5/5 a real reivew
  by blunt
So this is an honest review that won't be a weird overdrawn essay on how bad it is. So far its got my interest as the story plays out. The animation is kin to witchblade which I liked as well. good fan service too. Rent it first and buy it if you like it. plus I didn't give any of the story away

3/5 A Hodgepodge of Themes and Slick Visuals
  by ONENEO (Buffalo, NY)
I know, I know you should never judge a book by its cover but even still I have to admit that Dragonaut -The Resonance's cover had me interested. And what's not to love about a cover that depicts a massive biomechanical dragon and a from-below view of a near-naked girl? Needless to say, I was a fan before the first episode. The show continues to dazzle with the material promised by the cover art but before we get into that, let's take a moment to look at the cold hard facts of this FUNimation release.

Spanning a pair of discs Dragonaut The Resonance Part 1 comes packaged in two thin packs within an outer cardboard slipcase and consists of episodes 1-13. The show comes in at a total runtime of 323 minutes and wears an appropriate TV 14 rating due to animated violence, a lot of clothed promiscuous adventure qualities, some near nudity and a whole lot of jiggling.

Language options are standard sub & dub with both an English dub (Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround) and original Japanese soundtrack (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo) & the choice of English subtitled if so inclined to turn them on.

Extras include textless opening and closing songs, and a host of fresh Funimation trailers.

The story itself goes something like this: Twenty years in the past, an asteroid enters our small solar system and completely destroys the small planetoid that we know as Pluto (well at least that's what we called it then). Due to Pluto's destruction, the asteroid, (Thanatos) has become lodged within Pluto's long orbit around our sun.

It turns out that Thanatos is not just some erratically flying chunk of rock as was initially believed and is in fact a living organism that's got earth in its targets for complete destruction next. Thanatos is actually home to a bunch of ultra powerful dragon-like beings that can conquer the void of space to invade planets with alarming destructive efficiency.

In order to give Earth a fighting chance against the inevitable threat, the International Solarsystem Development Agency (ISDA) develops a top-secret program labeled the D-Project, which hatches a dragon egg recovered from the ocean and uses the organism within as a powerful weapon for humanity. Long story short- we'll try to fight fire with fire (or dragon with dragon as the case may be).

The viewer follows the exploits of a teenage schoolboy named Jin Kamishina and the tale opens literally with a massive tragedy that is sure to grab the attention of even the most easily distracted observer.

If linear time lines happen to be your thing, you'll probably want to steer clear as we jump around the time continuum in this plot like a frog on a hot plate. The core of the tale actually takes place two years after the initial tragedy where a now 18-year-old Jin finds himself buried in conspiracy theory involved with the ISDA and their efforts to hatch/ prepare dragons for battle from the impending attack.

Helping him both to make sense of the madness (and saving his life nearly constantly) is Toa, a mysterious pink haired, well-endowed girl with a penchant for very short shorts.

If this all sounds good to you so far, let me burst your bubble slightly by saying that the tale works far better as a few written paragraphs than it does an epic anime saga as it attempts to be. Sadly in its delivery, Dragonaut is a very sundry blend of story elements that never fully finds itself (at least not in the first 13 episodes anyway). On the one hand you have the typical anime clichés such as the innocent but depressed kid who holds the key to humanity's salvation, the cast of adult women who jiggle from scene to scene with no apparent knowledge of the need for a bra, the mysterious yet bubbly (voluptuous) alien girl, and enough CGI dragons to give Peter Jackson a case of envy.

Aside from the superficial there are attempts at covert operations, conspiracy theories, alien invasions, space exploration, extraterrestrial technologies, human/ animal bonds, moon colonization, feuding agencies, teen angst, campy romance attempts, and even some "boy meets girl" teen melodrama. If this sounds like a full plate, believe me it is. Every once in a while a thread develops that delivers on the potential within but more often than not the prose feels pretty muddled.

