I will be upfront and say that I am probably incredibly biased in my opinion of Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet. You see Im a BIG Xenoblade fan and this anime had a lot of similar vibes going on. For those of you who havent played a Xenoblade game which I fear might be most people out there its a bit difficult to explain. I went to a good friend of mine who is also a massive fan. He provided a very brief summary of how the world in Xenoblade looks that I really liked: Science fantasy where theres futuristic tech in proximity to more traditional aesthetics and cultures. Something more down to earth while having fucking crazy science. Hopefully you now have a better idea even if it might be very vague. I will compare this anime to Xenoblade a few more times my review. But my goal is to illustrate my personal thoughts such that anyone can understand regardless. I will avoid spoilers in this review. Story/Worldbuilding Imagine an isekai where the main protagonist Ledo has an OP mecha Chamber in a world where everyone has much cruder technology. In other words a massive disparity in power. However Ledo is still in a totally new world. Everything they once knew and believed isnt helpful and is constantly questioned. And to top it off Ledo is forced to interact with a foreign group of people. The general story revolves around Ledo having to adapt to this new way of life. If you were going in expecting epic fights and action then you might be disappointed. That isnt really the focus not to say that there isnt any action. Rather the focal point is the worldbuilding which I think is done incredibly well in my personal opinion. I really liked how the world got established. We the audience alongside Ledo are trying to learn and understand this new world. Though for us new might not be the right word since there is technology that we might be familiar with. Even so these people rely on salvaging to get a lot of the stuff they use. So even they themselves might not even fully understand the technology since it can come from long before their time. Then theres just the whole premise of seeing how people might adapt to living on a planet seemingly covered entirely in water. I thought that the system shown was unique and interesting. It mightve been borrowed or inspired by something else but I couldnt think of anything. Ive seen some people compare this to Waterworld but I never saw it so I cant personally comment. But for those of you who have it might have a similar feel to that. https://files.catbox.moe/vs9tqc.gif Honestly this all just reminded me a lot of the world in the different Xenoblade games. One of my friends who saw this said it felt like they fused the Argentum Guild from Xenoblade 2 with the Blade Barracks from Xenoblade X. I personally just felt a mix of the colony life from Xenoblade 1 and the salvaging aspect from 2. It felt strangely nostalgic and I loved it. I guess to more specifically point out what it was that I liked it was this blend of technology that we might see today with that of the future. There was this cool environment of past what was salvaged and future what came with Ledo coming together to make something that works for the present. And the anime did a really good job at still showing the difference between the two which I will talk more about in Art/Animation section. The story itself could probably be best described as feeling very much like a slice of life in the first half of the show. Tons of ambience and beautiful scenery to behold. For me I found it to be unique and loved it. As for the latter half of the show I think most who have seen this would agree that it was a bit rough around the edges. I wont go into much more detail but I just wanted to acknowledge that there is a noticeable change in tone/direction that could potentially impact personal enjoyment which depends on what one is hoping to get out of this. Additionally throughout the story there are a few plotholes. I was able to look past them and didnt let it ruin my enjoyment. However they were present and I wished that they got addressed. So if stuff like that bothers you it could be an issue but I dont think there were enough problems that made the show unwatchable or anything like that. There were just a few parts that had me scratching my head and that I wish had better explanation or in some cases got explained at all. I do think its worth pointing out that this is an anime original. Meaning that it didnt have any source material to go off of. With that in consideration I honestly think that even if the story got a bit shaky towards the end it still stuck the landing for me. Characters It is very clear from the start that the most attention is given to Ledo Chamber and Amy. There is still a pretty wide cast of supporting characters but they dont have close to as much screentime. So if you wanted to see development beyond the main characters you will be disappointed. Not to say that the supporting cast doesnt