Jinki: Extend Preview

Jinki: Extend Preview

Hawkeye

Aoba loves to make models of mechs. She’s an expert at making them seamless, having original and creative designs, and she’s even won a few contests for them. She’d happily spend the rest of her life locked away in her room making them, but everything changes when her beloved caretaker, her grandmother, dies. Snatched right off the street, she’s taken to a top secret facility where there are real-life gigantic fighting machines. Aoba is, of course, immediately in love. But her dream is soon put into perspective as she witnesses the reason for a real mech. Strange mech-like creatures called Ancient Jinki are attacking the earth, and the small task force by the name of Angel are the only ones who can stop them. Aoba is determined to help save the world, and trains hard to become a mech pilot, but there was devious plots lurking in the background, and it’s only a matter of time before the trouble truly begins.

Jinki: Extend isn’t just a run of the mill fighting with mechs anime. The story is much more complex then just battle. There are secrets and mysteries, in-depth characters with history, and a whole new spin on the real world. I was surprised to find myself so compelled within just three episodes.

The animation was excellent. A lot of anime with mechs will try to make it “cooler” or more “cutting edge” by introducing 3D elements, such as fully rendered mechs. If you ask me, that’s just a way to cheap out on having to draw something complicated. However, Jinki: Extend didn’t use 3D animation and everything was perfectly blended 2D animation with an amazing attention to detail. Drawing the mechs in this style may be old school, but there’s something to be said for classic technique, like the fact that it looks better then any of the half-assed rendered crap out there. The characters were also original in design, but not too over the top. They looked like normal people without having to parade about with pink hair to be remembered. I’m all for the wacky hair and costumes, but it’s nice to see the realistic approach so well done.

The sound was good. The voice acting seemed really spot on for the characters and none of them, not even the little girls, gave me headaches. I was fairly impressed by the battle sounds, as well as all the sound effects with the mechs themselves. It added a sense of realism and ambiance that contributed to the story well. I don’t remember much about any music in the show, but that simply means it was standard, not bad, but not amazing.

Between the rating being PG and the picture of a little girl on the cover I was prepared to be disappointed. Sure it looked like it had a cool mech, but where was the fun if it was rated PG? I was wrong to judge this anime by its cover. The plot was intricate and interesting, the characters captivating, and the animation amazing.