Terraformars

Episode 5

Terraformars may not have learned the importance of first impressions, but it certainly knows how to pick itself up when it falls. After a messy but promising start, the series has steadily refined its mix of action and horror, and this latest installment shows the result of that effort. Color me impressed.

This episode bounces back and forth between two important tasks: giving the audience some backstory on the main characters and showing off the crew's fancy new bug powers. The latter forces a major shift in momentum from previous episodes, as the humans gain a significant advantage once they get a chance to power themselves up. The terror of fighting a powerful enemy fades to the background in favor of some space-bug-stomping action. This is good for balance, as the situation was starting to look excessively bleak for the Annex crew.

The character development has its ups and downs. We get a better sense of why Sheila's death had such an effect on Marcos, but the timing seems a bit odd. If we'd known more about their relationship ahead of time, it would've added to the dramatic impact of her death. Instead, we had to wait a week to see the full picture. This whole sequence of events would be more effective if watched in one sitting, rather than in a weekly simulcast situation. As it stands, the flashbacks end up being more expository than emotional.

On the other hand, we have Akari's encounter with a young boy before heading off to Mars. Initially, it seems redundant to have him meet yet another person who's been infected by the virus, but the repetition ends up being surprisingly effective. The familiarity of the “things to do when I get better” list forces both Akari and the audience to confront his past loss and the continuing threat of the virus. It's a poignant little moment that deepens our investment in the Mars mission on a human level, rather than just an academic one.

Having plucked a sufficient number of heartstrings, Terraformars is free to devote the rest of the episode to the kind of super-powered action that many have been hoping for. The crew gets a chance to show off a variety of special abilities, each interesting in their own right. It helps that the heavy censorship seen in past episodes apparently only applies to humans; the violent demises of space bugs are perfectly safe for broadcast. Rather than laughing at conveniently placed rectangles, we get a chance to experience the intensity that the show was always supposed to have. While the animation quality isn't the best out there, the character designs really shine once the cast starts to show off their mutations. The mix of human and animal features appears genuinely monstrous, which helps show the lengths to which the crew must go in order to stand a fighting chance.

Terraformars is not especially clever or subtle in its approach, but complaining about that feels like saying that a freezer doesn't heat food as well as an oven. This is a series built to provide simple, violent, gory fun, and it's continuing to get better at delivering that. If you want a complex story with many layers of meaning, this is not the series for you. If you're in the mood for the kind of entertainment that Terraformars had been promising from the beginning, rest assured that it's finally moving in the right direction.

Rating: B-

Terraformars is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Paul Jensen also covers anime and manga at SharkPuppet.com.