Ah, the giant robot genre. Every year new initiates dive into huge mechanical suits of armor and battle monsters for the good of mankind. This mainstay has been around since the dawn of anime and it's easy to see why so many shows draw from this inspiration. The well seems to be near-limitless, but you do have to admit that there comes a time when an Otaku has to call uncle and say enough is enough. You can only take so much of the same thing before you get tired of it and have to move on.

From Gundam to Godannar nearly every giant robot series tries to do something unique with the genre. Be it the style of mecha they pilot or the monster they fight, there's something that separates one series from the other; at least in most cases. Many shows just get lost in a sense of familiarity to the point where they really don't stand out. Fafner is such an anime that slipped right under my nose because, well, it just didn't seem that interesting to me.

The show takes place on an island where humanity is making its stand against a race of golden monsters known as the Festum. The trick is that even though the people that live there go about their daily lives, only a portion of them know the truth about the world. When a Festum is sighted on their system the people of the island scramble for safety and the people with knowledge of the truth come forward to defend their neighbors. Strapping themselves into giant robots known as Fafners they launch into the air (or under the sea) to go toe to toe with their golden nemesis.

Yet again Fafner is one of those shows that I haven't had the chance to check out, so going into the third volume I was naturally a little lost about some things. It was easy enough to pick out who the main characters were, but exactly what roles they played in the series was a little fuzzy. Considering the episodes follow a strong continuity didn't really help matters either being a newcomer. Episodic shows are much easier to get into the grove with.

The third volume starts out in the midst of a battle with the Festum on an island somewhere, though not the populated one. A lot of explosions and fighting hoopla blanket the screen while a solo pilot carries a ship underneath the ocean to rescue a pair of humans beneath. The mission is a success but on their way to the surface one of the golden beasts catches and assimilates the pilot of the Fafner. A last minute rescue is enough to save the boy's life but his nervous system was taken over completely by the enemy life form.

His body is taken back to a secret base where some of his friends discover what happened to him. Some tears are shed and whatnot, but without knowing who the kid was I didn't really get what was going on. At any rate one of the other pilots in the show, another kid named Kazuki finds out the truth and leaves the island with a lady suspected to be a double agent. They make their way to what's left of part of the outside world's civilization which is basically a bunch of woods and some ruined skyscrapers. There a Festum attacks and a mysterious Fafner shows up on the scene. I won't spoil what happens next for any of you that are interested in the series, but let's just say it seems to be a pivotal moment.

Without seeing the first two volumes a lot of what was happening in this one was completely lost on me. I didn't know who characters were and the back story isn't really touched upon. What I saw seemed pretty good and better than I thought it was going to be, but without the reference to prior events my enjoyment of the show suffered. I can't speak for the quality of the rest of the series but based upon these four episodes Fafner looks like a fine addition to the mecha genre. It's just not something I can confidently recommend.

Produced recently in 2004, Fafner looks very good on DVD. The show is presented with a 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio and fits the bill in just about every way. The transfer is sharp with a squeaky clean image and there is very little aliasing to complain about. It's not always the case but this is a series that would have definitely benefited from an anamorphic widescreen presentation.

Stereo tracks are included for English and Japanese on this disc and unfortunately there is nothing in the way of surround sound. For what it is the quality is fair with a decent amount of front stage directionality, though when the action got intense dialogue was second place to the explosions. This is a very wordy show and a little more dialogue-driven than most mecha anime, so I suppose it didn't really need that surround presentation to be enjoyed. It just would have gone a long way to enhancing the aesthetics.

Some Geneon Previews and an Art Gallery with 26 images is all you are going to get for extra features on this disc.

It's always difficult to step into a series half way through its run and understand what's going on. Fafner does make an immediate impression with great design, an interesting concept, and intense action, but it didn't sell me completely. What transpires in this volume looks to move things forward to a new direction but without knowledge of what happened prior to, that's pure speculation. At any rate, if you're a fan of Gundam you may want to look into this show because all of the pieces seem to be there.

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