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As long as I live, I'll probably never understand those people who rave about Terra e as if it were a great piece of literature, or indeed, good enough to be considered a piece of literature at all. For something that whose source material won the Seiun Award, and whose manga won the Kodansha Award, Terra e manages to be.... I'll be honest here. It's really, really bad.

Setting
Terra e is a sci-fi piece. That is about all one can describe, because the setting is indeed quite plain. Although earlier episodes would have you believe that it takes place in some sort of... Orwellian nightmarish environment, ... for all intents and purposes, Terra e has a vanilla sci-fi setting.

Humanity has polluted the Earth to a state in which it is uninhabitable. Humanity has taken to the stars, colonizing and terraforming planets to live on, all the while trying to terraform the Earth back into a liveable state. As a result of the crisis situation, a fascist government has managed to seize power, and their administration seeks to cement their control over humanity, through, for example, destroying rogue elements such as the mutant "Mu", and engaging in a vaguely 1984-like system of population control.

Taking inspiration from 1984 would, generally, inform one that the show would have dystopian elements, but strangely enough, all effects of the fascist actions of the government be waived as convenient for the plot. The psychological effects of having a heavily controlled and totalitarian populace never strike the main characters, while the main characters will also never lose any information relevant to the plot, mind-wipes to ensure obedience be damned. As a result, any serious message the show tries to convey is simultaneously undermined and made into a laughing stock. I do not know if the director seeks to destroy his own show, but this is a disturbing trend that permeates this show in general.

Humanity is supposedly controlled by supercomputers, yet humans are still shown to make the relevant decisions when necessary. Everyone is brainwashed to follow the SD government, but there are characters who still elect to dislike the government, and rebel, and they are not dealt with until they commit serious crimes, and expose state secrets. People are raised like sheep, yet the cast seems to undergo a normal schooling environment, and even military academies bear more similarities to modern day education than differences.

I could go on, but I fear that I am belabouring the point. Other instances of this undermining (for it is far too common) will no doubt show up as I go on.

Plot
The main plot of Terra e concerns the "Mu", a race of psychically endowed mutants exiled from humanity, who seek to find, and recolonize Earth. They do this all the while evading attack from the dictatorian "SD" government, who seek to destroy rogue elements that threaten their control over humanity. The main character, Jomy, is one such (young) Mu.

While the Mu are initially peaceable, after some time, the frustration of the new generation of Mu born in exile boils over, and under the leadership of Jomy, they elect to wage a war against the SD government and the humans under its jurisdiction, to claim Earth as a homeland for themselves. They do so by obliterating SD ships with overwhelming firepower, taking entire planets hostage, and being every bit as cruel as the humans which they supposedly despise.

If I didn't sound very sympathetic to the cause of the Mu, I do not apologize. While the director undoubtedly wants us to side with the Mu, I must find that his message often works in reverse. Terra e shows us the cruel side of humanity, espoused in its finest agent Keith Anyan, a cold, callous man captured by the Mu who has no qualms taking hostages to ensure his escape, and killing them when he has no further use for them. The Mu call him a monster, but yet just days later they indulge in monstrous behaviour on a much larger scale, destroying entire fleets while accepting no surrenders, and taking an entire planet of civilians hostage. The new generation of Mu, especially Jomy, do this without batting an eyelid, and indeed, they even revel in the bloodshed. The new generation are revealed, in the end, to be power-crazed, psychotic, and ruthless to those who they perceive to be beneath them, even other Mu who are less powerful psionically. Yet, the viewpoint is constantly with the Mu; we see how the Mu struggle to survive and build a homeland for themselves in an abandoned colony in deep space, we see the conflicts and disputes between different Mulian factions firsthand, we are shown how humanity tries to destroy the adopted homeland of the Mu through orbital bombardment, all the while in a sympathetic light to the Mu. We are left in doubt just what the director wants us to feel. Are we to pity the Mu for their depraved state of affairs, brought about by persecution? Are we to hate the Mu, for their cruelty and inhumanity? Niehter interpretation can be supported, due to the conflicting messages that the director sends us, that undermine either intepretation.

