Heavy Object

In the distant future, the nature of war has changed. "Objects"—massive, spherical tanks impermeable to standard weaponry and armed with destructive firepower—rule the battlefield; their very deployment ensures victory, rendering traditional armies useless. However, this new method of warfare is about to be turned on its head.

Qwenthur Barbotage, a student studying Object Design, and Havia Winchell, a radar analyst of noble birth, serve in the Legitimate Kingdom's 37th Mobile Maintenance Battalion, tasked with supporting the Baby Magnum, one of the nation's Objects. Unfortunately, a battle gone awry places the duo in a precarious situation: mere infantry stand face-to-face against the unfathomable might of an enemy Object. As they scramble to save themselves and their fellow soldiers, a glimmer of hope shines through, and the world's perception of Objects is changed forever.

Heavy Object follows these two soldiers alongside Milinda Brantini, the Baby Magnum's pilot, and their commanding officer Frolaytia Capistrano as the unit treks all over the globe to fight battle after battle. Facing one impossible situation after another, they must summon all their wit and courage to overcome the insurmountable foes that are Objects.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Capistrano, Frolaytia Main

Itou, Shizuka Japanese

Barbotage, Qwenthur Main

Hanae, Natsuki Japanese

Brantini, Milinda Main

Suzuki, Eri Japanese

Winchell, Havia Main

Ishikawa, Kaito Japanese

Ohoho Supporting

Kanemoto, Hisako Japanese

Zoom, Charlotte Supporting

Oonishi, Saori Japanese

Raylong, Staccato Supporting

Matsumoto, Shinobu Japanese

Honeysuckle, Sladder Supporting

Hosoya, Yoshimasa Japanese

Monica Supporting

Ookubo, Rumi Japanese

Myonri Supporting

Hondo, Kaede Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Nakayama, Nobuhiro Producer

Kananiwa, Kozue Producer

Miki, Kazuma Producer

Reviews

Mar 16, 2024

-ludic_

Recommended

Fun and underrated

If you watch expecting a big war anime you're gonna be disapointed, its good but not something that will change your life or make you fall in love with it
Overall, its good, animation are very well made and consistent, these big ass machines really look scary and mix well fantasy with something that could happen in real life
The characters are fun too, so thats good

Overall, its good as long as you're able to relax and enjoy some fun, trying to get a full on serious war anime out of this one will just make you mad and unable to enjoy the show

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Sep 19, 2023

Joe_Devaney

Mixed Feelings

Overview:
Ever heard of the phrase "one-trick pony"? If you haven't, then the best description is that it is a person or thing that can do one thing really well but is average at best in almost every other respect. This is a pretty good way to describe "Heavy Object", a military-mecha anime based on light novels written by "A Certain Magical Index" creator Kazuma Kamachi. In this case, its one trick is its "David vs. Goliath" battles, featuring mere foot soldiers taking down giant superweapons with nothing but brains and whatever tools they have at their disposal, allowing the series to be very entertaining in ... spite of itself.

Story (6/10):
In the not-too-distant future, war has changed. It has become far simpler, shorter and cleaner thanks to giant vehicles known as Objects. As a result of this military upheaval, all of the nations of the world have fractured into four coalitions which constantly wage war on each other, the "Legitimacy Kingdom", focused on tradition, the "Capitalist Enterprise", which values profit, the "Information Union", focused on knowledge, and the "Faith Organization", which values religion above everything else. Because of their firepower and integrity, it has been rammed into the general public that the only thing that can beat an Object is another Object, and so losses are determined by whether or not a side still has a functioning Object. All of this changes, however, when two soldiers, named Qwenthur Barbotage and Havia Winchell, rescue Object pilot Millinda Brantini (who is always called the "Princess" for whatever reason) and along the way prove a great truth- Objects are NOT infallible. Unfortunately for the trio, this accomplishment results in them, along with their commander Froylatia Capistrano, getting dragged into all sorts of extremely dangerous missions all over the globe, and along the way they learn that, while most view them as heroes, there are others who despise them for disrupting what they see as the "natural order".

