First Impressions / Robotics;Notes

「タネガシアクセルインパクトォォォォォ!」 (Tanegashi Akuseru Inpakutooooo!)
“Tanegashi Accel Impact!”

And on to the Robo-One tournament! We’re only three episodes in but I feel like so much has already happened. I love the pacing in Robotics;Notes… there’s just enough going on with the characters that they’re neither boring or repetitive. The plot’s also advancing great and I really didn’t expect them to finish the tournament in one go but apparently there’s a lot to go through in this anime. The faster we get there, the better!

I think this episode posed more questions than answers for me. I have a million and one thoughts swimming through my head so I’ll try and go through them in some orderly fashion. First of all – the news reporter from last week (and the first episode), is indeed Senomiya Misaki (Inoue Kikuko). I initially thought that maybe she passed away or something, but it seems like she’s healthy and working full time as a news anchor so what could have happened to turn her into this cold hearted person? She doesn’t pick up calls from her family and from the flashbacks; I don’t think she used to be this sort of person. Whoever she works for – this “Committee”, is another story entirely. It sounds like they recruited Misa to do… whatever it is they do and as a result, she’s isolated herself from everyone but Irei (the store owner). I could go on a rampage of predictions about what this Committee does and what Misa is getting herself into – but I’m not going to. I think a better question is why are they watching Kai and Aki? What makes this competition so special or rather – are robots that life changing in the future? It seems like they’re tracking humans rather than robots though so I’m keen to keep my eye on them.

Speaking of Kai and Aki… we saw a brief explanation for Aki’s condition last week when she blacked out. Apparently time moves faster for her after a certain event on a cruise ship (involving an aurora too). At the same time, I think Kai experiences the exact opposite. At first – I thought he was just tired from a lack of sleep. Of course, why wouldn’t a sugar-fix fix that? But that’s not all; he seems to be able to observe events in a slow-motion vision. This would explain his quick reflexes and responses in games and the final round. I’m not sure how or why that would happen… similar to how Aki probably experiences faster time probably. Now I’m super curious what happened to them as children… I hope that’ll be the next revelation!

Right after the introduction of Frau Koujiro of course! Who turns out to be a girl! Who would’ve thought right? And all this time I thought the girl in pigtails was another student at the school. Oh how wrong I was… she’s apparently the genius that sent Kai the programming so that Tanegashimachine-3S had the same operating system as his game’s. I’m so impressed! I know next to nothing about engineering and software development (and I really should…) so I’m intrigued that Aki plans to build this life-sized robot for their next big tournament. I doubt this is something that can be accomplished in three episodes though.

As a final note, anyone else find Mister Pleiades hilarious? Especially when Subaru put on the mask that Kai created in front of the Vice-Principal, I totally laughed out loud… and I rarely ever do for anime. I’m thoroughly amused at how they got him to join their little club. Totally suckered in. And what’s this big long black thing? o_o Yes… I DID just say that…

Full-length images: 05, 08, 15, 25.

48 Comments

    2. Is it bad that I was turned on by her rape-face? o_0′

      Also, I burst out laughing at Kai’s blackmail and the return of the Intergalactic Pretty Boy.

      I was considering dropping this before, but this episode has renewed my interests.

      eharper256
      Reply

  4. Frau is German for missus, I could see that twist coming from four hundred light years in space by the blessing of Seven Sisters! Looking at her smirk, I’m sure she will troll Kai’s life from now on. Hope it will cure his extreme aloofness towards people other than Aki.

    And JAXA is gonna be involved? Wow, I expect a cameo!

    By the way, that announcer looks a lot like Isaac Dian from Baccano! (or Lupin? I’m not too sure) and yes, Mister Pleiades and his cool- I mean lame mask is pure comedy gold Star Driver’s crew will be proud of. R;N is a beast, a different kind of a beast than S;G, but a beast nonetheless.

