Ranked #1206

Moonlight Mile

Moonlight Mile follows the seperate stories of Goro Saruwatari and Jack F. Woodbridge a.k.a. Lostman as they try to get into space after both conquer Mount Everest.

The show is very mature and uses persistent strong language as well as some really unnecessary sex scenes, although considering the manga it's based on, there was definitely going to be some sex scenes.

Story: I don't find the story very original this is a show that generally follows the format of Best friends climb mountain together, and then best friends make a pact to go into space. How many times has that been done, at times it feels as if this show has no continuing story.

Art: I won't lie, the animation is outstanding, the C.G.I. and character designs are top-notch, but good animation does not always make a good story. But it does help.

Sound: Now I watched the dub version, but I take into account how the show sounds, like the effects. The dub is generally well-done effort, in his first lead role Andrew Love is cast in the role of Goro and he fits the character perfectly as he seems to be able to capture Goro's frat boy mentality. John Gremillion playing Lostman generally seems to be able to pull off the military man stereotype very well. There isn't many other major characters in this show except Monica Rial playing Riyoko Ikeuchi but she soon fades into the background after episode four.

Character: I don't like these characters, I especially have a problem with Goro, sure he can be really likeable some times, but about 75% of the time the guy is acting like a jackass, although to be honest this certain trait goes dramatically down starting with episode five. Goro, is perfectly well named considering he certainly looks like a "Gorilla", he does come off as a neanderthal and there are times in this show where I just have to throw up my arms and ask why they included completely unnecessary scenes of Goro taking off his clothes and getting a little wild (do not worry there is no frontal male nudity for the faint of heart).

As for Lostman he's a little more tolerable, he generally seems to have his hormones much more under control then Goro and I feel generally he seems to be very straightforward and he knows what he wants in life.

Enjoyment: I did enjoy this title, although it does have it's flaws it's still much better then most of the stuff that has come out of Japan in the last while.

Overall: I gave it a seven, which generally is where this series is, it's lead characters are not the most likeable and while it does suffer from some cliches. This is one of the few Space Exploration based animes out there, A lot of people will come into this show expecting Planetes. If you are, you will be sorely dissapointed. I admit I came into this show expecting it to be somewhat like Planetes and while the first four episodes aren't like Planetes, the next couple of episodes after that come out definitely feel more like Planetes. For people offended by in your face sex scenes of which there are about 5 brief scenes (with only one of them having any audio) from my count from the eight episodes. I found them to be utterly unnecessary and something I just didn't want to see. Anyway give this one a try if you want. read more