"The story takes place in the future on an island paradise known as Tatsumiya Island. Life pretty much seems to be like any other island community, with kids going to school, parents working in their shops, and little exchange between the mainlands that are hundreds of miles away. The lead character is Kazuki, a high school kid that is no stranger to a fight and generally seems slightly withdrawn. When Soshi returned from an extended trip to Tokyo, all heck started breaking loose with announcements made for the residents to go to a series of what appear to be bomb shelters. Kazuki is taken to a small military base and soon finds himself piloting a large, powerful humanoid shaped robot called Fafner with the assistance of Soshi due to a series of inter-related circumstances involving an attack on the island by a golden robot called Festum. Festum is routing all the other defenses and after a brief bit of exposition, we find out that several of the students have the right genetic code to pilot the Fafner but Kazuki is most suited. He stumbles through the fight as several initially important characters bite the big one and we find out the history of the island, with few bits of interesting facts about the devastation of Earth in recent years (that the youth of the island had no idea about)."

Okay, the story is familiar enough to those of us that have watched more than a couple of anime series in the past twenty years and here's what the back cover said about the second volume: "Nothing has been the same ever since the Festum invaded the island. While the population copes with constant attacks and battle preparations, the leaders of Alvis struggle to move forward under increased political pressure from the Neo UN. Meanwhile, battle fatigue has set in for the young pilots and, while Kazuki is away on a rescue mission, Shoko is pressed into service to pilot the Fafner with devastating results."

Fafner: Ultimate Sacrifice spends more time with character exposition than the first set of episodes in the series did but this is to be expected. The groundwork was laid and now the series attempts to suck us in further by getting us to care about what happens to the various protagonists as they seek to survive against the alien threat as well as the forces of Earth's political body, the Neo United Nations. The episodes this time were 5) Pledge (Promise), 6) Sacrifice (Soaring High), 7) Parent & Children (Family), and 8) Koyo (Strife). The leaders of the moveable island (a concept throwback to the Macross series) or "The Alvis", broker a deal to share their advanced technology with the leaders of the Neo UN in hopes of returning to their hidden way of life. As the deal goes down, the Festum (alien attackers) pop out of nowhere and start hammering away at the Neo UN's fleet of ships. The islanders come to the rescue but not without cost and one of the lead characters dies to save the day from the invaders. The ramifications are then felt throughout the following episodes as a black ops group tries to gain some secret information, inadvertently waking up a powerful new threat that seems to have come from the same project that established Tatsumiya Island. The exact nature of the threat was only touched on as the cast was dealing with the loss of their friend but it set the stage for more adventures to say the least.

Okay, while not quite as appealing as the initial release of Fafner: The Arcadian Project, Fafner: Ultimate Sacrifice did manage to introduce some fair level of intrigue about things going on behind the scenes. It also gave the viewer a glimpse into how a generally normal group of people reacted when they found out they were part of a secret defense force project and thrust into the roles of combat personnel. Sure, this is about as generic sounding as can be in a world full of similar projects but even so; it worked on several levels for me (an admitted fan of giant mech-robot shows). I'm going to rate this one as Recommended since the death of the character (perhaps the major event in the volume) came too early into the show, well before she was established enough to draw sympathy, and the confusing nature of some of the other matters taking place. I'm sure that as the series progresses the details will iron themselves out but watch it in order or you'll be scratching your head more than I was.

Picture: Fafner: Ultimate Sacrifice was presented in the original 1.33:1 ratio full frame color it was produced in for Japanese television. I saw no flaws in the picture with the colors looking great, the backgrounds being well handled, the overall detail being solid, and the levels of grain and/or noise barely noticeable. The anime style itself was a combination of the newer CGI and more traditional work now seeing widespread use throughout shows although the CGI was limited to some parts of the island, the shore fortifications, and the like. In all, it looked great which is no surprise considering that the show was just released in Japan.

Sound: The audio was presented with the usual choice of 2.0 Dolby Digital Japanese with English subtitles (the original track of course) or an English language dub. To be fair to both, I liked each of them for various reasons; the original flowed slightly better but the dub was as solid as I'd expect from a new Geneon release. The music and sound effects seemed to be the same this time and there were few flaws in terms of the vocals or miscast actors. There was some decent separation and dynamic range to listen to this time, particularly if you use headphones although they aren't necessary to hear the quality of the audio.

Extras: There was a series of original Japanese covers, some trailers, a reversible cover with some artwork and a schedule of the DVD volumes over the next year & a few little trading cards in a sealed package.

Final Thoughts: Fafner: Ultimate Sacrifice may not have completely lived up to the promise of Fafner: The Arcadian Project but it was still a solid series in the common vein most of us are familiar with. With elements of RahXephon and Gundam SEED on hand to keep fans interested, the plight of the characters has a lot of room to grow and I'm going to admit that I liked where it was heading but my initial assessment stands that if you dissect the show, it'll be made up of mostly recycled parts. If you're looking for a completely innovative or original show, you'll be far less interested in it then those of us with a taste for the genre. Still, the production qualities were solid and even a unique (if limited) extra seemed to add a bit of spice for the jaded. Check it out and let me know what you think.

If you enjoy anime, take a look at some of the recommendations by DVDTalk's twisted cast of reviewers in their Best Of Anime 2003 and Best Of Anime 2004 article or regular column Anime Talk.