My review, for sake of clarity, will be divided into two parts, one for the first season, and one for the second. This is due to the fact that there is such a gap between these seasons, in some ways they remain part of a greater continuity, and in others they each fall far from their trees.
Season One:
This is one of those rare animes, it's not too goofy, not too convoluted, and not too bathed in blood. It is sheer genius in the truest form.
The story is as follows, forty years ago, everyone lost all memories, and were forced to start life over again. The only apparent part of Earth that survived what happened forty years ago is one city, Paradigm City, which is controlled by one company, the Paradigm corporation, headed by the son of Gordon Rosewater, Alex Rosewater. The story centers mainly around an ex-cop Roger Smith, who left the force under certain "circumstances" and became a Negotiator. I won't ruin too much of the story beyond that, as each episode will draw you in closer and closer to the "truth". None of the episodes are filler and though each episode is a separate entity unto itself, they all feel like part of a greater whole. The story is dark but it brings excellent perspective on all characters and if you go back and watch them you'll notice a lot of theology symbolism on top of the philosophy. Every time I watch one I find something new. If this series got influence from anything, it's from Neon Genesis Evangelion, but that would be its only link. Many call this show a Batman rip-off, and it's not, it may be heavily westernized, but it remains true to its form.
The animation is very unique as it is an excellent splice between the human animation of say, Cowboy Bebop mixed with the lighter style of Metropolis. All of the mechs are very well-animated and the battles are action-packed with just enough detail not to drift into something like Endless Waltz while still remaining very pristine on my HDTV. The emotion that gets across, from expressions to hand motions, is uncharacteristically human for anime, as many anime try to create a new set of emotions for their own show. Also, it's the first anime that feels like it has camera angles, and damn their good.
Season Two:
The second season is a definite change of pace, but it truly is the creators trying to expand on something they began in the first season and never got to elaborate on: philosophy, symbolism, and God.
SPOILERS(for those who haven't seen season one):
The story takes place after the cliff-hanger that was the end of season one where Roger is battling three foreign MegaDeuses, however, he has a vision and the unraveling of his world begins as old foes surface and are redefined and new foes come from the most unexpected places. I can't describe the amount of story and philosophy that is caked-on in each episode, but none of it is ever disorienting if you just think about it, however, I'm still disseminating season two, and I'm the biggest Big O fan ever. But truly, the story is something to behold, and parts of it (in both S1&S2) have actually helped me with some problems in my life and has helped me to give advice to others trying to cope. However, the way the story is told and presented in S2 is so distant from S1 that it might take some serious adjusting to.
The animation is one of my few gripes with S2. This is not to say that the show isn't still unique in a brand new way, but it has its failings that I hoped the creators wouldn't stoop to like in other anime. To what I am referring is stock footage, which is the reuse of footage from previous episodes to save money on the budget. Now in most shows it's understandable, but since the animation in S2 is completely different than that of S1, overlapping S1 footage stands out like a nude clown on fire. And the way they use the stock is in such cheap ways that could've easily been reanimated, and if they had just used stock for flashbacks it might've been alright, but you will see the stock anywhere from 3-10 times in an episode, which is very disappointing.
Series Overall:
For me, this is the greatest anime ever made, but to fully understand that, you'd have to be me, and I'm quite glad you're not. I can ask little more of this anime then what it has given, and had the minor flaws not been there, you may have found the word "perfect" popping up right about here. However, I think Mike Toole of AnimeJump said it best, "And once again, I look at the show and feel like the creators were reading my mind when they created it."
