PACIFIC RIM: THE BLACK — A Successful Return to the World of Kaiju

Until the premiere of Pacific Rim: The Black, I didn’t see any point in creating a broader universe with jaegers and kaiju in the leading roles. Steven S. DeKnight’s Pacific Rim: Uprising effectively talked me out of it—it’s one of the most nightmarish sequels I’ve ever had the misfortune to watch. That’s why the anime version comes as quite a surprise to me, as it draws on everything that was best in Guillermo del Toro’s film.

What’s more, it introduces a number of new storylines that act as a foundation binding the entire Pacific Rim world into a coherent and wonderfully imaginative universe. So if the creators of the third live-action movie fail to take The Black into account, it will be easy to judge them—either as complete dilettantes or as people who care solely about money, not about crafting timeless works of cinematic art.

Pacific Rim: The Black watches like a gripping action sci-fi film. The division into roughly 20-minute episodes even feels somewhat unnecessary. The story is told in a highly condensed, linear way with only small departures into flashbacks. This isn’t a drawback, because the balance between present-day action and the characters’ memories is preserved. Many live-action films use a similar technique but give their flashbacks far more screen time. In Pacific Rim: The Black, the characters’ memories appear exactly when they should, never competing with the main plot.

When I say the series references everything that was best in Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim, I obviously mean the jaeger-versus-kaiju battles and the tense action—but not that it copies them in anime form. The Polygon Pictures series only uses these elements to frame a broader story, which is why The Black can be described as world-building rather than a narrative closed to further continuation, whether in anime or live-action.

Therefore, those expecting a story centered strictly on jaegers fighting kaiju, complete with detailed descriptions of their categories, won’t get that. The plot instead focuses on two siblings, Taylor and Hayley, who traverse a kaiju-ravaged Australia in search of their missing parents. Their companions are a mysterious boy found in a lab and the warrior Mei, and their means of transport is a disarmed training jaeger. There’s no point in fighting monsters anymore—unless in self-defense. One must learn to navigate the new reality, avoiding kaiju at all costs and fighting for survival—perhaps against even more dangerous opponents who cannot be avoided. And there are plenty of them, including humans.

The array of available adversaries is vast: massive Category IV kaiju, kaiju-jaeger hybrids, humanoid kaiju, and even dogs modified with monster DNA. This rich, dark universe of Pacific Rim: The Black is revealed gradually, along with the journey of the main characters. The better we get to know them, the more (I hope) we appreciate that jaeger-versus-monster battles were not made the core of the story. Thanks to that, the series gains a substantial dose of thoughtfully portrayed struggles faced by the characters—children forced to grow up too soon as they search for any hope of a better life.

Their confrontation with adulthood is almost shocking. In this new post-collapse world, none of the values once respected and upheld still apply. Humanity has failed and, intriguingly, continues to fail even more—trying to exploit kaiju for its own purposes. In this perspective, the monsters from the depths of the Earth seem to be both punishment and opportunity, and it is up to humankind to decide how to rebuild reality after the catastrophe.

I still remember my viewing of Netflix’s Kajko and Kokosz, especially the drawing quality and animation style. I couldn’t help but think comparatively, even though I know Pacific Rim: The Black is technically anime. I don’t expect Kajko and Kokosz to adopt the same style, of course. But I do want to highlight the need to create atmosphere through a rich presentation of the world. The Black has everything that Kajko and Kokosz wasn’t given: richly detailed backgrounds, expressive character animation, fluid motion, attention to realism in fights, a vibrant color palette used to build perspective, and clever techniques like entering a character’s mind.

All these elements support the viewer’s imagination. You begin to feel the story. You become part of it. The characters start to feel close, rather than just like fictional cartoons. That’s why I strongly hope that Pacific Rim: The Black will serve as preparation—a kind of introduction—to the world presented in the third live-action film. And to those in the know, I ask: do you have any guesses about who the SISTERS are?