Infinite Ryvius

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Original release by Anime-Kissaten
IRC: #anime-kissaten@efnet
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Space, the final challenge. And the best place to kill hundreds of innocent kids ... after all, that's what governments and the military is there for, no ?

I guess you see where this is going: This is not a cuddly feelgood experience.

A whole academy of space-service trainees (pilots, stewardesses, cooks, engineers, navigators, etc.) are absolving their curriculum on a training space-station near a space phenomenon called the 'Geduld'. Then suddenly the station start starting uncontrollably into said phenomenon - which would mean certain death.

They manage to survive, of course, and get to board a mysterious battleship hidden inside their space station. Ignore the stupidity of that - you've seen worse. Completely without any guidance - all teachers are dead and the only adults still on board are the imprisoned guys who tried to kill them in the first place - the students have to figure out how to pilot the ship and how to survive as a group without clear leadership.

Powerstruggle ensues.

This series is more or less a study on human behaviour. The kids practically haste within months through social structures that the more civilized societies try to avoid like hell. From anarchy to dictatorship to police-state complemented by forced labor and intersected by several revolutions, the kids situation goes from bad to worse.

Meanwhile, the rest of the earth military actively tries to kill them for no discernible reason, forcing them to learn how to use the ships' weapons and defense systems at breakneck speed.

The series really focuses on the crew as a whole, which can be seen by the individual presentation of nearly all of the about 500 surviving students. Nearly everyone gets some screentime - be it a major role or just a short cameo appearance. This care for details can be seen in nearly every aspect of the series - from the characters, the (bogus) physics, the weapon systems and their limitations, space navigation, the enemies and the art.

So much for plot and quality. But how fun is it to watch ?
Well, so-so. It's moderately exciting, the mysterious parts feel rather weird as opposed to enigmatic, the characters are pretty unlikeable, the action is solid and the atmosphere is rather pessimistic. It's not for everyone. Definetly not for the Naruto crowd, but the Evangelion people might take a shine to it.

Sex&Violence: Pornwise I didn't see anything offensive. Thematically yes, there are some exacting topics not necessarily fit for children - like revenge, killing and torture. And even the kids themselves are acting disturbingly cold and cruel at times. But if the watcher is able to read the subtitles then he should be old enough to figure out that torture is bad.

Conclusion: An excellent anime, but not mainstream enough to be a blockbuster.