Ranked #1213

Soukyuu no Fafner: Dead Aggressor

This review is based on 4 rewatches of the anime in 2 years. So I hope this will be as unbiased as possible. As a long time Xebec fan, I must say this is by FAR the best mecha anime they've produced to date. Now I shall try to break it down to different components.

Story: The story began with a paradise-like environment, but it quickly turned into a scene of chaotic desperateness. With tons of downhill battles to begin the story, it certainly illustrates how desperate the situation is for the protagonists (and the small group of humans living on that remote island). For a mecha anime, it is not very common to start the story the way Fafner did.

Art: The animation is directed by the same guy whose responsible for Gundam SEED and Destiny. So it is only natural that people see similarities between characters (for example, I find Kazuki very much like Shinn). With that being said, I find it a bit lacking in originality so minus 1!

Sound: Absolutely stunning. The battle music is very unique and alive! I especially love the drum beat. The OP and ED are by Angela (who sang FFXII's opening).

Character: Most character development occurred during the 2nd half of the anime (when things become less gloomy), which was a good thing because there was no room in the first half to fit those in with all the intense battles and basic background storying telling. Again minus -1 for some unoriginal character design.

Enjoyment + Overall: Although it was hardly advertised (ie. lack of media attention), Fafner's success was undeniable. Just ask yourself this, how many anime (or how many anime done by Xebec to be more precise) actually got a prequel/sequel to further expand on the story? Well Fafner is one of those! With a touching story that can make even the toughest man cry a river, this anime is definitely one of the "emo-est" show ever! read more

Important: Forgive my english please. As a french person it's not always very easy for me.

It's been awhile since I didn't not rewatch this serie and I should do so. This anime is one of my favorite anime of all time for now and I doubt that one day it will dropped from my top ten. I'm doing this review by trying to covince the more people to watch this awesome serie.

Story: Incredible!! It was so well built that when I watch it I was like: EH!!It could happen one day in a not so far future. There's no cliché except for the first episode when Kazuki became the pilot of the Fafner Mark Elf because, currently, is the only one who can do this. Wait... this isn't even a cliché... it's an anime law come to think of it. At the beginning, you may look at this and say: well... it's like kira yamato. He will fight to protect his friends. Fortunately, this is not what will happen, since all of Kazuki's friends will fight one day. People sometime made comparison between Fafner and Evangelion. Yeah... maybe sometime... but I like Faner more than Evangelion (the anime of Evagelion is a little bit disappointing, but the manga is really good). Also some people complain that the show is slow and the battles are boring. Do not forget, there's a lot of character development in that show and I disagree for the battles, there's no stock animation like *cough*Seed Destiny*cough* and they are very thrilling. And the final, just completely amazing and outstanding!!
So for the story: 10/10 (just awesome).

Art: Again, you have Hisashi Hirai doing a lot of characters that we might have seen in his others series. For example: Kazuki is a mix of Shinn Asuka and Athrun Zala in my opinion (not in personnality fortunately). My point is, if you like Hisashi's design like me, you're gonna fall in love with the characters. The mecha are also really special. Like Code Geass, there are really different from the other shows you might have seen. By the way they look, they seem to have no "face". A head but no face. You know what... there a really cool and I can't understand people saying they look like EVA. They are really different.
Art: 9/10

Sound: This is one of the best soundtrack I ever heard. The choice of instruments are excellent. It fits perfectly with the action and the calm moments. Also, I'm a big fan of Angela's opening and I will say that it's probably my favorite opening of all show that I watched until now.
Sound: 9/10

Character: This is where Fafner gets, in my opinion, 12/10. The characters are very enjoyable and interresting, but they put also some "cliché" in their personality. Do you need to care about this cliché, NO!! By the way it's handle, there's no problem with the characters personnality, because there just to lovable. You have your main character who is really calm and happy with is life at the beginning, but want to end all the terror once he gets into the fight. You have the girl who seem not worthy enough to pilot a mecha, but at the end, is one of the best pilot they could get. You have the guy who hate to fight and doesn't want to be involved. The guy who is scare about the battle, the guy who doesn't give a crap about the pilot, but cares about the Fafner, the little girl who is sick and can't do anything, the girl who wants to become a pilot to avenge her father's death and the guy who wants to fight with a giant robot. But all of them will change during this serie (some of them will die during the show) and this is what is really the best about this anime.
Character: 12/10 (I don't care if the limite is ten).

Enjoyment: In 2 episodes, I became impossible to stop. I watched the serie in 3 days and was really amaze by this show that handle the story and the characters like no one does.
Enjoyment: 10/10

Overall: I won't say it's the best show of all time, since I didn't watch necessarily a lot of anime, but I know how to determine what is a really good show. Watch it, you won't be deceived!!
Overall: 10/10 OUTSTANDING!!!!!! read more