 |
 |
 |
That was one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen. And I watch anime!
We’re at the point now where “suspend disbelief” has pretty much been ass-kicked and left for dead at the side of the road. I’m no sure which is sillier, the sheer logistical impossibilities or the preposterous character arcs (I know which is more exasperating for me), but it’s becoming clear that in order to derive the most enjoyment out of Aldnoah.Zero I’m just going to have to abandon all pretense of intellectual involvement, turn off 90% of cerebral function and appreciate the considerable stylistic flourish and sheer bombast.
In an episode where a 130 CM loli driving a Humvee like a professional soldier isn’t even the silliest moment, you know you’re in for a hell of a ride. What do I cede that title to? There are so many contenders, but I think the winner would have to be Rayet’s complete and unearned redemption a mere episode after her vicious and unprovoked attempt on Asseylum’s life. It was predictable but disheartening nonetheless, and you could almost hear credibility sputtering its last breath with Asseylum’s delighted reaction to seeing Rayet manning the Kataphrakt running alongside her. So long plausibility, it was nice knowing you.
So if the series is basically over on the character side, that leaves us with the action. And it’s good, damn good – especially when the soundtrack kicks in. But forgive me for saying so, but couldn’t one have made that same statement about Guilty Crown? I suppose one can watch Eddie driving a vehicle in which her feet could not possibly touch the pedals, and doing so with supreme precision, and not be bothered by it. I still feel like even in a far-fetched acton pic the writing owes the audience a certain amount of effort at actually making sense, but I guess that’s a personal choice.
Then we have Inaho in full Marty Stu mode, with the entire assembled Earth military obediently taking orders from him. That’s old news in Aldnoah by now, of course, but I don’t think we’ve ever seen it illustrated quite so starkly. If nothing else we’re seeing the unmasking of Inaho – the facade is not a mask, it’s his real face. Sadly, Slaine continues to be pretty irrelevant to the action at this point – he’s taken a transport and raced to Earth as soon as he hears Saazbaum’s men confirm Asseylum’s location, but just as he gets there the Deucalion has blasted the escape hatch open with its own missiles and lifted off. In addition to torture porn and possible NTR, it appears poor Slaine is fated to suffer a perpetual case of narrative blue balls.
For me, what’s still working is the music video side of things and the sociopolitical aspect of the story. As Marito points out, what Saazbaum is doing here is classic pre-industrial military strategy – invade in overwhelming numbers, claim as your own, and leave no one to complain about it. I really like this idea of a society with far-future technology and medieval cultural values, and Aldnoah is doing a good job of showing just what a nightmare that would be. Of course it’s also doing a good job of pulling off beautiful set pieces set to beautiful music. Using the Deucalion as a battering ram is old hat in dramatic terms, but it’s nicely brought off (though the lack of an explosion when it impacted the landing castle is a bit odd, and suggests plot armor kicking in for the many named characters still on-board).
The question, really, is where Aoki-sensei and the Takayama-sensei take things from here. There’s not a whole lot left for Earth, at least superficially – their HQ has been wiped out, their Aldnoah-powered battleship destroyed, and seemingly little infrastructure remains intact. If indeed there is a second cour – which until I see officially confirmed I take as a strongly-supported rumor – is it destined to be a story or a ragged Earth resistance fighting an occupying Martian government on Earth? At the least I hope the perpetual C.T. with Slaine comes to a close, and he’s allowed to advance to the next stage of his character arc – which would presumably be finally meeting Inaho and Asseylum face-to-face. But there’s me starting to worry about character again, and that’s almost certainly a mistake…
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
jim
September 14, 2014 at 5:00 amwhen the princess was boarding the ship:
*background shifts right
*Humvee magically staying within frame while driving towards it without any indication of turning
sonicsenryaku
September 14, 2014 at 5:24 am"narrative blue balls"…you sir just made my day with that
rebiawatkins
September 15, 2014 at 4:10 am+1
Enzo you managed to put into words perfectly what was irritating me about the writing for Slaine's character
Also, this feels familiar, I know this isn't the first time I've been irritated by a character's "perpetual narrative blue balling" Though I can't recall any specific examples right now, I feel like this is a nasty trope that rears its head fairly often
admin
September 15, 2014 at 4:57 amIt does indeed, though Slaine is one of the more extreme cases I've seen in some time.
Simone
September 14, 2014 at 6:33 amWhen the princess explained the Aldnoah mechanism my thought was "well then it's easy… kill Saazbaum. You know, the guy who rushed to the frontlines in a kataphract like the ones Inaho serially wrecked in the first part of the series".
But no, boarding the enemy fortress was considered more practical. Well, at least they have an Aldnoah powered battleship to lay siege to it…
Oh, wait, no, we go for an orbital drop Starship Troopers-style. Wait, why again? And still, Sauzbaum flies right in front of the Deucalion – he really wants to remember them that blasting his ass to space would be the easiest path to victory – but still HIS Aldnoah powered Kataphract is so much powerful than their Aldnoah powered battleship that it curbstomps it in one attack. Well, whatever. At least it all looks pretty.
owler
September 14, 2014 at 6:41 amI need a t-shirt with that first sentence on it.
edzon gaitan
September 14, 2014 at 7:44 amWith regard to the sequence in which the Princess collect the Deucalion was rotating on itself so I think that is the explanation of that scene break
Roger
September 14, 2014 at 10:16 am" I suppose one can watch Eddie driving a vehicle in which her feet could not possibly touch the pedals, and doing so with supreme precision, and not be bothered by it."
I was like "What the?! When the hell did she learn to drive like that?!" and "Hey, where did they even get the keys for that Humvee?" Still, I can forgive it for being an unintentional hilarious scene.
What really kills this one for me is Inaho's downright Marty Stu-ness. It's as if all the adults just turned laughably useless just to emphasis that he is the hero of the story Hey, even Lelouch had his plans being screwed from time to time. But this? I don't even know. And then there is that "I have more experience fighting Martian kataphrakts than all of you here" line of his. If he doesn't even get called out for that arrogance, I don't really know what to think anymore.
Still, music is awesome as always.
Sarapen
September 14, 2014 at 6:06 pmMilitary Humvees tend not to have keys, just a switch to start the engine. A soldier could lose valuable seconds fumbling for the keys while being shot at, or worse, they could discover that the keys are on a dead guy in the middle of a mine field or something. Plus the vehicles usually have armed men standing guard on them when not in use, so they're not easy to steal.
See this picture: http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5127b94169beddd87900000d-1200/when-you-get-in-before-patrol-you-push-the-engine-start-lever-to-the-right-no-keys-needed-although-we-pranked-new-guys-by-asking-them-to-find-the-keys-to-the-humvee.jpg
Roger
September 15, 2014 at 1:56 amah, thanks for clarifying that up. I guess I was thinking more of the civilian models.
Eternia
September 15, 2014 at 3:26 amAh. Good information there, bro. It all makes sense.
I expect the same rules applies to most military vehicles.
Imagine a group of soldiers being chased by enemy.
"On board! On board!"
"Start the engine! Now! What takes you so long?"
"Sorry captain, the key was left behind in our dead soldier's pocket"
LOL.
vincee87
September 14, 2014 at 10:33 amI imagine if Michael Bay made anime, it wouldn't be very different from Aldnoah Zero.
leongsh
September 14, 2014 at 11:39 amIt's a popcorn action show. Enjoy as such and try not to think too much about it.
Nero
September 14, 2014 at 7:16 pmBADASS LOLI! This scene made my day.