Sousei no Aquarion

Once upon a time, a race known as the Shadow Angels attacked Earth to harvest the life force of all those who inhabited the planet. Thanks to some outrageous miracle, the Shadow Angels went dormant, and humanity was able to live another 12,000 years without fearing their presence. But 11 years after a catastrophe dubbed the Holy Genesis brought ruin to the Earth, the Shadow Angels were stirred from their slumber and resumed the attacks once more.

To give humanity somewhat of a chance, an organization known as DEAVA was formed, and use of a robotic weapon named Aquarion has been authorized. In order for the Aquarion to be brought to full power, three pilots must combine their hearts, bodies, and souls into one—a feat few can hope to accomplish. Thus, the search for so-called 'Element Users' was prioritised, hoping to ensure humanity's future.

Sousei no Aquarion follows the story of Apollo, a near-feral young man brought up in poverty, who is believed to be a legendary hero reincarnated. After his best friend is taken by the Shadow Angels, Apollo chooses to become an Aquarion pilot. Will he be able to turn the tides of the war, and free humanity from the threat of the Shadow Angels for once and for all?

Apollo Main

Terashima, Takuma Japanese

de Alisia, Silvia Main

Kakazu, Yumi Japanese

de Alisia, Sirius Main

Sugita, Tomokazu Japanese

Fudou, Gen Supporting

Ishizuka, Unshou Japanese

Toma Supporting

Morikawa, Toshiyuki Japanese

Rune, Rena Supporting

Satou, Hiromi Japanese

Apollonius Supporting

Terashima, Takuma Japanese

Ko, Reika Supporting

Kobayashi, Sanae Japanese

Baron Supporting

Chiba, Susumu Japanese

Celiane Supporting

Kakazu, Yumi Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Harp, Clarine Producer

Kawamori, Shouji Director, Storyboard, Key Animation, Mechanical Design, Original Creator, Screenplay, Series Composition

Tonokatsu, Hideki Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Jan 1, 2008

Wasabi

Recommended

Sousei no Aquarion is a mecha anime that is similar to Evagelion and RahXephon. Just another anime about humans fighting against a form of higher being, in this case, the Shadow Angels.

Story: The plot is pretty slow. It may seem the plot throws you right into action, which it does, but it does not move the plot much until the last few episodes. It follows a pretty generic line with very few twists here and there. The whole show seems pretty episodic save the finale.

Art: The art is unique in its own way. The characters have unique designs to them and the mecha are pretty ... unique as well. The backgrounds are nice but sometimes feel as if they were sloppily painted on. The character designs and mecha are pretty much the saving grace of the artwork.

Sound: The musical score is pretty much the highlight of the show. The music produced by Yoko Kanno, known for her works in Ghost in the Shell and Macross. The musical score makes good use of orchestrated works and the insert songs found throughout several episodes are good.

Characters: The characters have their own interesting personalities. You have Apollo, the homeless turned Daeva pilot who is short tempered to Silvia, who has a serious case of a brother complex. The characters have their own distinct way of doing things in the anime and it shows in their battles against the enemy.

Enjoyment/Overall: I was expecting more out of this anime but it reduces its plot to a drag. The battles are decent and the music is good. Other than though, it just seems like another Evagelion ripoff.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Aug 16, 2008

TheLlama

Mixed Feelings

Aquarion is an homage to older mecha series, and that is easily seen when you watch it. Personally, I haven't watched a lot of older mecha series, so I can't exactly spout out examples of it copying them. But I've talked with people who are experienced with them, and the one mecha from the 90s which I've watched (NGE) is enough to prove my example of how similar it is.

The setting is - not surprisingly - a futuristic world, where a form of higher beings - in this case Shadow Angels - show themselves for the first time in thousands of years. There is only ... one organization - in this case DEAVA - who can fight against them, due to their possession of mecha robots - in this case the Vectors/Aquarions.

The male protagonist (Apollo) is a reincarnation of a fallen Shadow Angel, Apollonius, who betrayed the other Shadow Angels a long time ago. Also known as the Wings of the Sun, he is very important to the Shadow Angels, so they go after him. The female (Silvia) protagonist is the reincarnation of Apollonius' lover. That's it for the setting. Maybe you've now decided on whether to watch it or not?

Anyway, the story isn't that really great. It's episodic, and stays that way until the last couple of episodes. Those episodes are actually so independent of each other that, aside the first episode, you could probably watch them in any order. The development in Silvia and Apollo's relationship is all but prominent, and whil I could nearly imagine them kissing after one episode, that didn't seem so likely after the next. Still, that development is pretty much the only thing that ties the episodes together. The inconsistency of other characters' development also helps to drag a bit down.

