“Now that we have concurred Everest Now What?”
The year is 2019, 50 years after Humans first walked on the Moon. Helium 3 is discovered on the Moon and everything begins to change. This element is a perfect source of fuel for Nuclear Power. 16 nation band together and form the ISA and plan a mission to go back to the Moon and build power plants to provide a 1,000 years of power for the entire Earth. All of this and 2 fearless dreamers, Goro Saruwatari and Jack “Lostman” Woodbridge, set the stage for plenty of action and intrigue.
This 12 episode first season is a decent beginning for this realistic science fiction tail. There are a few short coming though. The unnecessary Hentai scenes and some of the over the top Testosterone pushes this series in a unneeded direction. The sex and language both make this programs suggested age to be 17 and up. Even with these minor drawbacks I found the science to be very believable and honest. Several times the creators used this science to make the action very enjoyable. Although there is plenty of unbelievable action that defy all of the laws of physics.
There is also timely political intrigue with the continued strife in the middle east and the struggle over the worlds energy supplies. Corruption drives greed and sets the stage for the ultimate battle for the Moon and the ultimate power source.
Out 2 main characters travel all around the world to gain the experience needed to take on the rigors of space and the challenge ahead of them. Goro spends time in America and Russia, while Lostman is in the Navy and ends up in the middle east fighting for his life. Goro is by far the real ladies man and very laid back. Lostman has a little more of an edge about him and possesses a true seriousness of nature. Both of them together are the create the perfect Yin and Yang.
The animation is well done and the technical scenes are very realistic. Moonlight Mile provides plenty of visual eye candy that helped me to overlook some of the weakness in the story. The only visual drawback was the rendering of the characters, it was a little flat and somewhat grotesque at times. In an attempt to be realistic in the imagery a loss of creativity weakened the character visual development. Overall, the animation was above par and engaging.
For real fans of Contemporary Science Fiction Anime, this disc set is for you. It is a well developed story that is trying very hard to create a drama that draws the viewer in and drives them to continue forward with the series. I for one am looking forward to the remainder of the series.
ComicsOnline gives Moonlight Mile 4 out of 5 Moon Base Blasts.
