Silent Möbius

Silent Mobius is a mish-mash of a lot of different things. It has magic, cyborgs, aliens, hackers, and that�s just when you scratch the surface. Usually when an anime tries to mix this many things together the result is pretty poor, but in the case of Silent Mobius it�s a complete success. One of the first things I noticed when watching Silent Mobius was how familiar it all felt. You have your �science project gone wrong� doomsday scenario followed by what can only be described as hell on Earth, and then we pan out to about 30 years later where a special organization (the AMP) ... exists to battle the threat and protect what�s left of the world around them. For some reason I felt like I�ve been here before. The second thing I noticed about the show? How badly some of the names translated into English. Katsumi Liqueur; Yuki Saiko; Lebia Maverick. The nice girl of the anime ironically has a last name that says otherwise, and the computer whiz of the show has a name that resembles a certain part of the female anatomy that male readers under the age of thirteen probably shouldn�t know about. It�s times like this when I can understand why some studios change the names of characters in the dubbing process.

Speaking of dubbing, Silent Mobius has one of the worst dubs I�ve heard in a while. Some of the characters are alright (not great, but alright) such as Kiddy and Katsumi, but other characters are so painful to listen to that it almost temps me to drop my final score of this anime down a few notches. The one voice actor who got on my nerves the most was Barry W. Levy who provided the voice for Robert (Roy) DeVice. I don�t know who his voice coach was, but he had this horrible habit of putting a period after every word he said (so.he.talked.like.this.), which got annoying quick. And don�t even get me started on his weak display of emotions. Every time there was an emotional scene with Roy (especially a crying scene) I wanted to close my eyes and pretend it wasn�t happening. How this guy gets to play alongside Matthew Perry in an upcoming movie is beyond me, but since Silent Mobius came out nearly ten years ago I�ll give him the benefit of the doubt. If all you have to do to escape Barry Levy�s voice (although granted he�s not the only crappy voice actor here, just my pick for bad tomato) is put up with reading subtitles I�d say it�s well worth it. Japanese audio is the way to go with this series, trust me.

One thing I found rather interesting was how the setting of the series was like a character all on it�s own. It�s very distinct and memorable. It�s almost like a futuristic post-apocalyptic version of Gotham, where governments have pretty much turned their heads away from the state of the city and have essentially helped in making it the mess that it is. Also much like Gotham the city has two sides to itself. It has its rather nice residential areas where people of higher class can live respectably, and then it has the broke down and poor parts where nobody (especially cops and AMP members) should ever go. One of the early episodes had our heroine-in-training Katsumi Liqueur and her soon to be boyfriend and fellow police officer Roy get trapped in the worst part of town after their vehicle crashes (with the help of a little sabotage, of course), and they had to make their way around without drawing attention to themselves, which meant they needed to change into something a little less �cop-like�. This is probably the first episode that really pulled me in because it gave so much life to the city depicted in the series. Later episodes further expand upon this, but they don�t forget about the cast members either.

Each of the characters of Silent Mobius have at least one episode almost entirely devoted to them, which is always a welcomed aspect when in need of a little character development. When the series first started it felt a lot like my first day of school. I didn�t know any of the characters, and certainly wasn�t able to remember any of their names, but by the end of the series, much like the end of the school year, I knew all of the characters by name and face alike. This is all thanks to some great character development and nicely spread screen time between them. The progress of the series is nicely paced as well, and just when you think you�ve got it pegged it throws at you an Alice in Wonderland tie-in and an episode about time travel to grab your attention incase its lost it. It�s true that Silent Mobius can be very predictable at times and some episodes do feel as though they�re dragging along, but for the most part it knows when to change it up by tossing in a couple of huge plot twists and killing off a character here and there that you probably didn�t expect to die.

