Simoun
| Simoun | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Director | Junji Nishimura |
| Format | Anime (TV) |
| Made By | Studio DEEN |
| # of Episodes | 26 |
Contents
Genre
Sum it up in a Sentence:
Twelve priestesses pilot mysterious ships, powered by kissing each other.
Main Description
In the peaceful theocracy of Simulacrum, everyone is born female. At the age of 17, each girl must undergo a ritual to choose their sex. However, certain fated young maidens forgo this rite in order to pilot the ancient flying machines known as Simoun. When the neighboring country invades Simulacrum in search of this mysterious divine power, the priestesses are forced to defend their holy land with the only power they have: the Simoun. After a particularly devastating enemy attack, brash young Aeru is recruited to an elite squadron of Simoun pilots, known as Chor Tempest. With emotions and anxieties running high, Aeru and the rest of Chor Tempest must fight an increasingly desperate war, for an increasingly uncertain future.
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Personal Opinions
Redcrimson
Magic flying ships powered by kissing teenage girls? Simoun is a show that could only be made as an anime. However, don't let the yuri and candy-colored hair fool you. This a serious, thoughtful and dramatic show. In the end, the yuri fanservice seems like it was just a gimmick to get this show produced. And shows like this don't get produced very often. Simoun is a very cleverly disguised, thematically rich coming-of-age tale. Specifically, Simoun deals with the nostalgic reverence for the innocence, naivete and freedom of childhood. War, religion, and the Simoun themselves are little more than metaphor in the grander scheme. The core of this series is the relationships, anxieties, and choices of the characters. The story serves mainly as a framework for the emotional character drama that drives the series. Unfortunately, like a lot of similar shows, it has almost no budget to speak of. DEEN was clearly running on fumes for this project and cut corners whenever feasible. Frequent still shots, incorrectly timed animation, and clunky-looking CG are rampant throughout the whole series. Luckily, the character designs and background art are still pretty enough to be nice to look at. The music is muted and appropriate, but largely forgettable save for the haunting opener. The voice acting is spot on for such a dramatic series, except perhaps for the seiyuu straining to awkwardly yell very non-Japanese names. Overall, Simoun is a deceptively thought-provoking and powerful show. Selling itself initially as a yuri romance, Simoun evolves into a brilliant and enjoyable sci-fi drama steeped in thematic and emotional depth.
