Aquarion: Volume 4

Introduction

We reach the final volume of Aquarion, and this should be where things get dark, ominous, and altogether more serious. I know I said that last time, and was utterly mistaken, but in a show about the confrontation between good and evil, it would be a poor confrontation if things didn't get dark and serious at some point, and quite frankly, we're running out of episodes in which to do that. Not that I mind all that much, as the sheer irreverence and fun of Aquarion is what makes it one of the few mecha shows that I can tolerate, let alone like. It's been somewhat odd, looking forward to a new disc each month of this, on the surface, generic action show, but for me it has turned out to be the exception that proves the rule. I hope that it can keep that distinction for the final volume.

In Holy Genesis Year 0011, after 12000 years of slumber the Shadow Angels of Atlandia attack an Earth already weakened in the Great Catastrophe. They seek the prana energy that every human possesses, and the weakened inhabitants of the world have no defence. No defence, except the Mechanical Angel Aquarion, which was rediscovered by Fudo Gen, and has been put to use in defending against increasingly devastating attacks. The Aquarion is a giant robot, comprised of three vehicles or vectors. Each vector has to be piloted by a unique individual with a multi-dimensional aura, an Element User, and these Element Users are in short supply. When they merge their souls in perfect harmony, they can combine the elements of Aquarion to create an unstoppable fighting machine. Some elements are more harmonious than others, and a feral child named Apollo was plucked off the streets as he had the right multi-dimensional aura. More than that, prophecies state that he is the reincarnation of Apollonius, the greatest warrior of them all. Fellow pilot Silvia is apparently the reincarnation of Apollonius' love Celiane, but she's none too impressed by the foul-smelling, animalistic youth that they find, believing instead that her brother Sirius is the true heir to Apollonius' soul. But they will have to work together to save the world.

The concluding 6 episodes of Aquarion are presented on this disc by MVM.


21. Crimson Path
Dreams now visit the Aquarion pilots once more, but while some are tormented, some are tempted, by a vision of a path of petals stretching to the moon. In particular, Sirius is questioning himself, and troubled by his ancestral heritage. When the next Shadow Angel attack comes, it's Toma himself, seeking revenge for the fallen Futaba. But this time, his revenge is in the form of an invitation.

22. Wings Unseen
Is Sirius really Solar Wing? Some think so, while others are enraged at the suggestion. For Silvia it just causes stress, as she agonises over her brother. There's trouble for Fudo Gen as well, as if he cannot retrieve the missing Vector, he'll be removed from command. But when that missing Vector does return, it enters into battle against its former wingmates, showing a shocking new ability that overwhelms all in its path. Two Vectors alone can't Merge, and all seems lost, when suddenly a new Aquarion appears, piloted by an old face.


23. Fleeting Wings
History appears to be repeating itself, with questionable science used to create the new Attack Aquarion. A former Deava pilot serves as guinea pig in this ultimate weapon, and as traitor battles perversion, Silvia finds that she has a choice to make.

24. Heaven's Gate
Silvia made her decision, and it seems that she and Apollo will have a bright future together, providing anyone survives. For the Shadow Angels have created the ultimate weapon, Harvest Snow. Now portals are opening up all over the world, and the precipitation that falls from within is sapping prana energy by remote. With the final battle imminent, the Deava pilots take a moment to reflect. But Apollo and Silvia don't even have that luxury, as the barrier surrounding the base is breached, and Silvia abducted. As the Aquarion pilots fall victim to the Harvest Snow, the only option is to breach the portals and take the fight to Atlandia and the Shadow Angels. But as soon as the portals weaken, the UN forces launch an attack of their own.


25. Final Battle! Atlandia!
As Pierre, Reika and Apollo follow the UN forces to Atlandia, the battle commences, but truths are yet to be revealed to both sides, and as 12000-year-old memories reawaken, it becomes clear that the very reason for which both sides fight, may wind up destroying the very world that they fight for.

