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Aldnoah Zero Season 2 |OT| Inaho or Out, It's All The Slaine

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Rayearth

Neo Member
I was worried when the previews came out and the princess wasn't in any of them - with episode 3 being hyped up as being a "critical episode" I was worried that her getting sidelined now would push her into the background for the rest of the series.

I'm glad that I was wrong. Hime-sama, you can lay down a smoke screen for me anytime.

The question is now what? The princess revealing herself to anyone, especially Slaine, seems like an event that we would have to wait until the the last episode of this season to experience. I'm personally glad that the writers didn't wait, but I'm a bit worried that plot of this series, fast as it may become, may get away from them. I don't mind watching a trainwreck (I had great fun with Valvrave despite the plot going all over the place), I just hope that the writers know what they're doing.
 

Pooya

Member
The question is now what? The princess revealing herself to anyone, especially Slaine, seems like an event that we would have to wait until the the last episode of this season to experience. I.

well, looks like only Slaine knows it yet. he's not exactly well regarded with the people above. the Count might not believe him revealing a conspiracy like this unless he got some proof maybe, or maybe that meteor still coming down on his castle. princess probably escaped with the others. if they want to drag it they can, it's good that Slaine will come more to the front after this either way and they got that right quickly.
 

duckroll

Member
Judging from how Slaine reacted, I think he's probably in a "trust no one" mindset now. He probably wants to protect the secret for as long as possible while figuring out who he can trust with the information on the Martian side. We'll see how it goes, but I won't be surprised if they continue to play it out in a espionage warfare way, with Inaho's story being about Earth fighting back and defending against the invasion, while Slaine's story is about him uncovering the conspiracy and playing double agent behind the scenes.

That's the best possible direction for the story to take I think.
 
But... and possible spoilers of a twist that would explain things,

One possible explanation for the rather swift change from Terran to space-sneering Martian comes from a Ray Bradbury short story, Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed where settlers from the US who live near ancient Martian cities, are gradually transformed into Martians themselves. Possibly, not only does the Prof. discover the ancient technology of Aldnoah but also the rest of the settlers' mental states are rapidly changed.

Now that I think about it again, this theory isn't possible:
the princess would be affected in the same way, instead of wanting peace.




Aldnoah Zero 3


This is having a decent pace. For example, at the end of episode 2 the protagonist, the princess and the "rat" are already in the same group. In other series they could have gone doing circles alone for a few more episodes until they all meet together.

And in the end of the third episode the princess reveals herself and Slaine learns the truth. So yeah, a brisky pace.

This has been a better episode than the previous two, but you know, it wasn't that hard :p. It shows a tiny more heart of the main character, but mostly he is still the calm, calculating archetype. The resolution is a bit like an speculation I read the past week; throw the alien mech to the ocean and just wait until the shield runs out of energy or overloads (supposing it doesn't have magical infinite energy, of course).
Here, waster was used to see the weak points where the shield doesn't work.
 

Pooya

Member
The bad guy count was 'joking' about princess assassination with seemingly loyal count Slaine works for (I can't hold all their names yet!) chances are good he's suspecting it already but I think it will take until the end of first half for Slaine and him to trust each other, this seems really obvious. The guy who hit him now trusts him, he probably dies too saving Slaine from something...
 
I didn't like how he just casually tore it out. :(

I'm still iffy about his true personality, but I'll still wager he's got a serious dark side to him.

She went to see him the night before the operation where they could possibly die. He clearly didn't take the hint of what she really wanted. ;)
 

Wiktor

Member
I'm liking this show so far. How they took the martian mech was just plain awesome. Plus I'm glad the hero is like that. Too often they make the cold calculating badass to be a side character, while the lead role goes to some whimp,.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
Well, Aldnoah addressed every complaint I had.

That was unexpected.

Still a shit show though, but I'll give it another chance.
 

Lyte Edge

All I got for the Vernal Equinox was this stupid tag
I'm enjoying this show, and knew something like this was coming, but even then still rolled my eyes at the typical
"high school student figures out what an entire military could not" to stop the bad guy
plot of the last episode.
 

