[quote]Genres: drama, science fiction Themes: giant robots, mecha, military, real robot Objectionable content: Significant Number of episodes: 12 Vintage: 2005-01-05 to 2005-03-23
Plot Summary: Aoba is a young girl who loves to build models of robots. She lived alone with her grandmother until her grandmother passes away. Shortly after she is kidnapped and brought to a secret base where she discovers a huge robot. The piloted robots fight against Ancient-Jinki in The Grand Savanna, but the true meaning behind the fights is hidden. Aoba works hard at the base so one day she can pilot one of the robots and discover these secrets.[/quote]
The series in and of itself, is ok, nothing to really jump and and down about.
Probably would have worked better as a slightly longer series, since bits and pieces of the actual story were rather glossed over.
But what really stood out in this series was the soundtrack.
Definitely made it worth watching just for that alone.
Yeah the soundtrack is great shame the rest of the series just feels like someone stuck a 26 episode series in a shredder , taped the scraps together , and made a 13 episode series.
Well at least with this I’d rather not be struck over the head with a 2x4 like “SOME” series.
By the by if you like extra stuff the singles I believe have either inserts or reverse covers with commentary or interviews. Been waiting for the right time to use the series as filler.
[quote=psychopuppet]
By the by if you like extra stuff the singles I believe have either inserts or reverse covers with commentary or interviews. Been waiting for the right time to use the series as filler.[/quote]
Yeah, that’s probably what I’m going to do, use it as filler to break the shipping cap.
I really enjoyed this series. I have to agree that the ending felt rushed, but all in all it was fun. I liked all the characters - none grated on me. And of course anything with giant robots is worth a watch The sound track is very very good. I especially like the OP theme.
Also, this is technically a 12 episode series with a 1 episode OVA at the end. The last ep is really an epilogue though.
I enjoyed this series immensely. It’s one of my all time favorites from the genre. I really enjoyed the intricate storytelling. All the time and location jumps really play into the overall large story very well. That’s perhaps my favorite part of this, how intelligent that all is. Sure I guess it has a lot going on an it could have used some more episodes, but not 24/26. That would make it too long in my opinion. Part of this shows charm is it’s ability to tell so much, in such a short period of time, with all the different time jumps. That’s why maybe 2 or 3 more episodes would have been best. if you double the length it would lose that charm, and feel mangled. Yeah the ending is a little rushed, but it’s still very very good. I like the way the show ends. But with a few more episodes they wouldn’t have had to rush the ending. That’s my only problem with it, and it’s not that bad. In fact I like it in a series when things speed up toward the end a little.
The characters in this are some of my favorites. I liked EVERY SINGLE one of them. From the main characters, to the minor ones like the boy Aoba meets early on. Even Aoba’s mother is such an interesting character. That RARELY happens. I usually hate at least a few of the characters. So when i love them all, you know you have a winner! And this is a HUGE winner. This series is full of win in every way. Also loved the setting, Venezuela is quite the unique place for an anime! Gave us some amazing backgrounds. I love the color palette they use, very earthly! Also there seems to be a lot of pastels, which looks great! And the character designs are great! I also loved the time period this took place in, late 80’s and early 90’s for the win! The music was great, especially the opening and ending themes. I really cannot get enough of the music! Huge fan of this series soundtrack! And the dub is magical, one of my favorite late-era ADV dubs!
My favorite part of this is
How the FINAL battle is shown right in the first episode, but you have no idea what’s going on the first time around. They finish the battle off in episode 12 if I’m not mistaken. Very well handled.
And no this is a series to jump up and down about!
I have the ADV thin pack, but haven’t got around to watching it. So, I can’t comment on the quality of the show. However, I can say one thing. The artwork on the ADV thin pack, and the individual thin packs is beautiful. They did a great job with it, especially the thin pack cases.
You should watch this sooner-rather then later. it’s one of my favorite Sojitz era ADV titles. Of course they had so many golden shows during that time period, still i rank this very high. The dub is also magical. I just LOVE Brittany Karbowski in this! One of her earlyer main roles. She was in Gilgamesh before this as a main-ish character, but here she plays the LEAD. And she does an AMAZING job. I just love the character of Aoba so much, and Karbowski’s performance only adds to it. The reason I love Aoba as a character become clear in episode 4 (I think that’s the episode). Also Luci Christian was very good in this. She’s always good, but this is like even better then usual .
The Coffee God: BTW that’s not the real ending. That’s just the oen they use for episode 1. The real ending is a throwback to Mazinger Z .
[quote=Prede]
The Coffee God: BTW that’s not the real ending. That’s just the oen they use for episode 1. The real ending is a throwback to Mazinger Z .[/quote]
The ending you posted, is not the real ending theme. That’s only used for episode one. The real ending is a throwback to the ending of Mazinger Z. It looks almost the same as the ending to Mazinger Z. That’s all I was saying.
So I re-watched the first 5 episodes. Again either I’m taking crazy pills, or everyone else on the planet is nuts. This is a great show. It does everything right. Complex and interesting story, every single character is likeable and compelling (even the minor characters which is saying something!), the artwork looks really nice, the music is amazing and the setting is unique. Also GIANT ROBOTS! What else do yah need in an anime? Oh yeh cute girls .
Still a huge fan of all the time jumps. Love the storytelling in this show.
I am going with your taking crazy pills.
This , Magikano , and Xenosaga were three of my really not cared if they licensed it titles of the Sojitz era. Probably add Venus Versus Virus in there ,but to be fair I’ve only seen 2 episodes of it so can’t judge.
I think the last part of Carl Kimlinger’s review of volume 3 at ANN says it the best as to why people either do or don’t like it.
Not all questions are answered this volume. What exactly happened to Shizuka is left unclear, and no explanation is given as to how Akao was responsible for the Lost Life Phenomena. However, enough pieces of the puzzle are delivered to make going back over the previous volumes to see where they fit a worthwhile endeavor. Worthwhile, however, only for those who actually enjoyed those episodes. For those who didn’t, wading through the muddy, limp middle set of episodes again will be like pulling teeth.
Jinki was a mixed bag. The core was great, especially with the unique dual track storytelling setup. But the execution and rushed nature pretty much diminished it. On one hand I think it would have been corrected as a 24/26 episode series, but on the other, I’d ask myself would one really want to watch this at that length?
Overall, I thought it was ok to pretty good way back in the day when it was coming out (I had SVOD back then so I got to see it pretty early). I think I remember liking the dub.
One of my favorite aspects of the show was the ending with Angela… They are always awesome. I highly recommend listening to the Stellvia OP/ED’s for any Angela fan. (You heard it here first I remember praising Angela years ago over here but I don’t think anyone paid attention ;)) Then be sure to pick up in my view sister series, Martian Successor Nadesico and Stellvia… such awesome music, both of em. Stellvia was just ok/pretty good as a series though, nowhere as monumental as Nadesico.
The sound track is very very good. I especially like the OP theme.
