Simoun

The verdant, peaceful country of Simulacrum resides on the planet of Daikuuriku. The country owes its existence to flying machines called Simoun and their holy Sibylla pilots. Powered by ancient artifacts, these ships can utilize Ri Maajon, frighteningly powerful abilities that can tear the very sky apart.

Aaeru is a wilful girl who joins the ranks of the Sibylla priestesses at Chor Tempest in hopes of being able to pilot a Simoun one day. But soon after she enlists, Simulacrum is plunged into a war, as hostile nations desperately try to claim the technology for themselves. Hoping to save their respective lands from doom, these nations at peril believe the Simoun are the key to preventing disaster.

Now struggling against their enemies and dealing with personal losses, the girls of Chor Tempest have no choice but to adapt to their situation if they are to have any chance at unraveling the mysteries that lie at the heart of their country: the Simoun and the Ri Maajon.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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

Limone Main

Noto, Mamiko Japanese

Dominura Main

Yukana Japanese

Alti Main

Toyoguchi, Megumi Japanese

Rodoreamon Main

Takahashi, Mikako Japanese

Nishimura, Junji Director, Episode Director, Script, Storyboard

Tsujitani, Kouji Sound Director

Jinbo, Masato Episode Director

Yoshida, Shunji Episode Director

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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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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 - ... that everyone is born female and can choose to become male at 17 - which is so outlandish that it's completely impossible to take seriously, but well realised enough to be a genuinely hook all by itself. Then we have the cast, who are a grab-bag of stock archetypes, and a plot which is also awfully familiar. And we have the characterisation, including the art, which by being almost aggressively shoujo seems entirely at odds with the action-ish setting, and the script and voice acting, which practically redefine "wet" in most cases. And the production design, a highly camp take on art deco which resembles the result of a collision between Last Exile and Escaflowne, particularly the made-of-spare-parts Simouns themselves. We have, in short, a show entirely built around an idea and a formula.

A Simoun is an aircraft of sorts. Its purpose is primarily religious, to draw geometric patterns in the sky which form complex prayers to the god Tempus Spatium, and it is piloted by two priestesses who have not yet made The Choice. Perhaps coincidentally, these prayers, called Ri Maajons, also act as a weapon; in fact they form the only real weapon the theocracy of Simulacrum has against invaders (apart from the army, who for unknown reasons are largely ineffectual). The invasion is due to other countries craving for the drive systems Simouns use, while they are forced to rely on polluting alternatives that poison their land and air. The practical upshot: naive, pampered, sanctimonious and hormonal young priestesses are the primary defenders of their country against devious and desperate, yet not entirely unjustified enemies, and experience the general destruction of their innocence as their friends, relationships, worldviews and lifestyles are placed under gigantic stress.

Basically, while the thing is wrapped in sci-fantasy window dressing it's a story of spoiled, obsequiously devout snobby teenagers getting what's coming to them, which in this case is a rude awakening. I couldn't help cackling with glee as one or other of the ensemble cast first sets themselves up and then gets knocked down a peg. This is where the audience sadism comes in; the story cannot truthfully be called one that easily permits suspension of disbelief, so since I can't quite take it seriously, I nonetheless rather enjoyed a lot of the series precisely because of the carnival of ghastly people suffering for my amusement.

But while this does have a fair amount of mileage due to the large cast composed of people whose suffering is highly amusing, it's far from enough to carry the series - and nor should it be. Once I came to terms with my newly-awakened sadistic side, I tried to take the story more seriously, but ran into trouble. For a start, this is supposed to be a war, and while there are odd interludes of capture by blood-vomiting enemy saboteurs among the snide carping about who's allowed to hang out in the ballroom, the whole thing tends to happen at this weirdly unworldly remove from the devastating war that appears to be happening. The use of religion, whether it's supposed to be or not, is a perfect cypher for the problems that hardcore religious attitudes create in reality; yes, people are dying in their thousands, but what about our rightful priveliges as members of the clergy? It's as if people out there on the front line didn't realise that prayers and love of god are much more important than their continued existence!! On numerous occasions, I started to get cross about the fact that people were being totally irrational, but then I realised that this series' depiction of religion correctly conveys that it is the most widespread form of irrational behaviour known anywhere. This is something which Studio Deen do deserve credit for, not least in that Japan is by and large not a devout country in any sense, and imparting to people raised in an atheist environment the sheer irrationality of religions in general is not easy.

