want to keep watching, made me wonder how it would end up in the end. Was I satisfied? Yes, and no. There's no top marks, but it certainly wasn't bad.
The series' soundtrack is very often absent, or quiet - which can be efficacious at times, but at other times I feel it works against it purpose. When there is music, it's generally good; a few outstanding tracks and a lot of generic ones; especially towards the end of the series there are a few very good themes that are used. The opening and ending themes are performed by angela, a band whose msuic I love more and more by the minute. Their vocalist has an amazing voice, making the themes are a true pleasure to listen to! Voice acting is generally solid, with a few outliers in both directions - as with the rest of the show, it is generalyl not mad, but not outstanding either.
Animation-wise, the series tend to be, at times, quite iffy, especially when it comes to character designs and facial reactions. The mecha are animated well and the battles are entertaining to watch. The colouring is a bit bland, but is remedied by good work in the lighting and shading departments.
Thematically it touches upon many subjects that its genre brethren touches upon. Death, and existence. Individuality, and life. The Festum have a habit of asking the seemingly insignificant question "are you there?" - a question with a more metaphysical implication than one would think at first. Can you truly be said to live, to be here, if you have no reason for living? If life holds no intrinsical value for you?
Summarized, I'd say that Fafner is a solid series. It's nothing outstanding, nothing extremely great, and there are mecha series of its kind that are better - but it was enjoyable. The series finale was good. The soundtrack was as dramatic as it needed to be. It had its distinct detracting elements, but nothing you can't swallow and see past, resulting in a fairly enjoyable experience.
slpless
The beginning of Fafner was quite confusing as it went straight to the action. Going straight into the action is often never a good idea since it’ll leave the viewers confused. Now if this were only the first episode and the second episode takes place a few months earlier then it would work. Gungrave, Berserk, and the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya used this technique. Haruhi used it quite effectively as it made more viewers come back for the 2nd episode to figure out what was going on. I guess my biggest problem is the fact that the action was relentlessfor around 9 episodes and they tried to create drama in that time frame. This is simply not possible with out proper character development/knowing the characters. For example, a certain character dies and they make it quite a big event and extremely dramatic. However, this character was only a step above some random faceless character. If this series were 50 episodes then I can under stand the pacing but it was only 25 episodes. It’s as if the creators realized that Fafner wasn’t popular enough to make into 50 episodes and cut their losses.
Around half way through the series, Fafner starts to slow down. Here things got better as there was proper character building and story progression. Now when drama hits it can actually affect the viewer. Sadly this happened way too late in a 25 episode series as there was quite a bit of potential in the Fafner universe. Thankfully, Fafner does save itself by creating a satisfying conclusion, albeit a bit rushed. I also felt that Fafner could have improved its ending by providing some kind of epilogue.
Music was one of Fafner’s better qualities, especially the OP/ED. Also, the character designs were the same as Gundam SEED so it quite hard not to make comparisons. However, in terms of animation quality Fafner compares quite favorably. So while the beginning went straight to the action and was a bit confusing it was nevertheless pretty. If you’re a mecha fan then its almost worth watching just for the action scenes. As far as I recall Fafner doesn’t use repeated animation sequences, one of my pet peeves.
Fafner is a fairly entertaining mecha anime, especially for mecha fans. It features good animation and very good music. However, Fafner didn’t provide anything exceptional and doesn’t rise above the pack of mecha anime. In addition, it was severally hurt by inappropriate pacing for a 25 episode series. It is quite sad to see so much wasted potential. Finally a proper epilogue would have greatly benefited the series.
