Knights of Sidonia - Episode 11

The path of a giant craft journeying through space never did run smooth, particularly if that craft happens to be named Sidonia, as this space-faring behemoth suddenly finds itself dwarfed several hundred times over by a massive Gauna hive; one so big that its consumed a dwarf planet to use as its placenta.

It also seems that the phrase "the bigger they are, the harder they fall" won't apply here, as Sidonia's first course of action - to simply evade their enemy - falls short as their opponent proves to be just as maneuverable as they are. Thus, there's nothing for it than to bring out the big guns - a planet-destroying missile, experimental weapons and two platoons of frames, including (of course) Tanikaze and Izana.

The plan is simple enough - to destroy the Gauna surrounding the dwarf planet before Sidonia's missile hits and destroys it. The plan is simple in theory, but upon arrival at their target the pilots are soon faced with a barrage of enemy fire in already difficult conditions thanks to the dwarf planet's gravitational pull, and once a Gauna which once again apes the movement and abilities of Sidonia's frames appears things go downhill incredibly fast, leading to some desperate measures to be enacted by Midorikawa on the Sidonia's bridge.

All of this combined to make for an absolutely terrific episode of Knights of Sidonia - action-packed, but more importantly jam-packed with tension as the impossible odds stacked against humanity were laid bare and then brought to bear in compelling fashion. Again, this week's episode was also an advertisement for the benefits of the show's CG treatment, as it packed every frame with detail from Sidonia's architecture through to the assault on the Gauna hive and its response. All of this leads into what should be an equally thrilling finale to a series that seems to have really found its way and provided some fantastic fare as it's done so across the course of the series.