REVIEW – Pacific Rim: The Black

There were so many things to review this week, that I wish I could have gotten them all on the podcast. That also means I don’t want you to miss anything that you might really enjoy. So you might have missed the fact that the new Pacific Rim anime dropped this week on Netflix. So here’s my spoiler free review of Pacific Rim: The Black.

If you want to watch the trailer, or get the synopsis, you might want to go here first. So what I’ll talk about first is the look of the series. The movements are so fluid in the animation and everything pops so well. Think of Attack on Titan but with more of a shine and color pop to it. The design of the Kaiju were very interesting and certainly menacing. There were plenty of times that I had no idea how Taylor and Hayley were going to survive.

Speaking of the two young leads, you’ll certainly find some tropes in their story and in their relationship. At the same time, as the episodes go on, you can feel more and more of the burden that they are carrying. A burden, by the way, that was kind of forced on them. That ventures into spoiler territory, so I won’t get into that. By the third episode, their dynamic does shift a bit because of a run in that they have. So while these characters aren’t perfect, you do understand what they are going through. You also get to see some Jaeger training on the fly, so that’s pretty fun. It’s also a little tougher to survive, given what kind of Jaeger they actually get.

Just imagine having to constantly be trying to survive, always wonder who you can trust and having no idea if there is any hope left. That’s a pretty good way to sum up Pacific Rim: The Black. That becomes even more true the more and more you learn about The Black. As if these kid’s lives weren’t already complicated enough. So it’s less of a coming of age story and more of a “when are these kids going to catch a break” story. Dodging Kaiju and constantly being given these huge responsibilities would be enough to break anyone. So yeah, you definitely feel sorry for them.

All in all, I think Pacific Rim: The Black builds a good foundation for what could be some long standing anime stories on Netflix. You could also jump into this without seeing the movies, so don’t let that stop you from trying this series. Maybe the best part about this series is, you don’t feel like anyone is safe. They make that VERY clear early on. So those moments of danger actually feel real and legitimate. So this is a solid first Pacific Rim anime, that I feel, can only build and get better from here. Check it out for yourself at http://www.netflix.com/pacificrim.

Photo Credit: Netflix