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「追撃の騎士 -Point of No Return-」 (Tsuigeki no Kishi -Point of No Return-)
“Chasing Knights -Point of No Return-“
Secrets and lies…
Aldnoah.Zero took some very interesting turns story-wise this week. I like the dynamic that’s being set up here, with all of the teen heroes in the act of hiding their own secrets – some of which are known to the audience, and some are not. But somehow the episode itself seemed a step down for me in purely mechanical terms – there wasn’t much flow. For the first time in the series we got an ep that was rather uneven and disjointed, and while it’s also the first not under the direct supervision of Urobuchi Gen I don’t think there’s enough there yet to assume the one is a direct consequence of the other.
One of the most interesting elements in the story for me is Asseylum – or “Seylum” as she asks to be called when posing as a Terran refugee (that pseudonym is such a clever ruse that I doubt anyone could connect the dots…). She’s a character whose screen-time practically begs us to read between the lines for hidden meanings, and there was a lot of grist for the mill this week – much of it coming from Eddelrittuo. In the first place it’s now clear that Asseylum knows there was a conspiracy among the Martians to assassinate her, which makes her behavior in Episode 3 much more logical.
Watching Eddelrittuo offers other interesting possibilities, though. Her panicked interruption when Asseylum was explaining her existence to Inaho is a clear sign that something is up, and there are many inconsistencies with Asseylum’s situation. Some have been suggesting all along that Asseylum actually did die, and that this is in fact the double – perhaps taking it upon herself to try and stop the war because she knows it’s what Asseylum would have wanted. I’ve resisted, but I’m starting to warm to the idea. Why was the “Princess” left with no entourage except a little girl if indeed she was too sick to join the motorcade? The costume changes are the result of holography we’re told (which makes more sense than mahou shoujo, though it’s less fun) – could they be hiding something beyond simple wardrobe? A different appearance altogether, or serious injuries Asseylum is trying to conceal? Something is definitely more than it appears here, even if it isn’t 100% clear just what that is yet.
Secrets are a major theme in the story at this stage. Inaho knows Asseylum’s secret (at least the one she posits as the truth) and must decide whether to act on it – his choice for now is to conceal her identity (and his budding crush) and try to help her contact her grandfather, the VERS Emperor. Rayet knows, too, and she of course is hiding a secret of her own. But what’s also secret is what Rayet’s true feelings are. How informed or even complicit was she in what her father was doing? And even if she was a willing participant, how does she feel about the Martian plotters after seeing her family slaughtered to protect their secret?
And then there’s Slaine, whose loyalty is surely to Asseylum above all else – he knows she’s alive (or at least someone that looks to be her is) and he stops himself just as he’s about to reveal that to Cruhteo, correctly sussing out that his master was involved (and perhaps the mastermind) of the plot. Slaine is now playing the game of pleading to be allowed to “avenge” his mistress – which earns him repeated physical abuse from Cruhteo – but what is his true endgame? Does he intend to launch a rescue mission under the cover of a revenge strike? Slaine also carries the secret of Trillram’s true fate, and I doubt he’ll be revealing that anytime soon. Slaine’s chosen course still strikes me as arguably the critical question in this phase of the series – he sits at the nexus of the story both in personal and practical terms.
The action side of the episode isn’t as engaging, for some of the reasons suggested above, as well as the fact that the animation this week wasn’t quite up to snuff with the first three episodes (an A-1 Pictures trademark). As the survivors wait for a warship to arrive a meteor bombardment wreaks havoc, and communications remain basically shut down. This is the opportunity for sub-knight Vlad to take to the scene with his kataphrakt, Argyre. We see a repeating pattern here – he makes mincemeat of the regular military, and it’s up to Inaho and his teen titans to step in and save the day. This kataphrakt is different than Trillram’s, though it seems to rely on the same “Aldnoah” power source – this time it manifests in the form of a katana of light which he uses to slice through the kataphrakts opposing him. Inaho once again concocts a clever plan and gets the best of Vlad with Calm and Inko’s help just as the reinforcements arrive, but Vlad and his Argyre survive to fight another day.
There’s still very much a sense of preamble to Aldnoah.Zero at the moment. For all the devastation they’ve caused, the Martian kataphrakts we’ve seen do battle on Earth’s surface are strictly shock troops – we don’t appear to have seen any actual Knights dirty their hands yet, only their flunkies, and it seems safe to assume their weaponry is that much more overpowering. As far as the mecha element goes this seems like a very traditional show, albeit one with unusually good execution – where it has a chance to be exceptional is in the way it breaks down the personal side of the story. What all the main cast is hiding from each other (not least Inaho behind his stoic exterior) and how its reveal will reflect on the themes of racism and colonialism – that’s what offers up the possibility for some really interesting development.
Zephyr’s (Really) Quick Impressions:
Well, now I know what song I’m looking forward to most once the ED theme single is out (God, I’m envious of how mizuki can roll her R’s). Gotta love insert ED sequences, especially when they’re going to be released on the same single as the actual ED, which is pretty fabulous in its own right. Overall, not much to say here really this week, as the fourth episode’s generally par for the course in terms of what ALDNOAH.ZERO’s been offering so far. New Kataphrakt comes into the picture to wreck some havoc (with different abilities/strengths/weaknesses as expected), Inaho’s slowly changing due to his knowledge of the Princess’ identity (interesting that only a handful of people know given the flashy changing sequence), Slaine’s unsure who to turn to, another female Captain joins the fray (interesting emphasis on the gender here) and there’s a lot to look forward to. Makes you wonder though… if Cruhteo actually ends up letting Slaine into combat, what’s the chances he’ll use that chance to jack a Kataphrakt and defect over to the other side?
ED2 Sequence
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ED2: 「aLIEz」 by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:mizuki
I NEED THE OST NAO!
Heh, I saw what you did there 😀
http://youtu.be/dxFLFrdJKxA
Out on September 10th
I’ll have to be honest here the princess looks better in her disguise than her princess
look
No
Yes. I’ve been thinking the same thing.
Only when she’s holding a grenade launcher 😀
CO – “You’re late. It’s no wonder you never get yourself a date.”
XO – “Sorry but isn’t it fashionable to be late?”
CO – “Only do that after you get yourself a date first!”
Best lines exchanged between XO and CO ever
I’m hoping that her princess look is actually the hologram and her “undercover look” are is her real appearance.
Me too.
If they are going to use CG’s couldn’t have done it at least a bit more better. These look like moving clay figures.