Maebe

Member
I enjoy this show so far. I still don't care for Inaho at all, but I'm interested in seeing where the story goes from here after the reveal in 3. I'm glad
the princess reveal happened so fast and that she is competent and brave
, I hope they won't take that away. Slaine
is kind of scary. He looked very wild at the end of episode 3 and he did the deed so quickly.
 

SOLDIER

Member
The thing I loved most about episode 3's resolution to the conflict was how it wasn't an ass-pull at all.

1. The MC was not secretly some amazing mech pilot and/or happened to discover the most powerful mech the Earth military had.

2. The Martian mech's weakness was not some obscure thing only the MC would have discovered.

3. It took a whole group of people working in tandem to take down the Martian mech, even though they were all following the MC's instructions.

Hopefully the rest of the series follow suit.

I'm particularly curious about

what Slaine is going to do from here out.

It doesn't make sense for him to continue siding with the Martians, since he doesn't know just how many were involved in the failed attack on the princess. I imagine he'll try to go rogue and seek her out, perhaps even forming an uneasy alliance with the Earthlings.
 

Dresden

Member
It's not like Slaine has anywhere to turn to other than the Terrans. I hope the inevitable interaction with Inaho is marked less by budding rivalry, and more of an actual friendship.

And God I hope there isn't a love triangle.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
It's not like Slaine has anywhere to turn to other than the Terrans. I hope the inevitable interaction with Inaho is marked less by budding rivalry, and more of an actual friendship.

And God I hope there isn't a love triangle.

You mean like with both Slaine and Hime crushing on Inaho?
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
You know this show is pretty good. One thing that I must say it does excellent is the use of music to set the mood.
 
Episode 3

Now that's what I'm talking about! Great episode and a winner in my books.

The plan could have gone horribly awry if the Princess didn't do what she did.
 
Oh man I watched Aldnoah Zero thinking it was was just another mecha anime with a "teenaged boy with special prototype mecha fights evil space nazi colony" plot but man that 3rd episode. Came for the healing type writing, stayed for the MacGyver-but-with-mechas action scenes.
 
So, I watched the first three episodes. It's.....ok. Steadily improving as it goes along, I think. The show looks nice with some good action scenes; the landing sequence from episode 1 is still a highlight, and episode 3's plan is executed rather well. Nothing terribly inventive, but more than enough to impress. I like the mech design because it mixes two of the things I like: I'm actually a fan of the functional, mass-produced military stuff, which we get. But I also like mechs that just look weird, which we get from the Martian ones with the big purple mech and that laser-shooting white mech. Not a fan of the character designs; they seem a bit bland and kind of "soft" for the material.

What lets the show down a bit is the writing. I did expect the exposition to be worse than it was with Fate/Zero's first episode being the way it is. It's not terrible, but it is noticeable. However, it's something that'll probably be gone from the show eventually and it's already mostly confined to that initial first episode, so I can let it slide (though the explanations did go on longer than they needed to in the third). Another issue is the predictable plotting, but so far it seems more like they're setting up the premise and planning to go somewhere else with it rather than treating "THE PRINCESS IS ALIVE!" and "YOU KILLED THE PRINCESS!" as these shocking, pivotal moments. Again, not a huge complaint.

The characters are where I have the most problems. Maybe I'm just more annoyed than usual since I just came out of Knights of Sidonia having witnessed some of the blandest people imaginable, but it bothers me that I can't really think of anything terribly distinctive about this cast. I think you can pretty much take bets as to when the main character's other friends and sister will die, and the fact that the guy is an emotionless husk is irritating. The show is clearly going somewhere with it, but the promise of character development to come doesn't necessarily mean I enjoy what's currently onscreen. Inaho being the guy who makes the badass plans helps a bit. At the moment I think the only character I can really latch onto is the Jaded Veteran, and that's more because I have a soft spot for that sort of character more than anything else. The villains so far are over-the-top and cartoonish, which is annoying. I was hoping we'd get some interesting viewpoints from a lot of different factions (especially when it was mentioned that the Martian dudes aren't necessarily allied with each other), but now it just seems like it'll end up as Mars vs. Earth rather than Mars vs. Mars vs. Mars vs. Mars vs. Mars vs. Earth.

