Chrome Shelled Regios
QUOTE ("synposis")
In the distant future, a polluted world has been overtaken by havoc-wreaking creatures called filth monsters. Humanity, having been forced to relocate itself, must live in isolated mobile cities called Regios. A mysteriously skilled fighter named Layfon Alseif enrolls in the Academy city of Zuellni and is immediately noticed by Nina Antalk, leader of the 17th Military Arts Unit. He then reluctantly joins her squad, uncertain of what future awaits him and his new teammates within the city as well as the impending dangers in the midst of a plagued world.
A series adapted from shounen light novels, it brings about a unique and post-apocalyptic setting and deals mostly with the trials and tribulations the main cast goes through as well as exploring the rest of the world. It has plenty of action and adventure, along with good amounts of romance.
Animation: 7
Nothing special to say that stood out and left me very impressed. For the most part it was fine and did well with displaying the outside dust barren world with good movement effects of showing sand/wind blowing. The inside regios were colored well and gave you a real futuristic city feel as you see the various buildings and structures. Lighting effects during fight scenes was very vibrant and made them stand out, but other than that it was pretty much decent. (Viewed [Ayako]1280x720 HQ rips)
Music: 5
Very lackluster when it came to music in this anime. The Opening is enjoyable, but not something memorable. The two Endings are actually pretty good, especially the last one, but a show can't solely rely on them to have a good OST. The music within the anime wasn't very good and besides occasional moments during action scenes, it wasn't effective at all when it counted. It doesn't give the viewer a real strong connection to what's going on, especially during pivotal scenes, so the anime suffered greatly from a poor OST.
Voice Acting: 5
There wasn't really an all-star seiyuu cast so I didn't expect much before the anime started and so it was held throughout the end. Characters voices fit well with their personalities and did a decent performance. Emotional scenes for the most part were spoken well and did a good job to show how the characters were feeling, but otherwise it was simply an alright showing.
Characters: 8
Now this is where the anime really shines. It has a brilliant cast of characters all fitting different archetypes and following standard shounen clichés. They’re well distinguished from one another and each holds a unique personality that the viewer can find appealing.
Layfon – The main male lead of the show. The one thing I immediately found appealing of his character is that he doesn’t start off weak or at a base level. He’s quite powerful and already has honed his skills from the start. His main drive seems to be friendship and being important to his platoon mates and working together with them. His initial goal was to leave behind his life of fighting, but he seems to find himself to avoid that and so must continue fighting. I greatly admired his drive even though he shows signs of dues ex machine it’s still entertaining to watch. His personality comes off as strong, caring, dedicated, and clueless when it comes to his love interests. Generally, he’s a great lead in terms of shounen stories.
Nina – the main female lead of the show. I was ambivalent towards her during the show, but seeing that she gets a lot of hate from the fandom made me actually find her appealing. I like her hot-bloodiness and constant valor to improve herself both physically and emotionally. She wants to be a great leader for her platoon so she continually trains to get better, even when she clashes with them at points (especially with Layfon). She really cares for her city and protecting it (as seen from her past) and faces many challenges that she overcomes by herself as well as with the assistance of her friends/teammates. I’ve actually to come to like her second to Layfon.
Felli – Easily the second most popular character in the series, and has a cult like following in the fandom. She has a funny personality and provides for slapstick comedy as well as “moe” moments. That seems to be the main reason for her appeal, but she also has a growing personality where she helps her teammates significantly due to her unique powers and is tsundere for Layfon. She goes through her own period of development as she finds her importance in the world
Leerin – The childhood friend of Layfon, she’s in love with him and generally cares for his well being. For the most part she is connected with Layfon, but she does have a potential connection with Saya (who appears in her right eye) and could possibly harness the power of all the electrical fairies within her, but we can only tell from later on in the novels. I liked how she cares for Layfon deeply ever since they were young, as well as her connection with Alsheyra provides funny comedic moments. Her importance looks to grow in the series, so there isn't much yet except being in love with Layfon.
The show definitely has tons of side characters, and I could go on and on with covering them but it would take a while, so I’ll stick to short one liners.
- Sharnid – The gun/sniper of platoon 17 who’s pretty much the playboy. Very funny and helpful towards his friends.
- Queen Alsheyra – Funny with her breast groping antics, but also the strongest character in the series and leader of Grendan. A lot to be uncovered about her.
- Karian – President of Zuellni and Felli’s older brother. Does everything for the welfare of his city. Intelligent, decisive, as well as funny at times.
