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Aldnoah.Zero is a high stakes anime... with no stakes.

Story: 4/10
The story is predicated on the assassination of the princess of Vers (Mars) but it isn't engaging at all. During the whole series, she's essentially the character in the least amount of danger after the failed assassination attempt. A few minor changes would have made this anime a 7, 8, or even a 9. The removal of some minor character, some relationship links, some familial ties maybe.
*spoiler - Ep 2* Had Inaho's sister actually died, the MC would have had something riding on defeating the Vers knights.

Most of the characters have their ... own tragic reason for wanting to battle the Vers empire and end the war... everyone but the MC. He's just the brother of a pilot school instructor, who happens to be yet another Logan's Run-esque middle school aged messiah figure/tactical genius. He's comparatively good at maneuvering the bots, only because everyone else literally stands there shooting at things.

The story has zero stakes in play, every character is floating in the thin water soup that is the 'plot' of this anime, and in fact, many of them don't need to be there at all, namely Lt. Marito. I really could have given a shit about the fate of these characters.

Art: 7/10
A typically visually pleasing anime from A-1 Productions. A little bit of same face different hair syndrome happening with a handful of the female characters, but hey, look at K-on, those girls are essentially the same person in four different wigs and most people like that anime.

Characters: A sub-par storyline clearly doesn't have many compelling characters. 4/10
The only character that has any inkling of development in these 12 episodes (though at the time of writing I've only seen 7 episodes because the plot is pretty transparent already) is Slaine, and that's only because he starts off as a spineless fanboy and becomes an almost three-dimensional character, almost.

Sound:8/10
The soundtrack during the lacklustre fight scenes almost makes you think something integral to the plot is happening; but of course, that's just the magic of a decent soundtrack. If not for the music, the fight scenes would have been at best, cringe-worthy.

TL;DR: Banal anime with barely any plot, cool enough art, and semi-decent characters, watch it if you're tired of animes with umm.. plots and character development I guess.

TL;DR at the bottom
Boku dake ga Inai Machi is a pretty outstanding anime in terms of the originality of the plot and the progression of the story. It's not a lazy anime, so nor should its viewers be. This series progresses in a very realistic and measured manner. despite some minor flaws, all in all, it boasts a maturity and clarity that few animes in recent seasons have been able to deliver.

Story: 10/10 (for what it is)
Erased is not a series that unfolds on a cosmic level, the reach of the protagonists powers is small and thus imbues a sense of reality and ... care that many animes don't nowadays. I'll make this short; if you're almost exclusively a fan of cheap panty shots, sloppily pieced together plots, and campy harems, you probably will not like this, most likely due to a lack of understanding. If you're not a fan of sentimentality, you probably will like it for its art and clarity, but probably won't be giving this a 10/10.

This story isn't clever beyond belief, but it's intricate and well-paced. The MC has an ability to time travel, but solely altruistically, he cannot change his life, but rather his abilities allow him the privilege (or burden) to save the lives of others, or to stop evil befalling onto innocent people. He uses this power to go back in time to stop an event that defined his childhood, and the childhoods of his classmates at the time.

The story is sweet, simple and well executed. It's not saccharine in its development, but I must say, though it may not be exactly what the viewer wanted or expected, the ending is satisfying.

Art: 9/10
The art style is simple, elegant and DETAILED! even in scenes when there is only dialogue, there is a continuous movement! The background scenes have life in them. they aren't just lazy 2D placeholders, the design elements in this series are almost flawless, watching anything after this will open your eyes to the countless corners that are cut to pump out a lot of the banal animes you see now. Erased is a benchmark for high production value.

Characters: 8/10
The characters are fleshed out and believable, our MC goes through considerable change during the series, and by episode 12 his outlook on life has taken a total 180 (in the most positive sense)

TL;DR: if you want something that is captivating in every sense, watch this anime! It's fun, sweet, tear wrenching and clever in a way that doesn't ask much of the viewer, all it begs of you is that you sit back and watch the story unfold. This is a definite 10/10 that'll leave you searching for something to fill the hole it'll leave once it's done.