Aesthetics
The most striking artistic decision about this show, I would think, would be the decision not to tell a chronologically smooth story, but rather to have the plot move in a series of jerky timeskips. While novel, this idea is nonetheless again undermined (yes, again) by the scriptwriter and art director. Little indication is given as to the length of time that has elapsed, leaving the viewer to pick up the pieces. As a result, many episodes, especially early on, feel rushed and disjointed, and a nagging feeling surfaces that there should have been additional episodes to fill in the gap, or at least, changes in the way characters and the backgrounds are drawn to reflect the time gap. When a 14-year old looks exactly the same as he does when 26, the audience is left pondering just what the art director was thinking.

Nonetheless, the rest of the art is drawn surprisingly well, from the beautiful clips of deep space, to still shots of nebulae and celestial objects, to wonderfully detailed and realistic spacecraft. The character designs may be dated somewhat, which may be quite jarring at first, but after a few episodes they grow on the viewer. Sound is nondescript. It's used when appropriate, but is nothing to rave about.


Characters
...

Just, ...

Half the cast are idiots, the other half of the cast are assholes, and all of them, in all honesty, had much room for improvement. While many characters do develop as the story progresses, it is usually to their moral detriment, and attracts the audience's disgust.

You have cold cruel hypocrites like Jomy and Physis, power-crazed berserkers like Tony, arrogant and beastly snots like Shiroe, disgusting psychopaths like Karina, naive and temperamental youths like Kim and Sam, and old men rooted in the past like Zel and Harley.

To be fair, some of these characters aren't as bad as I make out, Sam and Harley notably, but by and large, most of them are. Blue, Keith and Matsuka, the only main characters worth a damn, are not able to carry the show due to the amount of screentime they are given.The amount of sympathy the rest of the cast attracts is basically 0. When main characters die, complete with a death montage, flashbacks, and insert songs, I don't shed tears out of joy. I shed tears out of happiness, because I do not have to see that idiot again.

The voice acting is a mixed bag. While the main characters, especially Keith and Blue are voiced pretty competently, many side characters, Physis being a prime example, have horribly grating voices. But at the very least, they do not get enough screentime to get the viewer overly annoyed. It's still nothing to rave about, of course.

Overview
To be succint, Terra e is what I would term: wasted potential. Given its unique setting and novel storytelling method, if handled competently, it could have been a deep and cutting look into the human psyche. As it is, it is merely a glaring example of how not to do it: make a contradictory, meaningless, unenjoyable trainwreck of a show, with no coherent message.

I've heard some people describe it as en epic anime, and must respectfully disagree. While Terra e strives to be an epic anime, the total lack of sympathy that the audience feels for any character, as well as the lack of a coherent message gives it an extremely different, in fact almost entirely opposite kind of mood - Nihilistic.

Ah... the phrase "Magical Girl". It makes you think of a Shoujo anime, doesn't it? Soppy little transformation sequences, annoying mascot animals, ridiculously cute lolis...

But make no mistake. Maybe people have the wrong impression from the title (which may account for the surprisingly low ratings), but StrikerS is, in fact, squarely in the Shonen denomination, and is a rambunctiously good Shonen to boot.

Plot
Lets have a quick summary. StrikerS is set 10 years after the previous iteration of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, in which the titular character has outgrown her loliness and become a full time Instructor, training the new generation of horribly underaged TSAB ... recruits. The cast is further expanded with the introduction of new recruits. As industry standard, a threat to world security soon arises, and Nanoha, together with her old friends from the previous season, as well as her new recruits, is responsible for stopping them, shonen-protagonist style.

When I say shonen-protagonist style, I mean, of course, "extremely violently and with great prejudice. The plot is par for the course, with a convincingly evil big bad, lots of cool henchmen, and lots, and lots of violence. It also manages to get some decent military intrigue going, and the last few episodes are a roller-coaster ride of emotions, where the action is fast-paced and gripping. It's a great step up from the previous seasons, and indeed, the complexity of the plot surpasses industry standard shonen, or even seinen fare.

Necessary recaps for viewers who have not seen the previous show are done extremely tastefully, telling just enough, but not totally spilling the beans, such that new viewers can jump right into the show, yet are still tempted to watch previous seasons. The continuation of previous plot elements to their conclusion in StrikerS is also done well, if a bit thuggishly at certain points.

