Reviews

Although mecha figures greatly in Soukou no Strain, it is not the focus and that is a good thing because I found them generally lack luster. That aside, with the exception of a throw away ecchi episode, the rest of the show is first rate. It takes off at a good clip and continues to pickup speed. There is plenty action, drama, romance, tension, as well as the mystery of why Sara's beloved hero brother turned trator. A couple of times it was even more than a little sexy.

Strain racks up a body count equal to most Gundam's but sadly, no pun intended (the good ones never are intentional), but the series is too short to build the kind of emotional attachment that brings one to tears, although at one point I was saying, "Awww, no, don't kill HIM!"

The science part of the fiction isn't too bad; light speed and space-time relativity, etc., . . . except for the part when a hole gets punched in the side of a ship and people don't instantly find themselves dead . . . but then, I guess I'm just picky about such things.

Artwise, it is a good looking anime even if I didn't care all that much for the CG mecha. I've seen a lot worse. There was nothing exceptional about the music but the sound effects were excellent. Listen on decent speakers if at all possible.

At 13 episodes it was Very Good, actually a bit better than that but I can't give it an 8.75. The plot progressed without confusion but kept you wondering what would happen next. Imagine what it could have been had it been spread over 26 episodes! We might even know why the two sides were fighting. This one is well worth your time.