That’s par for the course with anime nowadays…just gotta get use to it…I just have a harder time stomaching it when a whole show is done with PS2 like CG graphics
You know the production value is on a whole other level when there is a different ED on the 4th ep.
hmm thought the episode was pretty good overall, and really liked the angle Rayet is playing, is she going to eventually betray the princess? or when she is eventually exposed, what will the princess do? and Inaho’s tactics are pretty clever, definitely some of the best parts of the episode…
but…
I don’t really think having an energy sword makes a lick of sense. it’s certainly cool, but as a primary weapon it’s really quite lacking. you’d think they’d have a long range weapon to use before going to the sword. and how did he block all those shots? he really wasn’t moving his sword all that fast for it to be believable. it’s certainly harder and harder to believe the Martians are technologically more advanced with all their bizarre design choices.
and another arrogant Knight piloting the mech, hmm, fairly easy to see how they’re going to lose all their future fights.
and while Inaho’s tactics are great to watch, it started to border on absurdity this episode, specifically with his handling of the training mech compared to the soldiers who got sliced up in short order. he evaded the sword slash like an experienced veteran, which is possible, but I’d like to think the soldiers would at least have tried to move out of the way too. maybe they could’ve stretched it out a bit to make it more believable, as opposed to having the soldiers demonstrate that they were trained at the Charlize Theron school of evading rolling objects.
the Orbital Knight Count Cruhteo continues to be a pompous douche. no change there.
and Slaine, don’t be such a fool! Why’d he even go back anyway? Did he really think the Count wasn’t such a bad guy? I guess the brainwashing and brutality works wonders!
anyhow, I still enjoyed the episode even with some of the head scratching stuff.
how did he block all those shots? he really wasn’t moving his sword all that fast for it to be believable. –> Leidenfrost effect, as Inaho pointed out. The Aldnoah powered katana is so hot that it makes the surface of bullets evaporate and deflects their course. Inaho really knows his physics.
interesting, that phenomenon flew right over my head. though is that to say the energy sword heated the area that it swung through so much it caused the bullets to evaporate?
Only the outer surface of the bullets evaporated (not the whole bullet). The metal vapor covers the rest of the bullet and makes it slippery (thus deflecting it). This also explains why the whole bullet didn’t just melt right away.
ok, I understand it much better now, thanks for the explanation.
O.o Enzo I thought your mention of the Princess being a mahou shoujo was a joke? Did you really think she used magic? Considering the setting and tone of the anime, I thought it was obvious she used some kind of Mars technology. Having a straight up mahou shoujo in a serious mecha anime would be a first though. I do wonder how it works. If it’s just a hologram, wouldn’t her big flashy dress get in the way when she’s jumping about shooting smoke grenades etc? Oh well it’s anime hahaha.
As for the ep, I liked overall. I do hope Inaho’s perfect calm and analytical mind gets explained though. I mean all the professional soldiers lose their shit when they see a Martian Kataphract, but Inaho’s just like “Hmm HE rounds don’t work, switching to AP round.” in a perfectly calm and deadpan manner. There’s GOT to be something more going on here! Is some kind of experimental solider? Or a robot?! If this isn’t addressed eventually it would be disappointing. I do like his character though. It’s soooooo much better than some idiot screaming newbie like in Argevollen.
It was a joke, pretty much. I do think it’d be more fun if she were a mahou shoujo, though. And you could work a ferret in there somehow or something.
Dammit Enzo, just watch Vividred Operation if you want ferrets and magical girls.
Also, that transformation would be a perfect disguise if the princess really is dead like you suggested, the ‘disguise’ version could actually be her real appearance.
I won’t be surprised if this is actually the Princess – but NOT her original body, which perished in the attack. Rather, it is her “Double”, or perhaps even Spare, that’s currently being possessed by an upload of the Princess mind – presuming that mental uploading is a technology the Martians posses.
Like others I’m warming to the fact that this ‘princess’ is the double not the original princess. Her holo projector may simply be what she uses when she actually pretends to be the princess and she normally just has it off. Things that suggest she is the double is her being very capable in hand to hand combat as well as the odd pause by her assistant in this episode when she revealed herself to monoMC.
I think the same
I’m guessing Aldnoah.Zero will probably be a Martian technology that the protagonist will get their hands on later. Heard in the episode them mention that Martian Kataphrakts have an Aldnoah Drive, so Aldnoah.Zero is probably some new piece of Martian technology.
OR it could mean that the MC will practically roll the entire series WITHOUT getting a hands on any Aldnoah tech at all.
Thus, Aldnoah Zero = No Aldnoah tech.
And frankly, I much prefer this.
To be honest, I wouldn’t mind them getting their hands on Martian technology. It’s already kinda ridiculous that the protagonist has managed to survive 2 encounters with Martians using little than “training” mechs. Although that is probably more attributed to Martians he has fought against being arrogant of their status and faux superiority.
Plus if who they have in their tow is really the Princess (I believe it is) then getting their hands on such technology isn’t a farfetched concept, compared to what has already been shown in the series.
The Martians are going to get much more serious and hopefully less arrogant once the series goes on. Training mechs and a boy who really isn’t an ace pilot will not be enough to win the war. They are going to need to fight fire with fire.
And on another note, I kinda get the feeling that it won’t be a mech that will probably get an Aldnoah.Zero drive, but probably a carrier? And then be like the Macross (jokes).
All in all, I’m just speculating. This series can go 2 ways as I see it and that will be either a simple mecha warfare from start to finish. Or they are going to throw in a big plot twist to distinguish itself in the mecha genre.
@GW: Gotta admit, I’m beginning to find that fact ridiculous as well. Trained vets get swatted like flies, but MC and his training mech now have a 2/2 battle score.
There is nothing ridiculous about it, the so-called vets are trying to muscle their way through the fights with an enemy that clearly surpasses them in power .. that’s why they keep getting crushed … a young man who actually thinks outside the box (i.e using the crane), has the same knowledge as soldiers (got military training), is calm and collected even under pressure, and has superior analytical skills and intelligence (there nothing ridiculous about a young person with high IQ), can easily and plausibly outwit the Vers and defeat them in terms of tactics and resourcefulness .. experience has little value here .. analytical skills and intuitiveness are far more important .. so Inaho has EVERY reason to win these fights (and it’s easy to buy with a very little bit of suspension of disbelief).
Aldnoah’s take on young soldiers outdoing the adults and being the vanguards of humanity is actually light-years ahead from the “kid falls inside super-mech by chance and uses it to mop the floor with the enemies/aliens single-handedly” .. and you are still complaining !!!, if you want a 100% realistic war scenario go watch a war documentary or something.
to me, the ridiculous parts aren’t that Inaho is out performing the vets, it’s how the vets are portrayed as showing that their training goes out the window when the pressure is on.
They fired their rounds and didn’t try to evade the attacks, and that’s just simple dodging (they must’ve learned that in basic training). Inaho isn’t just clever, he’s just doing simple things the soldiers should be doing. if someone tries to attack you, you can either try and block it or try and move out of the way. you don’t just stand there. I get that not everyone will react sensibly in a combat situation, and that the point of the anime is to show that, and to show Inaho as a clever tactician (which I find really enjoyable), but I’d at least like to see some of the soldiers use their training to some degree. It’s similar to the second episode fight where the soldiers didn’t follow protocol of defending that civilian.
and to me, that just is a sloppy way to show how skilled Inaho is in combat.
@Hunter-Wolf
When I say ridiculous, I don’t mean that in a way that destroys my enjoyment of the anime. If I did, I don’t know how I would even be able to watch anime in the first place.
What I mean by ridiculous is imagine if a teenager came up to you (in this world) and said, “yeah, I’ve run 2 skirmishes with the Martians and won both times in training mechs when our area’s military platoons were wiped out”. Definitely something I wouldn’t believe unless I saw proof of it.
