First Impressions / Series Introduction / STAR DRIVER

OP Sequence

OP: 「GRAVITY Ø」 by Aqua Timez
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「銀河美少年」 (Ginga Bishōnen)
“Galactic Pretty Boy”

When I first heard that BONES, the studio responsible for producing masterpieces such as Eureka Seven, Xam’d: Lost Memories and Darker than BLACK, was making another original mecha series it went right to the top of my list of most anticipated anime of this fall, and so far this year’s dose of FABULOUS has not disappointed. I was dazzled by the FABULOUS production quality put into this episode, with nearly every movement the character’s made being fully animated and the action scenes looking almost as if they had a movie budget. Of course, with a FABULOUS five star cast and staff that have been involved in some of the most well received anime classics in the past twenty years, I would have been sorely surprised and disappointed if this show didn’t have the very pinnacle of production quality and budget, and boy is it a star studded team. With Igarashi Takuya directing, Ito Yoshiyuki as Chief Animation Director and Character Designer, Wakabayashi Kazuhiro directing the sound, Koyama Shigeto doing mecha designs, and a whole slew of other big names in key animation for just the first episode, it’s difficult to imagine exactly what kind of budget BONES has put into this anime.

The thing that stands out most about this anime is how blatantly flamboyant it is, striving above and beyond even what CODE GEASS has accomplished only one episode in. This is probably best indicated by our hero, the Galatic Pretty Boy Tsunashi Takuto (Miyano Mamoru), who undergoes a Mahou Shoujo transformation to enter his Cybody, Tauburn, for combat. I’m sure many people thought this was extremely and unbelievably awesome. Likewise, I’m sure many more people thought this was the most blatant display of faggotry they’ve ever seen in their lives. As for myself, you can put me, without a doubt, in the former camp. That was the most amazing showing of FABULOUS I’ve ever seen; the colors, the animation, Takuto’s speech beforehand, everything came together to make a scene I felt my legs start to quiver from. Hell, even the evil organization that Takuto must fight against, ☆ KIRABOSHI!, are FABULOUS to a certain extent, wearing carnival masks over their faces and performing outlandish rituals to move onto different phases of some type of plan they’re scheming. Taking this into consideration, there’s really no telling just how crazy this show will get with characters and their methods of getting things done.

Of course, between all the craziness that goes on at night, there appears to be some amount of sanity during the day when the characters are at school, with Takuto’s new found friends Shidou Sugata (Fukuyama Jun) and Agemaki Wako (Hayami Saori) being pretty level headed and down to Earth. Interestingly, the two of them are actually engaged to one another and appear to spend quite a bit of time together, strolling along the beach at the beginning of the episode. However, even though they’re engaged, it seems as if Wako is beginning to take an interest in Takuto, having been saved from ☆ KIRABOSHI! by him, and the two sharing a sweet ending together under the rock formation on the outskirts of the island they live on. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out where the writers are going with this, so we can expect some dorama in the form of a love triangle between Takuto, Wako, and Shidou. While I’m not against such a sub plot, I simply hope it remains just that, a sub plot. I don’t want it getting in the way of the overarching plot unless it’s directly connected to it, as many anime have been ruined by overfocusing on the romantic aspect of a story when that is not what the actual focus of the plot is. A good example of this would be Valkyria Chronicles. Considering who the team is, I have confidence that they will find the right balance between the character relationship aspect of the story and the actual plot, but I’m still a bit wary as many shows go down hill because of not being able to strike that balance.

Premature worries aside, I genuinely enjoyed this first episode. The beautiful animation, amazing art, and FABULOUS antics all came together nicely to make one awesome package. My only criticism of this so far would be that the story had little to no explanation in this first episode, with Takuto apparently already knowing he possessed a mysterious power and ☆ KIRABOSHI! giving no hints as to what the “phases” they were referring to meant. BONES definitely wasted no time getting down to business, offering very little in the way of exposition. All the characters within the show apparently knew what was going on except for us, the viewers, which made me feel like this first episode was actually further into the series. I’m hoping we’ll get a little more clarification next week on exactly what went on, but I’m not stressing over it as I’m sure it was their intention to make us feel as if we were the only ones out of the loop.

