“As long as the knight is alive, he does not give up!” – review of the comic book “Rycerze Sidonii”, vol. 4-7

As I mentioned in the previous review, the recipient is thrown into the intricacies of Sidonia quite unceremoniously; there are no exaggerated introductions or extensive explanations. The action rushes, the pages are filled with many similar-looking characters – initially you can get lost in the manga threads. However, the first three volumes started off promising. When you get through them, the story of a rookie and a recluse who gradually gains confidence and the applause of others only gains and draws more and more.

What squeaks in space

What’s next? In a nutshell: the conflict with hermit crabs is getting worse. Monsters keep looking for new ways to defeat the Ark ship. They evolve into new, more and more difficult to overcome forms. Therefore, the last refuge of humanity must constantly expand its arsenal. However, what poses the greatest threat is not the standard monster attacks, but the fact that they acquire some kind of awareness. The Scarlet Moth appears among the hermits – with each confrontation with the pilots, more and more human, physically resembling Hoshijiro – the killed sympathy of Nagate Tanikaze. It would seem that the hermits’ sole purpose is to annihilate the Sidonians. However, are you sure? Or maybe they want to communicate in some way? Our hero asks himself these questions, but despite his doubts, he is determined to fight the strangers at all costs. The situation becomes even more complicated when a real hybrid of a human and hermit is formed – fighting on the side of people and having intellect and emotions.

Typical shounen clichés

When assessing the characters from the perspective of seven volumes (i.e. less than half of the entire story), some problems with their construction can be noticed.

In the first three installments, Tanikaze managed to go a quick way from an outcast who just got to know society, through obtaining the rank of a hero (proving himself in combat and saving Hoshijiro), losing it (due to the plots of his rival – Kunato) to an equally quick return to the pedestal. Unfortunately, the following volumes are more conservative. Nagate, shy and gaping in everyday situations (a frequent affliction of manga heroes), comes dangerously close to the level of Gary Stu in combat. Fighting hermit crabs comes too easily for him, as if it were merely a nuisance. He is the most skilled as a pilot, he is the one who kills the most hermit crabs. Although the screenwriter shows that the skill in piloting the guards is hereditary, we do not yet know what distinguishes Tanikaze (and his predecessor) from the rest of the pilots. Because it is definitely not eating huge amounts of food – a typical clue for shounens, treated a bit perversely here, because he eats quite normally – others limit themselves to one meal a week. The frequently mentioned stench should not help him in piloting (he is the only one that does not carry out photosynthesis). The scent does not prevent female protagonists (and not only) from going crazy about it. All romantic plots are run quite crudely. Our hero seems not to be interested in any of the lovers (feeling something more only to Hoshijiro), which does not prevent them from completely losing their heads for him and behaving in an idiotic way. All in all, it’s also hard to say where these intrigues are going, especially in the case of the non-binary Izana, who mostly either gets angry with Tanikaze who doesn’t understand her affect, or is red. It is even hard to say what the interpersonal relationships look like in the presented world, especially since it is filled with immortal and various types of clones. None of the characters (even the side characters) seem to form a pair, and the scriptwriter’s closer contacts are only used for schoolboy jokes with big breasts and dreams of joint photosynthesis. May future volumes be more satisfying in this regard.

Monster of the week

All military themes are much more interesting than customs. These are reminiscent of  Battlestar Galactica , because in both works we are dealing with the last mainstay of humanity, engaged in a conflict with an enemy far greater than it in strength and numbers. Even when it comes to triumph, the heroes do not have the opportunity to celebrate for long. Hence, these humorous interjections (with a slight erotic tone) contrast all the more with the constant feeling of defeatism and depression. Each fight with hermit crabs leads to the destruction of the guards and the death of subsequent pilots (their survival rate is 10%). The monsters appearing with increasing intensity make the manga similar to Evangelion’s.In her, after each attack, there was a momentary relaxation, then the angel charged with even greater force. However, this is not an objection, as the relationship between Sidonia and hermits is equally original and engaging.

The visuals are still “on propsie” but …

The line has not changed compared to the previous parts. The technically perfect drawings of the geometric guards and the detailed, slimy, tentacle-shaped hermit stones continue to amaze. At the same time, it is still as difficult to recognize the heroes – almost all of them have the same face and the characters are distinguished by the following way: “the one with the fringe is Hoshijiro”, “the one without the fringe and in the shorts is Izana”. Admittedly, the world of Sidonia is filled with clones, but that is probably not what Nihei meant. When reading the manga in sequence, you can get used to such presentation of characters and gain skill in recognizing characters – but reading intermittently is not easy.

Conclusion

The Knights of Sidonia are heading in a very interesting direction. The following manga volumes primarily make the world consistent and develop, and to some extent also the heroes. They make the reader wonder where the limits of morality and humanity lie. The design of the characters leaves a bit to be desired, but I hope that the next installments of the comic will fix it.