Among the 12-strong main cast there are just three people I actually like, one whose pleasing "I'm not sure what's going on but let's do our damnedest to have fun with it" attitude exists because she's voiced by Mizuki Nana, and another who's interesting mostly because she appears to have wandered in from a role as manipulative femme fatale with a slight S&M twist in an H-game (not least because she's called Dominura; you can also see the S&M in the fact that among all the completely non-uniform variations of skimpy pseudo-lingerie that purport to be uniforms, hers is the only one to incorporate fishnet stockings). The other likeable character, thankfully, is one of the main protagonists, Aaeru, because she's the only person on the whole ship with real drive, who actually seems to have any idea what she is doing, what she wants and when to stop tutting and gasping and wringing her hands in ecclesiastical angst and take action; the fact she's not bothered in the slightest about religion and just wants to fly helps hugely here. The remainder of the ensemble cast are similarly familiar character archetypes, but less pleasing: several are neither objectionable, nor particularly appealing, but specially aggravating characters include a gossipy airhead called Floe, the sergeant-like Paraietta who is bossy, curt, indecisive and basically totally rubbish, and the sisters Kaimu and Alti, who are singularly annoying because of their insistence on not getting on with each other for totally absurd reasons.

These are however secondary annoyances beside the other main protagonist, Neviril. Being unnaturally talented at Simoun flying and thus particularly holy, everyone instantly forgives her inability to cope with stress, or in other words, her extended bouts of sulking. Adored by all, she is blessed with a life normally free from insight into anything
(allowing her poorly-written comrades to provide it to her, and simultaneously to viewers) and avoids the curse of complex sentences or outward displays of emotion that might make people think she's normal; nonetheless, she manages to come to some highly generic and familiar conclusions about
being true to her own feelings and so on and so forth. A poker-faced, monosyllabic protagonist almost never works, and this is no exception. However, while I generally found her bothersome, there's a certain amusement to be gained from how unrealistic a character she really is, for example a perfect moment of unintended comedy about halfway in, when Aaeru mentions the death of her former pair in characteristically down-to-earth terms, prompting a lollercaust of gasps, horror-stricken looks and emotional overload.

Her look is part of it. Character design varies massively across the series, with other primary heroine Aaeru for some reason resembling a manic Kyoto Animation character, to me at least, Floe looking like a castoff from Sailor Moon, many others looking like off-the-peg Gonzo characters. Against all this, Neviril seems inappropriately ultra-shoujo in style, her perpetually waving pink hair, pink lipstick and unusually round eyes putting me in mind of Nana (note: I've nothing against Nana, it's just a very distinct style that, to me, clashes in this context with the others around it). Moreover, relative to others, her undemonstrative demeanor is seemingly at odds with her supposedly emotional temperament - the above-mentioned unintended comedy moment is partly as funny as it is because by this point it's by far the largest display of emotion she has exhibited for something like a dozen episodes, and it just shows up how little she seems to actually emote most of the time. This lack of theme is beneficial in that it makes the whole cast easily recognisable, but it does nothing to make the series as a whole look coherent. This is also severely hampered by the inconsistency of the art; I suspect an in-betweener had some out of date reference materials, as in once instance the entire cast gain enormous noses for an entire half an episode, and in certain shots thereafter. This is the worst problem, but not the only one; at times the animation gets very cheap and undetailed as well.

A thing or two must be said regarding Simouns themselves, which sound like TIE fighters and move with the total disregard for G-forces that only CG can actualise. They are desperately silly things; imagine a cross between Escaflowne, an Mi-24 gunship and a flying snail, complete with incongruous gold ornamentation, twin bubble cockpits, chin cannons and silvery trail. Then there's the fact that they are variable geometry craft without reference to actual geometry at all, which is to say the pieces stay together and rearrange themselves without actually being connected together in the first place. And those chin cannons? They get used about once ever; I suspect they're a leftover from an earlier design stage where the concept still retained some plausibility. The silvery trail is the only true weapon, and it seems to work by producing blue light that makes enemies spontaneously explode. Oh, and they seem to be powered by kisses.

Music is a mixed bag. The opening theme is by Ishikawa Chiaki, and as such is predictably excellent; the ending is too anodyne and mediocre for me to have watched enough of it to catch who sung it. This excellent/mediocre disparity continues through the BGM, some of which approaches excellence while other parts reach annoying territory. Also predictably, there's no real consistency, flavour or theme to the music, mixing electronic pieces, orchestral pieces and things of many other stripes in a way that seems to want to be Kajiura Yuki and clearly isn't managing to be.

