Knights of Sidonia
Encyclopedia
is the title of a 2009 manga
published by Kodansha and created by Tsutomu Nihei
, the author of Blame!
monsters called Gauna. The manga begins a thousand years after humans flee from Earth, which was supposedly destroyed by the Gauna, aboard massive spaceships created from the remains of the planet. The Gauna follow the emigration ships into space, forcing the humans to create large mechanized weapons called Guardians to protect themselves. Most people in the surviving human population is screened and drafted as Guardian pilots since young age if they are shown to be capable of piloting the mecha
. The story focuses on one of such ships named Sidonia which developed its own human culture closely based on that of Japan and where human cloning
, asexual reproduction
and human engineering such as controlled hybrid
human/animal mutation
s and human photosynthesis
are commonplace.
The main character is Tanikaze Nagate, who lived in the underground layer of Sidonia since birth. Never having met anyone, he trains himself in an old Guardian pilot simulator every day, eventually mastering it. Later he ventures out and after being tested in a new simulator he is selected as a Guardian pilot, in hopes of defending Sidonia from the Gauna's attack using his incredible combat skills.
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
published by Kodansha and created by Tsutomu Nihei
Tsutomu Nihei
is a Japanese manga artist. His cyberpunk-influenced artwork has gained a strong cult following. He has a relatively large community of fans in Germany where his manga Blame!, NOiSE and Biomega were published by Ehapa. Blame! was also published in France and Spain by Glénat, in the US by Tokyopop...
, the author of Blame!
Blame!
, pronounced "blam", is a ten-volume 1998 cyberpunk manga by Tsutomu Nihei published by Kodansha. A six part original net animation was produced in 2003, with a seventh episode included on the DVD release.- Plot :...
Series Plot
The story follows humans as they struggle to survive against the threat of the shapeshifting gigantic alienExtraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
monsters called Gauna. The manga begins a thousand years after humans flee from Earth, which was supposedly destroyed by the Gauna, aboard massive spaceships created from the remains of the planet. The Gauna follow the emigration ships into space, forcing the humans to create large mechanized weapons called Guardians to protect themselves. Most people in the surviving human population is screened and drafted as Guardian pilots since young age if they are shown to be capable of piloting the mecha
Mecha
A mech , is a science fiction term for a large walking bipedal tank or robot, including ones on treads and animal shapes.-Characteristics:...
. The story focuses on one of such ships named Sidonia which developed its own human culture closely based on that of Japan and where human cloning
Human cloning
Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. It does not usually refer to monozygotic multiple births nor the reproduction of human cells or tissue. The ethics of cloning is an extremely controversial issue...
, asexual reproduction
Asexual reproduction
Asexual reproduction is a mode of reproduction by which offspring arise from a single parent, and inherit the genes of that parent only, it is reproduction which does not involve meiosis, ploidy reduction, or fertilization. A more stringent definition is agamogenesis which is reproduction without...
and human engineering such as controlled hybrid
Hybrid
In biology and specifically, genetics, the term hybrid has several meanings, all referring to the offspring of sexual reproduction.#In general usage, hybrid is synonymous with heterozygous: any offspring resulting from the mating of two distinctly homozygous individuals#a genetic hybrid carries two...
human/animal mutation
Mutation
In molecular biology and genetics, mutations are changes in a genomic sequence: the DNA sequence of a cell's genome or the DNA or RNA sequence of a virus. They can be defined as sudden and spontaneous changes in the cell. Mutations are caused by radiation, viruses, transposons and mutagenic...
s and human photosynthesis
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is a chemical process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae, and many species of bacteria, but not in archaea. Photosynthetic organisms are called photoautotrophs, since they can...
are commonplace.
The main character is Tanikaze Nagate, who lived in the underground layer of Sidonia since birth. Never having met anyone, he trains himself in an old Guardian pilot simulator every day, eventually mastering it. Later he ventures out and after being tested in a new simulator he is selected as a Guardian pilot, in hopes of defending Sidonia from the Gauna's attack using his incredible combat skills.
Characters
- Hoshijiro Shizuka - A female main character and fellow Guardian pilot who Nagate meets and befriends during the series.
- Tanikaze Nagate - The series main protagonist. Despite having a hard time adapting to Sidonia's way of life and getting in trouble constantly while being rejected by the other humans due to not being aware of the laws and attributes of the new culture, he eventually becomes the spaceship's population savior, main defender and hero over time. He pilots an older but capable Guardian mecha model called "Tsugumori".
- The 28th Generation Captain - The mysterious young female captain of the Sidonia spaceship who commands the Guardians into attacking the enemy Gauna aliens. Her face appears concealed behind a japaneseJapanese peopleThe are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
KabukiKabukiis classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...
mask most of the time. - Izana Shinatose - A supporting character who belongs to a new third genderIntersexIntersex, in humans and other animals, is the presence of intermediate or atypical combinations of physical features that usually distinguish female from male...
that originated during the hundred of years of human emigration into space. Shinatose is also a Guardian pilot and quickly becomes Nagate's best friend, constantly following Nagate and teaching him about the life inside Sidonia. - Kunato Norio - A fellow male Guardian pilot with long white hair jealous of Nagate's natural piloting skills and who constantly abuses him physically and psychologically.
- Yamano Eiko - A female Guardian pilot with brown hair who supports Nagate in his first mission outside Sidonia.
- Tahiro Numi - A female scientist with glasses who befriends both Nagate and Shinatose later in the series and gives them important information regarding the Gauna.
- Honoka En, Honoka Ro, Honoka Hou, Honoka Ren, etc. - The eleven Honoka sisters who are all Guardian pilots. They are long haired albino females who appear identical due to being human clones.
- Ms. Hiyama - A mutant cyborg female human/bear hybrid who serves as "dorm mother" taking care of Nagate's living quarters and making his food.