All that being said, my entire post is pretty much fanboying over this anime, but make no mistake, this show will certainly be controversial, with it’s flamboyant main character and over-the-top, well, everything. Going off of this first episode, this anime really is just a case of “you like it or you don’t”, and there will be many haters harping on the fact that this might just be the most colorful series ever created. But hey, what can you do, haters gonna hate. ┐(￣ー￣)┌

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「Cross Over」 by 9nine
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Preview

123 Comments

    1. FABULOUS post for a FABULOUS episode 😛

      Seriously though, the story was a mess. Not like that really matters; this episode was still really fun to watch, and the animation was just FABULOUS amazing.

      I think I’m using FABULOUS too much… 😛

      Tsuki
      Reply

  5. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the episode and I’m pretty much sold on watching this but when they yelled, “He’s the galactic pretty boy?!”, I just had to crack up laughing at how ridiculous it sounded. I just hope the creators are aware of the silliness and decide not to take that particular aspect TOO seriously.

    hjerry
    Reply

  6. The episode as a whole felt like a draft. It had all the important parts, but little development to connect each one of them. Very confusing and frustrating to watch.

    Takuto’s neck is too long.

    Negative aspects aside, i can see why the blogger is excited for what comes next. Brilliant animation, FABULOUS over-the-top scenes and very likeable characters so far. This show has potential.

    Survival_DX
    Reply

  7. The animation and art on this blew me away the most on this. <3
    Takuto's transformation had me dying of laughter and saying "wtf" several times over as I actually took the time to rewind and watch it again just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. Didn't care that I had little to no idea what was happening since as you pointed out, it was probably BONES' intention from the start.
    So I'm definitely excited for next week.

    FABULOUS post Suzuku. 🙂

    koukiryu
    Reply

  8. After watching the first episode I have to say the only time its actually FABULOUS is when Takuto is in his mecha. I guess Im part of the crowd that seperates bishi from fabulous from actual gay.

    Longhaul
    Reply

  13. Generally mechas just aren’t my cup of tea, but I’m starting to get into the spirit of giving anime I wouldn’t normally watch a shot. I’m actually looking forward to the aforementioned Mahou Shoujo transformation. lol

    Pao
    Reply

  14. i don’t know about the love triangle. sugata kinda hinted that he wanted to look for love his own way and that he’s only in the relationship with wako coz it’s a tradition of some sort in their family to be wed to a maiden. heck, im even gonna bet that sugata is one of the antagonists.

    i don’t know about the would be haters, but you can’t go wrong with an anime with the hero named as “galactic pretty boy”. lol. this is gonna be a fun ride.

    kc
    Reply

  19. EASILY the most FAAAAABULOUS anime series I’ve ever seen…as you mentioned, Geass doesn’t even touch this lol

    I have NO idea what is going on though…as soon as the new student reception scene ended, the pace of the episode quadrupled and then some lol…but it’s all good – it was a fun ride, and I’m sure BONES will fill us in soon.

    Either way…that was awesome. lol

    PhoenixBurning3
    Reply

  21. Galactic Pretty Boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Omg, I was amazed by the name, I was like… What the… But all that ended when he kicked ass. He kicked the guy who was suppose to be the bad ass. I don’t care if people call on the faggotry, that was absolutely FABULOUCIOUS! Delicate, bright colors, keeps me interested and stay on my toes. Hopefully, we receive a lot of back story. But, damn, that was just great, I’m so glad I watched this.

    Sora no Kaze
    Reply

  23. LMAO!! We have a new hero “Galactic Pretty Boy”.
    Epic start “Do you count a mouth-to-mouth a kiss?” with dazzling colorful lights works and destruction. I pretty much can tell, I would love this show even if people called it faggotry.
    Btw New Series = New blogger = New taist. And it was Great.

    Walker
    Reply

      1. No honorifics, reverse name order and Americanization of simple terms such as “I am done” instead of “Thanks for the food” – there are better examples, but I can’t check it now. Yeah, FABULOUS work, gg. Hopefully, some other group will also pick it up.

        boingman
        Reply

  26. Hahaha! PRETTY FABULOUS!
    A lot of things happened without any real explanations (which will probably be explained as we go along) which both raised my interest and wonder at what will come out next. Cool first episode and let’s see what BONES can bring out with all the big shots working on this series! Nice post, Suzuku! Keep it up!

