Kawamori, produced by Satelight. The science fiction series is a homage

to the Super Robot shows of the 1970s and 1980s, executed with modern

animation techniques and aesthetics. Set in the future, a giant fighting machine

called the Aquarion is humanity's only effective weapon in the fight against

the technologically advanced species called the Shadow Angels.

Aquarion aired from April 4, 2005, to September 26, 2005, on TV Tokyo. An

alternate retelling of the television series, the Genesis of Aquarion OVA,

premiered on May 25, 2007. The television series is licensed in North

America by Funimation. On February 14, 2006, it aired on MTV Italia.

On April 27, 2009, the series made its North American television debut on the

Funimation Channel. A sequel to the series titled Aquarion

Evol was announced on February 25, 2011, and aired in 2012.

Plot Twelve thousand years in the past,

mankind was at mercy of the mythical creatures known as Shadow Angels,

immortal winged beings with overwhelming powers and technology. That is, until

one of their kind, Apollonius, fell in love with a female human warrior,

Seliane. Apollonius joins forces with the humans to free them from their

oppression, by using the legendary giant fighting robot Aquarion.

Eleven years prior to the story, in a disaster referred to as the "Great

Catastrophe" the Earth's magnetic field shifted devastating significant parts of

the world and killed off many of its inhabitants. Along with the disaster

came the return of the Shadow Angels who have been in slumber in their city of

Atlantia since their battle with Apolonius. The Shadow Angels began

invading human cites on Earth to harvest human beings, dubbing them as "the

wingless ones", like cattle, to extract the prana from the harvested humans not

only to serve energy and nutrition to them, but also to feed the legendary

Tree of Life. The Shadow Angels facilitate their harvesting via giant,

floating harvesting machines called harvest beasts which are guarded by

giant mecha called Cherubim Soldiers. They are sentient machines, yet there

are times when they are piloted by Shadow Angels.

Ordinary weapons prove ineffective against the Cherubim, with limited

protection coming only from rings of projectors built around the remaining

cities which tap into the Earths strata to project a quantum shield which limits

the Shadow Angels ability to enter or materialise within. However a human

expedition under the leadership of Gen Fudo eventually excavates three very

technologically advanced fighter planes, and an organization called DEAVA takes

over the research of these machines, called Vectors, trying to identify how

to use them. The three Vectors are shown to be colored mostly in white and are

identified as the green Vector Luna, the blue Vector Mars, and the red Vector

Sol. DEAVA discovers only people with special powers called Elements can

control the Vectors and the three vectors are in fact the pieces of

Aquarion, the same robot used to fight the Shadow Angels twelve millennia

before. They also discover the Elements can ultimately unite the vectors into

one of three formations of the giant robot in battle, and can use it to fight

and defeat the Cherubim. During the Elements' first sortie

against the Cherubim by uniting the Vectors into a formation of Aquarion,

they stumble on 13-year-old Apollo, who seems to be the reincarnation of

Apollonius. They become convinced of this when he single-handedly takes

control of the Vector Sol, unites the Vectors into the Solar Aquarion

formation and defeats the enemy, thus causing him to be recruited by DEAVA to

join their ranks. Mecha

In the process of Unification, each Vector is able to transform into a head

section, a back section or a leg section. Thus, when the Vectors combine

to form the humanoid robot Aquarion, they make a leghead formation with the

head being the leading section. The Vector that makes the head ultimately

identifies the form of Aquarion the vectors make as well. The Unification,

the process of "merging", also combines the souls of the Elements to some

degree, as each supplies one of the supposed three aspects of their soul

into one when Aquarion is formed. During Unification, the Elements experience an

influx of power and energy, which in classic Japanese fan-service style is

shown to be a feeling of wondrous power for the men, while for the women it is

blatantly orgasmic in nature. In all three forms, Aquarion weighs 88 tons.

= Aquarion= Solar Aquarion: 48 meters tall.

Corresponds to Vector Sol as the head, Vector Luna as the back, and Vector Mars

as the legs. This is the most balanced of the three basic Aquarion forms as

well as the true form of Aquarion, with its specialty in melee combat. It is the

only form that can manifest the "Solar Wings" on its back. Later in the series,

the Elements develop the Solar Aquarion's signature "Infinity Punch",

an attack extending the arm indefinitely in order to reach even the most agile

enemy; to elaborate, the Infinity Punch can reach distances that extends to the

surface of the moon. The Solar Aquarion is almost always used by Apollo. With

both Apollo and Pierre in control, Solar Aquarion can perform the "Fire Fist"

technique. In the events of Aquation LOVE, the Solar Aquarion shows the

ability to transform into a beast-like form during its fight with Aquarion

EVOL. Aquarion Mars: 51.1 meters tall.

