Do you remember Aquarion? That one series that so revolutionized the anime industry that its very existence soon fell into obscurity with a whimper? If you’re anything like a large percentage of the anime watching public, particularly here in the west, you likely only heard of it before getting distracted by something marginally more interesting like schoolwork or tax returns; I’m guilty of the same. However, somebody somewhere somehow at some point in time remembered Aquarion, and thought it would be a neat idea to make a sequel set so long after the events of the original series that it’d might as well be its own entity altogether.
Set at a seemingly arbitrary 12,000 years after the events of the original, Aquarion Evol follows the adventures of Generic JRPG Hero #3,787 (Amata Sora, the most generic JRPG-like name ever) as he ineffectually pines over a girl he meets in an empty movie theatre and defends Not-Neo Venezia from the threat of interdimensional beings (headed by the second alien bishounen of the season) hell-bent on abducting citizens for their own hereto unknown purposes. With help from an organization that employs boy and girl pilots that ABSOLUTELY MUST NOT FORM A UNION WITH EACH OTHER OR VERY BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN, he does just this with Aquarion, a giant mech that he formed because of his super specialness.
Also, he flies when excited, which has apparently brought him nothing but anguish in the past. Also also, he says some lines that are so corny you could make tortillas out of them, which is probably the biggest detraction I could make against this surprisingly long first episode.
Aside from all of the above contributing to the massive cheese factor, or perhaps because of it in some cases, Aquarion Evol is off to a surprisingly good start. Amata and alien bishie are massive tools, but the overall look and feel of Evol is several steps above that of Lagrange. It feels much more robust and well polished, if a little more manufactured. The world of Evol is more than a little reminiscent of Macross Frontier, the many different characters in the military with their own personalities and struggles presenting the meat that covers the bare bones of the story. It’s hardly anything new, but it is refreshing to see something that uses what Macross so skillfully did to create an emotionally driven tale of romance in the middle of a prolonged attack by hostile forces.
The fights themselves are nothing special, but there is some inherent joy in watching two mechs battle for the fate of the world that a lack of uniqueness can’t destroy on its own. But since the drama is rather hackneyed at best and nonexistent at worst, it’s the best we’ve got for the time being.
In short, Aquarion Evol is a sequel to something that nobody really asked for, but that isn’t any reason to dismiss it outright. Its sense of adaptation of classic mecha tropes and clichés, rather than straight emulation, is what saves it from the same derision that I gave Lagrange. It isn’t particularly smart, but it has a dramatic sense that’s infectiously endearing the longer it goes. It may be cheesy and it may not set the world on fire, but it has enough of an identity to warrant at least giving a look.
Here is kevo’s recreation of the first episode of Aquarion Evol.
Hello, girl that I met around an hour ago. We are pinned under this statue. Don’t worry about me, I WOULD RATHER MY BODY GET HURT… THAN MY HEART. Ok, shit is gonna get real now, because this show would have to (mercifully) end if the bad guy just killed us right now.
SOUSEI GATTAI! GO! AQUARIOOOONNNNN!!!!!!! *op song*
Everyone else: “omg wat’s aquarion”
Other pilots: “omg it’s INSIDE MEEE”
And then the episode ends with “Flying Love Attack”. Aquarion is either the most unintentionally or intentionally homo anime this season.
I’m hoping for intentional homoeroticism to preserve my faith in the human race. Still, that pretty much sums it up, though you seem a little less perturbed by that ‘cat’ than I do.
Okay, now that I think about it… That “cat”… thing is strange. When I watched it my first thought was of Ranka and her little alien-pet. But as far as I know this setting has no aliens, the first series had only some weird evil monsters as “Spirit of Christmas Past” coming back to reboot the universe or something. So, the question is: What is this thing?
And the 12.000 year gap is supposed to make sense as it’s following the first series where the Shadow Angels came back after 12.000 years and then there’s the old OP. Go figure why someone would wanna make such a reference with this sequel but apparently it’s all about some people reincarnating again and making the world relive all the shit which had happened to it 12.000 years ago and 12.000 years again before that.
Huh. Maybe something to do with genetic engineering then if aliens are out of the question, though why there’d be a demand for creatures like that I’ll never know.
That’s uh… that doesn’t make the 12,000 years feel any less arbitrary, but at least it does have a purpose. Good to know that there’s a modicum of method to the madness. Ah well, as long as it pulls it off, I won’t care.
I love this anime…its better than guilty crown.. but I love that too`~!
And more power to ya for loving both. =D
As long as Aquarion Evol doesn’t stop being as entertainingly corny as it was in the first episode, I don’t think I’ll have any trouble liking it.
i love how so many people criticize it so harshly when you clearly don’t know good story telling. 12,000 years isn’t arbitrary if you had ever watched the original aquarion you’d know that Appolonius the one who was supposedly reincarnated into Appolo betrayed Toma 12,000 years prior to the beginning of the first Aquarion series. then when Fudo tricked Toma in aquarion at the end (with out telling even the viewer of the show no doubt) into thinking apollo was the real reincarnation of apollonius and they pulled the earth back together again Toma reincarnated himself in a way his heart split his rage took over and a new form took shape in the form of kagura that wanted nothing but to ruin everything appolonius loved and cared for and the only way to do THAT was to destroy the love between apollos reincarnation and sylvie’s reincarnation. they explain all that shit a little more than half way through EVOL. its a good story if you actually take the time to watch and listen and forget all the homosexual shit and anything else that might OFFEND you. this is not some evangelion knockoff like so many people claim it is as evangelion tried to LOOSELY connect the world through mythology by using aliens and naming them ANGELS even though they weren’t really angels and naming them accordingly . aquarion does nothing of the sort from a quick view at it it’s just your average love story involving giant robots we’ve all seen that but it takes place over 24 THOUSAND YEARS!!!!!! which is a major twist no one even takes the time to figure out. for fuck sake people learn how to tell a good story from a bad one and try not to compare the two because you clearly don’t know anything about anime or stories and what makes them good or bad.
also might i add Aquarion doesn’t completely make some of the sexual references it makes TOTALLY obvious like evangelion did like in the movie where shinji JERKS OFF ON ASUKA.