AQUARION: COLLECTION ONE
November 10th 2009 03:23
Category: Videos
Original creators: Shoji Kawamori & Satelight
Director: Shoji Kawamori
Screenplay by: Shoji Kawamori et al
Producers: Iwazaki Atsushi, Minegishi Takuo, Hattori Hiroyuki, Satoyoshi Jun & Kasia Tsutomu
Starring: Christopher Bevins (Apollo), Brina Palencia (Silvia), Z Charles Bolton (Baron), Brandon Potter (Fudo), Eric Vale (Sirius), Colleen Clinkenbeard (Reika), Mick McFarland (Glen), Carrie Savage (Rena), Justin Cook (Kurt), Caitlin Glass (Chloe), Stephanie Young (Sophia), Travis Willingham (Pierre), Laura Bailey (Tsugumi), Todd Haberkorn (Jun), Monica Rial (Otoha) & J Michael Tatum (Touma)
Produced by: Project AQUARION
English Language Version by: FUNimation Productions
Released by: Madman Entertainment
Running Time: 325 minutes Rating; M
Twelve thousand years ago the world was under the rule of the Shadow Angels, beings of immense power and capability who fed from the energy of prana that they harvested from the wingless ones; human beings. These angelic entities originally hailed from Atlandia, another planet and their dominion over the wide open spaces of this world was almost complete and absolute. Then one of their number; Solar Wing rebelled against their rule and aided the wingless ones in their fight against the Shadow Angels, he aided tbeir struggle and via the use of vehicles known as vector machines gave them the means to take the fight back to the enemy. Eventually the shadow angels were defeated, humanity was triumphant and history as they say truly began. This is the back-story behind the series Aquarion, an interesting take on the usual robot style anime that has emerged from the Land of the Rising Sun.
When I started watching this particular collection the first thing that crossed my mind was that it was a little bit like Fafner of the Azure, which got me whistling that particular series theme song again as an aside – it’s such a catchy tune, just as that series borrowed heavily from mythological elements so does Aquarion. More about that later, the other thing that immediately crossed my mind was similarities with the show Voltron; Defender of the Universe, where a giant robot is formed after various vehicles join together and create this titanic mecha that is the bane of all manner of bad guys throughout the known cosmos. Stirring stuff, this series has it all; action, humour, superlative graphics and animation all combined with as I am often fond of saying a tight taut storyline that would be the envy of any science fiction or fantasy writer the world over.
OK so apart from raving about which previous shows it reminds me of or how fantastic it looked on the screen just what exactly is going on in this series? Like I said earlier in the distant past, twelve millennia by the shows reckoning, the world was under the thumb of the shadow angles. Now this is a series that is set in a not too distant future, the drama that unfolds is taking place in a world that is approximately twenty years further on down the track from our own contemporary era. The big difference is that this world has suffered a massive catastrophe, the axis has significantly altered and the resulting carnage that that caused has killed off roughly two thirds of the world’s population. Add onto this the sudden re-emergence of the Shadow Angles and everything looks very grim, Book of Revelations kind of grim which given the nature of the antagonists is rather apt…
Naturally rather than weeping and wailing combined with bemoaning of their fate the survivors of this epic tragedy decide to gird their loins and do something, the first thing that they do is form an organisation called Deava to fight the Shadow Angels and their nefarious minions. Now in most circumstances Deava would have a hard time of things fighting these opponents but the rediscovery of the three vector machines, Sol, Luna and Mars means that they have on their side the might of…Aquarion. The very weapon that was used to defeat them all those years ago when their reign was almost nigh supreme, the only thing that is required is a bunch of pilots who can utilise this super weapon to its fullest potential.
Enter the Elements, a bunch of young male and female teenagers of diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, abilities and talents. These are the candidates that Deava are training to be the pilots of the three vector machines and become the warriors who will employ Aquarion and take the fight to the Shadow Angels and their relentless harvesting. But as the series opens there is one key element missing, the one who is the reincarnation of Solar Wing, of the hero who turned his back on his own kind to aid the Wingless Ones in their war against their cruel and rapacious overlords. As you would expect we don’t have to wait long for the chosen one to make his appearance, he appears pretty much in the first episode and immediately starts to wreak havoc for his foes. Of course those who are officially part of Deava are a bit surprised at the nature of the chosen one, a street kid and scavenger who goes by the moniker of Apollo.
