This week we talk about Moonrise, and it immediately turned into a heated debate. We start by tearing into the show for its confusing plot, and nonsensical world-building. And Rick tore into the terrible dubbed voice acting. We both clash heavily over the anime's mechanics, with Rick frustrated by the logic of weapon cards transforming into grenades out of thin air, and Jack reluctantly playing defense, arguing that the show's technology makes sense if you actually pay attention to it. We agree the series feels more like a video game adaptation complete with double-jumps and zero-G combat, but that is where the agreement ends. Rick slams Moonrise as a boring, poorly executed Gundam wannabe. Jack, on the other hand, finds himself defending the show out of sheer spite.
Set in the far future, Moonrise takes place in a world where humanity has established a loosely organized world government with all major decisions delegated to a single AI network known as Sapientia. And while Earth enjoys its peace and prosperity, the Moon has become a dumping ground for criminals and pollutants, a deliberate policy that has driven the lunar colonies into poverty and resentment. When the Moon's rebel faction, Moon Chains, launches a devastating terrorist attack destroying Earth's orbital elevators, the lives of countless people are changed forever. Jacob "Jack" Shadow, a privileged adopted son of the family behind the elevator project, loses everything in the attack and finds himself framed as a suspected terrorist who helped take down the elevator. Driven by grief and his thirst for revenge, Jack "enlists" in Earth's special military unit VC3 and is deployed to the Moon to hunt down those responsible. But as he gets deeper into the conflict, the clear-cut lines between enemy and ally begin to blur especially when he discovers that his long-lost childhood friend Phil is a key figure within the very resistance he was sent to destroy.
Tou UbukataOriginal Creator
Hiromu ArakawaOriginal Character Design
Masashi KoizukaDirector
Mai TeshimaAssistant Director
Masashi KoizukaSeries Composition
Tomomi KawaguchiLiterary Arts
Ayumi YamadaCharacter Design
Megumi TomitaSub Character Design
Takuma EbisuMechanical Design
Kai SugiyamaTitle Logo Design
Takaaki ChibaMain Animator
Taisei KudouMain Animator
Yuuko SeraAction Animator
Satoshi KimuraAction Animator
Takuma EbisuAction Animator
Ken ImaizumiAction Animator
Junichi HigashiArt Director
Kazushi FujiiArt Design
Satoshi TakabatakeArt Design
Yo ShimizuConcept Art
Up next on the podcastReign of the Seven Spellblades