Suisei no Gargantia (FIRST IMPRESSIONS) – Urobuchi’s new sci-fi mecha anime
We had Psycho-Pass last season, and now, we get a sci-fi mecha anime which is something that Urobuchi hasn’t done before. The closest comparison would be Blassreiter. We know how serious the anime he’s writing can get, and with this episode, I’m fairly impressed at how he manages to deliver the often done, aliens versus humans with a bit of a twist.
Immediately, the anime starts off on a solemn note identifying the crisis that is facing humanity. The Galactic Alliance of Humankind has reached a level of technology far beyond what we have today, and Avalon is the home of these people. The first thing that crossed my mind when I saw this was that there is no “Earth” to speak of and it must have been forsaken in the past for one reason or another. However, even with such high levels of technology, conflict still remains and the speech made glorifies humanity maybe a bit too much which makes it seem more like propaganda than anything else.
Hideazue is the name of the game and the Galactic Alliance is doing all it can to wipe them out from the face of the universe. You know, there’s something about these talking A.I., Chamber, that I really like. I’m not sure if it’s because of it’s level of knowledge or it’s robotic voice, but it’s somewhat soothing listening to it talk. Also, it’s fairly funny that the A.I. mentions going to Avalon, which allows one to have the basic rights that we have today in first world countries, to be such a big deal. In a way, Urobuchi may be noting how some of the things we take for granted to be difficult to obtain elsewhere.
What is there to really say about the first half which mainly contains action? Thankfully, the technobabble doesn’t take away from the action and actually adds to it. Usually, it’s incomprehensible and ridiculous, but it isn’t overused here. The tactics that the Galactic Alliance uses is simple enough to follow and makes logical sense. Who doesn’t like explosions and space combat?
Damn that's flashy.
As humanity plunges itself into the Hideazue nest, the fortified super cannon wipes out the remainder of humanity’s hopes of overcoming the alien threat. What can be described as no other than a spectacular flash of various colours, all that the Galactic Alliance of Humankind has put is destroyed. That, coupled with the solid soundtrack make this a desperate situation that will make way for our protagonist to fend off some of the aliens while humanity makes its leave. Let’s be honest, if you’ve watched the PV you probably know where this is going to end up. Or do you?
Can't go wrong with hot female characters.
Directly contrasting the first half of the episode, the second half is a lot less serious and serves more as a relief from the solemn reminder of humanity’s failure. However, there are many questions that are brought up as soon as we see the second half of the episode. The people themselves are unfamiliar to the machine so we can either assume that they are another race of mankind elsewhere in the universe. Otherwise, it could be that our main protagonist, Red, travelled back in space and time to the Earth of old.
There’s a bit of an attempt at humor with Chamber, but more importantly, as the Chamber discovers more of this world, the hypothesis that this is indeed the Earth of old is found to be true. So then did Red go back into the past or did he not? But most of all, how will this be connected with the rest of the story? The Galactic Alliance striving to annihilate the Hideazue is still the main focus, but at this point, with the amount of technology around, it doesn’t seem feasible for him to go back alone. If that’s the case, I’m very interested with how Urobuchi will tie the knots together and make two seemingly unrelated scenarios work.
Suisei no Gargantia First Impressions (Episode 1) Review
I haven’t watched many anime surrounding mecha recently, so witnessing a spectacle of explosions and laser beams “pew pew” around is definitely enjoyable. The first part of the anime isn’t necessarily unique, but the second half is especially when you take the first part into consideration. At this point, I’m not even sure which direction the anime will go and how everything will be related to each other. To this extent, Urobuchi has done a fantastic job at piquing my interest in how the story will flow. The characters aren’t a primary focus yet, but I hope that Urobuchi expands on them a bit more this time around. Although, with only a season worth of episodes (12), that may be too difficult to accomplish. Nonetheless, Suisei no Gargantia is definitely worth following for just how the story will flesh out alone. The few ending moments left me with a chill and some heavy expectations for the next episode.