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 which began broadcasting on the Wowow network in Japan on July 26, 2006 at midnight. The series makes use of some 3D

cel-shaded animation Cel shading or toon shading is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make 3-D computer graphics appear to be flat by using less shading color instead of a shade gradient or tints and shades. A cel shader is often used to mimic ...

, which achieves a more "hand drawn" look than traditional 3D animation. At

Anime Boston Anime Boston is an annual three-day anime fan convention held in the spring in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Anime Boston was created and is run by the New England Anime Society, Inc., a Massachusetts-based non-profit organization. Pro ...

2007,

ADV Films A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt G ...

announced they licensed for the show (for $120,000). On July 11, 2008 ADV announced that it was discontinuing printing of the DVDs.

Plot

In the near future, after the world population and economy is devastated by a series of simultaneous hypercanes, many different factions and fledgling nations appear. In

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, an

elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. ...

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

called

Logos ''Logos'' (, ; grc, λόγος, lógos, lit=word, discourse, or reason) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric and refers to the appeal to reason that relies on logic or reason, inductive and deductive reasoning. Aris ...

appears, controlling special zones in the country which have most of the wealth and resources. These special zones were created with the help of Power Assist Technology, which allowed Japan to recover from the consequences of the worldwide disaster (which included a combination of

land subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope mov ...

and

rising sea levels Rising may refer to: * Rising, a stage in baking - see Proofing (baking technique) *Elevation * Short for Uprising, a rebellion Film and TV * "Rising" (''Stargate Atlantis''), the series premiere of the science fiction television program ''Starg ...

resulting in the permanent submerging of low-lying areas and a subsequent

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

in much of the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

), albeit to a strictly limited degree. The Logos exercise control over the Revenus, a lower class who mostly live in devastated and often poverty stricken zones (urban or in close proximity) and areas (rural) known as ''Levinas'' (e.g. Levinas Sector Six, Area 18) and who struggle from day to day in order to stay alive. The Revenus are generally restricted from entering the special zones, causing tension which creates a

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...

which fights back against the Logos. With the tagline "A Near Future Late-Shogunate Action Animation", the story draws analogies with

19th-century The 19th (nineteenth) century began on 1 January 1801 ( MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 ( MCM). The 19th century was the ninth century of the 2nd millennium. The 19th century was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was abolis ...

Japan at the end of the

Tokugawa Shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

period, just before the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

. The story proper is mainly set in 2035 AD. Jō and Jin defect from Phantom, an elite Japanese

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

special operations Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include ...

group which is used to help control the Revenus. When they escape, they take a young girl named Sana with them. The series follows them as they work to avoid being caught by Phantom and the regular military forces of the Logos. However, there are more to things than meet the eye.

Episode list

The opening theme is "Noble Roar" by

Yōsei Teikoku is a Japanese rock band formed in 1997. Their music mixes elements of gothic metal, heavy metal, electronic and classical music. Their works include the opening tracks of several anime series, including ''Future Diary'', '' Magical Pokan'', '' ...

while the ending theme is "Brand New Reason" by Fleet.

Staff

*Director:

Jun Kawagoe is a Japanese animator, storyboard artist, and director. He is known for directing anime based on the works of Go Nagai, Ken Ishikawa, Takashi Yanase, and twice, Shotaro Ishinomori. Works (as director) * '' Shuten Douji'' (1991) episode 3 * ...

*Series Composition: Shinsuke Ōnishi *Original Character Design: Shō Kōya *Character Design: Hideki Nagamachi *Mechanical Design: Hiroshi Ogawa *Art Design: Jirō Kōno, Minoru Yasuhara *Art Director: Katsuhiro Haji *Color Design: Kōchi Usui *Cinematography Director: Megumi Saitō *3D Director: Yūichi Gotō *Editor: Masaki Sakamoto *Audio Director: Yoshikazu Iwanami *Sound Effects: Yasumasa Koyama *Sound Production: Half H•P Studio *Music: Tomohisa Ishikawa *Music Production: Lantis *Animation Production:

Brain's Base is a Japanese animation studio founded in 1996 by former Tokyo Movie Shinsha staff. Works Television series Original video animations Films See also * Shuka * Lapin Track * Platinum Vision is a Japanese animation studio founded in ...

*Produced by

Bandai Visual was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution enterprise, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and f ...

Notes

References

General references

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Official website
* {{Brain's Base ADV Films Anime with original screenplays Brain's Base Bandai Visual Drama anime and manga Dystopian anime and manga Lantis (company) Mecha anime and manga Post-apocalyptic anime and manga Military science fiction Drones in fiction Fiction about invasions Terrorism in fiction Genetic engineering in fiction Japan Self-Defense Forces in fiction Alternate history Wowow original programming Television series set in the 2030s