This sci-fi vignette sets the stage for one of the most original tales we’ve seen from the genre in some time. It’s straight from the pages of your favorite classic science fiction dime store novel, and it revels in its weirdness. Just when you think you know what’s going to happen, it blindsides you with something you weren’t expecting.

For instance, it’s easy to assume that the ship’s crew was recreated because the original humans died, but the additional wrinkle that their real selves are alive has disturbing implications. Are these living, breathing people going to die when the migrant ship arrives at their intended new planet? What is life and who is allowed to decide where a clone may live? These are heady questions that Exception introduces, but doesn’t force on the audience – they will be in the back of your mind as it progresses, however.

Further, Exception is a visually arresting feast. It may not look anything like what you’re used to from the anime world, but it’s a treat for the eyes and steeped in nontraditional design. Everything about Exception is otherworldly, from top to bottom. Most of that is due to legendary character designer Yoshitaka Amano, who was responsible for bringing the cast to life, but there’s an unsettling eerieness that permeates just about every part of the series.

It’s a fun kind of weird that we don’t see enough of in Western or anime series, and I’m thrilled to see that no punches were pulled bringing this story to fruition.