Infinite Ryvius
a review by EveVon
a review by EveVon
In my search for hidden gems, I eventually stumbled upon Mugen no Ryvius. Despite watching anime for over a decade, I have to admit I had never heard of this series before. The synopsis hinted the story would follow a large cast of unique characters, so I went in with the hopes that the show would do something interesting, such as introducing multi-layered storytelling with multiple factions interacting with each other in compelling ways. Did I get what I hoped for? I can’t answer that question with anything but a big, resounding ‘yes’. Honestly, I have a hard time understanding why I’ve never heard of this series before, and why it’s not more popular. Granted, the story is a bit of a niche taste, but I’d still expect to hear some people talk about it.
Mugen no Ryvius is a series about a large group of teens who are forced to pilot a battle spaceship, without the presence of any adults on board. Meanwhile, the big bad government constantly attacks them while they’re on a journey because the kids are in possession of a secret superweapon. If this sounds familiar to you in any way, it’s because that’s literally the plot of the original MS Gundam 0079. Now I won’t hate on a series for taking an old concept, as long as they turn it into something new and superior. And Mugen no Ryvius succeeds at that - although I would’ve certainly welcomed a well written Char clone. (Just kidding ;) ).
While I love MS Gundam 0079, one of the things I missed in that series was a focus on group dynamics: here’s a space ship piloted almost entirely by civilian children, and we’re supposed to assume everything goes smoothly? I was very happy to see Mugen no Ryvius addressing this concept in great detail. While there’s a constant outside threat of people attacking the spaceship, it’s not the main focus. For a good part of the series, we focus on the internal struggles that happen while the kids try to run a society within the ship.
In addition, it’s fascinating to see how this series treats resources. There’s a limited amount of ammo on your battleship, -there’s only so much storage space- and if you use it carelessly you’ll run out! Also, there’s a single gun available on the entire ship, and owning the gun gives you a clear edge over your competitors and enemies.
Aside from the realistic depiction of resource management, the series has a more realistic, hard-science take on the mecha genre. The mecha in Mugen no Ryvius works more like a puppet (i.e. the pilot is not inside the mecha) and moves super slow, because of technical limitations such as the amount of G-force it takes to even move such a big contraption. This means that there are no flashy action scenes, so if that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll have to look elsewhere. This series was compelling to me because of other reasons.
What did bug me with the story, however, was the finale. Nothing went sour, but at the same time, it felt like the final showdown between the kids and the ‘end boss’ was rather anti-climactic. Also, the solution to the conflict felt a bit like it came out of nowhere, and I would’ve liked for it to be built up more gradually.
Where Mugen no Ryvius shines brightest is with its characters. It’s a big cast, with at least a dozen secondary characters and a dozen more tertiary characters, all with unique designs and personalities. The characterization in this series is well done: rather than characters being blank slates decorated with lists of traits, each character has a different mindset and worldview that informs how they interact with the world. This makes their personality and traits feel more coherent and natural. In addition, what this show does amazingly well is demonstrating each character’s skill set. Some characters are smart, other characters are great communicators, and others yet have a natural charisma that makes them cut out to be a leader. In this series, there are several points where characters who are competent in one field fail completely once they’re forced into a role that’s unnatural to them. Characters are constantly confronted with moral dilemmas that feel real, where there’s no such thing as an obvious ‘right call’. And whatever these characters decide to do, they’ll end up facing the consequences. In this series, everyone -including the protagonist- will make dubious decisions and mistakes.
Mugen no Ryvius is full of political intrigue, and it’s like watching a country in a microcosm. Characters who are in control of the ship have leverage and use it to secure privileges, even though by doing so they will garner dissent from the other kids. Even when it’s clear that this inequality is the root reason why a previous leader got overthrown, the elite kids are unwilling to give up their privileges. Sounds familiar? Sounds familiar.
Before I move on to the reason why I didn’t rate the characters a 10 out of 10, I’ll give a quick shoutout to the fact that this series contains subtle and respectful LGBTQ+ representation. Mugen no Ryvius just casually acknowledges that LGBTQ+ people exist, without obsessing over it or joking about it. It’s like a transgender girl and a gay guy are just people, who’dda thunk?
Anyway, the negative bit: the villains. There’s this ‘main antagonist’ who gives captain Ahab vibes and constantly refers to some incident in his past that’s never really explored, and the only thing that sets him apart design-wise from his generic-looking mooks is that he has a beard. We get very little screentime of him, and as a result, he doesn’t get fleshed out enough for me to care about his story. There’s also an enemy ship commanded exclusively by remarkably competent old women, which I really appreciated as a concept but wished to have seen more of. Given all that, I don’t think the villains played a big role in the series and there was enough juicy conflict among the children themselves. So, this flaw did not impact my enjoyment of the series much.
Let me start by saying that I Love the character designs. They are quite versatile and nice. There’s a lot of fun little visual gags throughout the series, which help liven up the depressing gray background of the spaceship from time to time. However, this series often gets quite serious, so the clinical interior of the spaceship fits the mood quite well. The muted colors give away that this series came out in the 1990s to early 2000s, where a more moody gray palette was the norm. It fits the series’ constant sense of impending doom, though, so I’m not complaining. There are, however, some weird directing choices here and there -such as the decision to not show a certain comet getting destroyed when this was very relevant information- and I can’t say the show had otherwise outstanding directing or sakuga. Nevertheless, it has decent visuals that get the job done.
The series has a memorable opening theme and a touching ending theme song. The choice of hip-hop style music for the mid-roll is also a unique touch. The OST is a varied mix of nice quality trip-hop, jazz, synth, and orchestra music. It’s not the most amazing OST I’ve heard, but it’s pretty good!
As for voice acting, I watch the Japanese audio version, and I have to say the voices are on point. All the female characters have realistic sounding voices and every character’s voice is unique and fits their personality. Although the series has some dramatic moments, the voices don’t sound strained or theatrical. I approve!
I’ve never heard of this series before, but after doing some research I’ve learned that of the people who have seen this show, many ended up loving it. Outside of Anime, the story is reminiscent of Lord of the Flies, and it sometimes did feel like I was watching a novel adaptation. I sadly can’t think of any series that might’ve been directly inspired by Mugen no Ryvius, so whether it left a big historic impact is (unfortunately) doubtful. Nevertheless, this show managed to innovate upon the concept of MS Gundam instead of becoming the thousandth uninspired copy. For that, it definitely deserves some praise.
If someone asked me to name a ‘hidden gem’ in anime, then Mugen no Ryvius would certainly be one of my answers. Don’t let the mecha in the promo-material fool you: this series is low on action and battle scenes, so if that’s what you’re searching for, this show is not for you. If instead, you enjoy watching a mature psychological story with realistic political intrigue and character dynamics, then this might become your next favorite series.
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