Juushinki Pandora

Neon Evolution EvangeTransformers...Shoji Kawamori you kinda went crazy with this one...

Juushinki Pandora gives us something of an Attack on Titan "last of humanity" while monsters named B.R.A.I (or animals that evolved into mechs) invaded the land due to the Cambrian Explosion and needing Hyperdrived vehicles named M.O.E.V in order to defeat them, but for LA's main reason as to why this anime interested LA......Nao Touyama was in it.

So to brass tax, Juushinki Pandora somewhat excels in character and story integration which makes the increasingly crazy plot twists apply and oddly enough given enough leeway and hinting as such, where the anime does falter however comes ... in in terms of structure, pacing and execution, but that a bit later.

Character-wise due to the major development and screentime with the core cast, we go in-depth with the Pandora Team and world building through Neo Xianglong and the Hyperdrives due to the link the main protagonist Leon Lau as well. Leon Lau voiced by Tomoaki Maeno is the typical nerd, absent minded yet a genius but was dubbed "the man who destroyed the world", as he joins the Neo Xianglong Pandora Team, he opens up to the core cast and less aloof to not only protect everyone but is something of a hybrid of system controller AND frontliner in the fight against the B.R.A.I. World building-wise, Leon and his rival villain brings us many of the finer detail to the newly evolved world, the Hyperdrives and really how he's linked into all this. Nonetheless being the main protagonist and being the narrative focus...this was a given and nonetheless a good narrative focus character who just like the audience is trying to figure out the craziness alongside him. Chloe Lau voiced by Nao Touyama is Leon's "little sister" and really is for the majority of the anime and is the pillar of support, there is a bit of screentime to her, only because she's something of a satellite character but only has one plot point that isn't really in focus. Queenie You voiced by Kana Hanazawa is the tsundere of the core cast but loves "cute things" and as such, she connects with Chloe really easily, she's also a kung fu artist and it incorporates into her M.O.E.V and she's after someone who killed her master and is her main focus in terms of subplots. She actually became LA's favourite character...yeah it took a bit (as in past half way through the anime as well as her character focused arc) but yeah...LA picked Kosaki instead of Chitoge this time. Next is Doug Horvat voiced by Kenjirou Tsuda a sniper and has something of a tragic backstory with a "former lover", he's the brooding nonchalant "womanizer" of the team. For supporting cast, we have Cain Hasan voiced by Unshou Ishizuka the gentle giant papa of the group who's looking for his family after the Cambrian Explosion. Next is Cecil Sue voiced by Ai Kayano, the leader of Neo Xianglong and.......Ms. Fanservice of the entire anime (no seriously), nonetheless she has a stake in this as one of the major villains has MAJOR beef with her and her clan. Jay Yun voiced by Yuuichirou Umehara is Cecil's secretary and he also has a connection with Leon in his past but it's not a major plot point. Glenn Din voiced by Yuuma Uchida is the "normal guy" of the group and he's ONLY known to be the hot-blooded abrasive and highly protective character with his only annoying running gag of "I'm not a delinquent, It's CAPTAIN".

The cast do have good chemistry only because the anime seemed to thread the characters with "family", whether it be Leon and Chloe's situation, Queenie's revenge against her personal villain for killing her "family", Doug and his "former lover", Glenn's desire to protect Neo Xianglong and Cecil's clan traditions that created Neo Xianglong that caused a mess later on with her major villain. All the core cast have a villain that opposes the themes of the core cast of "family" have and makes us get used to the characters as well as the character chemistry as the core cast have something of a core goal, protect one of the last bastions of humanity, Neo Xianglong.

As for the villains, well to say that they don't die easily is an understatement as they mostly fuel the protagonists development as well as world building as to what even the B.R.A.I's are and what the Cambrian Explosion came to be, with one of the major villains that has a link with Leon. To say ALL the villains are hamfisted or delightfully snarky is an understatement but nonetheless, the villains were a nice constrast to the rest of the core cast and the obvious shaking up of the plot and their theming of evolution or just their own selfish self-destructive interests that is in direct contrast to the protagonist's "family" theming and how they dealt with it, you know as a sorta yin and yang.

The world building is just as solid as it's characters, as LA aforementioned with Leon as the majority of the plotlines with it's characters as well as the smaller details towards many of the concepts of the anime is explained, yes quantum this and that but this works effectively well with it's plot twists...the MAJORITY of it at least. Not only that but we do get in-depth to Neo Xianglong, the B.R.A.I, the M.O.E.V, the entire Cambrian Explosion being explained, how all this affects the characters and villains motives. Juushinki Pandora doesn't handwave things away as ludicrous as it becomes as the hints were there, it's just more or less if you can suspend your disbelief with the craziness and for LA, 98% of the time it worked for LA.

