Context: I watched this on the SAVE Bluray published by Funimation which also included the complete original series. I consider myself a mecha fan and one of my all time favorite shows is Neon Genesis Evangelion. I am neutral on the use of CG in anime. Quick SpoilerFree Version:If you liked the original Fafner series this movie is sure to sate your appetite for more. However it carries over all of the problems from the first run as well. The only people I can recommend this to are DIEHARD FAFNER FANS. Full Review CONTAINING SPOILERSIm just going to start this review by saying this: I think watching Fafner and furthermore this sequel movie has been a complete waste of time. It is mindboggling to me that a sequel series has been produced. Ill start with animation quality. CG is fine. CG combined with regular animation techniques also fine. CG and regular animation that doesnt move no good. Its kind of hard to talk about animation quality when there isnt a lot of animation to begin with. Its not as bad as in the original series but get ready for lots of people standing and talking sitting and talking and panning shots of still or barely moving landscapes. What is there is really pretty looking but when it doesnt move well it just becomes too noticeable. What about the characters? Well HE shuffles the deck a little bit and deals itself one of the worst hands ever. This time Kazuki is left alone on main character duty with Soshi gone and Maya somehow disappearing. Shes not dead she just only shows up for the fights and a couple other scenes where she says very little and does even less with Canon handled in much the same way. Kenji and Sakura aside from one quite literally one touching scene have no development or discern able ark. Koyo also returns conviently in an invisible form and in a particularly hilarious scene gets ordered to take off whereupon we get a shot of the empty cockpit. The other Fafner pilots are the junior varsity team made up of cheerleader level characters from the original series. Doma whose first name I cannot be arsed to remember because he only shows up for a gag episode in the first series before doing nothing of note except getting Mamorus Goubain mask has no arc. Kenji tells him not to be reckless towards the beginning but at the end of the movie he...recklessly jumps in front of a superpowered Festum attack. Seri is the first to remark upon the fact that the Festum appear to be saying something when they die also does not change. Akira and Rina brother and sister also return although I swear on my life Akira was not in the original series. And they kind of have an arc They are estranged from one another... because Akira doesnt accept the loss of their parents?... and at the end of the movie they pilot a Fafner together. There are two new characters of note Miwa Hino and Misao Kurusu. Miwa is the baby that Yumiko was pregnant with and surprise Shes got the power to communicate with Festum and is technically a core type? She is pretty much a McGuffin who has to be taken from point A to point B so we have a little plot. Amazing. Misao Kurusu is a new Festum that has been created to more directly speak with the Humans? Even though the humans were already able to speak with them through people like Miwa and Tsubaki? He struggles with his desire to end the fighting and his inability to do so. He is also somehow protecting Soshi so that he can be revived at the end of the film. Yup thats right two more pointless characters who only exist because they couldnt be written in as things The rest of the supporting cast also returns but they do not do much of note either just get sick and unhappy a little bit to increase tension. So if youve been keeping score so far the story is in pretty bad shape with no characters to support it. Even Kazuki cant save it as he did the original series. The plot essentially feels like a succession of events rather than a progression. Human force drops a bomb on the Festums Mir. Misao shows up on the island. Festum attack the island. Fafners defeat them. More Festum show up. Fafners defeat some more. The movie lacks a definitive final boss a clear picture of a final enemy because having Mark Nicht show up again for no real reason feels cheap and uninteresting. More should have been done with the Human force angle since the start of this movie is based on their actions. Instead get ready for more bland action so repetitive and chaotic it might as well not be happening at all. The one saving grace of this movie is the music. This was big for the original series as well and it is once again in full effect. Even when the dialogue writing or action is hitting the mark the music is. A lot of times i found myself tuning out what was happening with the music instead. The OP ED and Insert themes are all nice as well but the score is the real star of this show. Seriously give it a listen herehttps://www..com/watch?v=9AePhbseXYMlist=PLketLmwD3ikyITrVXh34jvNmQPm3FzmAd even if you dont watch the show or movie. In closing Fafner is a show I had a lot of hope coming into but upon leaving I am filled with nothing but regret of my wasted time. I honestly dont know who the diehard Fafner fans are but if youre out there sorry Im trashing your series so much but maybe grow some taste eh? Final Scores: Animation: 1/2 Story: 0/2 Sound: 2/2 Characters: 0/2 Enjoyment: 0/2 Total Score: 3/10
30 /100
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