▪	RELEASED BY:		FUNIMATION ENTERTAINMENT
		▪	ASPECT RATIO:		16.9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN
		▪	AUDIO:		ENGLISH DD 5.1 AND JAPANESE DD 2.0
		▪	RUNNING TIME:		325 MIN
		▪	RATING:		TV MA
		▪	RELEASE DATE:		03/11/2008
		▪	REVIEW DATE:		04/06/2008
		▪	REVIEWED BY:		ROMMEL SALANDANAN

After invading Earth twelve thousand years ago, the Shadow Angels of Atlandia has awaken from their long slumber, and is once again threatening humans as they harvest humans and use them to nurture the “Tree of Life” as it extract the life force out of them.

Back then, the mechanical and mystical machine Aquarion, which was piloted by Apollonius, a Shadow Angel who has fought them for his love with Celiane, a human female, thwarted their invasion. Now, the legendary machines are part of the Deava special task force and are piloted by humans that are considered “Elements” and by Apollo and Silvia, who are regarded the reincarnation of Apollonius and Celiane.

Apollo, who is a homeless and brutish young boy, is hardly a candidate for an “Element”, and he shows no signs of “wings” as the clairvoyant and wheelchair bound Rena have foreseen. Still, on Aquarion’s dreary first live field test against the enemy, Vector Sol called upon Apollo to pilot it and merge with the other two ships to form the legendary Solar Aquarion, thus defeating the enemy. However, the battle is far from over for Apollo, as his long time friend Byron was taken by the harvest beast.

The arrival of Apollo didn’t sit too well for the reform Sirius de Alisia, as he was originally considered as the reincarnation of Apollonius, and both him and Apollo will have their petty disagreements and tussles in and out of the battlefield. On the other hand, his sister Silvia is fixated with him, and like his brother, he also butt heads with Apollo, and cannot face the fact that Apollo might be his long lost love in previous time, and both brother and sister carries a secret about themselves.

While Apollo’s stay at Deava is driven of his promise to bring his friend back, the diabolical Shadow Angel Toma plans to bring back the person he has a deep affection to. But when Deava gain possession of a feather from the past that holds secrets that could be potentially dangerous for the Shadow Angel,  Toma seizes the opportunity and took it upon himself to retrieve or destroy the relic just to have the opportunity  to meet and lure the reincarnated form of Apollonius to his side even in battle.

The relic causes a chain of events as it reveals past events involving Apollonius, Celiane, and Toma, causes a casualty during battle, and a secret being revealed.

Aquarion comes with stunning mechanical design and CG rendering that one could expect from director and mechanical designer Shoji Kawamori, the creator of Macros, as he once again shows his brilliance in his design. Just as he did in the Macross series, his aim of creating exquisite ships that could realistically transformed into robots, let alone into three different Aquarion configurations, is a testament to his mastery of designing transforming ships into robots.

Staying true to his work, Director Shoji Kawamori is known for employing love, war, and mystical aspect in his work, and the same goes for Aquarion. The series did aim to bit different in some regards by throwing in the gauntlet with lesbianism and bi-sexuality mixed with sexual innuendos for laughs, and little nudity in the story.  However, just like with other giant mecha series, Aquarion did fall into a formulaic pattern in its story telling, especially in the middle episodes when it gives each supporting characters a story of its own. The entire first season itself is just setup for the second season, as it ends with a climatic ending that opens possibilities and further story development.

When it comes to soundtrack, Aquarion didn’t waver, as famed composer Yoko Kanno provided the tracks that add life to the series. This time around, the composer throws in a few classical rhythms and songs with old Latin lyrics.

And finally, someone finally got right! The biggest and most surprising aspect was used in the series that’s been missing in every giant mecha series I’ve seen – the use of back up pilots. When a pilot is incapacitated, the pilot is replaced through teleportation, and to throw in a little technical curve, a pilot cannot teleport to the cockpit when there’s no one occupying it. In addition, it also utilizes its pilots by selecting which ones are suited for the mission. It is definitely a fresh approach to the giant robot genre.

FUNimation Entetainment’s foray to distributing a complete collection rather than individual discs falls into die-hard mecha fan. Not a bad start as I’m sure that giant robot fans will appreciate the design and technical aspect that came with the series, let alone watching an entire first season in an affordable thinpak set.

EXTRAS:
The special features come with galore of extras. There is an extensive interview with the director about his designs, the mythological elements in the story, and location shooting. Other extras comes with the Aquarion announcement with the director and voice actors at the Tokyo International Anime Fair in 2005, four CGI features showcasing the Vector Ships and Cherubim Soldier designs, textless songs of the opening and closing them, and FUNimation trailers. In addition, the three-disc thinpak comes with a pencil board.

IN SUMMARY:
The first season of Aquarion is just a taste of what to come as it tries to establish itself to its viewers, and it entices you for the upcoming second season. Edgier than any giant robot series, and with great designs, technical aspect, and musical tracks, Aquarion stands out as the best giant robot series to come recent years.