Forum - View topicEpisode Review: Aldnoah.Zero
|
Goto page Previous Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DRosencraft
Posts: 665 |
|
|||
|
It isn't really required to know whether the trap was a weapon or debris. All a bullet is, is a chunk of metal accelerated at a high velocity. Inaho states he spotted something on radar that was at a high speed and about the size of debris, so basic science would mean it's a good idea to either get yourself out of the way, or get your enemy in the way if you can.
I continue to think that a lot of the flack this show gets in terms of Inaho's combat "prowess" is overblown considering the larger aspects of the story. His tactics aren't terribly complex for the scenarios he's in, and not something someone else shouldn't be able to think of. It's a rather classic example of boosting one character's perceived intelligence by dumbing down the others around him. The same could be said for Slaine's trap. He wanted to get Inaho, and couldn't. The count was there, with his mech's shield disabled, so he took the opportunity. It would have been a simple matter if the count's shield was still active to just tell him to get out the way or move him out of the way. What he did with the bullets is essentially what NASA or any other space program does when launching a satellite or trying to make it to the moon, Mars, or sending a probe out. It's the same thing with Inaho's "amazing" shots, which we are repeatedly reminded via dialogue and images, is a byproduct of his own ideas and intelligence supported by the computer now in his brain to speed up the calculations. That no one else thought of such a plan says more about the lack of intelligence with the other characters, than it does of Slaine's or Inaho's apparent genius. That this dynamic shocks people is probably a coup for the writers of this series, because they've managed to present well established character concepts and story patterns as though it is something so new and unique unto itself. |
||||
|
||||
Valhern
 Posts: 916 |
|
|||
Alright but they're both goddamn sixteen! How in the hell these 16 years old boys are suddenly better and more competent than any adult in the whole Earth + Mars? Is Inaho a super genius even though we're not told so? Is Slaine the Winter Soldier or something? Is everyone just outright stupid? You can expect the main character to be really lucky and be able to pull badass stunts like Slaine, something entirely different is the main character being literally BETTER than anyone, since apparently no one ever studied science, militar tactics or is even a good pilot. At Inaho's side everyone worships him as the Earth's hero, everybody hail Odin reborn, whereas Slaine still is the underdog although he's shown to be a very good pilot and soldier overall, there are still people that are clearly better than him or can hinder his plans. True, sometimes he is just lucky, but at least he doesn't get shot directly in the eye and survives, he's been in dangerous situations and played (mostly) the right way, except for example like when he goes to meet the Vers Emperor, or trusting Saaz too much, giving himself even more troubles, but that's the point, isn't it? The MC is supposed to deal with difficulties and take wrong and right choices to deal with them. The difference, Inaho does not take wrong choices, the whole damn universe is by his side. If we just went by basic characteristics, Slaine and Inaho both have the same archetype, but Slaine is slightly more belieavable in his heroic-like moments, more relatable in his motives, and overall more entertaining to watch. Inaho is just a Tony Stark try-hard. |
||||
|
||||
Calsolum
 Posts: 898 |
|
|||
|
@DRosencraft
Well my knowledge of physics comes from high school and im pretty certain none of these scenarios ever came up. That said if all these strategies and tactics that Inaho came up with would be easy for NASA or someone in his field to do then id say the problem is that the writing is lacking and its not the characters fault. Inahos tactics and strategies are probably legitimate but the way they are executed makes it seem like an asspull rather than a carefully thought out plan. If anyone has seen code geass then you could use lelouch as a base for how an 'entertaining' smart character should be written. Throughout the series he's pulled many complex and ridiculously planned strategies but more often than not they all go down the drain once his foil appears on the battlefield and he's forced to change tactics on the fly and sometimes go for the less desirable outcome. As mentioned by Valhern theres little to no development in Inahos character throughout the series, he hasn't made any mistakes, he always finds some way to get his desired outcome and rarely does the worst case scenario occur where he's forced to make hard decisions under pressure. Slaine has gone through tremendous ordeals and has had to undergo huge changes in order keep up with his enemies, and unlike Inaho where things go right all the time, things usually go wrong so he's forced to endure and adapt which in my opinion is a more relatable character than Inaho. If they fixed or addressed these issues in Inahos character then id have no problem with him, but as it stands he's like a permanently SEED mode kira, and as much as I loved kiras mecha skills they became far too broken to really appreciate. |
||||
|
||||
|
Sven Viking
Posts: 1039 |
|
|||
|
(I wasn't meaning Inaho was better written than Slaine, just that I like detached characters with mental super powers.)
Surely that's obvious from the context without needing to be told explicitly? As I said, he's essentially Sherlock Holmes. That the princess happened to meet up with him by chance is an implausible coincidence, but that sort of thing isn't exactly rare in fiction. The exceptional history-changing super characters happen to be sixteen because it is an anime. |
||||
|
||||
CoreSignal
 Posts: 727 Location: California, USA |
|
|||
|
So after this episode, I guess Slaine was hittin' the battle simulator during the season break, since he's almost as good as Inaho now. I'm curious if this 2nd season will become more a duel of the minds between Inaho and Slaine.
