Sidonia no Kishi: Daikyuu Wakusei Seneki

After barely escaping a collision with a gigantic Gauna at the cost of many human lives, Kobayashi—the captain of the spaceship Sidonia—is prompted to change her political paradigm. Once she seizes full power, Kobayashi aims to eradicate the Gaunas from the Lem system where former Sidonians have recently established a colony. Her ambition is justified by two breakthroughs: the development of highly effective, long-range anti-Gauna weapons, and the creation of Tsumugi Shiraui—the first human-Gauna chimera possessing great destructive power.

Facing hostility toward chimeras and her uncertain large-scale military expedition, Kobayashi enlists the help of the new elite pilot Nagate Tanikaze. Due to his personal experiences with Shizuka Hoshijiro and Benisuzume's placenta, Tanikaze soon develops a close bond with Tsumugi. As the final battle against humanity's most formidable opponent approaches, Tanikaze tries to enjoy the last days of peace with his friend Izana Shinatose—all while Kobayashi secretly pursues the development of an experimental weapon that could very well lead to the complete destruction of Sidonia.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Adaptation:	Sidonia no Kishi
Prequel:	Sidonia no Kishi
Sequel:	Sidonia no Kishi: Ai Tsumugu Hoshi

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Characters & Voice Actors

Shinatose, Izana

Main

Toyosaki, Aki
Japanese

Shiraui, Tsumugi

Main

Suzaki, Aya
Japanese

Tanikaze, Nagate

Main

Oosaka, Ryouta
Japanese

Killy

Supporting

Sakurai, Takahiro
Japanese

Hoshijiro, Shizuka

Supporting

Suzaki, Aya
Japanese

Benisuzume

Supporting

Suzaki, Aya
Japanese

Kobayashi

Supporting

Ohara, Sayaka
Japanese

Hiyama, Lala

Supporting

Arai, Satomi
Japanese

Midorikawa, Yuhata

Supporting

Kanemoto, Hisako
Japanese

Honoka, Ren

Supporting

Kitamura, Eri
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Hashimoto, Ryuu

Producer

Yamazaki, Yoshihiko

Producer

Seshita, Hiroyuki

Director

Iwanami, Yoshikazu

Sound Director

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Opening Theme

"Kishi Koushinkyoku (騎士行進曲)" by angela

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Ending Theme

	1: "Ichizu no Hikari (一筋の光明)" by Customi Z (advance screening)
	2: "Requiem (鎮魂歌 -レクイエム-)" by Customi Z (eps 1-11)
	3: "Sidonia (シドニア)" by angela (eps 12)

Reviews

Jan 13, 2022

JoexySun

Recommended

Short Review: minor spoilers regarding characters

After the excitement of Season 1, I immediately went on to watch Season 2. Alas, it is not quite the hardcore sci-fi war epic Season 1 promised to be. Season 2 is 50% bizarre alien dating simulator, 30% shonen action fantasy and 20% futuristic dystopian drama. It is a significant step down from S1 for me. Though it may work better for some (as the rating on this site shows, that S2 got overall higher score than S1).

Like I said in the review of S1, there is a special charm to how the original author/mangaka Nihei handles sci-fi details ... in his works. In his masterpiece "Blame!", there is an ever-present existential dread and anxiety despite the thrilling actions in the front stage. That is because at the back of the audience's head, once one understands the Lovecraftian implications to everything happens around Killy and Cibo, one is bound to feel insignificant in the larger scheme of things. Is the whole quest futile? Can loved characters even die properly or for good? You never know whose memory/personality the next interdimensional entity Killy encounters might inherit.

In Season 1 of Sidonia, this sense of existential dread is somewhat in the front stage, and the common shonen/space opera tropes are handled with mature reserve. You know something far more sinister is happening to the fate of humanity on a larger scale than what our naive chosen one Nagate can comprehend. This makes what happens in the backstage far more interesting than the MC's expanding harem (which I did not mind that much in S1).

Alas, Season 2 decided to center its narrative focus on the MC's bizarre budding romance with the human/alien hybrid, Tsumugi, who interacts with him by a sentient tentacle that looks terribly like a "Johnson". Izana, the once gender-neutral best buddy of the MC, now develops deep feelings and female parts for him. You think the MC will make a sensible choice with Izana, who risks arms and legs for him? No, he acts like Shinji in NGE, not only with Izana but also with all other women who want a piece of him. Think anime fans and furries are weird? You probably haven't seen Sidonia Season 2. Perhaps one can argue the MC's space harem is an interesting concept with subtle transhumanistic debate hidden somewhere, though I doubt that is the reason such harem became the center of S2 (cute elements and fan service from the said harem sell better than existential dread, for sure). That said, it's not impossible to appreciate the character development here. It's just often tonally off for me. To be fair, Tsumugi is likeable.