Much like its brother series "A Certain Magical Index", "Heavy Object" spends a lot of time building its world, usually in the form of exposition provided by Qwenthur himself. The problem is that a lot of this world-building ends up being little more than window-dressing, since the story never really becomes anything more than the heroes moving from one location to the next and stopping whatever threat arises there. Furthermore, the idea that the invention of a single superweapon could completely change how wars work does test the willing suspension of disbelief, which for me is pretty high, since there are many mission types in which the usage of such a massive weapon like an Object would be incredibly impractical. For all the time the series spends talking about the world as it is now, the history of the world and exactly how it got to its current state is barely given more than a handwave, which can be pretty frustrating, to say the least.

The various locations can also get quite repetitive after a while, with most of the story arcs being set in various snowy landscapes or jungles. It would have been nice to have at least a couple of episodes set in a city or some other kind of residence, to at least get a clear idea of what civilian life is like in this world. There's also a surprising lack of politics involved, which is strange considering the ongoing conflict between four superpowers, with the Legitimacy Kingdom getting the lion's share of development in comparison to the other three nations. Ultimately, the story is one that could have been so much more than it is, but instead simply serves as an excuse to pit normal soldiers against giant robots, though the clever tactics they use to take down the Objects does help a little.

Art & Animation (8.5/10):
"Heavy Object"'s art style may not be anything you haven't seen before, but god damn if the series doesn't make the most of it. The character models are all distinct, well-drawn and highly detailed and the environments, while cut and pasted, look very good as well. The series also uses 3-D imagery very well for the Objects, which have a fair amount of variety in their designs, and their interiors look especially great. Overall, I've seen better, but I've definitely seen worse, and this is easily one of the best things about the show.

Sound & Dialogue (8/10):
"Heavy Object"'s soundtrack is fairly forgettable overall, consisting mostly generic tracks that, while fitting, tend to blend into the background rather than enhance whatever's currently going on. The ending themes are both very forgettable, as is the first opening, and the second opening, while notably better, is ultimately nothing to write home about. On the other hand, the voice acting is great; Justin Briner and Alexis Tipton do highly respectable jobs as Qwenthur and Milinda, respectively, and Morgan Garret and Micah Solusod do just as good jobs as Froylatia and Havia. As a whole, while none of the performances are what I would call "standout", there aren't any I would call "awful" either.

Characters (7/10):
The characters are not the most engaging, but they are generally likable. First up is the main character Qwenthur Barbotage. As a civilian soldier in training, he generally isn't allowed to carry a gun, yet he still manages to the best and most badass character in the entire series. Much of this come from his plans to take down Objects, which are often just as crazy as they are effective. Hell, his balls are evident by the fact that he actually attempted to take down an Object in the first place, even though it had been rammed in that doing so was impossible for a solider, yet alone one who hasn't even finished his training. Nevertheless, he proves it can be done, hence his new catchphrase "Whatever's created by man can be destroyed by man". As for his actual personality, he's generally very kind and will do anything for his friends, though he's not without his callous moments. He's also extremely smart, as shown by the various ingenious plans he employs to destroy the Objects, not unlike Shiage Hamazura from "A Certain Magical Index" using wits to defeat enemies much stronger than him. It's safe to say that, without Qwenthur, this show wouldn't even be possible. On the other hand, I have rather mixed feelings regarding Qwenthur's partner and best friend, Havia Winchell, who is my least favourite of the main characters despite having the second largest amount of screentime. Unlike Qwenthur, Havia comes from a family of the nobility, which is evident in the fact that while on a mission, he often wishes he were back at home living his comfortable, luxurious lifestyle, giving me the impression that he's just not cut out to be a soldier. Don't get me wrong, he does have some redeeming moments, but a lot of the time he just cowers and complains about every little thing and expects Qwenthur to figure everything out, which is especially jarring since he's usually the only one of the two who has a gun. Even worse is that he frequently makes sexual advances towards his commanding officer Froylatia, despite it being established in other episodes that he already has a fiancé, the implications of which are never brought up in the series.

