Solty Rei - disappointing anime

The first disc of Solty Rei starts with a lot of promise, but alas, seems to collapse into cliches. It's a science fictional premise: in an unknown city, on an unknown world at an unknown time, there has been a natural disaster of epic proportions, causing many deaths and many more people to become lost. Many of the survivors receive mechanical enhancements or "resembles." Into the life of hard-bitten and embittered Roy, there literally falls a girl, saving his life and incurring a debt of gratitude. But she's not just a girls, she's all resemble, even her brain. there's nothing human about her, except that she's gosh darn cute and annoyingly needy.

Solty Rei has lots of pros and cons. On the plus side: there are six episodes on the disc -- good value. The animation and art are well done; it's from the Gonzo studio, after all. The character designs are nice, and the overall color tone of the town reminds you of an Edward Hopper painting: a sort of warm tone that makes you think of late afternoons or yellow streetlights, a lonely feeling and a softness to the textures. This contrasts nicely with the grittiness of the story. The initial characters seem intriguing.

But things bog down. The characters seem more stereotypical the longer you watch. There's lots of mild fan service: frequent shots of the female rear clad in skin-tight clothes. You know you weren't just imagining this when they get to a swimsuit episode on the first disk -- pretty early in the series to resort to the distractions of pure cheesecake. There are not many recurring male characters, but lots of attractive women, teenage girls and female android types. You get the picture -- fine if it floats your boat, but if you're looking for intelligent, original storytelling and well-developed characters, you may be disappointed.

Maybe it gets more serious later. But its nice-looking, lightweight and fun. Just not all that good.