Fafner: Heaven and Earth Movie (Limited Edition Blu-Ray/DVD Combo)

This is a beautiful movie (both visually and story-wise) with an excellent translation and dub from Funimation. After they rescued the Fafner 2006 TV series (and cleaned up the messy Geneon subtitles--thank you for that!), they went on to release this long-awaited 2010 sequel to the series in a beautifully packed Bluray/DVD combo pack. Though it's possible to watch the movie on its own and enjoy it for its visually stunning mecha battles, thought-provoking story and gorgeous animation of the idyllic Japanese island town of Tatsumiya, you really get a lot more if you've seen the Fafner TV series first. HAE covers a lot of story, and very little explanation is given of terms, relationships, etc, that newer viewers will not be familiar with.Speaking of the story... Note: This will be a mostly spoiler-free review, but I will at least cover the state that most of the characters are in at the film's beginning (most which you can glean from the theatrical trailer anyway). But rest assured--there is MUCH more to the movie than what I'm covering here, so you will have plenty more to experience yourself. I'm just whetting your appetite. ;-)So, two years after the end of the TV series, Soushi has yet to return to Tatsumiya Island and Kazuki--due to the extensive assimilation phenomenon he underwent at the end of the series--is almost completely blind. He has begun working as a cook at Mizoguchi-san's Rakuen Cafe, and Mizoguchi-san has taken advantage of Kazuki's popularity by naming every other menu item after him (e.g. "Kazuki Curry," "Kazuki Cake," "Kazuki Pudding," etc). Business is, unsurprisingly, doing very well.Maya is also working there as a waitress and seems to have continued being a supportive friend to Kazuki, watching over him in his sickness. Canon has blossomed into a gorgeous young woman and has completely integrated into island life, now serving as the Student Council Vice President at Tatsumiya Junior High. Kenji is still the Student Council Prez, but spends much of his time checking in on Mamoru's dad (who is, understandably, a bit of a wreck post-series and has become a drunken recluse) and...Sakura(!) who has come out of her coma and seems generally assimilation-free, if greatly weakened physically (she now spends most of her time in a wheelchair, though she is still able to pilot a Fafner). As she acknowledges later in the movie, she has become very much like Shouko, feeling strong and free only when piloting her Fafner. (Yeah, ominous, right?) She and Kenji have a very sweet and obviously loving relationship.Meanwhile, the next generation of kids (i.e. Tsubaki's friends) has been moved up to full pilot status: Seri (Tsubaki's good friend who collects bugs), Douma (annoying kid who wanted to be a pop star/barricaded himself in the student council room), Rina (pigtail girl who was working with Maya at CDC) and Rina's twin brother (new character), Akira, who has become mute since both his parents (early Fafner test pilots) were assimilated by the Festum. Character development for these guys is a bit skimpy, but considering how much story the film manages to cover, it's actually pretty admirable how much and how cleverly they squeezed in what they did. Happily, the main focus remains on the older generation of pilots, who help the kids train throughout the movie because...The Festum are back! That is, after the successful attack on the Festum base in the North Pole two years prior, the Festum had ceased their attack on humanity and began settling in. Unfortunately, the Human Army couldn't just let things be and began atomic-bombing them, causing the Festum to split into two factions for the very first time: the main faction, which continues its ceasefire, and a more war-like one that wishes to continue destroying/assimilating all humans. These Festum have taken on a new form: "Aeolus" type, which looks a bit like a faster, meaner, more mobile Sphinx type (similar to the form Akane took at the end of the TV series) that incorporates the use of human weaponry for the first time. These ruthless Aeolus type and their core (which looks like a giant spore growing on top of an appropriated Human Army aircraft carrier) head, of course, straight for Tatsumiya Island and begin attacking.However, the other Festum faction also plays a hand--it sends an "emissary" to Tatsumiya Island in the form of a Festum-born human named Misao Kurusu. Misao is a fascinating character, "plugged in" to the Festum mind network like all Festum, but willing to learn about human existence/feelings and attempting to communicate in a human fashion with the inhabitants of Tatsumiya to make them "understand" him rather than simply "assimilating" them. However, his request is a shocking one: he wants Tatsumiya Island to allow him to assimilate their new core and join forces with his faction to kill off all the "other humans" who are "making pain multiply" for his people with their "fire" (i.e. atom bombs).While Fumihiko and the island elders try to figure out Misao's and the Festums' game, Kazuki wrestles with his resentment of Misao's presence here--if the Festum wanted to create a human body and send it as an emissary, why not Soushi? However, there is a strong connection between Misao and Soushi that Kazuki discovers by degrees (and which I won't spoil here). In short, Misao is instrumental to the hand Soushi has played to bring about lasting peace between the Festum and the humans, and his choices toward the end of the film will have powerful and far-reaching effects on the fate of Tatsumiya and our heroes.Overall, a very ambitious film that manages to tell an interesting new chapter of the tragic and very thought-provoking war between the humans and the Festum, while giving fans all the satisfying little character moments and interactions we've missed (and cameos by just about EVERYONE in the TV series. Er, almost.), plus some amazing-looking battle scenes. Throw in two amazing, new songs from angela (including the epic ending theme, "Soukyuu," that almost friggin sums up the awesome of the entire show in a single song!), all our beloved Japanese voice actors back to act their roles admirably, some pretty decent new English dub actors (I'm a JYB fan, but I think I actually preferred Micah Solusod in the role. He got Kazuki's emotion and personality just perfect, though of course, no one can really be Kazuki but Makoto Ishii in my book... ;-D). My only complaint is that the phenomenal musical score from the Fafner TV series... is completely the same. As in, they only wrote/recorded one new song, which is good, but a bit of a letdown considering just HOW amazing the original anime soundtrack was and how amazing a souped up/re-arranged new theatrical score would've been from series composer Saitou Tsuneyoshi. (maybe he was busy? What a shame...)Highly, HIGHLY recommended. (though I do rec watching the EXCELLENT TV series first. Just be patient with the clunky beginning--the 1st half of the series is rough but the 2nd half is SUBLIME). I was thrilled to find Fafner: Heaven and Earth in Amazon's Top 10 Anime of 2012 List--this is a hidden gem of a film that truly deserves the recognition!