Corresponds to Vector Mars as the head, Vector Sol as the back, and Vector Luna

as the legs. It does have a set of wings on its back, but it cannot manifest or

de-manifest them. This is the fastest of the Aquarion forms. It is Sirius de

Alisia's favorite because it can wield a sword, enabling it to perform the "Long

Range Saber" and the "Jealous Sword" techniques and due to its long legs and

speed, it is perfect for Pierre Vieira's "Fire Kick" technique.

Aquarion Luna: 46.2 meters tall. Corresponds to Vector Luna as the head,

Vector Mars as the back, and Vector Sol as the legs. It specializes in ranged

combat, with the ability to wield a bow and arrows, or as another form to

partake in melee situations, given the Aquarion Luna's agile movement and

reflexes. It too can manifest a set of wings on its back. It is mostly used by

Silvia de Alisia, enabling it to use the "Lunatic Archery" and "Spiral Arrow"

techniques, and Hong Lihua, enabling it to use the "Dragon Thunder" technique.

Powers and Abilities Elements: All elements have at least one

special power that can be amplificated while piloting Aquarion. Sometimes these

increased powers can enable them to create and use "sub-powers" besides

their main power, like to make devastating lighting powered spin-kicks

or create and use throwing weapon disks. Aquarion: All three Aquarion forms are

capable of using the powers and/or abilities that the elements piloting it

have separately or in any combination, as well as combining them with the main

powers of the form Aquarion is in at the time and using the main powers in

special ways, such as designating them with unique names or using them in

unique ways. The elements piloting it can combine their status, such as

strength, speed, targeting, mental strength and willpower in any way as

well, and enable Aquarion to use it as its own in battle. Gen Fudou also trains

the elements routinely on how use their powers to unlock and wield other powers

that Aquarion itself has, such as how to firmly attach Aquarion to the ground so

it cannot be moved or make Aquarion's body grow. Sometimes the Elements can

even combine their emotions with Aquarion's energies to make new powers,

like when Lihua turned her fear of her bad luck into unlucky-like energy to

defeat the legend monster or when Pierre turned his determination to save his

family into fire-like strength to defeat Kumba and Nikumba.

Secondary forms The following are other forms the

Aquarion can take, but only appear in specific situations:

Aquarion Soluna: After the Solar Aquarion's arms are destroyed and

separated, Lihua, Tsugumi Rosenmeier and Pierre united to form this Aquarion.

Essentially the Solar Aquarion, it uses the Vector Luna as the head, but flipped

forward, becoming the torso on top of the Vector Sol, making a leghead

formation. It is assumed this is the tallest of Aquarion's forms due to its

configuration. Aquarion Angel: When the Vector Mars was

absent, Apollo, Tsugumi, Lihua and even Silvia united to form an Aquarion out of

the Vector Sol, Vector Luna and a Military Vector Omega, respectively,

with the Vector Omega taking the position of head, the Vector Sol as the

back, and the Vector Luna as the legs. It is assumed this form retains all of

the Aquarion Mars' abilities, even with the lack of the Vector Mars' presence in

the combination. Solar Aquarion 2: Another Aquarion form

with the Military Vector Omega. It consisted of the Vector Sol as the head,

the Vector Luna as the back and the Vector Omega as the legs, It was piloted

by Apollo, Lihua, and Pierre. = Assault Type Aquarion=

The Assault Type Aquarion is a copy of the original Aquarion, constructed in a

joint operation between DEAVA and the New United Nations using Shadow Angel

DNA collected by force. It follows the same basic architecture of the original

with a couple of physical differences and uses massive versions of

conventional weaponry of cannons, rockets and machine guns as opposed to

the original's more traditional weapons of bow and arrows, sword and Infinity

Punch. Because of the size of its weapons, it is capable of fighting and

defeating the Cherubim. This Aquarion is normally piloted by one Shadow Angel

DNA-infused mentally reprogrammed element or even a normal human being,

while the other two corresponding Vectors are AI-controlled. It can

configure into six different forms and is composed of three Vectors that are

colored mostly in gray/black and look very much like the originals. The

Vectors are a red Vector named Alpha, a green Vector named Delta, and a blue

Vector named Omega, which corresponds to the Vector Sol, Vector Luna and the

Vector Mars, respectively. These Vectors are compatible with normal elements and

the original Aquarion Vectors and they are mass-produced by the New United

Nations. Aquarion Alpha: Corresponds to Vector

Alpha as the head, Vector Delta as the back, and Vector Omega as the legs. It

is the equivalent of the Solar Aquarion. It uses an enormous PSG Cannon on its

right arm as its primary weapon and like the Solar Aquarion, it can deploy the

"Solar Wings" on its back, but does not have the mystical effect of the

original. Oddly enough, its head is shaped like the Aquarion Luna's and has

a visor over its eyes. This configuration can transform into the

Walker Formation without the need to separate the Vectors and reuniting.

