Sidonia no Kishi (Knights of Sidonia)

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]

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Background

Sidonia no Kishi was nominated for the Animation of the Year Award in the Television category at the 2015 Tokyo Anime Award Festival. The anime's opening song, "Sidonia" by Angela, won the 19th Animation Kobe Theme Song Award in 2014.

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Adaptation:	Sidonia no Kishi
Sequel:	Sidonia no Kishi: Daikyuu Wakusei Seneki
Summary:	Sidonia no Kishi Movie

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Characters & Voice Actors

Shinatose, Izana

Main

Toyosaki, Aki
Japanese

Tanikaze, Nagate

Main

Osaka, Ryota
Japanese

Hoshijiro, Shizuka

Main

Suzaki, Aya
Japanese

Benisuzume

Supporting

Suzaki, Aya
Japanese

Kobayashi

Supporting

Ohara, Sayaka
Japanese

Placenta Hoshijiro

Supporting

Suzaki, Aya
Japanese

Hiyama, Lala

Supporting

Arai, Satomi
Japanese

Midorikawa, Yuhata

Supporting

Kanemoto, Hisako
Japanese

Tahiro, Numi

Supporting

Satou, Rina
Japanese

Ittan, Samari

Supporting

Tanaka, Atsuko
Japanese

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Shizuno, Koubun

Director

Iwanami, Yoshikazu

Sound Director

Murai, Sadayuki

Script, Series Composition

Murakoshi, Shigeru

Script

Opening Theme

"Sidonia (シドニア)" by angela

Ending Theme

"show (掌 -show-)" by Eri Kitamura

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Jun 27, 2014

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

Ragix (All reviews)

282 people found this review helpful

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.

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Jul 22, 2014

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 5

jzmcdaisy (All reviews)

155 people found this review helpful

So when I first found out that there was not only a manga but also an anime with the same title (yet spelled differently) as my favorite song by Muse, I felt the need to check out what it was. So of course when I first started watching the show I was pretty pumped to find the same kind of popcorn action that I would get while watching a film like the Star Wars saga or reading a novel like Ender's Game. I did get the show that provided me with that kind of action, but that's just it; I got EXACTLY what I expected and I wasn't blown away in any way. Knights of Sidonia is definitely that kind of blockbuster spaceships and explosions fun you would want in an anime, but it doesn't bring anything new to the table and ends up being a steaming mishmash of vapid and under cooked sci-fi tropes that were cool to watch but didn't light me up in any way along with a plot that moves to fast to fit everything in. However I am willing to overlook some of the production values that I consider subjectively bad if I get around to watching the recently planned season 2 or find copies of the manga.

The first aspect of the show that I was rather taken aback by was the use of 3D animation instead of traditionally drawn shows. I was really turned off by the stale looking world and characters at first, but I think it honestly grew on me and most reminded me of the corridors of the video game Dead Space (minus all the bone-cracking gore and alien enemies that experience provided) and the seed ship Sidonia, all its inhabitants, and the overall look of the set pieces has an interesting, pristine feel to them and it almost felt like it could be the real interior of a space vessel. In addition to that, the space battles were not only the best aspect of the show, but they looked really cool too, and I as the viewer really got the feel that the Gardes, pilots and commanders were not only fighting the Gauna, but the massive size of Sidonia and space itself. An area where the animation took somewhat of a nose dive would be in the case of the characters; they all look eerily the same, and it was highly jarring dealing with several characters that looked the same at first. Granted I could tell who Tanikaze was (but that was mostly because of JYB's voice), but until the characters were singled out and focused upon more, Yuhata and Norio were simply Green-Haired Girl and Sephiroth Wannabe. Then Hoshijiro got introduced with Izana to quickly follow, and there was a moment where I thought they were the same person, and so seeing them both on the screen at the same time was more jarring than it should have been.

