「出撃」 (Shutsugeki)

“Sortie”

“You can’t become a hero if you don’t believe in the impossible.” As clichéd and juvenile as that sounds, Hitachi Izuru summed up why I love the show in perhaps the most memorable line from the episode. There has been a real renaissance for mecha science fiction in the anime universe as of late and Ginga Kikoutai Majestic Prince unquestionably stands out with its quirky sense of humor that seems somewhat old fashioned yet refreshing at the same time. You know the show doesn’t take itself too seriously when the main character continuously spews out cheesy lines like the one that I quoted above and to that extent, Majestic Prince has done a splendid job in incorporating comedic directions with semi-serious character development. Make no mistake about it though, like many of its great sci-fi predecessors, the beautifully designed mecha and our heroes’ fearless quest to save the day are at the heart of Majestic Prince. In fact, large scale space combat consumed the better half of the episode and there was certainly no lack of visual panache for a mecha buff like me.

The mood of ecstasy was raised right off the bat as the Earth’s Undina Base came under attack from the all too typical green alien race known as the Wulgaru. The invaders seemed to be gaining the upper hand until Commander Gatou Simon (Touchi Hiroki) of the MJP Secret Service was brought into the picture. His mission is to assemble a team of mecha pilots who will serve as a distraction for the enemies and enable the Undina Base to evacuate.  It’s hard to put a finger on just why Team Rabbits, the ones who has the worst performance in the pilot academy was selected for this critical task. The composition of Team Rabbits or widely referred to as Zannen 5 (Fail 5) – Hitachi Izuru (Aiba Hiroki), Asagi Toshikazu (Asanuma Shintaro), Irie Tamaki (Iguchi Yuka), Kugimiya Kei (Hikasa Yoko) and Suruga Ataru (Ikeda Junya) – is a seeming mismatch of personalities on paper and their lack of teamwork has been so conspicuously pointed out by Instructor Rin Suzukaze (Sawashiro Miyuki). Whether there’s a plausible reason behind Simon’s strange decision is probably irrelevant for now. The Zannen 5 has not only succeeded at their mission, they’ve managed to do the unexpected by forcing the Walguru to retreat as well, thereby reclaiming the frontline base for the humans.

Premise-wise, there’s nothing especially groundbreaking from its myriad of predecessors, but Majestic Prince manages to be compelling, mostly because of the excellent character dynamics (the super-deformed facial expressions are a plus!) and the great space battle that was featured so prevalently in the episode. There is definitely more than a whiff in the air of your old-school shounen mecha anime, but that doesn’t mean Majestic Prince can’t work both as a lighter fare that features frivolous comedies (and fanservice), as well as a heavier drama that takes a more sentimental look at the effect of war on adolescence. Indeed, the track records of both director Motonaga Keitarou (Jormungand, Katanagatari) and screenwriter Yoshida Reiko (Girls und Panzer, School Rumble) are pretty good, and my money says they’ll be more than capable to create a compelling premise and execute it well.

Sci-fi and mecha may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if it is, I have no doubt you’ll be in a state of a severe sugar rush after witnessing not just one, but multiple fast-paced action scenes that are uniformly superb in just the first episode. Say what you will about CGI animation, but Dogakobo x Orange’s prowess in animating action sequences is truly formidable. The stellar production value of Majestic Prince is a shining example of how amazing state-of-the-art CGI can look and it certainly serves the material well in its many choreographed battles. Visually, the designs of the AHSMB unitsForward Unit/Blue 1, Control Unit/Purple 2, Booster Unit/Rose 3, Gunner Unit/Gold 4, Leader Unit/Red 5 – are equally impressive and in more than one way, they reminded me of the great mecha selection that was featured in Xenosaga. While I wasn’t too impressed with the Gunner Unit that uses its detachable head to lock down the barrel of its sniper rifle (too tacky!), the sight of the Leader Unit flying in high speed and shooting down the Walguru with pinpoint accuracy is truly an immensely gratifying spectacle to behold.

