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I am not, nor have I ever been, a fan of mecha. To me, it has always seemed dull, too technical, too similar to everything else in the genre. As to the last point, I couldn’t say, but I do know this: I will never dismiss mecha shows out of hand again.

It is the story of the struggle between two species: humans and shadow angels. The shadow angels are winged, super powered beings that feed from human life force. Twelve thousand years ago, Apollonius, a shadow angel, fell in love with a human, Celiane. Together they brought the two words into a violent collision and began a war that raged up through the following twelve thousand years. Here begins the show.

A group of specially talented men and women, called elements, are at the frontline of the war. Together they man a powerful mecha called Aquarion. There is Apollo – the possible reincarnation of Apollonius. Apollo brings to mind a more feral Peter Pan. Brother and sister combo Silvia and Sirius de Alisia are the last of an overthrown royal family. Silvia is the reincarnation of Celiane, and Sirius believes himself to be the true reincarnation of Apollonius, creating friction between him and Apollo.

The rest of the cast rounds out with a handful of anime archetypes. Reika the unlucky crushes on Sirius, while Tsugumi the lesbian has feelings for Reika. Pierre, the soccer player and flirt, likes all the ladies, but it is Chloe Klick who returns his affections. Kurt Klick is Chloe’s fraternal twin, and, like Jun, doesn’t really do much. Add to that scientist Sophia and the mystically mysterious Gen Fudou (voiced in the English dub by the utterly sexy Brandon Potter. I don’t know If he’s sexy in real life, but his voice is just amazing).

Three vector ships make up Aquarion, and depending on which pilot becomes the head, Aquarion has different powers. As the three vectors merge, each of the pilots are overcome with what appears to be highly sexual feelings (and every time someone exclaims that “It’s never felt like this before!”).

Volume Two covers the second half of the show. It picks up a little abruptly, but in one episode I was hooked. The finale is utterly satisfying and fitting, though the episode where the characters are transported to a world with a different animation style was a bit strange.

The mecha stuff aside, Aquarion has some interesting side plots. The confusion over who is the reincarnated Apolonius and therefore Silvia’s love (and the brother-sister part of the Apollo\Silvia\Sirius triangle is played up). Aquarion frequently fights agents of the shadow angels called Harvest Beasts, and not only are the fights interesting but the story behind the shadow angels’ attacks intrigues – especially where Futaba, the only shadow angel child, is concerned). The angst does get annoying from time to time (as did Silvia’s cries of “Brother!”), but in the end it came together in spectacular fashion.

The music of Aquarion, done by the ridiculously talented Yoko Kanno, is a big reason why the show is utterly grandiose and beautiful. The closing song, “Omna Magni” is, perhaps, the most lovely piece of music I have ever heard in anime. The linguistically shitzophrenic lyrics combined with a music box melody make for something wonderful, especially when paired with the Brian Froud-ish closing art.

As far as the extras go, Aquarion is a cut above most anime, but just barely. There is a featurette on the creation and production of the series, actor commentary (odd, but fun) and commercials. The “manga style film” shows us rough sketches against the final show version, and the 2005 stage drama is silly and weird – four cast members group onstage up to voice a little mini-episode.

Aquarion is a wonderful show, enjoyable to many audiences in a variety of ways. The cases are lovely, the bonuses nice, and the second half easy to watch and understand without the first. It’s a solid release.

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