Tag: mecha

Cross Ange : Rondo of Angel and Dragon (Cross Ange: Tenshi to Ryuu no Rondo)

(25 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Mecha vs dragons… well, at least that’s the pitch ; the actual series’ content is way more trashy and exploitative than you’d expect. We’re talking Freezing levels of bait-and-switch.

Characters

Angelize, our protagonist, is the First Princess of the Mizurugi Empire. She’s basically the MVP of the Imperial Family : wildly popular among the people, star player of her school’s sports team, and admired by all. She’s also completely drunk the official Kool-Aid : she’s in favour of a zero-tolerance policy against the Norma, the rare mutant girls who not only can’t use Mana (magitek telekinesis) like everyone else, but are actively destructive of it. Imperial policy involves snatching them as young as possible from their families, and detaining them in special facilities where they’re thoroughly dehumanized.

Julio, her older brother, resents her fame… because he knows it’s all a lie : she’s actually (unknowingly) a Norma. He exposes her in the most spectacular fashion possible during her coming-of-age ceremony. Obviously, it’s a huge scandal. I’m sure he’s terribly broken up that their parents get thoroughly discredited for covering it up for 16 years, and he thus has no choice than taking over as the new Emperor. (That his most prominent potential political rival gets summarily gitmo’d is a terrible shame, too.)

Angelize, now renamed “Ange” and stripped of any rights as a human being, is sent to the Norma detention facility where she’s to be trained as a soldier, presumably to pilot mecha against dragons like shown in the opening fast-forward. But because this is a classy series, let’s first spend way much more time than necessary on a gratuitous cavity search.

The OP & ED sequences showcase, among various future members of Ange’s team, a baffingly-prominent male character. Since there’s little chance he’s a Norma (described as a female-only phenomenon), I presume we’re due for some creepy Stockholm-Syndrome-type relationship.

Production Values

Just in case the above synopsis had you confused over what kind of series this is, the opening flashfoward proudly asks the question : how many different angles can we show Ange’s cleavage from as she’s piloting her mecha ? (Six under three minutes, plus three for her buttcrack and a couple more for her crotch.) And to dispel any doubt, the OP features exploding clothes, because of course it does.

Which is a bit of a shame, as Sunrise’s mecha battles are as impressive as ever, and the main segment of the series is perfectly alright and non-fanservicey.

Overall Impression

This is a truly infuriating show, as it wastes a decent premise by applying it to a creepy fanservice series. It really feels like two completely different shows welded together ; unfortunately, I have little doubt which one is going to win out.

I almost gave the series the benefit of the doubt until I got to the gratuitous prison rape scene, immediately followed by obviously-traumatized girls fondling each other. Fuck this crap, I’m out.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2014 – Page 2.

Gundam – Reconguista in G (G no Reconguista)

(26ish episodes ; the first two were aired together)

What’s it about ?

Happy 35th anniversary, Gundam ! For the occasion, we’re getting a new TV series by the franchise’s original creator, Yoshiyuki Tomino. Since his last turn at the helm was 1999’s brilliant Turn A Gundam, there are reasons to be excited.

This is nominally set in the far-future of the original “Universal Century” continuity, but the ties are token enough for this not to matter : it’s a series that can be jumped into without any foreknowledge.

Characters

Bellri “Bell” Zenam, our protagonist, is a young prodigy among the mecha pilot trainees. Also, son of the Director of Operations, but he doesn’t let that go to his head. His squad’s mission is routine maintenance of the space-elevator/space-station, but of course unexpected stuff happens.

Raraiya Monday is the first unexpected factor. She’s a mysterious girl who got dropped off during a skirmish with space pirates. Unfortunately, she seems to have suffered brain damage from performing atmosphere reentry in a mere skydiving suit, so she’s having trouble communicating. Anyway, for some reason she’s kept captive aboard the space elevator.

Aida Rayhunton, a space pirate who attacks the space-elevator aboard the titular G mecha to rescue her. After a fierce battle in which Bellri takes no small part, she’s eventually subdued. (I’m amused that someone complains that the name she gives is obviously made-up, because seriously this is a Gundam series.) She boasts that she’s locked the mysterious G’s cockpit and only she can open it again… wait, Bellri, how did you do that ?

Rounding up the supporting cast are many pals of Bellri’s, including Luin Lee, his amiable senior and best pal ; and several members of the high school cheerleading squad, who hitched a ride with the cute mecha pilot trainees to get some. Most prominently : Noredo Nug, who’s clearly set her sights on Bellri ; and the gung-ho Manny Ambassada. (But Aida is still obviously the one with a made-up name.)

