Fafner: Complete Series

 (TV) (2004)

Fafner: Complete Series Blu-ray delivers great video and audio in this enjoyable Blu-ray release
Tatsumiyajima is the central island in the middle of a small cluster of islands, in a sleepy backwater of the Japanese isles. Not much happens there, and the island's young people go to school knowing that their lives are likely to remain peaceful and undisturbed. Or so they have been taught... but the truth is different. The fate of mankind is on the line, and Tatsumiyajima is the last line of defense against a hostile and incomprehensible enemy. At the center of it all, fighting for Humanity's continued existence, is the giant robot Fafner, the dragon that guards this final treasure of mankind.

For more about Fafner: Complete Series and the Fafner: Complete Series Blu-ray release, see the Fafner: Complete Series Blu-ray Review

Starring: Kevin Hatcher, Steve Cannon

» See full cast & crew

Fafner: Complete Series Blu-ray Review

Where's Richard Wagner when you really need him?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, September 3, 2012

Those of you who pay attention to who reviews what around Blu-ray.com may have noticed that all of us reviewers have a shall we say eclectic group of labels we cover. My personal assignments are at times almost beyond being merely eclectic, for in my guise of a professional musician I handle most of the classical music titles, including everything from operas to chamber music. On the other end of the spectrum, I also deal with the vast majority of anime releases. Those two disparate genres seemed fused for a moment when I received the screeners for Fafner, for I of course immediately thought of Richard Wagner's inimitable Ring Cycle, which includes a character of that name, the giant who along with his humongous sibling Fasolt built Valhalla. There is indeed a class of giants in Fafner, including the title character, and there's even a Valhalla of sorts, a utopia that's under attack not be pesky humans dissatisfied with their Gods but by hordes of aliens, but that's about the extent of the Wagner connection, other than the tradition anime trope of porting over names and terms from other outings (in this case Der Ring des Nibelungen) for no other apparent reason than that they sound cool. In many ways Fafner plays like a not so distant cousin to the Evangelion franchise. There are some salient differences however. In Fafner, we are introduced to what is seemingly a utopian society, a gorgeous island hideaway that is termed "paradise" by its inhabitants. The first ten or so minutes of the first episode set up the almost humdrum everyday routines of the island's denizens, including a bunch of kids who are getting back into the swing of things at school. It turns out that it's a false paradise, however, one made possible by a couple of layers of electromagnetic shields which have prevented the island from being seen by an invading horde of aliens known as the Festum. The Festum, which initially look kind of like a big golden insect but then morph into a number of different shapes, including a quasi-humanoid one that resembles a yellow version of The Silver Surfer, is not out to quibble with Mankind, and seems, like the Borg, intent on assimilating any and all people it literally grabs and subsumes. Is there hope for Mankind? This being a mecha anime, you can probably guess what form salvation takes.



While some cynics may say about the only slightly innovative thing about Fafner is its obsession with terms culled from ancient Norse and German folklore, the show actually has a decent enough storyline, showing the literally symbiotic relationship not just between the giant mecha Fafner and his inexperienced human pilot, Kazuki, as well as Kazuki's similarly symbiotic relationship with another kid, Soushi, who operates the so-called Siegfried System, part of the complex of technology which enables Soushi to pilot Fafner. While it kind of wastes its opportunity with a too early reveal, the opening elements are also very well handled, with the islanders completely unaware of what's actually going on beyond their idyllic force field. Once the force field is blown, the island is under vicious attack, and the islanders find themselves having to serve up their children as possible sacrificial lambs, since (of course) only children can pilot the battalion of Fafner mechas.

Fafner wants to try to be a bit more metaphysical than it ever ends up being, and in fact it tries to attach hidden meanings to its purloining of terms like Fafner, Siegfried and even Nibelungen itself that are never that fully fleshed out or developed within the actual anime storyline. But as the series goes on, it actually manages to inject some unexpected layers of meaning, though once again we get a society under the sway of technology where (without spoiling too much) one or more characters may end up fusing with that technology to help a new age dawn. This element also cribs a little from one of the most iconic science fiction outings of all time, 2001: A Space Odyssey (once you watch the anime, you'll certainly understand, as the visual reference is not exactly subtle).

