Aldnoah.Zero


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JCDRANZER

- Sky King
Retired
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Title: Aldnoah.Zero
Genre: War, Mecha, Action, Drama
Premier: 6th July 2014
Animation Studio: A-1 Pictures and TROYCA
Director: Ei Aoki
Official Website: http://www.aldnoahzero.com/

Some Info:

Opening Theme: "heavenly blue" by Kalafina
Ending Theme: "A/Z" by Hiroyuki Sawano

It has been a long time since I've heard anything from Kalafina. I am expecting the OST for this anime to be badass because Hiroyuki Sawanno is involved.

Plot:

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.

(~from ANN~)

My Thoughts:

I'm watching this because I know the OST is going to be great (hopefully). I'm looking forward to this, sort of reminds me of Planetes (just a little).

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Was gonna pass on this one but since the original creator is listed as Gen Urobuchi I will give it a looksee. Production team also listed Nitroplus.
Here's hoping it does not disappoint.
P.S. That picture...they look like men dressed in drag. Who are they and why are they depicted rather than the main characters?
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Edit:
Just watched the first episode: It did not disappoint!
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Won't spoil it (for others) as to why it impressed me but I can say I hope it remains as riveting and dramatic throughout. Not watching for the mecha/space battleships (though some of the designs are beautiful) but for the characters, the music and the story.

All very well done so far.
 
Was a pretty good first episode here. Enough in it to make me expect some great action and, considering it's an Urobutchi work, a bit of philosophizing. Haven't really been drawn in by any of the characters so far though. Noa was pretty uninteresting and incredibly passive. Don't know how you can calmly say "There's a missile coming" in the monotone, nonchalant way he did. Haven't seen much of Slaine, but it does make me wonder how a human ends up working for the Vers Empire. Hopefully a few more episodes does better to show us who they are.
 
I wondered too what was up with the passive almost "whatever" attitude with those incoming missiles heading towards the hime's limo. Then I got a feeling that maybe our boyo knows more than he lets on. Gonna be interesting to find out.
And what of the hime herself, Barbo-san? After taking that hit to the limo she is seen nonchalantly opening the door and getting out rather calmly. Then again, another missile comes down. Maybe she's got some quick legs or a barrier of sorts.
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One thing for sure is that I could fall for the handsome, alcoholic, lieutenant though.
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He looks like he's been through some rough times and needs a woman's touch.
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Looking forward to seeing what happens next.
 
As for her character so far with what we've seen, she's nothing special. Her character type has been done many many times before, the idealistic, young princess seeking peace. I do feel that this won't be the last we've seen of her though. The way the explosion scene was shot and her coming out of the car like that leads me to believe somehow she avoided death.
 
This one was an interesting first ep. Like most everyone, I picked it up primarily because of the players involved. (Urobuchi, Nitroplus, etc.)

I really like the characters so far. The stand out here is our veteran lieutenant, who is pretty believable with hints of PTSD around the edges and a viewpoint tempered by almost fatalistic realism.

The Princess seems to be a fairly stock romantic type, but I wonder what secrets she has in store? The scene after her limo gets hit where she crawls out and then reaches for the sky- if that was really her end- would have been the perfect place to cut to a disappointed face as she looks up... but instead the limo explodes behind her and then we see no body on the ground around the limo. Hmm
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The others are okay, but I was rather intrigued by the fact that our deadpan protagonist seems to like addressing his "older sister" almost the same way he would address a subordinate. He doesn't seem to be a stranger to violence, either, he doesn't even flinch and seems more interested in analyzing the situation than observing aftermath.

Random: Wasn't Inko the name of the pet bird in ToraDora?
 
Urobutcher delivers. Coming into this I already expected something like this. Let's see how dark this can get.

Sacrificing one of your leaders by faking a terrorist act and blaming it on country the said leader was visiting is starting war 101 though, so not surprised Mars did that.

