It sells you the loneliness of the surface before it sells you the mech. Cradle Coffins are cockpits with a passenger seat, and the whole show runs on that: a Drifter digging AO crystals out of a poisoned world, an AI Magus in the seat behind him, and nothing else alive for miles except Enders. Kanata is an idiot rookie with too much heart, which is exactly why Noir waking up as Mystere lands, that flat, superior voice from a body he'd been treating like a friend. The plot itself is a race for a world-saving MacGuffin against a shady organization and it hits every beat you can see coming from episode three. Watch it for Rock Town's dust and rust, for Tokio and Mouton's easy veteran double act, for Ciel's whole arc twisting the knife. It's a great world wearing a rented story.

Years after a mysterious poisonous rain known as Tears of the New Moon wiped out nearly all of humanity, the survivors shelter in enclosed, bubble-shaped cities spread across ruined land, hiding from the toxic downpour and the hostile creatures called Enders. Their energy comes from AO crystals, gathered at great risk by drifters who pilot nimble two-legged tanks with help from combat androids called magus. Kanata, who hopes to become a drifter, is searching ruins with his gifted friend Tokio when he finds Noir, a magus sleeping in stasis. She wakes with no memories and seems useless for his work, until an Enders attack shows her exceptional skill in a fight. The two set out to learn the truth about her past and to find Histoire, a legendary city said to hold the world's secrets. The result is a mecha action story set in a sci-fi wasteland.