''SoltyRei'' is a Japanese

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series animated by

Gonzo Gonzo may refer to: People * Gonzo (nickname), a list of people with the nickname * Radislav Jovanov Gonzo (born 1964), Croatian music video director Radislav Jovanov, also known as Gonzo * Matthias Röhr (born 1962), German musician whose sta ...

and

AIC AIC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Alice in Chains, American rock band * Alice in Chains: AIC 23, a 2013 mockumentary * Anime International Company, a Japanese animation studio * Art Institute of Chicago, an art museum in Chicago Busin ...

following the inhabitants of a city where an

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

prevents aerial travel. The series aired on

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...

between October 2005 and March 2006. On April 2, 2006,

Funimation Entertainment Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

confirmed at

Anime Expo Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). The convention is traditionally held annually on the first we ...

that it had the rights to distribute ''SoltyRei''. On January 26, 2009, the series made its North American television debut on the

Funimation Channel Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

Story

Glossary

; Aurora Shell : A protective barrier that holds the

atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...

of the planet in place. Any object that comes into contact with it is affected much the same as being struck by lightning. In addition to the

-like waves of color produced at night, it also hinders air travel and

EM wave In physics, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) consists of waves of the electromagnetic (EM) field, which propagate through space and carry momentum and electromagnetic radiant energy. It includes radio waves, microwaves, infrared, (visible) li ...

detection. It is revealed near the end of the series that it contains a large number of nanomachines; after the Blast Fall, children that were exposed to the falling

nanomachine A molecular machine, nanite, or nanomachine is a molecular component that produces quasi-mechanical movements (output) in response to specific stimuli (input). In cellular biology, macromolecular machines frequently perform tasks essential for l ...

snow had their DNA altered, including

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

, Accela, Integra, Sylvia, and Celica. ; Blast Fall : A disaster that occurred approximately 12 years before the series, where an overly large building of old R.U.C. was struck by a massive

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...

from the Aurora Shell, causing widespread death and destruction from the falling debris. : It was later verified that the Blast Fall was caused by a powerful laser, fired from the migration ship's defense system controlled by Eirene; and shot it into the Aurora Shell to prevent Hilga, with Ashley Lynx as its pilot, from taking off. The laser discharge converted itself into a massive, powerful lightning that obliterated the old R.U.C. headquarters just before Hilga could launch. The blast destroyed everything near the location of ground zero. ; Genuine : A term used to humans that have 100% full-body Resemble in them. Solty is the only example in the show of a Genuine Resemble. ; Hilga : A gargantuan vessel built for flight to space. Being designed as a space vessel, it has the ability to hover within the atmosphere and it is equipped with a powerful hyper beam cannon. It was constructed within the old R.U.C. headquarters. Though Hilga is overwhelmingly massive, it is a one-person vessel and Ashley first serves as its pilot. Their original mission was to investigate the sudden communication silence (and to see Illumina again) from the migration ship several years earlier. Before Hilga could launch it was struck by a powerful lightning, heavily damaging it; obliterated the old R.U.C. headquarters (Hilga's launch base); and part of the city that surrounds it. That disaster was later known as the Blast Fall. After that disaster, it was repaired and docked at the center of the new R.U.C. headquarters. Hilga's existence remained hidden in secret for 12 years until it was hijacked by Accela, its second pilot, who used Hilga as a weapon of destruction. It was heavily damaged when Accela forced to shut close Hilga's fully charged hyper beam cannon's opening to prevent its firing. It was repaired again for Solty's use, its third pilot, to stop Eirene and the migration ship from its collision course to a newly terra-formed planet. It successfully took off to outer space but was finally destroyed by Eirene's defense weapons. ; New Rights Child : A term describing children who were unconditionally granted rights as Registered Citizens after the Blast Fall. In the wake of the catastrophe, a large number of children who could not be identified were sent to city orphanages. In response, the city's political leadership decided to grant a number of these orphans residency in order to give them access to healthcare and other city amenities. The first individual to be identified as a New Rights Child is Rita Revant. After being visited by Roy Revant (who mistakenly believes her to be his daughter), Rita explains that she is able to receive welfare and live in the countryside because of her benefits as a New Rights Child. ; PROCEED : Name given to young girls genetically altered as a byproduct from the Blast Fall. Each altered female has many physical characteristics enhanced (strength, speed, etc.) and also a different degree of enhancement on human ability to interface with machines. As the alteration caused by the Blast Fall also changed even hair color on some cases, it is the reason why

