Sidonia no Kishi

After destroying Earth many years ago, the alien race Gauna has been pursuing the remnants of humanity—which, having narrowly escaped, fled across the galaxy in a number of giant seed ships. In the year 3394, Nagate Tanikaze surfaces from his lifelong seclusion deep beneath the seed ship Sidonia in search of food on the upper levels, only to find himself dragged into events unfolding without his knowledge.

When the Gauna begin their assault on Sidonia, it's up to Tanikaze—with the help of his fellow soldiers and friends Shizuka Hoshijiro, Izana Shinatose, and Yuhata Midorikawa—to defend humanity's last hope for survival, and defeat their alien foes. Sidonia no Kishi follows Tanikaze as he discovers the world that has been above him his entire life, and becomes the hero Sidonia needs.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Shinatose, Izana Main

Toyosaki, Aki Japanese

Hoshijiro, Shizuka Main

Suzaki, Aya Japanese

Tanikaze, Nagate Main

Oosaka, Ryouta Japanese

Benisuzume Supporting

Suzaki, Aya Japanese

Kobayashi Supporting

Ohara, Sayaka Japanese

Hiyama, Lala Supporting

Arai, Satomi Japanese

Midorikawa, Yuhata Supporting

Kanemoto, Hisako Japanese

Placenta Hoshijiro Supporting

Suzaki, Aya Japanese

Honoka, Ren Supporting

Kitamura, Eri Japanese

Ittan, Samari Supporting

Tanaka, Atsuko Japanese

Yamanaka, Takahiro Producer

Hashimoto, Ryuu Producer

Yamazaki, Yoshihiko Producer

Shizuno, Koubun Director

Reviews

Jun 27, 2014

Ragix

Recommended

Sidonia no Kishi is truly a marvel. When I began the first episode and laid my eyes on the CGI, I felt a bit underwhelmed and my opinion began to waver on the show; However, SnK soon made me realize that I could have never been so wrong and I'm glad for that. Sidonia no Kishi is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi anime where everyday mankind lives in fear of being decimated, but continues to survive on an enormous ship known as Sidonia. There struggle is against an alien-species known as the Gauna which have brought humanity to its knees before and the only thing between ... them and Sidonia are the pilots of the Gardes(mechs) whom protect Sidonia. This setting is not necessarily new, but the way it is handled and presented can only be said to be top-notch.

Story (9/10):
The story sets itself for excitement, thrills and edge of your seat action which is all done masterfully in SnK. Considering humanity could be on the brink of being destroyed on a daily basis there should really never be a dull moment and there never was. Even at times when the scene was supposed to ease the tension or be a bit more heart-warming not once did it lose my interest. The sci-fi played a huge role when showing off technological advancements and it's thanks to this and the anime's emphasis on it which made it only that much more interesting. Every single moment had its intensity, the plot would constantly mesmerize you with excitement, but evens it out superbly with some comedy and scenes to ease the tension before throwing you back in the action again. The story has been done many times over, but not a lot could match up with what Sidonia no Kishi brought to the table.

Art (9/10):
The world is brought to life using CGI which is what gave me the first impression that it would be underwhelming. In-fact, I felt rather unsettled seeing the CGI, but moving forward giving the anime a chance I realized there would be no Sidonia no Kishi without it. The CGI is used masterfully for every scene and whenever it was time to buckle up and fly into the heat of battle the action was on a completely different level from anything else thanks to it. While it did take some getting used to for when we were simply watching our characters walking around, it became no problem soon enough and well worth it to just see the Gardes in action.

Sound (10/10):
The sound completely exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend if you have a pair of fantastic headphones, use them. The quality of the sound during the encounters versus the Gauna were some of the best I have ever heard. Once I put on my headset and listened, I was completely immersed. The engines roaring, weapons firing and so-on, you could tell the studio payed especially close attention to the details and it was phenomenal.

