Rating: 7.2/10

Overall Series Rating: 7.5/10

Impressions:

Sky Girls concludes with episode 26, and IMO, it’s a show that completely wastes its initial potential to become a great action/mecha series. Instead, it becomes more of a slice-of-life/feel-good show, but that’s not entirely bad anyway. If I were to judge it without thinking about possible outcomes, I would say this show has been enjoyable. But also, I wouldn’t recommend the show to someone looking for a fast paced action series. If I were to judge the show on how effectively it utilises its mecha/action genre, I would say it fails completely, due to the weak story and slow pacing.

This last episode is more like an OAV than a conclusion, as it is dedicated to an aftermath of the events of the first 25 episodes, set half a year after the conclusion (which was episode 25). The Sonic Divers have been turned into a rescue unit, and a fresh group of new trainees are under the supervision of Eika, who still works in the military. Most of the others have returned to a normal life, which is a bit disappointing as it makes it seem like everything they’ve been through has amounted to nothing. Anyway though, Otoha and the others are recalled back to base to perform a flight demonstration for the new trainees.

I hate how Otoha ends up being just some other, perfectly normal pilot. The show tells us she’s nothing special, because she does nothing special. If her DNA actually caused her to become superior to the other pilots, that would be something to see, but everything ends up being about friendship, teamwork, and other non-shounen aspects. But the trouble is, there aren’t enough shounen features in the show, apart from maybe girls in eva-ripped plugsuits, which results in a rather dull final production. The series ends on a light note, and it doesn’t look like there will be a sequel, unless they make the WORMs reappear again. So, until then…

Rating: 7.5/10

Impressions:

Technically, this is the concluding episode. The final episode will be an aftermath that takes place six months after the destruction of the worm nest. I’m afraid I have to say that this series has been quite a big letdown. It fails to overcome its episodic nature, even during the climax of the story, while character usage is poor, and execution of this episode doesn’t improve my views either. On the other hand, animation, quality, and the ‘feel-good’ aspect of the show prove to be excellent, so if you never saw this series as an action/mecha/sci-fi show, then it probably would have been a nice ride for you.

Ok, more on the problems I had with this episode, and the conclusion in general: character usage—none of the characters really had an outstanding and obvious role to take. Otoha’s only significance is her connection with Yuuki; she never displays any excellence in her piloting, and she just happens to be the only one left to save the day in the end. In short, she neither impresses, not proves her worth. Similarly, all the other characters fail to do much either. Aside from character-development, Eika and Karen hardly ever do anything important. The higher-ups of the ship are also ‘just there’. Anyway, let’s see what kind of situation the next episode has to offer.

Rating: 8/10

Impressions:

So much for conspiracies. Heck, we didn’t even get any suspense of build up in the last few episodes, and again, everything happens far too easily and smoothly. No twists, no ‘real’ drama, and no emphasis on the Sonic Diver piloting aspect until now (which is, mind you, extremely important). Prior to this episode, piloting the Sonic Divers has never been made an important aspect of the show. Nothing goes wrong, no angst results from it, no extra emotions well up from piloting them etc. The lack of this strongly reminds me of Stratos 4, and the far better job it does in making flying important.

So now we get to the final phase of the show, and things are starting to heat up, but unfortunately, just in the usual way. Otoha has yet to properly kick butt—she’s supposed to be the heroin and the awesome ‘many folds above everyone else’ character in piloting abilities. Even her sword wielding doesn’t do anything; all she has to do is stab the WORM and initiate a group attack with it. Sigh…even the OAV makes her appear so much more important. Ah well, it’s still been a fun ride. There are only two more episodes left, so hopefully, things will leave off with a bang at least.

Rating: 8/10

Impressions:

Banzai! The story finally comes to a climax…or should I say, to a start. On the fourth last episode, we get emotional drama and a determined ‘goal’ for the show. Usually, this goal is brought to light a lot earlier, but in the cases that it’s not, everything before it builds up to it. But unfortunately, Sky Girls does none of that. Luckily I was hooked after seeing the OAV; otherwise, I may have dropped this show long ago. The good things though, are the characters. Ignoring the complications brought by undisciplined and easy going young girls working as front-line combatants, I’d say the Sky Girls team is an awesome one (for entertainment).

