Tentacle-Free Anime: "Aldanoah.Zero" (2014) Review

- by Kazekun, 19 January 2015

We're still fresh into the New Year, it's halfway through the current decade, and there have been so many popular Anime coming out in recent years that it's almost difficult nowadays to keep up with them. Actually, for me it has been and so I kind of just pick and choose what to keep up with. Just because it's popular, doesn't mean I'm watching it at the same time as everyone else. But in 2015 I'll be making more of an effort to stay current, at least a little more than I have been in the past. So I'm beginning with this.

"Aldanoah.Zero" (2014); 
Episodes: 12; 
Director: Ei Aoki;
Studio: A-1 Pictures;
Rating: PG-13

Summary: In 1972, the Apollo 17 mission found a hypergate to Mars on the surface of the moon. Upon landing, astronauts discovered an enchanted utility later referred to as "Aldnoah," giving the astronauts a status of superiority. Soon, many humans have relocated to Mars, and have adapted to the name "Martians." After Princess Asseylum, a royal Martian princess, descends onto Earth in an attempt to create a treaty between both planets, a war breaks out between Earth and Mars, and Martian soldiers begin to descend from the sky, riding steel giants, intent on exterminating humanity.  [MyAnimeList.net]

Aldanoah.Zero. Going into it, you can tell where the instant appeal is. It's different, even among the mecha series of the different eras (and there are many). In the here and now A.Z offers something new, and really exciting with an awesome premise and a first episode that hooks you immediately. This is actually very similar to Attack on Titan, except without the mainstream appeal that show has going for it. The biggest difference between these two is Aldanoah.Zero keeps its pace throughout the 12 episodes consistently. Unfortunately, this doesn't play to its strengths.

Promo image.

Watching this series, even at its breakneck pace, I found myself getting bored fast and staying that way for quite awhile. There is such an abundance of characters in the cast, without much room for them, that the writers try to force you to like most of the cast without giving you much of a reason. In fact, one of those characters is killed off early on and is just brushed aside. I get it, the entire series is a war zone: things happen, move on. But if I'm told that all these high school kids are really good friends, and one of their friends dies, then I need to see concern, emotion, tears.

That brings me to Inaho, the main character of A.Z, the driving force of the story and what makes this series a frustrating watch for me. He's without emotion, no matter what's going on around him and we're never given any context as to why that is.  

That's awesome, I can live with the main character syndrome, but in episode 2, Japan is going through a nationwide evacuation and literally this kid goes out of his way to go home and make dinner and his sister has to force him to evacuate. The mind most clearly boggles.

It's like a bad return to the '90s.

We also do not learn anything about Inaho, even why he's so without emotion. It's hinted at that he's so detached because he's so smart, but I would've rather had a more concrete answer since we're supposed to be rooting for him. I'm just never a fan of emotionless characters. I think they're a lazy way of writing so that you can just easily brush certain events aside and keep going.  Most of the that characters we do learn about and get to “care” about are side characters. Both on the good and bad side of things (but ultimately majority of the villains are one-note villains without any remorse or caring, because why not?), and we even get to see a really well orchestrated showing of PTSD.

A.Z also likes to revolve its story around events just “happening” and never explaining the how's and why's. An example is a little Martian girl driving an armored Terran vehicle that she has never even touched before, and who also shouldn't even be able to see over the steering wheel. It's a lot of little things that just add up to mediocre storytelling because someone needs to get to spot B from spot A and “How the heck do we do that??” “Just make something up!” – That's how I imagine most of the story meetings going. Finally, the villains are so overpowered that quite quickly it becomes apparent this is the show where majority of characters are going to be fodder and nothing more. You get to see entire armies go against a single force, the so-called steel giants, and it just feels very shounen and dated. I couldn't get behind it, even IF they had an explanation for being so overpowered. Of course, the mecha designs for the Martians are just ugly regardless so that didn't help.

Vers Attacks!

Okay, okay, I keep ripping on this anime. So why did I even bother reviewing it? Well, it's strange, as many flaws as I found in this anime (and could continue to point out), A.Z is infectious. It's a show where you just feel like you need to know what's going to happen next and that keeps you coming back for the series. It does the cliffhanger really well (something another Titan based anime was really good at), and like I stated first and foremost in this review A.Z feels very different than anything being put on air right now and that helps it a lot.

The story does feel very ill-paced up until episode 6, where I feel as if the series finds its footing and knows where its going and how it's going to get there. So the last 7 episodes in general are far better than the first 5, and if you can get to episode 6 you'll find yourself really sucked in. Episode 9 has a wonderful cliffhanger too where I found myself, for the first time, actually excited to see what happens next. And while we're on the subject of cliffhangers, the final episode ends on the probably the biggest cliffhanger I've seen in a long, long time. And has me officially coming back for season 2 (which has already started).

Princess of Vers.

The animation for A.Z isn't bad, the mechs are really bulky which is a side effect from really bad CGI. They move slowly, and in the case of the Martians just look awful in general. The CGI is the worst part of the animation, you can definitely tell where the budget was. The characters themselves aren't anything special, they all look pretty generic so it feels like you can put any other character in their shows, change their personality a bit, and call it the same show. Which isn't a good thing, but it's easy to get over.

The real winner of A.Z is the music. This is what makes the series worthwhile for me, the music is epic, bumpin', helpless, and sweet all at the same time. The insert music is inserted quite well into the show and they know when to use the right music or no music at all (like in the final credits of season 1). The best track is far and beyond the opening song “Heavenly Blue” by Kalafina, they just deliver such a great performance and the song itself is infectious and entrancing. The series also has 2 different endings that swap out every other episode. Not sure why they chose to do that, but it definitely works.

Aldanoah.Zero, as a whole, doesn't work. It's full of forced story moments, little character progression and inconsistent character personalities throughout. It's really over-hyped and there are a lot of better stuff out there. But it's easy to get sucked into, and it's easy to want to know what's happening next. It holds onto you really well and doesn't let go. As the final credits roll you're left going “What? What??  What?!?!?!?!” So even if you disagree with A.Z it makes you want to come back for more. And that's the real hook. I will be returning for season 2, which actually has the potential now to be better than season 1. I'm hooked, whether I want to be or not.

Final Score: 2.5 Aldanoah Drives out of 5



Have you seen "Aldanoah.Zero"? How did you like it? 

Tagged: Tentacle-Free Anime, movies & TV.

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