    Shinjiro
    Reply

  27. Ahaha FABULOUS :DDD
    I wasn’t prepared for that henshin scene so I had to rewind to see it again xDD
    I even made a gif of it~
    Although I don’t get what’s really happening yet…

    green
    Reply

  30. At first I had my doubts and No lie I was on the WTF IS THIS FAGGOTRY train before I watched it but its colors enticed me and wanted to check out the hype and before I knew it I was in some Fabulous land where things were just hilarious for no apparent reason. After being blown away with such faboulous faggotry I couldn’t but help but want to know what happens next episode.

    Over the top is actually what’s helping these risque type shows like this and Panty/stocking success. Being over the top is great and fabulous. Funniest part was when the terrorist dudes were like “O CRAP its the GALACTIC PRETTY BOY” and said it in a tone like they knew they were totally fucked. Death by faggotry is quite fabulous.

    exia
    Reply

  34. That was great!

    Although the masks are quite useless in our point of view to hide identities, considering how “anime-y” the hair are! lol

    The viewers would recognize immediately who those masked ones are just because of their hair lol

    entropy
    Reply

  36. So in conclusion, this show is a an extreme and unbelievably awesome blatant display of FABULOUS faggotry?

    There is no doubt that this show is crazy stupid in some aspects but I like the hammyness of the characters.

    Suppa Tenko
    Reply

  38. FA-(lmfao) Sweet post, Suzuku. xD

    This mess was crazy! I felt like I was watching the last episode of Bonen no Xamdou on crack! I didn’t even remember his name until I read your post!! All I know is that his poserific mecha is simply FABULOUS! How can she not fall in love with him?! xD There’s gotta be a limit to how cool Takuto can be. xDD Gotta..

    LOL at that guy who got a sweet hot death at the end. Never seen someone explode so FABULOUSLY! (it’s funny, there really is no other word to describe it.) and not once, but TWICE!!! XDDDD

    Shirt
    Reply

  39. this was the most hilarious first episode of any mecha anime i have ever watched
    i literally rofl’ed when he announced he was the galactic pretty boy too!!
    the over the top faggotry makes this so fantastically awesome xD

    sto
    Reply

  41. This one so far is the most interesting 1st ep.

    Everyone talking about triangle, but Sugata is the one who pairs up Wako with Takuto not only because he doesn’t care about his family tradition, but there is something else when he says that Wako can go to Tokyo.

    lilu
    Reply

  44. So yeah, this show mixes the perfect amount of FABULOUS and Epic to make a show that should be worth watching to all but the biggest Homophobes. I knew i would love this show during the Glittering Star scene just before the OP… oh man i was dying for the whole OP sequence thanks to that.

    BuckRodgers
    Reply

  45. I like the story premise, and the female character designs are quite nice. The insert song, as mentioned before, is also very pleasant to listen to. Overall, the series is shaping up to be a great watch.

    But it’s just too glittery!! And colourful, and… ah w/e. Still, I kept on thinking the translators were having too much fun with Galactic Pretty Boy =))

    no_sushi
    Reply

  55. I’m guessing they’ll gradually reveal what’s actually happening but I loved being thrown in to this place without a clue and seeing fabulous things happen.
    This just solidifies Bones 1st place in my favourite studios list.

    stefkov
    Reply

  58. loved it. the fight scene was epic, as was the accompanying music. pure fabulous. though i would have liked to be clued in just a tiny bit to what was going on… oh well, i suppose that’s for next week.

    that being said, despite the fact that most people seem to be down with the “faggotry”, lets cool it with the usage of that word, huh team? its really not very nice.

    sperry
    Reply

  59. Anyone else notice how the boxer looks like ORANGE from Code Geass??? Also, the Sailor Moon transformation was hilariously funny. But I don’t think this is an original from BONES… There was a manga published before the anime. At the very least, I know that there’s a first chapter posted somewhere on the web…

    Sissy
    Reply

    1. dude, this not an original from BONES? and you’re basing it on just an earlier release of a manga? wow, an 25 episode adaptation of a manga w/c was released September, and we have Star Driver anime promotions since when? analyze dude. ^^

      Zwei
      Reply

      1. Sorry, my usual understanding of original works by production houses is that they’re not based on a manga. I actually don’t know whether the manga or the anime promotions came first. It could be that the manga IS the adaption form and not the other way around… But thanks.

