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「夢と希望とロマンがあってこそ」 (Yume to Kibou to Roman ga Attekoso)
“Because of Dreams, Hopes and Passion”
If I could pick only one thing that I think Robotics;Notes is doing well (and I’m sure there are a ton of things), it’s the introduction of characters and the pacing of the story. I never thought that this was a story that would grip me from the beginning, but it has exceeded my expectations in other areas. For one – I enjoy watching Akiho and Kaito interact. It’s not boring because… well I don’t think Akiho is a boring female character to watch. Much like a lot of female heroines that I’ve seen so far this fall. Kaito is… a good balance for Akiho. He’s not over the top like her and although he’s a bit antisocial, he cares a lot about her and that can be seen in various scenes in the episode. From helping her gain info about Doc and helping her as controller, I think that’s just the tip of the iceberg. They have a whole back story that I’m sure will get revealed a bit at a time. The only thing that was mentioned this episode was her sister (and a promise that Kaito made), as well as her “elephant mouse syndrome” (please correct me if this is wrong… I tried searching this term up and the only thing close is anxiety disorder). The girl at the end also appears to be Akiho’s sister… and I’m worried what’s become of her if she doesn’t even answer her sister’s calls.
We’re introduced to other characters that will play a hand in helping our robotics club make it to the Robo-One. This includes Doc (Fukuda Nobuaki), whose actual name is Fujita Tetsuharu and his granddaughter Daitoku Junna (Tokui Sora). Doc reminds me of scary motorcyclists or perverted men you wouldn’t want to do business with… but he seems like an honest guy just making a living (so no wonder he doesn’t give further discounts to Akiho). On the other hand, Junna is one that might be returning soon to join the club. She doesn’t seem as lively as Akiho (I doubt anyone can be…), but I’ll hold all impressions of her until later. I’ll give her a chance to grow on me. We see returning characters such as the store owner and we learn that she likes making flavored dumplings. I don’t really consider these dumplings… more like pork buns (no they’re not the same!). You can actually find lots of flavored dumpling xiao long bao restaurants though… I’m a foodie, I should know =)
I think the first two episodes have set a great foundation for future episodes (at least from what I can see). There are new club members who have been featured but we’ll see how they get reeled in. There are also mysteries behind the characters themselves and I think I’m more interested in seeing that explored rather than the actual Robo-One. I read a lot of comments of how people compare this to Steins;Gate or ChäoS;HEAd and you are free to make comparisons… but these are all very distinct and different shows in my opinion and people should treat them as such. There may be some overlap, but for people who have not seen one or the other or both, I think Robotics;Notes can definitely be watched on its own. With that all said, I’m not going to push on the subject anymore and just recommend that everyone give it a try without expectations that it’ll be better/worse than S;G or C;H. You might be surprised.
Watching episode two of Little Busters! and then watching episode two of Robotics;Note felt like Steins;gate.
Nope. This is nothing like Steins;gate, no matter what you watched prior to watching this. Get a grip, man.
Dunno man, that semicolon is quite significant
I was referring to the case of deja vu because of the similar incident occurring at the end of both episodes, haha.
Having played the VN and without any spoilers, this Show will surprise all of you. It is gratifying for show like these to be produced now a days.
I can’t figure out if you’re being sincere or joking around: how can a trope/clichéd show like this be produced in this day and age? Man, every one must be surely gratified, too! 🙂
Now the difference is that even if this is a trope/clichéd show, it is good.
But don’t pretend that this is a ground breaking show like Puella Magi Madoka or Cowboy Bebop; it ain’t. All the concepts/plots in this show has been done many times before. But It is still a good show as it’s well executed.
Lolz I hoped Im not gonna see you commenting “omg” or “wtf” (in the future)
he didn’t say its like puella but yeah R;N will surprise you … though I dun know how you guyz will interpret it
Every “;” series start off slow, tropey (YMMV) and slice-of-life until the plot bomb is dropped mid-cour. Patience!!
So Aki isn’t just a hot-blooded mecha otaku, she can also take apart a robot and put it back together with upgrades. Is there any other quality that makes me like her more?
I’m also happy that Kaito is showing a bit more personality that being a lazy bum. He clearly does care for Aki in his won subtle way.
It’s not that hard to take apart a small robot like that and reassemble it. Things are far less complicated when it’s that small. It’s when it gets Gundam sized like Gunbarrel that it becomes super complicated.
Aki. Prime waifu material there.
Also, I am happy to report, I have located a vendor for “Skal”. Unfortunately, you have to buy it in bulk…
I regret nothing.
Is “Skal” the actual name of the drink? Or is it something else? Kinda curious on it.
It is an actual drink. It tastes very similar to calpico but a carbonated version.
It’s a real drink?! *goes out to hunt for it o_o*
http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/skal.jpg
Found it after some GG search.
http://www.healthydrinkreviews.com/tasty-japanese-drinks/super-happy-asian-drink-hour-skal-water/
Opinion on its taste.
