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STR.A.IN.
Anime DVD Review
Take Starship Troopers, mix in The Forever War, add some Legend of the Galactic Heroes, sprinkle in some Gunbuster, and top off with gobs and gobs of Blue Gender, and you've got yourself ... well,... something.
STR.A.IN. (STRategic Armored INfantry) is so evocative of other anime, I was pretty sure I'd already watched this series... but no, here come the plot twists... Aha, something new and unexpected. Yow. Never seen that before....
 It's a 13-episode series that is shockingly cold and very brutal, just like the war the characters are in. Two opposing forces are in an expansionist phase across the galaxy and this has lead to a war that has been going on for over 600 years. You may need some Cliff-Notes or some kind of cheat-sheet to keep up with the pace that the plotline is hurled at you.
The story centers around Sara Werec, in her quest to follow her brother Ralph into space, mostly because she'll otherwise be old and gray when he returns due to relativistic time-space problems as ships travel close to light speed.
 No sooner has she learned to pilot the STR.A.IN mecha that the series is named after than the academy is attacked and all her friends are killed. To her horror, she discovers that it's her own brother leading the assault.
Cutting her hair, changing her name, and enrolling on a training vessel as a pilot of a much clunkier mecha (because her "mimic" was destroyed with her STR.A.IN, she is now unable to pilot the graceful insect-like giant robos), Sara becomes totally withdrawn and ends up making enemies (as well as some new potential friends).
 She becomes obsessed with discovering the truth and to confront Ralph to reveal the motives behind his betrayal and put an end to his treasonous ways by any means necessary. In less time than it takes me to write this, Sara goes from loving her brother to wanting to kill him more than anything. She is willing to die herself, than let him continue to work for the enemy.
Be warned though: amidst all the horrors, deaths, angst, tears, and blood, the series is awash in fanservice and half-hearted attempts at humor. If you can get past that however, you'll find a finely crafted storyline with some handsome CG battles, but since it really comes down to Sara, and her story alone is what drives this anime, this is a mecha series for those who don't even like mecha.
Reviewed by Brian Cirulnick, April 2009
Below: Scenes from Soukou no Strain.
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