I’ll be the first to admit I was downright mesmerized by the premiere of Majestic Prince. That said, it’s far too early to come to any conclusions after just one episode – is the series going to rely solely on humor to drive the show, or is drama surrounding the fate of humanity going to be a major part of the equation? I certainly have no idea but that doesn’t matter to me all that much. What I would say is that the first episode is a real treat if you set your expectations accordingly and Majestic Prince will be enjoyable to those who appreciate lighthearted storytelling, aesthetically-pleasing mecha and of course, fast-moving action sequences.

Full-length images: 06, 07, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 42.

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「私は想像する」 (Watashi wa Souzousuru) by Kon Natsumi

Preview

101 Comments

    1. I really don’t see what’s the big deal with Hirai Hisashi’s character design. Anime characters look kinda alike most of the time anyway. Though I do wish they kept the original character design by Ayamine Rando. His art/work has always been pretty amazing :3

      Seishun
      1. But the thing is Hirai’s character all look exactly the same in monotone and they were already kind of weird looking anyways. Plus every time I see them, I expect the FREEDOM to come in and blast everything.

        Suppa Tenko
  1. That was better than I thought. I think the best word I can describe the premise is old school. Just have some evil over-the-top aliens attack humanity and have a team of “heroes” with special mecha to fight them. Its does its first episode very well. In 20 minutes they were able to show our protagonists establish their personality quirks, establish their own robots and their unique capabilities and top it with a great action sequence. I’m even amused how each robot has their own unique maintenance crews.

    So Bravo MJP, I didn’t expect much but they were able to impress me in the first episode. And since its 2-cours they’ll have plenty of time to flesh out this series.

    My only problem is those art styles though that’s expected of “Sameface” Hirai. To be fair his art seems more stylized than before, probably to give the characters a way to make funny comedic faces. It ends up looking weird at times though.

    fragb85
      1. Because its the first episode. You can’t expect more than that, especially since they established what kind of tone this series will have. The point is that we at least know what these characters are about. There’s plenty of time to develop them from there.

        fragb85
    1. +50 seishun points, fragb85
      I feel like I’m the only one in the blogging community who has positive things to say about Majestic Prince. It’s truly a very impressive premiere and I hope readers will eventually get past the whole Hirai Hisashi’s character design joke 😛

      Seishun
      1. I don’t know about what others have said, but I really enjoyed it. Especially the ‘seemingly’ mismatched personality dynamics. Even though their teamwork may not have been the best, I loved the way all the characters effortlessly banter back and forth.

        For me it’s all about the characters. Doesn’t matter how interesting the story is if the characters are annoying or completely devoid of personality. It is the first episode after all so it’s still too early to judge it, but I had a lot of fun with the premiere and am looking forward to more.

        Also, props on mentioning Vandread of all series. I loved that show. Still rewatch the dvds every once in a while.

      2. I think the same, I like the character design. I like in Gundam SEED and Heroic Age, and I like in this anime. The action was wonderful and as an introduction of the characters was decent, I hope it’s better future but that will come with time, with the director and sceenwriter a good story will surely come.

        Well Seishun from now on follow you on Majestic Prince, good luck

        Shadow74
      3. I was pretty fond of all the characters, but I think for the girls my favorite was Meia, and I actually really liked Hibiki. What can I say, I like the hot blooded type. Not to mention he wasn’t lecherous, considering the premise of the show and being in space on a ship full of women, and only two other guys.

  2. I love how they swerved us at the beginning when Asagi looked to be the main character. But then the vastly superior Izuru stepped up and I was like “Hell yeah!”

    Can’t wait for them to combine their robots.

    EmD
    1. I know right? Haha, freaking loved it because everyone was like “Whattt? Leader?!” and I was thinking the same thing, but then seeing him in action I totally agreed it was a fit.

      Axel
  3. Hmm, I guess this show caters to a younger audience in general. I really didn’t find this first episode all too impressive. The humor was dry, sequence was too predictable, and the enemy seemed like a bunch of generic drones with no brains. However, I’ll stick with it for now and see how this show progresses – it’s too early to make concrete judgement calls. Just wanted to share my thoughts.

    Annon
  4. The faces…might not be everyone’s cup of tea. To be honest, it feels like watching Gundam Seed Destiny all over again, so I want to vomit so bad.