The central gender-choosing premise is, as I say, a major hook into watching; but it's mostly wasted, with the series becoming a sort of soup of mixed sexualities. There's a theme of putting off choice running through the series, as the protagonists are basically allowed to indefinitely postpone the normal gender choice if they'll continue flying a Simoun - but have to make the choice if they want to quit. Obviously, the gender choice is a half-allegorical single focus for all the changes in sexuality/loss of innocence/responsibility that adulthood represents. Credit is due for adhering to and emphasising the idea that, in serious relationships, people are naturally attracted to characters rather than to gender per se; however, on one level, all it really does is introduce an air of sexual ambiguity, making it an exercise in tame, vague sexually suggestive behaviour. It all appears aimed at the tastes of young adolescents who find themselves turned on by women kissing women, something that just doesn't match the seriousness with which the series takes this theme of taking choices seriously. On another level, it does tend to suggest that the gender a person finds attractive is your own free choice. Conversely, all of the gay people I know have never seen their sexuality as a matter of choice, any more than I can say I chose to be straight - they see themselves as having been born gay. I mean, I dare say some might disagree with this, but the point is, Simoun seems fairly invested in painting sexuality as a subjective choice, which seems a bit out of order to me.

To cap it all, there's plenty of unblemished femininity on display, with none of the dozen protagonists appearing at all masculine, even though some profess to have already decided to become male, but nowhere is there a masculine male to be seen - no facial hair, no muscles. All the young males around look highly effeminate, 'bishie' and Ouran-ish, and even the older male characters, who one might expect would be more traditionally masculine, possess some feminine characteristics, a delicate ear-stud or a flick of ornamental hair. Most of the voice actors for male characters seem to my ear to be female, too. Nonetheless, whatever the cause, the effect is of depicting a world in which there's actually only one gender, female, and various degrees of distance from it, the furthest people from female being termed male, without wholly qualifying by what I understand male to mean. It all seems like a careful and deliberat design decision, rather than simply the programme's style, as if there's a standing instruction to make all males slightly feminine, but having never 'got' shoujo, I can't tell if this is trying to make a point about men and women, or whether it's simply the design ethos of a heavily shoujo-minded art director.

The purpose of messing about with the significance of gender in Simoun remains, at least to me, unclear. Thought-provoking though it is, it does not end up explaining itself. Simply having all these priestesses face leaving the priesthood and becoming ordinary women, some gay and others not, if they give up flying Simouns, would surely work just as well. When you just ignore that side of Simoun, though, you start to see a funny thing (spoilers coming, so skip this paragraph if you wish); there's a war over resources, it escalates and the former superpower becomes the underdog when faced with military might, and then there's a highly unfair peace treaty, wherein the Simoun pilots are forcibly demob'd and the country demilitarised. What the gender-choosing thing is actually for, aside of acting as a fairly superficial gimmick, is to disguise the fact that the plot is an allegory of Japan's history, 1930-1945, as written by the ultra-nationalists who are once again on the up in Japan today. Japan, they'd contend, was the major power in East Asia in 1930, but an alliance of China and the US managed through a mix of sheer numbers and military superiority to turn the tables on Japan and force the country to accept a peace treaty that disbanded the Japanese military and demilitarised the country. While there are many inevitable differences, not least because of the difference between settings, the similarities are striking.

And therein, perhaps, lies the meaning of Aaeru and Neviril's superficially baffling disappearance in the last episode, and all the rhetoric about another world actually being the same one in a different time; they are the embodiment of Japan's fighting spirit, a mixture of Aaeru's plucky determination and Neviril's sacred inviolability, shifted through time to where they are needed - presumably, by this rhetoric, in the future. When you take this reading on board, and add in the highly defined and divergant masculine and feminine images and ideals that exist in Japan, one final possible interpretation of the whole gender choice mechanic is that it symbolises the emasculation of Japan, and that people must choose whether to become male and fight for their country or stay female and remain passive non-actors. Perhaps this is how the approaching war at the end of the series should be interpreted. I recall starting to watch Code Geass and being turned off by that series' overt nationalism, a trait that always rings alarm bells for me. This, however, seems like it could be construed as covert nationalism, which to me is a more out-and-out disturbing trend.

But enough politics; Simoun is supposed to be entertainment primarily, and for me, it succeeds in that aim to a limited degree - but not in the ways it originally intended to. It's serious moments are frequently hilarious, and its sense of importance is out of proportion to support its ideas with storytelling skills, but like many things that genuinely are so bad they're good, it tries earnestly. And there's the whole viewer sadism angle, which will doubtless appeal to many. I'm glad I watched it, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed; the expectations I'd formed by the halfway mark were not really satisfied at the end, and the faux-enigmatic ending was neither satisfying nor suitable. I'm not fond of using genre to create expectations, but really, a series that starts out as a story about combat pilots and makes a big deal of aerial sequences surely NEEDS an aerial battle as a finale, rather than four episodes from the actual end. As for the characters, at least none of my favourites ended up annoying me overmuch; the muted tone of the end and the eventual fates of the characters, including their shared lack of certainty about anything, also bothered me. One thing I can definitely say in Simoun's favour is that if, like me, you're given to compulsive analysis of whatever you end up watching, this series will certainly give you plenty to get your teeth into and chew over.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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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 ... for it. Will there be any flying snail shell pilots on the RTLR wall of drama? Let's hop on this thing like the Easter bunny.