Next up is Milinda Brantini, though you'll rarely hear that name since everyone in the series calls her "Princess". She acts as the mecha pilot of the group, piloting an Object known as the Baby Magnum, which, in video game terms, is a jack-of-all-stats. Unfortunately, this means she frequently goes up against opponents who have an advantage over her in some way, forcing her to rely on aid from Qwenthur and Havia to help give her the edge she needs in combat. As far as her background goes, she doesn't really have one, to the point that we never even learn where her nickname comes from. Nevertheless, I found myself liking her more than any other character in the series besides Qwenthur, not only for being a badass but also for being probably the nicest character in the entire series (granted, I expected that considering who voices her, but still). Last but not least as far as the main cast goes, we have the commander of the team Froylatia Capandris, who is described as "heartless" a couple of times but is actually anything but, as it's shown several times that she does care a lot for the people under her command, though she can definitely be harsh with them at times, especially Qwenthur and Havia. She also has a very sympathetic, if somewhat strange, backstory, which helps to explain the way she is and ultimately caused her to endear me more than Havia did, even she ultimately doesn't do all that much in the way of action.

The supporting cast is decent, but it really depends on what character you're talking about. To put in simple terms, for every character that earned my respect or angered me to the point that I was begging to see them get what was coming to them, there was at least one other that really annoyed me or failed to leave any impression at all, either by flat characterization or just not having a lot of screentime. Usually both. Furthermore, I ultimately didn't like any of them nearly as much as the main cast (yes, not even Havia), which probably isn't helped by the fact that most, if not all, of them don't have any prominence in the series outside a single arc, and some of them don't even survive a single episode.

Enjoyment (7.5/10):
For all its many flaws, one thing "Heavy Object" definitely does not lack in is thrills and excitement. Seeing Qwenthur and the others come up with all sorts of crazy plans to take down the Objects never stops being entertaining despite the repetitive environments, and is the biggest reason why I was able to watch the anime all the way to the end. That said, being what it is, the show maintains a very serious tone throughout, and the comic relief that is there tends to be nothing you likely haven't seen before.

Overall:
It's a good thing that "Heavy Object" knows exactly what its strengths are and how to use them, because if it weren't for its creative man vs. machine conflicts, it would just be another military-mecha anime with nothing to set it apart from the rest of the pack. It's overall a lot like one of those over-the-top action movies that forgoes telling a good story in favour of thrills and spectacle, so if you enjoy those kinds of movies, you will probably enjoy it. On the other hand, if you're looking for something with a bit more depth, you're better off looking elsewhere.

Score:
6+8.5+8+7+7.5=37/50=7.4/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Mar 6, 2022

CataOrShane

Not Recommended

Heavy Object is a story about these war machines called Objects and each has a pilot. However, the story doesn't focus on them. Instead it focuses on three other characters: a regular male soldier, a noble male soldier and their female commander. The commander, like every other female character besides an old woman, only exist because of fan service. Boobs, legs, asses. Everyone knows that's all an anime girl is for, right? As if this wasn't enough, there's loads of sexist remarks and jokes that I don't appreciate one bit. Even their own pilot is just fanservice.

Moving on, these 2 soldiers get so many ... focus on a story about massive war machines because the plot is like a David vs Goliath sort of thing. The idea is how can 2 meaningless teenagers put up a fight and actually defeat these killing machines? Each arc features a situation like this and it became real repetive real fast.

Personally I think the overall setting and plot took ages to be introduced to the audience and the animation is too inconsistent to be fully immersed while watching this.

The only good think I can compliment about this anime is the voice acting. I think most seiyuus did a solid job with their characters.

This show is a 4/10 for me.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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