Okay, I'm going to drop in heavily: be prepared to be gutwrenched and crying at the dog sequence at the end of the movie!
If you think you can handle it, then go watch this excellent instalment in the Fafner franchise...
Yumi and Ryou are children on Tatsumiya Island, nearing their school graduation. In the outside world, a strange race called the Festum has come to Earth, and are attacking and destroying all that come in their way.
Ryou, who suffers from a genetic illness, is actually recruited to pilot one of the newest weapons humanity has develloped, the Fafner. When Yumi finds out, she enlists into the program as well, but the children aren't told about the project to much. Fearing that the Festum might read the minds of those they capture, they don't want to take any risks in Alvis.
After their basic training, in which they learn the hard way about the crystallisation process side effect, they leave for Plan L, which is to use a submarine part of the island to lure the Festrum away and fight them off. One by one though, the Fafner and their pilots are falling, when the ship is attacked. Launching in the last two Fafner's, Yumi and Ryou face them.
The vessel however is besieged and falls even as Soshi is guiding the Mark Zwei to the battle. As Yumi succumbs to the process in Ryou's arms, Ryou devices a way of detonating his Fafner, and record a message of their fight to inform those that might find his "legacy". Months later, a Fafner cockpit is salvaged from the seas and they learn of their fate.
And then comes the dog moment to learn who was in that cockpit...
So, apart from heartwrenching, this prequel to the original series tells a good story of how the Fafner program started. Their are appearances and roles for some of the main series characters, but the struggle and sacrifices made are really told in great fashion.
Recommended watching for any mecha lover!
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