First Impressions / Robotics;Notes

「一緒に、正義の巨大ロボを造ろう」 (Issho ni, Seigi no Kyodai Robo wo Tsukurou)
“Together, Let’s Build a Giant Robot of Justice!”

The answers keep on coming… but with more answers, comes more questions. Wow! I was definitely not expecting this much depth in our characters’ histories. With every revelation, I feel like they subtlety end each episode on a cliffhanger. The cliffhanger is just more of a pondering point though rather than a “Omg-I-need-to-watch-the-next-episode-noawww“!! (Anyway, forgive the spontaneous post and lack of flow in thought. It’s late and more often than not these days, I find myself needing more daylight hours!)

What stood out for me this episode (however brief) was the flashback that Kai took Subaru through. He was hesitant to share his past but still did because Subaru wanted to know how Kai was able to avoid his pile bunker. I’m not still not sure how this elephant-mouse syndrome works… and it seems like Kai doesn’t really understand it either or why it only affects himself and Aki (and not the other students). Oh, and of course, nobody knows why they all fainted! How awfully convenient… I think this gap in the story will be filled in eventually though; it’s only a matter of when and more importantly by whom? My guess is on Aki’s sister… but her motives still confuzzle me. Similar to how she could be so compassionate to her friend – but not to her sister.

Speaking of which, Misa’s personality at the beginning reminds me so much of Aki. It’s almost like Aki changes herself to become someone like her sister, replicating her signature moves and enthusiasm. I always thought that Aki was just natural full of life and energy, but her younger self seems to be more toned down and calm. That could just be a snippet of their life though and I’m not seeing the full picture yet. Not only does this episode show a brief mention of Aki and Kai’s history… but we also see Subaru’s father and family as well. I’m not sure if his dad is encouraging him to join robot tournaments or if he’s dropping hints for Subaru to avoid them (I think the latter). In the end, Subaru proves to be more than just a side character, and he’ll likely get more screen time as the season goes. He seems to have a stereotypical broken family image though and I’m hoping that there’s more to it. Likewise – there’s probably more to Michie’s family and Irei’s.

Once again, Kai plays a helping hand in Aki’s journey for pledges to her cause – building a giant robot. Four episodes in and you can’t deny that Kai really cares for Aki. Like a reader said, they have great chemistry and I give props to the writers and seiyuus for making it sound and look so believable. Even though Kai gives a very nonchalant impression in front of Aki, he does a lot behind her back to support her and I think that’s a great friend. Better than someone who’s nice to your face and rude behind your back. Even helping Frau move in was something that was appointed to Kai rather than something he picked up on his own… and he still rolled with it. That right there – is a good guy. Don’t we all wish for more guys like him? I think so.

You know what this series needs more of? More full length images!

40 Comments

  2. You think so? I was hoping she’d be a short, cute, two-faced, genius, deadpan snarker. Right now, she reminds me more of that girl who shot @$%# (except crazier) than Idk Evangeline from Negima or Haibara from Conan. I lost my patience with her completely during her conversation with Kaito. Maybe she’ll get better or start to grow on me. As for Subaru’s father, I hope it isn’t the latter because obstructive parents are sort of a cliche at this point. Plus, I feel like hiding his participation in Robot tournaments (why would any father not want their kid to make and fight with robots?) from a father who actually wants him to participate, requires a more creative explanation and resolution

    CTT
    Reply

  3. Ah, cliffhangers. When they’re well executed, the reaction that is elicited from most audiences is indeed one of “Omg-I-need-to-watch-the-next-episode-noawww“. Me? Well, whenever I’m confronted with a cliffhanger, it tends to make me defer watching an episode until the event/sequence of events that hang in limbo are resolved. Good cliffhangers are by their very nature ambiguous, designed to confound the understanding of the audience to the point where no definitive conclusion can be deduced, and therefore no resolution attained without the viewing of subsequent episodes.

    Personally, my enjoyment of a story stems from my understanding of its intricacies; if its progression is structured in such a way that my comprehension is necessarily undermined, full enjoyment of a show becomes impossible for me- and I either defer watching it until all ambiguity is elucidated, or enlighten myself by referring to external sources (For manga/light novel adaptations). In any case, I know that a lot of people love cliffhangers, and understand why- but personally they infuriate me…XP

    Zen
    Reply

    1. I totally understand where you’re coming from! I hate cliffhangers as well and they also kind of make me want to wait until the whole series or arc is finished. Usually, I wait until a season is over before I start an anime… I’m one of those people that sit and marathon 24 eps in a day lol =P but for the sake of blogging, I cannot do that… so I will suffer through the one-week wait =(

      Cherrie
      Reply

    3. Too obvious for my taste. I like it when the romance has actual surprises. And that the main friends that would’ve been shipped don’t break apart because of said surprises.