To note as well, I have agonized for a month or possibly more about writing this review. I have no problem writing reviews on shows that had potential that gets wasted, but I find it much harder to be truly negative in all aspects. Of my 40+ reviews, I think I have only a couple that truly let me down, that I could not find aspects to like. I tend to go into anime with the idea of 'this is good until proven different' and Simoun did NOT take long to sour that attitude. In fact, I'm not even sure why I finished it, as it was quite a chore for me. I wanted to find something to like, I truly did, but just could not. Therefore it's been quite hard for me to put these words to 'paper' so to speak.

Story: 4
The biggest issue that I find glaring in the series is that these people are at war, as explained in the synopsis. In fact, one flight of Simoun had been nearly wiped out by the enemy. This should place a great deal of stress on our teenage pilots, but the most 'trouble' we see out of them is the leader of the primary squadron moping over the death of her previous copilot. The copilot doesn't even die in battle, she dies when they try to attempt a forbidden magical spell (I'll explain more in a bit) and it backfires, killing the copilot. Yet, instead of seeing the weight of combat affecting this leader, and even the other girls, is glossed over.

The leader literally pouts and refuses to leave her room because her copilot who happened to be her lover as well, had died. She doesn't seem shocked per se, nor does she mourn in a manner one would expect in warfare. Instead she is a brat, and even though it's her responsibility to lead the squadron, she could care less and continues to ignore her duties. War is hell, and people die. Even worse when they die trying to do something forbidden in the first place. There's a reason exist, and the pair had no right to break them. Their defiance of obvious orders is yet another area where they show any lack of regard for military structure.

Which brings us to the point fans point out: the girls weren't military, they were priestesses. As long as they put off the gender ritual (mentioned in the synopsis) they are allowed to continue being pilot-priestesses. Yet even in the ecclesiastical authority that exists in their religion seem to have no control over the leader and her hissy fits. The real rub is that these girls, some as young as perhaps 11 or 12 (Lemone) or appearing in their 20's or later (Dominura) are not taught that they are fighter pilots flying advanced aircraft. They are told they are priestesses flying 'chariots of the gods' and with these ships they produce a magical contrail that when a certain shape is achieved a HUGE amount of devastation results. Instead of calling a spade a spade, the girls are taught that these are 'prayers' to their god. It just happens that their 'prayers' kill dozens upon dozens of enemy fighters. But because they don't consider themselves as combat pilots, they spend their time bickering over which squadron uses which room for their recreational time, and dealing with interpersonal drama that would seem over the top if it was in high school, not on an aircraft carrier launching constant fighter engagements.

But killing in the name of God has been something humans have done since time immemorial. So to these maidens, they're not sending hundreds of enemies to their deaths through their sorties, they think they are praying to their god and everything is hunky dory. Then, even when reprimanded or given orders by the heads of the church, hissy fit girl ignores even them. This reminds me a bit of Maverick from Top Gun. When Goose died, Maverick fell apart, but he also tried to quit flying for the Navy and had a true personal crisis. Our hissy girl has no such thing beyond 'boo hoo my girlfriend is dead". She doesn't even seem interested in gaining any true revenge against anyone that might be related to the accident. She might seem tormented about flying again, but she does not relinquish her leadership position. Instead she makes the entire squad suffer over her foolish actions. All she had to do is go take the gender ritual and that would have been that. Instead she remains listed as 'active' but refuses to fly for a long time.

Nor are the enemies properly explained. They are said to have come from lands surrounding the girls' home countries that are polluted and vile because they do not have access to the Simoun technology. Never once do they explain why one nation holds all the Simoun engines or why it's evil for the enemies to want that tech shared, especially if it could spare the environment (as it seems to do, their nation is pretty where the enemies live in nasty conditions). Also, where is the ground troops for any of the nations? Why does it seem like everything is decided by 5 or 6 Simoun fighters? Especially knowing the Simoun fighers can make the special 'prayers' which are nothing more than spells with insane destructive power? Why send in wave after wave of highly inferior aircraft when you know almost certainly they are going to be cut down piecemeal? Where is the strategy in that? There's a time or two the enemy ships do make a little progress, but they never hold an advantage for long at all. It seems rather stupid to devote massive man power and industrial output when you know that a hanful of the enemy Simoun can wipe out dozens if not hundreds of fighters in mere moments? In fact, one of the most effective attacks launched by the enemy is a number of cruise type unmanned missiles. In that instance, however, the Simoun suddenly have chin mounted guns and still repel a good amount of the explosives.

