Rating: 9.8/10

Overall Series Rating: 9.7/10

Impressions:

Man, now I’m sad. Not because this series has a mediocre ending or anything, but because it’s just so good in my opinion, that it’s quite hard knowing there won’t be any more for who knows how long. Perhaps never even. Stratos 4 has turned out to be one of my all time favourite shows, and it’s pretty disheartening to see it finish. As for this final episode though, I feel that it doesn’t have enough closure. There are still many things to resolve, such as Miharu and Sako’s daughter. The relationship between Karin and her…brother(?) also remain uncertain. Perhaps if there were more episodes, another conspiracy could develop regarding the parasite infections and using it to better or worsen the world. Apart from that though, the crisis-averted ending is a nice conclusion to this sort of series anyway, so I’m content with that. Overall though, I feel that the three new meteor sweepers didn’t get enough character development. I guess though, being an OAV, there wasn’t much time to include an episode that doesn’t advance the plot.

Speaking of that, over the course of Statos 4 Advance, there is no single, dominant plot which the show follows. It does make up for this by making al the small missions exciting and enjoyable though. I had been hoping from the start that these 6 (or what became episodes would be one continuous story, with a nice climax in the second to last and last episodes. Although that did not happen, it was highly enjoyable none-the-less. Maybe, just maybe, there will be another OAV…Oh and if you’re curious, when I say this show is one of my favourites, I mean I like it more than any of the fall season shows including Kanon, Death Note and Code Geass. By far. I wouldn’t put this in my top 5, but it’s in my top 10 definitely. I’d also like to mention that this series is not a mecha, which may put a lot of people off. The original television series starts of rather slowly, and I did find myself rather bored of the first half of the show. However, if there is ever a sequel, you’ll know which series is at the top of my priority to-watch list.

Rating: 9.2/10 & 9.6/10

Impressions:

Finally, things are getting really exciting, and it’s about time too. Several things are going on at once, and they will probably all tie together in the end. Karen still scares me though, as I have a feeling she still has some of the bacteria lying dormant in her, and the approaching meteors might trigger their awakening. Miharu wakes up too! I wonder what role she will play in the final episode, or perhaps she will just serve as a hindrance or mild enemy? And yay, the three new girls make their first successful mission! I was worried that they’d be neglected and forgotten as the show nears its end. I am still amazed at the CG though, as it is by far the best I’ve seen. I think the launch sequences and space shots are what really draw me in, as it gives the wonderful feeling of infinity. Ah, and come to think of it, I still haven’t seen the two Stratos 4 OAVs yet. It would be something if you were to watch all the Stratos 4 episodes consecutively, which would be 23 episodes altogether. That’s as long as a double-season series. And now for the final episode…

Impressions:

I think the reason why I like this show so much is because of the extremely realistic flight sequences. Not only that, they look awesome as well. The CG is implemented excellently and I can see nothing wrong with it. Although you can interpret this is a bad thing too, the realism of space makes mood of the show quite lonely and frightening. I think that’s a good thing though, as for example, it’s not good if you’re laughing at a scene where you’re meant to be bawling your eyes out, is it? It makes me think how the show would have turned out if it was a mecha series. Mecha is a lot harder to animated than still space ships, but from what’s available in Stratos 4 makes me think it would have the potential to be an awesome mecha. Another important quality factor in mecha is the scenes in the cockpit, which a lot of mecha fail in. I think Stratos 4 does their cockpit scenes quite nicely, even if no one moves around a lot. At least there’s a large range of angles that the shots are drawn from. I’m glad there was some action in space this time, since it feels like nothing is happening most of the time.

I may have misinterpreted this but does that engineer guy have a daughter? The one who’s married to the primary carrier of the seed. That little girl who’s forced to stay in a lab, she looks soo soulless. It’s quite sad, and the pictures she draws are disturbing. The episode also reveals that the seed might actually be a good thing. With that, it seems like some sort of story is finally starting. So far, there’s been virtually no progression in the plot, if there is any. All this time has been spent on slice-of-life events, except that everyone’s normal lives are spent at a space port. The characters seem to be getting developed all over again. I really hope something dramatic happens to break this constant cycle of small events. Or at least some sort of problem that’ll take a few episodes to resolve. The number of episodes for this OAV is still unclear to me, but it seems like there will only be 8. That’s only 3 episodes to create and finish something. Ayamo’s depression has some story to it I believe, and the deal with the girl who may be a carrier might be looked into further. However, the main issue better be more suspenseful and exciting than that. Perfect example: meteor crisis, of course. Then there are those guys who sent the false data…

Impressions:

So, as some of you may know, there are now eight episodes to Stratos 4 Advance. I was quite surprised when I found a torrent for the seventh episode when previously everywhere I checked, it said there were only six episodes. Apparently though, these extra two episodes are actually the mysterious Stratos 4 Advance Kanketsuhen eps I read on ANN. I would still consider them as part of Stratos 4 Advance though, as the same episode codes are used (to make it more fun, they can the episoes ‘code 200′ to ‘208′.) It would probably be easier to just do a single entry on episodes 3 – 7 right now, but I only downloaded seven to see whether it was real or not (and it is!) Anyway, this episode saw some return to the days when Stratos 4 was known for its infamous pantsu shots, though they weren’t as ‘extravagant’ as before. Plot-wise there really isn’t much going on at the moment, as the episodes are more like short stories, but with little bits of extra that will eventually come together in the end. I’m glad this whole other arc is an OAV, as that sort of guarantees to be better than average.