So, yeah. Like I said, it's ok. I think it'll probably keep improving, but I want to see some actual character development and more interesting material on the Mars front. I hope it stays tactical and we don't just end up with the Earth kids commandeering a Martian mech to wreck some shit.
 

duckroll

Member
Here's a funny frame by frame look at a scene in the OP: http://imgur.com/a/PHg2m

It's hilarious how the mech goes entirely from CG to 2D just to accommodate the debris and explosion done in 2D. I guess they agree with the sentiment that CG explosions just don't look anywhere as good, especially if you have good 2D effect animators. :)
 
Episode 4 - Point of No Return

The ed song [aLIEz] - SawanoHiroyuki|nZk|:mizuki was so good especially when it plays in the episode, its so catchy and always fitting.

I just hope Slaine can find his happiness, its so unfair that he is just beat around always :(.

Technical comments of the kataphraks needs to happen more, great minor touch in the episode for the one today, awesome plasma and awesome effect.
though whyd it seem weaker than the other one with the entire layer. If even Calm (great role) and the normal military can touch and damage him then well the Terrans may have an actually easier win than I had anticipated.
 

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
Aldnoah.Zero Episode 4:

Yes indeed, this is getting better by the episode and I dare say it is better then Terror in Resonance at this point. The Martian assault is relentless and devastating, and we get insight into why those who wish to see the conflict resume would enact upon it there is very large question lingering over this whole affair. Why did they stop the first go around? Anyway, I am getting concerned about a few things though
the already looming love triangle and these kids seems to be a little too competent for their own good.
 

duckroll

Member
Episode 4

Good progression. I like how they're not wasting any time at all. Slaine did exactly what I expected him to do too. It's pretty funny how Slaine and Inaho don't really feel like "characters" so much as two avatars put on opposite sides who seem to be there to be a voice for the audience. Anything they say or do seem like a transparent attempt to silence any sort of smartass deduction or complaint that viewers tend to make about people in a show not seeing the obvious or making stupid decisions. That doesn't really make them interesting characters, but as the main players driving the narrative and action forward, it does make it less annoying to watch since they actually seem aware and competent.

I'm kinda glad the episode didn't end with an actual victory so much as a withdrawal though. If they actually managed to complete taking down that mech, it would have been a bit too much in terms of Inaho just being that much more capable than everyone else in the military. :p

Loving the explosions and effects too. Getting Hashimoto to be the effects animator on the show was probably one of the smarter decisions they made in the production. Too bad about Sawano though. I guess we win some, we lose some. :p
 

Pooya

Member
4

music during the fight ruined it, blah. multiple EDs? cool.

the pacing is very good, no slowing down in sight.

the ship captain gotta be a relative of Inaho, lolz.

the count looked very stupid still, just want to destroy earth because nothing, he's no ulterior motives seemingly unlike the other one. he looks like to be another worthless mouth like Tohsaka was in f/z so far but far worse. I see early death flags all over him.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
I don't know how you go from a super shield (OP, but sensible) to knocking away bullets with a laser sword.
 

Pooya

Member
Inko this week.
PaIOZOBY.jpg
 

Articalys

Member
For some reason I had a hard time following the flow of the fight scene this week, especially near the end of it.

Also, what was the point of Inaho using the grapple pistol at the end? Didn't look like he really went anywhere with it.
 

Xamdou

Member
For some reason I had a hard time following the flow of the fight scene this week, especially near the end of it.

Also, what was the point of Inaho using the grapple pistol at the end? Didn't look like he really went anywhere with it.

I thought he was going to pick up the girl, but your right he was just hanging there.
 

duckroll

Member
For some reason I had a hard time following the flow of the fight scene this week, especially near the end of it.

Also, what was the point of Inaho using the grapple pistol at the end? Didn't look like he really went anywhere with it.

I think part of the issue is that the mass production mechs really look the same, which is kinda realistic, but not great for visual differentiation.
That wasn't Inaho grappling, it was Calm. He just used the grapple to lift himself up after Inaho gave the order to withdraw because one of the legs got damaged from hold the enemy back earlier and the joints were probably not functioning. Inaho was always on the ship, he never got off.
 
For some reason I had a hard time following the flow of the fight scene this week, especially near the end of it.

Also, what was the point of Inaho using the grapple pistol at the end? Didn't look like he really went anywhere with it.

