Anime Review – Gnosia

The premise for Gnosia was pretty interesting, and when I dove into the first episode, things didn’t make a lot of sense at first, but it seemed like a sci-fi version of Danganronpa, which I really enjoyed. With that in mind, I traversed 21 episodes and came out the other side with some thoughts. Was Gnosia the sci-fi thriller that I thought it would be?

Let’s Go

The Story

A boy named Yuri wakes up after being sealed inside an instant knowledge chamber. Apparently, Yuri has amnesia. He quickly learns that there is a space parasite called a Gnosia that goes around infecting people. This infection is so severe that the protocol to cure the infection is to self-destruct the ship that’s carrying the infected passenger; however, a compromise was made to determine who is the Gnosia and put them into a cryogenic state known as a Cold Sleep. To do this, our cast will gather evidence and vote on who they think is the Gnosia. Once put into a Cold Sleep, the ship’s lights will either turn green to signify the Gnosia presence is contained, or they will remain red.

It is Yuri’s job to figure out who the Gnosia is; however, things quickly take a weird turn when we see a data tunnel with Yuri waking up from the information chamber once again. We learn that he has been looping, and no matter what happens, should his body be harmed or killed, the loop will activate, and he will have to solve the mystery all over again. One would think that this would be easy because he retains all prior information, but things get switched up when new characters appear every time he loops, and different people end up becoming infected with the Gnosia each time.

The reason behind the loops does get revealed; however, that reason is the host for a massive plot reveal… one that can have catastrophic consequences. Can Yuri close the loop and get to a point where no one is infected with the Gnosia?

Characters

Oof… if there is something about this show, it’s that there is no shortage of cast members. Instead of going super in-depth (I can’t because doing so would reveal a lot of twists and spoilers), I’ll give a brief overview and some thoughts on them.

Yuri

He’s our main protagonist who is stuck in a constant loop as he figures out who the Gnosia is each time he leaps. In addition, when he discovers why he is looping, solving the mystery of the Gnosia infectees becomes a secondary priority! Yuri is one of those main characters who needs to get propped up by a surrounding cast. While he does take actions on his own eventually, he starts off feeling quite helpless. Then again, when you’re just learning about looping and trying to figure out what’s going on, one can’t help but be overly cautious. Over the series, you get to see him mature and make some rather tough decisions. Through it all, one thing about him doesn’t change, and that’s the fact that he has insane determination to always do the right thing… and even that mentality of his gets challenged several times. For that, I really liked him as a main character because he showed that he can grow, change, and adapt as the situation needed!

Setsu

She is a member of the Federal Galactic Army Special Forces. She ends up befriending Yuri throughout the series because they share a common interest. She also tries to play the voice of reason during the meetings when it comes time to figure out who the Gnosia is. Setsu does play a much larger role as the show progresses, but she has always made every decision with logic. She was always there for Yuri when he needed it, and as the show progressed, their roles reversed, which was quite heartwarming to see. I liked her as a supporting character, as she played off Yuri quite well. I could see why Yuri did the things he did towards the end, because they grew to mean a lot to one another!

SQ

Ah, SQ, everyone’s favorite little tease. What? You’re not fond of “cute lil SQ?” She has quite the carefree attitude and has no respect for personal space. The fact that she’s constantly flirting with Yuri does make her come off as a bit annoying at first, but once you learn the truth about her, you cannot help but want to hug her. Writing her off as just another comedy character would be a mistake, as she even played a monumental role in the series ending. She’s just one of those eccentric characters that’s a bit off-putting at first, but you grow to love them.

Gina

Sometimes cold, sometimes indifferent, Gina kind of pushes everyone away, but when you get to know her, she’s very kind and warm. I know that Yuri learns this, and the two of them become quite attached… so much so that he wants to find a way to help her. There are even a few moments when Gina tugs at your heartstrings… especially in a timeline when she was infected as a Gnosia. Even though she did get her moment in the spotlight, she kind of just faded into the background after that, which is something that happens quite often with a cast this large.

Racio

Ah, yes… the one person that we wish we could put into a Cold Sleep every time, just on general principle. Cold, sometimes heartless, Racio is more interested in stirring the pot, using cold, hard logic, and not taking any chances. She’s always accusative of Yuri during the Gnosia meetings, and doesn’t seem to want to trust anyone; however, she does redeem herself a bit towards the end of the series. While I didn’t truly connect with Racio as a character all that much, I will say… she has one of the wildest anime character designs I’ve seen in quite some time.

Shigemichi

He looks like an alien, but he’s not… he is human, just wearing synthetic skin. I’ll let you discover the reason why, but he’s loud, he’s obnoxious, and he’s a failure at being a womanizer. He’s the kind of person who loves to drink and get right up in your face. He wasn’t my favorite character, but it became clear that he was meant to be the comic relief instead of SQ.

Stella

Hmm… I have to tiptoe around this one because just talking about her could have some huge spoiler implications. All I will say is that for a background character, she sure left an impact. Yeah… that’s about all I can say.

Yuriko

Another character that I can only briefly touch upon. Like Racio, she’s cold and seemingly heartless, but she’s not as loud or obnoxious about it. She has that cold, yet serious monotone thing going on, but there are things about her that scream that she knows more than she’s letting on, and when you discover that to be true, it blows things wide open in this series. Another example of a minor character having a major impact.