As other people have said, Inaho must have a good backstory to make up for his character and his abilities. I’m not doubting that they will have one, I’m just holding out for it. Someone doesn’t just beat an enemy with technology far superior than them and intellect on par or greater than them. Right now, it seems Inaho won purely on attitude alone rather than strategies or tactics. He isn’t arrogant and knows his priority. I wouldn’t mind that if the anime said straight out, “Martians are losing because they are indulging in their work too much”.
I’m going to put this bluntly, all of their fights have gone a bit too smoothly and quite frankly, very convenient. Convenience happens in just about every anime (need something to move the plot along) but a good writer knows how to cover it up or draw attention away from it.
But let me get one thing straight, I’m not bashing on the anime. I actually like it’s simplicity and the fact it isn’t taking itself too seriously (yet). I like the character designs, especially the non-chalant eyes of the Martians and someone sue me, but I also like the stoic protagonist. His actions may not be the most believable, but meh, I like him a lot. He’s kinda like that guy “you want to be”. Calm, collected, and useful. I will probably continue enjoying this anime as well regardless of what it does.
I think people are severely underestimating Inaho as an OP character from a plot perspective.
Inaho is a genius and incredibly knowledgeable. He’s somehow still in high school and knows Leidenfrost effect (something I don’t even remember learning despite taking 3 semesters of physics in college). He could make accurate judgements on the abilities of Martian Cataphrats all while looking out the window of his escaping refugee vehicle. Personally I can’t imagine any real person with such ridiculous capability, but then again I’ve never met any geniuses in my life either.
Regardless, Inaho himself is a hack. He has likely science knowledge rivaling that of physics professors. He is capable of operating a Cataphrat like a soldier. His lack of emotions allow him to calculate in the moment in a way no normal human can. He is literally the perfect person for fighting the Martians.
In addition, keep in mind the communication blackout caused by the surgical strikes by the Martians. The military, especially modern military, is heavily reliant on communications and division of labor. Soldiers are trained to fight on orders in groups, not make personal decisions and calculations. There’s a reason why so many military tactics involve killing the leaders. The whole “cutting off the head and the body will die” strategy. This is very true. And it’s a handicap which does not apply to Inaho because he’s not trained to fight as a collective with orders given above.
tl;dr – People are overestimating the military under total communication blackout and underestimating Inaho’s character setup as this genius scientist with no emotions simply because his character is suppose to just be a high school student.
@baubo
for me, I’d just like the military to be portrayed as somewhat competent (as opposed to movie logic incompetent). Just simple things like trying to move out of the damn way if someone’s attacking you. I don’t think that’s overestimating them at all. and it’s probably a bit of a trope to show that the military just falls apart once the pressure is too great. I’m not in the military so it’s not like I have a bias, but to me, it feels too convenient that they can’t even do basic stuff like dodging or following their regular protocols all to make Inaho look awesome. and he doesn’t need any help looking awesome. that just makes the writing look hacky.
@Impel Down Hippo
I kinda felt the same way about the soldiers just standing there and getting slaughtered instead of dodging like Inaho did … but i think the director/editor chose to do this on purpose .. not with the intention of making Inaho look better and the soldiers look incompetent .. but rather becasue it would be a waste of time .. even Inaho himself in the end got locked in a grip with the enemy knight .. so even if the soldiers dodged some of the attacks they would still have ended up destroyed becasue they didn’t have any plan and the enemy robot is clearly much faster and maneuverable.
The military prove their worth several other times in several other was besides direct combat .. they managed to evacuate the entire area before the orbital bombarded, they aided Inaho with the two attack plans he made with heavy suppressive fire .. they aren’t incompetent .. just the circumstances and situation they are in make them better at some things more than others.
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@baubo
Soldiers aren’t trained to think on their own, they are trained to obey orders and carry out a plan from their commanders, so when all communications with command are cut they can only fend for their lives with pure force and instinct .. which wouldn’t work against something like the martian tech .. but when an intelligent out-of-the-box thinker like Inaho (who has basic military training) gets military equipment and support from the other military personnel he basically replaces command here and is the one formulating plans in their stead (and he is more than capable) .. those unorthodox plans that depended on analyzing your enemy and the location carefully using every bit of knowledge to your advantage .. and there is nothing really “physics professor” grade about Inaho’s observations .. comparing yourself or out current teaching system with whatever Inaho and his people are being taught is ridiculous .. they clearly have a far more advanced curriculum and much better understanding of basic physical phenomena (and military training on top of that) .. he is no hack nor ridiculous .. there are kids .. 10 years old kids with calculating ability to do calculations that would take you dozens of minutes to do on a calculator in mere seconds .. people with IQ higher than 120 are capable of things normal people can’t (calculation wise and analysis wise), the fact that you haven’t met any person like that is irrelevant.
Fact is, history is filled with such examples .. you can find many people like Inaho online if you search for people with IQ 120 and higher (even kids) and see what they can do .. and military wise there are many young war leaders who won battles against impossible odds with human ingenuity and military tactics not sheer military force .. go read about Hannibal of Carthage and Alexander the great .. they were both leading armies (and entire kingdoms) at the age of 20 or younger (only few years older than Inaho) and won in battles when the odds where all against them .. they won using advanced military tactics and by thinking outside the box and analyzing their enemies and their strengths/weaknesses .. Inaho is doing the same but on a much smaller scale (although i think things will escalate to an all out war with Martians eventually).
Modern infantry tactic,SWAT or otherwise, is based on suppressive fire rather than dodging bullets. That is exactly what the regular armies are doing. Obviously, suppressive fire didn’t work with the technological superiority of the Knights.
Onee-san approves! Go for it!
Might be the only one, but very pleased the Vers have no “magic” associated with them, just lots of (pseudo)science goodies to watch out for. Would have been annoying IMO if the Vers in addition to possessing advanced tech were also superhuman in terms of strength and powers. As for Slaine personally doubt he’s going to defect, more likely he will try to rescue the princess (whose name is ironically well suited to her current predicament). That would make things too easy if Slaine left the Vers, it removes a potential future antagonist 😛
The more Aldnoah moves into well worn mecha territory the more I want to know what the big twist is going to be. Urobutcher’s involvement isn’t likely to keep this a “monster of the week” show for long after all, that goes against the grain. Bets are on the Aldnoah (assuming that is what the Vers’ technology progenitors are called) making an appearance and showing the Vers to not be all that different from the Earth they left behind.
Gen’s plot twist: the power of Aldnoah is attainable only if you sell your soul to Kyubei.
Interesting. We can think up a lot of theories about this, though…
None of the might be even remotely close to the truth but… well, here’s mine:
I’m for a simpler approach and perhaps this “Seylum” chick is posing as the real princess who is currently RIP. Or more than simply posing, she might just be her twin sister.
Really curious as to why this “princess” is nonchalantly alive, and on earth with 0 security beyond what appears to be a few followers and why it doesn’t strike Inaho has peculiar…then again nothing shakes Inaho so we’ll just have to see how this stuff gets explained.