      SpacyRicochet
      Reply

  7. Wow, R;N sure is trying to top C;H and S;G with more goofy characters (Mitchie, pervert parrot guy and Frau Kojiro). But no one can beat Okarin and Fayris 😛

    Lol the things tht come out of Frau aka female Daru mouth:

    “Time to fap” (srsly?? XD)
    “Start a new thread” (yay for goonspeak!)
    And lol how did she breath in tht box??

    I can see where Akiho antics of quoting stuff come from… Is Misa like Akiho when she young too ^.^;
    Akiho do you just have to make me feel like smacking your head ala Chuunibyou style after you toned it down? EARTH TO AKIHO! I get you want to finish the robot during your high school years but BE REALISTIC!!!

    I have to admit, Subaru dad shirt looks cool. Is he and Subaru situation is another case of tht father and son from tsuritama? (Dem I forgot his name)
    OH YEAH, some1 tht finally beats Kai! I like this guy ady.

    @Cherrie same opinion here on Kai. He may looks like an ass but he cares abt Aki a lot.

    Hmm…I ady spoiled myself on mysterious loli identity… But its kinda obvious don’t you think?

    D-LaN
    Reply

  8. Des anyone else feel that Kai is a gigantic douche?

    The kid’s shown potential to be a good character but 95% of the time, he’s being an ass.

    He better get his stuff together soon. Takumi was tolerable and Okabe was fantastic, but Kai is really disappointing me as an MC.

    On the other hand, Aki and MR. PLEIADES are fantastic and Frau looks to be a pretty cool chick herself.

    EmD
    Reply

    1. Kai actually does an awful lot for Akiho, it just seams that he doesn’t want her to know for some reason. I wonder if his ‘low energy’ personality is related to his condition where time appears to move a lot slower for him, or at least does on occasion. Perhaps when he exerts himself it activates?

      Scruffy
      Reply

    2. I like Kai though, he was pretty funny when he ate that bun to get the information, and he shows he cares for Akiho. Takumi though, his voice kind of sounded whiny at times like he had a cold and though I can understand his situation, but his delusions are harder to grasp than Okabe’s, which make then Okabe’s are entertaining and cool.

      Dualash
      Reply

  12. Subaru’s father look like the type who will come to the club to destroy things and hurt people.

    On another note it’s ep 04 and still no sign of this “Report” thing wrote in every synopsis, the cliffhanger will probably lead to this next week but it’s really taking is time to start.

    Algent
    Reply

  13. Flashbacks give us some answers, but then more questions – what has driven Aki’s sister to her current cool attitude? What are the causes of the ferry incident? Why only 2 persons were permannetly affected?
    Aki’s and Micchi’s families provided some comic relief, but it was FRAU Koujiro with her 2chan denizen mentality that really broke the 4th wall with her comments.
    But the real bomb comes at the end, with appearance of mysterious girl seemingly capable of jamming EM waves and trying to communicate with Kai? How? Why?

    ewok40k
    Reply

  15. Thank god they’re showing a lot of interesting plot lines to make the story going for me, because their club members & antics still aren’t working to my liking. I thought this new girl (DAT Smile fooled me) will stir-up this stale club of theirs, but she just feels like the same as the two apathetic guys with an irksome attitude and just talks in memes without the witty use of it. Their club needs a clown character, a Sunohara or a Madarame, maybe a Kyon character to make it more interesting for me. Well, again the show still has a long way to go and I pray that the group dynamics will improve more.

    Jhacks
    Reply

  16. A tremendous episode. Its balance of comedy and drama was perfect and some of the teasing pertaining to what actually happened on 9/11 (no pun intended) was interesting enough to keep me hooked..

    the final scene made the episode, though. The mystery girl showed up and strangely she could only be seen through Kai’s iPad screen…i’m pretty sure she’s a time-traveler, though for some reason…

    KingofConquerors
    Reply

  17. anyone know where the quote about “go hot dog go” came from?

    As for the elephant mouse syndrome, I think they already said it occurs when Akiho overexerts herself. In contrast, Kai seems to be able to slow down time (presumably with some kind of focus or tension). So there is probably some kind of important link between the two and it seems like the sister is working for the organization.

    Considering S;G had to do with time travel perhaps they are invoking some kind of silly science effects here once again. What was it again…microwaves meets phone cathode tube and gel bananas = time travel?

    shin
    Reply

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