An epic anime-style film about the star-crossed romance between a “mecha pilot” and a “magical girl” in the midst of a war for humanity’s survival

SYNOPSIS:

An epic animated movie that tells the story of a giant robot pilot and a magical girl who fall in love during a war against a race of magical-powered/technologically advanced aliens. But the two are kept apart by the differences and animosity between their two professions. And only at the height of their emotional commitment does the final battle for humanity’s survival reach its devastating conclusion. This film explores the similarities and differences between the “mecha” (particular elements from Evangelion and Code Geass) and “magical girl” (particular elements from Sailor Moon and Madoka Magica) sub-genres of anime/manga whilst uniting them into a singular epic story. It will also play with the conventions of science fiction, fantasy, romance, and war genres. The main theme is unity and equality between the genders, for only then can they accomplish greatness.

Earth is being attacked by the Fravashi, “uncreated beings” made of pure spiritual energy. They are empowered by human emotions and spiritual conditions. Their current hostility to humanity is due to widespread conflict and feelings of negativity and hopelessness. The Fravashi can manifest into physical forms that do not adhere to the physical laws of the universe, and thus possess extraordinary destructive power. They have already wiped out more than half of the human population by the time the story begins.

Two specialized and distinct organizations have been formed to oppose them. One is the predominantly male Daeva Corp, which consists of trained young soldiers who pilot giant battle robots called Daevas. Daevas are constructed by combining the body parts of dead Fravashi with advanced cybernetic technology. Daeva pilots have their brains directly connected to its control system, allowing them to pilot them using the power of thought, and sense any damage instantly. Outside of defending the world from Fravashi, many nations have employed Daevas for their personal military conquests, resulting in many wars between nations that both use Daevas.

The other is the predominantly female Vohu Manah, which consists of young woman who’ve learned how to harness the same spiritual energy as the Fravashi. They use positive spiritual energy to physically empower themselves and employ various magical attacks. But using their powers puts them at risk falling into spiritual negativity, causing them to gradually lose their humanity and become destructive Fravashi themselves. Because of this, they are largely feared and mistrusted if not outright despised by much of the general population, despite their greater effectiveness at fighting off Fravashi.

Máni is a newly recruited Daeva pilot whose often put-down and insulted by his superiors and fellow pilots for his passive demeanor and delicate constitution. His father was the most decorated of Daeva pilots, and still regarded as a legend for his exploits both in fighting the Fravashi, and in the war against the Eastern Bloc. He really wants to be respected by his peers and live up to his father’s legacy but needs to understand that the masculine traits that they exalt are toxic, and that he’s a better man for not embodying those traits.

Sunna is a freshly inducted Vohu Manah who’s kept under tight supervision due to her tendency to give into anger and aggression, thus putting her at high risk of becoming a Fravashi. She’s particularly angry about the war between the Western and Eastern Blocs. Her parents were volunteer doctors without borders who provided aid to all people injured in the war regardless of their side. They were killed in the crossfire of a battle that resulted from an ambush on the medical field where they were working. Sunna thus wants to punish people who continue to wage war with other people despite the common threat of the Fravashi.

Beorn is the commander of the main Daeva forces in the Western Bloc. He’s particularly hard on Máni and exalts traditional masculine traits, particularly aggression and dominance. He looks down upon any emotional sincerity and expression as weakness.

Schild is Beorn’s girlfriend and co-commander of the Western Bloc’s Daeva forces. She has been made cold and merciless by her internalized misogyny and self-hatred.

Abdullah is a decorated Daeva pilot from the Eastern Bloc, who’s frequently fought in battles with both Fravashi and with the Western Bloc’s Daeva’s. He becomes conflicted over his growing homosexual attraction to Baldr. He’s a devout Sunni Muslim

Baldr is a decorated Daeva pilot of the Western Bloc. He’s repeatedly fought with Abdullah, resulting in a mutual respect that has developed into a romantic/sexual attraction. A proud Canadian and aspiring filmmaker

Bastet is the leader of the Vohu Manah. She’s the one who first discovered how to utilize spiritual power against the Fravashi. Is a high-functioning autistic.