Of course the fact that Apollo is the reincarnated Solar Wing isn’t to the liking of some, in particular Silvia, the young firebrand Amazon sister of Sirius, the former prince of Alisia. She is ardent that it is her brother who is the real reincarnation of Solar Wing, not this dirty smelly street urchin. Although it becomes swiftly apparent that Silvia has a) a fixation on her brother and b) as the reincarnation of Celiane, Solar Wing’s one true love is a bit put out that her former great love has been reincarnated in the guise of Apollo. The girl definitely has some issues as does her brother who to say is conceited, stuck up and arrogant is to make a major misstatement. Still these facets do make them rather interesting character when thrown into the mix of the rest of the cast from Deava.
Aquarion seems to draw a lot from Western mystical traditions such as the Cabbala and the Bible in a truly unique and engaging manner, which frankly is one of the strengths of this series. Sure the action, animation and general character interaction and unfolding drama help move things along but the whole unique mythology that all this is built upon is a rock solid foundation. It seems that a dominant feature of the series other than the robot Aquarion is the Tree of Life that resides in Atlandia and is where the Shadow Angles seem to divert much of the prana that they harvest from humans into. The base of this vast conglomeration of various plants is the very Tree of Life, the ten sephiroth that comprise the Cabbalistic diagram of said tree. Seems that the Shadow Angels need prana to try and revitalise this vegetative construct in order to restore the paradise that was Atlandia, or better yet return the Solar Wing to their fold and his light which would guarantee the restoration of the tree and paradise.
Rather sounds like the Shadow Angels have undergone the fall from Milton’s Paradise Lost doesn’t it? But just as the humans are intent on maintaining their independence and sovereignty they are also engaged in seeking to restore this paradise, returning to the glory that they once knew. Gripping stuff, this is the kind of storytelling that any good series needs – solid, grounded and engaging. Shoji Kawamori and Satelight have shown that they have crafted a finely worked masterpiece that is worthy of attention and viewing, if you get a chance to get a hold of the DVD take the time to watch this series or if that’s not possible I believe you can catch episodes of it on the Madman Entertainment website’s screening room. AQUARION….MERGE!
Director: Shoji Kawamori
Screenplay by: Shoji Kawamori et al
Producers: Iwazaki Atsushi, Minegishi Takuo, Hattori Hiroyuki, Satoyoshi Jun & Kasia Tsutomu
Starring: Christopher Bevins (Apollo), Brina Palencia (Silvia), Z Charles Bolton (Baron), Brandon Potter (Fudo), Eric Vale (Sirius), Colleen Clinkenbeard (Reika), Mick McFarland (Glen), Carrie Savage (Rena), Justin Cook (Kurt), Caitlin Glass (Chloe), Stephanie Young (Sophia), Travis Willingham (Pierre), Laura Bailey (Tsugumi), Todd Haberkorn (Jun), Monica Rial (Otoha) & J Michael Tatum (Touma)
English Language Version by: FUNimation Productions
Released by: Madman Entertainment
Running Time: 325 minutes Rating; M
Twelve thousand years ago the world was under the rule of the Shadow Angels, beings of immense power and capability who fed from the energy of prana that they harvested from the wingless ones; human beings. These angelic entities originally hailed from Atlandia, another planet and their dominion over the wide open spaces of this world was almost complete and absolute. Then one of their number; Solar Wing rebelled against their rule and aided the wingless ones in their fight against the Shadow Angels, he aided tbeir struggle and via the use of vehicles known as vector machines gave them the means to take the fight back to the enemy. Eventually the shadow angels were defeated, humanity was triumphant and history as they say truly began. This is the back-story behind the series Aquarion, an interesting take on the usual robot style anime that has emerged from the Land of the Rising Sun.
