Simoun

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Shimuun, Simoon

Japanese: シムーン

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 26

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Apr 4, 2006 to Sep 26, 2006

Premiered: Spring 2006

Broadcast: Tuesdays at 01:30 (JST)

Producers: Bandai Visual, Sotsu, TV Tokyo Music

Licensors: Media Blasters

Studios: Studio Deen

Source: Original

Genres: Drama, Fantasy, Girls Love

Theme: Military

Duration: 24 min. per ep.

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Statistics

Score: 7.47¹ (scored by 11,960 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #1977²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #3379

Members: 43,172

Favorites: 443

Available At

Official Site

Resources

AniDB

ANN

Synopsis

In the peaceful theocracy of Simulicram, everyone is born female. At age 17, each maiden undergoes a special ceremony where she chooses her sex. However, only Pairs of maiden priestesses can synchronize with the ancient flying ships known as Simoun needed to defend Simulicram. These Pairs refrain from undergoing the ceremony as long as they wish to keep piloting their Simoun.

Aer is recruited to be a Simoun pilot after a terrifying attack by an enemy nation decimates the squadron known as Chor Tempest. To earn her wings she needs to find her way into the heart of Neviril, Regina of Chor Tempest. But Neviril's heart still belongs to her previous Pair, lost in the battle when she attempted a forbidden Simoun maneuver.

(Source: Media Blasters)

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Background

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Adaptation:

Simoun

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Aaeru

Main

Niino, Michi
Japanese

Mamiina

Main

Morinaga, Rika
Japanese

Neviril

Main

Takahashi, Rieko
Japanese

Paraietta

Main

Koshimizu, Ami
Japanese

Yun

Main

Nazuka, Kaori
Japanese

Morinas

Main

Mizuki, Nana
Japanese

Dominura

Main

Yukana
Japanese

Limone

Main

Noto, Mamiko
Japanese

Alti

Main

Toyoguchi, Megumi
Japanese

Rodoreamon

Main

Takahashi, Mikako
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Nishimura, Junji

Director, Episode Director, Script, Storyboard

Tsujitani, Kouji

Sound Director

Jinbo, Masato

Episode Director

Yoshida, Shunji

Episode Director

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Opening Theme

"Utsukushi Kereba Sore de Ii" by Chiaki Ishikawa

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Ending Theme

"Inori no Uta" by savage genius

Reviews

May 18, 2007

neo_horizon

Recommended

- The following review is spoiler free. -

It's rare to come across an anime series that's as well executed as Simoun. In addition to its beautiful animation and incredible use of music, Simoun has a deep plot line that draws from many different themes and invokes a lot of emotions. The story takes place in a war-torn world where the main characters are young maidens tasked with flying Simoun, mecha-like flying machines with devastating attacks called "Ri Maajon" that can destroy the enemy. The twelve girls who come together in this war effort to fly the Simoun make up a unit called "Chor Tempest".

By ... watching the struggles and triumphs of these maidens, we're able to touch upon the main theme of Simoun: love. Not all of the love explored in Simoun is romantic love, though a large part of it is. The rest is a friendship based love that is just as prominent as the former type. As young as these girls are (most of them are under seventeen), they've already realized the importance of protecting the people closest to them. But no matter how strongly they feel about someone, nothing is promised, nothing is for certain, and nothing is eternal. It's a truth that all these girls seem to realize, and it's because of that reason that they form such close bonds in an attempt to protect each other. Much of the show focuses on these relationships between the Simoun pilots, ones in which the girls try to figure out how to protect and save each other, and how sacrifices must be made in order to achieve their goals.

The other major theme revolves around growing up and becoming adults. In the world of Simoun, everyone is born a female and chooses to permanently become a man or woman at seventeen by entering The Spring. This is a rite of passage that everyone must go through in order to become an adult. However, with war efforts in full swing, the Simoun pilots are allowed to delay their decisions since Simoun can only be flown by those who haven't entered The Spring yet. None of the main characters are eager to make their decision, and flying the Simoun becomes as much about protecting themselves from this choice as it is about protecting each other.

Over the course of the 26 episodes, you'll see a staggering amount of character and relationship development. From forgotten childhood friendships, conflictive sisters, and experienced piloting pairs (two girls are required to fly a Simoun), to overprotective friends, an unlikely pairing of pilots, and troublesome new recruits, everyone gets their chance at growth and development. Each character and relationship is handled so well in this anime that every new twist, no matter how painful or happy, will evoke a fresh burst of emotions from the audience. This makes the show very satisfying to watch as it's so easy to relate to the characters and their lives. And by the last episode of Simoun, you're treated to an incredibly gratifying ending that ties up nearly all loose ends and will make watching the whole series worthwhile.

However, as with anything that's as rewarding as Simoun is, watching this anime requires a bit of effort from the audience. The one major flaw with Simoun is that the story is fairly complex. Starting with the first episode and lasting until roughly the third episode, you'll find yourself swimming in a pool of brand new terms, characters, and politics so large that you're literally going to have to muddle your way through the series for a bit until everything becomes familiar and starts to make sense. (You might also need that time to get used to the fact that all male characters are voiced by women...) However, once this happens, you'll be thankful that you didn't run away after episode 1. By the time you reach episode 4, or episode 5 at the *very* latest, the plot and character development will take off in such a way that you'll want to go through the final 20+ episodes in a straight 8 hour marathon. And really, a marathon is the best way to watch a series this good.

There's not much more that can be said without ruining some aspect of the story, so go watch Simoun if this review interested you in any way. Just be sure to watch until at least episode 5 before deciding to drop this series. You'll be glad that you did.

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Jul 20, 2010

YourMessageHere

Mixed Feelings

Watching Simoun seems like an exercise in how to discover and enjoy the latent sadist in yourself. You know that bit in the Shawshank Redemption where the old lags are betting on which of the new inmates will break down first, and the way Morgan Freeman says it, you totally get what he's talking about, even though you know it's horrible behaviour? This is kind of like that, but with gigantic eyes, inexplicably revealing pastel uniforms, unbelievably daft mecha and technicolour hair.

To explain (and there will be spoilers throughout this review, just so you know): we have this premise - ...

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Apr 8, 2019

captjoe213

Not Recommended

Welcome to Robert's Too Late Reviews! Today we're only running 13 years behind, so Simoun here falls right in our wheelhouse. This series is beloved by many, easily noted by skimming reviews, and the fact that this show appears in many different 'best of yuri/shoujo ai' lists to be found on the internet. The quick of it is, I think this anime is a waste of time, nothing more than teenage girls pouting over childish issues while using the name of religion to massacre insane numbers of enemy pilots. There is no weight to the war aspect of the series, and the melodrama suffers greatly ...

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Poll: Simoun Episode 26 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Kotori - Apr 6, 2008	75 replies	by teaknight »» Mar 1, 11:52 AM
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Poll: Simoun Episode 4 Discussion MagEarwhig - Aug 7, 2012	8 replies	by SlammyHammy »» Feb 4, 6:31 PM
Poll: Simoun Episode 2 Discussion Ksanclaire122 - Aug 8, 2013	5 replies	by SlammyHammy »» Feb 4, 6:24 PM

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Simoun

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Aaeru

Mamiina

Neviril

Paraietta

Yun

Morinas

Dominura

Limone

Alti

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Alternative Titles

Information

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Synopsis

Background

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Characters & Voice Actors

Staff

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Ending Theme

Reviews

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