Soukyuu no Fafner: Dead Aggressor - Exodus

A few centuries into the future, the world has been swallowed up by suffocating despair and hatred. Humankind is very nearly extinct and everywhere is a battlefield - all but one island, a tiny bubble of hope giving it their all to protect the culture of peace - a peace of which everyone has long since forgotten. Here we pick up with our protagonists of the original series, Kazuki, Minashiro and the rest of their generation are now a few years older and we get introduced to the next generation of pilots - these new characters pale in comparison, but are still pretty good.Intermittently narrated in a past tense by Minashiro's intelligent and honest voice, you'll get the ominous sense of rising dread. "Something bad is gonna happen and humankind will be dragged kicking and screaming to their doom." Was a thought which never floated far from the surface all throughout and more so into the next series. Regardless for its mediocre art style, the sound track was ever more magnificent. Whenever I felt like pulling the plug and never coming back, the music continued to draw me in - it was the intro which made me wade through the original Fafner in the first place. In many ways, I believe this is better than the prequels, however, you'll need to watch them in order to make any sense. It still suffers from the unexplained, but once you've got the hang of it, it's an enjoyable, comprehensible, emotional experience. The characters are great. The music is great. The art isn't dislikable. The story is pretty good and it manages to maintain the same foreboding nature all throughout. If you've got enough time, patience, an appreciation of the abstract and a somewhat sadistic nature which doesn't mind seeing your favourite characters dragged through a painfully slow hellish experience, I recommend it.

This is a really strong continuation of the Fafner saga. It is, however, just that- you really need to watch at least the first series, and probably the films, to follow along. Its probably the peak of Fafner. Its substantially about super robot fights, and we have some fun robots with new abilities and enjoyable combat and designs. Even more than that, though, its an ensemble cast character based show. Themes of hate, some light body horror, sacrifice, war, guilt and some light existentialism are explored through a likeable group of pilots and others. This is delivered through solid enough animation with a great soundtrack. Humanityboth pushes closer to understanding with Fafners and Mirs and closer than ever to tearing itself apart; the scope going far beyond the island and involving far more non-island characters with a range of views really enhances the show and the range of perspectives its able to explore. This is as good as Fafner can be, and anyone whos enjoyed any part of the earlier Fafner series should watch this. [Review is of both cours, which are really one show.]

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