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Plot Synopsis

No plot synopsis or other information available for Soukyuu No Fafner

Story & Characters

[Before I start off, I apologize if the review is not detailed enough since I am rushing to study for my final year exams. My english is also not that good. So yeah...]

This review is based on the original version of Soukyuu no Fafner

“Anata wa… soko ni imasu ka?” or simply “Are you there?” is the main plot of this anime which revolves around existence and nothingness.

Soukyuu no Fafner (Fafner in the Azure) is an anime that takes place in future era. It has roughly the same concept as Gundam Seed/Destiny, Evangelion, RahXephon etc. but of course, Fafner has it own niece areas.

It all started out with the main character, Kazuki Makabe, a normal high school boy and his classmates whose lives turned upside down when the emergency alarm was heard and they were to take shelter in an underground headquarter which the children had never seen before. Soon, Festums (the enemies) started appearing one by one and in order to protect their island, Kazuki and his friends had to pilot giant robots called Fafner. The reasons why only the children could pilot these robots would be explained as the series proceed.

Pros: Fafner not only portray the war against Festum, but also human army who wanted the robots for themselves. This anime also consist of many character deaths, proving that not only main characters will survive and win all the time. It managed to capture the audiences’ attention due to the hints of yaoi (boy boy relationship) and het (boy girl relationship) portrayed together.

The story very well thought of but is rather too rushed. There are plenty of plot twists, as well as cliffhangers. Mysteries are also numerous and you would have to be patient and let them uncover it one by one.

Cons: Fafner make use of complicated terms and audience might take some time to get use to it. Sudden change of scenes after every episode might make audience wonder whether they had missed an episode. Storyline is not very creative and yaoi fans might not like it as it has more hints of het.

Fafner has 26 episodes in total.

Rating

7 (above average)

Art

The characters in Soukyuu no Fafner are designed by Hisashi Hirai, also the designer of the characters in Gundam Seed/Destiny. Thus, you might notice the vast resemblance of certain characters, especially the main character of Gundam Seed Destiny (Shinn Asuka) and the main character of this series (Kazuki Makabe).

The mecha designs are by Naohiro Washio. I don’t really see much difference among all the Fafners but they are excellent in terms of the colours and toning.

The pilot suits are really creative and complex. It looks good on most of the pilots. The uniforms that they have to wear are simple but many like it. The colour combinations are excellent.

Pros: The designs for each settings are well drawn. The 3D features are also smooth. It’s easy to differentiate among characters and their hair are not exaggerated in terms of hairstyles and colours. You would not see girls with pink hair and guys with blue hair appearing. The face expressions are well designed too, it is easy to guess how each characters are feeling.

Cons: The character designs are not very original for some. Not much variety in clothing and there are quite a lot of repeated scenes.

Rating

6 (average)

Sound

Voices: Many of the seiyuu are not very well-known but they are good. They portrayed each of the characters’ expressions very well. Some dialogues seemed rather forced though.

Music: Background Music (BGM) are nicely done. It soothes to the ears and played at the correct time, adding on to the atmosphere. There are many varieties in the BGM, considering for a show with only 26 episodes. Though this is out of point, but I would like to point out the creativity of the titles of the two soundtracks ‘Nowhere’ and ‘Now here’ Singaporeans call it so Fafner-ish.

Opening (Shangri-La): Sung by Angela. This song took me some time to get use to it. At first I loathe it because it sounds too ‘Opera’ but I got to like it in the end. Many people love this song as well. It was once ranked 6th in Japan among all anime songs. The lyrics of this song hold much meaning to the show itself.

Ending (Separation): Sung by Angela as well. The lyrics of this song also hold deep meaning, if possible, deeper than the opening. If you are the type who do not like songs which sound too ‘Opera’, you get a chance to hear the 2nd verse of this song and is very soothing and peaceful. There is only one ending in Fafner, but by changing in terms of verse, it shows the effort put in.

Ending of episode 15 (Proof): Again, sung by Angela. Unlike the opening and ending, this song is calming and suits this episode very well. Do stay to the end to hear this song.

Character themes are not very good but we are not basing on that for this review, right?

Pros: Lyrics and music suits the show very well.

Cons: Some might not like the signer’s voice.

Rating

7 (above average)

Presentation

The presentation of this show is definitely the best part about Fafner. The way they reveal each character’s feelings and developments surpass many anime. You can practically see each characters growing in every episode.

The despair after a loss of a fallen comrade is superbly shown, making audience wants to scream and cry along with them. The feelings of trust, anger, joy, comfort and pain are very natural where we would feel the same way if we were in their shoes.

Since this is war, Fafner of course did not exclude the facts that there would be betrayal and sacrifices which quite a few anime forget about. This is the cons and pros of Fafner. I have known of a few who stopped watching it since there is too many people dying in this story and they got tired of it. There are also who think that this is the part of the show worth watching (including me).

Although this anime sounds very serious, it has quite a few humorous scenes worth laughing at.

This is a show that can make you cry after every episode. The three reasons are:

1. Your favourite characters dying
2. The humours in some episodes are certainly amusing.
3. Too complicated storyline that you can’t understand.

I told that to many people and they agreed.

No matter what, Soukyuu no Fafner is worth watching. Although I kind off got bored of it after a few episodes because of the complexity of the terms used, I continued watching it and truly enjoyed it in the end. Even if you do stop, do watch the last two episodes. They are without doubt, outstanding and give a good conclusion on the story.

Rating

8 (good)

Final Verdict

7.17 (above average)

Reviewed by kyubinaruto, 2y 49wk ago