Presentation
The box art is a simple design of Goro in a space suit in the outer reaches of space with moon eclipsing the sun behind him. It does a pretty good job of showing what to expect of the artwork. Both DVD’s cases have a very nice profile of each of the main characters, more specifically the ones they tend to focus on during that particular volume. The discs themselves display a beautiful picture of earth as viewed from space. The art in the series is an interesting mix of heavy CGI and realistic looking hand drawn animation. There are quite a few scenes where it looks incredibly realistic and creates a breathtaking effect. The character designs are realistic; though at times seem to be a bit too sharp-featured. Don’t expect to see too many pretty boy designs as both main characters are ruggedly handsome very robust guys. There is a small amount of nudity in the series as both characters seem to really enjoy their pursuit of woman, even going as far as making it a tradition to get laid before a mission. However, the nudity isn’t gratuitous in any sense and is handled with a non-chalant attitude. They don’t hide nudity when it’s appropriate for a scene but nor do they offer a lot of fan service for those that would be looking. The music in this series is appropriately dramatic. Tense at the moments when it should be, and easy going when the scene is a bit more relaxed. The opening and closing songs are sad, soft ballads with a bit of whimsical attitude to them. Both voice acting groups do a great job expressing the attitudes and emotions of the characters, though as is commonplace the difference in dialogue are considerably different, with the American offering more use of cursing and slang then are appropriate at times.
Extras
The Extras are pretty much standard for what you’d see in most series. A clean version of the opening and closing songs, as well as a handful of well thought out trailers for the videos about to come out. Sad to say though, that’s about all it offers. It saddens me not to see more series with offers of commentary or character designs.
Overall this anime is an intense dramatic insight into what it’s like to try to get into space.