Anime: Solty Rei 5hf5a

Solty Rei is basically GONZO trying to make some bucks out of those who like robot girls. And as expected they fail miserably because they are incompetent. This show came out in an era other anime like Ghost in the Shell or Chobits were already classics and instead of trying to play around with the formula, it basically did nothing with it.

So let me get things straight. The setting is a futuristic city where many people have cybernetic implants and the protagonist is a bounty hunter looking for his daughter. He is battling all sorts of robotic criminals while trying to reunite with his family, which is a noble cause and a nice premise. So in one of his missions he finds this unconscious trump girl and out of the goodness of his heart he takes her to his home instead to public service of something. It was already far fetched in Chobits or Elfen Lied but an adult cop doing the same is beyond all belief. So he finds out she’s a super powerful robot and soon makes her his cop aid instead of selling her to some laboratory for analyzing her.

As always, GONZO goes completely juvenile in the project and before you know it the whole series ends up being just short irrelevant missions full of pretty chicks, badly done CGI, convenient events, forgettable soundtrack, and lukewarm battles. The story becomes absent for most of the show before it goes for a last moment revelation and conclusion in the end, which by then has no interest because the whole show was retarded storytelling with no clear direction. For the same reason the characters never manage to become appealing to you, since the very story is not letting them being anything more than a tired archetype and any attempt to develop them feels totally stupid. Solty is nothing but a cliché robochick with a voice you just want to strangle her for, while Rose’s turnaround makes no sense at all.

There is nothing wrong with having guilty pleasure series where the story and the characters are unimportant, like in this case. In case they make one they need to be very extreme and fan servishy; a thing SR is not. It plays out as a poorly presented sci-fi anime on one hand and as a lukewarm fan service show on the other, so in effect it leaves you with no real fondness of it.

Since I was paying attention to the scores of such shows for many years, I clearly how it had an 8+ score the first 2 years after it aired. That had fooled a lot of newbs to consider it a good anime. In reality it was just stupid hype from Last Exile fans who were seeing GONZO and voting 10 without thinking further. Something similar to what happens with SHAFT today. In reality a simple breakdown of all it elements easily proves how weak it is compared to other anime that have a similar trope.
- Mahoromatic was a lot funnier and sexier for a robot chick (Solty’s moving hair reminded me of Mahoro)
- Cowboy Bebop had far more interesting bounty hunters
- Ghost in the Shell was far more mature when in came to human-machine fusion
- Queen’s Blade was a heavy fan service show

In effect you get nothing out of this show other than yet another reassurance of how incompetent GONZO was, is, and forever will be. Not recommended.

