Based loosely upon William Golding's ever-so bleak look into the fragility of human society, Lord of the Flies, this truly is an anime to be savoured. Like LotF, it sees how society would develop, and eventually breakdown if all those with the knowledge and the experience suddenly left. Who would take charge, who would there to look up to and to turn to when times become harsh. However, IR takes two spins on this. Whilst one is purely window dressing, the other allows for far more developments, more notions, and more complexities than it's illustrious inspiration. Firstly IR is a sci-fi. It deals with young astronauts at a training college in outer-space. A sabotage on the station leaves all the adults dead and the students drifting alone in space. Sounds familiar enough, it is. However, these students are on average 16 and are not innocent little children any more. And they are not neither stupid nor helpless. The prefect group (know as Zwei) immediately takes control and thus begins the first study into the first microcosm of society. From here on in, the whole nature of power, politics, and personality are put under the intense microscope of the events that constantly threaten to overwhelm the players. Possibly the most mentally taxing and demanding cartoon ever made, those that watch it must be aware of the grim realities of human nature that lie inside all of us. Truly essential ....... 10/10
Review of Infinite Ryvius