changed from a redhead into a blonde girl. : The quartet of specialist operatives commanded by Ashley Lynx are all PROCEEDs of high physical capacity. Probably the ability of easy interface with machines is also the reason why they bear the Power Suits we see them using when in a mission. These suits bear a striking resemblance to the Knight Saber's Hardsuits from

Bubblegum Crisis is a 1987 to 1991 cyberpunk original video animation (OVA) series produced by Youmex and animated by Anime International Company, AIC and Artmic. The series was planned to run for 13 episodes, but was cut short to just 8. The series involv ...

, as the concept designer for both series is

Kenichi Sonoda is a Japanese manga artist and animation character designer. Professional career Born in Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture, Sonoda moved to Tokyo in 1984, at the age of 21, and began work at Artmic, an anime studio. During this time, he worked on '' ...

. Notice that they are the only ones wearing Power Suits, which leads to think such could be only used by PROCEEDs. These suits allow certain abilities unique to each of the four members. Notably, while Ashley is fighting Integra, he refers to her ability as 'Overclock'. The abilities of the other members of the team may have names too, but these are not mentioned. The four members are all named after models of cars. ; R.U.C. (Reestablishment Universe Committee) : A general company/government that manages daily activities in the city, much like the Paradigm Group in

The Big O ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. In addition to a private security force, they also have large four-leggeded mechas resembling construction cranes. The R.U.C. was created by the colony supervisor computer

Eunomia In Greek mythology, Eunomia ( grc, Εὐνομία) was a minor goddess of law and legislation (her name can be translated as "good order", "governance according to good laws"), as well as the spring-time goddess of green pastures (''eû'' means ...

as a means of regulating the city. ; Registered Citizen/Unregistered Citizen : A differential classification for residents of the city, established by Eunomia as a means of regulating resource distribution amongst the residents. Registered Citizens are officially sanctioned residents who are able to receive healthcare, schooling, welfare, and other amenities from the government. Unregistered Citizens, on the other hand, cannot receive municipal healthcare or many of the other amenities offered to Registered Citizens. While the Unregistered Citizens are not illegal occupants of the city per se, they are often regarded, both officially and effectively, as the lower caste among the residents of the city. Many Unregistered Citizens occupy the older, unregulated underground city, while most Registered Citizens live in residences built on the surface. : While the original means of establishing the differentiation between the two groups is undisclosed, the classification system is maintained largely based on familial ties. All biological offspring of Registered Citizens are considered to also be Registered Citizens. In addition, each married pair of Registered Citizens is able to adopt one Unregistered Citizen as a child. As a result, the child becomes reclassified as a Registered Citizen. Celica Yayoi is an example of this. : Conversely, offspring and wards of Unregistered Citizens will also be classified as Unregistered Citizens. An example of this principle can be found with regard to Vincent Greco's daughter, who was renamed Rita Revant. Greco explains that he cannot tell his daughter that he is her father, because the discovery of his true relationship to her would cause a revocation of her rights as a Registered Citizen as a New Rights Child. ; Resemble : A broad term for technologically advanced prostheses used to replace human body parts, became more widespread after the Blast Fall due to the sheer number of injuries sustained during the event. Humans who use this technology are known as Resembles. It is later revealed that their Resemble parts are linked to Eunomia, the central computer of R.U.C.