Considering I still haven’t get a Dr Pepper drink….HTH I am gonna get this??
http://www.asianmunchies.com/cartgenie/prod-1531.htm
As I said, unfortunately, it can only be bought in bulk. By the next episode, I’ll be able to comment on it’s taste if the two of you are interested- hopefully ya’ll can find a better vender XD
Not sure where you are IRL but you might try some Asian stores in your area. Hey! I just learned that it’s been in existence for 41 years. I seem to have vague memories of this drink when I lived in Japan.
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B9%E3%82%B3%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB_(%E9%A3%B2%E6%96%99)
Thought the male MC was a complete douche bag in the beginning of the episode, but damn. That guy really does care about stuff other than K.B. Love the new development
This episode is much more interesting than the last. Five minutes in one second o.o Took long enough for Kaito to finally help.
Frankly speaking, I felt that the general pacing of R;N is a little slow compared to C;H/S;G whereas the latter had some major happenings right at the very first episode. As of now we still don’t really know what is the bigger picture or if there is any evil organization behind the shadows apart from that mysterious girl/robot at the end of the first episode. However I am still going to believe that something huge/sinister is going to happen soon so I’m not too worried about the plot itself aside from its slow start. As a standalone it is definitely watchable on its own but yeah the comparisons are a little inevitable when you have watched either or both C;H/S;G.
Having said that, R;N so far feels more slice-of-life than anything else until the plot elements start to really kick in. Thankfully though Akiho is so endearing to watch! Kaito on the other hand manages to impress me by showing that he actually cares (although he is still shown to be playing KB for literally 90% of his screentime >_>)
Couple of random thoughts:
-The bike turning physics -_-” I don’t even..
-We got teased/trolled big time, pantsu where?!
-That mouse elephant thingy – Reminds me of accel world more than anything else, I mean..time is sped up 600 times? Not quite the 1000x of AW but still..
– XLB/Dumplings thingy – You sure did your research didn’t you Cherrie..heh 🙂
…S;G was damn slow in the beginning….
but it had those cliffhangers like Makise being alive, jelly banana, human is dead mismathch and the mail threats.
No research required – I just love food so this is all lifelong earned knowledge lol
I do agree that there’s no like “mystery” feel to the story yet… I think one thing that S;G did well was setting up this ambiguity in the air and you could never tell what is real/not real or who to trust… R;N is definitely more of a slice-of-life feel. I don’t mind it though. It’s a break from all the drama/action shows I wrote about in the past ^^
I do believe that the Elephant Mouse Syndrome thing means in 1 second, she feels like 5 minutes have passed. Perhaps it will some how become a positive ability in the last half of the season.
Also those passion fruit thingies are called baozi (or baxiang bao). Xiao Long Tan Bao are far to small, only about 2 inches in diameter while normal sized baozi sold in stores are much bigger. Though really, most fillings are disgusting except for red bean paste and pork/chives.
After doing some research, I’ve confirmed that Akiho’s elephant mouse syndrome makes time move really fast. So she’d basically experience 1 hour in 12 seconds.
Meanwhile
Show Spoiler ▼
damn.. where can i get some of those passion fruit bao?!
Those tsukkomis played by Kaito to Aki’s mecha-bokke are top-notch!
Aki’s insane optimism is beginning to warp reality or what? Panty shots avoidance system, on!
Does that store owner have exoskeleton augmenting her legs?
FRAUKoujiro – who would suspect that behind such nick would be a woman? 😛
Show Spoiler ▼
Is that a spoiler!? =O
I’m going to hide it anyway… thanks for answering though Cybersteel.
Some people seems misinformed because of the scene change, but FRAUKojirou is not Akiho’s sister, Misaki
In the original VN
Show Spoiler ▼
It’s probably omitted or will be shown in the next episode.
But the scene was purely Akiho trying to call her sister.
The MC seems a little boring for me unlike those delusional NEET/delusional maddo scientist he seems too normal so far. It seems Akiho is a better fit as an MC.
I like the show one of my top ten list for this season the second cour would be AWESOME.
Your two post seems a bit contradictory… But that might just be me.
Anyway love this weeks episode. I feel that the MC is a more refreshing turn from the Delusional reality-warping NEETs and Scientists who involves themselves in time-traveling shenanigans. At first he would seems uninterested, but little by little he’d definitely take on the full role of the MC.
At first, I was dismayed at Kaito’s callus lack of passion and support for Akiho, almost, as Akiho said,
mean-spirited. But I see that is selfish thinking on my part. After watching this episode, I think the
story is telling us that he’s really protecting her. How? By pretending to be indifferent (maybe) hoping
that she’ll lose interest and not over-work herself with the outcome of an attack of her syndrome.
Just a theory, though.
Maybe the more attacks she has the more severe they’ll become. (Also, I don’t think we should put a lot
of salt into the Anime medical diagnosis of
Elephant-mouse syndrome, it sounds really impressive,but it is Anime.)