- Meishen – Shy girl who's in love with Layfon. Provides many “moe” moments for the show.
- Naruki – Has a cult like following in the fandom, which I’m a part of as well. Like her attitude and design very much.
- Savaris – Serves as the antagonist, and has a cool personality, but otherwise not impressive (especially his end) besides his appearance/abilities.
Story: 8
The one thing that’s really a stand out about this anime is of course the distinctive world that it takes place in. The setting is very unique with people living in “traveling” cities called regios which are controlled by electronic fairies (pretty much AI) that essentially govern where the regios go. The outside world is inhabited by dangerous creatures that make living outside impossible so the regios have to defend themselves when they encounter filth monsters, and in such implore military type squads to battle against them. This is the basic setting of Regios, and while it seems simple at first, there is so much more to be explored in this vast world. First off you have the differences between the various regios. Zuellni, the regios in which the main characters reside, is an academic city which is run by students.
Grendan, is actually a military based city which goes in search of hunting filth monsters is controlled by a royal monarchy. Other cities are evident as well, but they don't come into play just yet.
There are times when different regios will “battle” with one another with pride and honor of the regios being on the line. That’s the standard idea, but it runs much more deeper than that as we start to learn about how the Regios world came to be, with the scenes from
The Legend of Regios giving a glimpse of what possibly happened that led to the current world of Regios. Saya, the possible originator of all the electronic fairies and creator of the Regios world, separated it from the Ignasis, who have Masked Wolf gangs that are apparently trying to take over Regios and merge it with their own verse. We don't get much more info than that and there is still much more to be uncovered.
There are also four love interests for Layon, with Nina, Felli, Leerin, and Meishen in contending. Despite show being very action heavy, its a surprise to find quite a bit of romance in the show. Each character has good amount of screen time with Layfon to characterize why they harbor romantic feelings for him, even though he himself seems clueless. However, after completing the show and seeing that its a complete staple of classic shounen, I find myself conclusively narrowing down the romance between Nina and Leerin. Felli fits the lustful archetype and is tsundere for Layfon, but we see that he shows no significant feelings towards her besides friendship. Meeshin is the shy girl archetype and would have a better chance in shoujo, shes just there for providing moe. Leerin is the childhood friend, and even though she has kissed Layfon, he doesn't hold her in any romantic regard (as seen by him only kissing her on the cheek). He cares for her, but whether its on a higher level is left to be seen.
That leaves Nina, which much of the fandom doesn't seem to like (due to the Felli cult) because her connection with Layfon is actually growing on a deeper level, unlike the other girls. This is evident when Layfon becomes deeply upset by causing her to disappear due to his own fault, and when he finally reunites with her, they share a very significant hug that looked right out of a romance novel, instead of action. That is the deciding factor in the love subplot of the show - Layfon is the key to determing which girl has the best shot ending up with him. So far, it's the connection between Nina and him that he has shown the most concern for out of all the girls that leads me to believe Nina has the best shot. This of course is my judgment so far from what the anime has shown, as the light novels are on 13 volumes and much is to be seen that could change the outcome later on, but I stay firm in my beliefs that LayfonxNina will be the final pairing.
Since the anime covers a small part of the novel series, we only get a glimpse of all the plot lines and story development. It holds a strong grasp towards my curiosity as the world is unraveled.
Overall: 5/10
The show is supposed to be action based and throughout the series I wasn't left dazzled by anything spectacular or epic fight scenes, but it was a fun watch nonetheless. There is a lot left uncovered and you get glimpses of Layfon's past that really troubles him, as well as the struggles of the other characters in the show. Also, the setting of the show has much to be explored, especially how Regios came to be formed when we see scenes from the past. More information about Grendan and the Heavens-blade users who got an apperance in the Opening, but so little screen time only at the end of the show that you want to learn more about them. That's basically what the anime was, an introduction of the series and what you can expect to see.
The light novels are already established and really popular in Japan, with many spin off side novels and manga in publication. The anime gives a main stream spot to the series, and that’s why it’s only the beginning of what is to come. The ending is left open ended so it leads to a possibility of a second season. The show has good ratings and is quite popular on 2chan, but DVD sales will be the finalizing results in determining a second season. I would only recommend someone watching this if a second season is confirmed because the series is very interesting as it harbors a fascinating world with great characters, and so much more is to be seen. Otherwise, as a stand alone show, it be something I'd avoid since it leaves you wanting more, but unsure of whether it will be delivered.