I have actually been considering about the idea of whether Inaho is suspicious of Seylum’s identity claim. When talking with Rayet, he referred to her as a “Martian” and didn’t once called her a “Princess” (or perhaps I didn’t remember it properly). Although he promised to take to a place where she can communicate with Vers, he might be having doubts about her identity, but chose to offer her help because it’ll still benefit humanity if the war can end.
I feel like he is more concern of her being a Martian (which he considers is a fact), than her claim on being Asseylum (which he does not know if it’s the truth). I think he said that “so it wasn’t a hypothesis after all” when he learned Asseylum is alive? If he did consider that option, then he could still have some doubts. He might believe her for now, but still have another hypothesis as to who she is.
Inaho’s poker face makes it harder deduce what he is thinking of and his emotional state. I guess time will tell, but this show is certainly interesting. I would like to see Martians who can fight without hubris on their part (fighting for real instead of walking around slowly thinking they can massacre everybody easily). Their arrogance will be their downfall (like what Sora said in NGNL).
OST OST! >.<
The story continues, and does it deliver the goods. As much as ‘disjointed’ and ‘disconnected’ it was compared to previous, it did deliver the goods in terms of setting up the plot to come. We are shown that Mars sub-knights (man at arms?) are difficult foes, of which not all of them are blinded by pride and theatrics, finally because I got sick of that clich’e bastard antics. In addition the plot setting for next few episodes (barring it sinking) seems to be a UEF aircraft (kataphraft?) assault carrier, making it the standard(ish) plot element that common throughout mechas. And we’re treat to what is becoming standard teen hereos out beats convention military, but instead of raw power we are treat with clever use of tactics and machinery against a much hardier foe.
Still we are invited by the episode to really start to question who these characters are. Is this really the princess royal, or just a poor double using technology to revive her image? How come the high school students are a lot more calmer than there supposed superiors, can this be due to being institutionalized through long military training incorporated in a school regimen or can this be something more sinister. What is Slaine trying to accomplish, is he trying to turn tail and defect? Or is he playing both sides to save his princess from destruction. And where the bloody hell does Rayet fit in this all, her father was part of the plot to murder the princess in order to initiate a war between the UEF and the Orbital Knights, so how much did she know or was apart of it?
As with last week we are left with more questions than answers, and the show wisely in my opinion is holding it’s answers and giving hints here & there. Some times a good mystery builds tension, I firmly believe Aldnoah is definately putting that to use here.
Still I think we can safely assume that Inaho is not actually emotionally stunted, but muted instead. We are shown through the facial expressions, he does indeed feel emotions but he doesn’t let them show. And he certainly much more cold and calculating than most of the regular cast, but what really is unusual is how the other high school student are really gunho. Highschooler as a helmsman? Half the the hover craft seems to piloted by highschool student volunteers. It begs the question how military trained were these kids before they got involved in this, because there competency at performing there tasks rivals professionals.
Just as much as Inaho is dominating the show, there does to seem to be some hope for the UEF. UEF instead of fighting seems to indeed to withdrawing, but instead inland where they are underthreat of orbital bombardment and martian kataphrafts, they seem to uncover the biggest disadvantage of the Martians, water. The Orbital knights may have prepared for this battle, but I seriously doubt they have capability to sink surface fleet never mind submersible fleets in action. Aligning asteroids takes time, and a mobile force is hard to hit. And there mechs as far as we can see seem to be unable to really do anything against surface vessels of any kind at this point at least, there built for land or space combat but definately not marine. Leaving us with some hope at the continued existence of UEF in extension to Inaho and friends.
But I wouldn’t count the UEF safe just yet, they are still under threat by a superior technological foe, even with clever tactics and novel techniques can they really stop the tide to come? The question is whether they will be able to get the princess or double to a comline or barring that, a contact in the orbital knights (probably slaine) to hope for a truce. It’s a far shot, given what we’ve seen so far, but so far I like what I’m seeing and I’m definately enjoying watching this series.
anyone else replaying ep 1-4 just to hear the sound track >.<
I did too! Hahaha!
I recall after episode 1, someone mentioned concern with the main character being so emotionally detached. I was on the fence about him, but this episode takes it to another level, it’s just borderline. People dying left and right, friend/classmate etc. Human species is about to be wiped out, and the main character is cool as hell, even when going toe to toe with a Martian, like it’s Tuesday.
Heck, at this point, someone might as well call him “Batman” (b’cos of similar traumatic experience like Bruce Wayne).
I suppose you really liked Shinji Ikari then XD
CO – “You’re late. It’s no wonder you never get yourself a date.”
XO – “Sorry but isn’t it fashionable to be late?”
CO – “Only do that after you get yourself a date first!”
Best lines exchanged between XO and CO ever
Orchestral OSTs are the best!
You wrote
I’m not sure that has been proven. Only Trillram and Saazbaum have been shown to be in on the conspiracy. Cruhteo might “just” be a fanatical militaristic bigot who has been brought up to believe that massacring the weak is somehow glorious. Trillram says that his clan would all be put to death if their complicity in the princess’s murder is discovered; isn’t Cruhteo in a different clan? In ep. 2 Trillram says to Cruhteo, “This is the perfect opportunity to repay you for allowing me to impose on your hostility these many years.”, which implies that Trillram was some sort of envoy (or hostage?) to Cruhteo from Saazbaum. And of course Saazbaum has no problem catching Cruhteo in his orbital bombardment, which makes little sense if they are co-conspirators.
Theoretically yes, it’s possible that Cruhteo wasn’t in on the plan. I consider it unlikely but it hasn’t been expressly ruled out, I admit.
Given what we’ve seen, I’m fairly sure that Cruhteo isn’t in the conspiracy, but is simply acting in his own interests and motivations, given what he knows of the situation. Of course his interests are claiming a section of earth for himself and finding out what happened to the princess (although whether he’s doing it out of loyalty to the Vers Emperor or for personal reasons I’m not sure) so that makes him an antagonist.
If Slain had told him that the princess was still alive, I think he would organise a rescue but I doubt he would stop his other efforts to claim part of the earth.
I don’t think Cruhteo was in on the assassination plot. He seems to still hold the princess in a lot of esteem and blamed himself for not stopping her from going. Yet, even in that, that doesn’t mean that he isn’t thinking of profiting from the situation.
I don’t think Slaine should have told him of the princesses survival yet. One, Cruhteo probably wouldn’t believe him, and he might have beaten the crap out of him even more if he insinuated that the other Martian knights were behind it. Slaine has no proof, and him revealing a major reveal would not only put himself in mortal danger, but the princess too if someone finds out.
There’s been a lot of information about them parsed out piecemeal but I think you have to look at the orbiting knights as less an organized army and more a bunch of individual fiefdoms with their own motivations. It was even suggested a couple episodes back that in the span between wars they’ve all just been flying around up there establishing a hierarchy through force/strength.
The only thing in common they appear to share is a an impatience to get on with it WRT dealing with the slime beneath their feet. If you look back at the interaction between Crutho and Saazbaum in the first episode (and the Crutho bits that lead up to it), I think it’s pretty clear that he’s not in the loop and who is (especially given Saazbaum’s actions since). But, now that the situation has presented itself Crutho’s not going to stand by and watch the rest act without him; especially since he blames himself for not preventing the princess from apparently going to her death.
