A/N: Screenshots for episode 1 are up now~ I want to include some in this article, but WordPress doesn’t give me that much space. :P

After waiting for a fansub to be released, I finally caught the much-anticipated Dragonaut on crunchyroll. It turned out that my first impressions about the series were largely correct. It’s like Eureka Seven in terms of its sci-fi roots and mysteriousness, but it has the dark side of Code Geass. I was wrong about the Code Geass levels of fanservice, though; it turns out Dragonaut almost rivals Godannar!

The episode opens with a flashback to the accident in which the main character’s family was killed. Yes, it’s a lame way to open a series, but it’s the aftermath of the accident that’s interesting. Jin, the main guy, ends up as an apathetic loner, much like Evangelion’s Shinji Ikari. He’s not a crybaby, though, but he’s not a jerk either: he exists as a mere shell of a person most of the time. As overused as this type of character is, Jin doesn’t wallow in his misery as much as we’d expect, at least in this episode.

Many other characters get introduced in this episode, but none of them get enough screen time to fully get to know them. Toa seems like an average mysterious girl at this point, but the series seems to hint at future character development for her. The other characters are all interesting enough, but none of them screams ‘future favorite character’ at me right now.

Also notable are the opening and ending themes. Normally the music in a series doesn’t really affect how much I like it, but Dragonaut’s OP and ED add a lot of atmosphere, if that’s the right word, to this first episode. They’re both by groups I’ve never heard of (Jazzin’ Park and Yukari Fukui, respectively) so I’ll have to research and see if this is their anime debuts.

Dragonaut -The Resonance- is still on my to-watch list this fall, despite not quite meeting my expectations. I still believe that fans of Eureka Seven will find this series to be very worthwhile, and Gonzo fans should give this a try as well.

CJ’s rating: 8 out of 10 California rolls