The audio and animation quality of Silent Mobius are both equally as good. Not all of the music is something I would have on my MP3 player anytime soon, but the OP and ED themes (aside from the second ED, which I�m not a big fan of) both do their part respectively. The animation was overall very good but there are some recycled scenes here and there, and for an action anime I guess it would have been nice for things to be a bit more fluid, but it�s not something to complain too much about. One thing is for certain though: if you�re looking for blood and guts and/or sex this isn�t the anime for you. There is a little bit of mild violence sprinkled around throughout the series but nothing even close to excessive. And I think I can recall one sex scene with possibly some brief nudity, but nothing gratuitous at all. I also don't remember hearing much profanity. Also, if you're looking for a Sci-Fi anime with one of those deep philosophical and extremely technical plots I suggest avoiding this one and turning to something along the lines of Neon Genesis Evangelion instead. Silent Mobius is for younger teens and above, with an interesting Sci-Fi storyline that doesn�t go over viewers heads for a change, and has a nice dosage of romance, comedy, and mystery on the side. If you�re in the mood for a little Sci-Fi action that doesn�t require you to dust off the old Webster�s Dictionary, then I suggest giving Silent Mobius a try.

My Score: 8.5

Version Watched: English Dub

This TV adaptation of Silent Mobius was a great improvement over the two subpar movie adaptations released earlier in the 1990s that I seen before watching the TV series. Being at 26 episodes, the series has more time to focus on exploring the major events that led to the threat of Lucifer Hawks coming upon our world and fleshing out other prominent members of AMP. The girls that make up the group are a likeable bunch having different personalities and backgrounds that led them to form or join AMP. A number of these characters get development throughout the series as they deal with the Lucifer ... Hawks and personal relationships, particularly Katsumi as she comes to grips with joining AMP and dealing with her family legacy.

The conflict between AMP and the Lucifer Hawks proves to be an engaging one, especially towards the second half of Silent Mobius. Enough plot twists are tossed out where certain AMP characters are revealed to have past connections to what led the Hawks to our world, the series isn't afraid to toss its characters into deadly and depressing situations (even tossing in a character death that shakes the resolve of one prominent character) and the major antagonist of the series hatches a clever plan that pushes AMP to its breaking point in the final episodes of the series. These shocking developments kept me hooked on the series from start to finish.

Silent Mobius also has enough time in exploring and giving enough details as to how society functions in the wake of the problems that humanity faced by Lucifer Hawks to give the series somewhat of a cyberpunk vibe. Corporations in charge of the day-to-day operations of major areas of society, entire areas of a city being slums for criminals due to no land redevelopment to them, malfunctioning robots running amuck, people coming to grips over loss of human identity with becoming a cyborg (big subject with Kiddy's character). The fact the series could give enough of these elements while retaining focus on its characters and the continued conflict with Lucifer Hawks did well at catching my interest.

The show's not without its imperfections. Some characters seem a bit underdeveloped compared to others (Lum and Lebia) and the Lucifer Hawks don't get much in the way of fleshing out. In addition, the show lacks a proper resolution as Silent Mobius concluded during the middle of some major plot developments revealed in the show's final episode.

The visuals to Silent Mobius are a bit of a mixed bag. While sporting bright colors and defined details with scenery and character designs, the style of animation tends to get inconsistent on occasion, particularly with how character faces are drawn. The series does make use of CG animation in its rendering of magical effects and a later scene involving a Lucifer Hawk which stick out from the regular animation. And for an action series, the animation is rather lackluster as shortcuts are apparent on a number of occasions with still shots and reused animation frames. The soundtrack to the series, on the other hand, was high quality throughout as the tracks matched well with the moods of the various situations faced by the characters consisting of selections such as dramatic ballads and intense insert music.

Overall, Silent Mobius made for an engaging paranormal/ sci-fi action series which expands upon the content from the two earlier movie adaptations by further exploring its world and characters with some engaging plot twists to boot making it a better adaptation of its manga source material despite its lack of a proper ending.

Have you ever tried to watch a 3-hour-long video essay about a topic on YouTube that you're mildly interested in, but it still feels like a drag to get through, so you check the time and see there are only 40 minutes left and think to yourself, "Well, I have come this far … I might as well finish it …"?
Well, that was pretty much my viewing "pleasure" of Silent Mobius, an above average anime that has fallen into obscurity.

