Star Driver: First Impressions
Posted by FoFo on January 19, 2011
There’s probably a reason I really enjoy the series that [gg] fansub. They have an eye for the truly fabulous. Which is not to say that I’ve loved everything they’ve chosen to work on, only that Star Driver is fabulous.
I’m not sure where the Japanese get some of these ideas. A boy washes ashore on a somewhat mysterious island because he tried to swim there (several miles at least) rather than taking the convenient ferry. He enrolls in the local school and promptly gets involved in the machinations of the Order of the Glittering Cross (possibly Glittering Star Crusade) who are trying to unleash the monstrously powerful Cybodies from their prison on the island.
Oh, right! there are giant mechs called Cybodies under the island that currently can only be used in a phased space called Zero Time, but if the four Maiden Cybodies’ seals are destroyed, all the other Cybodies will be free to move about in the real world and off the island.
…
Oh, and that guy who washed up on the beach is named Takuto and he is the Galactic Pretty Boy (Ginga Bishounen) which pretty much means he’s unbeatable, although it’s a little unclear why that is. But he is absolutely hilarious to watch.
Okay, so it’s really just another Mecha-of-the-Week with some school life stupidity layered on top, but the show is really damn compelling. I don’t know if it’s because the show takes itself so seriously while being patently ridiculous, or if the juxtaposition of everyday life and hilariously over the top mecha action is just really well balanced, but Star Driver definitely hits the mark. I’m halfway through the show and I find myself waiting eagerly for new episodes in a way I haven’t since Bakemonogatari.
In a way, it’s like watching Scott Pilgrim again. The action is completely over the top and doesn’t fit with the general theme of the primary story, but the combination is so entertaining that you don’t really mind. The series is chock full of anime stereotypes and tropes, but much like Gurren Lagann, these serve to deepen audience’s connection to the material, rather than alienate them. Gurren Lagann did it better and with much more style, but Star Driver is a worthy, if more female oriented successor.