26. The Day The World Begins
The conclusion.

Picture

Aquarion gets a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer, as befits a modern anime. As you would expect, it is an NTSC-PAL standards conversion, although there isn't a major prevalence of softness of ghosting in the image. What you probably will spot is the judder in the pans and scrolls. Aquarion is a Satelight production, the same people who made Noein and Heat Guy J, so there is a comfortable familiarity in the character design style. However, for a comparatively recent anime, it does seem dated in the way that it blends, or rather fails to blend CG animation and traditional 2D stuff. The kick ass mecha and villainous Cherubim are depicted in bright, shiny, geometrically exact CGI, while the character designs are plainly 2D, and they don't go together all that well. On a rare occasion, one of the characters would sprout polygons, and become CG him or herself, to better fit in a 3D background, a little like Vexille or Appleseed, and I'd be left scratching my head, wondering what had just happened. All that said, if you can put Aquarion's visual oddities aside, you'll also find that it's a vibrant, and fluidly animated show, lacking in those static moments that I usually associate with anime, and instead showing the results of a higher budget and a greater number of man hours spent at the computers.

Sound

You have a choice between DD 5.1 English and DD 2.0 Japanese here, along with optional subtitles and signs. I can tell you that as usual I was happy to listen to the original language track, but I did sample the English and found it to be one of the good ones, with a decent cast and good performances. I think Aquarion is one of those rare anime that I'm happy to watch in either language, and given the action packed nature of the show, then the 5.1 soundtrack is definitely a plus. Besides, with Yoko Kanno's great music accompanying this show, you want to hear it all at its best.

Extras

There are a few extras on this final disc as well, beginning with the music videos. This comprises 9 minutes worth of AMV footage, sampling 5 songs in all. It would have been more convenient if each song had its own chapter stop, but they all play in one big block.

The Manga Style Silent Movie lasts 3½ minutes, and allows the animators to have fun with an unused character design.

Trailers on this disc comprise Desert Punk, Saiyuki Reload, and Black Cat.

Conclusion

Well, Aquarion does get dark, ominous and serious for its final episodes, and the climax is suitably… climactic. It's one reason why I am more circumspect than usual with my episode synopses up above; this isn't the point to give whopping great spoilers away. Neither is the conclusion of this review, nor much as I would like to talk about what happens in the finale, you'll just have to be satisfied with a simple 'Aquarion delivers'. For a show that started off rather ephemeral and played tongue in cheek, it concludes in a way that hits all the right notes, not forgetting its borderline parody status, but still offering thrills and excitement, and more importantly, getting the emotional tone right, so that you're elated, disappointed, fearful and joyful at all the right points. I certainly wasn't expecting edge of the seat viewing from Aquarion, but to my surprise, it delivered that as well.


Aquarion has been pretty sneaky about how it's done it as well. A lot of the first three-quarters of the series could be categorised as frivolous entertainment, episodes following a rather trite routine, and played mostly for laughs. They could have gotten tedious if it weren't for the rather smart writing and the sense of fun to them. But hidden away in the background, Aquarion kept sowing little seeds of back-story. I hardly noticed it, but there was a decent amount of world building going on, and the foundations being laid for the eventual conclusion. When that conclusion did finally come around, all that hard work began to pay off, as those little gems of information kept striking chords, and giving greater dimension to the conclusion. It made sacrifices more meaningful, gave weight to the actions of certain characters, and at no point did certain events, surprising though they may have been, feel out of the blue, or randomly inserted for extra edginess, as certain anime companies are wont to do.


I'm somewhat in two minds about Aquarion. As an anime, it's never going to be a Cowboy Bebop, or Evangelion. In fact, other than a rare few offerings, anime as a medium is pretty ephemeral, and Aquarion is about as disposable as they come. It's not deep, it's not layered, and what you see is very much what you get. It's a fun action show with likeable characters and a rather interesting mythology, where whopping big robots have whopping big battles. But it is tremendous fun with all that, and the energy and sheer vivacity is infectious. It's almost impossible not to enjoy Aquarion, even if it has about as lasting an impression on you as a snowflake. The thing is the production values are high, the writing is sharp, and of course Yoko Kanno's music is sublime. I almost feel as if the effort was wasted on a show like this. But then I think to most Hollywood summer blockbusters, with their nine-figure budgets, and single digit IQs. Aquarion delivers that hit of adrenaline and eye-candy. It's the Star Wars of the anime world, indeed with Yoko Kanno's music driving the action, one of the final climactic battle sequences put me strongly in mind of one of the prequels.


If fun is what you want from your anime, then Aquarion delivers in bucketloads. It's well worth a purchase, and given that it's a mecha show that I enjoy, it really should appeal to anime fans of all stripes. If you want something meaty from your anime, if you want thought-provoking and deep philosophical musing, then you might as well try Aquarion anyway. Take it from an anime fan that loves deep and philosophical. Once in a while you want to switch off the brain and just soak in a nice leisurely shoot-em-up.