So, this series is beginning to look like a (personal) quest adventure for one or both of our main
characters. There’s a very interesting mix of other characters and situations – I’m interested in
seeing the significance of the game (that he addicted to) and/or the game’s developer in the story line.
With that said, I don’t believe the real objective is to complete the robot in the hanger, but (hopefully)
something deeper and more meaningful, which will ultimately make the series more interesting.
Why is Aki so lovable as a character?
Mecha Otaku
Likes to bargain
Easily excited
Random English
Too many moe qualities.
I really enjoyed first two episodes,
Also finally got my hands on the PS3 version of the game, on top of that limited edition omg, looks fantastic! o_O…
Can’t wait to play it :3
Instead of comparing this to Stein;gate.This and Little busters! have something really more alike.
-The main character has some syndrome that maybe tie with main plot.
-Want to accomplish something before graduated from school.
-The club is moving by people who was friends since childhood.
-Both are come from Visual novel that the predecessor both doing too good job.Many people expect too many good thing from the later.
-On-air in same season.the story progressing is nearly in the same pace and both have enough of potential drama and huge surprising plot.
It’s really interesting to see those series take its setting apart from each other completely.Now they’re different because one was baseball and begin with five people.(if you include Kengo).They didn’t take itself too seriously and more focus on character interaction-development.
But Robotics;notes focus more on club activity while try to add character department in the same time.If you asked me,This is the comparison that you really should look for.
I agree with your comparison actually. LB and R;N are very focused on a group of students trying to accomplishment something and very slice-of-life-like. I’m sure there’s some deep underlying story though and both seem to be related to some phenomena the viewer doesn’t know yet. We shall see =)
@Cherrie, specifically Xiao Long Pau is the types of Pau that has some gravy inside together with some meat and being smaller than usual Pau. Tht pao looks too big to be Xiao Long Bao lol. Red Pao is more like those Pork Buns tht can come in various filling. (My personal fav is Char Siew Pau)
And yay, Akiho don’t annoy me anymore!! She not just a mecha anime fan, but she actually take apart a robot and rebuilt it!
Kaito too! He actually cares abt her a lot. (Though I am not too sure wht to take on his comment abt being a replacement for her sis)
Subaru…. welp I see what u did there 😛 You will be surprised at him.
Also, is Akiho tall or Junta being short??
Hmmm isn’t Akiho sis in the end also appear in the exoskeleton comercial in EP1?? I wonder why caused her to be cold to her little sis??
Lol tht scene where Akiho is unwilling too give Doc the money reminds me of Mr Crab frm Spongebob.
Also, I LMAO at tht Passion Fruit Pau and Kaito expression. Kurisu got a contender for the title of worse cooking in “;” series XD (Coincidently I drank a passion fruit + tea drink earlier… Its defin taste better than tht)
-PS-
I prefer the VN ending theme lol. Bonus point 4 being sung by Itou Kanako.
I found an article on the impression of the VN demo but I got partly spoiled by it so I think I will post it when all the spoiler is being revealed.
Funny tht no one talked abt those aurora yet cuz I don’t think they appear outside of South and North pole… And its present too on the cruise ship when Akiho passed out in the flashback…
Lol! Yes, I know the difference between a meat bun and a xiao long bao… I meant to use it as a comparison for different flavored steamed buns =) I love xiao long bao though! It’s so delicious and full of fatty pork (that’s where all the juice is coming from o_o). Not a fan of bbq pork buns… but thanks for explaining in depth! I love talking to people about food… =3 I need my own column on FOOD! <3
I didn't mention the auroras because… well I thought being in an alternative universe, it's ok for them to appear outside the major poles! It's definitely an image that I think will be recurring though. I haven't heard the ending for the VN, but this one as been good so far and I always repeat it ^^
The auroras are real, and will be mention again later. And R;N it’s not in an alternative universe, but the same with S;G and C;H.
Shown by the Divergence ratio of S;G’s True ending.
Well then, why not? I mean Stilts has his side column. Why don’t you write about various foods in anime as an occasional column? I would read it.
All this robotic competition reminds me of Robocon, but with bipolar female heroine.
Will they start introducing rivals soon?
I like this show so far. I like your posts too.
Awwww… thank you and I’m glad you’re enjoying it ^^
This is an anime that was not on my animes list for this season, but after taking a look at these two episodes, I found it really interesting… I really liked it.
I haven’t played the VN yet, but looking at the wikipedia entry, I’m quite interested how would they drop the plot bomb. This is even later than Chaos;Head and Steins;Gate, because this feels like it has the longest ‘nothing wrong is going on’ period.
I can see it, I can see how they literally support each other. Plus the hot-blood of Aki, oh man, it’s so great. Knowing how this type of work turns out from previous shows or being told about the VN (Chaos Head, Steins Gate, etc.), I’m just waiting for conspiracy, plot twist, and such to come out. Now if only we had mech building contest… I would love to join them.