Fafner Dead Agressor - Behind the Line

 A special movie made to celebrate the end of the series and the overwhelming fan support for more, Behind the Line takes place between Heaven and Earth on the one side, and Exodus on the other.

In this hour long special, a tale is told from never before.

With peace returned at the moment, our pilots are graduating from being Fafner pilots.  But this means they will start following courses to decide what jobs they want to pursue now.

But this brings issues, as they are war veterans focussed on protecting the island, their families and their friends, while now they have to try and settle on a life without those requirements.  Some try a career in medical, others in operations, but also in the military as regular fighter pilots.

 

Miwa and Canon visit Karin's grave, as the older ones look on, wondering how Maya will grow and evolve.   They all look back on the past and their paths to the future, and doing routine things like going to cultural events and having tea together.

Yet they keep longing for their Fafner's, as those keep being interweaved into their lives and possible new careers.  Soushi harshly, yet correctly, rubs in the truth that they just linger around, waiting for retirement without any set purposes in their life.

When the alarm goes off, the new generation has to come into action, the elder pilots staying behind as reserves.  But the sortie is not needed in the end as it turned out to be a drifting hulk, as Kazuki and Canon start accepting they must think about "tomorrow" again after all those years.  

At the festival, they finally start coming to terms with their fates, and make peace with it as the lanterns of their lost ones drift away over the water...

So this was a calm and relaxing instalment in the franchise, and felt like a perfect send-off for the series.