In before aldnoah mechs being dead corpses of the said ancient civilization
 
QUOTE (Norren @ Jul 06 2014, 03:19 AM)The stand out here is our veteran lieutenant, who is pretty believable with hints of PTSD around the edges and a viewpoint tempered by almost fatalistic realism. 
Our veteran lieutenant was spot on. He is no coward despite his PTSD trying to get the best of him. His previous experience with this formidable and seemingly unbeatable foe is gonna come in handy for sure. I am looking forward to watch that part of the story unfold.

QUOTE The Princess seems to be a fairly stock romantic type, but I wonder what secrets she has in store?

She has something going on and is quite strong too...no typical/idealistic princess is she...not to me anyway. I hope she gets some good character development. Her mini "lady in waiting" sure looks like she has a chip on her snooty shoulder though.
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QUOTE I was rather intrigued by the fact that our deadpan protagonist He doesn't seem to be a stranger to violence, either, he doesn't even flinch and seems more interested in analyzing the situation than observing aftermath.


My thoughts exactly after watching him in episode one and having it confirmed in episode two. He looks like he's slowly taking in the chaos as well as the enemy and maybe somewhere in his young mind a well executed battle plan is brewing. It was sad to see his happy-go-lucky friend die but he died trying to help. Sad...

Another interesting character is the tragic figure, Slaine. I think that's the spelling and if so...what a name. Let's see whose side he's really on when the time comes.

All in all, a very good second episode. I enjoyed it.
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This ep was nice, but... Wow, poor Rayet.

QUOTE (ImTakes @ Jul 13 2014, 10:03 AM)She has something going on and is quite strong too...no typical/idealistic princess is she...not to me anyway. I hope she gets some good character development. Her mini "lady in waiting" sure looks like she has a chip on her snooty shoulder though.
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She reminds me of Princess Cecilia from Wild ARMs right now, who also changed atmospheres with a haircut and somewhat similar image makeover.

I suspect she's still idealistic, but there's a wounded lioness in that heart of hers, now.


QUOTE (ImTakes @ Jul 13 2014, 10:03 AM)My thoughts exactly after watching him in episode one and having it confirmed in episode two. He looks like he's slowly taking in the chaos as well as the enemy and maybe somewhere in his young mind a well executed battle plan is brewing. It was sad to see his happy-go-lucky friend die but he died trying to help. Sad...

Nao... I'm almost convinced he's Martian nobility. Nao's reactions in a few spots seem to infer he has a little too much knowledge of the properties of the Martian shields. There was also an implication in the first episode that Nao was a transfer student, amongst some other oddities. He also seems to have the same strange dead-to-self atmosphere that Cruhteo has about him.

If true, it almost seems to perfectly fit the story's atmosphere to have a Martian fighting for earth and an earthling fighting for Mars.

Regardless of his origin, I'm sure Nao's noticed the same thing I did this ep - the Martian Kataphract has a limit on how much it can deflect at once. You can see it in his movement patterns, he deliberately avoids exceeding 60% surface area deflection the entire time he's walking through buildings, and won't go into the service tunnel. There also seems to be no absorption at the feet, so there's likely a vulnerability to be had striking at the feet to knock it down and push it to the limit. (or let it fall into the planet, one of the two. *clears throat* Lithosphere~)


QUOTE (ImTakes @ Jul 13 2014, 10:03 AM)Another interesting character is the tragic figure, Slaine. I think that's the spelling and if so...what a name. Let's see whose side he's really on when the time comes.

I'm reasonably certain Slaine belongs to the Princess, he'll stand anywhere she is. He just has to learn she's still alive and he's there.
 
I thought he wont go in cause in there will block the sun as he look up it`s cloudy which he already use up too much time and energy to deflect.
 
Meh OP - very good visuals but the same usual kalafina stuff in terms of songs(as in every sentence sounds like funeral march and the musical arrangement is same-y, but hey at least they restrained themselves on the kajiura yuki's chorus of doom this time).

