'Soukyuu no Fafner' Spin-off Anime 'Behind the Line' Announced

VanishingKira said:
a "peaceful spin-off."

We'll see I guess.

RobertBobert said:
Is this franchise so popular? I constantly see announcements of new additions, but I hardly see anyone discussing it.

anime-prime said:
The whole Fafner series needs to be brought over internationally one of these days. Such a good show as this deserves at least that much.

MaceChan said:
Hehe, my thoughts exactly. Although I am not so sure If it‘s a good thing that we are getting more Fafner. Xebec and the creative force behind it are no more, so It obviously feels more like a cash-in than the passion project Fafner always has been.It‘s popular among the japanese Fujoshis since it has pretty boys, but Fafner is legit an amazing series.

DaCraziGuy said:


I don't get why is so unpopular on MAL, but my recommendation is never use MAL as a rule to measure popularity (at least not where it matters). Japan is what matters and their taste is different compared to the west (most of the people on MAL).

In case you wonder, this show it's one of those so called "NGE clones" along with rahxephon (I like this one a bit more).

This show is like a less psychological NGE with a plot that is easier to follow... more straightforward. Basically NGE with more of the cool shit and less of the deep shit (still have both of them).

I used a lot of "()", lol.

VanishingKira said:
The OG Fafner series kind of fell in obscurity in the West for a few reasons. Most evidently cause the first half of the OG series is very cryptic and confusing so many first time viewers likely drop it early on. It seems like an Eva Clone at first but the series comes to it's own in it's second half where the main script writer for the series changed and the series gets substantially better after that point. Also it had the misfortune of airing inbetween both seasons of Gundam Seed, which was immensely popular and revitalized interest in Gundam in the early 2000s. Coincidentally both series have the same character designers to make things worse. Fafner's cast almost always being confused for Seed's since people who don't know about the series.

Part of the series success does come from fujoshis since the show has alot of attractive male characters and some undertones. I like the series cause it one of the few ongoing mecha franchise outside of Gundam that still has that gritty grand scale war feel that older mecha anime had. The series is constantly building upon itself narrative wise since it's had time to build up it's world and characters. If I had to make a comparison it'd be similar to what Muv-Luv Alternative is especially from Exodus onwards.

RobertBobert said:
Well, I'm not talking specifically about MAL, for some reason, personally, it always seemed to me that this is something like another LN with a magic school.

kuroicho said:


I think you got this confused with Juuou Mujin no Fafnir.

Soukyuu no Fafner has been pretty popular within Japan for as long as it's been going on. Some of the VAs on the cast don't do much but Fafner either. I remember when EXODUS was announced, people were surprised it kept going, but both EXODUS seasons are just really great tbh.

I personally prefer Fafner over EVA and SEED, but each to their own, of course.