Xenosaga throws you into a war that's already been raging for centuries, then systematically takes away your ability to understand what's actually happening. You're watching a story that demands a third anime, a visual novel prequel, and probably a wiki tab just to piece together which faction wants what, but the mecha combat and KOS-MOS herself are visceral enough to keep you locked in despite the narrative collapse. Twelve episodes is nowhere near enough runway for this much lore, and it knows it, which somehow makes the desperation feel earned.

In the year T.C. 4767, four thousand years after humanity left Earth behind, mankind is struggling against the Gnosis, hostile aliens that endanger its very existence. One answer to that threat is KOS-MOS, a specialized android built by Shion Uzuki, an engineer at Vector. After the Gnosis destroy their ship, Shion and her companions are caught up in a battle where no side is clearly defined. The TV series runs twelve episodes and mixes action, mecha and science fiction.