Series Blurb
In the world of Daikuuriku, everyone is born female, and chooses which sex they wish to become at age 17. In this world, the peaceful theocracy of Simulacrum is guarded by magical flying machines called "Simoun", which can only be piloted by young girls who haven't chosen a sex yet. The Simoun can activate a magical power known as "Ri Maajon" that can destroy large numbers of enemies at once. When the industrialized nation of Argentum decides that it needs to invade Simulacrum to acquire the secret of the Simoun, war breaks out, drawing the Simoun "Sibyllae" (priestesses who fly the Simoun) into a lopsided battle. Because the war is raging, the Sibyllae are granted an exemption from choosing a permanent sex for as long as they're willing to keep flying. Aaeru, a determined young Sibylla with a mysterious past, and Neviril, the leader of Chor Tempest, Simulacrum's most elite Simoun squadron, must lead their fellow priestesses through conflict both within their ranks and in the sky.
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(5/5)July 1, 2025
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tldr: Show was incredible, with compelling storytelling and characters. Language is challenging due to a mix of fantasy/sci-fi, military, religious, and political elements.
Language: In terms of language, there's a mix of fantasy/sci-fi, political, religious, and military vocab that makes the show challenging. This was a large part of why I watched it twice.
Story: This show was so incredible that I had to watch it twice and play the (pretty good) video game, within the span of a week. There's a surprising amount of depth to the storytelling, between the romantic, religious, cultural, military, political, adolescent, and fantasy elements - all of which are very fleshed out. The characters are all compelling and well-written - each with their own internal dramas - and this is a very realistic portrayal of how a bunch of teenagers in this situation would act - the messiness of their trauma, love, comradery, mistakes, attempts to understand and reconcile their religious role & faith (or lack of) with the fact that they are essentially mass killing enemy soldiers, tensions with what their leadership wants vs what the believe or can handle, etc. The ensemble cast is incredibly well-balanced, you really get to know everybody - and not just in a superficial "well that character had their episode now" way. Character drama & growth develops over many episodes, and past experiences and lessons learned are always relevant going forward. On top of being fleshed out, the show never info-dumps on you, and the action itself is pretty compelling.
The whole "born female until 17, and then you have to irreversibly choose your gender" aspect is more than just a gimmick, it's very integral to the characters' psychology, the politics, society and culture, religion, etc. It's also implemented in an interesting way, where all the characters in the show had female voice actors, regardless of gender. Along with the fact that gender transition is a very gradual process, this is a really unique effect. It was admittedly a bit disorienting the first time around, since some masculine characters had very feminine sounding voices, and some characters' genders are really unclear throughout the show (not at all a bad thing).
Also the mech/military aspect is very grounded. There's well-explained reasons for the war, and for why only a bunch of teenagers can pilot this nation-saving technology. You can simultaneously empathize with the enemy nation, while also remaining sympathetic to these characters just doing their best to protect and provide hope for their own nation, and get through a tough situation. The ship designs are unique, and the mechanism for how they're activated (the pair kisses each other, then the helical motor) is certainly unique. The kisses are essentially a salutation, but simultaneously can portray different characters' emotional states or bonds. And of course there's a (sometimes blurry) difference between these salutary kisses and the romantic ones.
The relationships are also incredibly well done - requited and unrequited loves, sibling tension, long histories, characters falling out with or falling for each other, yet still needing to work together, characters fitting in or standing out, wanting to protect other characters, etc. While everyone is paired, some of the pairings are romantic & others are not. Romance is central to the story, and yet it's not the entire story. The larger plot carries just fine on its own. That said, there was one pairing that made me really uncomfortable, it's essentially an onee-loli pairing (btwn a 12 year old and a much older character) that is initially very groomy (though not sexual) - even then though, that pairing is very well developed over the course of the show.
On that note, while the anime overall has little to no fan service, the character designs, and some of the outfits, are the sometimes exception to this. Some people have an averse reaction to that, but I really think the story is compelling enough that it's overlookable (plus by 2025 standards, it barely registers). Even then, the show never feels like it's objectifying the cast.
Conclusion: Anyway this show is my ideal kind of show, and I know I'll definitely rewatch it again in the future. Also the OP and ED are both incredible, and instrumental versions of them are utilized very effectively in the musical score. Speaking of which, the music score is phenomenal, and perfectly fits - same for the voice acting.