Xenosaga, Volume 1 - Anime Kakumei

"manages to keep the feel of the show very close to the game"

Studio: ADV Films
Genre: Action
Format: DVD
Length: 100 mins.
MSRP: $29.98

Features:

• English 5.1
• Japanese 2.0
• Clean Opening/Ending Animation

Released in 2002 on the PlayStation 2, Xenosaga is a big budget RPG franchise by Namco that was billed as a spiritual successor to the cult classic Xenogears. The franchise was finished off with the release of the third game in the series in 2006. The games were met with both it's fans and it's critics, but one thing that couldn't be denied was that it featured a very detailed storyline that became quite convoluted. The games featured a ton of cutscenes, so many in fact, fans would joke that they should have just made an anime series instead of a game. Ironically enough, they did! Xenosaga - The Animation made it's premiere in 2005 and it's storyline is heavily based on the first game of the series, Xenosaga Episode 1: Der Wille zur Macht (The Will to Power). It manages to keep the feel of the show very close to the game, but if Vol. 1: Enter the Gnosis is any indication, it may have picked up a problem or two as well.

The story takes place four thousand years after humanity has left the Earth to take to the stars. They fight a war against a race of strange space beings called the Gnosis. Beings that are able to materlize in and out of our dimension. As the series begins, the crew of the "Woglinde" have discovered a strange monolith of power called the Zohar. Their mission is to keep it safe to devlier to the Galaxy Federation while the Gnosis have other ideas. When the Gnosis attack the Woglinde, the crew is at their complete mercy as they massacre the crew in search of the relic. In the attack, an anti-Gnosis battle-android by the name of KOS-MOS is awakened with a mission to retreive and protect the Zohar no matter what.

That's a very basic rundown of the overall plot right there, but Xenosaga throws so much more at you, it might make your head spin. The brunt of the story is focused on Vector Industries' chief engineer Shion Uzuki. She's a caring, smart girl who is in charge of overseeing KOS-MOS' testing and battle simulation. She is probably the closest thing KOS-MOS has to a friend in the show, and she will protect her as such. There has been tragedy in her life that has shaped her personality, but there have only been hints to the extent in which this has affected her. She manages to escape the Woglinde during the Gnosis attack with the help of KOS-MOS. At her side is her assistant Allen, who has an obvious crush on her but is, otherwise, a whiny type of guy.

Outside of Shion and Allen, the show is very, very fast to introduce a vast array of characters and factions to you, then leaves you wondering what the hell is going on. There's the Galaxy Federation who wants the Zohar and Vector Industries within it. There's a para-military group called U-TIC who wants their hands on it. Then there's the Kukai Foundation which also wants a piece of the action. Within each group is a wide array of characters both minor and important, but the show bounces around so quickly between all of these groups, you barely have time to let the information settle into your head. The one stand out character working for U-TIC is Albedo. A deranged man who was originally sent in to retrieve the Zohar during the Gnosis attack, but instead took back a girl with him who has some sort of importance to the storyline not yet revealed. He's crazy in the head and has potential to be a really fun villian.

After the Woglinde's destruction, KOS-MOS, Shion, Allen, and a soldier named Virgil are brought aboard the Elsa; a freighter that was passing by the area looking for valuables in the wreckage of Woglinde's fleet. Well, actually, it's more accurate to say that they were hijacked by KOS-MOS in a funny moment. On this ship, more characters are introduced including the Realian (artificial humans) prototype MOMO and her protector Ziggy. Both also using the ship for transport to safety. Aboard the Elsa, the cast is chased by both U-TIC and Gnosis alike, then rescued by more characters and, well, I think you get the point.

The main problem so far is the pacing. The show is attempting to fit around ten to fifteen hours of storyline from the RPG into these beginning episodes and that's rarely a good idea. There are so many characters, both minor and otherwise, thrown at you at such a quick pace, it's very hard to be a grip on who is on what side and why. Compounding the problem is that most of the major characters have many mysteries to them and in this short amount of time, with so many characters and factions to deal with, details are lost in the mix when anything is hinted at. Finally, there's very little time to get to know any other characters in the show besides Shion. KOS-MOS is given a good bit of time, but she is just a straight up android following orders. Like almost all of the characters, there's more to her than that, but she doesn't get the time to even hint at this until the very end of the disc.

The show's animation is the bright spot at this point, but it can be a little uneven at times. The character designs look unique with the facial features and eyes setting them apart from other shows. The clothing also has this casual Sci-Fi element to it that gives each character a distinct look. The animation is a heavy mix of CG and cel which looks good and bad at some points. Explosions look really bad in particular, but massive battleships and the like look really good. At this point, it's more good than bad and it's a nice show to look at. The characters really have a trait to them that is interesting to the eye and will keep you watching.

Overall, Xenosaga - The Animation is off to a very rushed start. It attempts to fit so much information into so little time, everything from the plot to the characters to the little mysterious plot-points comes at you at such a rapid fire pace, it's hard to get a lock on everything that's going on. If you don't have an advantage and are familiar with the video game, you will probably be a little overwhelmed at all of the information thrown at you. That being said, the animation and character designs are pleasing to the eye and the allure of trying to piece together the puzzle the show presents is great.

I hope the show can manage to just slow down for a little bit and give us something to focus on and identify with. I have a soft spot for video games that make the jump to anime, so here's hoping!

Posted on Wednesday, September 05, 2007 (Archive on Friday, October 05, 2007)