Fafner in the Azure: Difference between revisions

''[[Fafner in the Azure]]'' is a 26-episode long anime about a lone island, Tatsumiyajima, in a world where aliens called Festum have invaded and subsequently wrecked much of the human population. Major cities and/or countries are gone (naturally, Japan is included), but Tatsumiyajima is left alone... that is, until the Festums come back once more. There're no worries, however; the show's gigantic machine(s), the ''Fafner''(s), are more than adequate to kick some golden butt.

Throughout the series, the ''Fafner''(s)' pilots, which are revealed to be specific children on the island, are introduced to aid the protanogistprotagonist in combat; some blow up, get scrapped, or become inducted into the team. Then the island accidentlyaccidentally makes contact with the U.N., who more or less blackmails them into joining the big war against the Festums (and mainly because the U.N.'s own machines suck to the ninth degree).

Fans of ''[[Gundam Seed]]'' might note the similar character designs; after all, they share the same designer in that aspect. The [[Humongous Mecha]] of the series, however, are anything but Gundam-like, and are more akin to ''Evangelion''. Indeed, the storyline and all material contained in the series itself can be called as such, although their usage, looks, and overall plot point differ by varying degrees.

It also had a 50-minute TV special made for it. ''Fafner: Right of Left'' tells the story of how Tatsumiyajima narrowly avoided all-out war with the Festums even before the series begin, by splitting off a section of the island as a decoy (with people left behind to steer it around, no less), arming them with cool-looking prototypes and the prototypes of the kids in the main series (all the widdle children around are like that), and generally telling them that their mission, more or less, is one of duty-bound suicide. Expect less of the main series' bittersweet ending than flat-out slaughter... regrettably, not all of the Festum's fault alone.

* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: The series, arguably. {{spoiler|While we are told that those who are assimiliatedassimilated may one day return we do not quite get to see that happening.}}

* [[Festival Episode]]: A Bon festival, even. Needless to say everyone gets to wear yukatasyukata.

* [[Good Scars, Evil Scars]]: Soushi has a scar on his left eye. Which is actually plot relevant {{spoiler|when they were both children his best friend Kazuki had to claw at said eye to keep Soushi from being assimilated by the Festum. As a result there is a lot of bad blood between the two since Soushi cannot pilot Fafner due to the injury and Kazuki is in a state of self denial mixed with guilt over the whole issue.}}

** The way "Mark Sein" is spelled can even lead to a small translation joke since it sounds a lot like the germanGerman phrase "mag sein" which means "could be".

* [[Ho Yay]]: Kazuki and Soushi, arguably. Could be more of a [[Relationship Writing Fumble]], since Kazuki is also quite clearly shown to have a thing for Maya...

* [[The Other Darrin]]: Due to mostly [[Unions in Hollywood|union issues]], Funimation replaced the entire cast (except [[Stephanie Sheh]], which surprisingly credited her role under her [[Alan Smithee|"Jennifer Sekiguchi" pesudonym]]) with their regulars. Yes, even ''[[Johnny Yong Bosch]]'s'' role as Kazuki (who heBosch normally works with Funimation to either reprise his old roles or get new ones) was replaced by someone else. [[Micah Solusod|Guess who that someone else is]].

* [[Speak Ill of the Dead]]: {{spoiler|Shouko's}} death resulted in some of the islanders desecrating the grave to the horror of friends who saw {{spoiler|her}} make a Heroic Sacrifice for them.

* [[Sphere of Destruction]]: The Festum spontaneously generate these by using black holes as weapons, as well setting off a larger one when they are destroyed. The [[Self-Destruct Mechanism|Fenrir system]] also uses one of these to destroy the Fafner it is equipped on.

* [[Sterility Plague]]: The Festum did this to Japan, prompting the Alvis project which gave rise to artificial reproduction, and, by the same token, genetically engineered supersoldiers (i.e. our heroes) born to fight the Festum.

* [[Synchronization]]: Taken to the extreme, not only do the pilots synchronize with their Fafner units, but they are also linked with Soushi via the Siegfried system, which allows him to guide them while forcing him to feel all the pain they feel. Furthermore, in the final episode all pilots enter a state of synchronization in which the death of one would result in the destruction of all.

* [[Took a Level Inin Badass]]: {{spoiler|Maya spends the first two thirds of the series on the sidelines, finally gets her chance to pilot, and turns out to be an awesome sniper}}

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