1000 years after an aggressive and enigmatic alien known as the Gauna destroyed Earth; the survivors on one of the seed ships created from the remains of the planet are trying to spread the human race. The Sidonia has experienced 100 years of peace, since the last confrontation with any Gauna. The ship/city is flourishing with a population boom amid safety of peace. Yet it is still run with a military style government and being chosen to pilot a Gardes mech to defend the ship is a high honor that many strive for. Nagate Tanikaze was raised, hidden from view, in the bowls of the city by his grandfather, a hero from the war. After his guardian dies and the last of his food runs out he begins to search through the labyrinth of the ship for food. In a series of unfortunate events he ends up captured by security and hospitalized. Before he can be charged with any criminal negligence his identity is discovered and the woman who commands the ship decides to instead enroll Nagate into the Gardes academy. She is betting on Nagate being as talented of a pilot as his guardian was. Luckily for her Nagate was essentially raised in a VR simulator. His first actual mission is with other rookie pilots to harvest ice from a nearby asteroid. Everything goes downhill when I dormant Gauna is found inside of the asteroid. Now the 100 years of peace are shattered as their mortal enemy has shown its self again. Can a new generation of pilots who have never been in battle save their city from destruction?
This was one of my favorite new series from 2014 (so far) and I highly enjoyed it. The animation is a bit bothersome at first. The used cell shade CG with wire frame motion capture, so at times the people move a little 'unnaturally'. But you get used to it after a while and the color scheme and use of shadows typical with cell shade CG actually lends to the style of the anime. The mechs are pretty cool looking and the combat sequences are well done. The real meat of this show is the story though. The history of the Sidonia begins to reveal its self throughout the show and not everything is as it seems. There is a lot of information that is left out though. It is assumed that there are other seed ships like Sidonia. I'm pretty sure what other survivors from Earth are in space are far removed from Sidonia. Memory is hazy but there may have been a brief mention in an early episode about Sidonia's last contact with another seed ship years in the past... There are also many secrets that they begin to hint at relating to current and recent events with the ship that they only start to touch upon. I really like the 'world' that Nihei-sensei has created with this series. While the mechs and mech combat are nothing new, I like what he has done with the society of the Sidonia. In order to make up for limited agriculture space the populace of the ship has been genetically modified to photosynthesize. Cloning is rampant and a 3rd neutral gender has been established, of which the person decides later in life what gender they want to settle on, if at all. The biggest secret of all are the Gauna. Why did they initially attack Earth, where did they come from, what is their goal? None of these have been answered or even remotely discussed. But new mysteries involving them have been introduced, like their ability to seemingly replicate things they come in contact with.
This is a fantastic series; it’s got great action, an engaging story and beautiful CG artwork. In retrospect though, the main character is rather flat and not well established. He's a bit of a wet noodle that operates in about 2 or 3 emotional modes. He is the apparent savior of the Sidonia, but the show isn't totally about him being the unlikely hero of the day like a shonen fight series. The characters around him are much more interesting but his actions and character are a focal point of the series and determine the course of many of the events. I'm not saying I hate Nagate, but he is a rather boring lead character, I enjoy a number of the peripheral characters better but wouldn't want them to be the main focus of the show either. Instead, and the series does this to an extent, the story focuses on the events and the people involved in them, not just focusing solely on Nagate's growth, challenges and victories. But in the end, Nagate is still the hero.
You may be thinking, well shit, 12 episodes and they have not really answered any pressing questions? What’s the point of watching this show if it’s not going to satisfy my need for completion. True, you could just read all the manga, which is ongoing and up to 57 issues. Well, there will be a second series titled Knights of Sidonia: War of the 9th Planet which appears to be airing in the beginning of 2015. Meanwhile, watch this series, read the manga and also read another series by Nihei called Blame! which Knights of Sidonia steals some character designs from. Who knows...maybe Blame! takes place on another of the seed ships?
The series did not air simultaneously in America but Netflix will begin airing it in July of 2014, a week after the series concluded in Japan. UPDATE: Neflix will have all 12 episodes available at the same time, dubbed in English. (6/27/2014)
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