    The plot isn’t bad, but the animation….seriously.
    Simon is the Fudo Zen of this series really. The different units reminds me of Aquarion so much. If I have to say it, I would say this is like Gundam Seed Destiny X Aquarion.

    I seriously hope the deformed facial expressions gets fixed because it looks horrible to me really.

    Tenrai
    1. The character designer is sticking to the Gundam SEED style. I can see Athrun, Cagalli, and Kira in the main cast already. I take a neutral stand towards the character designs, but I do like the higher quality CG.

      TSouL
      1. I’m a bit dissapointed about it Sei. I was expecting Gundam Seed or Linebarrel or that other “snuff out child pilots: the anime” but got this instead. I wish it takes itself more seriously. That is how I like my mecha anime.

        The Moondoggie
    1. I think that’s been a dangerous, dangerous path to tread as of late. Despite how established a genre that mecha is, you can only demand so much “seriousness” from your watchers when you’re dealing with giant robots fighting aliens in space.

      Jif
  5. The faces did seem wierd to me, but I was too focused on the funny humor and nice mech designs.

    Poor Tamaki got turned down in the first episode, that’s gotta hurt :(.

    The mech designs remind me of the Virutal On series mechs.

    Magoiichi
  6. The characters really stood out for me for some reason. A lot of action/sci-fi/mecha stuff rely heavily on the plot to drive things forward but this is an anime I could easily imagine being character-driven (even if it’s not, but I wouldn’t mind either way). Kudos to the creator for making the main characters actually likable before anything else.

    I liked the dry humor too, and imo the character art isn’t bad at all. But I guess more than anything I’m just glad that we’re finally getting a blatant mecha anime (in the best way possible).

    Nitro
  7. Is it me or are these characters (And hair style) look a bit like Gundam SEED DESTINY Characters?

    Hitachi Izuru – Shinn Asuka
    Asagi Toshikazu – Athrun Zala
    Irie Tamaki – Lunamaria Hawke
    Kugimiya Kei – Rey Za Burrel
    Suruga Ataru – Talia Gladys

  8. Sigh… In terms of my own personally tastes, I want to like the mecha-genre so much, as there is a world of potential equal to what SF writers first dreamed about when going to space, but I can’t take this seriously for several reasons.

    1. The comedy and characters are out of place relative to the high-budget CG action.

    2. It seems generic to most mecha-anime. Worse, a clone of Gundam. Those who accept this as the norm to how Japan respects the trope of Follow the Leader, good for you, but for me, it is, by its own baseline, boring.

    3. The style overall. This is not a fault by itself, as to those who like this, more power to them, but for me I feel the designs of the technology to be fused with the fashion creativity of crazy hollywood-type models on high-profile stage, rather than realistic practicalities, which I love. That’s not to say I hate any stylizing (example Apple’s sleek polished white or CowboyBebop’s rustic dirty junkie), but I feel it should 1. fit the setting, and 2. balance with reality to at least some degree. It seems to throw that second part out the window here. Yes, all humanoid mecha does that, but it seems particularly obsessed with the concept (see the 37th screenshot for how bad it can get). At least Gundam made a few tanks/planes once in a while.

    TheOrangeOne
    1. The original Gundam didn’t feature happy go lucky 12 year olds killing life forms, in an all out war, without questioning the morality of it. This show features a handful of high school kids seemingly playing a shooting video game. Don’t compare this to Gundam.

      Annon
  9. Sawashiro Miyuki!! instant Suzukaze fan. Time to whip this bunch into shape.

    I think the thing that threw me off was all the mecha porn, character dynamics and funny faces and Simmon awesomeness, some hero cheese then there is a fanservice ass shot outta nowhere lol.

    I’m liking the idea of each main cast having their own team for their individual mechs, I hope they actually do something with the supporting cast.

    Sherylfan
    1. The mecha and fighting were the only amazing things about the premier IMO, but the mecha designs in particular were quite diverse compared to Gundam. Good to see them branch out a bit there.