Solty Rei is one of the anime that I have avoided for a long time, because of a odd reason: I don't like the design of a particular character in the anime (oddly enough that of Solty) etc.. I really regretted that I have avoided the anime for a long time, since looks really say nothing about how good an anime is. [br][br]There may be some spoilers in this review, so beware if you haven't watched the anime yet (I try not to spoil too much).[br][br][br][br]Animation=8; the animation is quite good, you can see alot of CG in this anime. Personally, I don't like the design of particular characters, e.g. Solty. Somehow, I find the haircut of Solty odd, but not ugly. The action scenes are quite good in this anime.[br][br]Sound=9; the OP ("clover" by Meg Rock) and ED ("Float ～Sora no Kanata e～" by Tomoe Oumi) songs are very good. There's also one insert song that create the overall mood of the anime: "Return to love" by Geila Zilkha; a very beautifull jazz song. The voice-acting by the Seiyus is, as usual, very good. In my opinion, all the voices suit the characters in the anime perfectly. [br][br]Story=8; the Story is quite good, there are many twists and surprises in the anime Solty Rei (some may say there are too many of these surprises). (A part of) the story is about a father, Roy Revant, who lost his precious daughter in a great disaster, the socalled Blastfall. He still believes that his daughter is still alive and is searching for her. In the meantime, Roy encounter Solty (at the time she doesn't have a name, the name is later given to Solty by Roy). At first Roy finds Solty just annoying, maybe she's just a robot or maybe he just can't communicate with other people normally. At the end this changes, eventually he even sees Solty as his own daughter. Because of this the character development is really good. [br][br]What I also can say about the anime is that it got some cruel moments. Not because of violence (blood etc.) - the level of violence in the anime is quite acceptable, nothing too violent. It's more because a cruel act by someone, e.g. the main bad guy, who has a odd idea how the world should be, kills the woman instantly who has worked for and been in love with him for long time, because she's no more use for him anymore; or the parents would not see their beloved daughter (she died a horrible death) back because a sniper has killed her cowardly during a fight (no fair fight here!). [br][br]There are some many questions in this anime. Eventually, all this questions get its answers in the anime; e.g. why did the Blastfall happen, is the daughter of Roy still alive, who is Solty, what is Solty and what is the purpose of Solty etc. etc.? Only the ending of the anime is somewhat unclear; is it a happy, sad or semi- happy/sad ending?[br][br]Character=9; although I don't like the design of the character of Solty, especially her haircut, I do like her personality and her character development. Also how Roy sees Solty in the beginning and at the end of the anime is beautiful; it doesn't matter whether you are a being of flesh and blood or a being of metal and silicons, if you love her then you love her (Solty) as your daughter. Most of the other characters, i.e. good guys/girls are likable, so likable that you would feel sorry for them/ their family when they are betrayed and died a horrible death during the anime.[br][br]Value=7; as mentioned earlier, there are many surprises in this anime, so the re-view value would be not too high. But for the first watch, the anime is in my opinion quite exciting and unpredictable, but the surprises can be quite far-fetched for some.[br][br]Enjoyment=9; all the episodes are very enjoyable (even the "cruel' ones); the insert song creates a special mood in the anime which is a good thing. There are so many twists and surprises in this anime that make it good. But for people who first watches anime, Solty Rei may be too confusing for these people because the many twists and surprises. [br][br][br]Overall, Solty Rei is a very good anime which deserve the attention of all people who love anime and aren't scared of the many questions, twists, turns and the many surprises which can be quite far-fetched. [br]

Heh yet another mediocre gonzo anime.... For all who have seen other animes produced by them you will understand very quickly what I mean when you watch this anime. It goes by the usually nice animation, typical story and straight forward characters. The anime is based in the close future where alot of things are computerized. They also have robots, androids and people with robotic body parts. The whole idea around the parts called resembles is that 10 years before a BIG explosion happened causing people to lose limbs and such and such. The story starts off first with Roy who is looking for his lost daughter in the big accident. One day he meets a mysterious girl who he eventually starts to live with and the adventure starts there.

Animation
As always the animation is nice in gonzo animes. This is definitely one of the best features of watching gonzo they always pull through in this area. They have some cg used for background and vechile/robot scenes. Most of the scenes are drawn with a good amount of detail. The fight scenes are also done without the usual cheesy effects so all in all its very good.

Sound
The sound is average. They have decent opening and ending songs and background music works. I didn't really like the solty rei track though.... It didn't really have too much effect for me. But I guess it wasn't TOO TOO bad. All the voice acting is done well expect for solty's voice. Her voice and way of speaking makes her sound like a 5 year old.... I guess she's suppose to be like that but still I thought they could of given her an older voice?

Story
The story isn't bad... BUT it is WAY too predictable and run of the mill anime. There are some twists and some unexpected events. But the main plot as a whole did not show too much out of the ordinary. Its your typical sci fi/fantasy/action anime. You expect to get a little more complex explanations and work on some of the events which doesn't happen. Lets just say its not too different and orginal.

Characters
There is a fair bit of character development for all the main characters although some of it is confusing. The most confusing one is Rose. Her role gets a little jumbled up so it gets sort of confusing after half way... It all works out in the end anyway. The problem with this anime is that they introduce A huge cast of side/minor characters. Many of them are just there to move the anime along. Some are used in one episoide and then tossed aside. Theres nothing wrong with this method its just not the best of ways to do things, or so I believe. So they could of done a better job in this area.

