'Knights of Sidonia': Review

So I came into Knights of Sidonia thinking that the anime has finished. Yet there is speculation that a season three may appear. Whatever the chance of that maybe happening, I am writing this review on seasons one and two. And if season three does come out, I will do a follow up review on that as well, but for now let’s focus on what is here on the Netflix Original anime Knights of Sidonia.

Thousands of years have passed since humanity left the Earth on space-type battle cruisers. The world we knew was destroyed by an alien life form known as the Guana. The story follows the space vessel known as Sidonia, and an individual who calls himself Nagate Tanikaze… and to keep from spoilers I will not go further into his personal details. As these details unfold, more will be revealed about who he is and why he’s an important plot point for the anime.

This anime is in fact a Mecha anime (Mecha referring to the use of human-like robots for combat and sometimes aliens with combat elements) and would generally be repealed by some anime fans. However, despite that the core focus of the anime is a Mecha, I found a lot more to the anime such as drama, suspense, and horror. Often that tingly sensation in the lower back like someone put ice water on you is what I felt during some of the disturbing scenes the more I watched. Yet I became attached to the characters as they were developed and remembered, often sharing the same feelings they did towards the Guana.

This later shifted in the second season as the show began to explore what defines humanity and who can show such compassion. The show isn’t shy of killing characters, but most of them being secondary characters who serve nothing more than canon fodder for the plot to move forward. So when certain scenes play out, your compassion for people will be tested to see if you cared about a character or not. While plot amor is convenient, it protects the critical parts of a given character. However, the rest the body is up for mutilation as some characters are often seen bleeding… although the causes are up for interpretation as some of these scenes can be funny.

What isn’t funny is the Guana, and the Netflix show Knights of Sidonia (in my opinion) does a satisfactory job of transitioning a funny scene to a suspenseful scene, whether it be about the Guana, or internal conflict on Sidonia and how politics even in dire situations often play out despite the need to survive. However, the political system resembles that of a fascist society with a dictatorship held by an unknown group of individuals called the Immortal Crew Members. Threats present themselves everywhere in Sidonia, even some parts of the ship that crew, civilians, and pilots alike do not venture into. By orders of the leaders, or straight fear of falling in these places to die alone and scared.

And fear is one of the gripping parts of Knights of Sidonia. It comes in every form; from the Guana that seek the annihilation of humanity, to the very humans who populate Sidonia and their self servings wants. The only person who seems to be able to be honest is Tanikaze, but even he has his own dark secrets that others want to hide.

Overall, I enjoyed Knights of Sidonia. One major issue is the cliffhanger ending in season 2, which is why I mentioned much about it in the beginning of this review. Some other issues I did have were the animation, as it was sometimes became “choppy” (or missing frames), and obvious use of fan service (referring to the sexualization of characters). Still, watch Knights of Sidonia. And maybe one day a season 3 will tell us everything we want to know.

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