Knights of Sidonia Battle for Planet Nine (シドニアの騎士 第九惑星戦役) is the 12 episode follow up to the original Knights of Sidonia. The space opera mecha series is based on the manga of the same name by Nihei Tustomu and was originally broadcast in Japan in the spring of 2015.
The series finds Tanikaze in a much better situation than the beginning of the first season. He is now heralded as the hero of Sidonia for his various battles against the Gauna. The increased danger to the ship has caused a number of citizens to protest what they feel are policies that instigate attacks from the aliens. The group demands to be allowed to leave Sidonia and find a world to colonize. The group is allowed to leave but are unaware of the grave danger facing them. The Sidonia continues on the course behind them and detects a massive hive of Gauna. Knowing it must face them it prepares for what may be its final battle. One of the weapons developed for use in the upcoming war is a Gauna/Human hybrid developed from the captured Hoshijiro clone. Meanwhile, Tanikaze enjoys the benefits of a top ranked pilot and his personal life takes a new twist. Forced out of the pilot dorms he finds a new home in a quiet portion of the ship. Shinatoze tags along as his roommate as does the new friend they have made in the hybrid who goes by the name of Tsumugi. Tsumigi is child like and excitable, but Tanikaze and Shinotaze have befriended her. Tsumugi in reality is as large as one of the guard frames but she uses a tentacle appendage to maneuver, in secret, through out the Sidonia. The appendage allows her to communicate and interact with her two friends. Strangely, it also looks like a talking penis. With a serious battle approaching Tanikaze and Tsumugi find themselves being the ships best shot at survival.
Season two of Sidonia was one I was highly anticipating and it did not disappoint. The animation seems to have gotten smoother with the characters and the story gets a bit deeper from the original season. Sadly, like the first, it omits some interesting things from the manga. Even sadder, it feels like we won't see any more Sidonia TV anime with how the ended this series. The story is still going in the manga of course but they put a nice wrapping on the end of the final episode. Unlike how season 1 ended there was no teaser confirmation about a next installment. Unlike the original season as well this one seemed rushed at times, but part of that may also come from my having read the manga. They once again did not delve deeply into the history of the ship and the powers that control it, which is where some of the more interesting things take place. Otherwise the show can be a mindless series of ever increasingly dangerous battles. Something I really enjoy about the story is the interesting background that develops through out and a good portion of that is ignored or glossed over. The anime doesn't explain the captains history, why Lala is a bear, etc. Regardless the anime followed relatively faithfully with the plot progression of the anime and did not disappoint. Nagate is still a wet noodle with only a handful of emotional modes.
As with the original season, Battle for Planet Nine was not simulcast, instead Netflix is releasing it in dub and sub in one large batch in the beginning of July 2015 in North America. Sentai Filmworks picked up the original so its only a matter of time before season two sees a disc release as well. Here's hoping for more Knights of Sidonia!
On a side note, I was SEVERLY disappointed that there wasn't more Blame! as part of the series. Leading up to it there were rumors that there would be a series of shorts embedded into the show for the manga Blame! also by Nihei. Booo!!!
The series finds Tanikaze in a much better situation than the beginning of the first season. He is now heralded as the hero of Sidonia for his various battles against the Gauna. The increased danger to the ship has caused a number of citizens to protest what they feel are policies that instigate attacks from the aliens. The group demands to be allowed to leave Sidonia and find a world to colonize. The group is allowed to leave but are unaware of the grave danger facing them. The Sidonia continues on the course behind them and detects a massive hive of Gauna. Knowing it must face them it prepares for what may be its final battle. One of the weapons developed for use in the upcoming war is a Gauna/Human hybrid developed from the captured Hoshijiro clone. Meanwhile, Tanikaze enjoys the benefits of a top ranked pilot and his personal life takes a new twist. Forced out of the pilot dorms he finds a new home in a quiet portion of the ship. Shinatoze tags along as his roommate as does the new friend they have made in the hybrid who goes by the name of Tsumugi. Tsumigi is child like and excitable, but Tanikaze and Shinotaze have befriended her. Tsumugi in reality is as large as one of the guard frames but she uses a tentacle appendage to maneuver, in secret, through out the Sidonia. The appendage allows her to communicate and interact with her two friends. Strangely, it also looks like a talking penis. With a serious battle approaching Tanikaze and Tsumugi find themselves being the ships best shot at survival.
Season two of Sidonia was one I was highly anticipating and it did not disappoint. The animation seems to have gotten smoother with the characters and the story gets a bit deeper from the original season. Sadly, like the first, it omits some interesting things from the manga. Even sadder, it feels like we won't see any more Sidonia TV anime with how the ended this series. The story is still going in the manga of course but they put a nice wrapping on the end of the final episode. Unlike how season 1 ended there was no teaser confirmation about a next installment. Unlike the original season as well this one seemed rushed at times, but part of that may also come from my having read the manga. They once again did not delve deeply into the history of the ship and the powers that control it, which is where some of the more interesting things take place. Otherwise the show can be a mindless series of ever increasingly dangerous battles. Something I really enjoy about the story is the interesting background that develops through out and a good portion of that is ignored or glossed over. The anime doesn't explain the captains history, why Lala is a bear, etc. Regardless the anime followed relatively faithfully with the plot progression of the anime and did not disappoint. Nagate is still a wet noodle with only a handful of emotional modes.
As with the original season, Battle for Planet Nine was not simulcast, instead Netflix is releasing it in dub and sub in one large batch in the beginning of July 2015 in North America. Sentai Filmworks picked up the original so its only a matter of time before season two sees a disc release as well. Here's hoping for more Knights of Sidonia!
On a side note, I was SEVERLY disappointed that there wasn't more Blame! as part of the series. Leading up to it there were rumors that there would be a series of shorts embedded into the show for the manga Blame! also by Nihei. Booo!!!
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