Around 1995, Japanese animation (anime) began pouring into North America, Europe and across the globe in video form. Most of these titles were unknown outside of Japan and never covered by animation journals. Whether a title is highly popular or very obscure, a high quality theatrical feature or a cheap and unimaginative direct-to-video release, they all look the same on a store shelf. Therefore, Animation World Magazine will regularly review several new releases (including re-releases not previously covered) that have merit.

Infinite Ryvius’ portrayal of teens has earned it the moniker of “The Lord of the Flies in a spaceship.”

Infinite Ryvius. V.1, Lost in Space. V.2, Vital Guarder. V.3, Tension. V.4, Change of Command. V.5, Retribution. V.6, Absolution.
TV series (26 episodes), 1999-2000. Director: Goro Taniguchi. V.1-2, 5 episodes/125 minutes; v.3-6, 4 episodes/100 minutes. Price & format: DVD bilingual $29.98. Distributor: Bandai Entertainment.

The Sunrise studio pioneered the dramatic sci-fi serial about several teens (untrained military cadets and civilian refugees) aboard a spaceship during wartime who are forced to take over to save themselves when all the adult crew are killed (the original 1979-80 Mobile Suit Gundam; the 1983 Vifam). Infinite Ryvius (Mugen no Ryvius; 26 TV episodes, October 6, 1999 to March 29, 2000) is Sunrise’s most complex version of this plot, yet in several important aspects one of the most flawed.

In 2137 A.D., a tremendous solar flare throws a dense plasma called Geduld throughout the Solar System, creating “seas” of plasma between the planets. This exotic sci-fi technobabble is a setup for spaceship battle action similar to World War II naval warfare. In 2225, several hundred adolescents are studying at the Liebe Delta Astronaut Training Center, a huge space station orbiting Earth near the surface of a Geduld “sea.” Mysterious commando saboteurs kill the satellite's adult staff and program it to sink into the Geduld until it is crushed by the plasma pressure. The teen trainees manage to keep the Liebe Delta “afloat” long enough to discover a secret prototype super-ship, the Ryvius, hidden within its core, and the several hundred survivors escape in it. The trainee astronaut computer programmer/pilots hope to return to Earth, but new attacks by the saboteurs force them to flee towards Mars. The refugees set up housekeeping in the huge Ryvius, trusting the amateur bridge crew to get them to Mars safely. In each episode, the bridge team discovers new secrets about the Ryvius and its military capabilities (it is obviously a warship, but whose?), which help save it from new attacks. Then a punk gang among the teens mutinies and takes over the bridge. Next the enemy strikes again just as the Ryvius is approaching Mars, and as a result of space battle damage to Mars, the Ryvius is mistakenly accused by the government (or is it a deliberate frameup?) of being the aggressor. The increasingly desperate teens are forced to flee towards Jupiter or Saturn, while new cliques, each distrustful of the competence of whomever is commanding the bridge this week, plot to take over to “save us all.”

There is a dramatic “unexpected development” every two or three episodes (except that the viewer soon comes to recognize when it is time for a new development). Despite six to ten main continuing characters, there are so many new characters among the 487 refugees who briefly rise to prominence that it becomes increasingly hard to tell everyone apart. The portrayal of the 16-year-olds (or younger) as frightened and undisciplined rather than all working together is imaginative for anime, although it has gotten Infinite Ryvius branded by almost every reviewer as “The Lord of the Flies in a spaceship.” Some aspects aiming for a teen audience are ludicrous, such as using hip-hop and rap as mood music for a tense battle sequence. One dramatic development is the revelation that there are at least two rival groups fighting to destroy the Ryvius, and keeping the increasingly complex “mysterious enemy” a secret becomes irritatingly manipulative by around episode #10. Despite these flaws, Infinite Ryvius is well plotted and relentlessly dramatic compared to most anime sci-fi series (though what little humor there is, it’s overly silly, such as “futuristic” character names like Ran Luckmolde and Good Turtleland III), and it displays some serious state-of-the-art space technology such as orbital rail cannons.