Angel Links

Summary: >

As dictated in her grandfather's will, Meifon Li inherits a security organization which escorts transport ships across the galaxy. A cutting edge ship known as the Angel Links is constructed, with Meifon as it's new captain. Meifon proves capable, but it's still strange that a 16 year old girl would be given such a position. Is there a reason she was chosen to inherit the position?

Thoughts: >

Angel Links is a 1990s sci-fi anime taking place in the same universe as Outlaw Star, which was a fun anime I've always had a soft spot for. The two series are otherwise completely unrelated.

The sci-fi designs and concepts are totally awesome. For a TV anime, this show is exceptionally well designed with vibrant colors and cool futuristic space ships. There are a few out of place CGI effects occasionally added which aged poorly, but generally it looks great and it's well animated. The Angel Links (the ship) has a stock launch sequence reused in a few episodes, but it was cool enough that I didn't mind watching it each time. The energetic soundtrack compliments the show nicely. Everything would be great if it weren't for the disaster of a story.

Angel Links mostly revolves around 16 year old Meifon Li, with boobs big enough to be considered sidekicks. As unremarkable as she is, she's the strongest character in the show. The crew is an odd rag-tag bunch with diverse traits and unique skills. While they're nothing special, a few are interesting in their own right, but like everything else, this anime can't assemble a good enough story to let them flourish.

The sci-fi aspects of Angel Links are handled with intelligence. Nothing about the futuristic environment is ever illogical, so at least one person on the team making this anime had a brain. Which makes it mysterious how the story is assembled so poorly, just to thrust a shoddy plot forward. On a per episode basis, stories are disjointed, with contrived plot events. The big plot has a fair twist to it, but then it's like Angel Links had no clue where to go with it. The last episode just plain sucked.

In the end this anime comes down to what you want. Angel Links is exceptionally strong with a great sci-fi presence, bolstered by intelligence, great design and wonderful animation. But the characters are just there, and the story... sucks. It seems like that should be enough to sink this one, but space sci-fi anime is a rarity (these days) and nothing about this anime is deliberately terrible so it still may be worth picking up. I'm a little surprised I liked it as much as I did, considering how this review went.

Screen Caps: >