Tags
anime, gargantia, impressions, planet, post-apocalyptic, scifi, suisei, verdurous
Suisei no Gargantia (13 Episodes – Spring 2013)
Alright jumping right back into things! I’m always interested in “Strange person in another world” type anime because really this is where creators can shine the most. Sure I love me a good basketball or baseball anime but those worlds are generally already defined and cannot be changed. Time for a little view into my anime viewing habits, when I see an anime I think I will like for sure I tend to put it off to the side into a sort of “safe haven” pile. That way if I watch an anime that I really dislike or, just want to watch something good, I go to this particular set of anime that I’ve set aside. MOST of the time this works out very well, sometimes it doesn’t…. in any case onto the plot synopsis!
While fighting an intense inter-galactic war, a mecha pilot was accidentally warped into a space-time neither he nor the computer of his mecha could recognize. After waking up from hibernation, he found himself trapped on a planet, with human residents talking in an unknown form of language, using inferior technologies, and — most shocking to him — naturally breathable air. (Source: ANN) This is where we take our first turn into something unexpected, the “strange” world is a planet that is something of a myth to the main character’s people. Then throughout the series we get to see various facets of the life of the people on this planet. It is actually very interesting how the creators came up with how their lives functions, although to me a clear message was sent upon during this whole anime and one that didn’t surprise me in the least when I consider everything. (My apologies for being vague, but I don’t want to supplant ideas or anything else if you intend to watch this)
The characters I found very enjoyable, the main protagonist is balanced between his militaristic side and his curiosity. The things he does to learn about this new world and often against the advice of his helper AI thing humanizes him even more. The female protagonist is kind of like the opposite, her curiosity allows her to do things normal people wouldn’t but her duty to her people reins her back enough to know when to stand up for what she thinks is right. So there is an interesting duality between the two.
Overall this anime was well worth the watch, it took a spin on the “Person in Strange World” genre that I’m sure has been done before but how they presented it was an enjoyable experience. If I had to say something that I didn’t like about it, it would probably be that the ending of the series started to lose me a bit in terms of my interest.
Verdict: As I have really no bad things to say about this anime this one is easily one I would recommend, the setting is interesting, the characters are interesting and how they present it as a whole is great as well.
What else I would recommend: Jyu Oh Sei, this anime follows along the lines of the “person in strange world” theme but I found this to be interesting because of the beginning and how the two brothers interact.