Netflix To Stream Second Season Of 'Knights Of Sidonia'.
Set in the far off future, it covers the remnants of humanity traveling across the stars in the massive generational starship called the Sidonia as they try to escape the mysterious Gauna that not only destroyed Earth but also the solar system.
Based on the manga of the same name by Tsutomu Nihei, it is similar in tone and scale to his other works. In other words, the narrative is massive and similarly intractable. It is also filled with hugely advanced technology in the face of an ambiguous though lethal foe.
The pacing of Sidonia is also really taut and the premise is pretty nerve-wracking. As if a single Gauna breaches the Sidonia’s defenses then that’s it for humanity, so the stakes are set very high from the off.
The first season saw the arrival of the unique Tanikaze Nagate (shown above) and his uncanny ability to pilot the mecha that protect the Sidonia, that of the Guardians. So much so that he was awarded the legendary Tsugumori to help turn the tide.
Most of the first season dealt with basic survival against whatever the Gauna came up with. So it was more defensive in tone. Whereas the second season, dubbed the Battle for Planet Nine, is more strategically aggressive.
As the Sidonia is now trying to take the fight to the Gauna directly and as such this ratchets up the action quite considerably.
Still currently airing on television in Japan, I have been keeping up with it and it’s been thoroughly entertaining thus far. As the manga is still a good way ahead of the anime, it’s clear that we still have more seasons ahead of us.
One slightly different aspect to the anime is that it is entirely CG. Handled by Polygon Pictures, not only are all the mecha and environments done in CG but the characters are too and the latter is somewhat of a mixed bag in my opinion.
While the mecha and world overall look incredible, as well as being very close to the manga in fact, the characters don’t work so well. As the transition from 2D art into 3D models makes things look a bit stiff and wooden.
Even with this issue though, the anime is still really good and I can thoroughly recommend it to all and sundry.
The second season starts streaming in its entirety on July 3rd, in the meantime you can watch the first season on Netflix or buy it on BluRay. The manga is also available in English as well if you want to check that out.
FORBES.
