Genesis of Aquarion

[Rebel the Wolfgirl]

Has anyone else seen this series? It ran from April 4-September 26 2005, and consists of 26 episodes. It is an amazing tribute to old school mecha anime of the 1970s/1980s (especially Getter Robo), and I lovelovelove it.

Now, for those not in the know, this series focuses on the battle between humans and Shadow Angels, creatures who oppressed mankind 12,000 years before the series begins. A Shadow Angel known as Apollonius falls in love with a human woman Seliane, and creates the giant mecha Aquarion to aid in the fight. Now it is 12,000 years later, and the Shadow Angels return to once again conquer mankind, having been awakened via a disaster known as the Great Catastrophe, which shifted Earth's magnetic field. An organization known as DEAVA (Division of EArth Vitalization Advancement) rediscovers Aquarion, now divided into three jet-like Vectors: Sol (red), Mars (blue), and Luna (green). Each of these Vectors can form a version of Aquarion depending on who is at the head (Aquarion Solar, Aquarion Mars, or Aquarion Luna). Furthermore, these Vectors can only be piloted by people known as Element Users, who form Aquarion via a process called Merging. Two of these pilots, Silvia and Sirius, discover a street vagrant named Apollo, who turns out to be the reincarnation of Apollonius and therefore the right candidate to be Aquarion's third pilot.

On the villains' side, however, the Shadow Angels, led by Apollonius' lover Toma, intend to conquer Earth once more to fuel the Tree of Life, the Angels' life force (and in Toma's case, reunite with his lover) through harvesting human life, known as prana, via massive machines known as Harvest Beasts. These are guarded by mechanical monsters called Cherubim Soldiers, who for the most part function as the typical monsters of the week.

Has anyone else seen this series? I'm a third of the way through, and it's awesome. You can (legally) find it on Hulu, if you're curious.