      I feel like there’s a lot of potential for Gundam/etc parody here, though the comedy seemed a bit forced in the first episode. Definitely going to give it more time though, since the action was well drawn & they don’t seem afraid to toss budget at this show.

      FarHorizon
  10. I liked it very much. I kind of prefer the atmosphere of people who don’t take themselves too seriously, it makes for a show that has lighter and even comical moments to break up the times of intense drama, since too much of the later can make an episode painful to watch and therefore not very enjoyable. I’m not a die hard mecha fan myself, the whole premise of anthropomorphic giant robots operating in space is somewhat lost on me, a humanoid form is extremely inefficient for a combat vehicle, but I am an action and science fiction fan and a fan of all things technological and what has been shown thus far in this series has been, to say the least, spectacular. I will be following this show.

    Max_Otaku
  11. I don’t know. I -really- didn’t like this one.

    By the first episode of every show I’ve watched, I’ve already seen a bit of every character and at least know the basics of the setting. In this case… No. This first episode was as informative as a PV.

    The main characters felt more like tropes than like characters, and several of the jokes felt like the ones involved had to break character to deliver the joke. Not to mention that the jokes really felt forced – I only require to mention the lollipop scene.

    I also really dislike the artistic direction, and I found the mecha design to be not that good… Though I might give that last point the benefit of the doubt because the mecha are supposed to combine.

    All in all, I wanted to give this show a chance, but I simply couldn’t. Might as well wait for Valvrave… I just hope Valvrave is good!

    EH2
      1. Clearly not, because other people seemed to enjoy it too.

        I’m rather picky with my choice of shows to watch, and other than picky I’m very demanding. If a show doesn’t succeed in reeling me in from the very beginning then I simply don’t bother unless I really like the premise, in which case of course I give it the 3 episode treatment.

        But Majestic Prince couldn’t reel me in. I just couldn’t feel it. By the end of the episode, I felt like I had been staring at a blank screen.

        But I guess that’s a problem with me and my tastes in media.

        EH2
  12. On the downside we have the typical retarded premise of sending kids on to the battlefield for the first time who immediately turn the battle. But not just any kids, but the ones who are apparently the worst of them all. The typical retarded nonsense about all doing the impossible needs is guts. Charas who appear to be cut out of cardboard.

    But on the upside we have great visuals.

    That’s all I’m getting from the show so far. I’m going to hope this show does go the Vandread route and doesn’t even pretend to take itself seriously, if else going by this episode this show will be very painful indeed.

    bearzerger
  13. I think it’s safe to say I enjoyed myself more than I thought I did.

    Gotta confess I was guilty of having the same judgmental attitude about the show when it came to characters designed by Hisashi. When I did continue after the half-time mark, though, the battles were pretty good. The typical bling-bling explosions we see in mecha anime were present, as are the visually attractive maneuvers.

    I don’t know about cookie-cutter character archetypes here, but they certainly are interesting enough to warrant some attention, and having learned my lesson about being judgmental I’d think it’s better if we reserve proper judgment for the show after several more episodes.

    “You can’t become a hero if you don’t believe in the impossible”, huh? Agree with you there Seishun. It IS cliche, but I think it’s only cliche because it’s also true. While sounding silly to the pragmatic lot of us, the interesting thing here is that this bunch of supposedly useless teens with their silly quirks (as if any of us hadn’t been silly in our teens) were given a duty that they went beyond, and succeeded. Stage One of overcoming the odds, completed.

    On that note, however, I’m intrigued as to why this ragtag bunch were compatible with state-of-the-art machines, which also leads me to the Commander. Guess I won’t find out till the next few episodes. 🙂

    Owaranai
    1. I agree. The premiere exceeded my expectations from all fronts and I hope viewers will give this show a chance to shine, once they get that Hirai’s character design, of course XD

      Seishun
  14. As cliche and typical as everything may be, I still enjoy it if only for the mecha combat. Maybe it’s because it has been a while since I last saw some mecha action with explosions, but I enjoyed this one. The last scene got me pumped a bit for some reason. I hope they flesh everything out well though.

