Fafner: Dead Aggressor (Anime Series) Review

 

There are experiences that are always a little marred by stumbling blocks; they go for shock value and do so at times where it's trying to set a tone then they stumble with it, they stir up anger and drama but do so in a way that's baffling and confusing rather than investing, it chooses beats that don't match the tempo the story has been trying to keep up. But, there are experiences that manage to do that and somehow pull out enough good and joy that you almost forget about it or even find a way to appreciate it beyond the fault. Fafner: Dead Agressor is one of those experiences.

 

Fafner fell through to me through being exposed to it through an old handheld game, Super Robot Wars K and hearing of its famed brutality, the idea no one was safe. That a lot of the characters, I assumed pilots were up to die and no one was off the table. Watching the series, I'm learning that there was a thing this show should probably be better known for; being a love letter, at my kindest to Neon Genesis Evangelion. From plot elements to design choices to even some musical score, it rides a fine line between homage and feeling close to plagiarism. For me, it errs on the side of loving the ideas enough to do interesting things with it.

 

The story focuses on an island, Tatsumiya Island, and a community that exists in a sort of idyllic kind of peace, bar a few who are poorly treated by parents. Among this environment so comes with it a secrecy; the world outside is far different then these children hope to know. And with a series of incredibly hostile, extraterrestrial threats called Festum coming calling, it's up to said children to fly mecha called Fafner, to fight them. And doing so comes with a cost. It's not exactly a premise out of place in this genre, especially of the realistic kind of mecha anime, where weapons and robots break and inflict death far easier than the bombastic kind found in super robot style anime. But the key thing this series does well, is make you feel for characters. It doesn't make you not believe some will die, some will suffer, it doesn't avoid playing into tropey ideas of writing that indicate and signpost the obvious. If a character is signalled that they will die, it's done in a way as if to clatter a sign atop the head, it is to level you with the knowledge this future is going to happen. It's not subtle. But it doesn't always have to be for you to feel. It sometimes failed to make me feel in the moment of death, more frustrated. But the lived lives of its characters, were what kept me intrigued; characters choosing to be kind, to show love, to have empathy and do incredibly loving things were what kept me curious in where it went.

 

It fails to be the anime some people saw as incredibly 'brutal'; its brutality is sign posted and it does so in a way that does not surprise me who dies, the main cast become obvious and as such, easy to note who will not suffer death. But; it is assured in that I do not want suffering for those who experience it, even if it's clear they will. It falls short on some issues; the human antagonists are bereft of good reason and humanity repeatedly in a way that feels comically villainous, somethings feel a little forced even if they're sad and it falls prey to the classic trope of 'fridging' very early on that had me eye rolling as I watched beside my spouse and brother. But it achieves enough in not only magnificent music and creative mech design to keep me intrigued. There are genuine moments of human emotion that capture me within it that I stand by and enjoy. It's those that I'll come to think fondly of when I return to thinking on its sky.

 

Picture sourced from TV Tropes.