Fafner in the Azure
I’ve seen Fafner in the Azure more times than I can count, and I’ve always been in love with the things that I adore about this series after every single re-watch. While I will try to keep this review unbiased, Fafner in the Azure is one of those series that I personally think has very minimal flaws, and they don’t take away from the overall experience much. Xebec has had a considerable history with mecha anime for a while now, but even with such an extensive catalog of mecha content in their back pocket, Fafner in the Azure is by far their best!
The series takes place on the central island of Tatsumiyajima, which is located in the middle of a small patch of multiple islands in the backend of the Japanese islands. There isn’t much excitement happening on the island, though, and the young people are leading everyday educational lives there as they think their lives will remain peaceful and boring forever.
However, the truth is something else entirely, as the fate of humankind is suddenly put at the forefront of a giant battle that will take place on humanity’s last line of defense; you guessed it; Tatsumiyajima Island! The enemy of humanity is relentless, though the one thing standing in their way is Fafner, a giant mecha robot and robot dragon hybrid that guards the island with all its might.
The story started in a serene land, with a beautiful island and a peaceful atmosphere. However, it all went downhill quite fast as the serenity turned into chaotic desperation within minutes. There’s a HUGE amount of action in this series, which is something that is always fun in any mecha anime that you can name.
Being a mecha anime, Fafner should have started slow and slowly moved to the meaty part of the series. However, it began with full-on gloom and full-on chaotic battle sequences, which is a very bold thing to attempt and be successful. I’ll be honest; the development only started at the second half of the series, which is somehow a good thing in Fafner’s case. The first half was full of rowdy action-packed moments, a massive amount of primary world-building, and a ton of exposition about the Islanders’ threats.
Now, as unique and intriguing as Fafner in the Azure’s overall format, story structure, and highly unique story might be. The one thing that it fails at is creating memorable characters to fall in love with. Fafner’s character design is really weak, going so far as to have some of the most clichéd characters that I have seen in all anime.
Soushi is SUPER dull as a character, so is Kazuki, who plays the lead young boy here. Not to mention, Maya is the most clichéd depiction of a nerdy girl that you could ever deem worthy of even having within your anime. It’s a bit annoying that these characters are so bland because otherwise, the series is perfect and manages to make ZERO mistakes.
I’ll give Fafner the decisive win on the art design though, from the island’s scenic beauty to the gorgeous mecha designs, it manages to do it all well and differently. The animation, on the other hand, is absolutely amazing.
It is groundbreaking for its use of CGI as it does so seamlessly that it even puts contemporary anime coming out right now to shame! It was done by the team responsible for the amazingly animated Gundam SEED and Destiny, so it was pretty evident that there would be similarities between the character designs. Sadly, the similarities seep into the character designs for humans a bit too much, and it turns out to be a bit unoriginal in that regard.
The soundtrack, don’t even get me started on this absolute beast of a soundtrack! This is some of the most platinum quality of music you will get to hear in any mecha anime you’re watching. It’s got everything covered. From the insane instrumental hard rock battle music with grammy level drum beats to Angela’s opening theme and ending theme, Fafner in the Azure’s music is a straight-up vinyl quality record to have.
In conclusion, I feel like the end rating might end up being a bit biased though I hope that it won’t be. Fafner in the Azure is a 20th Century classic in the mecha anime genre, which is a genre that is so heavily saturated by content that it is honestly impossible to find good content. The characters might be unoriginal, but this anime is about mecha fights more than anything.
So ultimately, Fafner does things drastically different from most other mecha anime. Yet, it creates its own identity by changing the typical story-telling format in a highly saturated genre and making a unique story. What makes it so much better is that some excellent art direction supports it in most regards, TOP-NOTCH animation work that brings the larger-than-life battles to reality and even a soundtrack that you will hum for weeks after watching it.