I agree with what you’re saying dbm; ever since the “assassination” of the princess, his manner of speaking and behavior doesn’t seem to fit as a conspirator since he looked genuinely concerned for the princess wanting to land on Earth, and as you said if Cruhteo and Saazbaum were co-conspirators, why is Saazbaum iniating the orbital bombardment? Ever since seeing how the Counts operate in their own authority, there is a chance that not everyone is a part of the conspiracy (And I think Slaine deduces that as well when he’s ponders over if Cruhteo’s possible involvement)
I’m surprised why the main characters are hiding secrets from each other at this stage, especially Rayet (hey girl, are you not alone now, like is there anyone else you can turn to huh?). This excludes Slain, he’s literally alone up there and he should remain so if he were to look out for any chances to help the princess while being on that side. His actions are sure to complicate Inaho and the princess’s situation since he can’t communicate with them even though he would be trying to act in their favor.
I’m also a bit disappointed that Inaho hasn’t figured the whole situation out considering how fast he comes up with tactics. It’s so obvious. The Martian’s are really intent on destroying any evidence around that area, they even meteor bombarded the whole city which was totally overkill (but way too late. Could’ve did that in the first place instead of send Trillram. The Martians are so powerful and destructive yet did their brains shrink from being too much in outer space?).
I don’t think the princess is the double not the real one. There wouldn’t be any much development to build on Slain and her relationship anymore if she were the fake. He gave her a pendant. There has to be some significance in that scene.
In episode 3 Trillram was ordered to keep them occupied while the meteor bombardment was getting prepped, and kill the last assassin if he could.
The princess being the double is not something I had considered, but it does make a surprising amount of sense.
Also, I understand they have a relatively small ship and were in a hurry to get away, but I’m disappointed they didn’t recover the enemy Kataphrakt from last episode for future research.
Yes, they could had reverse engineered it and end up with a powerful mecha in the final episode against the last boss.
But I don’t think that’s the kind of show this is. This show is about teamwork and effort to bring down a powerful opponent. I don’t think giving the Terrans an OP mecha goes well with this show. Well, that’s my two cents, don’t know about you guys.
I litereally have eargasm every time Sawano’s beat punches in.
secrets, backstabbing, mecha, a protagonist with a brain and a princess with a grenade launcher. i like what i see
I’ll just be honest, I like the series but the final mecha fight in this episode is just so messy that I don’t know who or what is happening. It was a great plan but really messy in 3D board development animation.
Ugh, if people complain about Shiba Tatsuya being a stoic stu, Nao is quickly catching up.
Not to mention when he thinks how to cook eggs, he would just space out all his thought just so he could eat eggs.
I think it’s the fact that Inaho is hard to relate which makes gives the pro and con to a stoic character. Though I love how he thinks strategically, sometimes when a character doesn’t show any emotions like that, its hard to feel worried or to sympathize with the character because they usually get out of predicaments smoothly (In my opinion, sometimes stoic and strategic characters are interesting to see, but emotions are equally important since they boost the level of tension of the situation and their role in the story). So now, I’m still curious to why Inaho is so stoic like that, because what with his composure, even the death of one of his friends barely fazed him, a very rare response, that would definitely be interesting to explore if we get to find out what made Inaho who he was now, whether it be the war setting or something deeper.
Random thought: It looks like Inaho and his group escaped a full-on fight with one of the Martian knights, but I wonder how much will they get far considering that their previous success required experience and it only one Martian unit; what would happen if the knights fought together?(though I guess it depends on how much pride the Martians have since each Count is fighting for their own in the war against Earth).
Since I noticed this pattern with complaining about stoic/emotionless characters, I think it’s important to keep in mind what you guys are really complaining about isn’t about not having emotions but rather not expressing them, big difference.Also ’emotions’ themselves aren’t something people can see/touch or hear it’s basically something that exists inside people’s heads.
@Dude
Tatsuya is a monster that can do anything and everything. He can regenerate severe wounds, can annihilate dozens of men alone, can read magic before it gets cast, invents CADs and weapons that not even the brightest mind in the world can make.
On the other hand, Nao is a genius at crafting strategies but thats about it. He has to take on opponents vastly more powerful than he is with inferior fighting machines. Not only that, he needs a lot of help to even stand a chance of winning.
As you can see, the only thing the 2 has in common is their stoic demeanor.
Tatsuya has no weakness, thus making him a badly written Mary Sue, which is the main reason why of the complaints of so many fans (plus the fact that the anime did a fairly poor job presenting the LN).
Nao has nothing BUT weaknesses, hence making him an interesting MC
Ok, I’m gonna be downvoted to hell and back for this but I see nothing bad with Mahouka. :/
Well adapted or not, OP main character or not, it’s still entertaining. I wasn’t expecting a masterpiece out of it.
@Helvetica Standard
There is nothing wrong with Mahouka as far as I am concerned. It is definitely an interesting piece of work with an even more interesting concept about magic.
What I am pointing out is that it is not right to put Nao in the same Mary Sue category as Tatsuya.
It’s weird how no one ever seems to bring up the fact that Saegusa Mayumi, Ichijou Masaki, or Juumonji Katsuto don’t really have weaknesses either.
Yeah… about that… I think if you’re going to compare the two, the latter’s still infinitely far from the former.
That ending was amazing.
God, that ending was beautiful. Can’t wait for the OST to come out.
Also, I thought Inaho showed a bit more emotion this ep, when he was talking with his sister. He actually smiled.
I actually think Slaine is going to be the main antagonist, or at least until the end of this cour
Aoki Eri already stated the show has three protagonists: Slaine, Asselyum and Inaho. Slaine’s the one described as the most kinderhearted between those three. That shows the other two might become corrupted perhaps.
Well, 4 episodes in and I’m finding myself wanting more of this series. It’s being smarter on what information to be spoken to us (and how much). ie. we can take so much terminology before we tap out (I’m looking at you, Mahouka).
Bonus:
https://randomc.net/image/ALDNOAH%20ZERO/ALDNOAH%20ZERO%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2030.jpg
Who needs AP rounds when you can use that?
Bonus no.2:
https://randomc.net/image/ALDNOAH%20ZERO/ALDNOAH%20ZERO%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2007.jpg
https://randomc.net/image/ALDNOAH%20ZERO/ALDNOAH%20ZERO%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2008.jpg
Surely Yuuki-nee (and every one that’s on this ship) is misreading this…maybe?
https://randomc.net/image/ALDNOAH%20ZERO/ALDNOAH%20ZERO%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2030.jpg
Ewok walker trap, version for urban areas!
I had a slight premonition of something like that when Nao demanded that Inko get “up there”.
Nao-kun definitely looks more like Ender or Thrawn than Lelouch. Badassery thru superior tactics!
On the other hand (As)Seylum might have something close to Geass due to being VERS royalty.
Asseylum was smiling at Eddelrittuo in that scene. You misread it.
