Unlimited Fafnir
How would you feel about going to a mixed school after attending a single-gender school? Wouldn’t the jump be quite unnerving or weird, considering how you’ve lived your school life for all those years? It is almost guaranteed to open avenues and experiences that weren't available to you before, but sudden change hardly comes easy. Having had the experience myself, I eventually found the shift quite refreshing and, surprisingly, more supportive than the previous one.
“Unlimited Fafnir,” also known as “Juuou Mujin no Fafnir,” is a 12-episode TV Anime series that aired from the 9th of January until the 27th of March in Winter 2015. It was produced by TBS, Kodansha, DAX Production, Nippon Columbia, Daiichikosho, RAY, Nichion, and NichiNare, and Studio Diomedéa brought it to life. The main staff behind it included Uemura Shunichi, Arima Shigeaki, Nakanome Takaaki, and Yoshikawa Atsushi as Producers. Each episode runs 24 minutes and features Action, fantasy, and Romance, with themes of Harem and School, ultimately earning a PG-13 rating for teenagers 13 years or older.
The series is based on the Light Novel of the same title, adapting the first three novels into this singular season. The series ran for a total of 15 Volumes from the 2nd of July 2013 until the 2nd of November 2017, which is the work of author Tsukasa and artist Korie Riko. A manga series with the same title was also released for just four volumes from March 7th, 2014, until December 7th, 2015. Targeted at the Seinen demographic, it was serialized in “good! The manga series "Afternoon" features the same author, Saburouta, as the artist. It was published digitally in English via Kodansha Comics USA from the 19th of January to the 9th of February, 2016.
The story is set in an all-girls academy known as Midgar, which suddenly became notable for the act of accepting its first-ever and only male student: Yuu Mononobe. However, Midgar has other characteristics that set it apart: it is an exclusive school for a special group of girls called the D's. Every D possesses potent abilities that allow them to generate dark matter and then manipulate it into powerful weapons. But these girls did not exist twenty-five years ago and seemingly appeared only in response to numerous mysterious and destructive monsters called the "Dragons" that manifested worldwide.
During that time, the D’s started to be born bearing symbols on their bodies and had powers similar in nature to those wielded by the Dragons themselves. But these supernatural beings disappeared just as abruptly as they appeared, leaving only questions and dread in their wake. Now these girls are attending Midgar, planning to fully harness and use their abilities to fend off the Dragons when and if they return. Having suddenly become the latest member of the D’s, Yuu is even more extraordinary for being the only known male D in existence, and he must now forge relationships with the girls surrounding him, whether he likes it or not. To make matters even more complicated, among the girls is his long-separated sister, Mononobe Mitsuki, and he must work alongside them to both investigate and eliminate the ever-looming Dragon threat.
In the story department, the Dragons hail from an alternate plane of existence and occasionally drop by to terrorize Earth. They also infect one girl, a D, with their powers, allowing them to create whatever they can think of. The school exists to combat the threat, and as it’s already clear by now, there’s nothing unique about this narrative. Of course, this lone male, who females surround at the school, is destined to have his own harem, but not in an engaging or fun way. The ever-present threat of dragons is addressed by the main cast, who defend against a total of two attacks and use their powers to keep certain others from being targeted.
Yet the narrative remains so focused on the Dragons that it hardly has enough time to address other elements of the story. For example, the story never explains why Yuu is the only male D, the reasons behind the Dragons' attacks, or the identities of several characters, leaving numerous unresolved issues and an unsatisfying open ending. The execution feels lazy and falls flat, resulting in a lack of emotional impact because the story provides no reason for the audience to care about this world or its characters. The story attempts to present itself as something it is not, relying on a clichéd premise, ignoring numerous details, and culminating in a disappointing conclusion.
The portrayal of the characters is deeply flawed. First and foremost, the male protagonist does not even qualify as a suitable harem main character, although it requires only minimal effort to become a competent one; for example, simply look at Hyoudou Issei from High School DxD to understand what I mean. Meanwhile, this individual does not engage in any meaningful activity beyond some lackluster Dragon battles, and the narrative appears to disregard his presence as well. He has no backstory or abilities; he's just there. Moving on to the female leads, I knew ever so little about each of them by the conclusion.
Of the whole lot, only Mitsuki, Freyja Iris, Highwalker Lisa, and Lightning Tear at least get some screentime, while the others are just forgotten and remain unnecessary. As usual, each of the "main" girls embodies a standardized trope that is essential to any typical harem, and these characteristics are their only defining traits. If at least two of these girls had unique characteristics in addition to their clichéd tropes, the series would have been much better. Meanwhile, the entire supporting cast is just a collection of plot devices whose existence holds no other meaning. Overall, everyone is either just clichéd, bland, or outright forgettable.
The Art and Animation department isn’t inadequate; it's just up to industry standard for Winter 2015. The artstyle they went for is clearly the moe type, which is pretty decent on its own, with a vibrant color palette and neat artwork. The character designs are good, with all the girls looking cute and memorable, but they would benefit from more developed personalities. It goes without saying that Yuu has a highly generic harem MC design with added moe just for effect, but at least he doesn’t look awful. The animation is decent, too, with some great-looking fight scenes and fluid movements. However, the Dragons are an entirely different story. They just look so out of place with their mostly CGI designs, looking larger than life and extremely threatening in a backdrop that just isn’t suited to them. Furthermore, the apparent clash between visuals makes them difficult to look at, and their movements remain clunky. The backgrounds look fine as well, so long as there isn’t a massive CGI monstrosity in the middle of them, at least.
The Sound and Music department is largely forgettable. The Opening theme is "FLYING FAFNIR" by TRUSTRICK (Sayaka Kanda & Billy), a hopeful song set in an apocalyptic world. Still, there’s nothing special about it, and I swear I’ve heard pieces like this, visuals included, thousands of times before. The ending theme is "Ray of Bullet," sung by the voice actresses Iris Freyja (Rina Hidaka), Mitsuki Mononobe (Manami Numakura), Lisa Highwalker (Hisako Kanemoto), Ariella Lu (Sora Tokui), Ren Miyazawa (Fumiko Uchimura), and Tear Lightning (Ayane Sakura). This sequence primarily features the girls abandoning their activities against a moe-inducing, cutesy track that ultimately lacks significance. The tracks themselves are okay, but they're generic and easily forgettable. I don’t even recall the OSTs, meaning they were even more insignificant. The Voice Acting isn’t awful because I’m sure the VAs have played characters falling under their respective tropes many times before, and there’s nothing unique here to add.
Overall, "Unlimited Fafnir" is not a show I would recommend to anyone, unless they are a massive fan of harem anime featuring moe girls who engage in side battles. Even for those who enjoy harem anime, "Unlimited Fafnir" doesn't offer anything unique or memorable, and there are dozens of similar or even better shows available. The story could have been outstanding, but they ignored all the mysteries. The characters fit perfectly into their tropes and do nothing else, while the CGI Dragons made me want to avert my eyes from the screen. Despite some tense moments, everything ends predictably. You should spend your time elsewhere instead of delving into this disappointing anime.
