Forum - View topicAnime Spotlight - Fafner EXODUS
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Color2413
Posts: 49 |
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While Fafner EXODUS has been getting extraordinarily little love, after four episodes I think that it is arguably the best of the winter season. It's a true labor of love, and looks gorgeous. The breathtaking battle set-pieces of the first two episodes served to start the series with the proverbial bang; eps 3 and 4 have served to develop the characters and to introduce the third generation of pilots.
Given Fafner's pedigree, I expect the action to pick up again soon. People will suffer and die. There will be massive amounts of angst, with stakes that couldn't be higher. If you are not familiar with the earlier Fafner TV series and movies, I suggest that you first sample a bit of the first episode of EXODUS. If you like what you see, watch the back-story, as EXODUS won't make much sense without it. Fafner is a throwback to an earlier, and arguably finer, age of anime. It is not otaku-bait. It is not a moe-fest and has minimal fanservice. It has grand ambitions and is serious as a heart attack. It is not for everyone, but if you liked Rahxeophon or Evangelion (less, perhaps, its whiny, low-self-esteem lead character), I think that you will find EXODUS well worth your time. |
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leongsh
 Posts: 181 |
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Without a doubt, this sequel is a labour of love. It's Xebec's personal baby. They have gotten most everyone involved in the original to come back for this, even angela to continue providing the opening and ending songs as they done for all in the series.
There's a lot going for it. Unfortunately, it really works only if you have watched the originating series, the prequel OVA, and the sequel movie before this. For most, it is a huge hurdle to get over to get up to speed to understand what's going on and what's at stake within the context of of the story so far. One thing can be said though, the end credits imagery and song for Fafner: Exodus is signalling that a number of them will die, just like the first series. It's forewarning, so be forearmed. For me, I liked it when the first aired 10 years back (and have the Geneon DVD box) and continuing with this. |
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jr240483
 Posts: 4376 Location: New York City,New York,USA |
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it will definitely not be like those series. but overall its a good series. unfortunately cause it aint otaku bait like NGE ,its not known to all. hell the only reason and i mean the only reason this series even have any notoriety is because of artwork ofhisashi hirai's aka Gundam Seed / Destiny's character designer. it cant be missed since every single character in Fafner looks exactly the same like those from seed and destiny. if the first season had the same VA,especially from the dub version,then the otaku community would be calling it an uber clone of gundam seed and destiny which is what most people called it during the review for S1. |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4074 |
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I watched the first episode of Fafner, made of note how certain named characters died and thought "Oh, it's one of those shows, is it?"
I don't recall it looking so much like Majestic Prince though {Did the character designer forget which show he was doing?}. I'd rather have the sequel to that one. |
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Zetabag
 Posts: 205 |
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Its well known that Hisashi Hirai's character designs don't offer much in terms of variety. As a result pretty much anything that he is involved in will end up looking like his past works. |
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Color2413
Posts: 49 |
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I finished watching "Majestic Prince" recently and prefer Fafner. While there are some similarities (teenagers fighting aliens), Fafner's aliens are much more alien, its tone is more serious, and it raises interesting spiritual issues (what does it truly mean to be assimilated by the Festum; how do pilots deal emotionally with the fact that every time they pilot a Fafner, it shortens their lives) that "Majestic Prince" does not. Fafner also avoids the usual shonen power-up tropes; the pilots are carefully trained and supported by the entire infrastructure of the island. And like real war, anyone can die. |
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Color2413
Posts: 49 |
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Moreover, in Fafner, character development is much more important than character design. Fafner's premise has very little in common with the Gundam shows, whose conflicts are between two tribes of humanity, not humanity against an utterly alien race. |
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Yttrbio
 Posts: 3652 |
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Of course, if you can't tell the characters apart, character development gets a bit rough.
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Hameyadea
 Posts: 3679 |
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Xebec keeps the character designs as close to the original as possible, yet animating their movements with modern techniques is a good throwback to the 2004 show, while dodging the "outdated" matter.
I like it. |
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omiya
 Posts: 1825 Location: Adelaide, South Australia |
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Short version of PV of OP by Angela: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY4ueJQNkLQ I wish that ANN would actually bother to add such information to their spotlights. [edit] Poster at Ikebukuro station: 
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