Duskrados
Important: Forgive my english please. As a french person it's not always very easy for me. It's been awhile since I didn't not rewatch this serie and I should do so. This anime is one of my favorite anime of all time for now and I doubt that one day it will dropped from my top ten. I'm doing this review by trying to covince the more people to watch this awesome serie. Story: Incredible!! It was so well built that when I watch it I was like: EH!!It could happen one day in a not so far future. There's no cliché except for the first episodewhen Kazuki became the pilot of the Fafner Mark Elf because, currently, is the only one who can do this. Wait... this isn't even a cliché... it's an anime law come to think of it. At the beginning, you may look at this and say: well... it's like kira yamato. He will fight to protect his friends. Fortunately, this is not what will happen, since all of Kazuki's friends will fight one day. People sometime made comparison between Fafner and Evangelion. Yeah... maybe sometime... but I like Faner more than Evangelion (the anime of Evagelion is a little bit disappointing, but the manga is really good). Also some people complain that the show is slow and the battles are boring. Do not forget, there's a lot of character development in that show and I disagree for the battles, there's no stock animation like *cough*Seed Destiny*cough* and they are very thrilling. And the final, just completely amazing and outstanding!!
So for the story: 10/10 (just awesome).
Art: Again, you have Hisashi Hirai doing a lot of characters that we might have seen in his others series. For example: Kazuki is a mix of Shinn Asuka and Athrun Zala in my opinion (not in personnality fortunately). My point is, if you like Hisashi's design like me, you're gonna fall in love with the characters. The mecha are also really special. Like Code Geass, there are really different from the other shows you might have seen. By the way they look, they seem to have no "face". A head but no face. You know what... there a really cool and I can't understand people saying they look like EVA. They are really different.
Art: 9/10
Sound: This is one of the best soundtrack I ever heard. The choice of instruments are excellent. It fits perfectly with the action and the calm moments. Also, I'm a big fan of Angela's opening and I will say that it's probably my favorite opening of all show that I watched until now.
Sound: 9/10
Character: This is where Fafner gets, in my opinion, 12/10. The characters are very enjoyable and interresting, but they put also some "cliché" in their personality. Do you need to care about this cliché, NO!! By the way it's handle, there's no problem with the characters personnality, because there just to lovable. You have your main character who is really calm and happy with is life at the beginning, but want to end all the terror once he gets into the fight. You have the girl who seem not worthy enough to pilot a mecha, but at the end, is one of the best pilot they could get. You have the guy who hate to fight and doesn't want to be involved. The guy who is scare about the battle, the guy who doesn't give a crap about the pilot, but cares about the Fafner, the little girl who is sick and can't do anything, the girl who wants to become a pilot to avenge her father's death and the guy who wants to fight with a giant robot. But all of them will change during this serie (some of them will die during the show) and this is what is really the best about this anime.
Character: 12/10 (I don't care if the limite is ten).
Enjoyment: In 2 episodes, I became impossible to stop. I watched the serie in 3 days and was really amaze by this show that handle the story and the characters like no one does.
Enjoyment: 10/10
Overall: I won't say it's the best show of all time, since I didn't watch necessarily a lot of anime, but I know how to determine what is a really good show. Watch it, you won't be deceived!!
Overall: 10/10 OUTSTANDING!!!!!!
Wyvern
The Festum are attacking, and this time it's Kazuki who is supposed to ride the Fafner, a gigantic robot, designed to save the island, that the remaining japanese call their home. Soukyuu no Fafner is so much more than just one of thoose Mecha-series. It has a wonderful animation, music and the best characters. It made me laugh, made me cry, and sometimes it was to exiting I couldn't breath. The characters are wonderful, and I think they make this anime so great! The story was a little complicated for me, but still it was good. I loved the one-hour-last-episode. I remembered I was squeesingmy pillow extra hard during that time.
Rogueleader17
I have watched many mecha series over the years and I have to say Fafner is a solid series but is far from original. The story was alright with some similarity to Evangelion and Raxephon. I would recommend Fafner to anyone who enjoyed either of those. I thought the art style was pretty well done, and found some of the plot points and characterization was pretty unique and interesting.