get any development but it isnt much is only for a few of them and is spread out. I dont really think there were any characters I hated. Nobody seemed overly annoying and I just loved each and every one of the crew. My favorite character overall would probably have to be Chamber. For an AI I think he was written exceptionally well. It was weird he didnt feel like a fullon robot but wasnt human either obviously. I got similar vibes to J.A.R.V.I.S. from Marvel. https://files.catbox.moe/fs4iwv.gif Moments like this are why I love Chamber. If you were looking for romance this aint the anime for you. There is zero romance and very minimal fanservice only a few scenes and didnt seem too forced to me. For some this might be a huge deal. For others a breath of fresh air. To my surprise there were some moments where philosophical questions got brought up. I suppose it made sense since Ledo constantly had to reevaluate what he formerly believed. What was once accepted as truth and purpose became questioned. To avoid spoilers I wont go into much more detail. But the show raises some interesting questions that I honestly never thought to ask. And while Ledo and some other characters do examine these questions and share some insight it still felt as though it couldve been explored more. I think that part of the issue stemmed from the show only being 13 episodes. But I still thought it was an interesting inclusion and that it didnt hurt my experience much if at all. Art/Animation This is a very beautiful anime. Its very colorful its vibrant and the art was just really welldone in general. https://files.catbox.moe/hn0ytk.gif I mean come on look at that water As Ive said before this anime did an exceptional job at contrasting the two worlds. Ledos technology was all black and/or just dull in colors. Conversely everything else in this new world was full of color and life. But despite this obvious difference it worked and looked great. As for the fights I think it still looks fine. CGI is clearly used for any mecha/ships which isnt all that surprising for me. Almost every other mecha Ive seen up to now has done this. Since I am still new to anime and the mecha genre in general I cant speak to how frequently it gets seen. All Im trying to say is that I personally found no issue with its use. It didnt hinder my enjoyment or experience but it is noticeable and definitely isnt the best. So if the use of any CGI is a turnoff for you then you might not like it. https://files.catbox.moe/31ej6j.gif The CGI aint bad but its there. I dont think I have much else to say. I just really liked how this anime looked and didnt see much wrong outside of maybe some nitpicks with the CGI. Audio/OST Holy shit. Where do I even start. I liked the OP for this show. It really fit the vibe for the most part and was just a bop. I cant comment on the ED I would usually skip it to see the next episode as fast as I could. Then theres the OST which is in my opinion one of the best Ive heard in any anime up to now. Tarou Iwashiro did a fantastic job at bringing everything to life and setting the mood. Each scene had a track that felt appropriate. And once combined with the already beautiful visuals really elevated my experience. Everything just worked for me. https://www..com/watch?v=LEKxtugT8R0list=PLCsOwPldZgDSO3uCJQGcfGZvHIA5cKZlTindex=12 This sounds like a track out of a Xenoblade game. As for the audio it generally seemed great to me. All in all anything to do with sound was a 10/10 for me. Conclusion https://files.catbox.moe/wg43ko.gif Nothing is without its flaws. Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet might not be perfect. Despite that I still enjoyed it a lot. I fell in love with the world and characters and was left wanting more. Unfortunately we wont be seeing a season 2. However there are a pair of specials and OVA that expand on the story. So if you liked this and wanted more then youll most likely like those too I think I know I did. I know that a lot of people who enjoyed this anime were really disappointed about the sequel not happening. I too was one of them. But now Im not sure. It ends at a good spot with a fairly final ending and doesnt overstay its welcome. I dont know if Id want a potentially bad sequel to mess anything up. I think I would honestly give this a 10/10. But what even is a 10/10 anyways? Is anything truly flawless in every aspect? After some introspection I determined that for me a 10/10 would be something that I found a lot of entertainment in. There might have been some bad parts but ultimately the positives outweighed the negatives so much that it didnt matter. I enjoyed it from start to finish and felt as though I had to nitpick to find anything I really didnt like. This is something I can see myself rewatching in the future. And most importantly this is 100 something I would recommend to anyone else. It is sad this anime seems to be so underrated. I give Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet a 10/10.