Heinzes 2010s Anime Cleanup Series 1 minor spoilers within consider yourself warned 660https://static.zerochan.net/So.Ra.No.Wo.To.full.432471.jpg Theres no point in the world. But isnt that wonderful? Because if there isnt one then you can decide what it is for yourself. Interestingly what this show mightve lacked in tonal consistency is made up for almost wholly by the flexibility and depth of its characters. Of course the show would be a failure if these characters didnt work well together in both affable sliceoflife and more philosophicallyminded meditative explorations. In its headier moments Sora no Woto treads ground not dissimilar to other heavyhitters which have come before such as Haibane Renmei or even the stable of earlyaughts classics RahXephon and Wolfs Rain two shows from Studio BONES that are deeply invested in people their methods of coping at the end of the world and whether they can come to accept the outcomes of ruin and unmaking. In a subversion of expectations however Sora no Woto is decidedly less adherent to Eastern philosophies of transience and surrender to impermanence such as that of mono no aware as would mostly be seen in Japanese media and anime including those aforementioned. This series ultimately decides in its moving final arc that defiance in the name of preserving life both for the self and others is a braver more humanistic path. The girls of the 1121st Platoon clearly owe more of their own life philosophies to Dylan Thomas than to Motoori Norinaga. As compelling a project as placing this particular series within a generic lineage and categorization might prove to be it proves ultimately more difficult in considering that virtually no other show has come along since to directly continue the project which Sora no Woto undertook in that generic sense. However the series itself is more invested in playing to emotional truths than developing narrative logic through expositing upon the mechanics and infrastructures of its light scifi setting. The influence of Sora no Woto ultimately proves to be more loudly and tangibly felt in the way it has contributed to the shaping of storytelling structures adopted by other episodic drama anime in the decade since rather than any one specific strain of genre show it might have claim to belong to. Final Grade: B+