Character(8/10):
The characters in SnK were very interesting. While I cannot say they were completely original they each had unique characteristics to separate themselves from most other characters. Each character evolved in his or her own way and it was fantastic to see some of the interactions between them after the course of some events had taken place. It's really thanks to the sci-fi setting that allows for such diversity among them and while you may not appreciate every character; Each character we're introduced to have their own role in the story and I cannot deny that it's thanks to what can be created within the sci-fi setting which makes each of them only that more intriguing.

Enjoyment (10/10):
Sidonia no Kishi had done everything completely right in my eyes when it came to entertainment. Every episode had a huge significance and would leave you with an aching appetite for more. Every time the Gardes had flown off into battle I was completely overjoyed with excitement and even in the more relaxing scenes I was still just taken aback by all the twists the plot had taken along with the progression. For an anime to be able to succeed in capturing the audiences attention every single episode is a grand feat.

Overall (9/10):
Sidonia no Kishi is an amazing anime that should not simply be overlooked. The CGI, while may take some getting used to for some, is an integral part of the anime and those whom give it a chance will see why. Even for those with a dislike of mecha I'd recommend this to as the major focus on character interactions, fantastic sound and breath-taking action all put into one package makes this one of the greater Sci-fi mecha anime out there to look out for. Out of all 12 episodes there was not one that was uneventful and it continued strong from start to finish.

So what are you waiting for pilot? Suit up, it's time for the Knights of Sidonia to move out.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jan 3, 2015

ZephSilver

Mixed Feelings

When certain premises in anime are overused without variation they're quickly labeled as "run of the mill".. Like dystopian with mecha. Because of that many anime try to change minute details regarding the setting or premise to stand apart. However, if something normally considered "run of the mill" is executed with proper care it can be seen as rather refreshing. Knights of Sidonia is a rare case, not quite falling towards being called mediocre nor does it fall towards refreshing. Rather it all depends on the individual to make the judgement call.

Story: 6/10

Set in the distant future, the story takes place upon a spaceship ... where the lone surviving civilization of humanity live in a stagnant state of unrest due to the attacks of giant ominous creatures known only as "Gauna". These creatures are rather interesting as they seem to have the ability to mimic the action and appearance of things they encounter, giving them an eerie presence as the series progresses.
Due to these frequent attacks by the Gauna the story never feel bogged down to a slow paced narrative. This makes for good binge watching material as your curiosity pushes you to one episode after the next. Despite the pace being powered by propane the tone of the series is all over the place. The story goes from "Shingeki no Kyojin in space" to " let's build a harem" at a drop of a hat . This can be very off putting at times but it's slowly resolved back to an even tone towards the show's midpoint.

Art: 6/10

it's hard to judge the art for this anime. It's a mixture of both CGI and cell shaded animation. The CGI is rather jarring upon 1st encounter but quickly becomes tolerable as you become immersed in the show's setting. On normal occasions if someone were to tell me to watch a show composed entirely of CGI, I would probably think "well this is gonna be some ugly shit" but in this case it works. In fact I think it's safe to say that the CGI gives Knights of Sidonia it's special signature. This is especially true for the fight sequences. However when the focus are on the characters, their movements feel artificial and stiff. It's also obvious that recycled footage were used during the launch sequences and team formation. The flaws are too noticeable to ignore and ultimately impedes on the score from being higher.

Sound: 7/10

The music score is virtually nonexistent. It's all muddled together with very little difference separating them. Only standout were the ones played during Gauna encounters.. The opening song however is one worth noting. I has an orchestral tone while still being rather tranquil, making it one that you simply can't skip. Voice actors all perform their roles with no hiccups but there wasn't any standouts that come to mind. The only other standout being the sound affects pertaining to the lasers (heigus cannon), thrusters and other devices used.

