Forum - View topicEpisode Review: Aldnoah.Zero
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18185 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I don't believe I ever said that good characterization was the reason the series was getting better. And I disagree that the show can't get by on flimsy characterizations. It's absolutely still entertaining despite that, though it is unlikely to earn higher than a B from me unless that improves.
Last edited by Key on Sat Feb 28, 2015 6:15 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Rogueywon
Posts: 251 |
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I've not seen the latest episode yet - will watch it tomorrow - but while I've had my complaints about this show, weak characterization isn't one of them. My take is that Inaho is not normal - is not supposed to be normal - and that this is the big thing setting this show aside from god-knows-how-many other mecha shows.
I'm not quite sure what he is supposed to be - a high-functioning sociopath perhaps? - but there's a lot of inverting of the usual mecha tropes here. Not only do we have the protagonist piloting the weakest mecha in the show (imagine Amuro in a GM), but we have one who doesn't share his thoughts - whether via internal monologue, talking-to-walls or thinly-veiled-exposition conversations - at least twice an episode. The absence of emotional response from him seems entirely deliberate and actually quite interesting. It's almost like they have a gender-flipped Ayanami Rei as the protagonist. And Slaine? He seems more in the Lelouch/Kira (Death Note version) vein. He starts out with ideals, but they get tarnished pretty quickly. He's clearly playing a long game here, but because - again - he doesn't talk to himself out loud, we don't get to know what that game is. My personal theory is that he's actually out to destroy the Vers Empire and is deliberately using Inaho as a tool to thin the ranks of their elites, but I'm quite prepared for that to be wrong. And this is why I'd have to rate this series above a B. Because it's one of those rare shows where the sheer weight of tropes and narrative expectations doesn't mean you can easily predict how it will end from the mid-way point. |
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Izanagi009
 Posts: 464 Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA |
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At the same time though, is the disappearance of these tropes to the shows benefit or are they done for the sake of being done. Amuro may be emotive and pilot of a stronger mech but the fights were backed by a interesting political situation that spaned multiple series. Here, the politics are not really explored as in Gundam. With Asseylum's near death, the show lost it's one voice of peace that every Gundam has. We don't get to see the desperation of the people like in AGE(which is still bad but at least tried) that would lend backing to the knights actions. Also, the lack of emotion makes it hard to connect with the pain and suffering a person goes through which makes emphasizing with Inaho really difficult
Slaine is a hard one. On the one hand, he is a much better character than Inaho in terms of conflict and theme. on the other hand, as Key said, i'm not sure we got enough information on him to say whether he is a good character or not Regardless, the show is making up for it's appalling first half but i'm not sure I can call the show good. |
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Izanagi009
Posts: 464 Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA |
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it's entertaining (the vers mechs still impress me) but it's still painful if not more so than the first season. The first season had misused it's potential and ended up meandering and stepping on thematic threads. here, there are thematic threads jumping out at us: Inaho's dehumanization though the use of the eye, Slaine's conflcit between his desire to be with Asseylum and his will to change the Vers empire, Asseylum realizing that the war has gotten to the point that her ideals mean nothing, Lesseria being caught between both identities and desires. None of that is truly explored and it aches that it keeps tugging on those threads without doing anything with them. People said that this was going to be a Gundam killer but I have a feeling that those people are looking back and going "we were so wrong" because a show that is unwilling to explore the themes that Aldnoah is putting out will never match Gundam. |
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_Cyphon_
 Posts: 996 |
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Well, shit's going down next episode. Asseylum gets her memories back, Lemrina sees the missing body, Inaho is feeling the side effects, and Slaine is going to be screwed...
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Yttrbio
 Posts: 3652 |
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What about nameless mech pilot #372? How do things look for him? I hear he's getting married after this war.
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_Cyphon_
Posts: 996 |
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Actually, I think he died during the first encounter with the three Martian Kataphrakts. So sad, his fiancée was waiting for him at home. 
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partially
Posts: 702 Location: Oz |
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This is my main complaint with the show actually. Inaho was an interestingly different character for the first few episodes of the show. Then they never actually really did anything with him to make the difference worthwhile. Which rapidly made him boring and pointless. He was thrown into the show for the sake of being different, not for any other purpose. And because of that, for me, the show has never been able to drag itself above being mediocre. |
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_Cyphon_
Posts: 996 |
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Huh, Slaine really has changed.
