Jun 5, 2015
What happens when you have Gen Urobuchi, Hiroyuki Sawano, and Kalafina all working in the same project? Pure awesomeness you say? You'd be wrong, but it's not precisely their fault... or yours. If you are thinking of watching this series, think again. This is one of those series that start up great but do not live up to their potential. Be warned, if you are a hardcore fan of mechas you will probably want to pass on this anime. I'm serious; I think I didn't hate it precisely because I'm not a big fan of mechas.
Is this series terrible? Personally, I think it is enjoyable,
...
but really underwhelming considering the people attached to the project. Now I have to mention that Urobuchi only wrote the first 3(!!) episodes, so that explains a lot.
STORY
I'm not a big fan of mechas so I think I enjoyed the story more than a fan of the genre. Still, from my own experience, this feels like Code Geass and Gundam, (that is, politics, deep characters, complex plots, and betrayals left and right) but doesn't manage to even hold a candle to them. I'm not knowledgeable enough to call it a Gundam ripoff, but it’s a common opinion in the forums. After all, there's not a lot originality here, just your typical sci-fi conflict of people living on earth against those who live in space and, in this case, Mars. There are even some Evangelion vibes here.
In order to get the full story you are absolutely required to watch the second season, which is not very good. This is because the first season ends with a huge cliffhanger, and if you get this far you will probably be invested enough to continue watching. Think of it as a 2-cour show with a break in between.
If you know Urobuchi's previous works, you will know what to expect in terms of plot twists regarding characters. Without giving away details, you will find a lot of underwhelming subversions to his writing. I found myself constantly thinking "Is this really Urobuchi's work? How can this be?" Well, that was before I knew he only wrote the first 3 episodes. The most likely explanation is that Urobuchi's original idea was changed by the rest of the writing team (I read that he actually left the project), probably hoping there would be more seasons. Now the story it's not bad, I kinda liked it but it certainly doesn't live up to Urobuchi's potential. The science behind the titular Aldnoah, a mysterious source of energy, is never explained or explored in detail!! Other sciency aspects of the show are not explained and only hinted at; the show forgoes spoonfeeding entirely for the sake of better pacing. The problem is that this happens frequently in battles, so expect a lot of asspulls. The first episode starts really slow, a lot of infodump in the first half followed by jaw-dropping action on the second half. The 2nd and 3rd episodes are pretty solid, but after that the plot is not that good. So yeah, this goes to show that the 3-episode rule doesn't always apply.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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