English Dub Review: Knights of Sidonia: Love Woven in the Stars

 

Overview:

Six years after the second season aired, Knights of Sidonia gets its conclusion. Taking place ten years after the last episode, the crew of the Sidonia enjoys some peaceful days. But they know that the fight with the Gauna isn’t over. To colonize Planet Nine and secure a future for humanity, the Gauna must be defeated once and for all.

Our Take:

Knights of Sidonia has been one of my favorite series ever since I watched it. I got on the train a little later than most so luckily my wait for this movie wasn’t as long as some. I will say I think it was worth any wait it took. One thing that always kept me from watching it was the CGI animation. While a bit wonky in places it’s actually very good. In the six years since the last season, Polygon Pictures has fine-tuned everything and the animation looks amazing for this film.

I couldn’t help but grin like an idiot while watching this. The fight scenes were spectacular and all the returning characters looked great up on the big screen. This has some of the best mech fights I have ever seen, the CGI is done so well.

The way I describe Knights of Sidonia is that it’s like a mech show crossed with the video game Dead Space (Mostly from a monster perspective). Throw in some anime tropes and romance and you have Knights of Sidonia, since I love all those things this series is right up my alley. I think most people who give this show a try will find something really special.

I think it’s fitting in a way that this came out the same year as Evangelion finished its rebuild series. I only bring it up because for better or worse mech shows are often compared to each other. I can’t tell you for sure which is better because they’re trying to tell such different stories. What I think they have in common is hope, and searching for it no matter what.

Getting into the sound I have to start with the amazing voice cast. I did notice one recast, Jad Saxton was the voice of Yuhata Midorikawa replacing Marieve Herington. I love Jad Saxton and she does a great job here but it would have been nice to have Marieve finish out the series, but I know business decisions don’t always align with that.

Other than that it seems like everyone else reprised their roles and did amazing. Johnny Yong Bosch and Stephanie Sheh voice Tanikaze and Tsumugi respectively. These two have amazing chemistry together, they have voiced so many characters together that it really shows in the work they put out. Tanikaze’s growth throughout the series is amazing and Johnny brings that all out. I definitely recommend binging this series to see it in action.

Stephanie brings out Tsumugi’s adorable mannerisms perfectly. Seeing her struggle to try and be “normal” is fantastic I really can’t applaud these two enough. Honestly, the whole cast did fantastically. Wendee Lee gave Kobayashi’s speech so well I got goosebumps. Cristina Vee plays all of the Honoka sisters. Identical clones but they all have different personalities so I think this really shows off Cristina’s talent.

The sound effects during battles are visceral and kinetic. When the guns are fired you definitely feel it. Music is very important to anime and I was hoping that the original opening “SIDONIA” by angela would get played. It does and man is it the greatest moment. There are two other great songs from the film, “Hikari no disco” and “Utsusemi” both by CAPSULE and they belong in any anime playlist.

This movie brings everything to a very satisfying conclusion. There aren’t any dangling threads, questions I had from the previous two seasons are all answered. What is going on with Kunato and the bug thing in him? Why does Lala look like a bear? Everything gets answered and I couldn’t really ask for more.

The relationship between Tanikaze and Tsumugi is front and center and gets a lot of screentime. Their interactions are adorable and heartwarming. Definitely, the best part of the movie was a date they go on. Since Tsumugi is so big Tanikaze does a lot of the typical date things with her while in his mech. I loved this as it was both charming and humorous at the same time. These two are definitely relationship goals for all of us.

There are only two very minor things I don’t like about this movie. One is that you definitely have to have watched the previous two seasons, there is nothing explaining what is going. Since the series isn’t that long and readily available I don’t knock it too much for this. The other thing is about the character Izana. She is arguably just as much as a main character as Tanikaze and Tsumugi, she has been around since the first episode. Everyone gets moments to shine except for her. She does things, yeah but they are barely mentioned. I just think she deserved more and don’t get me started on her consolation prize at the end of the movie. I’m not against it really but it felt just like the author was saying “I have to give her something” and it came out of the left field.

I am constantly re-arranging my top ten anime list so this might not have as much weight as I would hope. But after seeing Knights of Sidonia: Love Woven in the Stars it has earned a place on that list. This movie was a joy to watch and I experienced every emotion you could while watching a movie. Joy, sadness, surprise, this movie was amazing to experience. I think sticking the landing is very difficult to do and this does it almost perfectly.