Fafner: Volume One – Arcadian Project (Animé TV)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B-     Extras: C     Episodes: C

 

 

Aliens invade a peaceful island and begin to take over human bodies.  The island instantly (somehow) becomes militarized and the battle against the invaders begins.  Fortunately, the humans have robots called Fafners and those aliens are in for a fight.  It is amazing how many giant robots Japan seems to have, spending all that time and money on them.  Unfortunately, this does not extend to scripts and Fafner is a show that is more talk than action, with bad mixings of computer and hand-drawn animation and very sluggish teleplays.

 

The episodes in this first TV are:

 

1)     Beginning (Paradise)

2)     Life (Confession)

3)     Truth (Labyrinth)

4)     Departure (Escape)

 

 

Festums are the name of the aliens, as in festering, which is what all the clichés of this show do to the viewer as they watch.  The 1.33 X 1 full screen image is mixed and never gels, while the Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo in English or Japanese actually has Pro Logic surrounds, being the highlight of this disc by default.  Besides a set of Geneon trailers, the only extras are the opening and closing credits sans text.  This is disappointing and only for the most diehard of fans, meant for ages 13 and over.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo