Trial & Error

The NTR Labs makes a dynamic entrance. By the way, I’m not joking, that’s literally their name. Apt too, considering that they figuratively NTR’d Ernesti’s mecha designs. Also, who would have thought that the theft of the Telestale was no mere Occident? But with the Order of the Silver Phoenix currently in full procession, it seems that both of these issues will be swiftly resolved.

Experiment Gone Wrong

At least he had the common sense to introduce exoskeletal powersuits that can be used by your ordinary laymen for heavylifting during production, and personalised keys to prevent a second hijacking of his Silhouette Knight models. But Ernesti’s nonchalance towards the fact he almost died really shows that he has a screw loose somewhere. Although Addy’s affection for Ernesti can be extremely overbearing (I’m still surprised she hasn’t tried some mecha cosplay), she made an extremely good point of concern about how little Ernesti seems to value his own life. There’s nothing wrong with his enthusiasm, rather he comes across as selfish for not caring about how worried other people might get. Also, not thinking about those who would deeply grieve him if he were to end up dead. But I guess that’s the life of a genius mad scientist dangerously aspiring to greater heights. That eccentricity arguably possesses benefits that largely outweigh the cons, including the drive that allowed Ernesti to make it this far.

Proto Centauri

The next step in Silhouette Knight history actually deviates from the strict adherence to a humanoid structure. Meet the Tzendorg, what I would describe as half man from the torso up, and half horse from the waist down. It’s massive size can be put into perspective, where it gallops onto the stage at an incredible speed while dragging a huge load carrying 3 Silhouette Knight models. If NTR Labs thought that their Karrdator Dash would be the furthest advancement that could be made for a long time, the Tzendorg will definitely prove a rude awakening that shakes the rust out of their stagnated cogs.

Concluding Thoughts

In spite of my criticisms levied at Ernesti’s dangerous experimentations, he was working on some next level jet propulsion technology that should theoretically pull Laihiala into a new age. Though it doesn’t look like they’ve got anything yet that can handle such raw power, I fully expect Ernesti to have invented a mecha that can withstand such brute force by the end of the series. There hasn’t been a problem yet which he didn’t manage to eventually resolve.

By now people will surely have realised that the Centaur prototype is merely a stepping stone for creating the ultimate Silhouette Knight. Will it be the one from Ernesti’s dreams? Who knows. You’ll find out in due course. But looking at next week, I can’t imagine people won’t be hoping for the old man from NTR Labs to get his ass whooped. I’m about as excited as King Ambrosius for the upcoming battle we’re about to see, and hopefully our young Silhouette Knight runners get to prove their worth!

Preview

38 Comments

  1. This is like the highlights reel of the Novel. They are blowing through the content and glazing over almost everything that made the novel fun. This is a really bad adaptation.

    ckspike
    1. Hold your horses. We’ve still got next episode, where they might explain the content in flashbacks during the mock battle.

      And even if that didn’t happen, I’d be really happy if they got to Ikaruga before our 13 episodes are up. I agree that I’ve enjoyed the novel more so far, but there’s a magic to seeing these stories come to life on the screen, and I wouldn’t call this anime a bad adaptation by any means.

      1. If the anime ony goes up to Ikaruga, it’ll miss out on the next arc where you see it in action (plus answer the mystery of the mecha thefts by Kerhilt and crew).
        Pacing suggests 13 eps, but what if there’s a surprise announcement that Knights is split/2-cour?

        zztop
      2. Sorry Zaiden, but this show has proven that it’s “all flash, no sizzle” quite a few times now, so even if there was a flashback explanation it’ll just be another excuse to infodump.

        Aex
      3. Uhm, why are you talking about a mecha from his dreams and then give away the name of what I assume is the blue flying one from the OP?
        Unless I’m wrong, as I have no LN knowledge.
        Really enjoying this as an anime only watcher no matter how bad the adaptation supposedly is.

        boingman
    2. Not sure about how good an adaptation this is of the light novels. But I tried reading the manga, and that quickly revealed itself to be the basic isekai drivel and I stopped.

      This anime is the same, but it manages to make it a ton of fun by just going for all the silly juicy bits! And if you didn’t know the details, you don’t miss them as much either.

      SpacyRicochet
  2. Isn’t the Tzendorg’s cockpit overexposed? It seems to be protuding a bit from the body. Either it’s meant as a transport unit rather than a combat one, or the mechasexual made a surprising mistake.

    Weird D
      1. Geass-inspired or not, the motorcycle seat can be explained by thinking of it as a horse saddle.

        The circular shoulder plates and horse theme remind me of the super robot Außenseiter from Super Robot Wars Original Generations. which transforms into a horse(!!)

        Then there’s Koutetsu Jeeg, which has a centaur mode.

        Zaiden Edit: Images

        Magnus Tancred
      2. Perhaps. But dual seat Mechas.. My first contact with them was GunBuster (the final). Where 2 Pilots travel to the Galaxy core…

        And i still find the Gunbuster nearly 360 Cockpit the best… As if they are made for VR

        Worldwidedepp
      3. to the point that Im half expecting Edgar’s knightm- ahem, Silhouette Knight’s monitor display something like “Marching Ever Onward to Tomorrow” during activation

        Adam
      4. also this Horse type Mecha now, reminds me of something different. Not made of Steel, but can cut even trough Rocks.. i mean “Claymore” 🙂 You know the only Male that Pricillia had an bond with..

        Worldwidedepp
    1. Maybe so, but it looks stylish!

      ATTENTION. Gonna hijack this comment:

      Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I’m going to Japan starting from tomorrow in some of my other posts. Gonna sticky a copy pasta here. I didn’t really ask if I should drop my duties, but all my sempais insisted I must properly enjoy glorious Nippon, and have chipped in to help out with coverage for my shows over the next two weeks.

      Boruto – Takaii
      Isekai Shokudou – Choya
      Knight’s & Magic – Pancakes
      Princess Principal – Passerby

      I want to thank everybody for helping me out! Truly blessed to have awesome sempais. Also, be nice to Pancakes over the next two weeks 😛

  3. https://randomc.net/image/Knights%20and%20Magic/Knights%20and%20Magic%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2015.jpg

    IIRC Stefania simply disappeared from the story after Vol 2 (author likely didn’t know how to use her), so it’s nice to see the anime address her graduation. I’m curious whether the anime will attempt to give her more appearances though.
    Re school, in their universe most students graduate after middle school (15-16 is considered age of adulthood). High school is more for those wanting to be mecha pilots or mechanics, like Edgar, Di, Helvi and David.

    https://randomc.net/image/Knights%20and%20Magic/Knights%20and%20Magic%20-%2006%20-%20Large%20Preview%2003.jpg

    As beautiful as Ernie is, I still don’t think he’s reached the levels of Kinoshita “He’s his own gender” Hideyoshi of Baka to Test. (Fate’s Astolfo may be more of a suitable candidate?)

    zztop
    1. if they are through the “Evil Neighbor Country want to steal our Mechas to War us!” Arc, then they could take “Freezing!” family path, where her Siblings want to gain power of this “Wonder child!”, and i bet many others want it too

      or the Head “old” master of the here
      https://randomc.net/image/Knights%20and%20Magic/Knights%20and%20Magic%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2004.jpg
      Sell their Defense and Secrets to an other Country to get rid of this Kid

      Envoy

      Worldwidedepp
  4. I kinda lost track of what grade Edgar, Di, Helvi, and Boss were in at the start. If the year passed, per Stefania’s graduation, wouldn’t those four have graduated from the high school division too? Granted, when you’re already incorporated into a knightly order before graduation I suppose there’s no reason to go anywhere regardless of your student status. XD

    PurpleBomber
    1. @PurpleBomber

      To clarify, highschool in this universe is only for people who want to pursue a career in being either a Knight Runner or Mechanic, neither of which Stefania wants to be. We see Edgar, Helvi and Di at higher level education, because they aspire to be Knight Runners.

  5. Some readers have noted the LN’s strengths are in the R&D parts of the plot, where the slower pacing allows for minute details of the tech improvements to be explained in detail. However, they also note the anime’s strengths lie in its action scenes, where they felt the visual movements do justice to the descriptive text of the LN’s action scenes.

    zztop
    1. Have to agree. An interesting thing to note is that I feel it only applies to small scale mecha fights with a lot of details in the combat. For something massive like the behemoth, the novel was able to portray David slaying Goliath really well.

  6. Also,
    https://randomc.net/image/Knights%20and%20Magic/Knights%20and%20Magic%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2022.jpg
    This Kid need to “invent” the Segway Chips, that keep the Mecha in Auto balance mode without Piloting anything. in a way even the Siblings would be able to “fly”. I think the Mecha the Siblings are right now, is more an Hover Mecha for mobility, to doge, glide and such things, but not for real flying above the ground.. Perhaps they can also do Air Jumps

    Our Wonder child should real invent some Auto balance, to take an heavy strain from the Pilot.. it is hard to run in these, but to keep the Body in balance in the air? come on!!! 🙂

    Worldwidedepp
    1. You are completely right. First, flight, and leaving all the other SKs in the dust. Then who knows what next, outer space?

      I think Ernesti won’t implement autobalance for himself, because I imagine he’d want to control all these small technical details through the Magius engine. Think the autobalance would interfere with his fine calculations involving movements.

      1. in outer Space you do not need Auto Balance. This Auto Balance is only crucial for Gravity, to “feel” where it is up and down, also as an side product he could invent some sort of Sniper Weapon, where the “SegWay” Chips keep the Mecha in position, and the Pilot can focus on aiming.. i know, tweak a bit the Magic auto aim for the backhand for that a little, and you good to go

        Worldwidedepp
  7. Too bad they skipped the part when Tzendorg was a rumored high speed demon beast due to the fact they limited the field-testing only during the early mornings or when there’s a fog in the area.

    Devastaot001
  8. I could frankly care less about the LN or the manga. I suppose I’m not affected by the curse of knowing the background details.

    To me this is a pretty ok adaptation. Sure I’d like to have more technobabble to explain how these incremental or radical improvements come about, but that also runs the risk of turning the anime from action-oriented to heavy tech-oriented.

    Dude
  9. https://randomc.net/image/Knights%20and%20Magic/Knights%20and%20Magic%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2004.jpg
    I was confused at first, I thought the Lab was the enemy kingdom receiving the new S-Knight.

    https://randomc.net/image/Knights%20and%20Magic/Knights%20and%20Magic%20-%2006%20-%2035.jpg
    Ernesti is breaking too many paradigms with this one. He’s a one-man Industrial Revolution and potential arms race at the same time. Replacing horsepower with machine power led to railroads all over the Northern Hemisphere as well as Africa in decades. But in Real Life we are just now getting to “dog-like” walking robot prototypes. Ernesti made one in less than a year, and the Tzendorg has mobility greater than railroads – it can go up and down mountains and across rivers. Just one “normal” S-Knight riding on the back of each Tzendorg makes a mobile army as good as a tank platoon. That’s World War II level warfare. The other kingdoms will be threatened by this mobility.

    jhpace1
    1. Well, they have an Magic Reactor, also Magic that fit all needs to keep this Mecha up and running.. Remember in how he rewrote the Mecha BIOS with his Gun trick?

      I do not know if in our time we have this kind of “magic reactor” that can power some sort of Mecha. We lack the right power source and “stamina” in running it.. Only solution i see are just Car Engines like things..

      But, what if we could invent something like magnetism? like these “speakers” that hover in the air?.. But then “we lack of the right power source and Stamina”

      Worldwidedepp

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