Cute girls, sexy women and mechs. What else could any decent Otaku want in a series? There is a dark secret about this group of people associated with these powerful machines, but there are also several twists along the way to discovering the secrets.

 Highlights

 Jinki: Extended The Complete Series tries to bring it all in this 13 episode story. A young girl, Aoba, is pulled into a group of protectors who may be terrorists called Angel. The pilot Mecha is called Jinki. Aoba has a natural talent for flying Jinki and is later considered to be the best. The early episodes set up the basic relationships between Aoba and the of the troupe. The big issue from the start is that Aoba's mother is a leader of the group and wants Aoba to hate her in order to become a real killing machine. 

There is also another character, Akoa, who is also a key player in the plot. She is brought in a third of the way, is also befriended by everyone and they work hard at trying to get her to become a pilot, but there is something or someone stopping her from fighting. This all plays out and once the final battle lines are drawn it is clear that this fight is for more than just control of the Jinki, but something bigger.

Overall

The opening episodes really peaked my interest and gave me a great deal of anticipation for what was to come. You know how some times you are involved in something that excites you at first, you have a warm glow and slight tenseness of what is to come?  Then after you get involved the warm glow begins to fade and anticipation is lost. This is what happened to me in this series. The first episode gave every bit of excitement and laid the groundwork for a plot line that could have been great. I was hooked with this whole "young girl with hidden talents and promise to be great," but then the series became confusing, mixing plot lines and characters. When Akoa enters the story, they are in Japan, but Aoba's arch is in Venezuela. Most of the characters are in both and at first they blend together which confuses the time line and what is really going on. It takes several episodes before it is explained and by that time the overall draw of the show has faded. 

In the final 4 episodes everything is brought back together fairly well and much is done to salvage the series. I did find the ending one of the best I have ever come across for this type of story. The last episode ties up a few loose ends and also opens the possibility for more to come. The overall character development was strong for a handful of the primary characters, but the majority of the cast is left rather flat. With the amount of time used to develop the primary characters it would have been easy to give more life to the supporting players. 

Jinki: Extended is worth a try. There is also plenty of soft fan service in this and it is clear the 12 to 16 year old boy is the main target audience. It is well produced and the art is above par. I would think that this series, given extra effort in the writing, could have been a real crowd pleaser. I enjoyed it and did love the overall look of the series.

ComicsOnline gives Jinki: Extended, The Complete Series, 4 out of 5 "man-machines".