Production Values

There’s something slightly old-fashioned in the character designs, which is compounded by the beautiful pastel watercolor-ish backgrounds. Still, the CG elements are well integrated, the animation is fluid overall, and it’s a great-looking package.

The OP & ED sequences feature the entire cast dancing for some reason, which hints at a bright and fun series. That’s certainly what it looks like so far.

Overall Impression

Fuck yeah ! This is as promising as I hoped for : fun characters having colourful hijinks with barely any angst around. There’s a lot of exposition flying around the first episode that’s a bit too dense to entirely parse, but the second episode helps it all sink in. And there’s just tons of charm from watching those kids fooling around on cool tech in the middle of a battlezone. It has the same sense of innocence that Turn A had, and that’s a relief from the more grim-and-gritty norm for mecha series.

This looks like one of the season’s highlights. No way I’m skipping it out.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2014 – Page 2.

Aldnoah.Zero

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Gen Urobuchi writing more mecha anime !

And wow, this is a convoluted premise. It’s an alternate universe where the Appolo program went on to attempts to colonize Mars… Except they found “the Vers Empire” already there, remains of an old civilization with advanced technology ; they did not take kindly to the intruders. 15 years ago the conflict escalated to the Moon being partly destroyed (wreaking havoc on the surface), with Vers breaking their Hyper Gate (which allowed fast space travel) in exchange. It’s been a ceasefire by default since then.

Characters

Asseylum, the Vers princess, is an young idealist. Despite the objections of nearly everyone else in power in the empire, she’s decided to go on a diplomatic visit to Earth to try and broker peace. There are a lot of people in Vers who want her to fail, and for some Earth extremists to try something against her.

Slaine is an Earth-born orphan whom Asseylum rescued a few years ago and made her servant/friend/confident. Everyone else hates him, and she didn’t have enough pull to bring him with her. Basically, his life sucks.

Most of the episode is from the point of view of Inaho, an ordinary Japanese highschool student, and his circle of friends. While he’s about as blasé as them about the world’s terrible situation, at least he still pays attention to his surroundings. Also, “ordinary” highschool students now have to participate in drills, piloting mecha in preparation for the rebuilding of Earth’s armies after it got crippled.

Yuki (Inaho’s older sister) and Lt Marito are the soldiers supervising their training. Marito has turned to booze because of their task’s pointlessness. Not because it’s peacetime, but because he has no doubt Vers outclass anything Earth could drum up. He was on the frontlines back then, he knows the score.

There’s a bunch of Mysterious Terrorists who fire tons of missiles at Asseylum’s limo just as she’s passing by Inaho and his friends. And if you believe she’s truly dead, I have a bridge I can sell you.

Vers take the bait, though, and start attacking Earth, doing things like obliterating Manhattan. They don’t even have a cohesive plan of attack : the many houses of the Empire are competing for who gets to “win” first. It looks like they’re going to have more trouble with infighting than with Earth’s pitiful defenses.

Production Values

Fairly nice.

Overall Impression

Wow, exposition overload ! Sure, the premise’s not exactly simple, but boy is there a lot of information to pay attention to on display here. We get every infodump cliché in the book, from TV and radio broadcasts to the students studying their history course. I hope this was just a hurdle the first episode had to pass, and that we’re going to get more time for the characters from now on ; they had very little room to breathe here.

What the show does well, though, are the big action sequences, from the attack against the limo to the Vers attacking. That’s some very impactful massive damage, indeed. On the spectacle front, this doesn’t disappoint. I just hope there’s going to be enough substance to justify it.

Still, I’m hooked, unless the second episode turns out to be a massive disaster.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Summer 2014 – Page 3.

Silver Will Argevollen (Shirogane no Ishi: Argevollen)

(24 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Original series about mecha. Well, “original” might be straining it.

Characters

There are two main factions in this world : Ingelmia, on their way to conquering everything, and Arandas, now with their backs to the Great Wall that’s always protected their core territories. Yeah, like that’ll last. (This sound you can hear is the visiting top generals fleeing at high speed from the Wall when Ingelmia starts deploying new mecha.)

Our focus is on a small Arandas mecha unit manoeuvring near the Wall. Just three mechas, their pilots, and at best a dozen support staff in their trucks. The Captain, who knows the score, welcomes the Wall Garnison’s order to fall back inwards like the escape out of this death trap it is.

