*No Spoilers*
Summary:
Last Hope (Juushinki Pandora) is a sci-fi anime based in a fictional, post-apocalyptic, Asian country in the not-too-distant future. The story takes place after the main character and a partner attempt to create a fancy energy-related device that ends up destroying most of the world by merging machines and biological creatures. The premise is interesting, and the characters’ backstories start off rather intriguing. However, as the plot progresses, the story as a whole falls apart. The already pseudo-scientific physics babble and “quantum reactor” plot turns sideways when absurdly disconnected subplots start getting rammed together, merging physics, spirituality, ridiculous multidimensional travel, giant fighting robots, morality, yin and yang, biology, and the characters’ backstories, into one messy ending. Part 1 starts off pretty interesting all around, but it begins to fall apart toward the end. Part 2 is just a mess. With that said, the show does have some pretty funny moments for a sci-fi anime, and it was generally entertaining, particularly in Part 1. If you enjoy sci-fi and action, this might be a good fit for you.
Story: 2/10
Last Hope starts off with an interesting and simple plot: The main character has been outcasted after a failed invention causes the destruction of pretty much the whole world. The setting itself is interesting, as animals and machines have integrated, and the main character tries to fix his mistake and protect his city and sister. Part 1 begins nicely with some character development intertwined with the seemingly simple plot. Midway through Part 1, some backstories seem to come back to haunt the other characters, and this is when the plot becomes muddled. Part 2 becomes so disarrayed with abstract, pseudo-scientific, and spiritual concepts, that it doesn’t make any sense. If it had stuck true to the more basic, sci-fi mystery portion that is presented in the beginning, it would have been much more cohesive, worthwhile, and redeemable. I give Part 1 a 4/10 since it starts off decent, albeit already starts to fall apart halfway through. Part 2 is just a complete disaster, so I give it a 0/10 for plot and general storytelling.
Art: 7/10
The art is beautiful and the best piece of this anime. Some of the character designs are outlandish, like Queenie’s ridiculous armor leotard, but the character designs are generally fitting of the setting. The world-building is interesting, which is enhanced by the excellent artwork. There are some scenes with lots of flashing lights during parts where there’s some funky robot dimension-merging, which may bother someone who is sensitive to flashing visuals.
Sound: 4/10
The soundtrack, openings, and endings are average in terms of anime music. There’s nothing too memorable about the music, besides maybe the ending theme. The voice acting is decent and fits the characters well.
Character: 3/10
Characters have fairly interesting backstories, although the anime focuses almost solely on their traumas. If the characters were left alone and developed as the story progressed, I would give them a higher rating here. However, the plot really prevented this from happening due to its absurdities. Each of the main “hero” characters knows someone who just happened to survive the earthly destruction and come back to attack them in different ways. The antagonists all have generic backstories, whereas the protagonists are pretty interesting and likeable. Sadly, the main way the protagonists develop is to use some magical, spiritual, or pseudo-scientific cross-dimensional growth that enables them to overcome their predetermined antagonist. Again, I believe the protagonists are somewhat unique to begin with, so I would give them a 5/10 to start but a 1/10 by the end because of the ridiculousness of the plot. Also, the whole “family” concept starts off cute but becomes extremely overused by the end.
Enjoyment: 1.5/10
I was really hopeful for this one. It started off compelling, even though I knew the pseudo-scientific babble was not realistic. By the end of Part 1, I was doubtful it would be worthwhile. Part 2 was honestly one of the least enjoyable parts of an anime I have ever seen because of its nonsensicalness. I didn’t want to finish the show but wanted to be able to review it in its entirety on here for you. I’d say the first ½ of Part 1 was an 8/10 for enjoyment. It then got exponentially worse and became a huge letdown.
Overall: 3.5/10