AKA: みさき クロニクル ～ダイバージェンス・イヴ～ (Misaki Chronicle: Divergence Eve), Divergence Eve 2

Genre: Sci-fi / mecha with horror and historical elements

Length: Television series, 13 episodes, 23 minutes each

Distributor: Currently licensed by Sentai Filmworks.

Content Rating: 15+ (fan service, violence)

Related Series: Divergence Eve

Also Recommended: Divergence Eve, Gundam, Patlabor

Notes: The sequel to Divergence Eve.

Rating:

Divergence Eve: Misaki Chronicles

Synopsis

WARNING: Will contain spoilers to Divergence Eve.

Young Kureha Misaki is about to start on the military academy to follow in her father's footsteps. This is the story about how it all started, and yet, it is not.

High above earth, a team made up by the survivors of Watcher's nest watch over the planet for time anomalies. Whenever abnormal activities arise, Lyar von Ertiana heads down through a time barrier of some sort to face...... what, exactly? And what tie does Misaki have with all this?

Review

Given the convenience of the ending to the first Divergence Eve, the production team of Divergence Eve - Misaki chronicles was pretty much free to do whatever they wanted with this sequel storywise. And, rather than starting the story at the end like they did with the original Divergence Eve, they chose this time to start at the very beginning.

It should be noted, however, that the series itself assumes that you've watched the prequel that is really a sequel but not anyway. Did that make little sense? Actually, for me who soldiered through the entire Divergence Eve and am now watching this, it does make sense. In fact, that this show theorizes on the topic of time travel, alternate dimensions and such works in its favor. It's not rocket science, really. But, as I mentioned, you are required to have watched the first series, or at least get an inkling of what happened, to be able to pick up on what everyone in the show is doing.

Compared to the first series, Divergence Eve: Misaki Chronicles is a bit more lighthearted, at least as far as the first half. To its benefit, the whole setup -- with the survivors at Watcher's Nest having turned the base into a time barrier patrol of sorts, constantly scouring the surface of the earth for disruptions in the time barrier -- works pretty well, and allows the writers to look more into the past of not only Misaki, but the others as well, including Misaki's somewhat mysterious father. And, finally, in the last half of the show, we get reintroduced to what made the first Divergence Eve series much better than advertised; the sci-fi horror part.

Like with the first series, one might surmise that -- once again -- the character designs doesn't lend the show itself any favors, depending on how serious you want to take it. The battleships, the rampart armors and the base still looks somewhat like early generation Commodore 64 CG, the rather stiff movement of the ships in question being the biggest indication of that. And yes, the ghouls still look as ridiculous as they do in the prequel, though they appear far less frequently here.

And yes, there are still boobies to be had. Large boobies. Nay, ENORMOUS boobies. Boobies that move like no boobies should do, with the girls being able to move like they normally wouldn't be with such huge breasts hanging in front of their bodies. Certainly, the first couple of episodes makes that very, very clear, and had me a bit worried whether the show would abandon the good points it had in favor of turning into something like an in-depth study of boobies in motion. Let me make it adamantly clear right now; if you plan on enjoying this show, you are going to have to pretty much bear with this.

If you do, however, you'll find a strangely engaging show. Ridiculous character designs aside -- ridiculous technobabble aside -- this show just works because the CHARACTERS themselves make it so. The camaraderie between the girls (and no, we're not talking about a Kannazuki no Miko type of camaraderie here, so down, fanboy. Down!) is endearing to behold. Even Misaki is far less ditsy than I initially feared. The show even marks a welcome return of a character earlier dismissed halfway through the first show, which is another small plus.

And best of all, Divergence Eve: Misaki Chronicles comes to a complete and conclusive finale in this series. It even did a good job of wrapping up most of the loose ends left by the first show, leaving me pretty much satisfied with the whole deal. DE - Misaki Chronicles might have some rather ... uh ... BIG flaws, but makes up for that with compelling characters and a sensible -- even a little bit heartwarming -- story to go with it. Like with the first series, you shouldn't judge the show by what you see OR read on the cover. There is a little bit more to it than that. Just a little, but it's there.

Yet again, Divergence Eve manages to go from a cheap boob-show to a rather enjoyable series, and with a much quicker turnaround than last time. Well worth a watch. — Stig Høgset

Recommended Audience: The fan service is rather.... obvious at the beginning of the series, but there is no actual nudity. Plus, the violence doesn't reach any particular excess either.