Media

Anime

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatri ...

has acquired rights for distribution of ''Solty Rei'' in Australia and New Zealand and released it on six DVD volumes between 15 August 2007 and 23 January 2008. A complete collection, including the OVA as episodes 25 and 26, was released on 17 September 2008.

Music

A list of theme songs and insert songs from the anime: Opening Theme: *"clover": Episode:01 - 23 and Extra Episode(25 - 26) *:Lyrics and composition by: meg rock *:Arrangement by: Daisuke Katou *:Performed by:

meg rock is a Japanese singer, lyricist, composer and musician. Biography Megumi Hinata began learning to play the piano at the age of four, and said she first became interested in music in the latter half of elementary school, which she spent in the Un ...

Ending Theme: *: Episode:01 - 11, 13 - 23 and Extra Episode(25 - 26) *:Lyrics and composition by:

Masami Okui is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Itami, Hyōgo. She began her professional musical career at age 21 as a concert backup singer. From almost the very beginning of her career, Masami has sung themes for anime television and movies. She ...

*:Arrangement by:

Jun Ichikawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He was first a director of television commercials before adding filmmaking to his creative activities. His most famous film outside Japan was ''Tony Takitani'', an adaptation of a short story by Har ...

*:Performed by: Tomoe Ohmi *"Return to love": Episode:12 and 24 *:Lyrics and composition by: Masami Okui *:Arrangement by: Jun Ichikawa *:Performed by: Tomoe Ohmi Insert Theme: *"take you there": Episode:04 *:Lyrics, composition and arrangement by: R・O・N *:Performed by: R・O・N featuring Takuto Maeda from count lost *"promise": Episode:05 *:Lyrics, composition and arrangement by: R・O・N *:Performed by: R・O・N *"Return to love (Jazz version)": Episode:12, 13 and 24 *:Lyrics by: Masami Okui *:English lyrics by: Mika Watanabe *:Composition by: Masami Okui *:Arrangement by: Toshiyuki Ōmori *:Performed by: Geila Zilkha *"(Why I’m right here) with you": Episode:16 *:Lyrics, composition and arrangement by: R・O・N *:Performed by: R・O・N *"Wish For...": Episode:18 *:Lyrics, composition and arrangement by: R・O・N *: Performed by: R・O・N featuring Takuto Maeda from count lost *"straying in the dark": Episode:22 *:Lyrics, composition and arrangement by: R・O・N *:Performed by: R・O・N *"wish": Episode:23 *:Lyrics and composition by: meg rock *:Arrangement by: Daisuke Katou *:Performed by: meg rock *"pieces": Episode:24 insert ending theme. *:Lyrics, composition and arrangement by: R・O・N *:Performed by: R・O・N featuring Junko from electlink

CD Albums

*Opening theme Single "clover" (LHCM-1015) performed by meg rock. *Ending theme Single performed by Tomoe Ohmi. *Insert theme Single performed by Tomoe Ohmi. *Vocal album Single "promise" (LHCA-5029) performed by R・O・N. *"SoltyRei Original Soundtrack Vol.1" (LHCA-5026) composed by Toshiyuki Ōmori. *"SoltyRei Original Soundtrack Vol.2" (LHCA-5032) composed by Toshiyuki Ōmori. *"Character & Radio Theme CD ~ Solty ×

~" (LHCM-1017) sung by Solty (CV:

Momoko Saito is a Japanese name for girls. Momo is usually written with the kanji character 桃 for "peach" or 百 for "one hundred" or 杏 for "apricot", followed by -ko, a common suffix for girls' names (meaning "child"). It may refer to: People *, Japanes ...

) and Rose (CV:

Masumi Asano is a Japanese voice actress, singer and narrator who worked for Aoni Production, but now as of January, 2021 a Freelancer. Biography Asano was born on August 25, 1977 in Noshiro, Akita and studied at the Kokugakuin University Faculty of Literatu ...