Character: 3/10

The characters are all a dismal mess. None of them receive any decent characterization. Our main character is basically another "self insert" protagonist with little personality to speak of and is good at everything he does. Basically he's the vanilla of most MCs coming out today and can easily be replaced by one of many other series with no difference noticed.
the antagonist Kunato, upon 1st introduction seemed 1 note. Before he even muttered a word you already know he was going to be the 'arrogant, rich, short tempered douche '.. But surprisingly he becomes the only character with decent characterization. As the show progresses it also becomes easier to sympathize with him.
And finally a plethora of females! Because what's a harem without some right? But seriously there's only two female characters worth mentioning and that's Izana & Hoshijiro (Izana being non gender but I digress). Both of which have no real characterization beyond being 1 dimensional archetypes but they do get a more screentime than the rest.
OH YEAH! there's also a talking bear with a robot hand that we never get a proper explanation for but we'll ignore that lol

enjoyment: 7/10

despite this show's numerous flaws it's an enjoyable watch for those looking for a sci-fi popcorn flick. The characters were nothing special but the story carried it.

Overall: 6/10

This anime is made to be enjoyed by the casual viewing masses and is an easy watch. However seasonal anime fans will notice the overused tropes and archetypes in a heartbeat and that might be the deciding factor on whether they like it or think it's mediocre. Either way the series to the very least was entertaining with little down time to speak of and can be easily finished in one sitting. With that in mind I recommend giving this one a go.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jan 21, 2016

JaegerDanger5

Not Recommended

Ok, I don't write many reviews, but considering how bad this anime was I feel it can't be that hard.

This was probably spelled out in the plot synopsis, but Knights of Sidonia (or シドニアの騎士) is a science fiction, mecha action anime where humans have fled Earth a thousand years ago on a giant space ship called 'Sidonia' fleeing from the threat of unknown origin known as the 'Gauna'. Protagonist Nagate Tanikaze in search for food stumbles out of the vast inner workings of Sidonia and out into the open society where he is selected to be a Guardian Pilot defending Sidonia against the Gauna ... threat.

I've never been a fan of CGI in anime since it definitely isn't Japan's strong suit (though I commend them for trying something new) and they'd be better off just sticking to what they already do best and focus on other aspects of storytelling. So I came into this anime with a hesitant mindset, but I soon got entranced really quickly when the first space battle happened. The 'gauna' are awesome in my opinion. They can take many different forms and can evolve to increase their efficiency at countering human technology. On top of that, they are horrifying. Not the most scary thing I've seen, but I wouldn't want to tango with any of those.

Although, I think what captured me most about the beginning of this show was space; everything space. I love space, and anything that takes place in space is sure to capture my attention. Also, I was impressed how the concept of space wasn't just a setting, but was also a factor in the story and the battles. And the life on the titular space ship 'Sidonia' was well thought out as well with interesting differences in society affected by advanced technology such as human photosynthesis that allows a independence of food and water for a week. The main character didn't grow up in the society of Sidonia and as a result he can't photosynthesize. I liked this distinction in his character. And herein lies the first problem: that's the only thing I like about this character.

So for the first episode, Knights of Sidonia is going in a pretty good direction in my opinion. And honestly, this had me tricked for the next few episodes. It took me awhile before I realized it steadily got worse. It started when I realized that this anime is almost the exact same plot as Attack on Titan (進撃の巨人). First off, a main character that doesn't know his origins joins the military when the enemy reappears after a hundred years without a sighting. The main protagonist quickly becomes the spearhead of the military when he is discovered to be a special asset that could almost single handedly win the war; a war in which humanity has been waging as long as they can remember and threatens the very existence of humankind. A war with an enemy that is bent on the complete eradication of humans without determinable rhyme or reason. Humans built a special base to defend and counteract against the enemy that is led by questionable leaders that could prove just as much a threat as the outside enemy.
The baseline of this story is extremely similar to Attack on Titan with different setting, characters, and plot twists (very poor and predictable plot twists I might add).

