
While it makes the supporting cast more interesting, it also makes everyone feel incomplete. Face time is pretty evenly split between characters, which proves a double-edged sword. While it admittedly makes sense in Aquarion, this sort of pacing hinders advancement in the story – it doesn’t get a move on until the last 6 episodes.
Aquarion anime series order series#
The series works on a ‘problem of the week’ format said problem, of course, is solved in a mecha battle at the end of each episode. We are left to ponder what the Shadow Angels do besides stand upside-down on ceilings, sniff flowers, and cry.īy far the largest problem Aquarion faces is development in terms of both plot and characters. Unfortunately, Shadow Angels themselves lack the depth that their great designs seem to merit. The surreal fantasy-styled world of the Shadow Angels, Atlandia, proves a nice departure from the traditional post-apocalyptic earth of our heroes. While some of the characters do strictly adhere to the standard, others end up deviating significantly. At first glimpse, the same could be said for the characters: the feral boy who is our “unlikely” hero, the young princess who is at first repulsed by his savagery, her well-learned brother, the brash jock, the list goes on. The plot is frighteningly unoriginal, and feels a bit all too familiar. Aquarion is a mechanical guardian formed by the merging of three airships, known as vectors, and the souls of the pilots, dubbed element users. Now it goes without saying: The only way to combat a giant robot is with another giant robot, which brings us to Aquarion. Of course, being Angels with superpowers isn’t enough they need to wreak havoc upon the world using bio-mechas, called Cherubim Soldiers. Since then, beings known as Shadow Angels awoke from their 12,000 year slumber to harvest humans for their prana (living energy). The events of Aquarion take place 11 years after the Great Catastrophe, which wiped out a large portion of the earth’s population. Whether it’s intentional or not, Aquarion is practically a parody of all things mecha, which really helps ease one through some of the more trying times in the series. Aquarion takes the more prominent clichés of mecha anime to a whole new level senseless shouting of the name “Aquarion”, over-the-top CG effects, and a mechanical extendo-punch to the moon. However, in the end – much to my surprise – I realized it might not have been so bad after all. Neo-DEAVA is shocked, and the repercussions of Amata’s actions are much farther reaching than he realizes.My initial thought was that Aquarion would prove a classic example of “so bad, it’s good”. Unknowingly, Amata performs a taboo when he summons an Aquaria and initializes what is called the Forbidden Union between male and female Aquaria. Two teenagers, Mikono and Amata, are dragged into the conflict. However, events take a shocking turn when an advanced Abductor mecha suit joins the fray. Boys and girls are not allowed contact they are even restrained from fighting on the same battlefield. They pilot advanced mecha suits called Aquaria and are strictly separated by gender.

As a countermeasure, an organization known as Neo-DEAVA formed to combat the Abductors. These enemies originate from Vega’s sister star Altair and raid Vega for human life. 12,000 years after the events in Genesis Aquarion, humans live on the star Vega under constant threat of trans-dimensional beings called Abductors.
