n the year 4084 A.D., humanity comes under attack by aliens known only as Victim. Mankind's planets are quickly wiped out, except for the world called Zion. One weapon does prove effective against the aliens: the Ingrids, also known as Goddesses. These powerful battle-mecha can be piloted only by teenagers (of course) who must psychically merge with their mecha (of course). Those who qualify for training by having the right blood type and the mysterious psychic factor called "EX" have to prove themselves in a rigorous three-year training program. And since there are only five Ingrids, and they're mated to their operators, competition at the Goddess Operator Academy is fierce. Even candidates who successfully complete the training can become pilots only by waiting for one of the five existing pilots to die or retire, or by surpassing one of those pilots in skill.
Enthusiastic new recruit Zero Enna is convinced that he'll surmount all obstacles and become a pilot. In spite of the amused-to-dour reactions he gets from his instructor and his grim classmate Hiead Gner, he tears around with undiminished enthusiasm, confidently proclaiming that one day he'll pilot the White Ingrid, the most powerful of the five existing Goddesses. Then, after getting lost during his first hours on GOA, he accidentally wanders into the hangar where the Goddesses are kept, and accidentally merges with the White ship. Floating blindly in the liquid of the ship's cockpit, he sees visions from his past and communicates with a pale-haired, naked woman who speaks to him without words: "Find me. Look at me. I have divided many times into you."
The Goddesses' technicians and the White Ingrid's pilot are baffled at Zero's unprecedented ability to merge with the White ship with no training; they consider it impossible. But eventually the merging goes wrong. The Goddess ejects Zero, who ends up in sickbay, where he experiences more visions. But when he wakes up, he quickly brushes off his strange experience and goes back to fighting, verbally and then physically, with Hiead. Meanwhile, the Goddesses head back into combat against the latest Victim threat.
Deja vu, until time runs out
Are there any anime fans left in the world who don't roll their eyes at the phrase "teen pilots merging with semi-sentient ships to save humanity from mysterious aliens?" That's a pretty specific concept to have become so cliché, but even after Neon Genesis Evangelion codified decades of
similar anime tropes into one memorable, high-profile series, copycats like Brain Powered and familiar-flavored series like Vandread hammered the point home. Pilot Candidate has many of the signs of a Neon Genesis Evangelion wanna-be: incredibly powerful but solitary aliens with
unknown motives; an apparent behind-the-scenes conspiracy involving a grim doctor who's willing to sacrifice the Goddess pilots to his own ends; a trio of teen pilots who come into conflict at their first meeting; a series of hints that the human/Victim conflict represents something more significant than a mere interspecies conflict; and much more.
At least Pilot Candidate does distinguish itself from its forebears early on, mostly through perky Zero, who carries none of Evangelion's angst and little of the obnoxious egotism so common
to anime hotshot pilots. Zero simply seems cutely naïve, with his perpetually cracking voice and silly, fortune-cookie sayings like "Reality is always within reach! Dreams become reality!" (Jeremiah Freedman, who plays Zero with a pitch-perfect blend of adolescent eagerness and wonder, is typical of the generally very well-matched vocal talents on the dub.)
Pilot Candidate does have other draws. The opening credits' cheery orchestral score is particularly stirring, and the cel animation is bright and beautifully textured—although it blends somewhat awkwardly with the CG Ingrids and Victims, which look like something out of Reboot. The problems mostly lie in the pacing. Pilot Candidate's 12 episodes play out as though the series was intended to be much longer. A great deal of time is wasted on minor characters, endlessly repetitive storytelling, and half-developed storylines, and the series ultimately comes to an unsatisfying halt, leaving a number of loose ends. Pilot Candidate is an upbeat and often enjoyable take on an often-morose anime subgenre, but it tries to pack far too much significance into not nearly enough space.