JackCox
Fafner is an anime rife with symbolism, it is a mecha anime somewhat in the vain of Neon Genesis Evangelion. In fact most of this anime reminded me of Evangelion, down to the music and most of the mood of this show, except the one thing that separates it from Evangelion is the fact that it manages to stay optimistic throughout most of the series. Story: It takes a couple episodes to get off the ground but I think Episode 6 is when the series really changes things up, you will see a lot of characters perish throughout the course of this series, but in this episodethere is an emotional shock that really changes the tone of the series and from there you start to realize what kind of a world this place is. In fact what is most interesting is that for many of the battles the pilots are almost helpless against the Festum and they only barely manage to escape with their lives.
Art:
The Animation for this show for it's time is great, now granted it is only 5 years old, it's pretty standard animation, The Battle Scenes are the biggest key in this series and for the most part they succeed.
Sound:
The Music in this series is it's biggest strength, Tsuneyoshi Saito and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra do a beautiful job on the music, of note is the main battle theme "Opening of Nightmare's Gate" which really gets you into the moment the second it starts. As for the Opening and Closing, they are handled by the great Japanese Pop Duo of angela, atsuko (the lead singer) does a phenomenal job on the vocals for both the opening and closing, the closing theme song of this show not to mention the ending animation that accompanies it are among the highlights. I cannot say enough good things about the music for this series, it is definitely within the Top 10 of anime television series scores.
Character:
Tow Ubukata who wrote this series and has written Heroic Age, Le Chevalier d'Eon, Mardock Scramble always manages to make his characters written very realistically, he tries his hardest to ensure that the characters are not predictable and frankly there are not many stereotypical anime characters in this show. But I think Ubukata's greatest character writing comes in the creation of the enemy force known as the Festum, Ubukata manages to give you bits and pieces of information about what the Festum are really about, you eventually come to see that the Festum are not exactly evil in nature but basically are shaped by another reason entirely, one that I cannot give away for risk of spoiling it.
Enjoyment:
This is not a series that is enjoyable per-say, like I enjoy the story-line and learning about the characters through-each episodes but in some ways, this series is bitter-sweet, it's not a happy and not a sad series, you feel somewhat unsatisfied after the ending of it, as of this writing, I have not seen the Fafner Movie but i will probably get around to it and the maybe my feeling of the overall Franchise will change.
Overall:
Fafner is in someways a different kind of a Mecha series, but it does fall within the range of what I call an Emotional Mecha series, it has melodrama, ethical questions and an enemy that does not understand humanity.
miki_sei
Soukyuu no Fafner is an anime full of good ideas that could have been even better with some adjustments here and there. The world of Fafner combines elements of Evangelion (Festum = Angels), Gundam (teenage pilots and "real robot" action), and even Star Wars (Mir = The Force) to create an original flavor. Shades of Huxley's "Brave New World" can be seen in the too-idyllic Tatsumiyajima setting, and the characters themselves spend a lot of time absorbed in philosophical thoughts and arguments. Unfortunately, the plot isn't quite as unique as the setting, and it's a little slow to develop - but in the second halfof the series, the plot picks up and the revelations and mecha action come fast and furious.
Artwork and sound are fine, neither excellent nor terrible. The Fafner mecha, with their twisted torsoes and lanky limbs, are a little strange to look at (and we don't get enough good looks at them), but at least the artists dared to be different. I think Hisashi Hirai's character designs are fine, but I'm not sure that everyone feels the same way.
The characters are where Fafner falls a little flat. The supporting cast, though large, is quirky and likeable, but most of them are doomed to die, and only one of their deaths (very early on) really made me feel anything. That particular death, however, is handled very well and brings up another strength - the chemistry among the entire cast is very good, and it's easy to believe that these people are friends, family, and comrades who mean something to each other. However, the main characters - Kazuki and Soushi - come off as bland and unmotivated to me, and Commander Makabe may be the most unqualified and uninspiring commander in all of mecha anime.