        Sissy
        Reply

  61. I’m liking the show quite a bit, although I will admit Takuto & Tauburn’s Flamboyant (combo breaker?) appearance weirded me out just a little. Most of my mecha are of the manly kick ass version and not… whatever that was exactly. It was indeed very cool however. The characters are very fun as well. My favorite so far is the RA Shinada, was shocked she’s a villain.

    I’m honestly surprised no one has mentioned my favorite line from the episode; “It’s a pinch!”, “*It’s a pinch*.”, “It’s a puuuuuuunch!”. I was laughing my ass off so hard I had to pause the show for a minute.

    Silentghost
    Reply

  62. I have a person tendency to be extremely stressed whenever I can’t follow a story or don’t recieve enough information provided in order to connect the dots. Needless to say, the second half of this first episode was a complete nightmare for me. Actually, it’s been a while since I’ve been this annoyed while watching anime.

    I understand that this is all intentional and with its 25 episodes, it will definitely get explained sooner or later. But because it just goes full steam ahead without bothering with the viewers, it gives me this feeling of being stupid myself, the feeling as if I should understand, but don’t. I really hope the next episode uses some time to explain the basics.

    Dimorphic
    Reply

  63. Im kind of surprised at how much I liked this episode, looking forward to more. Also after hearing Takuto say Apprivoise so many times in the promos and finally in this episode was simply. . . FABULOUS!

    Oblivion
    Reply

  65. I’m just laughing at the names. Glittering Star LOL. Galactic Pretty Boy OH MY FUCKING GOD YESSSS!!! Haha, definitely getting some gay vibes (shoot me) but I’ll stick around for a bit and see how it turns out. The animation was definitely top notch.

    Kit Kat
    Reply

  66. Quote “I’m sure many people thought this was extremely and unbelievably awesome. Likewise, I’m sure many more people thought this was the most blatant display of faggotry they’ve ever seen in their lives. As for myself, you can put me, without a doubt, in the former camp.”

    Yes that was extremely and unbelieveably GAY………….cough cough oh I mean awesome. don’t get me wrong I read the manga and the story seem ok it just seeing it in anime give me a different impression.

    I might watch it for the hell of it just to get a good laugh. faggotr haha

    mike
    Reply

  68. What was that song the North maiden / Fish girl sang? That was really good, I replayed that more than the Galactic Pretty Boy action scene lol.

    If you can’t be serious you might as well shoot for over the top. At least that way anything crazy is considered acceptable.

    There weren’t any problems with the story from my point of view. With a full fledged series it’s a pretty smart route to dive right into the action so it grabs people’s attention. They laid down some decent plot threads while they were running through the episode that they can build on later.

    synkronized
    Reply

  69. I liked this, but I didn’t found it fabulous at all; of course I know it’s a meme of it’s own but it doesn’t work on me like many moe girls I guess.
    It was a good episode for me but that’s it.Now I just hope every episode won’t be like this a la monster of the week and they’ll do something interesting after this generic first episode.Also as I’m french, the only thing that made me really laugh was hearing them shout “apprivoiser”.
    And I repeat myself, I’m not trying to be a hater/troll/whatever.
    Now I’m just waiting for Maaya Sakamoto character’s appearance.

    Rockmanshii
    Reply

  70. Saw the episode, it was FABULOUS. Some of the fighting made me think of Gurren Laggen for a bit. I may see this anime out till the end. I won’t be a hater till I’ve seen everything till the end. 😉

    Otaku ESA
    Reply

  75. This was supposed to be one my most awaited series apart from Index II since its BONES quality…but when I saw the “Mahou Shoujo-esque” transformation in the PV I had my second thoughts about it.

