Existentialism is a common topic in media. It's explored to great extent in some deeply philosophical shows, and more shallowly in others. Seldomly, however, does a show experience a massive paradigm shift in tone and with such a revelatory moment as in Gargantia, and make it flow almost effortlessly into the narrative. While that makes Gargantia sound really heavy- it does double duty as a nice little Slice of Life and a twisting drama in terms of narrative.
Artwork and Animation: 8
Production IG delivers a great looking product in Gargantia. Very vibrantly colored with lots of blues (since it's set on the endless oceans) contrasting well with the rusty reds of the ships, and interesting character designs, with their choice of dress. A lot of the Gargantian dress is very American Indian inspired, while the Galactic Alliance draws influence from sci-fi military wear.
I enjoyed the vibrant setting of Gargantia: as stated above, Gargantia sports a lot of great coloration and some unique setpieces, given that it's set entirely on the ocean. Sea creatures, lighting effects, and the overall post-apocalyptic feel with the rusty, aged looking cobbled together fleet- their technology, with the general look of retro futurism, is also rather cool to see. As with anything Production IG does nowadays, there's the inclusion of 3D CGI, and in Gargantia it does look good. They have improved on their mecha work from Guilty Crown, and I have to say, their movements never drew my ire as most 3D does.
Realistic detail touches like the sky being dense with stars at night are cool to see in use here, since the Earth has no lights on it to pollute the atmosphere.
The character movements are fluid as ever- IG does excel in making their characters move like real people.
Story, Characters: 8, 7
I don't want to say too much, since the late season twist is what solidified this show as a good watch for me, but, I do want to talk about the aforementioned existentialist conflict that's set up in the show. Ledo is but a single worker ant in the spacefaring, far future colony of humanity. Due to reasons that would be spoilertastic to explain, humanity had long before abandoned the Earth to make their way in space, and were eventually able to thrive, but only through an intensely regimented life devoid of any concept we recognize of living. The humans are pressed into military service from a young age, and like lab rats, any with genetic disabilities or illnesses are culled. There is no concept of family or friends, there is no currency system- everyone is rationed their minimum allotted amount of clothing, food, and shelter, and nothing more. The only escape from this laborious existence is after X years of military service, they're allowed to vacation for a month on Avalon: a manmade planet-sized space station that travels through space.
The Galactic Alliance of humans, far removed from any internal squabbles they may once have had, is run like a fascist/authoritarian dictatorship. Orders are handed down from above and are to be carried out immediately, without question, or the offending soldier would be immediately removed from service, if not killed on the spot. People are merely cogs in a machine, easily interchangeable with another if they fail to perform their duties to the utmost degree.
Ledo, who, during a battle with humanity's spacefaring enemy, the Hideauze (pr. He-day-owz) gets separated from his fleet during a strategic withdrawal through a wormhole creator (not unlike the Mass Relays from the Mass Effect series) is launched through time and space, and ends up on a foreign planet, of which there is no record in his Machine Caliber (a humanoid shaped robot with an advanced AI technology known as Chamber inside).
This planet is known as Earth.
Earth is now completely covered in water for reasons I cannot disclose here, and humanity survives on enormous city-sized fleets of cobbled together ships resurrected from the ocean floor- the largest of these known as Gargantia. The humans aboard this ragtag group of ships live a very communal, easygoing life, starkly juxtaposed to the rigid order and structure of the GA military.
On Earth, Ledo is met with a mix of awe and suspicion from the denizens of Gargantia, who are loath to allow him into their society, but begrudgingly accept him for the usefulness of his animated mechanized machine. Ledo meets a young girl named Amy, who takes an interest in him, and serves as his guide in this alien environment, and go between for him and the commanders of Gargantia. This sets up the discovery, mutual learning and slice of life moments between Ledo, Amy, and the crew of Gargantia. It's done so that the audience, through the eyes of Ledo, learns much about the history of the Earth, and its now-inhabitants, and at the same time revealing through Ledo what it really means to live a life.
Enjoyment: 8
The foreshadowed moment late in the season totally changes the dynamic of the show, from what was a very cute and easygoing Slice of Life to a darkly consequential drama, like an astonishing kick to the head wake up call. I would put this moment in the neighborhood of the twist of Fight Club or The Sixth Sense- a slow buildup to an unsuspecting mindblowing moment.
Another interesting philosophical point brought up is the dogma of the Alliance, vs the mentality of the Gargantians. Per the Alliance, the weak in society exist solely to support and provide for the strong, who in turn protect the weak in a sort of twisted symbiosis- this is countered in the Gargantian view of a supportive familial type structure, where everyone has something to offer that's not a binary "weak/strong" dynamic. One could call this the idea of socialism or even communistic, but those aren't really the purpose behind it. The disparity between the societies presented in the show creates an interesting dynamic that's explored through the conflict- and one that was a lot of fun to watch unfold and unravel.
As a product of Gen Urobuchi, one would expect twists and turns, but this was definitely one I enjoyed a lot.
Overall: 8
Gargantia was a big surprise for me. It started slowly, and it was an interesting concept- the "alien meets earth", but with a twist. A nice commentary on the human condition, as well- with the inversely analogous perspectives on the purpose of life from the Gargantians and the Galactic Alliance.
"According to the GA philosophy, happiness is the realization of circumstance in which the individual's service unto the entire group makes the cost benefit ratio most efficient. Therefore, happiness is commensurate with a degree of command stability" -Striker
