Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet Review

While fighting an intense inter-galactic war, a mecha pilot was accidentally warped into a space-time neither he nor the computer of his mecha could recognize. After waking up from a long-time hibernation, he found himself trapped on a planet, with human residents talking in an unknown form of language, using inferior technologies, and -- most shocking to him -- naturally breathable air.

Story & Characters -

The best way to describe "Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet" is the term fish out of water. The story main protagonist Ledo only knows one thing and that's battle. His entire life he has been trained and bred for battle and war. When he awakens on Earth with limited technology, and a different style of living he has to learn how to adapt to Earth. Watching Ledo interact with various situations such as not killing during battle, learning to how use money and understanding the fundamentals of family, friends and human emotions is the driving force of the anime and it succeeds greatly. I found Ledo likable but also felt sorry for him. He's a character that is human but is learning about what it means to be human. All he know is battle and for him to be put in a world, where he has to learn basic human interactions was a pleasure to watch. Ledo has a great supporting cast to help him on his journey as well. Two of the characters that standout is Amy and her brother Bevel. Amy and Bevel serve as Ledo's guide or moral compass on this world. I really enjoyed these two supporting characters because Bevel is not able to do anything because of his disease. Where Ledo comes from people who are sick or unable to work don't exist they are taken out. It was great in episode 4 to see how Ledo reacts to Bevel and how he learned from him. All of the things Ledo learns comes to ahead when his enemy resurfaces, here he has to make decisions which is more important the battle or his new found sense of worth. The story of "

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet" is a more of a character study on a man who has to adapt to a new way of life. Each character adds something to the progression of our protagonist and it's a fun ride. 

Voice Acting -

I really enjoyed the English dub of this anime. Alan Lee does a great job as Ledo. Lee brings a calm but insecure voice to Ledo which works well due to the characters uncertainty. Matt Mercer also lends his talents as the artificial intelligence Chambers. Mercer has a great voice for artificial intelligence, he adds more personality to a character that would be a one note character. Overall the show features solid performances from everyone such as Michelle Ruff, Kyle Hebert and Cassandra Morris/

Music & Animation:

The composition is pretty good by Taro Iwashiro. The use of strings, piano and horns work well for emotional scenes. The battle themes are okay but nothing that screams epic. The opening and closing theme songs song by Choucho and Minori Chihara is catchy. The music works well for the theme and tone of the anime. The animation is done well as well. The highlight of the animation is the illumination of the ocean. The battles are shot very well as well and the use of lighting with the sun is great. The animation is not in my top 5 but it's still beautiful to look at for today's anime.

Final Grade 8.0/B-: "

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet" is a good anime that has a great character study. It uses the theme of a fish out of water effectively. It has great characters, a moving protagonist and cool 

production from the music, voice acting and animation.