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**WARNING LIGHT SPOILERS**

A fantasy adventure with only the slightest twist on the common isekai formula. It's one redeeming grace in my eyes is a decent final episode that wraps up the season, surging in manly manliness!

The first couple episodes are pretty insufferable, we get the common trope of a character who's been training under the wing of secret masters, an S-Ranked Party in this case who is very obviously overpowered to the viewer thinks he is below-average in strength compared to other adventurers. More often than not this trope comes across as annoying, and this is not one of the cases where ... the writing overcomes my bias against it.

Thematically the story leans into the character being an "Ossan" and how it's not too late to chase your dreams even when you're older in life. We also see story beats centered around how hard work can overcome someone with talent but puts in no effort. While the message the anime is trying to send is noble, the point seems a bit contradictory when we find out the reason Rick our MC is picked up into the S-Rank party in the first place is due to him having an innate skill he was born with.

There were a few spots in the show that earned a light chuckle and personally I'm a sucker for overly macho characters which the finale focuses in on quite well.

Overall a decent show with average art + story but fails to deliver anything novel or in a particularly special way.

Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova
Arpeggio: the sounding of the notes of a chord in rapid succession instead of simultaneously.
Ars Nova: refers to a musical style which flourished in France and the Burgundian Low Countries in the late Middle Ages

First let me disclaim that I haven't consumed any of the other media around Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova (if there is any), this review is solely aimed at the anime itself. Overall I'd say this anime is above average overall, but isn't really special in any department. The show is visually average, I'd never describe it as gorgeous but for a show heavily ... CGI it's not grotesque either. For a show with musical terms in it's title I'm happy to say that the soundtrack was one of the show's stronger points imo. The battle themes used were really good especially the ones with a chorus, and I really enjoyed the opening. The central theme was executed well but it's offset by a rather disappointing plot. Finally there were a few characters that shined in this show, but for the most part I found most of the cast uninspired or uninteresting. I'd recommend this show if you have a personal interest in naval battles as some of the sequences were really nice in detail or if you happen to really enjoy stories that center around robots(replace robots with anthropomorphized battleships) discovering their humanity. However if neither of those reasons are enough for you then you can skip this show without having any regrets.

Art:
Use of CGI isn't the prettiest but is definitely serviceable, and each of the Fleet of Fog ship characters are rather distinct with their designs which is nice. That being said there is never really a moment in the anime that stunned me with visuals or revealed a beautiful background or setting. To be fair most of the time there just at sea/under the sea anyways but this isn't an anime to be watched for visually artistic merits.

Sound:
Some of the battle themes definitely feel they have an epic gravitas to them, especially the songs that contain a chorus of voices. I also enjoyed the opening which was energetic while containing an appropriate message for the show.

Story:
I was sold on the adventure the first episode described. I expected to discover the mystery between Iona who has come to meet and obey the MC Chihaya Gunzou, I wanted to know why Chihaya's father was suspected of defecting to the Fleet of Fog even though he was declared dead. I wanted to know who or what exactly the Fleet of Fog is and what was the Admirality Code for the Fleet of Fog. There is also a potential story to be told in how Chihaya's classmates were convinced to join him and Iona as crew members on a fugitive ship that wasn't truly at home with either humans or the Fleet of Fog. It's mentioned that traveling by land is impossible due to the civil strife, but it ends up just being a one line excuse to keep the setting on the sea rather then ever being seriously addressed. Unfortunately the main plot is considerably sized down in the actual anime, with barely any of the above being explained aside from a few parts of the Admiralty Code. Thematically the story revolves around the value of humanity using primarily the different egos the Fleet of Fog develops as they interact with humanity. While all of the battleships agree that the human capacity to anticipate the future (allowing them the use of more sophisticated tactics) is useful, there is disagreement and friction that arises due to the human emotions they are exposed to. While I was disappointed in quite a few story elements being completely glossed over I did enjoy the message of the anime.


Characters:
Honestly most of the characters are throwaways. Chihaya Gunzou is a perfect male protagonist with discernible faults that I could find except perhaps that he's a bit on the cynical side "politics are mere sophistry" (really had to dig for that). The last episode has Iona say to him that he looked pathetic when they first met, but nothing in the anime really reflected that, when it comes to Chihaya there is virtually no development that takes place. None of the other human crew really get any love either. I really wanted to like Iona a bit more but had a hard time doing that since the only explanation they gave for her being there is that her only order is to follow Gunzou's orders. At least her character feels a lot better than Takao who's sole motivation for falling into a perverted lust for Chihaya is being beaten in naval battle. Hyuuga is equally pitiful except that her character falls for Iona instead of Chihay. To add insult to injury Hyuuga's ravaging happens off screen.