Tokimune, our protagonist, is the greener out of the three mecha pilots. Still a bit of an idealist, he’s starting to see how war’s not all he thought it was. It’s no real surprise he breaks ranks to save a bunch of “civilians” from an Ingelmia patrol instead of quietly passing by as the plan was ; and of course he gets his mecha half-destroyed for his trouble.

Jamie is the one survivor from those “civilians” ; their trailer was transporting a new top-secret mecha, and she’s doing whatever she can to avoid it falling into the enemy’s hands. She’s got the authorization codes to boot it up and a user manual, so… she’s just going to let Tokimune handle it, as he’s a pilot and she’s not. Good luck ! He’s initially baffled by this new technology, but quickly gets the hang of it : it’s one of those super-prototypes that are very intuitive to pilot, and move like humans.

As they get there, his whole squad are, like, “WTF !?”

Production Values

This is a very good-looking series, with more than a little scenery porn, and some very good animation for the mecha. It conveys perfectly the difference between “normal”, somewhat plodding mecha units, and the unreal fluidity of the Argevollen.

Surprisingly for a XEBEC production, there’s no fanservice whatsoever. This is one of their more serious projects.

Overall Impression

Well, it’s nothing you haven’t seen before ; the characters are the usual archetypes of military fiction, and the politics are particularly hamfisted. There’s not a single plot development here that will surprise you.

But there’s nothing wrong with following a classic formula, especially as it’s mainly window dressing for the real star of the show : the mecha fights. They’re just a joy to watch, and worth seeing on their own.

I’m not sure whether I’m in for the long run, but this is a perfectly adequate starting point.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Summer 2014 – Page 2.

M3 : The Dark Metal (M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane)

(24 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Mecha fighting eldritch abominations.

Characters

The main “team” assembled in this episode feels so random that even the characters point it out. We have :
– Akashi, a sullen high school student, emotionally crippled by the death of his family a decade ago.
– Iwato, his easygoing best friend. Both of them are quite good at fighting with mecha. (Are those mecha classes ? a club ? It’s not quite clear.)
– Maamu, the creep in another class that keeps muttering exposition at herself, explaining in detail how everyone’s going to die because of the nasties running around, uhuhuh.
– Emiru, the over-eager temp-worker who wants to climb up the ladder. Anything’s better than cleaning toilets, and this is her one chance. Too bad she’s kinda crap at it. Also, the way she latches onto Akashi despite his complete lack of interest can’t be healthy.
– Raika, who used to be a properly licensed mecha worker (although not too good at it), and sees being sent back to training as a demotion.
– Three other members have yet to show up… Wait, there’s this Minashi guy who shows up out of nowhere in the middle of an unplanned op, and that’s totally not creepy.

It’s heavily implied they all were caught in the same creepy event as kids.

Their supervisors range from the utterly bored to the callous assholes.

The cosmology goes this way : there’s some sort of parallel dimension that keeps leaking into our world. It’s populated by crystals that eat the poor people who get trapped in there, and transform them into “Admonitions”, dangerous and nearly-indestructible mindless monsters. Which are then spouted back into our world where they wreak havoc. You’d think everyone would be terrified of the dark, but we’re way past this stage, and most people have just gotten used to it.

There are also “Corpses” ; the one we see looks like a ghost piloting an organic mecha. If you hear their song, it’s rumoured you die within 9 days.

The authorities plan to train the team so that they can explore the parallel dimension, which sounds like a great idea that can’t lead to any sort of disaster.

Production Values

This seems to have some budget, and it pays off in every level : the CG mecha move beautifully, the monsters are creepy, and there’s a dense atmosphere making any night scene menacing.

As a result, the light occasional fanservice is a bit jarring.

Overall Impression

This is the kind of show where you fully expect at least half the cast to be dead by the end of it. Unfortunately, you kind of want them to. Only Iwato’s kinda likeable, with all the other being various degrees of annoying. It doesn’t help that I can’t make head nor tails of Akashi’s flashback backstory, which makes it hard to relate to him.

Still, it’s certainly got some ambition ; I kinda want to give it some rope to see where it’s going. It’d better find its feet soon, though.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2014 – Page 8.

Knights of Sidonia (Sidonia no Kishi)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a S-F/mecha manga.

Characters

Nagate, our protagonist and point-of-view character. He’s spent most of his life scrounging for subsistence in the dark maintenance tunnels in the underground of the Sidonia space colony ; out of desperation, he’s ventured outside and got caught stealing rice.