That said, Fafner is more than the sum of its parts. The final episodes of the series that tie everything together really deliver, and made me feel like it was worth it to watch that far. If the main characters had shown more personality, and some information that was necessary for understanding the world the characters lived in had been shared earlier, I think Fafner would have been even more engaging. If you need a less-mainstream anime to satisfy your mecha cravings, or if you're feeling a little philosophical, then try Fafner - you'll probably enjoy it.
ggultra2764
Let me make one thing clear with Fafner in that the series isn't gonna win any awards in originality considering the number of cliches and plot setups in the mecha genre it pulls from teens forced into fighting an alien threat to the mental anguish faced by said teens as they are faced with the reality of war. If you're approaching the series to expect anything different from the mecha genre, don't waste your time watching this as going with this mentality led me to drop Fafner two years ago due to my disappointment with its unoriginality. But if you're approaching the series for anengaging plot while knowing it's not gonna be offering much new, then Fafner offers up solid, yet flawed, engagement to look forward to in its 26-episode run.
The main draw to the series comes in the form of the teens involved in the battle with the Festum alien threat. The series slowly builds up in revealing the major elements of its plot and how they come to affect the teens who get forced into the conflict with the Festum. Some shocking secrets regarding the true nature of the island home that Kazuki and his friends live on and the purpose of their upbringing on said island come to affect Kazuki and several of his friends throughout the course of the series. Each of the characters have their differing levels of growth and development that come about as a result of these revelations throughout the course of the series. They are also impacted by the realities of war and the nature of their upbringing as the series isn't afraid to make its major characters go through large amounts of suffering or even kill them off. This does result in the series dipping into melodramatics with the characters at a number of points as they angst over their situation. But the series knows when to show a level of restraint with pushing its drama in most instances where it doesn't get too overbearing.
Other elements of the series are a bit of a mixed bag. There's an element to the series focused around tensions between the islanders and the Neo U.N. resistance faction, which the series tries to play up for drama to show their different mentalities of approaching the Festum threat and treatment of those in their factions. But other than Canon's developments, this story element is a bit subpar and didn't feel too significant for me due to the lack of focus on the Neo U.N. The show also gets a bit too heavy at points with dipping into its Norse mythology nods and techno-jargon where the former has no symbolic relevance other than "rule of cool" and the latter can get convoluted to keep up with. While the Festum do get their focus with exploring their motivations, the series never does bother exploring their origins nor much of the past history of how events in Fafner had started thanks to the Festum threat. Also, this series may get too overwhelming with its serious mood for some folks as there aren't many breathers in the drama for one to get a break from the show's serious developments.
On the visual end, Fafner is standard in its quality for a mid-2000s title featuring subdued color tones to accompany its serious mood and a decent amount of detail added to the designs of characters, mecha and scenery. Scenery shots are great on the eyes featuring different parts of the island in gorgeous detail, but character designs are typical for an anime series and the Fafner units aren't too pleasing on the eyes compared to the various Festum they fight. The show has its moments of great battle sequences when the Festum threat begins to intensify in later episodes and multiple Fafner units get dragged into the fight, but doesn't stick out too greatly compared to other shows airing at the time like Gungrave and Hell Girl.
Overall, Fafner does deliver a somewhat solid story with its focus on Kazuki and others as they struggle with learning shocking secrets and making life-or-death decisions as they become further immersed in the war with the Festum. While having its issues and not really breaking the mold for the mecha genre, it is still a decent watch if you can look past the cliches and frequent melodrama that are packed into Fafner.
DarkRavie
Fafner is the story of a paradise island called Tatsumiya and its people who have managed to stay hidden from the alien attackers called Festum. With the help of the island's teenagers who are able to pilot the Fafners, the military send them out to fight the Festum. My thoughts: I truly enjoyed watching Fafner. The animation is superb, the music is engaging (doesn't put you to sleep) and the storyline is very good. I like mecha type anime and this one had it all. Hints of romance, action, friendships, sorrow, acceptance...So many emotions in this anime and well worth watching. I certainly recommendit for all the mecha lovers out there.
theGodde
Soukyuu no Fafner, the Evangelion clone that found its own identity. This isn't an easy show to recommend. The first few episodes are some of the most generic, melodramatic, convoluted and poorly paced mecha I've ever witnessed. You are thrown right into the deep end with no real context. None of the characters are properly introduced and it tries to introduce all of them at the same time. The first 2/3 episodes are also incredibly heavy with elements lifted from Evangelion. There's invading aliens with cores that explode when damaged, there's mechas that are designed specifically to sync to certain pilots, there's an island witha shadowy organisation that fights the aliens. There's a main protagonist that doesn't wanna pilot the mecha. But as time goes on the show starts to develop an identity of its own.