But that's enough about some of the characters I didn't like, I felt that some of the other characters were the bright spot of the show. Kongo was alright as the main antagonist, and was used effectively to move the plot along as well as deliver the shows most powerful themes. I understand this is fantasy but she was definitely demonstrated the main conflict of a weapon acquiring human emotions, understandably rejecting the change she was experiencing while simultaneously feeling anguish and confusion as her comrades abandoned the Admiralty Code and fell into Chihaya's camp. I also really enjoyed the humanization of Haruna and Kirishima and their interactions with Makie Osakabe and felt that the episodes dealing with that relationship were done very well.

Enjoyment:
I definitely enjoyed the show when it came to the action sequences. For the most part the show definitely favors brain over brawn, acknowledging that while the Fog won war due to better firepower/technology, they'd definitely lose if technology levels were equal due to humans tactical prowess and adaptability. I felt the final action sequence was kinda of a shame because while most battles seemed to be dependent on tactics and risky gambles, the last battle kinda hand-waved its way to explaining the victory of the protagonists. It's also amusing how most of the time a fleet of enemy ships comes, everyone but the main actors gets kame hame ha'd out of existence. I found myself really only enjoying a few characters which seemed a shame. The theme of the story, robots (battleships) becoming human isn't original but it was definitely executed above average. I found some of the ecchi scenes a bit off-putting (refer to the scene of Hyuuga humping Iona) but that's just my own personal preference speaking.

Overall this is one of those animes I watched not because it was amazing or anything, rather it was ok.

Lets start with how the anime actually looked to me. For character design there really wasn't anything special. For Kanzaki lookwise reminded me greatly of Inaho Kaizuka from Aldnoah Zero and will definitely blend in to generic anime characters in my memory. I think the diver suits with the different splashes of color were the most notable outfit of the show.

The enemy in this show, the "matter", isn't anything to write home about either think along the fleshy blob that Tetsuo became in Akira . ... Honestly the first couple episodes before the characters venture outside the safety of the city is probably where the setting looked best. Afterwards most scenery is either blocked out by the matter's ability to produce mist or takes place within a research facility. The colors used often seemed dreary and bleak to me as well, and it was so rarely changed that it eventually felt visually boring to me. Also the repeated use of Aiko's memories throughout the show were a bit apparent as well to me. It never looked exactly bad, but none of it was exceptional or memorable either.

The story of this anime falls slightly to the better side. Thematically the focus seemed explore is there a difference between humans and clones of humans if they retain the same ability to feel and make decisions. The politics of the show between the organization responsible for dealing with the artificial organisms (the name escapes me) and the state government was able to interest me as well. There ideals of taking any means to progress your nation face off against respecting human lives. Automatic bonus points are applied too just for having a satisfying conclusion to the show, I've watched too many animes lately that finish the season never to be seen from again. The show leaves enough clues lying around where some of the "twists" were fairly predictable which isn't a mark against it. Enjoyment can still be had when the anticipations you have are met by the show.

I'll eventually get better at writing about sound track but I definitely enjoyed the opening and ending.

Finally I'll just lightly touch on the characters. For only 12 episodes it would be a very hard task to have deep characterization for the entire cast. Unsurprisingly many of the supporting characters don't get to shine at all. We definitely get to see the conflicts and growth of the main two, Aiko and Kanzaki which I personally thought was well done. Specifically Kanzaki's realization of what he initially started out to do and his inability to accomplish this was well done. We get to see minor character growth in Kaede and Kazuki, but really any characters outside of Aiko and Kanzaki are still underdeveloped imo.

6/10 score - Nothing revolutionary thematically, but it presents its thoughts well. Visually the quality was alright but I personally thought it was bleak and thus boring throughout the show. Plot was fine, enjoyed the main characters but side characters weren't shown much love. Fine to watch if you don't have anything better to do

If you made it this far into the review I hope you found it helpful, over time I hope I'll be better at giving insight into shows while also not having this read as a generic essay.