This anime was totally awesome down to the voice acting and the other great effects i give it 5 out of 5

Pretty good, actually really awesome at times wish the series had been in BD as its really gorgeous looking for all the fast paced fafner festum battles. And really emotionally intense too with the plot, poor Kazuki and even Kurusu. Not to dig into the plot too much but pretty well done with exploring things from the Festum perspective via Kurusu, as well as Kazuki and some Soushi there. Friendship moments are strong and the ending was really pleasing to me.Visually looks fantastic for mecha anime in 1080p HD, really well done and fast action high paced and intense.I hope theres another movie as one huge plot point is still unresolved or possibly two. Peace with the UN, their still on the run from them and their still attacking festum in the North pole for example.angela music so good for insert and the credits theme and solid dub as like the tv anime. Good bd from funi.

Picks up the story 2(?) years after the end of the series as the Festum find the island once more. The pilots this time don't have such a high mortality rate as compared to the series so it has that going for it. If you've watched the series you know what I mean.The movie wraps up the series enough that you can stop here and consider it the end or wait until late 2013/early 2014 for a follow up movie and another season of episodes scheduled to be released in Japan. That supposedly will advance the story another 2-4 years after this movies events.

the animation is great! Fafner fans won't be disappointed with the story NO SPOILERS HERE! You have some new characters that join the fight at least and a new sorda villain dude but, yeah it makes you excited to see if they create a new season in the future which I hope they do:)

Pretty good, even though I haven't watch all of the series yet. Earth is a battleground against aliens, however, there is a small contingent of survivors that stand alone versus the invaders. And the aliens have also sected into total annihilation of the humans or a smaller group willing to compromise for peace.

its a movie that if you didn't watch the series or know about it you wouldn't understand and that's my whole con about this movie its hard to follow and understand the concepts and its not even worth it to watch again to try to understand it. there's no gripping dialogue or parts where you say "i have to watch that part again" this movie makes no effort to make someone who has never watched the series understand. that's my biggest problem with this.

Enjoyed the artwork, storyline and it is worth seeing

I loved the series,and this new movie is an excellent sequel.The only drawback,was that Funimation was not able to get the original v.a. for the English dub (except for stephanie sheh).

ＴＶ版と違ってプラケースを包んでいる紙箱に底があるので落下する心配はありません。上から取り出すようになっています。しかしプラケースを包んでいるパッケージを剥がす時には注意が必要です。中を開くとわかるのですがディスクを収める場所はすべてプラスチックでふさがれていません。とがったもので乱暴にパッケージを開けると場所によってはディスクが傷つくおそれがあります。日本のＢＤレコーダーで音声切り替えで日本語を選択するだけで字幕もなく視聴できます。

日本語版本編も入ってます。英語版もあります。このギャップをこの難しい作品でどう埋めているのか。それを見つけるのも楽しいかと。

中に一騎総士のイラストがあって、中身も日本版と遜色ありません。ただ、延々と、向こうの声優さんのコメントを聞かされるのはどうかと思ったくらいです。