Amazingly, the authorities not only treat him well (after some initial confusion), but immediately invite him to the military upper class : they want him to be a mecha pilot. You see, his father figure had him train for hours each day in an old simulator, and even after his death he kept at it. They’re aware of this (who was this guy, really ?), and want him on board. He’s not too good on his first try, as the software has evolved a bit by then, but he can manage. Especially on that older machine which has the right control scheme for him.

Notionally, Sidonia is at war with some squid-like aliens. Protesters see this diffuse menace as a way for the rulers to stay in control forever (genetic engineering may have been involved to keep them alive), as it’s been decades since the last sight of the enemy. Of course, that’s the kind of talk I heard last in Attack on Titan, so yeah. No way that routine ice-mining mission would have gone fine.

The other mecha-piloting students have various reactions to Nagate’s arrival : some are snobbish of the upstart newbie, some are curious, some don’t care. Presumably we’ll get to know them better in further episodes.

Production Values

This is a fully CG-animated series, and maybe the first time I’ve seen it work on a TV budget. The characters move and act like human beings, and their faces emote properly. The action sequences are well-directed and enthralling, and can even manage slapstick.

The one problem here is that, with everyone in similar uniforms, and designs that aren’t big on facial details, it’s a bit hard to tell all the characters apart. I’m pretty sure that’s intentional for the multitude of pink-haired clones all voiced by Eri Kitamura, but it’s still an issue for a good chunk of the cast.

There’s some minor fanservice at a few points, which falls a bit flat with that artstyle.

Overall Impression

Oh, nice, a proper S-F show. There’s clearly a lot of SCIENCE! weirdness going on in the background here (a functional third gender ? WTF ?), and it’s already hinted the show is willing to deal with the social impact of it all. Sidonia certainly feels well thought-out as a setting, and still the heavy exposition manages to give enough room for the characters to breathe.

This has the potential to be spectacular.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2014 – Page 7.

Dai-Shogun: Great Revolution (Fuuun Ishin Dai☆Shogun)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

This is set in Japan in the middle of the 19th century, except there are tons of steampunk mecha around. Of course there are.

Characters

Keiichirou, our protagonist. A rowdy delinquant, he’s somehow managed to beat up every street gang in Nagasaki. Which annoys him, as everyone now admires the boss and there’s nobody left to fight. Also, he suddenly gets the news that the Tokugawa shogunate has fallen, and he’s a heir to it. Which means new many people trying to kill him. Joy !

Kiriko, a badass assassin in a skintight sexy outfit who has NOT come to kill him. Instead, she’s come to warn him, prevent some attempts to assassinate him, and tell him to use the super-mecha hidden in the basement. (“Wait, what ?”) Grandma (who’s also switched into a skintight ninja outfit, one of the few jokes that work) vouches for her, so she must be legit, eh ?

Houkouin, played by a Miyuki Sawashiro chewing acres of scenery, is our baddie for the week. She has her own mecha that she pilots to quasi-orgasmic delight. /facepalm

Production Values

Not very good ; there are many early scenes where it’s barely animated at all. Still, nice designs for the steampunk mecha.

Lots of fanservice, of course.

Overall Impression

Something I should make clear : the near entirety of the plot outlayed above happens in the last five minutes. Before that, the show is very, very boring indeed. The tediousness almost made me fell asleep, really. The quick successing of twists at the end is welcome and definitely not boring, but that doesn’t make the show actually any good. It’s still a nonsensical mess with annoying characters.

No thanks.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2014 – Page 7.

Captain Earth

(25 episodes)

What’s it about ?

A new original mecha project, from the people who brought you Star Driver.

It’s slightly less excentric.

Characters

Daichi, our teenage protagonist. He’s got tons of backstory, provided by many fragmentary flashbacks. The gist of it : (1) Dad was an Astronaut, and died years ago. (2) As a kid, Daichi was lurking around the space base, and found that there were some weird kids his age living inside. They fraternized, but he eventually got caught, and he never saw them again. Then Dad died and he left the island. Now, as an angsty teenager at the crossroads of his life, he’s come back. Just in time for an alien attack !

More specifically, the aliens come from the other end of the Solar System, and warp in one at a time with their mechas. With tons of sexual subtext. Daichi is “guided” to the mecha’s cockpit by the less talkative of the weird kids from back then ; since he wants to do something, and has heard that his dad was a “Captain” (i.e. probably already fighting aliens at the time), he accepts to step into the cockpit.

