CB Anime Review: Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet

Have you ever wanted to watch an anime about a GIANT SUPERPOWERED MECH FROM THE FUTURE?

HOW ABOUT ONE THAT SPENDS MOST OF HIS TIME MOVING BOXES, IS A MAKESHIFT GRILL AND ACTS AS A TRANSLATOR BETWEEN TWO GROUPS OF HUMANS?

STILL INTERESTED?  GOOD!

I promise you, it's not as boring as it sounds.  In fact, this anime, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet, was a pleasant surprise to me, and with only 13 episodes, a nice way to end the day (for about a week or so).

Gargantia follows a teenager named Ensign Ledo, who was raised to be a soldier in the Galactic Alliance of Humankind and fight against squid-like aliens called the Hideauze.  Retreating from a failed attack against the Hideauze, Ledo falls into a wormhole and finds himself on the long fabled planet, Earth.  The Earth is now completely covered in water and the the only way the humans can survive is on individual ships and ship mega floats.  Waking up on a mega float called the Gargantia, Ledo, along with his AI mech battle suit, Chamber, must adjust to their new life away from war and discover the lost secrets of humanity located on Earth.

Like I said, this anime was only 13 episodes, so I didn't feel overwhelmed or obligated to watch it, as I sometimes feel while watching 26 episode animes.  But even though I was able to get through this series in a couple nights, they were extremely enjoyable.  I believe that no matter how bad an anime is, there is always something in it that makes it worth watching.  While Gargantia was definitely not a bad anime, there was something about it that kept me interested.  Maybe is was the mysteries surrounding the future Earth or the interesting cast of characters, or maybe........ something else.......

Of course, it might always be the emotional resonance that I felt with our main character, Ledo.  This is a guy who has known one thing for his entire life; war.  When he arrives on Earth, its hard for him to adjust to a life without fighting, and has to recreate his identity.  I think that is something we can all understand, because everyone goes through change at least one point in their life.  Maybe it was moving to a new state, a new school, a new job, or even leaving home to attend college.  When we find ourselves in these situations, we don't know what to do or how to react.  We're in completely uncharted territory and have no compass to guide us.  It can be terrifying.  When Ledo wakes up on Earth, he was completely hostile to everything around him.  Eventually, with the help of a guide and the understanding of others, we begin to find our way, as a young girl names Amy helps Ledo learn more about himself and teaches him about the new world.

#AnimeBromance

Hoping that you now have an understanding of our main character Ledo, I want to talk about another main character in this series; Chamber.  Even though Chamber is a battle mech, he has AI (Artificial Intelligence) and honestly this series would have been a lot less enjoyable without him.  Though he is programmed to follow Ledo's commands, Chamber also gives advice and council to Ledo, and others aboard the Gargantia.  I've seen my fair share of mech animes, and Chamber is probably my favorite mech suit, because this is one of the rare cases where a suit is an actual character in the series.  It adds a new dynamic to the show and is an essential part to Gargantia.

There is a medium sized group of side characters, including crew members aboard the Gargantia, a love interest and pirates.  Gargantia provides character development for most of the cast, but in my opinion, you really watch this show for Ledo and by extension, Chamber.

Now, when it comes to anime art and design, I'm not very picky.  To me, content is more important than the look of an anime, so even if an anime doesn't look its best, I can still enjoy it.  However, I have to give props to the people at Production I.G for their animation work.  The design of Gargantia is top notch work and really helps keep you interested during some of the lulls in episodes.  There are space battles, sea battles and random rainstorms that look amazing and somewhat realistic (you know, for an anime about a sea Earth with mechs).  The real highlight to me is Chamber.  The way that he looks, fires weapons and flies around looks spectacular, and differs a bit from your normal mech physics (you'll see if you watch it).  It's freakin sweet to watch!  Like I said, I'm not too picky with my art, but the art of Gargantia sets a great standard for mech animes.

This anime is pretty tame overall, but like I've previously mentioned, it is anime and you should use your own discretion while watching it.  Gargantia does have great lessons attached and a tear-jerking ending, which was completely unexpected, but awesome.  So, if you have some time to kill and want to watch something a little low-key, check out Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet.

 Peace and Love