What They Say:
A thousand years after the alien Gauna destroyed the Earth, a small remnant of humanity still fights on to survive, fleeing on the gargantuan asteroid-based spaceship Sidonia. But centuries of flight and warfare have changed mankind in incredible ways: Genetic engineering has allowed humans to photosynthesize like plants, reproduction occurs through cloning, and a third gender has been created to balance the population. And, even though it’s been a century since the last encounter with the Gauna, military service is mandatory, with all those able enough enlisted to pilot the Garde robots that stand as Sidonia’s front line of defense. For Nagate Tanikaze, whose grandfather secretly hid him in the forgotten bowels of the asteroid, it’s a strange new world as he’s forced to come to the surface and join the ranks of defenders. Yet his recruitment comes just in time, for the Gauna have suddenly reappeared, and what could be man’s last battle will require every resource humanity has left. And what no one knows, yet, is that Nagate is not exactly what he seems, and a secret buried in his past may change the fate of all mankind in Knights of Sidonia!
The Review:
Audio:
I listened to the dub throughout and I didn’t have any problems with the audio.
Video:
The video looks fine. It’s really crisp and I didn’t see any especially faulty problems with it. The CG is REALLY iffy though. I’m not a huge fan of it, but the robots and Gauna look really nice, as does the scenery.
Packaging:
As always, Sentai’s package is Spartan, with just some nice cover art and naked ladies on the back cover. It’s an eye grabber! Of note, the second disc has the exact same art as the back cover.
Menu:
The menus are pretty standard, but easy to use. The only options on the first disc are the episodes and then languages. The second disc has all the special features. I like the science fiction-y design though.
Extras:
The extras here are actually pretty cool. They have a relatively generic behind the scenes thing where a narrator talks over how they made the anime that I love. I call it generic because it doesn’t really “go into it,” so to speak, but I can only expect so much. I liked watching it, and there’s two parts!
Among others is the press conference and advanced screening, which is cool and typical Japanese-y. I’m impressed they decided this over anything else. It’s curious, but I like it all the same. I’m always in for more Japanese content!
The final sweet thing is sound of Sidonia. And let me tell you right now, I LOVE the music in Knights of Sidonia It’s absolutely fantastic and seeing it all come together here was a treat. Kudos Sentai!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
I’ll start this by saying I’m an alright fan of science fiction. I love the stories I see, when they’re good, but I never feel an urge to see every science fiction thing I see. I’m also a big proponent of science FICTION; that’s with the fiction, not the science, capitalized / bolded / italicized / otherwise called out. That’s because, when you get right down to it, everyone is just telling stories here. So what if they’re a little scientifically inaccurate? Don’t let scientific inaccuracies ruin a good story. On the other hand, don’t just wave everything by just so you can enjoy a story and especially not if it’s ONLY in service of the story (like, literally changing the laws of gravity or something just because it’d be convenient / otherwise dramatic to do so). There’s a happy medium between being scientifically accurate and not bogging down a story with the SCIENCE in the fiction.
But end rant! Let’s talk about Knights of Sidonia.
Knights of Sidonia hits that happy medium that’s neither too bogged down with science nor too overtly science fiction-y for my personal taste. For a short tangent, these types of stories are most easily characterized by Star Trek. An episode can be Measure of a Man or it can be Threshold (an episode which I have not watched to maintain my own sanity). Unrelated, I don’t get “so bad it’s good.” But I digress.
Knights of Sidonia’s biggest flaw is really in its main character, Tanikaze. He’s…so everyman-y. He felt a lot like every other shonen hero I’ve watched ever that I couldn’t find myself invested in him. What’s more, this is actually not a very gender diverse cast; it’s heavily female and, in it all, the male is the guy who has to save everyone every time because he grew up underground and has all the special abilities and I guess has to eat three meals a day. Pfft! It’s not like it doesn’t work, it does, and I actually like it. But it’s also a little disappointing to see that happen.
There are things that are done oh so right. Like the buildup, the battle sequences, and the tension are all fantastic. It knows when to dial down a scene and just “let it happen,” so to speak. Characters die by the droves, but it knows when to have the hero moment and when to let them die. It’s always mired in the same old bureaucracy that bogs us down now. It’s comforting to know that humanity, no matter how many changes to it, will never change.
It knows how to keep things interesting. It goes from epic space battles to survival story to space opera in the span of a few episodes and it just…works. It was constantly keeping me on my feet and drifting my attention to it rather than the multitude of distractions in front of me. It literally draws your eyes to the screen with its action.
I watched the dub throughout this, but I kind of wish I hadn’t. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the dub, by the way; in fact, in paces, it shines. Johnny Yong Bosch as Tanikaze works really well despite some questionable lines. But others just sound wooden…thankfully, these less-than-stellar performances are largely relegated to the supporting cast or one-off characters. It’s easy to look over them, but they’d sometimes take me out of the scene because the acting was so off from, say, Bosch, Todd Haberkorn, Stephanie Sheh, or Melissa Fahn. I didn’t recognize basically any voices here though, and that’s awesome. Either I’m getting rusty on my dub actor recognition (entirely possible), old actors are using new voices (awesome!), or they’re getting some new actors in (even more awesome!). I think it’s a mixture of them all to tell the truth, which resulted in the up-and-down quality of the dub. But I’d rather have a serviceable dub with new voices than a good one with the same old.
Also…what’s up with the bear?
In Summary:
In the end, I’m really happy to have Knights of Sidonia in my hands and able to watch at will—not that I fear it’ll go off Netflix anytime soon. I’m also excited to rewatch it in the original Japanese, which I assume is vastly superior. Knights of Sidonia may be the kind of…I hate to say generic, because it really isn’t, but perhaps spectacle science fiction that’s really missing in life. It fills a niche and it does it really well.
Features:
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, English subtitles, Spanish subtitles, French subtitles, Behind the Scenes, Press Conference, Advance Screening, Sound of Sidonia, Clean Opening Animation, Clean Closing Animation
Content Grade: B+
Audio Grade: B
Video Grade: B
Packaging Grade: B-
Menu Grade: B-
Extras Grade: A
Released By: Sentai Filmworks
Release Date: June 9th, 2015
MSRP: $69.98
Running Time: 300 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16×9
Review Equipment:
PS3, LG 47LB5800 47” 1080p LED TV, LG NB3530A Sound Bar