Which leaves Teppei, the other kid from back then, and the official pilot for the mecha, completely dumbfounded. Why is it already gone ?

There’s a hacker girl who finds all this stuff very interesting. As you would.

Production Values

Studio Bones always deliver impeccable work, but they went the extra mile for this one. There’s some impressive detail to the body language and visual slapstick that gives tons of personality to the kids in flashbacks.

Overall Impression

Well, this is certainly a very busy first episode, dropping tons of hints of what’s going on, and trusting the audience to follow along. That’s fine by me : there’s obviously been tons of thought put into the small details of the setting, so I have no problem with giving most of the screentime to the character-building, and leaving plot explanations for later on.

Now, the key question here is whether all this self-confident and well-executed storytelling is in service of a theme more complex than “he’s Captain Earth and he fight aliens”. Surely there’s more to it ? But it’s hard to tell yet.

There’s so much talent at play here that I’m willing to give it some rope, though.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2014 – Page 3.

Daimidaler the Sound Robot (Kenzen Robo Daimidaler)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of an mecha/sentai ecchi manga.

Characters

Kouichi, our protagonist, straight on loan from the 80s, i.e. wearing a rakugan instead of his high school’s more modern uniform. His core personality is that he’s a pervert ; his standard daily routine includes standing below stairs to check out what underwear girls are wearing.

Kyouko, an agent from the PRINCE organization, which is tasked with handling attacks from the evil extraterrestrial Penguin Empire. He mission was to scout Kouichi, as he can generate a high level of Hi-ERO energy. You’ve guessed it : he can power his mecha up by doing something perverted, such as fondling her.

For now, the Penguin Empire are mostly represented by a few of those low-level masked underlings that are so common in sentai ; this is the kind of series that finds it very funny for them to have a front “tail”.

Production Values

Decent, I guess. The Daimidaler mecha has a very peculiar old-school design that at least makes it look distinctive.

Be warned, this is a very fanservice-heavy show. And not just because of Kouichi’s antics ; the camera is just as perverted as him.

Overall Impression

Oh, dear. The kindest thing I can say about this is that it’s neither bland nor forgettable ; unfortunately, its sense of humour starts at tedious and then goes downhill. It’s dreadfully unfunny, and watching more than five minutes of it was a chore.

No thanks.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2014 – Page 2.

Nobunaga the Fool

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Arghlsidfssqe.

Wait, let me try this again. This is a bizarre multimedia project ; the other media being stage plays. (With animated sequences.)
The setting involves two twin planets ; the “East world” is vaguely modelled on the Warring Kingdoms, while the “West world” features random European historical figures from centuries apart.

Also, mecha. And tarot.

Characters

Nobunaga “the Fool” is obviously our protagonist. He’s the cocky teenage son of the Oda family who has adventures with his sidekicks Mitsuhide and Hideyoshi. He’s supposedly a cunning strategist, but so far his only display of that is “tell everyone to run like hell from the bigass army that’s vastly superior”, so yeah. Not that he’s taken seriously, given his reputation for mischief. Thus plenty of people die, and he vows to “change the world”.

Jeanne Kaguya d’Arc (/facepalm) is a teenage girl from the West world whose propensity to hear voices has labelled her a witch. The mysterious dreams she’s been having of being burned at the stake (in “Paris”, /double-facepalm) aren’t helping. Since those dreams also prominently feature Nobunaga, she vows to head for the East world.

Leonardo da Vinci agrees. Wait, were you stalking her to appear just right at this moment ? And what’s with the megaphone ? Anyway, he works for King Arthur, and together they board Magellan’s spaceship. From which they drop onto the East world, with a mecha in tow. And they crash-land right next to Nobunaga, who immediately hijacks the mecha to fight the incoming enemy armies.

Production Values

Perfectly alright. The character designs have the same clean genericness as most other Satelight productions, but they’re the least of the show’s problem.

Overall Impression

Where do I even start with this ? It’s pointless to deride the laughably inept use of historical figures, although they sure are distracting. I presume it’s supposed to be a fun romp, but the result is just a terrible mess that fails to bring its disparate elements into a coherent whole. It just feels completely creatively bankrupt, and desperate in its attempt to coopt everything into itself. That none of the characters are interesting (aside from maybe da Vinci, who’s just weird) doesn’t help.

No way I’m watching one more episode of this.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2014 – Page 3.