The visuals are quite stunning as is par for the course with anime masters Gonzo (who collaborated with Nihon Ad Systems (NAS) on this one) with beautiful skies, a colorful pallet, nice animation and many CGI heavy intense battle sequences.

The dragons themselves remind me a bit of the models used in Heroic Age but the human/dragon bonding element harkens to something you might expect from a giant robot themed program.

The score is nice and crisp with some catchy J-Pop themes and upbeat tempos to compliment the action sequences.

In all Dragonaut The Resonance Part 1 is quite an ambitious property, maybe even too ambitious for its own good. There are hints of Vandread and Gundam buried within the dozens of clashing elements that never fully cement themselves into a continuous classification. The show certainly has its moments but unfortunately they are too few and far between to place it firmly into "must buy" status.

1/5 Doesn't resonate
  by E. A Solinas (MD USA)
Watch out! A giant space asteroid has destroyed Pluto and is unleashing CGI space dragons on the Earth!

Yeah, I don't really buy that concept either. But unfortunately the concept is still the best part of "Dragonaut: Resonance Part 1," a flaccidly plotted little anime that covers its plot holes and confusing storyline with lots and lots of CGI dragons, jiggling breasts and power-of-fuzzy-sparkly-love-will-prevail stuff.

Two years after his family was killed in a shuttle accident, Jin is being followed by a mysterious pink haired girl -- and it turns out the ISDA is interested in making him a dragon-riding Dragonaut, like his old pal Kazuki. Amazingly, Jin isn't really surprised by any of this.

And as he and the girl Toa fall in love (over the course of, like, half an hour), the ISDA's dragons attack her -- and she suddenly transforms into a dragon as well. Since Jin has seen her true form, Toa flies off to the moon, but Jin is determined to find her -- along with a newborn dragon named Gio, who was supposed to be Kazuki's but who claims he was born to protect Toa. Cue emo woe of angst.

Of course the ISDA's Dragonauts are sent off to find Toa because she is a "living original," and the Gillard military -- led by the silicone-sacked Major Garnet -- is trying to capture Gio so they can find out how Resonance (the bond between a dragon and human) works. But Jin and Gio have their own secret allies among the Dragonauts, as well as a new enemy, Kazuki.

"Dragonaut" is a mess in most every way -- half the time you won't know what's going on and why (why are people ATTACKING Toa if they want her alive?), and the other half you'll be scratching your head over the random plot twists. The series is at its strongest when it focuses on the whole idea of the Dragonauts, the conspiracy to sabotage them (including a truly spooky subplot early on, involving a dragon eating humans) or when they rely heavily on comedy (usually from Howlingstar).

Unfortunately, little of the story is actually about that -- and while the series starts off intriguing, it sinks under the weight of its own melodramatic angst, lots of dramatic aerial battles (and space battles), and jiggling. In fact, when you strip it down, the entire first part of the series is basically made up of Toa running headlong into trouble, while Jin and Gio chase after her (usually with screams of "Toa!" "Jin!" "Toa!" "Jin!").

It also has extremely patchy animation -- the dragons are basically big draconic mecha, rendered in flat, matte CGI that looks like it was lifted from a video game. And WHOA what is up with all the BREASTS? Most of the women in this series have giant sacks of Jello boinging around their chests and hanging out of their porn-star outfits, (these are high-ranking military and scientists?). Girls get a few shreds of fanservice -- Gio and Howlingstar in tiny little swimming trunks -- but it's not much comparatively.

Jin is also rather useless as a hero -- he never really DOES anything, and we never really find out why he's instantly crazy in love with Toa (and vice versa). Most of the other characters range from flat (Liner, Sieglinde) to crazy (Kazuki, who even gives himself a "crazy" haircut). The dragons are actually the most striking characters -- the peppy quirky Howlingstar, the paternal Amadeus, and especially Gio, whose fanatical devotion is shaken when he starts to question his fate.

"Dragonaut: The Resonance Part 1" starts off interesting enough to keep watching, but rapidly falls apart under the weight of its angst and silliness. Maybe it improves later on, but I'm not holding my breath.