Alright, it has been a long time since I posted something here, so, hello again, and welcome to my blog.
This time I wanted to write about one of the most anticipated summer 2014 anime, powered by ASIMOV (Accuracy System Image Module for Optimum Velocity), the name is Aldnoah Zero. Many people waited for this mecha anime mainly because it listed Gen "Urobutcher" Urobuchi (famous for creating dark, tragic settings and plot twists in his stories, hence the nickname) as the creator, and also Ei Aoki as the director (Fate/Zero, anyone?)
The thing is, Urobutcher only made the mainframe of the story until the preliminary version, and didn't create the characters in Aldnoah, thus he doesn’t really have a connection with characters this time, an exception that has left some people disappointed. We'll talk about this later.
Anyway here is the plot summary, taken from ANN.
"In 1972, the Apollo 17 mission discovered a hypergate to Mars on the surface of the moon. Soon a war breaks out between Earth and Mars, and Martian soldiers begin to descend from the sky, riding steel giants, intent on exterminating humanity."
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| Aldnoah.Zero |
This anime was off to a good start, turning to a rather dull development from episode 4 onward, took a turn for the worse in episode 10, became better in the next episode, and ended in a splendid finale.
At first, the story resolved around how to destroy a gundam with zakus, or basically brain versus brawn. It was depicted that Martians have overwhelming technological advantages thanks to the power of Aldnoah, making them capable of building ominous floating castles (namely Landing Castle), cutting edge Kataphrakts (the in-universe name given to mecha units), flying battleship (built by Terrans but deemed unusable and abandoned because the Aldnoah Drive couldn't be activated), etc. Even the latest terran kataphrakt, the Areion, couldn't even hope to scratch them, not until the main hero of the series starting to employ his brilliant strategies.
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| Ready To Kick Ass |
It's good that the hero, Kaizuka Inaho, is crafty and cool, the problem is he is being too cool and ended up as someone who is really cold, so cold that he only gave a blink or two in the death of his friend (It Happened Right In Front Of His Eyes, Come On!?). When he saw a missile being fired amidst the parade, he just said "I saw a missile" with no emotional expression even his friends were confused at first. When people thanked him for saving them, he replied again with that cold straight face. I know that action speak louder than words, but it doesn't mean you have to be a tin man, gosh!
It's possible that Inaho being cold due to him experiencing a trauma in the past, but the anime showed no sign of that at all, unlike his lieutnant who was heavily implied to suffer a PTSD, one that portrayed more...realistically, compared to other shows in this season *cough*sao*cough*.
In the end though, he could demonstrate a seemingly touching act of love while smiling.
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| Be Careful! | k. u 2. *click* |
The Second main character, Slaine Troyard, outshines Inaho almost in every aspects, save for the brilliant warfare tactic. He was the childhood friend of the heroine, the Martian Princess, Asseylum Vers Allusia (her name does sound like she is not of an earth origin). They were separated when the princess visited the earth. When he saw that the princess was still alive, he wanted to save her and be by her side once again, at all cost. A simple motivation, but it is what makes him a good character, because the audience could relate and understand him. Not to mention his backstory is interesting as well. His personality is likeable also, helping Inaho and co despite they are on different sides, only to be shot down afterwards. No good deed left unpunished indeed. From the beginning until the end, he is the real MVP of this show.
Other than those two, the princess, and Rayet, the rest of the characters are not too good or not too bad, they are your average ordinary casts with little screentime.
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| Don't you dare touch my beloved princess |
Now we are moving to the best parts of the show, the Visual, and the Audio.
Where should I start from, let's see, maybe the battle with Nilokeras, there you can see that the city, the mountains, the background is drawn very detailed. The action is fluid and smooth, like when Inaho was fighting against Argyre for example.
I really like mecha, and Aldnoah.Zero mecha designs are unique enough it is good. Such as, Hellas, that is mounted with six funnel-like fists, each fists are named after demons from the Ars Goetia. Tharsis, a really agile white melee mecha. The martian KG series mechas are also good. But the most awesome mecha is of course Count Saazbaum's DIOSCURIA. It features Nilokeras' Dimensional Barrier, Argyre's Blade Field, Hellas' Rocket-Propelled Fists. It's also a Transformable Mecha that can Deploy Two Autonomous Drones, Oh God! *heavy breathing*. Basically, Dioscuria is your ideal final boss. Pity it was destroyed rather quickly by our Orange-kun.
As with the visual, the audio here is really magnificent. I don't always listen to the OP and ED of a show until the end, but not this time. It's always good to start Aldnoah.Zero with Kalafina's heavenly blue, it's a good way to pick up the mood. I also really like it when they inserted the ED, aLIEz, in the middle of a battle, it's a good song. The overall composition by Hiroyuki Sawano is great. It reminds me of his works from Ao no Exorcist.
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| Stunning Scenery |
There are some inconsistency or something strange thrown here and there, the strangest example being the Deucalion (vessel) when crash landed to the Landing Castle and didn't explode although all the crews receive severe injuries, the plot armor is strong with this one. There are some jokes too, mostly come from Mizusaki and her comically serious persona.
All in all, Aldnoah.Zero is a decent mecha anime show, but the lack of depth in most of the casts are quite frustating. Maybe the director should explore it more on the next season.
I'd recommend this to anyone who love watching mecha anime show or a war-themed one, but not for those who interested in deep characters development or unexpected twist, since this show barely provide any.
The ending though, makes me really looking forward to the upcoming season, it is truly that good of an ending.
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| can't wait~! |
—Fiat Justitia Ruat Caelum—