One of the best elements of the series is a rather nice little twist with regard to the Festum, at least insofar as it pertains to Soushi in particular. In the anime world we're usually privy to clear delineations of good and evil, with no real shadings or nuance ever getting in the way. While Fafner may not exactly be a model of innovative writing or execution, the rather interesting transformation of Soushi as the anime moves toward its conclusion gives the series an unexpectedly modulated view of different perspectives and motives. A lot of Fafner is patently derivative a lot of the time, but on its own terms, and with a couple of nice little touches like the final plot arc, it manages to finally achieve its own unique voice.

Fafner: Complete Series Blu-ray, Video Quality

 

Fafner is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. As is usual with FUNimation releases, I was provided a screener (i.e., discs only with no packaging), and so I can't state with certainty whether or not this is an upconversion (FUNimation has not yet responded to my inquiries), but the fact that this was produced in 2004 and features an "old school" aspect ratio may point to an SD native source, but the good news here is if this is indeed an upconversion, it often (if not always) looks pretty sharp and well detailed. (If any readers can point me to definitive information about this, contact me and I'll update the review. Once packaging has been received, I'll also revisit the review.) While some of this series does in fact bear a sort of soft aspect, with slightly blurry imagery and fuzzy line detail (see screencaps 5 and 15 for notable examples), quite a bit of the show sparkles with better clarity and sharpness, certainly much better than some of FUNimation other recent SD upconverts ( Shakugan no Shana: Season 1). The series features some nice CGI elements, especially with regard to some of the swirling "tie dye" backgrounds that surround the mecha pilots when they're joined with their machines, and those offer very nice saturation and well gradated hues. The character designs here are a bit on the strange side. Most of the characters have no noses other than a vertical line and all of the characters have bizarre little lines under their eyes that look like they've been manically scratching their cheeks for some reason.

Fafner: Complete Series Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 

Fafner features two Dolby TrueHD 2.0 audio options, one in the original Japanese language and the other an English dub. There isn't the incredibly noticeable difference in how aggressive the mixes are on this release, though the English dub does sound at least somewhat more boosted than the Japanese. Fidelity on both of these tracks is excellent, and while a surround audio mix certainly would have considerably opened up the battle elements and perhaps given a little breathing room to what is often a very busy soundtrack, overall things sound very good on both of these stereo outings. The series has a nicely varied score, including some evocative acoustic guitar cues, and those also sound great.

Fafner: Complete Series Blu-ray, Special Features and Extras

 

• Making of Fafner (SD; 20:33) begins with a snippet from a cast and crew Q&A on July 4, 2004, the day the show premiered. Then the featurette goes on to present quite a few interviews with the crew, focusing on everything from what the writers sought to express, how the theme music and other underscore was recorded and a brief look at some of the character designs being finalized. The piece ends with a return to the Q&A session where we get a couple of minutes of speeches by various cast and crew.


• Promotional Videos (SD; 2:35)


• DVD Commercials (SD; 2:08)


• Textless Opening Version 1 (HD; 1:32)


• Textless Opening Version 2 (HD; 1:32)


• Textless Opening Episode 01 (HD; 2:01)


• Textless Opening Episode 26 (HD; 1:32)


• Textless Closing Version 1 (HD; 1:02)


• Textless Closing Version 2 (HD; 1:02)


• Textless Closing Episode 01 (HD; 1:22)


• Textless Closing Episode 15 (HD; 3:00)


• Textless Closing Episode 20 (HD; 1:02)


• Textless Closing Episode 23 (HD; 1:28)


• Textless Closing Episode 24 (HD; 1:22)


• Textless Closing Episode 25 (HD; 3:08)


• Textless Closing Episode 26 (HD; 3:03)


• Trailers for other FUNimation Entertainment Releases

Fafner: Complete Series Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation

 

Fafner isn't an especially great show, but against considerable odds it actually ended up entertaining me more than I expected it to. Anyone who has seen any number of mecha outings will see any number of plot points coming from a mile off, but somehow the series manages to deliver on a very basic level. As long as viewers aren't expecting some incredibly innovative masterpiece, my hunch is most anime fans will find enough enjoyable content in Fafner to make it worthwhile. The series would have been just as good without its kind of nonsensical references to Der Ring Des Nibelungen, but at least there are no sopranos in breastplates and horned helmets to contend with.