So I started comparing the two, and I began seeing very clear distinctions in what Knights of Sidonia was lacking. As I said before, I despise the protagonist. Not just because he is awkward, annoying, bland, and holds no true character flaws besides being socially inapt, but mainly because I have no idea why he is fighting the gauna so passionately. In Attack on Titan, Eren held a very powerful grudge against the Titans because of his past experiences with them.This is what allowed us to sympathize and connect with Eren as a character. Nagate has absolutely no past experiences with the gauna and suddenly because somebody just simply asked him to become the 'Knight of Sidonia' or some prophetic hero destined to save Sidonia he becomes determined to eliminate all of the gauna and dedicate his life to protecting the society and people that he 'loves'. When you read it, that would at least make a little sense, but keep in mind that he decided this after being in this society for only a few days! How can he claim to love something he hardly as any knowledge of? Worst of all, whenever he is not fighting gauna or speaking with Sidonia's commander, he seems to completely forget all that. The motivation that is meant to drive him as a character hardly affects him at all, and I end up forgetting what his role is in the story. And I'm going to go so far as to say that I forget what the story even is about anymore whenever their not fighting gauna.

This show doesn't seem to know whether it wants to be an awesome scifi, or if it wants to be a mediocre harem. Honestly, the harem aspect takes 75 percent of the screen time, and almost all of it is completely useless. There was only one time when the harem part of the story affected the actual plot. I attribute this to a misunderstanding of (or just pure apathy to) the concept of character development. Knights of Sidonia seems to interpret that as 'sexual tension' and 'love drama'. To make it worse, sometimes this sexual tension/love drama is so poorly written and cheesy that I started to think I was watching a porno. Dialogue is bad, characters are one dimensional and unappealing, and its just overall disappointing to see this interesting society getting plague by these cardboard cutouts of overused character archetypes. The protagonist is terrible, the female characters are worse because they are head over heels for this guy for absolutely no other reason than a 'because I said so' attitude by the author, and this other male character who seemed to be important had promise since he was the protagonist's opposite and was willing to make morally ambiguous decisions to get his way; however, when he started to see some of the effects of his decisions, he quickly became a wimp, quit being a pilot, and was kicked out of the story never to be relevant again. Honestly, the best character in this show is the Benisusume, whose identity is a spoiler so I won't reveal anymore than that except that this character has only about four lines that are almost exactly the same. And the worse part of this is the portrayal of women. I know that the anime industry usually targets adolescent boys who can't focus on anything that doesn't have breast the size of jupiter, but this is ridiculous. Also, this show can't possibly be intended for young boys, because it clearly attempts to make itself dark and gritty like Tokyo Ghoul or Attack on Titan but can never stick to that tone. So I don't know what audience the author is writing to and what he is trying to say with his story. It sounded like mindless babbling to me.

I don't talk too much on the story in comparison to the characters, but that is because the story was interesting and held promise; though, it was quickly overshadowed by every other terrible thing that it completely lost its appeal. I watched this show to the end in hopes of rekindling that promise and maybe the story would once again have the majority of the screen time, and I was given at least a fraction of reward with a season finale in both seasons that were done fairly well and proved that if this author had simply stuck to what he does best instead of this harem garbage this could have been a good thing.
Not to say that I don't think harems can be good. I have watched a lot of harems and enjoyed a few. I'm just saying this is a very bad one.

Since sound is an area of critique on this site, I'll mention a little something about that. There isn't much that stands out about the soundtrack and nothing leaves an impression except for the opening credits. I imagine that these openings were meant to be exciting and with a hint of patriotic-like pride just as the Attack on Titan openings were. However, these fail terribly at replicating this. The animation for the opening is literally shots from the rest of the show dreadfully edited together with a very underwhelming song choice that lacks energy, emotion, and impact.

Overall, I didn't enjoy Knights of Sidonia despite the very interesting concept behind it simply because it didn't allow me to enjoy it by shoving other things I don't care about in my face and trying to get me to accept them. This show really has an identity crisis, trying to wear the clothes of a harem comedy while also trying to be a gritty, realistic scifi. If a harem comedy anime wants me to take it seriously and realistically, then it either needs to not be a harem comedy or try harder; a lot harder.

In conclusion, don't watch this show. It is horrible, and it is the definition of what is wrong with the anime industry that can't seem to let go of its horrendous cliches and characters archetypes. When will they start trusting us to be interested in a story that doesn't have kinky sexual comedy and breasts the size of jupiter?

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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