Value and Enjoyment
They do attempt to shove some value here and there. Teach some lessons mainly towards robots/machines and how to treat them... Etc. Etc. Its not a great deal but its alright. They don't go out of there way to give more meaning just whenever they get a chance. It is an enjoyable anime although at the end of the day you probably won't too much of what you watched. Its definitely not something I would rewatch or recommend highly. It is good though for what its worth. Its definitely for gonzo fans, also thoses who like sci fi, action, fantasy genres. Although the sci fi part is very miniscule and mostly at the end. Either way its a good sit down and enjoy.

Animation: The animation was good in this anime, though the charactors could have been drawn a bit better. The CGI on the vehicles and machines was great in my opinion and landscapes were vry well designed.

Sound: The starting and ending themes were good, though not as good as others I have seen. The BG music for the sentimental scenes really added great effect and the action music was awsome if you like metal-ish music.

Story: The history they placed on the human race was a little wierd, but Soltys and Roses origins were quite good stories. I'd say its re-watchable just for the storyline.

Character: The Characters seemed quiet simple in the begining but they gradually developed and became quiet complex. The characters fluctuate from being lovable to love-to-hate and back again, but quiet easy to get attached to.

Value: Ones with sci-fi, mystery, and maybe a little cliche in their interests should love this anime. The action scenes and character plots in this anime are certainly something to write about. The re-run value of this show is very good. The cliff-hangers in this story add great must-see-more and shock factors.

Enjoyment: I just finished watching this anime myself. I must say it has been one of the best ones I have seen to date. Certainly one to watch again, and one to force your friends to watch.

Animation: Lots of computer generated graphics (all sorts of vechicles & machines) so if you're CGI-alergic avoid this anime. Characters are drawn ok, but you can't really say that they're special in any way. What's disturbing is that most of them (if not all) never change their clothes. They always look the same which is sort of weird (at least for me).

Sound: Sound is good, but not perfect nor breathtaking (that's why I gave it 8/10). Music is nice. Both opening, and closing theme are easy likeable so you don't have to skip them even if you watch more than one episode in a row. Rest of the music has it's charm.

Story: Story looks promising in the beginning. One may dream about something non-trivial in the end. However that will not happen. If after watching few episodes you think that you know how the series will probably end you're probably right. That lack of 'something different' is the main con of the storyline.

Character: Main character - Solty is somewhat similar to Chi from Chobits. Sweet, silly machine - nothing new here. The rest of characters aren't constructed in any innovative way. They're a work of an engineer - not artist. You can't say that any of them has deep personality.

Value: This anime hasn't got any value besides entertainment. If you look for something more go look elsewhere. However if you want to watch not very complicated story, with not very compicated characters that will not force you to use your brain to much, Solty Rei is the right choice.

Enjoyment: I enjoyed it as much as one can enjoy a mix of cliches. Watching it didn't hurt most of the time. If I had to rate this anime in one sentence I'd say: "Nothing special".

Animation: The animation if mostly computer generated but it looks good and a lot of it looks almost hand drawn. The character designs are nice and the action is fluid.

Sound: I really like the opening and ending songs. The music within the anime is good too. The voice actors fit their characters and are good.

Story: The story so far is pretty episodic, but there does seem to be an underlying arc. It seems kind of like Elfen Lied only with a lighter tone and less violence. I guess the main underlying arc would be who Solty is and who created her.

Character: Solty is an interesting character. For the most part she is as innocent as a child, which s for alot of the humor in the anime. She is a very likable character. She occasionaly becomes angry and gets violent and disturbingly cold. She will be silly and childlike one moment and ready to rip a character apart in another, which is why this show kind of reminds me of Elfen Lied. Roy is Solty's adoptive father and he is your typical tortured hero. He lost his daughter twelve years before and has been looking for her ever since. There is also Rose, the thief with a heart of gold and her two brothers, who are fairly cookie cutter right now. Overall, the show looks promising.

Value: There are some neat fight sequences and the show is funny. It is for the most part, a nice light watch, though it may get more serious later on.

Enjoyment: I am enjoying the anime so far.