Moonlight Mile 1st Season: Lift Off

This series is bout two characters, "Gorou Saruwatari" and Jack F. Woodbridge aka "Lostman" Two talented individuals that have their own unique personality and identity traits, both enthusiastic mountain climbing partners, they want to try and hit the highest mountain peek in the world but are unsatisfied until one day they want to explore the heavens, the vast ocean of the stars, they both want to each pursue their dreams of one day entering outer space and be the first man to walk on the moon. While the story takes place in a slightly more technologically advanced future, the rigors of space flight areevery bit as insurmountable as they would be today. What makes the core of the tale work so well is that the interaction between the two lead characters is anything but direct for the vast majority of the season. Rather than lump them together in their competitive race to be the first to the moon, the show's creative staff pays careful attention to crafting two very separate and unique stories. Sure their paths cross on more than one occasion along the way but the overall feel is almost that of a competition from opposite sides of the globe. The viewer is transported along to several locales around the planet including a snowy Russia, sunny coastal Japan, scorching Middle Eastern desert and even the mystical Area 51 all under the near-flawless portrayal of the technological space race taking place between nations. It turns out that the future spawns a sort of United Nations banner (the International Space Agency or ISA for short) specifically catered to space travel and the common goal of using material within the moon's core as a near limitless global energy source.In case you haven't noticed, the show takes a very tangible approach to the sciences contained within. The acting is simply flawless in both the original Japanese version and the English dub. Moonlight Mile manages to impress. The voice work is emotional and passionate throughout without crossing the delicate line between acting and overacting. Casting choices of the lead and secondary roles are spot on (especially with Goro and Lost Man themselves as the actors simply nail the unique yet similar traits of their respective personalities). I especially found myself appreciating the rare moments when the two lead characters interacted. It was almost as if there was a sense of their underlying friendship even though each acted as though he cared little whether the other lived or not. The animation quality in this show is absolutely splendid, blending CG and animation so seamlessly together is not something easy to do but yet this show really seems to pull it off so perfectly. The sound tracks at least in the first half of the show could of been a bit suited towards the theme of the show, but towards the 2nd half, it picks up with music that is really inspiring for the typical setting and space exploration or science. As i said before this show strives on the realization of inquiring one's own dream's even though some of the actors like goro see's things very differently and acts like he does not care half the time or jokes around, his ideal beliefs and philosophies are still a very prominent attraction to his character. As is the case with Lostman. The first half of this show really focuses mostly on developing the characters in other parts of the world, showing what kind of situations they are in, what kind of lives they live. The 2nd half of the series involves more of a subplot involving mysteries and touches base on the more rivalry between the two characters, and also other theme's like governmental secrecy and conflicts between nations. I felt that some of the characters in the first season should not have been introduced, because some of them never really got their spot light they deserved. This is think is one of the flaws of this season. We are barely touched based on these side actors of the story and they become more and more insignificant as the story progress. This is the first season and i expect them to fully be explored in season 2 hopefully. This show is really bout the two main leads and the ISA's experimental projects to entering space, as well as the US military and the Javanese government's involvement. Mankind has reached for this type of technology for thousands of years. The show also explore's lots of politics, mystery, and conspiracy theories. This series kinds of breaks the boundaries of what is considered a "perfect" anime world. Where everything is always in some sort of order like out of a story book or novel and characters are to strong in certain scenario's and the fan service is always their. This show's core theme is really centered around dreams and how far you are willing to go to achieve those dreams and make them a reality. It kind of really portrays a much more visual approach to realism. Even the sex is shown in a very natural manner. The series is not afraid to show different racial types as is the case in this world today, so many African Americans marrying other races. I could swear it feels like i am watching an actual movie like "Armeggedon" on screen. Some people are just so stuck so attached to a perfect anime world, they don't realize how a story can be portrayed in a more realistic fashion by not following the general and most notable mainstream anime trends. Its just a rarity amongst anime so its nice to see a show like this come along every now and then. I highly recommend this series if you want to watch something with a more complex, but intricate plot with interesting characters that explore their own dreams in very different way's and use their wits and skills to undertake any tasks, each having their own ideal philosophies on how to achieve their goal.