Aquarion Delta: Corresponds with Vector Delta as the head, Vector Omega as the

back, and Vector Alpha as the legs. It is the equivalent of the Aquarion Luna.

Taking a similarity to the Aquarion Luna's bow, the Aquarion Delta

specializes in long-range combat through a complement of rockets that fire from

its own customized bow and can also utilize the Aquarion Omega's machine

guns, mounted on the same part as the rockets.

Aquarion Omega: Corresponds with Vector Omega as the head, Vector Alpha as the

back, and Vector Delta as the legs. It is the equivalent of the Aquarion Mars.

Using a pair of machine guns, this form is only featured once and can transform

into the Armageddon Formation without the need to separate the Vectors and

reuniting. Armageddon Formation: A formation where

the three Vectors combine into a 6-legged walker with the Aquarion

Alpha's PSG cannon mounted on top, similar to a tank. This formation exists

due to the PSG Cannon being able to fire at its maximum capabilities with a

stable footing. This form can transform immediately into Aquarion Omega without

separating and reuniting. Assault Walker Formation: A vehicle

formation used for speed, it appears as a jet-like machine with two legs. This

form can transform into Aquarion Alpha without separating and reuniting. Its

appearance closely resembles the GERWALK mode of the VF-1 Valkyrie from Super

Dimensional Fortress Macross, another anime written and directed by Shoji

Kawamori. Aquarion Beast Form: In the Aquarion

movie, when Lihua gets mad and could not understand why Apollo was helping Silvia

Aquarion Omega transforms into a rampant beast form. The form appears similar to

Seismosaurus from Zoids Fuzors and fired the PSG Cannon from its tail.

= Shadow Angel Mecha and Monsters= Cherubim Mars: After allying with the

Shadow Angels and taking the Vector Mars with him, Sirius uses a Cherubim Soldier

in place of the other two Vectors. The Cherubim Mars acts the same as the

Aquarion Mars, but if its Cherubim Soldier body is destroyed, another

Cherubim can take its place. Antichthon: A three dimensional polygon

that brings out the inner hatred and/or jealousy of those that see into it long

enough. Black Rena: A harvest beast with the

ability to make itself look and act like what the people facing it fear most.

Because the elements were afraid of Rena at the time, it took on a Vampire Rena

form and acted like a vampire to drain prana.

Cherubim Blumeblatt: Miniature versions of regular cherubim soldiers that act as

anti-military forces. Although they lack legs they are highly maneuverable users

of levitation and are armed with pulse lasers from the head and sometimes the

hands. They are very important for the Shadow Angel invasions of human cities

to harvest human beings, as they are what broadcast the Shadow Angel's "Hypno

song", which hypnotizes normal unprotected humans and makes them

sitting ducks for the harvest beasts to collect.

Graave Cherubim: A special cherubim with immensely thick armor that can stand up

to most assaults with very little damage. It can fire Pulse beams from its

large head and the hands and it can also use its drill-like gloves for melee

combat as well as launch them. Cherubim Iskuron: A colorful custom

cherubim used by Mohora capable of bisecting. Its pulse beams are green

instead of blue and aside from being normally fired from the head and

club-like claws can also be used as daggers in melee. Other powers include

an energy beam from the chest and teleportation.

Cherubim Lune: A special cherubim that was infused with "the moon's ability to

be not too near yet not too far". It can dodge nearly any attack and can produce

black/purple electric balls from its hands. It can also quickly recover from

normal attacks. Cherubim Soldier: Standard mecha used by

the Shadow Angels capable of flying very fast and firing a verity of blue pulse

lasers and sometimes even missiles from their head and palms. The only notable

versions are Toma's revived one capable of spinning fast enough to produce

tornadoes in episode 2 and the soldier armed with the gravity staff from

episode 4. Cherubim Sur le Kubera: A customized

cherubim used by Toma and later Otoha armed with a pair of swords and pulse

lasers from the palms designed for impalement like spears.

Cherubim Verizeva: A black cherubim soldier made and used by Toma in two of

the last episodes in the series. It is armed with a pair of rapiers and pulse

lasers from the palms designed for impalement like spears and has great

speed and agility. Harvest Beast: Standard Hammerhead

shark-like vessels used to collect humans for Shadow Angels. They possess

no offensive capabilities. Kumba and Nikumba: A pair of cherubim