  15. Honestly, this show wasn’t really on my radar. But after watching the first episode, I think this show deserves a chance. It has a quirky mix of humor and rather well animated battle scenes with some cliché themes to boot. Also, one of the first things I noticed was a similarity to Gundam Seed with the character designs, but it didn’t really detract from the show at all so I’m totally okay with this. Now, I just have
    to wonder where the show will go now …

    Vad Deasduade
  16. well hmm give since series got same characters from the GS series.

    plus they got ShinkenBlue & GokaiSilver in it

    & sentai got it license give some hmm might check again if dub arrive.

    b.i.t.w.
  17. For a first episode, MJP has done much more than several series from Sunrise (lovable characters, cool mecha, a well placed soundtrack) Since Valvrae is only 12 eps, and we all expect it to be a cramped, boring and spiritual successor of dissasters like GSD and AGE, MJP has officially outsmart Sunrise.
    Yes, it is cheesy and somewhat predictable, but remember that just a week ago, we surrendered to Reiko Yoshida’s genious script in Girls und Panzer. The hijinks of the characters reminds me the interaction of the Oarai girls, and yes, the mechs clearly took a page from the Xenosaga elegant machines, but they molded very well. In fact, the CGI battle clearly was an “in your face” to the later efforts (or lack of) from Sunrise.
    This one have potencial to be the /m/ series of the season.

    SeedStriker
    1. +50 Seishun Points
      Indeed, I was skeptical about Garupan initially as well, but that turned out to be a pretty good show. I hope viewers will give Majestic Prince a chance, it’s better than what most people give it credit for.

      Seishun
  18. I don’t know why so many people don’t like this show. Nice action scenes, character designs that set it apart from the masses (in a good way, not like Aku no Hana…) and a funny cast of main characters.

    I just can’t decide if I like the Mecha Design or not. Especially this one looks like it was designed by Rika from Haganai if you know what I mean. And Tamaki’s Mecha sort of looks like a figurehead with part of a ships bow stuck to it.

    Zannafar
  19. Ok, having to skimmed through most of this season’s preview I was expecting this to be a shoujo show. So being a fan of SRW (and before anyone else comments “Trombe!” is the best BGM), I was pleasantly surprised that this was a mech show.

    And while some comments may say that the plot is a bit cliche and derivative I’d like to think of it as both an homage and as reminder that at one time we watched anime not because it was “deep and philosophical” but because watching giant robots kicking the shit out of aliens is really fun.

    BTW, I liked that the sniper mech, instead of tilting his head to the scope of his rifle, just shifted his whole head. Of course while it would probably have been easier to move the targeting to the pilot’s HUD, it was amusing.

    Asta
  20. First of all, huge welcome Seishun! It’s only a series intro, but job well done and I look forward to reading more from you!

    I think you hit the nail on the head when you said that it’s not particularly different from past mecha shows (so far), but the characters and action scenes made it exciting and interesting to watch. I’m not sure what everyone’s problem is, but I get the feeling that we have our own “hipster snobbery” phenomena in the anime world. Buuaaa unoriginal, buaaa deformed faces. Why do all mecha series have to be “unique” and serious and have character designs that are “cool” or typical of the rest we’ve seen? Why can’t we just enjoy it for what it is instead of picking at what it isn’t? It’s a comedic, action-packed, sci-fi mecha series for a younger crowd. At least that’s how it seems so far and I think the designs are a refreshing departure from the genre norm. The mecha designs were really awesome in my opinion too. I don’t know what to tell you naysayers. I don’t think it’s all bad and the only thing redeemable was the action. I think it’s all pretty darn good, but just geared towards a very different demographic and I’m pretty sure it works for them just fine, tropes and all. Majestic Prince gave me that innocent, loving feeling I used to get as a youth watching Dragon Ball Z and Zoids. Yeah, I said it, Zoids my friends. I welcome this not-so-serious sci-fi mecha show with deformed faces with open arms. Don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m gonna give it the good 3-episode try with a sausage and jelly sandwich and a Juicy Juice box to see if it gets boring or not. Hey, don’t judge the food of my youth.

