Movies / Home Theatre

Chrome Shelled Regios Part 1

By Chris Zimmerman
February 20, 2011 - 23:41

Anime and sci-fi go hand in hand. Heck, half of the medium’s shows are set in space or involve giant mechas duking it out, or both. On the other hand, the Japanese seem to have an affinity for giant creatures, predominantly insects. Just look at Mothra. Chrome Shelled Regios is an example of an intriguing concept that falls flat with its execution.

Chrome Shelled Regios is a relatively popular franchise in its native Japan. Like many series, it has a grouping of graphic novels and light novels based upon it and has since spawned an animated series. Handled by Zexcs, it has since been brought stateside thanks to the efforts of Funimation.

Set in the future in which the earth has survived a nuclear fall-out, mutated creatures overrun the planet. Humans live in mobile cities and face the occasional giant insect attack. In order to combat the threat, humanity has mastered the energy known as Kei and have combined it with special weapons DITE.

Layfon is among the new hopefuls humanity hopes to train to stand against the creatures. He appears to have prior combat experience and is roped into joining the military arts after the head of the student council takes notice of his skills and blackmails him.

From there, we see the group head out on mission after mission, with snippets of Layfon’s past being brought to the forefront. The story becomes formulaic fast and takes on the feeling of an animated Power Rangers.
One of the show’s biggest weaknesses is the over use of terminology. At times, I felt like I should have a handbook handy just to keep up with what was being discussed.

The characters, though developed, aren’t at all original. You have the stoic prodigy with a past, the aggressive platoon leader, and the haughty female. The series is a melting pot of popular anime clichés.  

Simply put, I didn’t find enough to keep me invested in Chrome Shelled Regios. There’s some decent material but it’s mostly just copied from other series that did it better. Maybe Part Two will change my mind.

C   

Last Updated: November 29, 2025 - 16:51