Books

There is currently one volume of the manga released in Japan. * () :Release date: June, 2006 There is one visual fanbook already released in Japan. *SoltyRei Visual Fanbook () :Release date: July 29, 2006

Staff

*Director:

Yoshimasa Hiraike is a Japanese storyboard artist, screenwriter, and director. He has collaborated with famed director Junichi Sato in series such as ''Aria'', ''Kaleido Star'', and ''Prétear''. Anime involved in *''Excel Saga'': Episode Director (7, 12, 17, 22, ...

*Script: Noboru Kimura *Art: Takimiya Kazutaka *Storyboard: Hirotaka Endo, Katsuyuki Kodera, Michio Fukuda,

Ryuichi Kawamura is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known as lead singer of the rock band Luna Sea since 1989. He started a solo career in 1997, three years before Luna Sea disbanded in 2000. In 2005, Kawamura form ...

*Episode Director:

Masashi Abe (born August 13, 1965 in Obira, Hokkaido, Japan) is a Japanese Nordic combined skier who competed during the late 1980s and early 1990s. He won the 3 x 10 km team event at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. Abe also won three medals ...

, Ryuichi Kimura, Yoshihiko Iwada *Character Design: Shuzilow.HA(Shujirou Hamakawa) *Art Director: Toshihiro Kohama *Chief Animation Director: Shuzilow.HA(Shujirou Hamakawa) *Animation Director: Sawako Yamamoto, Shuichi Hara, Toshiharu Murata *Mechanical Design: Kanetake Ebikawa *Art Design: Hajime Satou *Director of Photography: Kosuke Tanaka *Executive Producer: Koji Kajita *Producer: Kazuhiko Inomata, Naomi Nishiguchi *3-D Director: Hirotsugu Shimoyama *Animation Producer: Hisao Fuke *Conceptual Design:

Range Murata is a Japanese artist and designer (W artist), known for his unique style combining dieselpunk and Japanese anime elements. He is best known for his conceptual design work on anime series ''Last Exile'' and '' Blue Submarine No. 6''. He began ...

*Editing: Kiyoshi Hirose *Music Producer: Junji Fujita, Yoshiyuki Ito *Music: Toshiyuki Ōmori *Planning: Shouji Murahama, Shuzilow.HA(Shujirou Hamakawa) *Planning Assistance: Goro Taniguchi *Sound Director: Yota Tsuruoka *Theme Song Lyrics: meg rock,

, R・O・N, Mika Watanabe *Theme Song Composition: meg rock, Masami Okui, R・O・N, Toshiyuki Ōmori *Theme Song Arrangement: Daisuke Katou,

, R・O・N, Toshiyuki Ōmori *Theme Song Performance:

Tomoe Ōmi is a Japanese singer and voice actress. She received training from the and RAMS Professional Education. She made her debut as a voice actress in the anime television series ''School Rumble''. Discography Albums Singles Other singles * ...

, R・O・N, Takuto Maeda, Junko, Geila Zilkha *Animation Production:

Reception

'' Hyper'' comments that "

Studio Gonzo A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial d ...

are famous for using computer-generated elements along with their traditional cell animation, and this same technique is used fairly frequently on ''Solty Rei''. The hand drawn animation is nicely done and the CGI is good too". ''Hyper'' criticises the CGI graphics showing "the strings" in many sequences that use CGI, "which can be an unwelcome distraction".

References

Sources

* Johnston, Chris. "Solty Rei volume 1". ''Newtype USA''. 6 (1) p. 149. January 2007. .

External links

SOLTYREI Official Website

''SoltyRei'' from BIGLOBE

''SoltyRei'' Official Blog

''SoltyRei'' Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soltyrei Adventure anime and manga Anime International Company Anime with original screenplays Funimation Gonzo (company) Ichijinsha manga Odex Post-apocalyptic anime and manga Shōnen manga