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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Watch | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 8 | Devil Doll | # |
[Score: 71%]
8 Points for Characters and Episode Story, meaning that I liked the characters and cared for them: A shy genius girl (in college already after having skipped several classes, admires her ani-ue, is afraid of boys) and a care-free energetic girl (sword fighter, dreams of being a pilot like her father who dies in the war against the Worms instead of taking over the dohjo of her grandfather) are recruited by some experimental air base where an unsociable but experienced pilot (all three girls of age 16) already flies some prototype exoskeleton. The interaction between these three (later: four resp. five) pilots (questioning their own abilities and goals at times), with their mechanics and some of the higher-ups is the focus of this series - not the battles (which have been boring and repetitive even though the enemies get more dangerous over time, you hardly ever get a real suspense feeling). You just never know whether the next minutes will be closer to depressing Shin Seiki Evangelion or to hilarious Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z... it's just flipping between these two. Stereotypical as they are, these characters gave me all kinds of pleasant emotions throughout this show, and I never became fed up with any single one of them. Which is the good side of this show... well, the only one, unfortunately. Art and Animation are okay albeit the girls are awfully thin. The trashy OP song is horrible, the first ED song has some interesting parts but I dislike the childish and Engrish vocals.... and the second ED song from episode 14 on, bringing jazzy big band sound, isn't any better. Then again, the Music during the suspense/action sequences (the "Huge Worms" theme) is just perfect, making these scenes quite an experience for me (this track made it into my Anime Music Collection). While the loli/ecchi elements appeared to be omnipresent in the beginning they're getting ever less important over time as the focus is more on the characters and the story development. I am not really used to those child-genius-soldier stories but I get a distinct feeling of Narutaru as for the visualization, Uchuu no Stellvia as for the character interaction, and Rahxephon as for the military organization element while I don't see Sky Girls on par with any of these (all of which I gave a "Rent" rating). Definitely a series for a younger audience as the battles are neither bloody nor detailed and no one is actually been harmed. A war without visible casualties, viewed from the perspective of kids who're in charge of operating the weaponry, and with the focus more on these kids than on the war... making this series fluffy instead of violent. Finally, the Series Story... this is where this series fails, big time. The explanation for the W.O.R.M. not only is ridiculous, it should cause all kinds of problems as for the motivation of the soldiers to continue fighting, a concept that isn't even hinted at (while at the same time motivation plays a major role throughout the series). The ending is even more laughable, not in terms of the turtles but in terms of the consequences of certain actions during the climax. In the end nothing about the course of events made any sense, therefore I can't possibly give this anime the "Rent" rating that I was hoping for until the last but one episode (while episode 26 is sweet). Having said that, I still don't consider it wasted time - it's just a series that might as well have been a school comedy, so why have all that tech stuff in the first place? Last updated Monday, March 24 2008. Created Monday, July 23 2007. | ||||||||
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(All episodes watched): I'd heard somewhere that Sky Girls stank to high heaven, but this episode didn't seem all that bad to me. It later dawned on me that that particular comment must have been in reference to the earlier Sky Girls (OVA)--indeed, I nearly started typing this review on that page. Though I'd hardly call it brilliant, I'd say Sky Girls TV gets off to a credible start. Three fairly interesting girls are recruited as test pilots, though it's all too clear that the "Worms" will be back before long and we'll have a Gunbuster-like situation in which the fate of the world rests in their hands. Episode three seemed a bit predictable, with the all too common "underdog-pilot-demo It felt like a skillful, dramatic climax was building. But the series fumbled embarassingly with the revelation of the origin of the WORMs. I'm assuming this was supposed to be frightening and switch the series from silly-mode into serious-mode, but it was in fact rather laughable and nonsensical. It discredited the Worms as serious opponents, and I was decidedly disappointed (I had assumed they were from outer space). If this was supposed to be an Eva homage/parody, it was neither horrifying nor amusing--not even very believable. The climactic battle scene was unexceptional (turtles?!), and while the final episode did a little salvaging of the situation it was too little and too late. No serious romance came about, and with the Worms no longer holding my interest, the story just never really went anywhere. Twenty-six episodes for this? Well, for the most part it was fun while it lasted, so I won't complain too much. Don't get your hopes up in regards to a slam-bang exciting conclusion Last updated Monday, January 14 2008. Created Tuesday, July 10 2007. | ||||||||
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Other Sites
| Name | URL |
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| Japanese Language Series Web Site | http://www.konami.jp/visual/skygirls/ |
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