And you’ve misread my Fan-shipping joke…
It could be that Asselyum left whatever entourage she had left after the first assassination attempt? She clearly knows what’s up, so she may not have trusted her own guard anymore.
Also… Fanservice?
https://randomc.net/image/ALDNOAH%20ZERO/ALDNOAH%20ZERO%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2026.jpg
WHERES THE CLEAVAGE? NO Skin! thats hardly fan service 😛 NO PANTY EITHER! GET OUTTA HERE! 😛
That’s how you do fanservice right..make it kinda of inconspicuous but just out there enough for someone to take notice without it being crass or jarring. It’s like the viewer casually notices that “hey, that person actually has a nice body”
You both should watch Rail Wars 4 then. there is Fan service good embedded in this Episode that you dont noticed it as service at all
YES IT WAS A DELICIOUS ep4. NOW THAT is FAN SERVICE! girls having boobs doenst make it fan service lol its just tight quarters but hey if thats enough for you i guess it can be your fanservice then :/
lol sonicsenryaku… what you describe isnt really fan service but thats just cutting out content to make it all ages 😛 you sir just want an all ages cut/ version!
NOW THIS IS FAN SERVICE ok maybe there is such a thing as more tasteful fanservice but still does it for me ahhaha
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f283/joeschmo1of3/JoeschmoBlog/2014-Summer-SchmoBlog/OmakeGifAnime-RailWars-Episode4-NanaSwimsuit_zps5545cdb1.gif~original
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f283/joeschmo1of3/JoeschmoBlog/2014-Summer-SchmoBlog/OmakeGifAnime-RailWars-Episode4-SwimsuitEpisode_zpsddec3823.gif~original
@Sonicsenryaku
I agree, it would be very out-of-place for a series like this to put in regular fanservice and I’m very appreciative of that. The type of ‘up in your face’-fanservice in a show that is intended to feel serious and threatening just doesn’t rub me in the right direction. I hope that it will continue being a low to zero fanservice show, or at least in a subtle way like you have mentioned.
hmmm just me or isnt the reason inaho looks so OP is because he is? Alright only thing thats really off is his ability to be cool calm and collected in the HEAT OF BATTLE… well at least hes top of class! maybe even a prodigy? :P! I got the impression he was well on his way to becoming an elite soldier or officer class hes no okojo or watever that guy is a loser! Anyone thinks hes still alive somehow? or did i miss his conclusive death?
Even though the martians are arrogant at least they have the superior tech to do so, if i recall correctly the terrans were also ignorant/cocky themselves in the beginning… thats why they were so easily wiped out? Of those soldiers werent they mainly inexperienced cocky foot soldiers with some only some squad leaders? None of these soliders seemed to have experience fighting the martians except that lt marito? whos always shaking in his booties haha
Really gotta feel for Slaine. Poor guy gets treated like crap because he’s a Terran. Not to mention he doesn’t know who to trust anymore with people taking advantage of the assassination but not really caring about the princess. I think he’s planning to go AWOL once he finds the princess (which would lead him to meeting his polar opposite Inaho who is most likely going to fall for her as well).
The show continues to be enjoyable but really only on the action front. The characters are still rather flat aside from Slaine and it feels like we just keep going from one action packed set piece to another leaving very little else for me to be entertained by. I really hope that they don’t go the route where the kids end up being the ones who continuously save the day while the adults just follow their lead. Mech anime really likes to make a mockery of adults doesn’t it? (just look at Captain Earth lol)
I can see multiple possible shippings right now but I’m afraid to board on any just yet because of how Urobutcher is associated with this anime.
But if I’m gonna push my luck, I’d be happy to see a InahoXPrincess happy ending. I don’t really like Slaine because he looks like he’ll snap any second (I actually thought he’d snap the moment he heard of the Princess’ death). The last part in the OP where the princess shoots a gun makes me think it’s gonna be a scene in the ending though (and for same reason that Urobutcher is associated with this anime, I’m kind of getting the feeling that she’ll shoot Inaho)
I have no idea why they spell the bad guy in the orbital castle “Saazbaum” and the cute loli “Edelrittuo” when their names are apparently ザーツバルム and エデルリッゾ in Japanese. They should be like Saazbalm and Edelrizzo respectively.
Oh one clue we might have to the girl being the princess that we know from ep 1 is if she still has that locket from slaine… if shes carrying it still it might mean shes the same girl…
Sometimes I think Guardian Enzo gives too much credit to writer of the show. lol, it ain’t that complicated.
Although, just read the original light novel to see if that’s true or not.
There is no light novel though. This anime has no pre-existing source material.
Orgasmic ending.
Mars princess must be careful of earthlings:
1.) Why should anyone trust her, for all Earth cares, she is part of the plot to take over Earth. She’s a valuable asset to negotiate a ceasefire, as a hostage.
2.) Slaine cannot look for Princess without permission to go to Earth, preferably this time in a mech. He’ll take all the abuse until he’s given some form of vehicle that has some firepower.
3.) It’s pretty much fated that our genius calm boy and crazy love sick boy will be fated to do battle over the beloved princess soon.
Romance is everywhere.
1. Slaine is not ‘crazy’. He’s described as a good person who has a kind heart. Meanwhile, Inaho’s described as more emotionally unstable but he suppresses his strong emotions. Slaine would have snapped long ago if he wasn’t emotionally stable. Inaho, on the other hand, is unable to deal with them.
2. The two of them with Asseylum are the protagonists of the show. Slaine is not an antagonist. If they battle, it’ll be one of those unfortunate circumstances like happened with Calm and Inko. Their goal, according to the director, is to stop the war.
3. You’re reading too much about Inaho’s “feelings”.
Jesus Christ, Inaho is BAWSS. He fucking downloaded two Martian Knights and have that face like it was nothing.
Inaho has generic MC face yet his personality entirely not generic at all
Nina: I wonder if tomorrow will we also die?
Inko: We’ll survive this, mark my words
Please don’t say that, it reeks of death flag.
Even in IRL I barely say “everything will be fine/alright/will work out” fearing I will jinx it somehow even though I know its irrational I just feel that something will go wrong if I say those lines.
Buddy, this is Butcher gen. Most of the secondary characters (and primary characters too) come with death flags already attached.
Pal… You’re wrong….
EVERYONE has death flags floating above them no matter who they are…
They will suffer one way or another. It has been predestined
I think Gen has become more selective of late. Most of the characters survived Gargantia and Psycho Pass. My suspicion is the character who’s death will be the most painful for everyone else will get it. As much as I hate the thought my money is on Yuki-nee. I hope I’m wrong.
Not anymore it ain’t. Urobuchi is no longer involved in the script from hereon until further notice.
RE: Gargantia
I must say among all the Urobuchi works, Gargantia seems to be the only one with a distinctively happy story line where everyone lives happily ever after. Other than that, all Urobuchi characters carries death flags. How they die is the question
@echkyr
He’s not directly involved anymore, yes, but Urobutcher still is responsible for the concept and likely the direction of the plot/story. There will be death, suffering, and a god awful twist that encompasses both somewhere in the show, that much is assured.
