Fafner THE BEYOND announced

[LightningCount]

A new Fafner project has been announced, and it is called THE BEYOND. It is not known yet whether it is a TV series, movie, or OVA. But more information is coming January 6.

News Link: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... ed/.110460

Official Site: http://fafner-beyond.jp/

[Amion]

And so it continues... For some reason I was suspecting we'd hear from the Fafner Project again in the near future.

[Dark Duel]

Given the arguably open ending of Exodus(lackluster as it was IMO, but that's a separate discussion), I'm not terribly surprised either that we're seeing more from that franchise. I am a little surprised that we're hearing back on it already, but it has been a while since Exodus ended so perhaps I shouldn't be.
Not really sure about how I feel about this development - I was super-excited about Exodus, but its ending disappointed me so I'm not as eager to see what happens next. Still, I'll probably give this a look when I get the chance.
I suppose it also depends on what the format will be - if it's a movie like HoE was, or another full series like Exodus. So until we know more, I'll just wait and see.

[LightningCount]

Given the arguably open ending of Exodus(lackluster as it was IMO, but that's a separate discussion), I'm not terribly surprised either that we're seeing more from that franchise. I am a little surprised that we're hearing back on it already, but it has been a while since Exodus ended so perhaps I shouldn't be.
Not really sure about how I feel about this development - I was super-excited about Exodus, but its ending disappointed me so I'm not as eager to see what happens next. Still, I'll probably give this a look when I get the chance.
I suppose it also depends on what the format will be - if it's a movie like HoE was, or another full series like Exodus. So until we know more, I'll just wait and see.

Basically agree word-for-word with what Duel said. The only thing is, I heard that this announcement was coming in December many months ago (I forget when exactly they hinted at it), which means they had an idea they were going to do this shortly after EXODUS ended, I guess. Sadly, I am still rather deflated by what happened to EXODUS...It's amazing the long life this franchise has had, though.

EDIT: Found the first announcement of this was back on May 8, 2016! http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-b ... 16/.101905

[zerogradius]

I am just now watching Exodus. I hope it turns out better than you guys say it will.

And even if it doesn't, I still welcome the news. I liked the other entries in this franchise.

Also, I think it is a shame that every season there are fewer and fewer mecha anime being produced. I think the up coming season only has one, and it looks like a throwaway. There used to be a time when mecha anime were the cream of the crop of the anime industry. Outside of the big franchises, for the most part it is only ever seen in dumb magic academy/harem anime and cute girl shows. Quite frankly, a new Fafner is good news in my eyes.

[Dark Duel]

The first half of Exodus is amazing - definitely worth it. The second, IMO, is still good, but by the high standards of the franchise it's disappointing IMO. Still, it's better than other shows I've seen, so I'd still recommend it over a lot of others.

[Amion]

I still enjoyed the ending, but the last three or so episodes just miss the mark they'd been successfully hitting up to that point. My take is they wanted to do more right away, but couldn't get the budget for another arc right away, which clearly they did... or at least the rights to produce something more than what we got.

To me it feels like this will be a movie or OVA or something, but I welcome another full-length series with open arms.

[zetatype]

1st teaser trailer is now out
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... ed/.110715
Unfortunately, no word on whether it's a movie, TV series, or OVA.

[Amion]

Hmm, things are certainly happening a few years in the future. Poor Kenji though, he got so fat I didn't recognize him! Guess Sakura's cooking was a little too good... And Leo/Reo doesn't even resemble his old self, assuming that's him appearing in the cockpit after Sui. I dig the design, he looks feral now. Before his character always felt a bit Mamoru-ish, like he was destined to be offed. No sign of Mimika though, hope she didn't get wormholed again.

Now, aside from that, everyone else was more or less recognizable, and I must question now whether anyone, anyone at all, is going to die, as it looks like the old folk's blood issue was just a bad cough. Guess Ashoka saved them with some nifty crystal tree magic. Convenient, but I guess that's a perk of bonding with an alien computer-being, huh?

As for Souchi, looks like he is going to have the personality of who he might have been without his harsh turns in life. He definitely looks more emotional. Will be interesting to see.

Thinking over what we've just seen, the animation doesn't appear glorious. I would personally rate a movie having superior animation and attention to detail. There's no footage of the island, though that could mean nothing, of course, and I can't read Japanese. Is it 5 years later? That sounds way too soon. My personal bet is this is an OVA or show, but I'm not claiming any form of objectivity. Full 26 episodes all the way, I say.