    I want to thank you Suzuku for this FABULOUS post. It made me watch it by looking on the FABULOUS side. 😀

    ufobaby
    Reply

  77. https://randomc.net/image/STAR%20DRIVER/STAR%20DRIVER%20Kagayaki%20no%20Takuto%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2007.jpg

    is this image not a BLATANT reference to Ayato Kamina’s painting in Bones’ series mecha series RahxXephon!? And he said his dad painted it, Kamina had a kid, and he lived on an island too.
    this is the image i am in reference too,
    only Ayato Kamina paints a different version, in the last episode, while standing over his child, but i can’t remember if they named the kid or not.
    http://www.kenoki.com/nko/images/painting.jpg

    crimson66
    Reply

    1. I thought I was the only one that noticed about it. it certainly looks like a painting of Mishima Haruka that Ayato keeps painting in the series. Hmm.. I wonder if this series will have some sort of connection to Rahxephon, or its just a homage to one of Bones earlier series?

      gandalf8
      Reply

  78. A bit taken a back by the mecha. :S If I want my mecha to be anything, it’s not “fabulous”. Though it’s got some great mecha action regardless, so should at least be a fun watch.

    yanipheonu
    Reply

  84. this is so made for miyano mamoru’s flamboyancy (is there such a word!?). it felt a little weird at first, and i thought seki tomokazu should voice this… and then the HENSHIN phrase completely threw the whole pace (and my mind) off. fab! blast us off, galactic pretty boy! -giggles-

    Teabie
    Reply

  86. The use of the excessive use of the word FABULOUS reminds me of how people were spamming GLAMOROUS body during Amagami’s whacky Sae arc.

    The level of flashy-ness definitely made it a lot of fun to watch. looks like another good show this season. actually thought it was kinda lame before watching the first episode. So, those who shoot it down too quickly, i recommend you give it a chance!

    Dal
    Reply

  87. I seriously loled at the “galactic pretty boy”… but I do agree, this first episode is FABULOUS!!

    Though I kind of want Miyano Mamoru use his Setsuna voice…

    The only thing that I need some time to adjust to is the certainly interesting mecha design… Too much Gundam and KMF in my head right now… :()

    Oh and always, thanks for the post, Suzuku

    jrj
    Reply

  89. Seriously I heard them say OH SHIT HES THE GALACTIC PRETTY BOY? As if it were an actual thing it just sounds ridiculous lol. I’ll stick around because its the only thing decent to watch so far but the gay vibe is coming on strong

    WrathfulGladiator
    Reply

  90. This should be a pretty FABULOUS show. I like the OP song, too, although I’m pretty disappointed with the sequence. A minute and a half of the protagonist running is pretty boring, especially when they don’t really show any other characters.

    Zilla
    Reply

    1. While it’s true it’s a rather uneventful OP, I found it unique in that it wasn’t attempting to be like every other OP sequence, and went with a simple montage of colorful backgrounds and Takuto running through them. Also, the other characters were in the OP; you see them when Takuto is running through the street after jumping off of the flight of stairs.

      Suzuku
      Reply

      2. Omni focused more on summaries whereas now all of the bloggers just give their overall opinions of an episode, except for Prooof. I thought he was referring to that at least. Unless you’re getting Omni confused with Divine, in which case yes, the styles are similar.

        Suzuku
        Reply

  94. “I’m sure many people thought this was extremely and unbelievably awesome. Likewise, I’m sure many more people thought this was the most blatant display of faggotry they’ve ever seen in their lives.”

    Can’t it be the “the most blatantly unbelievably awesome display of faggotry we’ve ever seen”? Certainly seems FABULOUS enough to be… Not a fan of mecha, so I’ll be avoiding this, but at least I now have a scapegoat to blame for taking Mamoru Miyano away from the (also somewhat FABULOUS) Capturing God he was born to play and leaving us with the decidedly less melodramatic Hiro Shimono…

    Come to think of it, Jun Fukuyama was my backup “ideal casting” for Keima…

    *shakes a fist at Star Driver*

    quigonkenny
    Reply

  95. i’ve gotta say divine’s pick of the writers this round is much better than the last. finally an entertaining/well written piece from someone other than divine himself. congratulations.

    Zed
    Reply

  97. The last third of the episode was totally ridiculous, but in an awesome way. I honestly LOL’d when he transformed into a pretty boy. XD The colours and animation really reminded me of Gurren Lagann, which is my favourite anime, so I’ll definitely be following this one. I hope you continue blogging it. 🙂

    Yuumei
    Reply

  99. Thanks for supposedly dropping. For all the production budget there’s been nothing noteworthy or actually original of any kind since the series began. I’ve just seen ep 03 and am looking forward to never hearing from this show again. Bones got their R&D completely wrong for this.

    Osiris
    Reply

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