Infinite Ryvius (1999–2000) User Reviews

Based Anime

[colonelcubbage · 8/10 · 6 July 2021]

An anime with genuinely well written characters and a plot that isn't an absolute cringefest, worth a watch.

Half-Baked Lord of the Flies

[k-gordo17 · 6/10 · 21 May 2023]

This show is essentially "Lord of the Flies" on a spaceship combined with mecha fights. Children are trapped on a spaceship, attempt to form their own civilization, and fend off unknown enemies for as long as they can. As time goes on, their morale breaks down, and their civilization begins to crumble.

This show has the pieces to make something special: characters, setting, animation, and story, but average execution affected the overall result.

There are themes of forgiveness, standing up for what you believe in, and redemption, but some characters often go way beyond delinquent into straight up evil. By the end, I thought some characters were irredeemable and could not stand them anymore, even when they learned their wrongs. Having to watch a few of these insufferable characters was rough.

The overall plot felt underdeveloped, with me constantly questioning the motives of the outisde-ship villains, the Sphinx, and the Geduld phenomenon. While aspects can be left up to mystery just fine, other parts I felt were critical to become invested in the story. Therefore, with those parts being barely addressed, it made the situation feel less urgent and meaningful.

I did appreciate many scenes and character arcs that happened throughout the story, which is probably why i continued to watch all the way to the end. The shows does make you care about the main characters as they are constantly pushed to their mental limits.

The story takes a while to get going. The real meat of the emotional drama starts around episode 19. Had they kept that level of drama earlier, it would've made me more invested.

Animation, while hand drawn well, had a severe lack of variety of the ships and combat. All the colors were the same, and made it very difficult to follow along with the action.

Overall, a decent watch for space and sci-fi fans, but I don't see it as an underrated gem. If it were available on blu-ray, it would have to be at a big discount sale for me to pick it up.

"Lord of the Flies" meets "Lost In Space"

[Perdicus · 28 March 2005]

It is the year 2225 A.D., and the solar system has become a much more dangerous place as a result of the "Gedoult" phenomenon, a natural disaster which has made interplanetary travel extremely hazardous. A group of roughly 400 teenagers boards the Libe Delta Astronaut Training Center, in orbit around the Earth. But the Libe Delta is hiding a deadly secret, and the students are swept up in a storm of sabotage and treachery.

Forced to abandon the Libe Delta, they find themselves aboard the "Ryvius", the most advanced warship ever built, hidden within the core of the station itself. Now this intrepid group of young space explorers must face the ultimate challenge: survival.

* * *

"Mugen no Ryvius" (or "Infinite Ryvius", if you will) is a brilliant, underrated piece of animation from TV Tokyo and Sunrise, Inc. A group of unruly (albeit highly educated) teenagers is set loose on a super-powerful warship with no adult supervision, and the ship's creators aren't helping any. "Lord of the Flies" meets "Lost In Space", indeed! Great music, a terrific ensemble cast, and plenty of action. My rating: 8/10 (points off for overuse of teenage angst).

A truly fine body of work

[barciad · 11 September 2005]

Based loosely upon William Golding's ever-so bleak look into the fragility of human society, Lord of the Flies, this truly is an anime to be savoured. Like LotF, it sees how society would develop, and eventually breakdown if all those with the knowledge and the experience suddenly left. Who would take charge, who would there to look up to and to turn to when times become harsh. However, IR takes two spins on this. Whilst one is purely window dressing, the other allows for far more developments, more notions, and more complexities than it's illustrious inspiration. Firstly IR is a sci-fi. It deals with young astronauts at a training college in outer-space. A sabotage on the station leaves all the adults dead and the students drifting alone in space. Sounds familiar enough, it is. However, these students are on average 16 and are not innocent little children any more. And they are not neither stupid nor helpless. The prefect group (know as Zwei) immediately takes control and thus begins the first study into the first microcosm of society. From here on in, the whole nature of power, politics, and personality are put under the intense microscope of the events that constantly threaten to overwhelm the players. Possibly the most mentally taxing and demanding cartoon ever made, those that watch it must be aware of the grim realities of human nature that lie inside all of us. Truly essential ....... 10/10