You don’t have to kill every character a la Hamlet to have a big impact after all, the sinister revelations can often be the more powerful ones 😛
Excellent episode and excellent post Enzo, covered all the important points really well, i only have very little to add.
I really really liked what they did here with this episode:-
1-Gave us a long term goal (getting the princess to United Earth HQ to contact Vars Emperor).
2-Gave us various characters with secrets and hidden motivations (The Princess, Rayet, Slaine).
3-Showed us again how Inaho’s mind works and how the way he thinks outside the box helps him win with analytical skills, superior intellect and excellent tactics every time despite the odds.
4-That awesome ED song. (have it on loop now XD)
Also the possibility that the princess we have now is the double is a very interesting one .. although it still could be that the writers are trying to play with our expectations and intentionally mislead us (it could turn out to be a red-herring in the end), but fact is .. Rayet is the most confusing one for me now, i’m not really sure what is going on in her head .. she seemed pretty earnest when she said all Martians are enemies .. after all that bastard Trilliam (a martian) killed her only family .. so maybe she will try to take it out on the princess (hence the line from Inaho “human beings aren’t know for remaining calm and rational” ironically fitting her more than his fellow humans, i think she and Slaine will be quite the wild-cards and will keep us guessing their next actions as well as their true motivations for some time .. i love me some intrigue in my mecha anime XD
That knight got such massive upper body with several layers of armor but tiny stickman legs with no protection at all, seems like trick would be hitting it from below in later episodes.
https://randomc.net/image/ALDNOAH%20ZERO/ALDNOAH%20ZERO%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2028.jpg
Thats a big shiny sword. Are you overcompensating for something?
https://randomc.net/image/ALDNOAH%20ZERO/ALDNOAH%20ZERO%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2032.jpg
I’m NOT overcompensating!
Jaja. I die with that.
Inaho “But you clearly enjoy thrusting your weapon into your enemies. Tell me, how would you describe your relationship with your father?”
Vlad “He… I… I… I. WILL. KILL. YOU. (rage)”
Xd!!!
I don’t have idea, that Inaho had such black humor.
No wonder you’re named Vlad…There should be something with the obsession for impaling things…
BTW, how the hell a Plasma Blade can stick into an LCAC Bridge?
All the “lies” in Sawano’s music mUst be hinting something
LIE OR DIE and USO bakari narabete in the first ED (az iis aldnoah.zero but what is LP and A to A )
and now aLIEz as the second ED
We already have our share of lies now .. the Martians lying about doing what they are doing for the sake of their -supposedly- dead princess when it’s all about conquering earth, Rayet lying -by not saying-about her real identity as a martian spy tasked with assassinating the princess, Slaine lies to his lord about how Trilliam died and lying -again by not telling-about the status of the princess he saw alive, and who knows how many more lies we will expose with the coming episodes .. i really like the air of intrigue here .. it adds a lots of character depth and thrills to the basic mecha formula.
Also .. the 2nd ED song “aLiez” has the word “Liar” repeated several times in clear English.
“Bigger than Gundam” – more endings than Gundam? Will we get a new ending every two episodes?
I’m waiting for Slaine to get more screentime. He’s my favorite character so far.
And I hope adults won’t be useless like in this… other big budget mecha show.
Slaine is so moe. I want to protect him.
Dialogue feels very stilted but the plot seems to move somewhere and the characters are starting to come into their own. I actually enjoyed this episode but I feel the music is still distracting.
So, Inaho is basically Lelouch 2.0?
What !!?, he is nothing like Lelouch, Lelouch had a “magical” power and was way too melodramatic, then he got super-mecha on his side (even if he wasn’t piloting it directly) .. etc etc, Inoah is the complete opposite of him .. he only uses military tactics (from his military training, something Lelo never got), scientific and technical knowledge, human ingenuity, and the fact he can keep calm under a lot of pressure to win his fights (all using very typical equipment = resourcefulness).
They are nothing alike.
“Okay kids, today in Military School, we are going to teach you how to blindside your opponent using a crane”.
In all seriousness though, the reason why he wins is because he “doesn’t” use military tactics or strategies as of yet. Apparently in the Aldnoah.Zero universe, they have been tried and tested and humanity is still getting wiped. To me, he acts and reacts to the information he collects first.
True though, Lelouch and Inaho are nothing alike. Lelouch was a vendetta done mostly out of self interest. Lots of his strategies and tactics was a “game” to him and that’s how he treated the majority of his battles (if the Chess motif didn’t make it obvious enough). Inaho on the other hand has his priorities and is trying to defend something. He isn’t an aggressor like Lelouch. But I will have to say that Lelouch’s plans were much more military-like than Inaho’s. They involved large scale coordination of both his own soldiers and the enemy. Also, Lelouch commanded his soldiers with precision and would rarely resort to any tactics that gave his troops too much free range.
I don’t think Inaho would ever go to a grand scale like that but that’s because they don’t need to. He’s so far a small town person looking after those close to him. He does what he can, when he can. And that’s one of the perks of him.
I think he’s more like Yang Wenli without the personality. But their tactical acumen and overall lack of giving a damn are pretty similar.
Gotta love Miracle Yang. A man who could topple strategy using tactics and he didn’t need a gun to prove that he is a badass.
Now if only Inaho could throw some lines of philosophy…
I’m glad you made me remember LOGH. I wish we see more of people like oberstein. lol
@Goodwill Wright
While Inaho’s ideas seem more out of the box than Lelouch (despite lelouch actually having magical powers) Inaho’s tactics and plans are still based on military tactics.
The smoke screen he used to blind the enemy surveillance satellites, using the drone plane to study his enemy, the way he baited him until the bridge then shot the bridge down, the way he planned a fake pincer attack on the 2nd enemy to distract him from his original plan with the crane .. etc etc
He is clearly using basic military tactics taught to him in his military training, and i’d call the ideas Lelouch was using “strategy” more than tactics considering the huge scale of his schemes and operations it’s hard to call them tactics specially in season 2.
Lelouch had a personality, presence and charisma.
I get this strange feeling that Slaine’s fate will resemble Kariya Matou from Fate Zero. Must be due to abuse and pitiful state he’s in. The way he struggle for his unreachable (considering his status) beloved girl really strike me as second coming of Kariya.
I do not think I have heart to experience that tragedy again…
The OST is so obviously Sawano-esque.
By now I’m not sure if it’s still a good thing.
I actually liked his piano pieces more so than his orchestral ones (the latter were the primary offenders of being reused with great frequency)
I’m mostly annoyed with the vocal battle track – I would call it “epic” if the type wasn’t overplayed so much. It just sounds so much like AoT tracks… I’m sure it appeals a lot to the people who are not familiar with AoT, but for me hearing the same sounds all the time just ruins the original feeling of the music.
And it certainly doesn’t help that they use the chorus in less-than-epic moments too.
I know what you mean. If you randomly played any of his music, I wouldn’t be able to tell you which anime it was from.
Episode 3 was really solid and a really defining moment for this series. So it will be hard to overcome. But Episode 4 was a very good follow up and enjoyable. I am definitely looking forward to watching more of this series
That new ED, insert song, whatever you want to call it, is FRAKKING BEAUTIFUL!