    Axel
    1. I agree not every show has to be unique,original,serious or deep, if done right you can make a great show without any of those things.Personally I like anime seasons to be diverse, as in serious deep shows mixed with fun lighthearted ones.

      anon
    2. +100 Seishun Points 😉
      Thanks Axel, I’ll do my best. This is not actually my first post though. I’ve also blogged the latest episode of Gundam UC and One Piece.
      The mecha and character designs have a very old-school feel to them. I can see why it might not appeal to everyone, but I’m glad you like it. No question, I’m a fan 😉

      Seishun
  21. The reactions to this one are wildly varied on pretty much every anime discussion site/forum I’ve gone to, but I’m glad to see someone that liked it as much as I did. It was just a really fun episode. The whole thing had a very retro mecha feel to it that you don’t see a lot in shows these days. I liked all the characters, the mech designs are great and the action was quite good (I can’t believe they pulled the CGI off so well). Definitely looking forward to more and reading your posts for it, Seishun.

    Altritter
  22. Unrelated to Majestic Prince Seishun, I was wondering if you were watching the new HxH anime, and if so if there were any plans to review it. At the end of the month the Chimera Ant arc, well known for breaking many shonen conventions and its darker atmosphere, is getting animated for the very first time.

    Ananas
  23. As others have already said, MJ seems to be taking itself a good bit less seriously than Gundam; having a certain s-CRY-ed-esque (and not just because of Hisashi Hirai’s designs, mind you) atmosphere about it, if you will.

    If there’s one proverbial nail in the coffin of a story that deals with potentially world-ending scenarios, it’s that the overarching story of said apocalyptic scenario tends to overshadow the characters and their respective tales. And it happens all too often:

    – Gundam Seed Destiny
    – Rewrite (Terra Scenario, specifically. Oh what could have been…)
    – 11Eyes
    – Fafner
    – Blood-C (Not really end of the world, but same principle applies)

    And the list goes on. Thankfully however, it does my heart good to say that I don’t get that impression with MJ; perhaps in part because we more or less know who the enemies are. True, there’s a bit here and there to be explained, but there’s no real sense of an overextended mystery that’s going to take forever to be revealed (Gundam AGE, anyone?).

    If MJ can stay true to that s-CRY-ed-esque formula of keeping it simple, staying true to the characters and never taking itself more seriously than it should (here’s looking at you, Sacred Seven), it should do splendidly.

    Looking forward to the next episode. :>

    Ryan Ashlight
    1. Oh man, I’m so glad you mentioned s-CRY-ed and Sacred Seven. Those were two others that I really enjoyed that weren’t all heavy, angsty, super serious like Gundam SEED and Gundam 00. I love the Gundam series too. But this is also a nice change that’s refreshingly straight forward so far.

      Axel
    2. Completely, totally agree with what you said. s-CRY-ed is another great comparison for Majestic Prince and that’s a pretty good show that I’m sure most people have not seen.

      Seishun
  24. I must say, this first episode actually exceeded the expectations I had for it. It’s no longer, “the show I’m least excited about because it doesn’t seem very interesting.” Now it’s “the show I’m least excited about because the other 2 just look so good.” I actually think I’m going to really enjoy this.

    You know, I wasn’t expecting the team to have actually been together for a while, not to mention I thought they were going to get along worse than they actually turned out to. I think I’m going to like them more because of this.

    And I’m not really bothered by the Hirai designs. Not quite at the same level as his Gundam and Fafner works, but I don’t dislike them.

    Anyways, very nice first post Mr. Seishun. I definitely look forward to more next week, especially with my most anticipated show coming up.

    starqo
    1. Thanks starqo. Valvrave is my most anticipated show as well 😉
      Honestly, I think viewers ought to stop comparing Majestic Prince to Gundam SEED. It’s nothing like that. The show is probably closer to Vandread or some of Gonzo or Satelight’s older work 😉

      Seishun
  25. I like this. I see a lot of people getting turned off by Hirai’s character design. But For some reason it works really well in this anime. The simplistic character designs, along with the awesomely complicated mecha designs, make each other standout in their own way.

    I watch the end fight several times already. The action is so fast paced, and I like how each mecha has their own use, in their own way. That end song is good as well. Would like to see if theres any romance of the sort, or it will be just like power rangers, coz the title sounds like one.