In terms of animation, done by Satelight, well the animation was for the most part, consistent, with some good character designs, almost exotic especially from Queenie and Cecil. The CGI use was decent as well, blatant especially with the B.R.A.I but LA thinks that was the point of them being unearthly yet alien-like but heck even the Transforming M.O.E.V CGI use was decent, yes even the battles using the CGI was great especially with Queenie's M.O.E.V and her kung fu robot moves. Backgrounding is mostly barren wasteland but we do get some psychedelic moments that counters all this. Yes the animation does reuse ALOT of scenes mainly from the M.O.E.V transformations but really this is kinda the thing LA knows from Satelight, gorgeous animation and it's sometimes crazy battles and even OST Power Up *cough* Symphogear

And on speaking of which, the voice cast..well we have ALOT of well known voice actors, from Kana Hanazawa, Nao Touyama, Tomoaki maeno, Ai Kayano, Mamiko Noto, Asami Seto, Unshou Ishizuka, Yuuma Uchida and Akira Ishida. Really LA isn't complaining in the slightest with this voice cast, they did great in their respective roles.

So, Juushinki Pandora does have it's flaws as much as LA does praise it, as such the multiple plot threads and how exceedingly proceeds what with it's character plot threads, makes the structure sometimes hard to follow, as it either focuses on a character, a major event, or an isolated incident that latter ties into something bigger and because of that, if you can suspend your disbelief to how batshit insane it gets, but Juushinki Pandora still has some validity thanks to it's solid development of it's characters and world building, another words, there a certain method to the madness. BUT as much as most of it's plot twists does makes sense, one does not for LA and that lies in Doug's plotline especially near the finale, LA won't spoil but thanks for the elongating his plotline a bit too long that just reinforces almost blunt-force like of his backstory, but that was just LA. The only other flaw is the overuse of running gags, yes it's for "character", but for annoyance, not really, this is especially the case with Glenn and his "I'm not delinquent, It's CAPTAIN" schtick, yes Chloe has something similar but Glenn has this almost every appearance he gets.

The ending takes the logical conclusion of Leon's major villain into focus and yes the buildup to all of it and the villain "had it all according to plan" was something of a double edged sword but it was still decently concluded to say the least, cliche with the entire "nakama"...or in this case "family" surpasses the darkness but LA will give it leeway as it concluded "decently"...ALMOST half-assed.

Juushinki Pandora...was "decent", yes as much as it gets REALLY crazy, the anime does have a solid ground what wiht it's solid characters and world building, good to almost great animation and a great voice cast. yes the anime does go bonkers crazy but even then, with the foundation it gave itself and with the 26 episode length, the anime planned itself quite well to the point the craziness and plot twists becomes a given. Yeah, it's an Evangelion/Attack on Titan clone but Shoji Kawamori put in enough effort with it's characters and world building in which LA can really forgive it's much more crazier elements. Schrödinger's Cat and Pandora's Box.....it's either a evolving cat or a dead one

Shoji Kawamori....Juushinki Pandora is an evolving cat...a decently evolved cat.

In the year 2031, geeky main character screws up the world and created intelligent machine creatures of rapid evolution! How's that for a hook?


Kawamori's latest directorial sci-fi creates a mystery amidst a "war" against an enemy of the state, and the beasts created by our main character, Leon Lau. Already, there is a sense of surprise and sympathy for the main, who receives the end of a batting stick because his beloved technology put mankind in a big crisis - The Neo Xianlong Crisis.

It's "surprising" because it's amazing how much he screwed up, and the B.R.A.I are amazing. The series doesn't start off at ... school, or maybe in someone's local standard home. How does Leon repent?

However, I believe it's called Pandora, referring to Pandora's box - while chaos, evolving machine beasts called B.R.A.I, comes out of the box, there is also the possible power to bring miracles, and Leon wants to use his Quantum technology to make life better. He creates the Hyperdrive to equip with the MOEV, and that's where we have Kawamori's signature: the variable combat machine that can change into a bipedal form.

Pandora is probably difficult to clutch with a loyalty on a same level with core mainstream anime, but it really shows Kawamori Shoji's style. I say this because we keep revering the flashy, angular aggression of our most famous, "unforgettable" shows that, for one reason or another, makes us cry and moves our minds.

The CGI is a bit wonky compared to Macross. Think maybe Macross Zero and the duels of Frontier and Delta; because Pandora's low visual setting, I suppose it's hard to follow with the eye, compared to the skies of most Macross dogfighting. However, the action scenes are interesting, especially when the MOEV's hyperdrive is triggered. Then, it actually gets a bit "gutsy".