Even though I'm still annoyed by Inaho's supposed "godliness", the tactics used this episode actually made some sense. By making the charge of himself the same as the Martian Kataphrakt, he avoided being shocked, that actually made some sense to me. I was a bit surprised by how composed Slaine was when he found out that Asseylum and Lemrina were working together. It seems that his transformation to emotionless is almost complete. Ending the episode we have Count Cruhteo's son visiting Slaine, which will be an interesting interaction. Will he befriend Slaine like his father did, or will he turn against Slaine after learning the truth? Last edited by _Cyphon_ on Sun Mar 08, 2015 1:14 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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jree78
Posts: 123 |
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Spellcheck problem Martian not Martin last two paragraphs.
[EDIT: Corrected. Thanks for pointing it out. - Key] |
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jojothepunisher
 Posts: 799 |
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There is still the problem with the planning and tactics used in the battle this episode. Inaho has been fighting against pretty much "Magical Gundams" for the past 21 episodes, and he didn't even think about the possibility that the self-multiplying Kataphract was literally self-multiplying? And a problem that I am starting to have with Inaho's eye is that it is clearly not meant to be used for calculations heavy in computation, so it should be an obvious choice for him to employ an external machine that does the function better without any burden on his body. Yet the writing is treating Inaho's eye as a "special power" when it is clear that there are better options.
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Danu06
Posts: 19 |
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Why aldnoah isn´t exciting? I think is simple, the world of Aldnoah feels empty. This series cant answer the basic questions of what is going on and why.
What is this war exactly? I dont know. For Mars is conquest but for who? The citizens of mars are just non existent, we just see a kingdom with some political chaos and characters we dont care. A war to gain people favor about the government would be a realistic issue we dont have here. And Earth side is way worse, the same problem that North American movies about World problems has. Everything starts and ends with USA, and here starts and ends with Japan. The earth is Japan and the army is japanese... seriously. And what is funny is simple, WE DONT KNOW WHO THE HELL CONTROLS THIS ARMY. Even Kancolle has this misterious admiral that represents the player xD The characters have no reasons, they just move along. No romance, wishes, despair, joy, doubts...anything. They dont even celebrate victory. And the balance of power is ridiculous, earth cant take offensive stance any moment making it boring. So any fight is exciting, every fight feels like a mecha show because it ends with no consequences. And the only thing you want to know is who is gonna win Inaho or Slaine, and win what? The princess love? The stupid utopia idea that came from nowhere of Slaine(that is practically genocide)? Earth defense? |
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Hameyadea
 Posts: 3679 |
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Episode #10 (2nd cour)/#21 (total)
With both Aldnoah activation-givers princesses against Slaine, why neither of them has nulled his Aldnoah Activation... Key? Permit? Ability? One possible explanation is that they are secretly looking for other Activation candidates to transfer the Landing Castle/Moon Base activation Rights to after Slaine's own will be revoked, but in the current dire situation (at least from Asseylum's perspective) I doubt they have the calmness and the mental fortitude to remain as logical as they were in the episode. Inaho continues to be a good example of practically "zero emotions, all logical" kind of approach. And while he has the Magical Eye to help him with his (on-the-fly) plans, taking control and synchronizing all the available resources in such a short time is too much of a stretch for me to buy it. That moment has caused me to ignore the 'Suspense of Disbelief' clause that I've given the show until now, regarding Inaho and his Eye. At least the side-effects are actually happening and are affecting him, otherwise it would've been disappointing that it was only mentioned, but not shown. Overall, my opinion hadn't changed from the post I made about 2 weeks ago, on how apparently Aldnoah.Zero is trying to be Code Geass, but with fewer episodes. |
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SilverTalon01
Posts: 2402 |
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I don't think that is really a traditional gundam thing in the first place. The original didn't really have one. Lots wanted peace through victory but that isn't really the same. The white base crew really just wanted to survive. Lalah wanted peace between Amuro and Char, but didn't seem concerned with overall peace. I can't remember one in Zeta either. Really, for gundams with a voice of peace character I think there is just W, X, SEED, and Turn-A. Pretty much everyone else has been about achieving peace through defeating the 'bad guys', which is victory, not really peace. I'd say the whole voice of peace as a recurring theme is a Macross thing, not gundam.
It was established in S1 that they can turn the drives off, but they need to touch them. Slaine's activation power also isn't permanent because he needed another kiss to turn the drive back on after Lemrina turned it off. If it was permanent, he could have just turned it on like he did originally. He locked them up so they really can't do anything. It does mean he cant power on any more new suits though. |
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jree78
Posts: 123 |
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They have to be at that spot in the room with all the lights to deactivate Aldnoah rights, that's why they showed it in the episode it's the ultimate goal.
1. they can't do more rights for more knights. 2. the knights can rebel when they don't see the princess on their visits or on the announcement broadcasts. |
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