English Dub Review: Snowball Earth Season One
Overview:
Yukio was destroyed in battle, and Tetsuo survived in an escape pod. After eight years in cold sleep, the escape pod finally lands back on Earth. But when Tetsuo emerges, he finds a world in ruins, entirely frozen beneath a blanket of ice and snow—snowball Earth! What happened to humanity, how did the planet freeze over, and will Tetsuo be able to keep his last promise to Yukio?
Our Take(Spoilers):
If you’ve followed me at all, you’ll know that I love the mecha genre. I don’t mean to speak in hyperbole, but it seems like mech shows are dying. Of course, Sunrise Studios still churns out Gundam shows, but that’s more or less it. Snowball Earth is based on a manga, so it’s slightly different in that sense because it feels like most mech shows lately have been anime originals.
I hope that since Snowball Earth is getting a second season, we might get a mech show that sticks around for a little while. One thing about modern-day mech shows that I think people might dislike is the focus on human characters. In twelve episodes, there were only a handful of mech fights, but the main story is about Tetsuo learning to overcome his anxiety and getting to know people and make friends.
Speaking of Tetsuo, I have to give a shout-out to Griffin Burns. I’ll be honest, I’ve never been a fan of him, but I recently rewatched JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and he plays Doppio, which is an alter ego of the main villain. Right as I got to that part was about the time Snowball Earth started airing. I’m so impressed with how he voices Tesuo. At the beginning of the show, he had that whiny sound to his voice that I didn’t like, but as Tetsuo grows more confident, so does his voice. It was the most impressed I’ve been with a voice performance in a while.
The one thing I could see people disliking about this show is the animation style. It’s one of those CGI shows, but I’ve noticed that there are scenes that seem more hand-drawn. As someone who is usually a CGI hater, I had no issues watching this show.
What sets most shows apart other than the story is the characters. IF you love nuanced characters that aren’t good or evil (other than Tetsuo, that boy is as sweet as pie), then you’ll love this show. Some characters can bond with a kaiju. They’re called kaiju tamers, and that was a twist I didn’t see coming. That is another thing I’m looking forward to seeing more of in the second season. What if Tetsuo can become a kaiju tamer AND a mech pilot? The sky is the limit for this series.
What I loved about this show is that it had something for everyone, in my opinion. If you love mecha vs kaiju, there’s something here. If you like complex human stories, then you’re also in luck! Romance your thing? Well… there are some hints and teasing, but maybe there will be more in the second season! I can’t wait for the second season; hopefully it’s not too far off.