    PassingThrough
    Reply

    1. lols, so much JAXA in our anime, i suppose real-life JAXA can appreciate the free publicity they are getting .. hmmm … i wonder if we will bump into Mutta and Hibito though XD

      HunterWulf
      Reply

  7. That big, long black thing would be a Pile Bunker! It’s a staple as an off-beat type melee weapon in mecha stuff in the past two decades. PTX-003c “Alteisen” from Super Robot Wars is probably the best example of one being used on a giant robot, as well as its use in Chrome Hounds and Armored Core 4/4A

    Nosmir
    Reply

  8. A pleasant balance of drama and action make this an interesting series.
    I don’t really expect very deep, dark mysteries to become part of the story,
    but I’d like to see it to its end.

    mac65
    Reply

  14. Hmm mysterious illnesses abound. And there are some traces tot he past. Can be the aurorae borealis visible even in bright lit Tokyo sky be related? And who is in whose grip? For whom exactly works the Oneesan?
    FRAU Koujiro… Worst. Pun. Ever.
    I totally saw it coming, though.
    Getting the Mr.Pleiades to join robotics club and thereby winning the game was a masterstroke!
    And this adds another talented member to the club.
    Robotics club has so dominated the game that it fought itself in the finals… 😛

    ewok40k
    Reply

  16. I don’t remember if this was mentioned in the Steins;Gate anime or if it was only in the VN, but the Committee of 300 is an organization which, among other things, controls SERN.

    Reinou
    Reply

  18. Have I mentioned that I love Aki? Because I do. Interesting though that Kai has a similar condition but it actually helps him in his Robot controls. The means that he is technically cheating and that’s presumably why Frau is looking for him. Misaki did comment that this isn’t a good thing, so I wonder if his life is at risk.

    I loved Mr. Pleaides for his utter ridiculousness. Its even funnier that Kai could see right through his disguise and blackmails him. Though I’m not sure why Subaru is worried about revealing his identity now. His name was publicly spoken and heard by hundreds of people, they would have Facebook’d, Youtube’d and Twitter’d his name and identity by now.

    fragb85
    Reply

  21. So Akiho was doing all these quotes…and what’s his face, comes in as a 2 year champ, with a char mask + fed symbol attached + Zeon uniform, with a dash of GINGA BISHOUEN.

    Did not see any of that coming.

    Anyway, nice to see that the tournament is done with, can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next. (Aki goes through a sped up time if stressed…Kai gets time slown down if he’s in an intense mood / stress ? Hmm…)

    Mukyuu
    Reply

  22. http://a.lemnis.ca/2012/06/summary-of-roboticsnotes-trial.html
    Since the anime cover all of the VN demo ady, might as well post the Demo review here. It has some interesting notes in it on how realistic is the robot technology in R;N.
    Also, they kinda left out the part where they could’ve won if not because of Aki forgot to install the brake. They are some details being changed here and there but its a minor one so its not a big deal.

    Lol all those Gundam reference flies over me…. Maaayyyybbee I should re-watch them…. Still an awesome episode even w/out catching those Gundam reference. So much energy!! Maybe I should watch Star Driver tht u guys keep saying? Is it good?

    At this point I’ve come to like both Kai & Akiho and I enjoyed every moment of their interaction. And Akiho calling out those attack and Kaito cool headedness is just awesome.

    I ended up LMAO at Mr Pleiades chuuni scene lol. Double the LOL at the end where he go into chuuni mode XD I told ya Subaru will surprise you 😛

    As @Foshizzle put it, cruise ship of horrors!! They give you slow-motion power and EMS!! A bit late on the Time Accel joke lol.
    Kidding aside, I just watched a documentary and unless there a MAJOR solar flare, aurora don’t appear out of the poles (O.O) I’m curious!!! There also the “committee” which are the one behind the events of S;G and C;H acc to ppl I speaked to… (I think the anime omitted it..) What has Misaki gotten herself into o.O And they want Kaito for his ability?

    @Stereoman you mean this? I assume its some sort of cable.

    D-LaN
    Reply

  24. The characters aren’t really clicking with me yet, but it’s interesting how the way the leads experience the passing of time affects their personalities: Aki is hyperactive and seize-the-day because there is literally less day for her to seize because of her condition and the only things fast enough to keep Kai interested are his games and Aki.

    Bio D
    Reply

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