Miaka-chan
Stand User
Took a while to finish watching this series (about 6 days!) and after finishing it last night, just felt I HAD to recommend it, because it was so damned good 
For the mostpart, the animation was very good, from the immensely beautiful sunsets, to the very believeable looking sea and lakes and to be honest, you would think it were a more recent than 1998.
The design for the "Brain Powered" were very nice and their attacks were pretty impressive.
The character design took a little getting used to and I must admit, it reminded me a little of Blue Gender (haven't checked to see if they have the same designer!). The mouths on the women were unusually full and to start, this can be a little off putting, but after a while it all just looks natural.
I was quite impressed with the design of Orphan, but would liked to have seen more of her insides! I must also admit, that I wasn't that impressed with the design of the fighter planes or Novis Noah - guess I was expecting something a little more impressive, considering Novis Noah was going up against something as immense as Orphan!!
Very pleasant op. theme, but I did prefer the ed. theme more. It was extremely haunting and had a feel of "Arjuna" about it. The BGM was beautiful and really did set off the scenes and emotions in the series.
The voice acting wasn't too bad, but you could tell straight away that the seiyuu of Hime was new to voice acting, as she sounded very amateurish and unsure of herself. The rest of the cast was OK, but I felt that Jonathan Glen sounded a little too manic at times.
I don't recommend the dub, as the voice actors were pretty dire and sounded even more amateurish than the Japanese seiyuu did!
Watch this as a stand alone mech anime. Forget about whether it's as good as Evangelion, or Rahxephon etc., as basically it is a very interesting story about mankinds possible "imminent destruction" from an Alien being/spacecraft known as Orphan.
Admittedly the story was very slow to start and the first episode a little rushed, without any proper explanation of what you just saw happen, but no need to worry, as everything starts to fit into place as the story goes on.
I went into this show without any prior knowledge of what it was really about, or who the creator was and found that I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. It was "nice" to finally see a positive outlook in a sci-fi type anime, were it wasn't all doom and gloom and where the characters were actually able to smile and feel good about themselves. There's plenty of angst too and characters who just WON'T change no matter what, so the outcome of the story really won't become clear until the end.
Another aspect of this anime I loved were the wonderful mechs! Unlike a lot of other mech anime, the Brain Powered are over-flowing with personality and I just love the scene when the Brain Powered is having fun ice-skating ^_^ You feel a lot for them in this show, which is why I guess I was so upset when I saw the graveyard.
Yes! there is a happy ending, but this is a good thing surely? We all know we've buggered up the earth, but it's always nice to watch something where we're forgiven for our mistakes!!
Most of the characters are very likeable and the ones you don't like, you will hate! There are one or two characters that just seemed pathetic to me (like Mohhamed, what was his purpose? I sure couldn't figure it out!) and for the mostpart, there is some character profiling (for the main characters anyway).
It does appear though, that without Hime, noone would have the strength of mind and body to fight for what they truly believe in. She was the catalyst that bound them all together and although she could have done with a better seiyuu, I didn't find her annoying. Actually seeing a happy person in this kind of anime is rare, but Hime just seemed incapable of thinking in a negative way, which is a good thing!
Yuu and his family were interesting, if not a little crazed. This anime does show how your environment and upbringing can shape the person you are going to be. The ones devoid of love and affection all seemed a little twisted, while the ones enveloped in love and affection were positive and enjoyed life, without feeling the need to escape.
Almost everyone in this anime had a role to play and they played it well, adding to the overall enjoyment.
As mech anime go, this one was good. It's one of those shows that a casual fan of mechs will enjoy the most, as it's not filled with butch angst filled, brainwashed guys, or interstellar wars! It also has a pleasing ending and an easy to comprehend ending. Infact there isn't really anything objectionable about this anime, it's just very entertaining.
Finally; you can buy the DVDs from United Publications for £8.80 per volume, there are 2 discs in each volume as well! (3 volumes, 26 episodes).
For the mostpart, the animation was very good, from the immensely beautiful sunsets, to the very believeable looking sea and lakes and to be honest, you would think it were a more recent than 1998.
The design for the "Brain Powered" were very nice and their attacks were pretty impressive.
The character design took a little getting used to and I must admit, it reminded me a little of Blue Gender (haven't checked to see if they have the same designer!). The mouths on the women were unusually full and to start, this can be a little off putting, but after a while it all just looks natural.
I was quite impressed with the design of Orphan, but would liked to have seen more of her insides! I must also admit, that I wasn't that impressed with the design of the fighter planes or Novis Noah - guess I was expecting something a little more impressive, considering Novis Noah was going up against something as immense as Orphan!!
Very pleasant op. theme, but I did prefer the ed. theme more. It was extremely haunting and had a feel of "Arjuna" about it. The BGM was beautiful and really did set off the scenes and emotions in the series.
The voice acting wasn't too bad, but you could tell straight away that the seiyuu of Hime was new to voice acting, as she sounded very amateurish and unsure of herself. The rest of the cast was OK, but I felt that Jonathan Glen sounded a little too manic at times.
I don't recommend the dub, as the voice actors were pretty dire and sounded even more amateurish than the Japanese seiyuu did!
Watch this as a stand alone mech anime. Forget about whether it's as good as Evangelion, or Rahxephon etc., as basically it is a very interesting story about mankinds possible "imminent destruction" from an Alien being/spacecraft known as Orphan.
Admittedly the story was very slow to start and the first episode a little rushed, without any proper explanation of what you just saw happen, but no need to worry, as everything starts to fit into place as the story goes on.
I went into this show without any prior knowledge of what it was really about, or who the creator was and found that I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. It was "nice" to finally see a positive outlook in a sci-fi type anime, were it wasn't all doom and gloom and where the characters were actually able to smile and feel good about themselves. There's plenty of angst too and characters who just WON'T change no matter what, so the outcome of the story really won't become clear until the end.
Another aspect of this anime I loved were the wonderful mechs! Unlike a lot of other mech anime, the Brain Powered are over-flowing with personality and I just love the scene when the Brain Powered is having fun ice-skating ^_^ You feel a lot for them in this show, which is why I guess I was so upset when I saw the graveyard.
Yes! there is a happy ending, but this is a good thing surely? We all know we've buggered up the earth, but it's always nice to watch something where we're forgiven for our mistakes!!
Most of the characters are very likeable and the ones you don't like, you will hate! There are one or two characters that just seemed pathetic to me (like Mohhamed, what was his purpose? I sure couldn't figure it out!) and for the mostpart, there is some character profiling (for the main characters anyway).
It does appear though, that without Hime, noone would have the strength of mind and body to fight for what they truly believe in. She was the catalyst that bound them all together and although she could have done with a better seiyuu, I didn't find her annoying. Actually seeing a happy person in this kind of anime is rare, but Hime just seemed incapable of thinking in a negative way, which is a good thing!
Yuu and his family were interesting, if not a little crazed. This anime does show how your environment and upbringing can shape the person you are going to be. The ones devoid of love and affection all seemed a little twisted, while the ones enveloped in love and affection were positive and enjoyed life, without feeling the need to escape.
Almost everyone in this anime had a role to play and they played it well, adding to the overall enjoyment.
As mech anime go, this one was good. It's one of those shows that a casual fan of mechs will enjoy the most, as it's not filled with butch angst filled, brainwashed guys, or interstellar wars! It also has a pleasing ending and an easy to comprehend ending. Infact there isn't really anything objectionable about this anime, it's just very entertaining.
Finally; you can buy the DVDs from United Publications for £8.80 per volume, there are 2 discs in each volume as well! (3 volumes, 26 episodes).