 After nearly two weeks without anime (the sacrifices you have to make
on honeymoon), time to get back into the swing with some good SF
eyecandy - in other words, Geneshaft.
5 - Angels and Spaceships
Work on debugging the Shaft's systems continues, so the Bilkis crew
seize the opportunity afforded by their trip through deep space to
properly test the updated software. Things don't stay quiet for long,
though - a Ring manages to infiltrate the Bilkis. It has the ability to
mimic the appearance of the Bilkis' crew, and infects the ship's
computer systems with a virus. Meanwhile, Mika gets some answers from
Amigawa about the death of her friend Ryoko...
6 - Hotline from the Past
Bilkis encounters a 20th-century space shuttle - seems they've been
pulled from their own time into the present by a Ring. A lot has
changed from the time the shuttle crew are from, and they're hopelessly
out of their depth in this new world, so Amigawa quarantines them to
avoid any incidents - not that Tiki, Sofia and Mika pay any attention
to the quarantine order. Their attempt to seize control of the Bilkis
is interrupted by the appearance of another Ring...
7 - Ring World
With the Ancients gone, the Bilkis crew has to deal with the Ring - but
natch, the Shaft's systems crash when Mika attempts to load an attack
script. She eventually manages to purge the system and make a
successful attack on the Ring (although not before Mir manages to seize
control of the Shaft with some unauthorised hacking), but no sooner has
one Ring been destroyed than a multitude arrive to take their place,
giving the Bilkis little choice but to retreat to Ganymede, where they
find out they've been charged with treason. Meanwhile, Mika's trying to
figure out just what she did to destroy a Ring with just the Shaft's
weaponry, while the rest of the Driver candidates are convinced she's
been doing some anauthorised hacking...
Pretty much filler episodes, barring one of two scenes from episode
7, with very little information given about the Giants of Ganymede, the
Rings, and not much progression in the main plot, either. Not that I
really minded - Geneshaft's plot is wafer-thin anyway, with its
main strength being the science-fiction concepts that underpin the
show, and they get plenty of airing here.
Best episode on the disc is Hotline from the Past, which does
a good job of comparing our real world to the genetically-controlled
'paradise' the show is set in. Larry & the rest of the shuttle crew
provide good counterpoints to the Bilkis crew, and help the show get as
close the thought-provoking as it's every likely to get.
On the downside, animation quality takes a noticeable drop in
several places through the disc, which is not a good thing for a show
where its look & feel are part of the selling point. It's a
noticeable enough drop to be jarring.
Overall, though, still well worth watching. Geneshaft will
never win awards for originality, but if you enjoy SF stories it's very
easy to get into, particularly when you want something that won't make
you think too hard. Recommended.
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