I’m not sure how important she is but Karin seemed pretty freaky this episode. It always happens when she talks because her lines are intentionally made to look like what a human puppet of slave would do with a narrow mind. The darkened face she had when she said everything was alright turned out to be nothing more than a small lie used to cheer the Comet Blaster pilots up. I still wonder whether the original four Meteor Sweeper team will become Comet blasters, but that doesn’t seem to be of any importance to the little plot that is present now. I really don’t think there will be a plot as interesting as the TV series, but just a major event where a huge chunk of space rock is missed by the Comet Blasters or whatever, resulting in Mikaze and co. having to take care of it. It’s also possible for the new trainees to save the day, but since they haven’t got nearly the same amount of attention the original four got in the TV series, I doubt it. In fact, right now it seems like those new girls are there just to make the show seem ‘new’.

Impressions:

The second episode of Stratos 4 Advance continues with excellent quality, and of course it has to be as it’s an OAV series. Although, it seems that the first episode was broadcast on TV first before being released on DVD, while the rest were released on DVD first, then broadcast on TV. But since the quality is at the expected of an OAV series, I’ll just assume it as that. By the way, I will write a summary of the entire series after finishing the rest of the series.

The three new test pilots got more air time this episode, which is good, though their significance to the story still hasn’t been revealed, if they do indeed have any. I wonder if the characters (especially Mikaze) will get into any emotional problems like the original series. It seems that something’s going on with Ayamo at the moment, so yes, there probably will be. One of the major things I liked about the TV series was the problems everyone faced – Mikaze’s will to go to space, Karin’s…’disease’ etc. However, there was also something that I didn’t appreciate too much. While the style of drawing that’s been used for the characters are (I think) near perfect (by that I mean the eyes aren’t too far apart, aren’t too big or small, the nose isn’t too far up or down, the cheeks aren’t too wide etc – yes I’m picky!), what does irritate me is the simplicity of the hairstyles. Everything is just too smooth, and there’s almost no variety. Even though that does make it seem more ‘normal’, Anime isn’t normal, which is why that aspect is pretty bad.

For some reason, I feel like I’m watching the repeat of a series even though I haven’t seen them before. That by all means is NOT an indication that it is repetitive (ok, what am I saying? Of course it’s repetitive! But what I AM saying is that it doesn’t bore or put me off at all. Just goes to show my faith in the series). I have to admit when I first watched it (the original), I had already downloaded half the series and seriously regretted it after watching the first two eps and not liking it. Back then, I DID think it was boring, so I left it at two eps, only to force myself to return to it after having nothing else to watch. And slowly, it became more interesting. The events that unfolded gradually became more exciting, puzzling and fun to watch. The last few eps where Mikaze and the others went to the Comet Blaster stations was a great end, and I was quite sad to see the series finish. I’m hoping something good will unfold in the remaining four episodes.

Stratos 4 Advance (OAV):

Stratos 4 Advance is the OAV continuation of Stratos 4. The original series aired in early 2003 and had 13 episodes. There was an OAV sequel with the same name, which was released in mid 2004 and contained 2 episodes (I have not seen this OAV). The sequel to that is Stratos 4 Advance, which was released in early 2005 with 6 episodes. I’m not sure when this was subbed but I found the torrents on Tokyo Toshokan, which seem to have been released quite recently. To be able to fully enjoy Stratos 4 Advance, you should watch the original series first. There also happens to be another sequel after Advance, called Stratos 4 Advance Kanketsuhen, as listed by ANN. For detailed information about the original series, I recommend you visit Stratos 4 entry in Wikipedia.

Impressions:

The reason I love sequels is because I can familiarize myself with the characters and setting after a long break. It always gives a sort of sense of reunion. One problem though, is when the gap between the original and the sequel (in terms of when I watch it) is too long, I tend to forget most of the events in the firts season. Unfortunately, this is the case with Stratos 4. I remembered the main parts as well as the ending, but that’s about it. After watching the first episode and doing a bit more research, I’ve finally caught up again. I would simply rewatch it, but I don’t have them… The first episode of Stratos 4 Advance feels exactly like the original series, but with much better quality. Of course, that is expected. The new characters intrigue me though. For a series with only 6 episodes, there isn’t a lot of time to settle those new characters in if they are meant to be mainer ones. Unless of course, they were never intended to be main characters. There should be more interaction with those new girls and the old characters, and so far there has been none. I would say “But it’s only the first episode!”, but like I mentioned a few lines ago it is only a six episode series. That is not long at all. I’ve decided not to write a summary for this episode. Instead, I will be posting my thoughts on each episode and screenies of course, and write a full review of the entire series once I’ve watched all of it. (And when I mean full, I mean brief. It will be longer than a normal episode summary, but since it’s six episodes, it can be considered brief).