Rating: 7.2/10

Impressions:

I was at quite a loss when it turned out that the episode would focus on a Christmas party—the lack of any serious events astounded me to now end. Thankfully, we end with an interesting turnout; an encounter with an apparent WORM, with the physical appearance of Yuuki when he disappeared several years ago. I wonder if it could possibly be Yuuki himself, though it’s most likely a WORM that had taken on his appearance. Aside from that, the talk of Sakurano piloting the new Sonic Diver makes me wonder whether it’s referring to Otoha, or perhaps her brother. I had, however, been assuming the pilot would be Aisha, as she seems to be jobless at the moment.

Rating: 8/10

Impressions:

For a fireworks display, this episode isn’t too shabby. However, I can’t help but feel that everything going on at the moment is happening too easily. Essentially, there’s no havoc, no desperation coming from anywhere. Everything is simply too carefree. I wouldn’t be surprised if even the next episode features some light hearted character-developing episode that doesn’t go anywhere. I’m actually quite surprised that Vic Viper and the Sonic Divers are on such good terms. Even now, a major antagonist has yet to be unveiled, so I have no idea how everything is going to end.

Rating: 7.5/10

Impressions:

An Aisha development episode…I can’t say her character appeals to me much—her robotic nature isn’t easily liked by others. However, she makes an interesting development in the show, and because of her, it seems like we’ll be finding out a lot more about Otoha’s past, and perhaps her brother as well. Still, this episode is too light for my liking. I’m beginning to think that the show is just going to end with the WORM factory’s destruction, without developing any kind of continuous plot at all. The beginning and end of every little mishap is contained within an episode, giving the series a disjointed feel, and there are only six episodes left…

Rating: 7.5/10

Impressions:

It was mentioned during the beginning of the series, and now it has come to light again—Otoha’s unusually high synch rate. There are probably a number of possibilities as why this is so, such as a similar ‘origin’ to Aisha, a ‘better’ DNA structure, or another outside influence, which may have occurred during the disappearance of her brother. It’s about time for her to step up now; it has been too long since she last showed excellence in combat and piloting abilities. Aside from that, it looks like Aisha will be piloting a Sonic Diver as well. Either that the eye catch artists simply wanted some more drawing material…

Rating: 8/10

Impressions:

That was unexpected—for once, a serious, or even grave episode, which I think was nicely done. The only real problem I have is the lack of screaming; I can’t imagine that everyone would remain calm if a humanoid freak of nature were to appear before them in dark and tight areas. Not only that, a few new mysteries arise as well. The first is Yuuki’s disappearance—a few episodes ago, IIRM, a creature with a childlike form emerges from the ocean…perhaps that might be the phenomenon of WORMS taking on the appearance of what they first see, and taking into account how Yuuki disappears…

The second is the arrival of someone with apparently the same origin as the WORMs, which appears to give her the ability to control Reijin , which also has a similar origin. Everything remains pretty vague, but it’s probable that a new threat to the Sky Girls’ positions has appeared. Either that, or she’s going to boost the Sonic Diver’s efficiency greatly, become a motherly figure to the girls and take on a supporting role…which I doubt. Whatever the case, hopefully this episode serves as the second turning point, where the story gets kicked into overdrive. Just killing WORMs isn’t enough.

Rating: 7/10

Impressions:

Ahh, this episode is far too happy. Can no tragedy ever happen in this show? They should have at least given the episode a gloomy feel, instead of playing overly cheerful music while Otoha and the others ‘build their civilisation’. This episode is yet again one to bring Elise and Eika together, but there’s definitely been enough of that. It seems that even after departing on Kouryuu, this show isn’t getting anywhere. It feels a bit like Pumpkin Scissors—even after the show takes a turn towards the true story, nothing really happens until the last few episodes.