I watched most of this on Comcast's Anime Selects VOD. I recently bought the DVD Box Set, and watched the entire thing again. All in English, but I did watch part of an episode in Japanese to compare voices.
Plot:
I thought the Plot was pretty good. Sure nothing "inspiring" or groundbraking, but critics and veiwers complain about it. They expetced too much from it(though only God knows why). They say it was train wreck of ideas, just trhown together, clearly this is untrue. I thought it was very well thought out. There are some real reasons why, but they are spoilers. Let's just say everything was planned out, and thought out with a grand idea in mind, from the start. Nothing seems forced or thrown together as critics have said. The main focus was the rebelion against Jainai Holy Group and the Creator, and althought on their journey there are some side stories, everything is a build up to the final battle(which is EPIC!!!), and the fight against the Creator. I really LOVED the way Jaina (a religious group) took control of the Kingdom. This entire anime had lots of social comentary about soicety that was easily overlooked by the masses. I won't get into any spoilers but just the way religion took control of the entire country is very interesting. Then it turns out they have no real interest in religion, but just power. VERY deep!! There are tons of "themes, lessons,commentary" and other interesting thoughts this anime raises, sadly ingored by everyone. Stuff like: the conflict of "pacifist" and "fighting to defend someone", "who should govern the people?", "the idea of selling yourself,(life and soul) to destory your enemy", "will revenge make you happy?", "when does a Kingdom (for the people) turn into an Empire(for the people in power)" and questions of "why you should fight", not to mention countless others. . Plus I just loved the whole rebels vs empire thing it had going on. The side stories added to the anime, something very hard to do. In some animes they seem forced, or added on to extend the lenght. While here they did not. Remeber it's all a buildup to the final battle. The war is the main focus, and this is done very well. It uses humur (a lot of it, most times sex jokes) to lighten the mode. I think because of lots of use of humur it's shrugged off a little as a "stupid" anime. I liked the comedy here, but I didn't think thatw as the main point.
Characters: Everyone says the charcaters and mecha are all rip offs from NGE, Pokemon, Ranma 1/2 ,Rayearth, Escaflowne, Slayers, and whatever other anime. However these are all just slight nods to these animes, nothing more. The characters are all original, despite what critics and veiwers say. While none of the characters are very strong, they are all still good.
The Creator -
The Creator (male and female form) was defently my favorite, and the best character overall. Influenced by the Emporer from Star Wars, but still very much his own character. So evil, so heartless, yet I can understand him. You either love him/her, or love to hate him/her. You either want to join his army, or join up with the rebels, after watching him for a minute or two. He is very powerful.
Princess Mill -
She is also very cool, but some could find her anoying. She never bothered me though. Although she can be some what of an airhead, she's not useless, and is very nice. She is not at all a spoiled princess, and one who could be fit to sit at the throne. One problem I had with her, is she didn't really seem too sad her parents were killed (not a spoiler you learn it in the first episode)
Solude-
Solude is very interesting, and her backstory is easily the most developed and just best one overall. By the end of the anime, when she takes more of backseat to the plot, you will feel like you completely understand her. You get right in her head. The writers did a good job, and everything she says or does, there was a reason to it.
Asterote ("Aster") Reighe -
He's a cool "tough" dude, and he totally kicks ass. And Aster's not stupid, but rather pretty smart. He just prefures to fight, rather then use his intelligence and his other skills. You need a guy like this, and he sure pulls his own weight. His past is a mystery, and I think this is intentional.
There are tons of other characters, and they all seem real to me. Not one is a copy of another. Evene non important characters seem real to me, not just "people". They all have their own motives, and loyalties. Some are more obviuse then others. I don't want to talk much about Maze(the lead character), because that would lead to spoilers.
The Mechas -
Every single one looks real. They all look like they fit into that world, and every mecha looks different. Some look evil, some like facotry built, some look speciale. But every mecha looks cool.
Art:
The art and animation was pretty bad, even for it's time, but could have been a lot better. I remember when i first wastched this, thinking it was from the early 80's or mid 80's. I was amazed to see this was made in 1997!! While it gets the job done, shortcuts are very comonly used, and can get ugly. The animation depends on the episode, and I personally think the first and last episodes were the best, and all the others were worse. But even the best, was not that good. It doesn't harm the anime overall too much, but they really gipped this anime of good animation. The designs of the mecha and characters and background were all orignal. But when thrown together, felt very cheap.Evene the fight scenes were horrible animated (sometimes). Compare this to other anime of it's time (Revolutionary Girl Utena, Case Closed, Agent Aika, Vampire Princess Miyu) and you can clearly see it's not up to par. I kind of think the artists and anyone involved with the animation were put in cryogenic freezing sometime around 1983, and thawed out for this anime. Becuase it looks like it's from that time period. If it was, I wouldn't care this much about the art.
Sound:
English and Music -
The Sound was done well. Nothing bad. The dub was very good, and I enjoyed it. It's not Cowboy Bebop of FLCL, but it's still very nice. Dan Green rocks in everything he does (I think he likes his job a little too much). And the 1st ending theme is so funny, so cute, so great, that you have to get up and dance to it! (Also sounds like it's from the 80's another reason why I thought it was, but this was not a bad thing here). Very upbeat and "party" like. I've heard people say "the only thing I liked about the anime was that ending song, and damn it was good!!". People really like the song, and why not when it's supercatchy! I have a theory, that states if you don't like the first ending to this anime, you aren't a human being. The other ending is good, and opening is cool too!
Japanese -
The Japanese was good I guess. But sense I don't speak or understand Japanese, I can't tell if they are good actors or anything like that. NO ONE CAN unless they speak/understand Japanese at a near-native level. And for the record Princess Mill's voice was more anoying in Japanese then English! So glad they toned that down a bit for the dub!
Final Vertic:
Defently an anime for the Fantasy or Mecha fans, but still very deep.Give it a try if you like mechas or fantasy, fictional wars, or the idea of "rebelion" vs "the empire". Not a shallow anime, in fact makes statements about soicety, but you gata look for them. Many people have a problem with this anime, so I warn you be careful before investing time and money in it("Money??" yes buy the DVD's damn it!!) . Probally not going to inspire you, but still it's more deep then something like Naruto or Inuyasha. It has a good story to tell, and underated!
