Moonrise First Impressions

Written by Ross Locksley on 11 Apr 2025

With a lot of anime dropping onto streaming platforms right now, it's easy to let titles slip by - one I had forgotten I was looking forward to was Studio Wit's adaptation of Tow Ubukata's Moonrise novel, which has been dropped in its entirety onto Netflix.

Our first impressions pieces are usually a guide as to how much a first episode grabs you, but I have to admit I binged two episodes on this occasion, such was the quality of episode one. It really is one of the most beautiful animated projects I've seen of late, the breathtaking CGI strewn throughout is a prime example of how to use it right - the digital particle effects on the weapons and costumes absolutely sparkle, the colony ships in the opening are just tremendous feats of modern technology combined with industrial design, pretty much every pore of this production seems opulent. The magnificent orchestral opening suggests high drama, and the first two episodes deliver in spades.

The CGI, coupled with stellar design work, are visually impressive

It's really no surprise that the series looks and sounds so good given the talent involved. Fullmetal Alchemist manga-ka Hiromu Arakawa is handling character designs while Ryou Kawasaki (Fate/Grand Order: Zettai Majuu Sensen Babylonia) is composing the music. Attack on Titan director Masashi Koizuka is in the director's chair. The talent shows.

While we open on the present day, we're thrown into a battle on a lunar train, with automatons attacking what we assume will be our heroes going forward. Each has their own specialty, and while the combat is brief, it seems our team are well trained. Once we're past the opening credits, we jump back in time to meet our protagonist, Jacob (Jack for short) Shadow, a young man living the high life with his affluent friends, gambling on a cruise ship near an orbital energy relay station. Things go south quickly when a terrorist attack destroys the station and causes massive shockwaves, devastating the local area. Jacob survives, but is arrested under suspicion of aiding in the attack, despite his high status. 

While this might sound run-of-the-mill in this day and age, what sells it is the production value. It all just looks so rich, both in colour and design, that it's just mesmerising to watch. The character designs are nicely distinctive, the voice acting feels a cut above and the whole setup gives off similar vibes to The Expanse, another series about class and oppression that looked incredible and kept me watching despite the high body count that usually puts me off.

Episode two fills in Jack's origins as an orphan providing experimental data for the series antagonist Bob Skylum, a researcher turned terrorist who is responsible for the attack on Earth and currently rallying the "Children of the Moon" to take back their freedom from an oppressive Earth government, the running of which has been handed over to an AI that has determined that pollutants and criminals be sent to the moon. We also meet Phil Ash, Jack's friend during his time at the institute. Together they uncover a shocking secret when their home is attacked, and Phil sacrifices himself so his friend can escape. The description for the show highlights Phil as an antagonist in later episodes, so it seems the two are fated to meet again.

Jack and Phil as children, discovering their lives have been wholly artificial

So far this appears to be a fairly intelligent political sci-fi thriller, so I'm keen to see how it develops. I'd certainly recommend the show based on the opening two episodes which jump around in the timeline to neatly provide perspective and backstory to the events surrounding Jacob. There's plenty of action so far, time will tell is it's backed up with a story that matches the impressive visuals.