Comet

Okay, now this is an interesting character. We have a girl who is covered in tattoos, only to discover those tattoos are actually a biological virus that’s living off her body. Aside from the “don’t touch me or I’ll literally kill you” vibes, she seems like a normal girl who just wants to live a normal life. Sadly, like Gina, once she gets her spotlight moment, she fades to the back burner just to fill airtime.

Chipie

He likes cats… no… he REALLY likes cats. How much? Well, let’s just say that he wants to become a cat and underwent a procedure… but it wasn’t complete… so now he’s left with a cat on his shoulder… and THROUGH his neck. Yes… The cat’s bottom half is on his left shoulder… the body of the cat passes through his neck, and the head is on his right shoulder. I will say… it was rather uncomfortable seeing his character on screen, but outside of that, really weird design… he just seems like a normal guy and another background character.

Jonas

He is the captain of the ship, but in some timelines, he’s not even present (then who is piloting the ship!?) Outside of being the captain, Jonas is laid back, likes his adventures, but also assumes command when he needs to. I would make a separate entry for Kukurushka; however, I won’t because she is tied to Jonas for reasons that are kind of spoilerish, but I will just say that Jonas will do whatever he has to do to protect her. I did like Jonas as a character. I like his personality, and of course, Kenjirou Tsuda voices him, so that’s a win in my book.

Otome

It’s a dolphin in a spacesuit. Next. (Yeah, I didn’t like Otome at all. Super annoying character.)

Remnan

He’s very quiet, timid, and has a bit of social anxiety, but there is a good reason for that, and it has to do with a couple of the crew members. Once his spotlight moment came and went, you did get to build a bit of sympathy for him, but like the rest who were given their moments, he faded into the background. This one kind of sucks because there was so much that could have been done with his character, given his history, but we didn’t get much beyond his backstory and how that backstory propped up the backstories of a couple of other characters. In that sense, he did play an important role.

Sha-ming

Ah, we finally get to our last character! He’s a shut-in who loves booze and women. He wants to be left alone and feels that the meetings are a waste of time. He would much rather sleep the day away in a cold, dark room than mingle with people. Hey! I can relate to this character! He will interact with others, though… mainly in a bar and surrounded by strippers. Let’s just say that he has his priorities straight!

Art, Animation & Sound

Domerica handled the production of this show, and I have to say… GOOD LORD, what an amazing-looking anime. Everything from the wildly unique character designs, to the special effects, to the masterful usage of CG, to the great high-quality animations… it was clear that a lot of care and attention went into the creation of this show.

This show totally nailed the space sci-fi theme, and it’s more than just slapping a bunch of stars on a black background. The ship’s design, the usage of technology (more on that in a second), and the overall expression of the space sci-fi genre were spot on. When you want to get absorbed into a space adventure that has some pretty wild twists and premises, but want to feel grounded the entire time as if nothing in this story’s world is out of place, then this is a perfect example of how to accomplish that. Even when they docked at a planet and took an orbital elevator down to the surface, it all fit within the theme of the show.

As for the technology… and speaking of said descent onto the planet… are you meaning to tell me that we have holograms, a super intelligent AI powering the ship, warp jumps, and everything else in between, but records are stored on super-sized floppy disks? Really? That’s the best you guys could come up with!? The world of your imagination is at your fingertips, and we get giant floppy disks? Okay…

Hey, I’ve been singing this show’s praises so far; I had to find a gripe somewhere, didn’t I?

The soundtrack is amazing from the openings to the endings (especially one performed by TK from Ling Tosite Sigure), and the ambient background music… all of it came together and produced something atmospheric that felt just right for this show! This is a soundtrack that you’ll want to pick up, not because it will rock your socks off, but because it will provide some chill ambiance for any moment you could use it.

Overall Thoughts

This is one of those times when I did a First Reaction, gave a show a MAYBE, then came back to stick my foot in my mouth. Once the big reveal happened, I was left in awe. If that reveal happened in 2025… this show would have won Anime of the Year from me… it was just that good. Then again, I am a bit biased because I do love me some time travel, but the reveal wasn’t just some huge, shocking moment. It was complex, it was thought out, and even though it confused the heck out of you at first, it made total sense the more the reveal was allowed to breathe.

The cast of characters were very unique… each with their own stories, but again, I didn’t like the fact that they were given the Assassination Classroom treatment where they get an episode to flesh them out, and then it’s like they’re forgotten, but when you have a cast of fifteen characters, you need to find a way to cycle through them while making them feel relevant, and this is the way some stories have to handle it out of necessity. I thought that having different characters come and go with every time leap was a clever way to handle such a large cast, though, so kudos for being able to pull that off.

I can’t sing this show’s praises enough, but what makes me a bit sad is the fact that I hardly see a lot of people talking about Gnosia. Yes, it’s a show that flew under a lot of people’s radars, but from the comments I read on forums, those who gave it a chance were glad that they did… and I’m one of them. I was skeptical coming into this show, and now, I’m severely missing it. With the way things ended, I highly doubt there is going to be a second season, but I won’t complain if there isn’t. This told a complete story from beginning to end, and I was satisfied with the way it came out.

Also, shame on them for making us think that the anime ended on Episode 18! One of the best fakeouts I’ve seen in anime!

So, with that being said… Gnosia gets a 4.5 / 5 from me. Just an absolute gem that people who are fans of sci-fi should check out!

Until next time,

Ja ne