Snowball Earth 1×1 Review – “The Savior Who Could Not Bring Salvation”

Snowball Earth anime season one episode one, titled ‘The Savior Who Could Not Bring Salvation’, laid the groundwork for an interesting mystery while delivering retro anime vibes.

I decided to give Snowball Earth a watch after the trailer popped up on my YouTube feed. As someone who wasn’t familiar with the manga by Yuhiro Tsujitsugu, I have to say that the anime’s trailer caught my attention. The promotional material made it seem the upcoming show would harken back to retro anime storytelling featuring giant mechas and kaiju. And having watched the premiere episode, I have to say that it delivered on the promise.

Picking up in the year 2025, we got to see Earth being suddenly attacked by intergalactic kaiju resembling axolotl. Governments around the world had no choice but to come together to form the Anti-Kaiju Defense Force or the E-RDE. And though humanity saw some success against the ongoing alien attacks, the destruction and mass casualties continued. However, things changed when a 9-year-old boy named Tetsuo Yabusame decided to pilot a self-destructing robot named Snowman to face the kaiju.

I liked Tetsuo as the lead. He’s an incredibly shy kid, being unable to even talk with classmates who would like to be friends with him. Though shy, Tetsuo’s smart, very observant, and somewhat empathetic. I think Tetsuo’s empathy was what encouraged him to help Snowman fight a kaiju without using the robot’s self-destruct system. As for his fighting skills, while Tetsu watched his classmates play pretend E-RDE vs Kaiju battles during recess, Tetsuo finally got to showcase his imagination in real life through Snowman.

The montage of Tetsuo and Snowman being hailed as humanity’s saviours, and both growing up together over a decade, was enjoyable. Snowman’s evolution, whom Tetsuo named Yukio, was shown as the AI continued to improve his robotic body and access more weapons. Yukio’s AI gaining the ability to fear for his life and not wanting to die while fighting his first kaiju wasn’t explained during the premiere. Hopefully, it will be down the line because I didn’t see any other AI construct be as advanced as Yukio in such a fictional setting.

Still shy as heck and unable to make human friends, a major development occurred when a now 19-year-old Tetsuo got tasked to keep an incoming kaiju horde busy while the rest of his team charged and fired the Infinity Laser while in space. It was obvious that something was going to go wrong. However, I wasn’t expecting the way the narrative shifted from a comedic moment to tragedy as the ship’s crew realized they weren’t going to survive the Infinity Laser malfunction. Someone clearly sabotaged the mission. So, I await those answers.

With Yukio’s body being destroyed by the numerous kaiju and Tetsuo running out of options in space, I braced myself for an emotional goodbye between the duo. I knew there was no way Yukio was going to self-destruct with Tetsuo still sitting inside the cockpit. Yes, it was commendable of Tetsuo to have accepted his fate alongside his robotic ally. Tetsuo had failed to make any human friends while being very busy saving the planet. But at least, he could always rely on Yukio. Their bond had even helped Tetsuo not experience any heartbreak when he saw other people hanging out with their friends. But Yukio wasn’t going to let that happen. Tetsuo had given him the chance to “live” and he wanted to return that in kind by ensuring Tetsuo landed back on Earth alive and hopefully made a bunch of friends.

From the voice acting to the pacing and visuals, their goodbye was handled well.

The title of the anime came from Tetsuo waking up on Earth after approximately 8 years. Thinking he would still be hailed as a hero, Tetsuo opened the escape pod’s hatch to see a frozen landscape. Apparantly, Earth had completely frozen over while he slept, with the upcoming episodes focusing on Tetsuo finding answers about what happened and trying to connect with any survivors.

Due to Yukio initially being called Snowman, I wouldn’t be surprised if Tetsuo’s father (who built Snowman) was somehow connected to the current Ice Age. Maybe Tetuo’s father or other researchers decided to lower the planet’s temperatures as a way to weaken the kaiju? But then again, those aliens were shown to travel vast distances in space. Hmmm. I’m intrigued by the mystery of what happened to Earth.

Also, yeah, Yukio’s going to reappear, from what was shown in the trailer. There also seems to be something weird going on when it comes to humans having the ability to control monsters.

I very much enjoyed the dynamic between Yukio and Tetsuo. Though the vibe was similar to retro anime, I liked how Yukio was a distinct character who interacted with Tetsuo instead of simply being a giant metal husk waiting to be piloted.

Did you watch Snowball Earth anime season 1 episode 1? What did you think of it?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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