Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet...
Within the last few days, I picked up Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet...
According to Wikipedia...
Gargantia is a dramatic character study that follows the development of both Ledo and his machine companion as they discover their humanity. There is a decent amount of action in the series -- particularly in the early episodes and near the end of the series. In addition, there's an interesting back story which highlights the origins of the Galactic Alliance, the Hideauze and the reasons behind the conflict between the two races. Gargantia is a mix of drama and (somewhat) hard science fiction with some giant robot action thrown in for good measure.
Although, nothing good happens to the Hideauze, there's surprisingly very little red ink on exhibit in Gargantia. There are no naughty bits to speak of. Gargantia has a nice well-polished appearance that I've come to expect in more recent productions. One of the things that I liked about Gargantia, is that although, the giant robot appears in every episode, the underlying story isn't entirely devoted to the giant robot. Rather, the story centers around what it means to be human. Also, Gargantia holds up reasonably well to repeated viewings. I was particularly impressed with the battle sequences in the first few episodes of the series. Overall, even though there are giant robots to be found in the series, I would still give Gargantia a 5 out of 5.
As a general rule, I'm not a fan of the giant robot genre of anime. There are exceptions, of course, but, as a general rule, if I see giant robots, I tend to stay away. So, Imagine my surprise, when Gargantia came home with me...In the distant future, Ledo, a young soldier from space, wakes up and finds himself marooned on an ocean planet. Growing up in space and knowing nothing but battle, he is a stranger in a strange land, full of odd customs and a foreign language, but he's not alone. Starting a new journey on this verdurous planet, Ledo must find a way to survive and reconcile the fact that he may never be able to return home!
According to Wikipedia...
[Writer,] Gen Urobuchi explained on the official website that the message of the story is aimed towards those in their teens and 20s, who are either about to enter into society or recently have, and is meant to cheer them on and to encourage them that "going out into the world isn't scary". He also said that the feeling of this work will be different from others he's been involved with.Gargantia starts out with a rather impressive space battle between the flower-like Hideauze combat vessels and a large task force of star ships from the Galactic Alliance. Ledo, the main protagonist, and his machine partner, Chamber, are part of a Galactic Alliance task force attempting to exterminate a Hideauze nest, positioned behind the main Hideauze blossom. The Hideauze are initially surprised by the attack, but, quickly adapt and mount an astonishingly effective counter-attack. Ledo and the surviving Galactic Alliance soldiers are ordered to withdraw. During the withdrawal process, Ledo is thrown far away from the battle site. The story resumes six months later, when Ledo and his machine partner, Chamber, have been found by a salvage team.
Gargantia is a dramatic character study that follows the development of both Ledo and his machine companion as they discover their humanity. There is a decent amount of action in the series -- particularly in the early episodes and near the end of the series. In addition, there's an interesting back story which highlights the origins of the Galactic Alliance, the Hideauze and the reasons behind the conflict between the two races. Gargantia is a mix of drama and (somewhat) hard science fiction with some giant robot action thrown in for good measure.
Although, nothing good happens to the Hideauze, there's surprisingly very little red ink on exhibit in Gargantia. There are no naughty bits to speak of. Gargantia has a nice well-polished appearance that I've come to expect in more recent productions. One of the things that I liked about Gargantia, is that although, the giant robot appears in every episode, the underlying story isn't entirely devoted to the giant robot. Rather, the story centers around what it means to be human. Also, Gargantia holds up reasonably well to repeated viewings. I was particularly impressed with the battle sequences in the first few episodes of the series. Overall, even though there are giant robots to be found in the series, I would still give Gargantia a 5 out of 5.The Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet soundtrack CD has 59 tracks in a two-disc set and I liked 27 tracks for a total of 45.7% which works out to a rating of 2 out of 4. Interestingly, my former multi-disc CD player just happened to die after more than twenty years of service on the day that I tried to play this CD. At first, I thought it was an issue with the CD, then I realized that my CD player had given all that it had to give. I ended up getting a new multi-disc CD player. By the way, my favorite tracks are the orchestral scores on tracks 7 and 27 on the first disc in the set, Fight, Keep on Fighting and Sortie Willingly Advances.
