The Essentials
Name: Infinite Ryvius
Genre: Science-Fiction, Action, Psychological, Mecha
Episodes: 26
Released: October 10, 1999 - March 29, 2000
Based On: N/A
Director: Goro Taniguchi
Produced By: Bandai Visual, Sunrise
US Distribution By: Bandai Entertainment
Major Japanese Cast
Kouji Aiba: Tetsu Shiratori
Yuki Aiba: Souichiro Hoshi
Ikumi Oze: Tomokazu Seki
Aoi Housen: Houko Kuwashima
Kozue Izumi: Sakura Tange
Airs Blue: Nobuyuki Hiyama
Juli Bahana: Kyoko Hikami
Stein Heigar: Isshin Chiba
Faina Shinozaki: Rikako Aikawa
Neeya: Rei Sakuma
Lucson Houjou: Bin Shimada
Major English Cast
Kouji Aiba: Brad Swaile
Yuki Aiba: Kirby Morrow
Ikumi Oze: Bill Switzer
Aoi Housen: Alexandra Carter
Kozue Izumi: Jocelyne Loewen
Airs Blue: Andrew Francis
Juli Bahana: Kelly Sheridan
Stein Heigar: Matt Smith
Faina Shinozaki: Chiara Zanni
Neeya: Chantal Strand
Lucson Houjou: Samuel Vincent
Scores
Animation: 7/10 (x 4 = 28 pts)
Story: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Music: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: 10/10 (x 2 = 20 pts)
English Dubs: 9/10 (x 1 = 9 pts)
Gut Score: 8/10 (x 5 = 40 pts
Total: 169/200 (84.5%)
Review
Infinite Ryvius is a story about a group of students who remain on a space training facility during a holiday break and who find themselves in the middle of crisis when someone sabotages the facility they are stationed on. This results in the station under dire threat of destruction by it sinking into the Geduld - a sea of radioactivity and intense gravity pressure that covers a large portion of the orbital plane in the solar system. The teaching staff who remain on the station sacrifice themselves in an attempt to save the station, leaving the students on their own.
Suddenly, an a ship named Ryvius hidden unknowingly within the training facility activates and saves the students from the Geduld. The students migrate to the new ship and wait for a rescue. However, instead of being rescued, the Earth military attacks them, attempting to secretly gain control of the Ryvius. The students must learn how to control their new ship as well as escape from the very people who are supposed to save them. But the crew may be as doomed from what happens on the ship than from their pursuers.
Infinite Ryvius clearly draws heavily from the Lord of the Flies as the 500 teenaged students on board attempt to govern themselves. Over the course of the series, several groups take over control of the ship, attempting to implement their own brand of leadership, none being particularly successful in doing so. As the weeks and months drag on with continuous battles against those who wish to take the ship for themselves and with no rescue in sight, those running the ship at any particular time have to keep everyone else motivated to keep working so that Ryvius remains operational.
Besides the macro-sociological picture, the series also focuses on the personal interactions between a large number of characters, but most specifically between the two brothers Kouji and Yuki Aiba, who are on bad terms with each other, their childhood friend Aoi, who can’t make up her mind which of the two Aiba brothers she loves, Kouji’s friend from the station Ikume and his quasi-girlfriend Kouze whom Ikume is obsessed about protecting.
While there are a lot of space battles, one’s interest in them may drop as the series progresses because, while each space battle is unique, they kind of all have the same type of feeling towards them. Instead, the most interest part of the anime are the social interactions of all the characters with each other, especially given the large number of characters. On top of the 5 main characters above, there are members of a group called the Zwei, who are training to be the next ship commanders, members of a powerful gang, as well as numerous other cliques which form over the course of the series.
The problems of a group of inexperienced students being on their own become more and more apparent as the series progresses, with the crew often suffering from the split personality of demanding equality of all students, and being angered when any single group takes command and attempts to institute rules of a society on the ship, yet at the same time often blaming whoever is in control at the time of not doing a good enough job of keeping order or of getting them rescued. A viewer of the show watches it almost like a train-wreck in slow motion as they watch the society on the ship degrade slowing by constantly as the series continues on.
As for the technical aspects, the animation is probably about average, with it not really being anything spectacular. The music is unique though, main based on a mix of rap, rock, and pop. The coherence of the story is pretty good considering each episode is pretty much based on what occurs in the previous episodes. There is very little wasted time screen on stories not related to keeping the story moving. The dubs are also pretty good.
Given the genres mixed in this series - sci-fi fantasy as well as psychological - this anime may only meet some people’s tastes, but if you’re one who is into those particular genres, there is a good chance you’ll life Infinite Ryvius.
First Watched: June 2006 - February 2007
Do I Own: Yes
Do I Recommend: Yes