…Sorry, but I just had to say that. It just is!
Magical girl transformations right in front of you!
https://randomc.net/image/ALDNOAH%20ZERO/ALDNOAH%20ZERO%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2009.jpg
No fucks given at all! Love the MC.
https://randomc.net/image/ALDNOAH%20ZERO/ALDNOAH%20ZERO%20-%2004%20-%2035.jpg It’s all apart of the plan.
I’m loving how Nao doesn’t get his plot armor through a super robot, but through tactics instead
heading into Heisenberg terrirtory and away from Dexter.Slaine can be the gamechanger, he can be a bro like Athrun or a whiny obsessed cliche when he sees the princess with Nao. Slaine is too shy and obedient almost to the point where I think he’s just faking it to hide his true self.
https://randomc.net/image/ALDNOAH%20ZERO/ALDNOAH%20ZERO%20-%20ED2%20-%20Large%2002.jpg The face of someone who can just snap at anytime.
Check this page, you can see the person behind slane is the princess.
http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=127360&page=2
One thing I want to say is that this may be the first time I’ve actually liked both MCs of a dual-MC anime. Generally in such cases the writers have to make both MCs some sort of foil to each other and exaggerate them to the Nth degree. But in this case, both are sensible and acting like smart, reasonable people. Slaine is not acting like the typical brawny hothead that you generally see alongside a smart protagonist. His ability to parse Trilliam’s words and analyze the situation was more than I expected from a typical teenager.
The whole princess identity thing I feel is still a huge mystery. The fact that she could be assassinated so easily with such a small escort makes no sense. Well, it would make sense with your typical Shounen anime, but not in one where things are suppose to make sense. There’s not nearly enough escort and/or perimeter sweeps of the area that you would think easily done with (A) Martian technology and (B) her status as a princess whose death can cause a full blown war against Earth. I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire thing was staged and the conspirators in the assassination were also pawns in a bigger scheme. Too much of Vers have not been revealed. So far it’s only the Knights who have shown their faces. This doesn’t include any of the higher ups, such as the emperor, the rest of the royal family, or the top government officials.
It would be better the MC should be in the tactical intelligence and counter intelligence analyst role rather than piloting the Mech single handed very well than anyone. This is unbelievable unfair for the writer made a military around the world made look like a poorly trained soldiers.
He isn’t making the military look like poorly trained soldiers at ALL, the military proved their worth several other times in several other was besides direct combat (which they are clearly at a disadvantage at without orders/attack plans from their command) .. they managed to evacuate the entire area before the orbital bombarded, they aided Inaho with the two attack plans he made with heavy suppressive fire .. they aren’t incompetent .. just the circumstances and situation they are in make them better at some things more than others, in a situation like this (with all communications down) it’s up to ingenious people with leadership skills to take the flag and use everything they have to fight the enemy back with unorthodox plans and out of the box ideas.
Any typical military without long range communications and orders would fall apart .. the martians know this and that’s why they destroyed all forms of communication .. it’s pretty obvious they knew the effect of that on typical military.
But this is not a massive army invasion. Its just one Martian super robot relying technology but the sad thing they didnt know much the terrain which can be use effective like blowing up the bridge and the crane box operate by a student its piss me off. Any soldier in the army has a knowledge how deploy tactics offensive and defensive in the urban operation even in the hopeless situation.
Ummm…Private?
Sorry, but if this isn’t a mass army invasion then I don’t know what is. First of all, it’s not that they do not know the terrain well, but that they are arrogant. If you had read other posts which points it out (or figure it out yourself), you would realize that the Martians are overly confident in their technology. It’s not that they are incompetent, but they think that they do not need to bother paying attention to their surroundings.
I mean, would you be cautious of parasites? Normally, you wouldn’t even know they are parasites unless you have a certain degree of knowledge regarding them, and as a result you’ll just squash or kill them in whatever way possible. In this case, some parasites might infect you upon death and breed inside your body. This is the same thing that is happening to the Martians. They believe they are THAT much better than Earthlings.
ANY soldier? I believe you are very mistaken here. If that were the case, then I do not believe the army in real life would even require commanders or captains if all of them are capable of individually deploying offensive and defensive tactics.
I certainly hope you are not part of the army and is complaining about how unrealistic this is. I do not even consider people of the army as heroes and it is not something that is to be proud of. Why? It is not because I disregard their efforts in trying to protect their own country in people, but because a lot of them are quite desensitized to killing people and lost their own freedom in choice. The army is trained to be obedient and therefore lack the ability to make judgment on their own regarding the responsibility of taking another person’s life. Who exactly are they fighting for?
People have a name and that is their identity. Yet people identify themselves with their nationality and call themselves the people of . What I hate most is when people fight blindly for “justice” and think it’s righteous to kill people because it’s for their own country’s good. You know what is more unrealistic? That humans in real life could not wake up from their delusion that murdering other people for their country and people does not make them a hero.
Actually, Inaho wasn’t the only one to correctly deduce the Cataphract’s weakness, as the incoming Captain also ordered similar countermeasures (And she couldn’t have possibly seen any of what happened earlier, since Inaho was struggling in CQC with the enemy at the time.)
Aldnoah.Zero reminds me exactly of how Guilty Crown should have turned out given all the hype and its all-star cast from producers and studio down to its character designer (redjuice) and OST (Ryo and Supercell/Egoist). The producers of AZ are really milking their money’s worth with the production value as seen with the epic OSTs, animation, and new ED as early as episode 4. I’m really loving how they utilize those epic songs in the fight scenes which the producers of Guilty Crown failed to do so. They really wasted the potential of Egoist as a plot device. Can’t wait to
downloadbuy the AZ OST.I hope AZ would turn out great and show those GC producers and staff how to meet expectations from all the hype.
This anime is one of my favorite of the season 🙂
For all the crazy things this series has thrown at me, the one that blew me away like crazy was the seiyuu of the female captain Magbaredge: Ai Kayano. Wow……
Inaho is an asimovian robot, there is very little humanity in his behaviour and permaneutral face… and he is the only terran capable of doing something against the martian in a frigging planetary invasion, only a classic asimovian positronic brain can cover this giant hole.
Plot hole or not, I think it gives him room for character growth at the very least. Actually I kind of prefer an imperfect MC over a perfect MC or a really stupid one who got lucky and managed to get his hands on a very powerful weapon. Maybe the princess will “teach” him emotions.
Ep 05:
This episode took out a bit more of the momentum that got accumulated in the 4 Episodes. The great Start with “WoW, good action!.” chance into “oh, the smart guy did it again” for me
and i am not speaking of the Key scene
Are this “dump” Counts going now single handed to Tokyo to get crushed by “How Nature Physics work” smart boy?
Come on, and… sorry. i wait for the Online to rant more
This episode blew me away. The carrier coming in at the last minute, the mechas lining up and the XO giving the order to fire. I haven’t had anime leave my jaw drop for years. This series is blowing my mind.
And the OST. OMG.
this might be the best mecha serie , since the truth is out since the beginning and no coincidence “secret weapon” bullshit , you gotta fight with what you got XD 9999/10