I thought this was funny, too. During one of the battles in the 1st season, I remember thinking to myself: "So after a semester or two of training, 16-year old Inaho is apparently a better pilot than experienced war vet Marito". I think you just gotta accept some things to enjoy the show. |
||||
|
||||
Izanagi009
 Posts: 464 Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA |
|
|||
|
Talking from a physics perspective from what little I remember from high school, Inaho taking advantage of "gravity gradients" to cause the shots to bend is possible but not on an individual basis.
A famous problem in physics is the three body problem in which given initial information on the position of three objects in space relating to space, velocity and distance between them, you must determine their positions at a specified point in time. It might sound easy but it's not. The force of gravity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between two objects and acts counter to the centripetal force of any object revolving around a single object. Solving the three body problem usually takes a computer, ideal conditions, and a bit of time. Now imagine hundreds of items with all of the debris in the battle shifting in space with a large variance of mass and the forces on a bullet become immense at just one point in time, much less an entire bullet travel length. In other words, Inaho essentially is able to somehow do what could take a supercomputer hours in split seconds and in combat. And people wonder why we call his tactics an asspull. |
||||
|
||||
|
Izanagi009
Posts: 464 Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA |
|
|||
|
To address the point about Inaho as a genius, I can accept that he is a genius and he does show some autistic traits.
What I can't accept storywise is that he is flawless; and before you ask, his emotionless nature is not to any detriment. I will use Fate/Zero's Emiya Kiritsugu as an example. Kiritsugu is battle adapt and able to fight off magicians with a bit of ease. He also is extremely traumatized and his emotional issues are clearly displayed in how he sees the world and interacts with it. We are given no such balancing flaw with Inaho. He, as far as I can tell, has not gone through a personal tragedy like Marito, he did not fight in the first war, and his relations with the people around him seems stable. there is noting compelling about him outside of combat and no tension during combat. As for Slaine, when did we get any indication in the first season that he wanted to reform the Vers empire to have the disenfranchised rise in status and quality of life? All I saw in the first season was him in service to Asseylum and being discriminated due to the Terran status. The lack of explaination really doesn't enable investment. |
||||
|
||||
|
Izanagi009
Posts: 464 Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA |
|
|||
|
Well, this episode was definably better.
Having renewed focus on Marito and Yuki helps to lend some humanity compared to the cold Inaho and even Inaho has a small scene with the opening. Hell, the plan wasn't even Inaho's this time. Orbital Bombardment was fairly obvious from the onset given the mechanics of the gravity field. As such, you simply needed to drop something on them and what better way to do that than a gun. As for Slaine and the Vers side, intrigue is actually popping up with Lemrira having ulterior plans and Slaine trying to toy with everyone. Let's see if the show can actually catch up a bit. |
||||
|
||||
|
Godaistudios
Posts: 2075 Location: Albuquerque, NM (the land of entrapment) |
|
|||
|
I think the 19 months and them backing off is also indicated in the episode as you have counts essentially fighting amongst themselves - that is to say - a lot of political infighting, and what the goal is when it comes to earth.
I thought they should have been stronger with this than the doctor's speculative comment, but it's not so far off the reservation. Mars doesn't know how many elite pilots there are that can take out the Kataphrakts they thought were invincible. While I don't completely buy into it either, it's not the worst reasoning I've heard. |
||||
|
||||
|
#Immie93
Posts: 54 |
|
|||
|
I apologise in advance for the essay.
I find it difficult to understand why people think Inaho is actually completely emotionless. I get that he only ever seems to wear one face but in comparison to Slaine, who has shown a multitude of faces, Inaho perhaps hides more of his emotions for the sake of the people around him. Inaho's past is very vague and from Season 2's picture montage ending we can perhaps determine that Inaho and Yuki lost their parents at a young age (possibly during Heavens Fall as 15 years have passed, so maybe their mother was killed protecting recently born Inaho or died during childbirth and his father died fighting). So Inaho has never experienced family loss as he was too young to even remember, he's only had Yuki who's had to raise him alone by the looks of things. This lack of parentage means Inaho would have had to mentally grow up quicker than most kids, learn things faster and become the 'man of the house,' in order to protect Yuki. We see it in Season 1 episode 1 with Inaho basically being the more responsible of the two, getting up early and cooking breakfast for both of them and reminding Yuki to put her dishes away, like a responsible adult would. He's even looking at supermarket sales on his phone. It would explain why he's so good at piloting a Kataphrakt and coming up with well thought out plans on par with trained adult pilots, he's had to practice harder and study harder than other kids to be the grown up man and protect Yuki. Ok this is comparing a 15 year old boy to a trained adult pilot but not many of those adults would have experienced a real battle seeing as no real fighting has happened since Heavens Fall 15 years before. There has been a ceasefire since then so all anyone can do is practice for war as a precaution, exactly what Inaho and his classmates have been doing, practicing. Even the war veterans from Heavens Fall haven't done anything in that time except teach kids like Inaho to fight, so they're bound to be rusty in some places. This then