Decent second episode otherwise. I can see this either going into masterpieces or into CodeGeass/Valvrave level of "let's watch it for the mindfuck".

So how long, considering this is Urobutcher, till the princess turns into a yandere hitler?
 
So I stayed away from this show because of Sawanno. Sawanno is excellent. The music done for XCX trailer was sublime... but whatever anime he does the ost for there is a usual trend that follows. I love the first ep... everything proceeding I think is terrible. Ofcourse blaming Sawanno for this is stupid...just a curious trend I have noticed about my viewing habits.

Lo and behold I thought the first episode was good but with strong warning signs. The characters are literally nothing. The montage of the knights at the end suggest this will play out like a game of Shovel Knight.

Humans vs Humans...hiroshima allegories...war is bad...peace and love is the answer etc etc is well-trodden ground in anime. I havent really been invested in that kind of story since Tales of Symphonia in 2002.

What would be really cool is if they bring the original Martians into the conflict...to change the dynamic a bit. One of my personal disappointment for Gundam 00 was its lack of portrayal of an alien race that isnt human. It was always alluding to that but kept on avoiding it until the movie which I felt was quite unsatisfactory. Same for AoT except the author made it abundantly clear the obvious is happening and not to expect anything more.

Long story short...first episode was good. Dont have time to watch the rest of the series unless my friend tells me Martians pop up with laser guns...pew pewing those humans into oblivion or there is Bay-esque action every episode to entertain my mind from the nothingness of the characters.
 
The first episode was decent and the music (yes, Sawano's music for this series is similar to his previous work on Shingeki no Kyoujin....it's not too bad but AoT's OST was epic, I'm hoping he changes it up a little).

Going to watch the 2nd episode, I'll be back soon.

EDIT #1:

Episode 02 was good, it's slowly building up but how on earth are they suppose to fight them when their weapons have no effect. I'm guessing the answer would be a Aldnoah prototype.

I know a lot has happened in the 2 episodes but I still find the pacing slow and what bewilders me even more is the fact that the anime is set to be a 1-cour show with only 12 episodes but I feel that a 2nd season will be made.

I'm glad episode 03 will be out later today, thank god I picked this series later rather than earlier as my impression for the series would be a little different as I'll be impatient with it. This show so far seems like a weaker creation compared to Urobuchi's other works.
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JCD - I wouldn't say weaker, this is definitely stronger than "It's tough to find a job, I miss being in school."*cough* I mean, Gargantia.

Ep 3 was awesome, but I've got to run out and don't think I have time to ramble as much as I usually do, so I'll just say this: Make sure to watch the bit with Slaine after the credits!
 
QUOTE (Norren @ Jul 19 2014, 06:49 PM) JCD - I wouldn't say weaker, this is definitely stronger than "It's tough to find a job, I miss being in school."*cough* I mean, Gargantia.

Ep 3 was awesome, but I've got to run out and don't think I have time to ramble as much as I usually do, so I'll just say this: Make sure to watch the bit with Slaine after the credits!
Yeah, Uro's Suisei no Gargantia wasn't great but it had some awesome characters that could easily fit into a mecha series done by BONES, they have that particular charm, which Aldnoah is lacking somewhat but Yuki is a pretty hilarious aneki.
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Just got back from a "stint" at the temple.
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I'll be watching ep 3 later tonight.
 
QUOTE (JCDRANZER @ Jul 19 2014, 03:33 PM)Yeah, Uro's Suisei no Gargantia wasn't great but it had some awesome characters that could easily fit into a mecha series done by BONES, they have that particular charm, which Aldnoah is lacking somewhat but Yuki is a pretty hilarious aneki.
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Agreed, on all but Aldnoah characters. I did like Gargantia, the extremely shallow collection of allegories just made it a bit hard to stomach. I respect what message he was trying to get across, but I think the message was too muddled by the clichestorm he used to tell it. That aside.