Many of the characters, particularly on the Pandora team, have suffered a tragedy brought on by the Crisis. Their activities come in close contact to the main antagonist, Mister Gold and his group. The team itself being a harmony together - a mood-maker, a quiet beauty, a cranky young lieutenant, a cheerful girl, a composed (and very stubborn) mayor and her contrastive high-strung adjutant, a vulgar but responsible and caring veteran soldier, and a nerdy man. Also, one of the characters has to carry himself as being a bit of a burden.

Again, the B.R.A.I are amazing, one of the highlights, their accelerated growth bringing their physiological qualities to the limit.

Pandora is also packed with a radio series, a gag comic and a novel centered on Queenie, Leon and Chloe's pasts. To quote Queenie's VA, Kanazawa hana, "martial artist which carries anger and sorrow deep in her heart."

Please enjoy sci-fi. For now, it's too early to suggest Pandora's qualities at their peak. I hope I'll change my score for the better.

FULL Non-spoiler review here: https://glculturetree.wordpress.com/2018/07/13/gutsy-science-and-doug-loves-the-pussy-about-jushinki-pandora/

*No Spoilers*

Summary:
Last Hope (Juushinki Pandora) is a sci-fi anime based in a fictional, post-apocalyptic, Asian country in the not-too-distant future. The story takes place after the main character and a partner attempt to create a fancy energy-related device that ends up destroying most of the world by merging machines and biological creatures. The premise is interesting, and the characters’ backstories start off rather intriguing. However, as the plot progresses, the story as a whole falls apart. The already pseudo-scientific physics babble and “quantum reactor” plot turns sideways when absurdly disconnected subplots start getting rammed together, merging physics, spirituality, ridiculous multidimensional travel, giant fighting robots, morality, ... yin and yang, biology, and the characters’ backstories, into one messy ending. Part 1 starts off pretty interesting all around, but it begins to fall apart toward the end. Part 2 is just a mess. With that said, the show does have some pretty funny moments for a sci-fi anime, and it was generally entertaining, particularly in Part 1. If you enjoy sci-fi and action, this might be a good fit for you.

Story: 2/10
Last Hope starts off with an interesting and simple plot: The main character has been outcasted after a failed invention causes the destruction of pretty much the whole world. The setting itself is interesting, as animals and machines have integrated, and the main character tries to fix his mistake and protect his city and sister. Part 1 begins nicely with some character development intertwined with the seemingly simple plot. Midway through Part 1, some backstories seem to come back to haunt the other characters, and this is when the plot becomes muddled. Part 2 becomes so disarrayed with abstract, pseudo-scientific, and spiritual concepts, that it doesn’t make any sense. If it had stuck true to the more basic, sci-fi mystery portion that is presented in the beginning, it would have been much more cohesive, worthwhile, and redeemable. I give Part 1 a 4/10 since it starts off decent, albeit already starts to fall apart halfway through. Part 2 is just a complete disaster, so I give it a 0/10 for plot and general storytelling.

Art: 7/10
The art is beautiful and the best piece of this anime. Some of the character designs are outlandish, like Queenie’s ridiculous armor leotard, but the character designs are generally fitting of the setting. The world-building is interesting, which is enhanced by the excellent artwork. There are some scenes with lots of flashing lights during parts where there’s some funky robot dimension-merging, which may bother someone who is sensitive to flashing visuals.

Sound: 4/10
The soundtrack, openings, and endings are average in terms of anime music. There’s nothing too memorable about the music, besides maybe the ending theme. The voice acting is decent and fits the characters well.

Character: 3/10
Characters have fairly interesting backstories, although the anime focuses almost solely on their traumas. If the characters were left alone and developed as the story progressed, I would give them a higher rating here. However, the plot really prevented this from happening due to its absurdities. Each of the main “hero” characters knows someone who just happened to survive the earthly destruction and come back to attack them in different ways. The antagonists all have generic backstories, whereas the protagonists are pretty interesting and likeable. Sadly, the main way the protagonists develop is to use some magical, spiritual, or pseudo-scientific cross-dimensional growth that enables them to overcome their predetermined antagonist. Again, I believe the protagonists are somewhat unique to begin with, so I would give them a 5/10 to start but a 1/10 by the end because of the ridiculousness of the plot. Also, the whole “family” concept starts off cute but becomes extremely overused by the end.

Enjoyment: 1.5/10
I was really hopeful for this one. It started off compelling, even though I knew the pseudo-scientific babble was not realistic. By the end of Part 1, I was doubtful it would be worthwhile. Part 2 was honestly one of the least enjoyable parts of an anime I have ever seen because of its nonsensicalness. I didn’t want to finish the show but wanted to be able to review it in its entirety on here for you. I’d say the first ½ of Part 1 was an 8/10 for enjoyment. It then got exponentially worse and became a huge letdown.

Overall: 3.5/10