Solty Rei. Solty god damn Rei. Instead of yammering on, I'll just quote a review-ish recommendation I made on another site I go to…
WARNING: possible tl;dr. I tend to be wordy when I'm praising things.
! As you may already know, I got a series boxset for a steal. Less than half the price. That series was a little something I saw the first 3 episodes of awhile ago: Solty Rei.
Never, and I mean never, have I seen a show with so much balls that didn't have "Geass" in the title…
! Let's start this off with a picture...
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! Solty Rei decides to really, really screw with your head; it starts out with one of the most basic premises in anime history: mystery girl comes from nowhere, has amnesia, also has superpowers, man takes her in, they connect.
! Now here's where the series throws some curveballs…
! The "man character" is a broken older man. Bounty hunter Roy Revant. His wife died of cancer, and after swearing to her that he'd protect his young daughter, his daughter dies in a catastrophic accident called the Blast Fall. He's in a state where any other anime would make him an angsty bitch. In fact, later in the series, we see, much more intimately than the initial flashbacks, how Roy crashed after his daughter's death. Had it been a younger man mourning over, say, a girlfriend, his behavior would be akin to an angsty little bitch. However, what we witness is a man going through something heavier than that. Something a younger crowd couldn't emphasize with; a father, losing his daughter, after she dies right in front of him. With even more context than that behind the events. Solty, a mysterious girl, literally falls into his life, and in doing so gets him out of a dangerous situation. So, for saving his life, he gives her clothes to wear, and lets her stay the night…
! However, since she knows nothing about herself, and since Roy was kind to her, he's all she knows, now. So she follows him. Thing is, Roy isn't your typical protagonist. He really, really, wants nothing to do with this girl. He constantly tries to ditch her, slams the door in her face, you name it. However, Miranda (his boss, landlord, late wife's best friend, and the closest thing Roy has to a friend), with some clever prodding, manipulates Roy into taking her in. Even adopts her, in his name, behind his back (making her Solty Revant). What follows is two volumes of fluffy entertainment. Not bad, but not mind blowing. The biggest draw is both the very well fleshed out cast, and yes, the endearing scene of a man who lost everything finally finding some light in his life through his new daughter, albiet gradually (and he's not gonna show it anytime soon). Also, we're teased with little bits of secret info that keep you wondering. They hint that there may be something bigger out there, plot-wise. Little, tease-y bits...
! One of the best little unique bits is that the main guy and the mystery girl form a father-daughter bond. Normally, series like this have the girl meet a younger guy, and they fall in love. This comes off as much more mature with the alternate angle. And even though I normally hate characters like her, I can't help but find Solty herself endearing...
! See how I said two volumes? There are six. When volume 3 hits... Holy shit...
! This show basically walks up to you, cracking its knuckles, then this happens:
"Hey, viewer?"
"Yes, Solty Rei?"
"Whaddya think of the show?"
"Well, this show's got a lot of overused concepts. Future world, mystery girl, a group of girls-with-guns... But you've got a great cast. Really saves the show."
"That what you think?"
"Yeah. It's fluff, but it's good, well-written fluff. Good entertainment, though a bit mindless..."
"That so, huh? Hey look, we're at volume 3."
"Huh? What's so special about--"
Then the series proceeds to PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE. VIOLENTLY. SEVERAL TIMES. THEN IT KICKS YOU IN THE NUTS!
! When shit begins to happen, it happens hard. And heavy. In fact, this shit gets very heavy. Suddenly main characters are dropping like flies, huge conspiracies are unfolding, and the show begins to pull Geass Moments on you. What are Geass Moments? Why, Geass Moments are those huge, major bombshells, plot twists, what-have-you that are so huge, and so shocking, they make you yell something out loud. They reduce people like me to members of the audience at a Def Jam show. I literally spent the entire last episode of volume 3 repeating "I can't believe they did that… I can't believe they actually went that way... This show... Ohmigawd, this show....!"
! Yes, main characters die. In fact, you begin to actually fear for the other characters. You watched some major characters die. And die quick and suddenly. Real, suprising deaths that just hit you. No buildup, no dramatic music befor it happens, just BANG! Dead main character. So when any member of the cast gets into a dangerous situation; holy shit, they might really not make it out! Watch who you get attatched to in Solty Rei… Okay, it's not on the level that S-CRY-ed killed off its cast, but it's still significant. And notably, they kill off characters most anime series wouldn't have the balls to off. Characters that fans and otaku would cling to like babies.
! The next part is about the ending. It doesn't spoil anything, but smarter folk may figure out a couple things from my wording, so I'll spoiler tag it.
! Thank GOD it had a nice, happy ending! I'm sorry, but after some of the shit that show assaulted me with, I could NOT take a bittersweet, or open-ended ending. After the shit these characters go through in the course of this show, god dammit, it NEEDS to fucking go out on Happily Ever After! These people fucking EARNED it!
! For GOD'S SAKE get this show! You can get this entire, great series for thirty fucking dollars! THIRTY DOLLARS! You have no god damn excuse! GET IT!
! Luckily for you, FUNimation has episode 1 and episode 2 to view for free on their site! Check it out! Yes, that's right, it's done by FUNimation. In fact, Roy himself is played masterfully as Chris Sabat (who apparently liked the show so much, he commemorated working on it by getting the same arm tattoo that Roy has. No lie)!