![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Fafner -Right of Left-
So, although Geneon has not licensed and released the Fafner -Right of Left- OVA, I downloaded it. Today was the day I managed to finally watch it. And ooh, boy, does it try to rip your heart out.
So, Right of Left is a prequel to the Fafner series. This is the beginning of the Festums trying to locate the island and how the island was building its defenses.
The main two characters are Masaoka and Yumi, along with Kuramae and Soshi. The TV series characters are here but more in the background. Soshi is more upfront in the spotlight as this is his class that is being shown. His classmates are the ones graduating and fighting in the Fafners. It's neat to see the others though. Masaoka has an illness that is slowly killing him. Yumi is his childhood friend. When Yumi's ill father dies in an attempt to get to Alvis, Yumi finds out what he was planning all along for Tatsumiya Island's defense.
The Fafner models we see the kids in the series pilot are still in development. The kids that graduate leave the island. But the truth of it is, they find out the truth of the world. That only their island is peaceful and that's because the adults make it that way. They graduate and leave to help the world fight the alien Festums.
The plan for the Tatsumiya Island's defense is to separate a part of the island and have it leave to distract the Festum. It would make the Festum believe that the small island piece was the actual Tatsumiya Island. With this island, they would use four Fafners to fight off the enemies for two months, then come back to the island.
The Fafners being sortied are the Titan model. Two pilots operate two Fafners and synchronize with each other using the Sigfried System. They're only allowed to run fifteen minutes at a time to slow down the assimilation process. The more you pilot a Fafner, the faster you degenerate until you just grow crystals and dissolve. They mentioned in the TV series that in the early days of fighting with Fafners, they were losing pilots left and right. That seemed very similar to what was happening to the pilots in this OVA.
First one or two pilots collapse, then others. A plan is implemented to shorten their fight time, but the constant fighting is still taking their toll. On the island, the Fafner models we're used to seeing are being tested. They're smaller because they don't have the Sigfried System as part of the Fafner. Kurumae and Soshi are the testers, but Soshi can't sync well with the system due to his wound. His father suggests that he manages the Sigfried System, but Soshi doesn't agree to this at first.
The two months finally end, and an escape path is given for the few pilots and crew left on the island. But tragedy strikes again as the Festum attacks.
So, recognize Kurumae? She's the pilot they were trying to sortie at the beginning of the TV series before she and the staff member with her was killed. This OVA also explains why Soshi couldn't pilot a Fafner. They never really mentioned that in the TV series. They actually showed the effect he had in the Fafner.
This OVA was told more as a narrative of the overall two months that the pilots and staff fought. I thought at first I wouldn't get so much into their characters, but the glimpses of life we see helps. And the friendship, and lack thereof at one point, between Yumi and Masaoka. The sacrifice they made just tore me up. And the ending was very just for a prequel.
You even get to see a bit of Kazuki's and Soshi's lack of friendship before they were thrown together again in the TV series.
It was just very good overall and definitely one to watch after the series has been seen. (I think I prefer learning about some of the things they talk about here in the OVA the way I did in the series. It was more of a surprise and not a casual thing.)
Hopefully, Geneon will decide to release this for a decent price. It's only an hour after all. But I can't think of any OVAs that has been released after the main series has been done by them. (You know, besides Hellsing.)
So, Right of Left is a prequel to the Fafner series. This is the beginning of the Festums trying to locate the island and how the island was building its defenses.
The main two characters are Masaoka and Yumi, along with Kuramae and Soshi. The TV series characters are here but more in the background. Soshi is more upfront in the spotlight as this is his class that is being shown. His classmates are the ones graduating and fighting in the Fafners. It's neat to see the others though. Masaoka has an illness that is slowly killing him. Yumi is his childhood friend. When Yumi's ill father dies in an attempt to get to Alvis, Yumi finds out what he was planning all along for Tatsumiya Island's defense.
The Fafner models we see the kids in the series pilot are still in development. The kids that graduate leave the island. But the truth of it is, they find out the truth of the world. That only their island is peaceful and that's because the adults make it that way. They graduate and leave to help the world fight the alien Festums.
The plan for the Tatsumiya Island's defense is to separate a part of the island and have it leave to distract the Festum. It would make the Festum believe that the small island piece was the actual Tatsumiya Island. With this island, they would use four Fafners to fight off the enemies for two months, then come back to the island.
The Fafners being sortied are the Titan model. Two pilots operate two Fafners and synchronize with each other using the Sigfried System. They're only allowed to run fifteen minutes at a time to slow down the assimilation process. The more you pilot a Fafner, the faster you degenerate until you just grow crystals and dissolve. They mentioned in the TV series that in the early days of fighting with Fafners, they were losing pilots left and right. That seemed very similar to what was happening to the pilots in this OVA.
First one or two pilots collapse, then others. A plan is implemented to shorten their fight time, but the constant fighting is still taking their toll. On the island, the Fafner models we're used to seeing are being tested. They're smaller because they don't have the Sigfried System as part of the Fafner. Kurumae and Soshi are the testers, but Soshi can't sync well with the system due to his wound. His father suggests that he manages the Sigfried System, but Soshi doesn't agree to this at first.
The two months finally end, and an escape path is given for the few pilots and crew left on the island. But tragedy strikes again as the Festum attacks.
So, recognize Kurumae? She's the pilot they were trying to sortie at the beginning of the TV series before she and the staff member with her was killed. This OVA also explains why Soshi couldn't pilot a Fafner. They never really mentioned that in the TV series. They actually showed the effect he had in the Fafner.
This OVA was told more as a narrative of the overall two months that the pilots and staff fought. I thought at first I wouldn't get so much into their characters, but the glimpses of life we see helps. And the friendship, and lack thereof at one point, between Yumi and Masaoka. The sacrifice they made just tore me up. And the ending was very just for a prequel.
You even get to see a bit of Kazuki's and Soshi's lack of friendship before they were thrown together again in the TV series.
It was just very good overall and definitely one to watch after the series has been seen. (I think I prefer learning about some of the things they talk about here in the OVA the way I did in the series. It was more of a surprise and not a casual thing.)
Hopefully, Geneon will decide to release this for a decent price. It's only an hour after all. But I can't think of any OVAs that has been released after the main series has been done by them. (You know, besides Hellsing.)