When I started watching this particular collection the first thing that crossed my mind was that it was a little bit like Fafner of the Azure, which got me whistling that particular series theme song again as an aside – it’s such a catchy tune, just as that series borrowed heavily from mythological elements so does Aquarion. More about that later, the other thing that immediately crossed my mind was similarities with the show Voltron; Defender of the Universe, where a giant robot is formed after various vehicles join together and create this titanic mecha that is the bane of all manner of bad guys throughout the known cosmos. Stirring stuff, this series has it all; action, humour, superlative graphics and animation all combined with as I am often fond of saying a tight taut storyline that would be the envy of any science fiction or fantasy writer the world over.
Naturally rather than weeping and wailing combined with bemoaning of their fate the survivors of this epic tragedy decide to gird their loins and do something, the first thing that they do is form an organisation called Deava to fight the Shadow Angels and their nefarious minions. Now in most circumstances Deava would have a hard time of things fighting these opponents but the rediscovery of the three vector machines, Sol, Luna and Mars means that they have on their side the might of…Aquarion. The very weapon that was used to defeat them all those years ago when their reign was almost nigh supreme, the only thing that is required is a bunch of pilots who can utilise this super weapon to its fullest potential.
Enter the Elements, a bunch of young male and female teenagers of diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, abilities and talents. These are the candidates that Deava are training to be the pilots of the three vector machines and become the warriors who will employ Aquarion and take the fight to the Shadow Angels and their relentless harvesting. But as the series opens there is one key element missing, the one who is the reincarnation of Solar Wing, of the hero who turned his back on his own kind to aid the Wingless Ones in their war against their cruel and rapacious overlords. As you would expect we don’t have to wait long for the chosen one to make his appearance, he appears pretty much in the first episode and immediately starts to wreak havoc for his foes. Of course those who are officially part of Deava are a bit surprised at the nature of the chosen one, a street kid and scavenger who goes by the moniker of Apollo.
Of course the fact that Apollo is the reincarnated Solar Wing isn’t to the liking of some, in particular Silvia, the young firebrand Amazon sister of Sirius, the former prince of Alisia. She is ardent that it is her brother who is the real reincarnation of Solar Wing, not this dirty smelly street urchin. Although it becomes swiftly apparent that Silvia has a) a fixation on her brother and b) as the reincarnation of Celiane, Solar Wing’s one true love is a bit put out that her former great love has been reincarnated in the guise of Apollo. The girl definitely has some issues as does her brother who to say is conceited, stuck up and arrogant is to make a major misstatement. Still these facets do make them rather interesting character when thrown into the mix of the rest of the cast from Deava.
Aquarion seems to draw a lot from Western mystical traditions such as the Cabbala and the Bible in a truly unique and engaging manner, which frankly is one of the strengths of this series. Sure the action, animation and general character interaction and unfolding drama help move things along but the whole unique mythology that all this is built upon is a rock solid foundation. It seems that a dominant feature of the series other than the robot Aquarion is the Tree of Life that resides in Atlandia and is where the Shadow Angles seem to divert much of the prana that they harvest from humans into. The base of this vast conglomeration of various plants is the very Tree of Life, the ten sephiroth that comprise the Cabbalistic diagram of said tree. Seems that the Shadow Angels need prana to try and revitalise this vegetative construct in order to restore the paradise that was Atlandia, or better yet return the Solar Wing to their fold and his light which would guarantee the restoration of the tree and paradise.
Rather sounds like the Shadow Angels have undergone the fall from Milton’s Paradise Lost doesn’t it? But just as the humans are intent on maintaining their independence and sovereignty they are also engaged in seeking to restore this paradise, returning to the glory that they once knew. Gripping stuff, this is the kind of storytelling that any good series needs – solid, grounded and engaging. Shoji Kawamori and Satelight have shown that they have crafted a finely worked masterpiece that is worthy of attention and viewing, if you get a chance to get a hold of the DVD take the time to watch this series or if that’s not possible I believe you can catch episodes of it on the Madman Entertainment website’s screening room. AQUARION….MERGE!
| 42 |
| Vote |