    Overall this is good, and I enjoyed it very much. This is in my watch list, along with apparently another 7-8. Holy heck.

    1. +100 Seishun Points. Couldn’t have said it better myself.
      I’ll definitely elaborate more on the different functions of each AHSMB next week. Oh and probably more on the JURIA System as well. The attention to details that the series gave to its mecha is certainly noteworthy 😉

      Seishun
  26. Left a bad taste in my mouth. If somebody were to tell me that anime in general sucked and used this as an example, I’d feel pretty stumped. The CG action and the mechs are probably the only strong points this first ep has. The comedy is very forced, but this isn’t the problem. Forced comedy can be insanely humorous, I’m actually a huge fan of Nichijou and Lucky Star, the problem is the setting. Maybe it is because I am a fan of NGE, Gundam 00, and the original Mobile Suit Gundam that I have this expectation that mecha anime needs to incorporate some realistic elements for it to appeal to me. Stories set in the future inherently have the potential to appeal with at least a semi-realistic premise of how or why we got where and how these massive advances in technology were made. While Majestic Prince still holds that potential, it chucks its chance to captivate the audience with a strong plot in the first episode by focusing an obscenely large amount of attention on the comedic sequences between the characters, of all things. It gives absolutely no hint towards a deeper and underlying plot, and no sign of a well thought out backstory for any of the characters.

    I’ll give it the three episode run but I feel like even that is awfully generous. Maybe I came in with an absolutely wrong expectation, but I think it’s safe to say that this is not my cup of tea. Congrats on landing this position, Seishun, I really enjoyed reading your One Piece post, and I hope Valvrave is better, but this is probably not one of your write-ups I will be following.

    bolton
    1. Hmmm… humor is a weird thing. Either you find it funny or you don’t. Nichijou didn’t make me laugh at all but Majestic Prince certainly did, and more than once 😉

      Seishun
    2. You should watch the first episode of Suisei no Gargantia. Has everything that you would want to see in a mecha anime, heck any anime with a coherent set of characters, story, and tone. Not a misfit show like this one. Some elements just go well in particular genres, but this episode didn’t have it.

      Annon
      1. I did, and I’m very psyched. Maybe it was just this episode, which is why I’m still going to try it out, but I don’t think anything can change my opinion that this first episode was a sinker for me.

        bolton
  27. thought it was gonna be another GALACTIC PRINCE type thing…what was that show couple seasons ago…anyway cant deal with the crappy cgi. i know im shallow …whateva

    BROOKLYN otaku
  28. Funny enough, I think this more of being Scryed in SPACE with mechs than as SEED.

    The Hirai face isn’t as bad as SEEDs, and is much closer to his Scryed and Infinite Ryvius characters.

    Lurker
  29. Crap, fucking crap! Gargantia is awesome! Valvavre has potential (and a fucking awesome op!!!) but this? lame jokes, lame facial gestures… I have not seen more than 10 minutes, I’ll see if the next two or three chapters become better, bah, only if Sheisun gives a good rating.

    Boobie-loving-alien
  30. I will admit, I initially started watching this because mecha and sci-fi is my niche but I have to admit, I genuinely enjoyed this one. The character chemistry kind of reminds me of Aquarion, each to their own dreams and perspectives. Not to mention the Commander gives off this Gen Fudo vibe.

    To be honest, what I like about this so far is how simple the show is presented. Simplifying reason and setting can make even one episode enjoyable instead of having to watch the entire anime to appreciate it. I’m looking at you Girls Und Panzer, you funball of enjoyment.

    What really got my nerves tingling was the final skirmish when they successfully repelled the invaders off of Undine. How the music and the SFX worked harmoniously with each other was ear candy. The SFX didn’t dominate the music and that song… can’t wait for the soundtrack to come out.

    I will definitely be sticking this one through, definitely a show I will enjoy watching.

    Goodwill.Wright
  31. Kids these days loves anime based on character design alone not on the overall story and plot. This anime obviously screams that if you love GS then you’ll love this.

    You’ll love this series if you have low standards and that’s a good thing.

    Kuroneko

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