Earlier in March a new part of Del Toro's “Pacific Rim” franchise landed on Netflix.
“Pacific Rim: The Black” is the story of siblings Taylor and Haley, son and daughter of the dedicated Jaeger pilots Ford and Brina Travis. While their parents are nowhere to be found after their crucial decision to reach Syndney and bring help after the attack of a Kaiju, the kids among other peers remain waiting in a self-contained safe base somewhere in the Australian desert. In contrast with her level-headed brother who is also happens to be a Jaeger Pilot cadet that never finished training, Haley is a little daredevil who manages in one of her antics to find the famous hidden training Jaeger Atlas Destroyer. Everything's fine someone would say, but Atlas Destroyer is non-weaponry machine, commanded by the A.I, Loa.
Being neither your traditional mecha, nor your usual cyberpunk, “The Black” is frugal when it comes to battles between Kaijus and Jaegers and as a result the, plot moves forward fast, in a season of only seven episodes, making studio Polygon Picture and production company Legendary Television very likely to attempt a promising second instalment.
To be totally honest, I always thought that there's something missing from the “Pacific Rim” movies. I was considering the material quite appropriate for a more melodramatic approach, old manga style. My prayers at last have been heard, the concepts of loss, memory and broken mentality are very vivid here and the “Neon Genesis Evangelion” vibes are easily detected, since the creators don't hesitate to kill likeable characters. The Drift, the deep mental connection the co-pilots need to succeed in order to operate the Jaegers is more dramatic than has ever been before in the franchise and related to the plot in some way. The survival instinct of the desert's inhabitants aren't limited in cognitive concerns but in financials as well, since a new kind of mafia that exploit Kaijus has taken over the desert.
The animation is 3D, something that otherwise would restrain me from even starting the series but fortunately the environments are usually full (except episode no 1 when in a whole city that is being attacked by a Kaiju there isn't even one crashed car in the streets) and the drawing of the characters is bold enough to fit in.
If the rumours that a second season has been greenlit are true, I can see some very excited viewers anticipating for a new release date in front of their screens. Including myself.