Hapi is the second-in-command and the sole non-female member of the Vohu Manah. (S)he’s gender-fluid and frequently prefers to identify as male, while currently being biologically female. A Métis-Canadian, devout Bahá’í, and Bastet’s lover. Mainly works to keep Bastet’s spiritual energy from growing out of control.

Hathor is a newly recruited Vohu Manah, and Sunna’s best friend. The two were recruited together.

The film opens with the Western Bloc’s main Daeva force heading towards a space colony to defend it from a Fravashi attack. On the way there, Beorn rallies the pilots by chastising Máni for his perceived weaknesses. Meanwhile, Bastet leads the Vohu Manah to intervene as well, taking time to advise her new recruits Sunna and Hathor about maintaining control of their powers. Sunna is nervous, but Hathor reassures her.

The two weaker Fravashi are defeated by the Daevas, but the strongest one is defeated by the Vohu Manah. However, Hathor transforms into a Fravashi herself and is violently destroyed by the Daevas. Because Hathor was a close friend of hers, Sunna almost becomes a Fravashi herself, so she is temporarily restricted from using her powers once the battle’s over. Afterwards, Beorn’s team is deployed to the Middle East to battle with the Eastern Bloc’s Daevas. Because he refused to fight the Fravashi that used to be Hathor, Máni is blamed for their failure and is deployed into deep space to aid a scouting party. Meanwhile, Sunna runs away from the other Vohu Manah. A Fravashi attacks the scouting party, killing everyone except Máni, who crash-lands on an uninhabited jungle planet where Sunna is hiding out. Máni is about to commit suicide to atone for his repeated failures, but Sunna manages to talk him out of it. While Máni repairs his Daeva and waits for rescue, he and Sunna work together to survive on the planet. At one point, while bathing under a waterfall, Sunna is attacked by a carnivorous creature, which then chases her into a quicksand pit. Máni manages to fight off the creature and pull Sunna out of the quicksand just in time. After Máni fixes his Daeva and returns to Earth, he’s ambushed by two enemy Daevas. One manages to pull Máni out of his Daeva and starts crushing him with its giant hand. Sunna saves Máni by defeating the Daevas but she is so angered by humanity’s continued indulgence in petty conflicts over borders that she almost becomes a Fravashi again. Máni manages to emotionally reach out to Sunna and helps her become human again. Máni and Sunna return to their respective organizations, where they are both chastised for their failures and/or their association with each other.

In the Middle East, Abdullah and his fellow Daeva pilots are preparing to launch an attack on a Western Bloc military base. After devastating the base, they’re stopped by a squad of Daevas led by Baldr. Abdullah’s compatriots destroy their Daevas and themselves as suicide bombs, but Abdullah hesitates to do the same, allowing Baldr to capture him alive. Máni is ordered to kill the pilots before they can blow up their Daevas, but he hesitates to kill another human being, so they set off their suicide bombs. Afterwards, Schild laments on the many sacrifices she had to make, and humiliations that she suffered, to rise to the top in a male-dominated military. Beorn feigns sympathy but is mainly concerned with validating his superiority over his fellow pilots. While training Sunna to help her better control her powers, Bastet explains how her autism gave her a unique insight into utilizing spiritual magic, but how it also makes it more difficult for her to control her emotional state. Sunna then confides with Hapi, who explains how their relationship with Bastet helps to keep Bastet’s powers in check, which Bastet in turn does for Hapi. Hapi further explains their Métis ancestry, the pan-Indigenous American concept of being “two-spirited,” and how this all ties into their Bahá’í beliefs, particularly its teachings on gender equality, and how they grew to accept their fluid identity on a spiritual level thanks to it. Hapi concludes that relationships aren’t about “completing” one another, but about striving to improve oneself of one’s own accord for the sake of your significant other, which in turn inspires them to strive towards the same. Sunna realizes that Máni is the person she wants to improve herself for, and in turn wants to inspire to do the same and runs off to see him again.