That said the show remains melodramatic for much of the early episodes. Small emotional moments are treated with the same gravitas as heartrending scenes, and so when emotionally significant things do happen it just doesn't feel as impactful. The show is ridiculous, nonsensical, and constantly throwing technobabble that you can't comprehend. Adding layer upon layer of new information onto the nonsense that you're already hung up on.
However it makes a turnaround in episode 13. Finally the general premise is fully explained. The mysterious island's origin and the nature of the main villains are made clear. Characters start dying and the remaining cast is properly fleshed out. The characters grow and evolve with compelling arcs that make them likeable and interesting. The rest of the show past ep 13 is a blast. It's just a decent and unique mecha.
For this reason I would say that if you are willing to sit through 12 episodes of cringe to get to a good show, then this is worth it. But if you want just to watch a good mecha, then it's probably worth looking elsewhere. The highs of Fafner aren't high enough to justify the long slog through it.
There are some really good themes explored in Fafner as well. The theme of empathy and learning to understand other people through the perspective of an alien race that doesn't comprehend concepts like life and death or individuality was fascinating. The show also explores the impact of child soldiers in a unique and interesting way. There are many other fascinating themes, in fact I'd say there might actually be too many.
The art is pretty dated at this point. It was never particularly impressive even when it came out. The character designs are awful and the entire teenage cast is almost impossible to distinguish from one another earlier on. There are around 3 brunettes throughout the show who I consistently got mixed up because they all look identical but with different hairstyles. The Festum are all the same gold colour and they get a bit visually bland after a while. Evangelion had a unique Angel design for every single new encounter, and I think Fafner could have definitely used some more variety for their festums.
The sound design is ok. The intro really channels that obnoxious melodrama from the earlier episodes but I liked the outro. This show also uses that stock imovie dramatic sound effect before that got licensed and gained its reputation as a staple in $0 budget filmmaking. Suffice to say it didn't age well.
Overall the later parts of the story are an 8/10 but the earlier stuff is well below 5/10 material. If you're thinking of watching, keep this in mind. This show has spawned a small franchise from it - several movies and successive seasons. So if the rest of it is as good as this last half, then it might be worth going through the slog to get to the 17 years worth of quality sequels.
Godslayer27
This is by all means an spiritual succesor of evangelion not only on themes but many elements presents on this series resemble on more or less degree to the aformentioned though still is his own thing as a whole. With more than 20 years on his back since aired soukyu no fafner is a anime of mechas, drama and sci-fi that touches a lot of existencial themes with a pacing that is falling to the side of being slow (at least that is what most poeple are gonna feel watching it although wasnt a problem to me) accompained of LOT of drama, it takes his timedeveloping the characters and their respective struggles but still manage to allow the action to happen more than enough.
Like i said it puts a lot of enfasis on the characters and all the background story revolving about the world which is one of the reason why the begining might feel it like its drag down if you are not used to this kind of pacing and anime of this nature, is very dark, gloomy and oppresive the atmosphere after just the firts episodes, the way how portray the situations and show to the spectator how desperly situation humanity is facing are very good executed, of course that i feel the drama by itseflt also helps a lot when so many dialogs and conversations take place along the series with heavy-tone themes.
