Aquarion Season 1 Part 1
© Funimation

Mania Grade: B
DVD: Aquarion (Season 1, Part 1)
Rating: Unrated
Starring: Christopher Bevins, Brina Palencia, Eric Vale, Brandon Potter
Written By: Shôji Kawamori
Directed By: Shôji Kawamori
Distributor: Funimation
Original Year of Release: 2005
Extras: Interview with Shôji Kawamori, panel discussion from 2005 Tokyo Anime Expo

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Aquarion Season 1 Part 1

Aquarion or Genesis of Aquarion is the product of Shôji Kawamori, the man who created Vision of Escaflowne as well as much of the Macross series. Aquarion is yet another giant Mecha series that ran for 26 episodes on TV Tokyo in 2005. This boxed set presents the first half of the season, 13 episodes on three DVDs. Aquarion combines traditional 2D aniamtion with 3D animation taking over during the mecha battles. The look is seamlessly rendered and simply dazzling. The battles between the giant war machines are the highlight of each episode.

Aquarion has drawn unflattering comparisons to Neon Genesis Evangelion. Certainly the themes and plots are similar, perhaps a bit too similar: Global Cataclysms, using teenagers piloting Mecha to battle beings known as Angels… Kawamori certainly won’t win many points for originality but this sort of copying of plots goes on all the time in Anime and Aquarion can stand on its own.

The “Great Catastrophe” has killed two-thirds of the world’s population and awakened the Shadow Angels from a 12,000 year hibernation. The Shadow Angels subsist on the life force of human beings called prana. The Shadow Angels harvest the prana by capturing humans with giant machines guarded by mecha known as Cherubim. To combat the Shadow Angels, the organization called Deava recruits special teenagers known as Elements or Element users. They are trained to pilot three advanced warcraft known as Vectors. The three Vectors can then merge together to form Aquarion. Aquarion has several different forms it can take on with each Vector becoming the lead depending upon what form they merge into.

The Elements are a diverse lot. There is the snobbish and elitist Sirius and his younger sister Silvia; there is soccer star Pierre; friendly but bad luck-prone Reika; and Apollo, the orphaned, feral-like young man whose incredible abilities astound his fellow trainees. Apollo may, or may not be, the reincarnation of the great hero Apollonius, also known as Solar Wing, who helped defeat the Shadow Angels thousands of years ago but is still loved by Toma, the leader of the Shadow Angels.

Each episode has the same basic outline. The first half has the students generally training with Deava commander General Fudou or the other commanders. This is the time we get to explore the personalities of the main characters. Silvia is the reincarnation of Celiane, Apollonius’ lover many millennia ago and this leads to all out verbal and physical battles between she and Apollo. She cannot believe that he is truly her reincarnated lover. This constant bickering does become tiresome after a few episodes and thankfully other characters are explored in depth as well. 

The second half of each episode has three of the team responding to a threat from the Cherubim soldiers and merging to become Aquarion. While merging, the three members all experience what can only be described as a sexual orgasm of pleasure. This is a bit weird and one would think HIGHLY distracting in the midst of a battle.

Aquarion’s visuals are stunning! The mech battles are earth-shattering and the 3D animation brings it all right into the viewer’s lap. In almost each episode Aquarion has to find a new way to defeat the Cherubim as the enemy mechs are constantly adapting to Aquarion’s attacks.

Aquarion is enjoyable although the familiar pattern of each episode can get boring after a while and you can’t wait until the next mecha fight begins.