Since the humanoid robot from Tetsujin 28 walked across screens in 1963, mecha anime has endured within the cultural zeitgeist. Though there’s often a war at the center, there’s an escapist element to the spectacle of two or more gigantic robots fighting.
Creators have ruminated on the futility of human conflict in everything from Gundam to the more SFF blend of Mazinger Z. Neon Genesis Evangelion famously delved into the psychological trauma connected to the piloting of biomechanical robots, while Patlabor found a more mundane utility for automated mechs.
If you’re on the lookout for something completely new within the genre, Yuhiro Tsujitsugu’s Snowball Earth, which is currently airing on Crunchyroll, is your best bet.
[Ed. note: This article contains spoilers for Snowball Earth]
It is easy to get hoodwinked by Snowball Earth’s paint-by-the-numbers approach to its expository opening. The year is 2025, and Earth is being attacked by hostile kaiju from outer space. These ginormous, reptilian creatures are undeterred by military intervention, which prompts humanity’s best minds to find an unconventional solution. Scientist Kojika Yabusame builds an autonomous combat mecha named Yukio, which is designed to self-destruct after luring the kaiju to a trap. Unfortunately, Yukio’s hyper-intelligent nature gets in the way, and the frightened robot refuses to fulfill the objective.
At this point, it’s natural to expect a reluctant hero to step up against their will. But our unlikely champion this time is 9-year-old Tetsuo Yabusame, Kojika’s shy, socially awkward son. Tetsuo isn’t forced inside the robot Shinji Ikari-style. Instead, the child feels deep empathy for Yukio and decides to pilot him without any formal training. Before we can blink, Tetsuo pilots the mech with ease and flies off to defeat the kaiju. After Tetsuo returns victorious, ten years pass, during which our protagonist has earned the title of “The Savior.” Although the kaiju hoards have been relentless, Tetsuo and Yukio have evolved together into a formidable unit, as they are about to head into the final battle. This is where Snowball Earth upends every expectation it sets up along the way.
Even the most contemplative mecha anime prioritize visual spectacle. After all, that’s what we are here for: To see spark-flickering fights that convey a sense of scale. Six episodes in, Snowball Earth occasionally indulges in action-driven storytelling, but a major tonal shift in the pilot episode grants more intimate stakes to the show. Tetsuo’s social skills haven’t developed due to his single-minded focus on saving Earth, prompting Yukio to often nudge him towards making connections. Right before heading into the final battle, the two bond over Tetsuo’s social awkwardness. Everything goes awry when their warship gets destroyed in space, forcing a heavily damaged Yukio to safely eject Tetsuo and fight the kaiju on his own. Yukio’s last message before self-destruction is simple: He wishes that Tetsuo could make more friends on Earth.
A tragedy of this magnitude is usually reserved for the halfway point. Snowball Earth uses Yukio’s death as a watershed moment, as Tetsuo wakes up in his cryo-pod eight years later to find the planet completely covered in ice. The term “snowball earth” refers to the scientific hypothesis that the Earth was almost entirely frozen at one point in time, during which the global glaciation was inhospitable to human life. The ongoing anime proposes a similar setting, but the surface is still populated with kaiju, who are a threat to the scattered survivors. Despite the bleakness of the situation, Tetsuo braves monsters and makes his first human contact in years. He runs into a survivor group led by the skilled monster tamer Aoi Nogi, but struggles to communicate due to his poor social skills.
From this point on, Snowball Earth melts into a comfortable blend of kaiju-centered action and nuanced character showcase. Tetsuo’s bravery might paint him as a capable hero (which he is), but he is also a teenager who never got the opportunity to act his age. Yukio was his sole exposure to friendship — although this dynamic brimmed with trust and affection, Tetsuo doesn’t know what humanity is capable of. He throws himself into the heart of danger out of habit and is instinctively empathetic despite his stunted social development. This leaves him ill-equipped for the complex events to come, or rather, the past, which hides answers to the frigid present.
Snowball Earth combines elements of a disaster anime with fantastical fighting tropes to gradually introduce the covert sociopolitical factors that govern the ice-covered wasteland. That said, the path charted by this unpredictable mecha tale is life-affirming, as it gives its post-apocalyptic roots an optimistic spin. As sappy as it sounds, it’s about the beauty of human perseverance in the face of world-ending adversity. While you shouldn’t expect a masterclass in strategic warfare à la Code Geass, there’s enough heart and complexity to make you anticipate the next hope-tinged episode.
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Snowball Earth is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.