The animation quality is actually one of the stronger parts of the show - not that it is a very positive statement. And that is if you count out all the CGI. The character designs and backgrounds are all decent, but there's just something dull about the coloring, and good lighting effects are rare, but good when there. Special effects are okay, but not something outstanding.

And then there's the CGI... I'm not a big fan of CGI in anime series, and especially not when it's so blatantly executed as the CGI in Aquarion. It just ruined the quality and my viewing experience. If you like or don't mind lots of CGI, you'll have no trouybles with this, but if you're not a fan of CGI like me, it can ruin your enjoyment of the series. However, the series deserve a plus for the best-looking male villain ever (Toma).

The soundtrack is the strongest part of the show. This time around it []is a positive statement. AKINO did an outstanding job on the OP and ED themes, and most of them are in the upper tier of my favorite OP/ED theme list. The BGM is okay too; it does the job it's supposed to do, but it stops there. VAs are good; I like the characters' voices and they're played pretty good. Sound effects are okay too, and they do their job like they should.

The characters are not that good. They're mostly unoriginal (at least from my experiences). I mean, Apollo is the stupid, rash character you've seen a lot of times, Silvia is the female protagonist who doesn't like the male protagonist at first, but warms up to him. Sirius is the arrogant-kinda type (he actually reminds me of Byakuya from Bleach), Pierre is the guy who's always going after the ladies, and so on. There's low amounts of character development, which also drags a bit down. You get a little on Apollo and Silvia as we gradually explore their past lives and they warm up to each other, but that's about it. A plus is Gen, though. I love most of his lines.

All in all, Aquarion is what you'd expect of an homage of older series - unoriginal. But they still executed it poorly; it had potential to be great, but it never became that. It's not an anime I'm gonna remember.

To 'Not Helpful' voters (and you 'Helpful' voters too): Feedback greatly appreciated =)

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Apr 18, 2009

michaelfeb16

Not Recommended

Sousei no Aquarion is..unique. Unique in how it surpasses anything else I've seen at being uninspired, generic, and boring. I am truly proud that I finished this show because it was one of the more difficult things I've done involving anime.

Story - 1:
Extremely generic. Sousei no Aquarion is about a young male who is unknowingly the reincarnation of some great hero. He must rise up and prove his naysayers wrong by defeat the arrogant enemy while proving that humanity is not inferior.

Now, being generic isn't a bad thing. There are plenty of shows that take a generic plot and refine it or expand upon it. ... Not Sousei no Aquarion. It will stick to this proven formula. Although this isn't the making of a great show, it would be passable if other aspects of the show were much more impressive.

Art - 4
Sound - 7:
Commenting on art and sound are not my strong points. I am very lenient when it comes to animation and I don't unusually notice music unless it is extremely impressive or totally absent. That being said, I do feel that art and sound were the shows strong points.

I never felt anything overly negative toward the art. Given what was being drawn, I don't see what else could have been done with it. Keep in mind however, while the show's art has no glaring problems in my mind, it also has nothing outstanding. Nearly every show I have watched has something that catches my eye - Sousei no Aquarion's most impressive visual is probably its generic mecha.

The only place that I give this show good marks is on sound. I generally enjoyed the music throughout the show, but my rating is primarily based on loving the first intro. I don't know that I could have finished the show without it.

Character - 1:
With few exceptions, my opinion of a show depends on the balance of the characters and the plot. Generic characters can work if the plot has something going for it, and a basic plot can suffice if the characters are endearing. Sadly, Sousei no Aquarion's characters fared even worse than the story did.

Ignoring that the majority of the cast is entirely one dimensional, the main characters are terribly unrounded and develop as quickly and drastically as an eroding rock. One is the rebel, the other is the arrogant jerk, the last is obsessive incestuous fangirl. During the course of the show, these develop into the rebel hero, the guy who still manages to be an arrogant jerk despite losing, and the obsessive incestuous fangirl who is remotely considering a legal life partner.

I could go into more detail, but any detailing of Silvia could provoke me to murder.

Enjoyment - 2:
When things are wrapped up, the value given to Sousei no Aquarion is directly valued to how valuable you consider your time to be. If you are as bored as I was when I watched this show, the quick episodic pace will, at the very least, keep you distracted. If you are like most people and you have limited time to devote to twenty six episode shows, steer clear.

There are plenty of shows that have similar plots and characters done well - there is no good reason to watch these standards executed so poorly.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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