I just thought that the leg of his mech had jammed since they showed something happening to it earlier, so he was going to try and use gravity to reset it... or make it easier for someone to carry the mech back to the ship
 

LMN

Member
I think part of the issue is that the mass production mechs really look the same, which is kinda realistic, but not great for visual differentiation.
That wasn't Inaho grappling, it was Calm. He just used the grapple to lift himself up after Inaho gave the order to withdraw because one of the legs got damaged from hold the enemy back earlier and the joints were probably not functioning. Inaho was always on the ship, he never got off.

I'm pretty sure that was Inaho, since his unit is #3 and Calm is #1, Inaho was doing all the fighting while Calm was just waiting for the chance after Inko use the crate. I believe the animator make some mistake on the unit# during one scene when Inaho unit stand up to face the enemy where it display #1, but after that it was #3 to the end.

All together, another intense episode, did not disappoint =)
 

duckroll

Member
I'm pretty sure that was Inaho, since his unit is #3 and Calm is #1, Inaho was doing all the fighting while Calm was just waiting for the chance after Inko use the crate. I believe the animator make some mistake on the unit# during one scene when Inaho unit stand up to face the enemy where it display #1, but after that it was #3 to the end.

All together, another intense episode, did not disappoint =)

Oh I watched it again, it was Inaho after all.
I thought he stayed on the ship while Calm did the close combat stuff, but it looks like he got off at the start and it was all him. Lol!
OP as fuck.
 

Articalys

Member
I just thought that the leg of his mech had jammed since they showed something happening to it earlier, so he was going to try and use gravity to reset it... or make it easier for someone to carry the mech back to the ship
Yeah, now that I watched it again I think it was just an easier way for him to get his mech back on its feet, since with one arm missing it probably would have been difficult to get back up on its own. It just had the side effect of looking really silly for him to be hanging there barely above the ground in the final shot.

Also, when the enemy jumped away at the end... where exactly did he go? It's like he was there one second and then completely gone the next.
 
Episode 4

Really not liking the music in the fight scenes. I mean the music is great but the vocals are awful. Rewatching episode 3, I now understand what some people were complaining about.

Why didnt Inaho and the gang tell the crew about the weak points of the enemy? Then again, each of these Knights have a customized Kataphrakt so one guys weakness doesnt mean much for the rest. I wish the adult soldiers were at least a bit more thoughtful about their attacks like Inaho is.

Good progression. I'm guessing now that Slaine will
join the battle but use this as a way to get to the Princess and maybe kill some Knights in the process. Maybe he will get his hands on the Aldnoah.Zero?

Another solid episode.
 

Pooya

Member
what the vocals say anyway? I can't make sense of most of it D:

Episode 4

Good progression. I'm guessing now that Slaine will
join the battle but use this as a way to get to the Princess and maybe kill some Knights in the process. Maybe he will get his hands on the Aldnoah.Zero?

nah that would blow his 'cover', he will go down there for 'support' and backstab the hell out of them, whenever Inaho takes one down he'll hold the pilot at gunpoint leading to the next clue! someone gotta clean up.

also it's obvious there is no 'zero', it's just a silly title because Ei Aoki just likes zeroes and maybe they want to turn this to a running franchise if it works out, aldnoah.whatever :p
 
I think we just need to get used to the fact that anyone older than 18 is useless in anime, or at best significantly less competent than the younger characters.
 

Jex

Member
I don't know how you go from a super shield (OP, but sensible) to knocking away bullets with a laser sword.

Look Haly, this is the Nolanverse. Nolan's just trying to take these comic-book ideas and put them in a realistic setting, but sometimes that 'realism' conflicts with the 'fun' of having silly super-robots do crazy robot stuff. There's an inherent conflict there, I suppose.

Some might call it animenarrativedissonance.
 

Aureon

Please do not let me serve on a jury. I am actually a crazy person.
Pretty solid EP4. Inaho and Slaine are as awesome as they are inhumane.
Being a big proponent of "Realistic doesn't mean entertaining", i heartily welcome them both.

I think we just need to get used to the fact that anyone older than 18 is useless in anime, or at best significantly less competent than the younger characters.

Hey, there's really solid exceptions. Like, Fate/Zero or basically any Gundam.
 
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