Thursday, September 13, 2007 - ANIME REVIEW: Xenosaga: The Animation

Alright, this is going to be the first of what I hope to be many anime reviews on my blog. This idea started along with the idea for me to have an anime marathon at least twice a month this year. Today was the first one, and you guessed it, Xenosaga was the anime. So, let's get down to reviewing.


Title: Xenosaga: The Animation
Genre: Science Fiction
Episodes: 12
Year: 2005

Animation
The animation quality in Xenosaga: The Animation, overall, is fairly good. You'll have all the usual assortment of lasers, missiles, explosions, mechs, and all that stuff that we all love and done the way we like it. In addtion, the anime makes extensive use of 3d techniques meshed with 2d animation throughout the anime, mostly for ships and aliens known as Gnosis.

There are parts in the anime where it seems like there just isn't enough frames to the animation, but they are few, and even if you do notice them, it doesn't really detract from the scene anyway.

Backgrounds are all well done, and in many cases directly reflect the areas seen in the video game on which this anime is based. For those of you who played the game, this will bring you back to some of the defining points in the video game, and the attention to detail is top notch on the animators' parts.

Overall, this anime has some very impressive scenes that sometimes look too good to be true, and the few flaws that one might notice are negligible.
13 / 15


Storyline
The storyline of Xenosaga is one of the main reasons the anime was made after the game. The complex and involving plotline makes a great story, and so the anime was made in order to present the story without interruptions like random battles and leveling up.

The anime had to make some moderate changes to compact the game into 12 episodes, but anyone who hasn't played the game won't need to worry about that. Xenosaga incorporates many overarching themes into the story, one of the biggest being what the definition of humanity is and how we fit into society and the universe in general.

Watching this anime doesn't mean you have to pay attention to these big themes, though, because it will be difficult as it is to keep track of what is going on with each character. If there's one thing that Xenosaga did wrong, its that the storyline can be very hard to keep up with if you don't keep your focus pretty much all the time. Though, the anime does better to explain things than the game.

Overall, its a really good, albeit somewhat confusing, story.
22 / 30

Characters
The characters of Xenosaga: The Animation are characters you will definitely grow attached to. From the main character Shion all the way down to the seemingly unimportant characters, each of them contributes to the story in their own ways, some of which have more impact than you might think.

The anime also does very well for giving appropriate backstory for characters so that the watcher can understand the actions taken by those characters. When at one time it seems odd or out of character, later you find out something that explains why it all happened. Considering how short this anime is, that is an impressive feat for how many characters there are.

Apart from backstory, the anime makes many self-references that remind you of events in previous episodes that are relevant at the time, and these are often pulled off with considerable emotional effect.

Even someone who hasn't played the game will come to appreciate the amount of characterization present in Xenosaga. And for those of you who have, you have all the more reason to look forward to certain scenes!
25 / 30

Music
The music in Xenosaga is likewise very fitting for the various different situations. When something is supposed to be dramatic, the action theme keeps you on the edge of your seat. During a few of the sad and emotional scenes, the music combined with the dialogue was almost enough to bring a tear to my eye, honestly.

This game didn't make use of any of the music from the series, and that is divided with me. I loved the game music, but the music used in the anime is at least as good. Those of you looking for music from the series will be disappointed in that way, but the music that is used more than makes up for it.
12 / 15

Suitable Length
So, at 12 episodes, is Xenosaga too long or short? I, being a fan of Xenosaga, would have loved to see it be longer, and elaborate more on the history. However, for people who are new to it, that may have bogged down the series with too much information and not enough action. At 12 episodes, the anime covers just about all of the game plus some extra.

I don't think they could have done that in any less, because every episode dealt directly with plot and character progression. It could have been made into a 26 episode anime and still have worked in enough material, but it would have been less accessible, and the plot may have become too overbearing. So, the length is a good balance between plot development and accessibility. That makes it good in my books.

Now, as far as sequels. I would love to see animes for Xenosaga Episodes II and III (this anime only covers Episode I). The likelihood of that is not high, but we can always hope, right? Having an anime series cover each Episode would allow the writers to develop more on characters and story, much like Xenosaga: The Animation was able to do for Episode I.
9 / 10

GRAND TOTAL: 81 / 100