Battle sequences in S2 are also impacted by this creative choice, from a certain point onwards you know the MC will never be truly in danger under the protection of his super tentacle space waifu. The sense of insignificance in the vast space/infinite battleground from S1 is heavily weakened here. Also, the subtitle for Season 2 "Duel on Planet 9" is also somewhat misleading, as space battles take a backseat for most of the season. The promised great duel that determines the fate of humanity is also postponed to the movie finale.

In the meanwhile, a coup is taking place in the backstage, with the evil scientist Ochiai and the Captain both showing their hands. The ambiguous implications of their power plays and controversial choices kept the entire season from falling apart.

The art in Season 1 has the signature crudeness/roughness Nihei is famous for (which adds to the atmosphere quite well), but now in Season 2 most of the roughness is gone, replaced by typical CG cleanness which makes certain elements look washed. Fortunately more elements retain Nihei's artistic vision. Soundtrack in S1 is good if not too outstanding. The opening song in Season 2, however, immediately rub me the wrong way. For a show about existential dread, that song is way too triumphalist (it's not even a parody of the national anthem antics, just a serious propaganda song).

In the end, Season 2 ended with an exhilarating epic battle and is still a decent show. My disappointment mainly comes from the quality drop compared to S1.

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Oct 11, 2020

OhSheeshYall

Recommended

Let me start off by saying this show definitely wasn't what I expected. It excelled in areas I didn't expect and it fell flat in others where I wish it wasn't the case. Let's break it down-

Story:
The story in the first season was much more intriguing and mysterious. There was so much going on and I really liked how things were not spoon fed to the viewer. I will admit--I thought two of the main girls were the same person until about episode 5. Aside from all the detours such as clumsily written cliche dialogue and trying to hook up with the main character, Sedonia ... itself and the gauna are fascinating. I wish the show had more of a focus and direct narrative because it had all the elements of a great anime. What held it back, for me, was the lack of character development, the cliche and bizarre relationships these thirsty space girls have, and lack of a gauna narrative (they were merely rendered as the bad guys with no purpose). The gauna concept is amazing and really cool. I wish there was more development about them or a really cool twist like the guana are sentient beings and the human race committed genocide first. I am hopeful for the movie sequel to tie up all loose ends and answer these bigger questions.

In season 2, the story took a sharp turn down. The story became more about these silly ecchi shots of the girls and how they want a relationship with Tanikaze, but treat him like dirt anyways. I really thought that cheapened the show and the overall delivery and punch that it had in season 1. It became so clear that this show was made by a boy for boys. I think the show had so much potential and it just pandered too much to the fan-service side. Especially when it came to the guana hybrid. Things got weird as fuck, let's be honest.

Art Style:
The whole CGI thing really isn't my taste. I did not like the art style of the characters and the animation style at all. I honestly could not stare at the show the entire time. I had to multitask. The art style and design and movement of the characters was unsettling. However, I can appreciate the the amazing battle sequences and I gave 100% attention to those. They were really well done. The anime really nailed it when it came to epic battle scenes, panned out cinematography shots, high quality renders, lighting, texture, etc. In short, some scenes had me in awe. I really enjoyed the epicness that the major action scenes brought. So even though I do not like full CGI anime, I completely appreciated the quality and effort that was shown in this show.

Sound:
It was great. The opening and ending themes were awesome in the sense that they were crafted for the show. I appreciated that.

Character:
Characters fell flat—as I mentioned in the Story section. The main character, Tanikaze, had zero character development in both seasons. His personality consisted of “i love food” and “blush @ boobies”. Yea, he kinda sucked. Of course he is amazing at piloting and he is OP in everything he does on the battlefield. Overall, I wasn’t too annoyed with him or really any of the characters. They just lacked backstory and development and I found it hard to care about any of them The show failed to answer all the big questions surrounding the characters--especially the captain, the immortal counsel, and all the inner turmoil. Like I said, I am hopeful for the movie sequel.

Watch this show if you love epic mecha fights. I am a fan of Gundam Seed, Guilty Crown, and Code Geass. I like mecha shows in that regard. But both had better stories than Knights of Sidonia. For me, great media at its core must have a powerful story. If the story doesn’t have weight, the rest—no matter how great each individual element is— falls flat.

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May 7, 2018

mem0vv

Mixed Feelings

I loved the first season but this season was disappointing. The first season was a thrilling space epic with growing undertones of dystopia as you learn more about how the society and government works. It was also a coming of age story and all around solid anime. The second season delves heavily into some strange love triangle/slice of life story.

It was really a genre switch I wasn't expecting -- it tilts more towards the 'slice of life' and away from the horrifying space epic side of things that I loved so much about the first season. If the first season never happened, maybe I'd view ...

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