Sadly, the show is hamstrung by its shonen trappings. I cannot talk any further to prevent spoilers, but suffice to say, the marvelous plot was, in the end, let down by the fact that the target audience for this show was, in fact, teenagers. Bit of a shame. It wasn't a deeply profound plot, but it was entertaining.

Aesthetics

The art is vey much the same as with the previous seasons, with one major difference: budget. No frame-dropping or awkward movements for us this time, no sirree! While not spectacular, the animation is nonetheless extremely high-quality, and the explosions are beautifully done.

Sound, sadly, appears to have taken a dip from previous seasons, even if still serviceable. The voice acting continues to be above-average, but sound effects have suffered slightly. The whimsical bassoon melodies from Season One and Two have disappeared, to be replaced by genericized faux-brass tunes. The character leitmotifs, however, remain as beautiful tunes.

Setting and Characters
To my surprise (and later, pleasure), the director of StrikerS has taken the ambitious step of rewriting the setting, dragging emphasis away from staples of the previous seasons (Familiars and Devices being the most obvious), instead putting the emphasis on political maneuvering and a certain degree of philosophy. The emphasis on human relations from the previous seasons remains strongly in force, and indeed, we continue to see well-rounded and strong characters, both familiar and new, grow and develop as the show progresses. It is extremely well done, and kudos should rightly go to the director for this.

However... again due to the shonen trappings of the show, the cast has gotten into a.. ballooning tendency due to their shonen protagonist invulnerability status. This leads to appearance issues, where a huge cast pool competes for limited airtime. While this is understandable, it is also regrettable, especially when characters whose deaths would have been perfectly placed to advance the plot stay alive.

Overview
The director has chosen to shunt the show to the mainstream, a smart and noble move. However, I do wish he'd have enough confidence to put down his artistic vision without fear of repercussion, although the realist in me tells me this will never happen. While I don't deny I enjoyed this show, it has the potential to be more, so, so much more. It's good, but calling it excellent would be a blatant lie.

8/10, very deservedly so.

In an earlier review, Bluesnow talked about how despite being a good anime, F/SN has a tradition of being overrated. I pretty much agree with this sentiment. This is a good anime, but it definitely has plenty of areas that could be improved.

The plot of this series, is to be honest, pretty horrible. It's extremely linear, it's pretty boring, and there isn't really very much in terms of plot twists or suspense. And what little they had, which was more towards the end of the series, was executed rather badly with bad pacing and ass pulls galore. In mitigation, this was likely caused by ... the developers buckling under the twin strains of running out of budget and having to merge the three different scenarios from the visual novel together. However, it's still bad.

The saving grace of the series lies, frankly, outside. The backstory, the concepts dealt with, the underlying metaplot, the thoughts provoked - fantastic is an understatement. Sadly, in order to be able to enjoy this, reading the Visual Novel is a must. The anime simply did not have enough time to cram in all of the information, resulting in a jumbled mess.

Another strong point of this series lay in the characters. Every single character positively exudes personality - from just hearing one line, you can basically pinpoint which character it is from. However, this is coming after I've read the Visual Novel, and also all the associated mythologies of the characters. If just watching the anime itself with no prior knowledge, the Servants can be a bit... one-sided. The thing you have to remember is that you're *supposed* to know the characters beforehand, and that the development present is an expansion on preexisting perceptions of these characters.

However, there's one exception to the strong characterization - the main character. Given that this was an adaptation from an eroge (hardly a medium known for strong main characters), you wouldn't really expect much of Shirou. However, Shirou does not possess the usual blank self-insert personality typical of eroge protagonists. Quite the opposite, in fact. He has an extremely strong personality, and it's grating to the extreme. There are plenty of times where you wish you could just slap the damn child out of him, and unfortunately, the scenario where that *does* happen was not animated.

Animation quality was extremely well done, with a clean art style that's extremely refreshing, and well animated fight sequences. Sadly, this tended to suffer near the end of the series as the animators ran out of budget.

Sound is a non-sequitter. Nothing really stands out, nothing's really bad.

In conclusion, Fate/Stay Night has a marvelous backstory, beautiful characters, and a mediocre plot. In trying to shake things up from the Visual Novel, the director appears to have set too high a bar for himself to attain, running beyond the limits of himself and the budget. While the animated medium makes for a much better flow of story than the Visual Novel, which had shaking pacing at best, in the end it fell prey to the pitfall of no money.