My favorite mecha anime in a long time, Aquarion Logos is a tragically misunderstood show that seems to get unwarranted hate for not being a sequel to the original Aquarion. (Uh yeah, it’s a spinoff guys.) or just being generally weird, which it is.
Logos is a very weird show, but that’s why it’s so great. It isn’t like other anime, it isn’t cliched, or predictable, you have no idea what to expect in any episode. All the characters are huge atypical weirdos unlike the heroes you’d expect from a super robot styled mecha action anime, and I’m thankful for this.
This is a show where our heroes melt the monster of the week’s ice attack with the burning desire in their hearts to see girls in swimsuits, where a man delivers an impassioned speech about how you should give up on your dreams because you have no talent, and where one of the primary antagonists curls up into the fetal position after his girlfriend is stolen from him (100% serious here.)
And don’t forget the ghostbuster’s parody episode.
It has a simple story about a group of teenagers fighting monsters with some planes that transform into robots when they combine together, but the execution is why it works so well. It seamlessly blends the monster of the week type battles with the character’s stories in the episode, giving it an amazing balance of mecha and character drama/comedy depending on the episode.
Most mecha anime inevitably sacrifice one or the other and fail to integrate the two, but Logos makes it look easy. The gimmick of the planes combining in sets of two or three into different combinations of mecha is handled perfectly, all the designs are distinct and cool and none of them overshadows the other.
And above all else, Logos is FUN. (Hey guys, remember having fun?) if you try and take this show 100% seriously all the time, you are the problem and not the show. The weird, goofy aspects of this show are not it being bad or unintentional in the slightest, this show is very self aware of what it’s doing and it’s obvious from the timing of the awkward moments between characters (it’s called humor, maybe you’re not used to anime with jokes that don’t have somebody shout EHHHHHHHHHH?! At the end of or something)
Logos is a show that at first glance is held together with duct tape and string but is actually perfectly put together under the surface. It’s bizarre character designs and weird non anime cliché characters and comedy are pretty off-putting at first so I can see why it’s so unpopular, but give it a shot if you want a very solid mecha action/love story and some genuinely funny comedy.
Oh and the climatic battle was one of the coolest mecha fights I’ve ever seen seriously just go watch this show.
