Divergence Eve 8/10

For a show where all the many female characters have ENORMOUS breasts, the story behind the cleavage was great.

This show aired in 2003 and ran for 13 episodes. On the technical side I enjoyed the look of this show which has the same character designs as Amazing Nurse Nanako. All the girls have huge racks that the animators constantly animate jiggling around so that's always welcome. (Watch for the girl on the bridge where they keep repeating the animation throughout the series. I never got tired of it.) The JP voices are great and the score is excellent. I loved the opening theme as it rocked and liked the end theme but it really seemed out of place in this show, a little too happy. The only real complaint I have is the CG animation used throughout the series. It's detailed but:

A) it moves too smoothly, it looks fake
B) it's not well blended with the cell animation

The plot of this show had me dubious at first. A bunch of large-breasted girls in space. Seen it. After watching this series though I can safely say my first impression was WAY off. This show stands alone as the best gripping sci-fi anime thriller I've seen. It really reminded me of the movie Event Horizon. Yes, it's that good. You can quote me.

It's basically about these 4 girls transferred to a remote space outpost to train as members of it's Seraphim unit, whose mission is not immediately revealed to us or the trainees. While remote, the outpost is home to 10 million people and a considerable military operation. In this show man has developed a type of manhole technology and this is the endpoint of the first developed jump point. It's something like a planet split in two with the jump gate in the core that remains in the centre. Of course it wouldn't be much of a show if it was all smiles and chocolate deep in space.

The gate uses travel through alternate dimensions in order to shorten the travel distance and something other than humans keeps trying to get out. Something mean. (Isn't that always the case?) We are initially given few details about the creatures in the gate and the overall situation at the outpost but are treated to the results of the havoc it causes when it shows up and we see the military contingent on the outpost are scared shitless. Over the episodes the girls' training continues and we are given more and more information regarding what this alien wants, why the situation on the outpost is so dire and what the Seraphim unit actually does.

While the series is not as suspenseful as Event Horizon it does have it's freaky moments and the main character Misaki is revealed to be something more than the ditzy girl we meet in the initial episode. (Isn't that always the case?)

I'm a sucker for sci-fi and I'm a sucker for large-breasted character designs but I didn't need to be a sucker to really enjoy the story here. Highly recommended.

(Note: The series ends satisfactorily after 13 episodes but does continue into a second season that I have not yet seen. Apparently the story changes quite a bit so I will review it separately at a later time.)