Around the second half of the series is where things puts on motion and things start to move faster, most of the story happen on this island-fortress and even if the plot overall is not overly complicated it can result kinda confusing or you might not undertand everything, having to rewatch some moments on certain episodes because has this terminology and somekind of intricate way to narrate some lore of the plot which is not bad at all but also some dialogs like when this scientific (Akane Makabe) talks the shit starts to get serious XD with all this theories and logic explanations.
The only criticism would be one on the early moments of the series with Shouko Hazama which the event wasnt a problem but i feel was handle kinda mehh and the weight although had a huge impact on the rest of the cast also was delivered in a questionable way.
I cant not mention the ost of this series which is GOLD, all the tracks are lit with many cclasical pieces that are beautiful and melancolics and others are so epic it just makes all the experience so much better and the op and end also are freaking good with our dear angela for the vocals that when you reach the last episodes hits you really hard when starts to sound that ending.
Animation wise was okay not bad neither really good, on design i really like how the characters looked having the vibe of that era (early 2000).
Its a shame that most poeple dont know about this anime even after all this years, i hope that those interested on this kind of genere give it a try having on mind all the aformentioned because is a good series to say the least and deserves much more recognition.
Also there is a precuel and secuel to this series that i havent seen yet but glad to know that the story doesnt ends here.
Draphik
From someone who watched the whole series 4 times: Soukyuu no Fafner is a masterpiece. Well, not maybe for the first season. When I say that I speak about the whole serie which includes 3 seasons and 2 movies. Soukyuu no Fafner begins with a classic mecha-anime guideline -that looks a lot like Evangelion-, with pretty poor art quality in general, the animation is the bare necessities, the main caracters are rather basics and the story takes quite some time to become enjoyable. In the first half of Soukyuu I can only concratulate the precision of the shots and the timing, a very good 3D (usedonly for a few things but still remains well integrated), and the OSTs.
If you begin to watch Soukyuu no Fafner, I beg you to watch end get through the first 10 episodes. The serious shit begin in the second half of the season. Every character begin to evolve in their own way, you begin to understand some scenes that happened before you coudn't understand yet, and the story gets away from it's Evangelion-like synopsis to become something unique.
Fafner is a combination of intense feelings, an excellent story, excellent OSTs, excellent characters developpement, excellent shots, and an incredible amount of details you cannot see in the first viewing.
The last thing I have to say is that the first season leaves quite a lot of questions not anwsered that why I am not only recommanding the first season, but the entire series.
Thanks for reading. I hope I succeeded to make you want to see one of my favourites anime
English is not my native language so excuse me if I made some mistakes ^^
jonunderw00d
Sometimes treasure hunting gives you, well, y'know, precious gemstones like old animes that are obscured by the advent of modern post-2010 animes. Soukyuu no Fafner: Dead Aggressor is one of those gems that slowly shines as you polish it further. For anyone who has finished watching Neon Genesis Evangelion and End of Evangelion, SnF will immediately make you feel at home. Consider SnF as sort of a spiritual successor to NGE. Where NGE ends nearly in despair and hopelessness, SnF takes you towards joy and hope of what the future may bring. SnF is supposedly steeped in Norse mythology, so make of that what you will. Itdoesn't shy away from religious themes and tackles existentialist issues much better than NGE did. Whereas NGE is a psychological assessment, SnF is more mythological in its approach.
This is certainly not an anime newcomers should jump into directly. Right of the bat, you are introduced to a host of mostly unnamed characters (unless you check the end credits) that would be featured in subsequent episodes. It is not designed to be self-contained within 26 episodes. Even after you're finished with the whole thing, you will not find all the answers to satisfy your unending curiosity.
If you want to fully enjoy SnF, you will have to watch the whole series at least twice, not just SnF: Dead Aggressor, but also Right of Left, Heaven and Earth, and Exodus.
The available subtitles aren't that great, and the dub has taken way too many creative licenses. There are only two choices, the official Funimation subs or the only fansub from the extinct Anime-Empire group. Both subs are not perfect, but the fansubs are generally more faithful, save for a few critical mistranslations that the Funimation subs thankfully avoided.
