Story: I will try not to give away the best bits! Basically, the story revolves around a highschool-aged group of female superstrong Genetics soldiers and their slightly younger male partners, whose power combined is just enough to fight Genetic's greatest foe, the Nova. Right from the beginning, this show flaunts the extreme violence that comes with training for war. We meet the main characters, Sattelizer and Kazuya just as a "carnival" (read: masochistic annual tournament) is wrapping up, with Sattelizer as the heavy favorite in the second years. The late transfer student and the secluded, tormented fighter makes for a great story of reconciliation and selfless love. We get to see the characters as they fight over school politics, war partners, and each other's hearts. The story has a tendency of showing emotions through protracted fights rather than dialogue, and there were a few points where I just wanted to shove two characters in a room and make them talk. It's frustrating when the source of drama is sometimes just silly miscommunications or assumptions, but I guess these fighters and defenders of the earth are a tad egotistical and self-involved. It comes with the territory.
By the time you're wondering just where the show will go with its fleshed out leads, a large attack befalls Genetics, and Sattelizer and Kasuya find themselves right in the middle. The emotional plot really does play into each character's effectiveness as a fighter, which makes the story much more enthralling. I loved the last four episodes. They were dramatic, had some great twists in the fight, and generally made the show. The stakes feel high in the battle, and I was caring for the different characters, as their survival did not seem to be assured. Now, here's some not-so-sweet news: there is a good amount of boobs and poses thrown into this anime, and though it is almost always related to the fights (as their ever-shredded stigma fabric suits are indicative of their condition), some will see this as gratuitous and pointless. And as I said before, the fights can last quite a while, robbing the viewer of more character development or general setting about the outside world.
Animation: The character designs for everyone is great. We see many nationalities at Genetics, and it actually shows some in their look. Also, every Pandora's a babe, and you will be seeing many a pair of fight-revealed titties (for better or worse, this show is a kind of ecchi), and if it's important to you, they are quite the mammaries. The fighters use a variety of tactics and weapons in their fights, and oh are the fights extraordinary! Great animation paired with a visceral feel of classmates/comrades fighting all out (thank goodness for their magical hospital!) makes for exciting fights that feel like they have lots of power behind them and real consequences. Both the fights and the more dialogue-heavy scenes are well-animated, with good, strong emotions coming through with most of the characters. CGI is used for some of the special moves in a way that blends well with the drawn characters and enemies. It looked like it belonged in the fights, and I think that's the best compliment I could give. Blood and gore are present, but never gratuitous, and the expressions of pain that comes with each hit looks the part. Settings can sometimes be bland-- the school is pretty, I guess, and the city in the last arc does give off a futuristic vibe, but sets in the Genetics compound and during fights are dark and spartan. This is a more generic future than NGE's Nerve center, and the beautiful landscapes of that world. The most important parts, though (the characters, the fights, and the enemy design) come out as the focus, and these elements more than make up for the lack of pretty sunsets.
Sound: The OP is fairly good, and this is coming from a chronic skipper. I found myself humming along often, and the montage during the song is a good overview of the characters and their job: kicking ass to protect the world. The ED is more techno, and has stills behind it rather than animation, but it's still a catchy tune. The soundtrack is usually servicable techno, some piano. It gets the job done. I thought the seiyuu performed admirably. Sattelizer and Kazuya are well-done by their respective actors. There's a "rural" character in the show, and her dialect sounds different even to me, a complete japanese newb. Everyone has great force behind their lines during fights, and especially at the end. Overall, a great and even effort. Also, the sound design for the fights and Nova are great. The special moves really pick up intensity when their sound effects give some weight to the punches and slashes. Oh, and that sound the Novas make? It's really creepy and scary. The sound helps make these behemoths seem menacing and frightfully dangerous.
Characters: The crux of this show is the relationship between Sattelizer and Kazuya, and as they draw closer to each other, both of them have to look back on their lives and their motivations to fight before they can handle a Nova fight. Sattelizer had a traumatic childhood, but in the beginning, all you can think is "ice queen". Who better to thaw the Untouchable Queen's heart than Aoi Kazuyah, the brother of the deceased hero of the last Nova war? There's plenty of meat on these characters, and seeing Kazuya's iron will and its affect on Sattelizer makes for good drama, most of the time. It seems like they pulled the rug out from under our feet at the end, though. We never get to see the result of them caring for each other, this "baptism" of sorts, which cheapens the conclusion of the series, in my opinion. Though the other, secondary characters also have varied and refined personalities, the focus on fights and the main two mean that you'll be left reading info cards after the commercial breaks to learn about the other fighting vixens. Lana, Ganessa, and Chiffon are all great personalities to have around Sattelizer and Kazuya, but I just wish I knew more about their stories. In the end, the characterization are meant to lend emotional power to the action climax of the show, and for all my complaining, it worked!
So there you have it. I started watching for the fight scenes and boobs, and ended up staying for the exciting, world-in-the-balance conclusion. This is an adult anime that eschews the ditzy humor of most ecchi for a serious sci-fi story of love and sacrifice. About the 20th time a blade cuts of a girl's clothing but not her skin, you realize that fanservice is a big part of the show, but by no means is it the biggest. If you can't stand these parts, ask yourself what the difference is between this and the naughtier bits of Rome, True Blood, or Weeds. Adult shows have some T&A, get used to it and just watch the censored version if you're too boob-shy. There are some niggling issues with bland-ish settings and Sattelizer's crushing inability to talk to Kazuya about important things in a normal manner, but these are all small imperfections on a generally good, sometimes great futuristic sci-fi action series. With tits.