leads into Inaho's 'lack' of emotion as lots of people believe he has. He doesn't necessarily have a lack of emotion or have autism but this sudden need to grow up has meant he's never been able to be a child. He believes his purpose is to 'protect' so he does that in every episode, protecting Earth and all its citizens. He sometimes cracks a small smile but he won't physically show any other emotion because he knows if he does it might be a sign of weakness, and therefore this weakness would transfer to everyone else around him. If anything you have to feel sorry for him, Inaho is having to pretend to be an adult, hide his emotions and wear a face of confidence constantly. In Season 1 episode 12, we see that put to the test when Asseylum is shot. He witnesses the girl he loves 'die' before his eyes but he still has to remain confident and emotionless because he's in the presence of Slaine and Saazbaum. Any sign of weakness from him and that risks his humanity's destruction so when Slaine can only see the back of Inaho's head, Inaho cracks a loving smile as that's all the emotion he can afford to show. If he cries, Slaine will see it on his face and take it as a weakness. However now in Season 2, we're starting to see more from Inaho. The opening possibly gives some of it away with him not quite able to reach out for the Princess so his face becomes a wall of misery. He desperately wants her back but must keep up his act of confidence until she is safely in his hands again. I feel if we are to see Inaho's true emotions and see him physically break down then it may only happen when he loses someone he truly loves and wants to protect at all costs. And the speculation now comes in that something critical might happen to Yuki in order to cause that catalyst of emotion inside Inaho. I felt there was the beginnings of a set up for this in the opening scene of Season 2 Episode 4 where Inaho is desperately trying to reach out and pull the blanket over Yuki. A lot of people pick up on that adorable smile he gives her when she wakes up but even before that I can see the subtle pain in his eyes (sorry, eye). He's trying to protect her and keep her warm and safe like he believes he has to do, but he can't quite reach out and do so. He's showing his vulnerability, he finds it painful he can't do this for her. Although it was kind of predictable thatspoiler[ Inaho would swoop in and save Marito and Yuki later] on in the episode, that small set up in the beginning felt like this battle was going to lead somewhere fatal and it almost did as spoiler[Marito and Yuki were the only two left standing]. Thankfully it didn't spoiler[as Inaho was close enough to Earth to do something about it] but I feel that set up is a fore-shadowing of what's possibly going to come. Inaho may encounter a situation where he can't protect her, can't reach out and save her and then that vulnerability he hints to show in Episode 4 will amplify. Slaine has already had his moment of breaking down at the 'death' of his princess, now this season may see this breakdown fall upon Inaho. This may either render him useless for a few episodes before he mans up again or he'll immediately fuel that emotion into his fighting in the same sort of way Slaine did by shooting Inaho. I hope I'm wrong in Yuki's speculation because she is an interesting character that I'd hate to see die but A/Z just looks like it's following Code Geass. Suzaku lost Euphy so Slaine 'lost' Asseylum and Lelouch lost Nunnally/Shirley so Inaho may lose Yuki. (God I really hope I'm wrong). And all this is just my own opinion. Take it with a grain of salt if you will but I love Inaho's character and I think there's more to him than meets the eye. And sorry for that stupidly long essay. |
||||
|
||||
|
Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18185 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
|
|||
|
The problem with your argument, #Immie93, is that having to grow up and be responsible earlier than most is hardly a valid excuse for him being as emotionless as he is. Also, I saw the opening scene more as him just trying to get her attention than what you describe, but I'm curious now to see if others read it the way you describe.
And boy, I hope you're wrong about that speculation. At this point I can't think of any other character I'd less rather see get killed off. |
||||
|
||||
Yttrbio
 Posts: 3652 |
|
|||
|
I saw the opening as pulling the blanket up, too.
|
||||
|
||||
|
#Immie93
Posts: 54 |
|
|||
|
I can understand your point of view Key, everyone has their own opinion of course and I know each person translates a scene completely differently to someone else.
I'm not sure I would translate it as Inaho wanting to get Yuki's attention, if he did he would have perhaps been animated nudging her and perhaps even called out to her but from the way it was drawn the suggestion is Inaho is grabbing the blanket and trying to pull it further up her body but of course failing to do so and his actions rouse Yuki from her sleep. I guess I'm looking at it from an in depth animation point of view as I've studied the subject at degree level so critically analysing animation and the meanings behind certain actions is something I've had to do (and it's annoyingly difficult to switch off when all you want to do is enjoy watching an animation) but obviously animation has to be created for an audience who watches it to enjoy it, so your points could be completely valid also. And yes I really don't want Yuki to die either, I'm wishing more for a Slaine/Inaho team up towards the end (which is also possibly suggested in the opening with the fact that both of them are reaching out for supposedly the Princess but side by side). |
||||
|
||||
|
Sven Viking
Posts: 1039 |
|
|||
|
Clearly he was trying to steal the blanket for himself, but wasn't strong enough.
spoiler[Just kidding. I think the way it's animated is definitely intended to suggest he's trying to pull the blanket up.] |
||||
|
||||
|
H. Guderian
Posts: 1255 |
|
|||
|
The show really does feel like it's improving, imagine if all of this was happening without Inaho. Might've really had something there.
|
||||
|
||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group