It might be a touch premature to say Aldnoah is lacking in the character department. I suspect they didn't want us to get to know anyone "before" war broke out. We basically got to know the characters just enough for their roles and actions to make sense, establishing the war setting itself took full priority over everything else to the degree that virtually everything up until this point has been the "RPG style intro" of the story. Now that the setting is established, I'm pretty sure the characters will grow and be developed from here. (Although I'm only commenting from a mechanical "This is where it would go" perspective. I lack the familiarity with Urobuchi's work that others seem to have. I still need to watch Madoka.)

I really liked how they took the Martian Kataphract's forcefield to the logical limits, here. It was a stroke of genius to have the Nilokeras project a hologram of itself over the absorption field to hide the fact that it's practically a black hole, but otherwise play the absorptive shield straight. I wonder if all the Martian Kataphracts function on that principle, or if it's just the Nilokeras, and each one is unique? The revealed details about the shield and "eagle eyes" also cause the moments with the Buildings to make sense - he didn't want to knock them over in a way that would kick up clouds of dust and debris, obscuring his vision.

Now my thoughts turn to the other breadcrumbs dropped this episode. Depending on how the aftermath of this episode goes, any pretense of faction lines could shatter in an instant. Between statements dropped by Marito, Cruhteo, Salzbahm, and Trilliam it's been made very clear that every clan is for itself, but I almost wonder if huge parts of the show won't be Martian infighting. We've still seen no signs of a Terran superprototype, could the entire show be executed using the Mark 7's that Marito and Yuki-nee were piloting?

Also, Anyone else here read Gunnerkreig Court? The new foreign Ship captain looks and acts like Jones.
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Okay, my initial reaction to the series might not have been warm because I thought the characters were lacking but episode 03 made me see the light....damn was it good.

Slaine sort of reminds of Suzaku of CG but it seems this time round Slaine will be on the morally right side from the get-go.

Norren, the Martian Kataphracts, it would be great if they were unique but at the same time it gives Earth a very distinct disadvantage with always having rack their brains out to find out the weaknesses of the Kataphracts whilst losing lives. However, I think this will be the case with each of the 37 clans having Kataphract models that work with different principles.

Now that the humans have found out that the Martian Princess is alive or at least that small group in Tokyo, I wonder how the events will unfold from now on, will the Pro-Princess factions join Earth and fight against the traitor clans??

I have never heard of Gunnerkreig Court but it sounds awesome and I took a look at it's wikia page on Jones and she's a very interesting character, it's sad she can't experience emotion and feeling despite being immortal and I hope that's not the case with "Darzana Magbaredge", who I'm guessing will have a thing with Marito in the near future.
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QUOTE (Anybody @ Jul 16 2014, 11:08 AM)Meh OP - very good visuals but the same usual kalafina stuff in terms of songs(as in every sentence sounds like funeral march and the musical arrangement is same-y, but hey at least they restrained themselves on the kajiura yuki's chorus of doom this time).

Decent second episode otherwise. I can see this either going into masterpieces or into CodeGeass/Valvrave level of "let's watch it for the mindfuck".
QUOTE (Norren @ Jul 19 2014, 01:49 PM)is definitely stronger than "It's tough to find a job, I miss being in school." *cough* I mean, Gargantia.than Gargantia's OVAs too? ;p as almost all summer series started, i reconsider to keep watching Aldnoah weekly... by your post in GD at first I was waiting for final reviews, also there are many mecha series that disappointed me later
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Since that post they wrapped up things into a nice "RPG intro" style 3 episode mini-arc, which really impressed me. I really hope they can build and improve on the tone set by that intro, really looking forward to seeing how they handle the natural lull at the start of the "next act" so to speak. The next act will really set the course of the series, we still don't know what the story is right now, just that it had a really nice intro.

But yes, better than the Gargantia OVAs, too. (I did like Gargantia and its OVAs, tho'.)
 
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