[ DRAWN & QUARTERED ]
Graphic Arts As Literature
Space is a muse
for Japanese, too
Space ... the final frontier. That is, unless you're looking to make a sci-fi TV series, in which case it's the first place you look for ideas.
There's just something about the galaxies and universes beyond our own that's held a certain mystique with us. Many series have tried to answer questions that space exploration raises, like: Is there life on other planets? Could we survive while living on large spaceships drifting through the endless void? Just how many plasma missiles will it take before the shields are destroyed and the ship's crew has to resort to using the Untested Yet Totally Devastating Weapon Signaling Armageddon?
The Japanese are just like us Americans in their fascination with space, having turned out their share of anime "space operas" -- think of them like soap operas set in space, with a healthy dose of lasers, explosions, and giant robots thrown in for added effect.
The production studio Sunrise has turned out its share of space operas over the years, most notable among them "Cowboy Bebop" and the sprawling "Gundam" franchise. Now one of its newer series, the 26-episode "Infinite Ryvius," is being released in America courtesy of Bandai. Two volumes with five episodes each have already been released, with a third due out in early February.
Figuring out the overall background story of "Ryvius" is somewhat tricky because the series jumps right into the action in the first episode without much explanation. There are students on a training ship called Liebe Delta, the ship is about to go on some Geduld dive thingy, and there are men in spacesuits with menacing sneers and a girl in a strange pink outfit watching over it all, but there's nothing that jumps out immediately and says, "This is what this show is about." Anyone without much patience will find themselves quickly confused and frustrated from the outset.
Give it some time, though, and the intricate plots begin to reveal themselves.
It's the year 2225, 88 years after a giant solar flare killed off much of the human population living across the solar system. A mysterious whirlpool of gravity and heat spreading through space, known as the Geduld Phenomenon, has cut space travel.
Still, there is a demand for astronaut training, and students from across the solar system have come to train at Liebe Delta. Among them are navigator-in-training Kouji Aiba and his skilled-yet-arrogant younger brother, Yuki. They, along with the usual cast of standouts, punky rebellious types and class clowns, are on board as the ship goes into a research dive to determine the Geduld's composition.
And then, of course, something ... goes ... horribly ... wrong.
The end result: All the adult instructors die. An agency that should be helping the students is instead intent on destroying them, for reasons not made clear early in the series. And 487 students are suddenly forced to evacuate the Liebe Delta and struggle to survive on the hidden ship Ryvius, a task for which they may not be prepared or mature enough to handle on their own.
Granted, the show does have its share of cliches. For example, when a father promises his son that he'll spend more time with him after the dive in the first episode, there might as well have been a disclaimer on the bottom of the screen reading, "Please do not get attached to this boy's dad, as he will be gone very soon, throwing this boy into an obligatory pit of angst and despair."
Yet the way the show progresses is refreshingly non-cliched. While the focus is on a core cast of characters, there are cutscenes showing the other students on board as they go through their tasks aboard the Ryvius, adding depth to the students'community adrift in space.
There's also enough suspense involved to keep viewers wondering what's going to happen next. One mystery sure to keep viewers guessing is the background behind Neya, a girl in an odd pink outfit who seems to feed off the students' emotions and serves as a protector of sorts.
As one of Bandai's "Platinum Edition" releases, this series has received special treatment when it comes to DVD extras. The best treat is "Ryvius Illusion," a collection of humorous Flash animation shorts originally posted on the Internet with the main characters drawn in a cute, "super-deformed" style with big heads. Also included are "VJ Mixes" -- music videos with re-edited animation sequences -- and original Japanese commercials for the series.
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Rain Breaks / Burl Burlingame
Artists are invited to submit comic strips that reflect life in Hawaii for publication in "Strip Show." Send work to Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, Honolulu 96813; or email bburlingame@starbulletin.com.
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