So while the animation was here and there and the fight scenes were awesome, many elements of the plot and characters suffer from being cardboard cutouts and aforementioned sci-fi staple tropes that didn't make Knights of Sidonia stand out as much as I had hoped it would. But first lets talk about the good. Whenever the characters get lost or they encounter a Gauna, they need to make the trek through space using just the right strategy to get back or they won't survive, and they made up for some pretty intense moments in the show that weren't the amazing fight sequences. The other interesting aspect that the show expressed was how much pressure the humans were under in order to squelch and survive such as photosynthesizing instead of eating and putting on gravity belts whenever the ship turned were both useful and interesting elements to the show.

However, most of the plot and character personalities I feel were overused and have been done better in other places. Tanikaze is a very staple main character, and the fact that he's this 'chosen one' pilot that can use the 'best garde' really has no purpose other than the fact that he's the underdog and we as the audience were supposed to root for his struggle, I guess. The other thing that bothered me about his character is that he got in trouble trying to steal food and got caught meddling in top secret government stuff and didn't get prosecuted for either. This is why the 'chosen one' trope that is Tanikaze is didn't make the drive of the show interesting; he's boring, rigid and doesn't develop much at all. As for most of the other characters are those kinds that only have one personality trait or motive: Yuhata is smart, sweet, and likes Tanikaze. Hoshijiro: same, Izana: Same. Then there's the endless stream of Red Shirts that like Tanikaze because he's Tanikaze, and the immortal council members who are mysterious and cold for the sake of being mysterious and cold, and Norio is the cranky bitter guy. I'm listing them as such because I feel like that's really all there is to them. When they die there's no weight. When there's love, it's forced. When there's action, they just support Tanikaze.

And of course while I adore sci-fi and the bright flashy robot and alien fights were the point of no return where the analytic part of my brain goes to die, the rest of what makes sci-fi interesting; cloning, ship building, prosthetic robot stuff, talking animals and human preservation technology, it's all cool, but it has to have a point. I ended up having more questions than I had answers about stuff the show made up itself, and for the use of sci-fi tropes that I had seen before, I had seen them being used in a better way. Some of the new stuff that was brought to the table was the aforementioned (and well done) photosynthesis vs. food idea, and the giant talking bear. Why? Why is it here? Why is the immortal council so cold? Why are they trying to hide the Gauna-human hybrid from Tanikaze even though they told him what it was when they asked? I had far too many questions left unanswered, and it put a damper on the enjoyment of the show as good writing to me is all about what to write and when. Of course all of this can be overlooked if the manga or season 2 will fill in some of these blanks for me.

Even if had a lot of complaints resulting in my opinion on Knights of Sidonia being average to good, it was still an enjoyable watch if you do like sci-fi. Sure a lot of the show can be criticized but if you're there to watch it for fun and not for analysis, I would highly recommend it to you. However if you're looking for something more that robot and alien flashy colors and lasergun fights with a pinch of melodrama and scifi cliches inbetween, I'd stay away.

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Jan 3, 2015

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 6

ZephSilver (All reviews)

112 people found this review helpful

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 read more

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Jun 27, 2014

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

mercury1980 (All reviews)

78 people found this review helpful

The pledge:

We, the knights of Sidonia.
Pledge ourselves as one united galaxy protectors.
Regardless of gender, race or religion.
To protect the outer space from destruction.
That is caused by Gauna floating in outer space.
So as to achieve peace, happiness and progress for
our universe.

I came up with the pledge which describes best of the Knights of Sidonia. This anime is directed by Kobun Shizuno from Polygon Pictures and it is an adaptation from Nihei's manga "Knights of Sidonia". As you may know, Nihei Tsutomu specializes in cyperpunk genre manga like for example, BLAME & Biomega.

This anime reminds me of Gravity the movie.

STORY (9):

The story takes place read more

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	Season 2 CONFIRMED Stark700 - Jun 26, 2014	24 replies	by brian_erion »» Jan 29, 4:50 PM
	Poll: Sidonia no Kishi Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Stark700 - May 29, 2014	161 replies	by Gensh71 »» Jan 25, 2:02 PM

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