Oh, and hey, Walker's back! Glad to see the most intimidating Azazel make its comeback... unless we are in for some flashbacks. For some strange reason, I feel like we're in for a couple. I hope not, unless we get to see the formation of Alvis, and maybe the mysterious second Alvis that was mentioned and "disappeared", though we guess it was Fenrir'd to Davy Jones? Or it was the retconned B Island, which I hope it was. We never got a full explanation on that, and it will forever bug me until it's addressed in-anime.

[LightningCount]

I am just now watching Exodus. I hope it turns out better than you guys say it will.

And even if it doesn't, I still welcome the news. I liked the other entries in this franchise.

Also, I think it is a shame that every season there are fewer and fewer mecha anime being produced. I think the up coming season only has one, and it looks like a throwaway. There used to be a time when mecha anime were the cream of the crop of the anime industry. Outside of the big franchises, for the most part it is only ever seen in dumb magic academy/harem anime and cute girl shows. Quite frankly, a new Fafner is good news in my eyes.

Don't get me wrong. Even with it's problems, off the top of my head, Fafner Exodus is still one of the best mecha series in the last ten years. It's just that it set itself up to be so great that it was a little painful to watch it stumble to the goal line. To my recollection: The first season (1-13) is marvelous, with only a few awkward moments, really. It's as good of a sequel as you could ask for (maybe even better), and sets itself up to enter even more amazing territory. Season 2 gets a strong start through Episode 16, not missing a beat. But then Episodes 17 through 20 are a mixed bag. By the end of Episode 21 it starts to regain some momentum, and Episode 22 is great; but by the end of Episode 23, things get shaky again through the conclusion, which feels rushed. The biggest problem with Season 2 is it gets lost in the reeds, trying to cover too much ground, especially on minutiae, with less regard for the characters it has worked to establish up to that point. It just feels like it runs out of time, and rather than just leave it as a full-on cliffhanger, they decide they need to try to wrap as much up as they can with the little time they have left. If they were going to punt the overall narrative story to another franchise entry, I would have preferred they just committed to that in Exodus' narrative rather than unceremoniously twisting certain characters into pretzels to conform to what a more traditional, wrap-things-up ending would be. I felt cheated, and it clouded the whole experience; though, I can't deny the journey had many amazing moments, particularly Season 1. I should be thankful, honestly, because it's amazing this show happened at all in such a cutthroat entertainment/anime industry climate.

As for the lack of mecha shows...I'm not so sure. Maybe recently (barring Gundam entries), but not in the grand scheme. We've just come out of a period of numerous mecha shows it seems: Aldnoah.Zero, Argevollen, Majestic Prince, Gargantia, M3, Knights of Sidonia, Buddy Complex...I recommend giving Argevollen a serious shot, by the way--like, at least the first 8 episodes. A very underrated series. It may not reach the thrilling heights of Exodus, but it holds itself steady and accomplishes what it wants to very well with a more grounded take on the mecha genre than has been seen for a while, and it sticks the landing at the end. (It does what Exodus could have theoretically done, in terms of leaving things open while not stepping on the toes of its own season-wide narrative.)

Now, on to Fafner The Beyond...

Hmm...I think this is a TV series. The visuals look like they have the same budget as some of the lesser episodes of Exodus. (Maybe this is the other 26 episodes I had hoped Exodus would have and really needed from the start.) It could be that Exodus under-performed to some extent, and they reallocated the budget based on what they saw from sales numbers/ratings to maximize the potential cost-benefit of a sequel. I don't see a lot of dynamic camera work or big-moment CG here, which is curious. Then again, it could still be a movie or OVA.

I am more excited than I thought I'd be to see this world again, but the trailer itself was sort of underwhelming. The lack of showing from the Human Army might mean we're back to a more closed-circuit sort of adventure with just the main island cast and a less global scope. Who is the character at 2:40, though? New or old? One of the coolest designs in this franchise I've seen maybe. (If that is Leo/Reo as Amion suggests, he looks to have aged more than other characters in his cohort...) Whoever he is, he almost has a Michio flair to him.

My greatest fear for more Fafner is that it will take the same approach as basically every Fafner ending and punt the ball down field for another season without giving a fully satisfying wrap-up to the story it is trying to tell.

Like I said in my reply above to zerogradius, I lament the wasted potential of several characters late in Exodus' run if they were always intending to do The Beyond...Instead of building off what they had, they almost have to start over again to a fair extent.

[Henyo]

more Fafner is fine. i started late into the series so its not close to my heart as other anime series. and I still haven't watched the Fafner OVA.

i also agree with Zerogradius about the recent anime seasons lacking good mecha anime.
Regalia was SO Underwhelming. and i like mecha animes with females as the MCs.
Kuromukuro on the underhand was good but that ending was MEH.