The final complaint I will leave is the yuri/shoujo ai tag. One of the big ups I read about this show beforehand is that the Simoun are powered by girls kissing. This is true, but they are not romantic kisses, they are more like quick pecks then they kiss the dome containing the 'gem' motor, and it lights up. These kisses are shared by pilot and copilot, but there is no romantic connotations to them. In fact, pairs change on occasion, and each new pair repeat the kissing process to fire up the Simoun's motor. So it's not 'Sakura Trick' kissing, it's locking lips just to start the ship, and nothing more. Now there are a few girls who have love interests in other girls, hissy fit girl for example, but there's another girl that loves hissy girl, but plans to become a man in the gender ritual so she can marry the hissy girl, which kind of curtails a same sex relationship.

So we have some cheesy high school level drama set against the backdrop of a horrific war. The girls care not for the lives they take, it seems for the most part, and are more interested in their own internal dramas. Not a single girl bothered by the wanton killing they perform as 'prayers'.

Art: 4
Pastels everywhere. The uniforms are overly complicated and too busy. The leaders of the military and church are groan inducing, and do not appear appropriate for either organization. There seems to be a constant wind blowing, even indoors, especially anytime the hissy girl in on screen. Her pink hair seems to never stop fluttering as if she has her own personal breeze. The Simoun themselves are ugly, looking like snail-shelled wheels that apparently drive not only the aircraft, but at least one train as well. There is one character (Dominura) who appears to be into S&M, complete with fishnet hose for her uniform, and with such a look I figured at some point she was going to betray the group or do something else terrible. She doesn't but boy does she have the villain vibe going. The entire artwork seems odd and out of place.

Sound: 6
I admit I did like some of the voices employed in the series. Dominura was very interestingly played, and Lemone sounds appropriately young. The mean girl sounds mean. The only problem is that older men in the series sound as if they are all voiced by women. I understand that all people start female before the gender ritual, but to attain a position of authority, one would think that would take long enough for a properly male voice to develop.

The opening theme is light and airy, which is in direct contrast with the fact this is a story about girls flying fighters to destroy their enemies. The ending theme did nothing for me. The sound effects were acceptable but nothing to write home about. The Simoun flying sounded kind of weird, but they look weird so I guess that matches.

Character: 5
I'm been over a lot of the girls personalities (or lack thereof) in the story section, so there's little more to say here, other than the ensemble cast can get kind of big, and seem to be there to take up space more than anything. Sure there are two sisters, there's a rich girl and a former servant of hers, and the girl filled with determination, but they all seem to be single note characters.

Enjoyment: 4
It was hard to keep watching this one, as the frivolity of the girls just clashed so hard with their mission to kill their enemies, even if it was in the name of their god. They did not have any regrets or difficulty in knowing what they were doing. They were instead, for the most part, blinded by religion. There are other subtexts they try to shoehorn in, such as a discussion on gender issues, but they all fall flat when the actual story they are telling isn't interesting enough to care about any subtext being presented. By the middle of the series, I just wanted it to be over. I kept hoping for something redeemable to happen, but I was let down.

Best Girl: Dominura for sure, and others may hotly debate this, but I believe she becomes and/or is Onashia. Any mean looking women in fishnet stockings can catch my eye.

I wanted to like this anime so much, I really did, but I couldn't bring myself to that point. It wasn't the art, it wasn't the sound, it was the inanity of the story that just blew my mind. And then in the end when they throw in the time travel angle, I just wanted to punch my monitor. No new RTLR wall entries, not even for Dominura, and I sure as hell recommending a complete pass on this one. All four thumbs down. I wont be surprised if this ends up being my only review with 0 'likes' on it. Sorry, just have to call them like I see them. Thanks for reading.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Simoun Episode 2 Discussion Ksanclaire122 - Aug 8, 2013	5 replies	by SlammyHammy »» Feb 4, 6:24 PM

Top 20 Best Yuri Anime of All Time: Girls Love to Love

Girls are said to be the most loving beings in existence, something that is true in real life and in anime. So what about girls who love other girls? Well that, my friends, is the definition of yuri anime. From just friends to more than friends, here are 20 of the best yuri anime of all time.

by Jankenpopp

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RecommendationCollectionCute GirlsLoveMoe