I really liked the odd combo of sci-fi and magic, which initially hooked me to the series 'cuz let's be real for a moment ... here! No one can deny that the very concept of cute police girls fighting creepy tentacle demons in a grim cyberpunk city is one hell of a premise!
I didn't mind Silent Mobius starting off as this monster / character of the week series, as I feel like these kinds of shows can expand on the setting and worldbuilding. And I think Silent Mobius did a fine job showing how the APD operates and destroys the Lucifer Hawks.
The design of these demonic entities were grotesque in an abstract way, which I admit that I haven't really seen before. However, I wish the different types had themes that would make them more unique, y'know sorta like the angels of Evangelion.
So then I try to remember any of these designs, I can't picture anyone in particular. All of them just blend together in my mind.
I would also have to say that were some things about the lore, especially around Katsumi's parents, that I felt like was done in confusing manner where I would just go, "Huh? Uhhh … Okay, I guess???"

The characters were pretty serviceable, as in they weren't deep but had clear-cut personalities. Only Katsumi, Kitty and Yuri stands out as memorable to me. But I do appreciate they made some background episodes tho! Some of these were pretty exciting, especially the one's focusing on Yuri.
They also tried to do these romance subplots but they felt rather cheesy. The problem is that the men were even more bland than the women, so I didn't really care about their relationships. I do agree with other users that these relationships felt more mature and natural, yet this alone doesn't hook you in.
I also found it hilarious how the series wanted to convince you it mattered whenever one of these hot studs were seriously injured or straight up died like the show was just desperately yelling at you, "Look at this poor girl! Her boyfriend just lost her life and she's crying her heart out! Isn't it so tragic?!"
And I would just sit there on my fat ass, recline in my comfy chair while reaching for my tube of Paprika Pringles and be like "Hmmm … yes, so tragic. Anyways …" and then I would just take another potato chip and EAT IT!
So anyways! In the last 10 episodes or so, they introduce this arc where we meet this gothic discount version of Team Rocket. One of them was this leather-clad tumblr sexyman, that they tried so hard to show as this mastermind puppeteer that pulls all the strings. But he just came across as a petty edgelord. For instance he really enjoyed to free his victims then killing them shortly after, which isn't really surprising to begin with. And when you don't really care about the characters, well … it simply doesn't shock you at all.

The animation was passable and did it's job just fine, so there's really nothing to write home about. However, they did try to do some CGI at some point, which stuck out as a sore thumb compared to the traditional animation. I also wish there was some punch to the fights, as I often felt they were over before they even began …
But the music was nice tho! Really enjoyed the creepy piano music whenever something spooky was about to happen, which really set the mood for some scenes.
I usually skip to the next episode but felt like the ED was worth it to just sit there and listen. Have both it and the OP in my anime playlist 'cuz they are that good!
But then they just changed the music in the ED without any rhyme or reason! And why so suddenly in the last 4 episodes or so? This new ED didn't really have the enchanting and somewhat melancholic vibe like the last one, so I felt like it gave me some major whiplash.

I think the main problem with the show is that it simply doesn't have that spark, which makes you care enough to continue watching. In fact, I would take several weeks of breaks between episodes 'cuz I was only slightly interested. It never had that "One more episode and then I'm going to bed"-lie we always tell us selves. No, it had more like that "This was a nice episode. Hmmm … Guess I'll watch one more before going to bed." And then you actually go to bed …
Another major issue is that it tried to be this supernatural / sci-fi action anime while simultaneously trying to be a romcom drama too, yet it failed at both. It had interesting concepts and ideas but a lackluster execution.
Silent Mobius is a perfect representation of a 6 out of 10 anime: A decent show with serviceable plot and characters, where you feel mildly entertained for half an hour or so …
So in the end, I don't regret watching it but can't see me recommend it to friends and strangers alike, even if they have watched the movies already.