Post by ravenwithoutcause on Mar 14, 2005 13:12:34 GMT -5
Fafner is one of those series that I watch but don⿿t blog. Not because it⿿s bad or anything, but because somehow the feel of the show isn⿿t well represented by the blogging medium.
At first, it seemed lame. Just another boy-in-mech saving the day, but to a Wagner-esque soundtrack, and chock full of Norse references instead of Christian or Shinto ones. And a rather unwieldy cast, to boot. Slow start, but after the cumbersome setup, it picked up quickly, distinguishing itself from all the Evangelion clones with its subtly unique setting and society. The series manages to maintain a certain sense of precariousness that is lacking from other mech series - the island, its inhabitants, its defenders, and their way of life are constantly in danger of completely collapsing from both internal and external pressures. Vulnerability is well portrayed here, and the series writers always find new ways to hit the sore spots in every episode.
That⿿s not to say that the series was top-notch though; in an odd sense, it never really excelled in any particular thing. Most elements were very uneven and varied wildly throughout the series; countless scenes were awkwardly mawkish, but many more were indescribably poignant. The plot often verged on incoherency, in large part due to the unnecessarily abundant jargon and unexplained concepts (Festums are still a bit of a mystery to me, as is the somewhat patchy history of the war), but the fact that I still like it after being thoroughly confused is a testament to its richness. Even without completely understanding everything, I could still appreciate the underlying story about an ostracized island society struggling to find meaning in existence.
One thing I particularly enjoyed was the voice work. With such a huge cast, the producers really had no choice but to go with a bunch of no-names in order to keep costs down, but luckily they delivered the goods with a bang. There are a couple experienced seiyuus like versatile Kobayashi Sanae, who is currently playing uber-kunoichi Akira in the popular Mai-HiME, but better known as the go-master Akira from Hikaru no Go (they kind of look similar too!) and other major roles in Elfen Lied, Madlax, etc. However, the newcomers really steal the show here, and my favorite out of them all is Matsumoto Marika, who plays Toomi Maya in Fafner. Her voice is incredibly distinctive, with a minor rustling undertone that hints at the border between childhood and maturity. I seriously watch the next episode previews simply because her magnified voice is awesome, especially when she solemnly whispers ⿿Anata wa Soko ni Imasuka?⿿ at the end of every preview. I also have to mention that Mizoguchi and Michio both were total badasses, and their voice actors really drove home the ⿿can of whoopass⿿ element while simultaneously differentiating between Michio⿿s war-weary sentiments and Mizoguchi⿿s gruff uncle personality. Awesomeness.
And for the mecha-junkies out there (myself included), I was initially a bit put off by the somewhat odd mech designs - especially since the first mech was such an ugly turd. But the later ones are pretty sweet, and the insectoid aesthetic influence was a nice change of pace from the incredibly generic designs found in this year⿿s other mechstravaganza, Gundam Seed Destiny.
Despite being extremely uneven, the series as a whole struck a chord with me, and I was able to overlook its many transgressions. Definitely an acquired taste though, and probably not for those who already suffer from depression.
At first, it seemed lame. Just another boy-in-mech saving the day, but to a Wagner-esque soundtrack, and chock full of Norse references instead of Christian or Shinto ones. And a rather unwieldy cast, to boot. Slow start, but after the cumbersome setup, it picked up quickly, distinguishing itself from all the Evangelion clones with its subtly unique setting and society. The series manages to maintain a certain sense of precariousness that is lacking from other mech series - the island, its inhabitants, its defenders, and their way of life are constantly in danger of completely collapsing from both internal and external pressures. Vulnerability is well portrayed here, and the series writers always find new ways to hit the sore spots in every episode.
That⿿s not to say that the series was top-notch though; in an odd sense, it never really excelled in any particular thing. Most elements were very uneven and varied wildly throughout the series; countless scenes were awkwardly mawkish, but many more were indescribably poignant. The plot often verged on incoherency, in large part due to the unnecessarily abundant jargon and unexplained concepts (Festums are still a bit of a mystery to me, as is the somewhat patchy history of the war), but the fact that I still like it after being thoroughly confused is a testament to its richness. Even without completely understanding everything, I could still appreciate the underlying story about an ostracized island society struggling to find meaning in existence.
One thing I particularly enjoyed was the voice work. With such a huge cast, the producers really had no choice but to go with a bunch of no-names in order to keep costs down, but luckily they delivered the goods with a bang. There are a couple experienced seiyuus like versatile Kobayashi Sanae, who is currently playing uber-kunoichi Akira in the popular Mai-HiME, but better known as the go-master Akira from Hikaru no Go (they kind of look similar too!) and other major roles in Elfen Lied, Madlax, etc. However, the newcomers really steal the show here, and my favorite out of them all is Matsumoto Marika, who plays Toomi Maya in Fafner. Her voice is incredibly distinctive, with a minor rustling undertone that hints at the border between childhood and maturity. I seriously watch the next episode previews simply because her magnified voice is awesome, especially when she solemnly whispers ⿿Anata wa Soko ni Imasuka?⿿ at the end of every preview. I also have to mention that Mizoguchi and Michio both were total badasses, and their voice actors really drove home the ⿿can of whoopass⿿ element while simultaneously differentiating between Michio⿿s war-weary sentiments and Mizoguchi⿿s gruff uncle personality. Awesomeness.
And for the mecha-junkies out there (myself included), I was initially a bit put off by the somewhat odd mech designs - especially since the first mech was such an ugly turd. But the later ones are pretty sweet, and the insectoid aesthetic influence was a nice change of pace from the incredibly generic designs found in this year⿿s other mechstravaganza, Gundam Seed Destiny.
Despite being extremely uneven, the series as a whole struck a chord with me, and I was able to overlook its many transgressions. Definitely an acquired taste though, and probably not for those who already suffer from depression.
