Fafner in the Azure
Children pilot mecha against alien Festum in a war for survival.
Fafner in the Azure is a mecha anime franchise from Japan, created by Xebec and Starchild Records. It centers on children piloting Fafner mechs in a war against giant aliens called Festum. The first series, Dead Aggressor, aired on TV Tokyo from July to December 2004.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Mecha
- Creator
- Xebec; Tow Ubukata
Facts from the source article.
Synopsis
In the Dead Aggressor story arc, much of the world has been destroyed by the Festum, and the remote Japanese island of Tatsumiya has remained unscathed only because of an advanced cloaking shield. The island's young people live unaware of these events until a lone Festum discovers Tatsumiya and attacks. Adults activate the island's hidden defense systems but many are killed through assimilation. They deploy the Fafner Mark Elf, but its pilot dies en route. A young boy named Kazuki Makabe becomes the replacement pilot, assisted by Sōshi Minashiro from within the Siegfried System. After the Festum is destroyed, the adults relocate the island and accelerate production of additional Fafner units, recruiting more children as pilots. It is revealed that the cloaking was meant to conceal Tatsumiya not only from the Festum but also from other humans who would seek its technology. A prequel follows Yumi Ikoma and Ryou Masaoka, children selected for a top-secret mission as pilots of the first Fafner combat units, the last chance for humanity. The enemy can read human minds, so mission details are kept secret even from personnel. The young pilots must use courage and faith to survive and complete their mission.
Media
The television series Fafner in the Azure: Dead Aggressor ran on TV Tokyo from July to December 2004. The band angela provided the opening theme "Shangri-La," the insert song "Proof" for episode 15, and the ending theme "Separation." A 50-minute prequel special, Fafner in the Azure: Right of Left, aired in December 2005, with angela performing its ending theme "Peace of Mind." Geneon originally licensed the TV series under the shorter title Fafner, but it is now out of print. Two OVAs summarizing the series, Fafner in the Azure: Arcadian Memory, came out in 2005 and 2006. The film Fafner in the Azure: Dead Aggressor: Heaven and Earth debuted in Japan on December 25, 2010, with angela handling all its theme songs, including the image themes "FORTUNES" and "Rikai to Hakai e no Prelude," the ending "Sōkyū," and the insert "Sayonara no Toki Kurai Hohoen de." A sequel, Fafner in the Azure: Dead Aggressor -EXODUS-, aired from January to December 2015 on MBS and other stations, set two and a half years after the film; its first episode is ten minutes longer on home media. Another sequel, Fafner in the Azure: The Beyond, was announced in December 2016 and later confirmed as a 12-episode series. Its first three episodes premiered in theaters on May 17, 2019, with episodes four through six on November 8, 2019, episodes seven through nine on November 13, 2020, and episodes ten through twelve on November 5, 2021. It was released on Crunchyroll as "Fafner THE BEYOND" on March 25, 2025.
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