Beorn, after hearing about Máni’s failure to kill the enemy pilots, berates and beats Máni for the latter’s lack of ruthlessness. The other pilots fall behind Beorn, and Máni leaves dejected. Baldr then meets with the captured Abdullah, and the two discuss the romantic attraction that they have developed over the course of their rivalry, particularly their mutual shame over it. Sunna then finds Máni, and she assure him that his lack of ruthlessness, and his willingness to be emotionally vulnerable and compassionate, is what she loves about him. Máni in turn admits how much he admires Sunna’s dedication to protecting humanity and her in-dominatable spirit, which inspires him to be stronger in the face of adversity. Sunna and Máni proclaim their love for each other and fly into space together. They fly past several newly established space colonies and fly through several celestial phenomena like quasars. They then land on a small moon that’s mostly ocean with several tropical islands, under a sky filled with several multi-coloured planets and stars. They make love for the first time in a hot spring on one of the islands.

Just as Sunna and Máni return to Earth, Beorn breaks into Baldr and Abdullah’s meeting. After torturing Abdullah, Beorn launches an attack on an Eastern Bloc city, killing many civilians. The collective negative spiritual energy that results causes the Daevas’ Fravashi parts to come back to life, taking control of the pilots and horrifically transforming into extra powerful Fravashi. Máni and Sunna try to fight them off, but the Fravashi manage to make the entire planet Earth explode, killing most of the human race. The resulting destruction separates Máni and Sunna, sending them flying onto different planets. Máni is found by Bastet and Hapi, while Sunna comes across Baldr, Abdullah, and Schild.

Schild blames the Vohu Manah for Earth’s destruction and has Sunna captured. Sunna is placed in a cell next to Abdullah. Baldr comes to guard them, and Sunna helps him, and Abdullah learn to accept their feelings, so he lets them both go free, and runs away with them. Bastet is left completely distraught over Earth’s destruction, and Hapi isn’t sure how to counsel her. Máni is once again blaming himself for failing to protect Earth. Máni shares these feelings with Bastet and Hapi, and they collectively encourage each other to not give up and continue to protect what’s left of humanity.

Máni and Sunna eventually reunite after being drawn to the corpse of the Fravashi that used to be Hathor. The Fravashi returns to life and communicates with the two of them. It explains to them that the Fravashi are created and influenced by the collective spirit of humanity, and that for most of their existence, they have subtly aided humanity from the shadows. But the Fravashi were corrupted by humanity’s spiritual negativity and conflict, turning them into humanity’s hostel enemies. But Máni and Sunna’s love is helping to heal the Fravashi and make them benevolent and supportive of humanity again. On the eve of the final battle against Schild’s forces, each of these three couples (Máni and Sunna, Bastet and Hapi, Baldr and Abdullah) share one last night of intimacy.

Beorn, now a grotesque Fravashi/Daevas hybrid, is found by Schild. Schild combines her Daevas with him and puts together the remains of the Western Daevas forces and rallies them to hunt down and exterminate all Fravashi, Eastern forces, and Vohu Manah. Her hatred and aggression, spurred on by her internalized misogyny and self-hatred, eventually causes her to physically combine with all of the Daevas into a planet sized Fravashi that threatens to destroy all of humanity. Sunna and Máni manage to defeat her by switching powers, Sunna pilots Máni’s Daevas, and Máni uses Sunna’s Spirit Ring to harness her Vohu Manah powers. They manage to defeat Schild but are both mortally wounded. By combining the last of their strength, they manage to purify the Fravashi, restoring Hathor to normal. The Fravashi create a new unspoiled Earth and draw all of the surviving humans to it. They also send to Earth a pure, hermaphrodite child created from Máni and Sunna’s genetic and spiritual essence. Bastet, Hapi, Baldr, and Abdullah all adopt the child, who they know will one day lead humanity to a bright new future.