The Kaiju have long been a threat to humanity and their presence only continues to grow. A young boy named Taylor and his sister Hayley find themselves victims to the Kaiju threat when their parents end up disappearing after leaving them for 5 years in a small hidden oasis. Now older, the siblings have begun to hate their existence in this small hideaway but when they accidentally discover a Jaeger—mankind’s only means of fighting back against the Kaiju—they end up alerting a nearby Kaiju of the oasis’ location. Now without a home or community, Taylor and Hayley set off in their giant robotic machine to search for their parents and a means to end this nightmare once and for all.

Hands down the biggest issue with Pacific Rim: The Black is the lack of battles between giant robots and monsters. Aside from the first episode and a few of the last ones, most of the episodes focus on Taylor and Hayley’s survival as they fight against human/small Kaiju threats. While these moments weren’t at all bad, we just wished Polygon Pictures would have included more giant battles as these were the best segments of the show.

Polygon Pictures—known for their work on Ajin and Knights of Sidonia—have brought to life one of our absolute favorite mecha movie franchises and that alone is amazing. Pacific Rim: The Black isn’t the best animation from the studio but we loved the detail in the environments, mecha, and—of course—the Kaiju, which truly respected the movies in numerous ways. The various battles Taylor and his companions go through are truly some of the best moments of Pacific Rim: The Black.

Pacific Rim: The Black was most certainly made for the fans of the movies—both Pacific Rim and Pacific Rim: Uprising—as there are tons of references to both films. Pacific Rim: The Black also avoids unnecessarily referencing the movies too much to ensure the fans don’t forget this is a separate story that exists in this franchise’s world but isn’t acting as a sequel or retread of past events.

Only 7 episodes long, Pacific Rim: The Black definitely has room for a sequel and that is something we would welcome. The story includes just enough content that we are left with some lingering questions and wouldn’t mind re-entering Taylor and Hayley's struggle to find their parents and a sanctuary from the Kaiju menace!

When Pacific Rim released in 2013 it was an epic action movie full of epic mecha action that was second to none! The story wasn’t that original—alien monsters appearing from another realm has been done for generations—and Pacific Rim: The Black follows suit. Kids looking for their disappeared parents isn’t an original story and has been seen in dozens of non-mecha movies. Don’t go expecting a deep narrative with strong character development as Pacific Rim: The Black isn’t aiming for any of that.

As we mentioned earlier, Pacific Rim: The Black is only 7 episodes long and that means a lot of untapped material. After the credits roll on the final episode you’ll be left wondering who the new threat is, why the Boy—more on this in a second—is able to transform and where did the parents go after leaving?!

A minor final issue we have with Pacific Rim: The Black is focused on one specific character, The Boy. WHY IS HE CALLED THE BOY!!! As many probably noticed from a movie called Bird Box—which isn’t anime—one of the names of the kid was Boy and that was annoying to hear in that movie. Hearing it in Pacific Rim: The Black was equally aggravating and we wished they just named this kid from the gate!