At times, the changes made were so minuscule that the only thing done was name substitution. The circumstantial evidence of which was so apparent, that by merely reciting the setup of its premise, the tumor-like symbiosis that it shares with the patriarch it draws blood from could still be seen desperately clinging to the surface; bite marks still fresh from where the ideas were directly leeched off from, stopping just short of wholesaling arcs and iconography in its entirety.
Mankind is broken into two separate governing factions, with the ones residing in space, the Vers Empire of Mars, treating the inhabitants of earth as inferior relics of their past. With bad blood still looming over both nations, the people of the Vers Empire finally declares war on their former "Terren" brethren once again, after the temporary truce of a fifteen-year period of civil unrest was finally brought to an end. With these two nations plunged back into battle, a ragged-tagged group of teens and public servants find themselves swallowed up in the chaos, leading to their boarding of a military vessel, as they pilot mechs and fend off the endless wave of enemy invaders. Poorly trained and doing everything in their power to survive, the only hope left for this motley crew is to seek out the assistance of the Earth's united front, as the fight for dominion over the planet marches forward.
Sound familiar?
The idea of "paying homage" quickly topples like a house of cards when the piracy on display is this blatant.
The fresh coat of "Vers Empire of Mars" paint still wet, as it barely covers up the stolen "Principality of Zeon" ornament positioned underneath. But try not to wince too much, you need to save your composure for the rebranding of "newtypes" as "Aldnoah users" and all the subsequent "borrowing" yet to come, as the story drags itself down an inevitable path. The impression of reverse engineering can't be ignored, with plot points charted out from lifted passages of other works, the bold outlines of which already taking shape before the actual arc does due to little to no effort placed towards diversifying the formula.
And if that wasn't apparent enough, this is a show that deploys shock value moments and plot twists, but the obviousness of it being there all long prevents any of it from truly being "shocking" in any sense of the word. Like whenever you watch a horror movie and everything cuts to silence while the character's hands grip the side of the bathroom sink, the medicine cabinet left ajar, and—you guessed it—a jumpscare occurring right after they close it and the mirror reveals something standing behind them; an act that's usually highlighted by a loud audible stinger. You may have involuntarily been spooked at those scenes in movies before, but at no point were you surprised by the placement of the jumpscare itself. That's the feeling that Aldnoah has with its content. When you do nothing but take ideas from other works, it's hard not to see things coming from a mile away. It could still keep your interest because of it, but any sense of validity it may have been desperately holding onto can only be taken seriously from those still new to the experience or less-demanding of their consumer goods.
This is also true for the main character, Inaho, a default bodysuit made with the sole purpose of giving the viewer a shell to occupy as they walk around the scenery. His expression marked off with a thousand-yard-stare, with an interest in eggs being the only discernable desire shown (no, I'm not even joking). The thin veneer of a "personality" is barely there. I've seen dozens of self-insert male protagonists in my lifetime, and yet even I am taken aback by the sheer lack of effort on display here. Being emptied of any personality also seems to be the secret ingredient to becoming a genius tactician as well, as Inaho defeats numerous military personnel using what little school-combat training he acquired before the war broke out.
But Inaho, lover of eggs and master of combat, isn't alone. Joining him on the main lead podium is his antithesis, Slaine, a person with perhaps too much emotion to spare. Fighting for the Empire of Vers, Slaine is our proxy to see things from the other side. Although, it's more of a surprise that anyone would even grant him a chance to fight any battle instead of placing him in a mental asylum. For every instance of Inaho acting like the human embodiment of a brick wall, Slaine is channeling his inner Saturday morning cartoon villain. It's honestly pretty entertaining, if only for all the wrong reasons. Like if all the implied subtextual autism of the newtype breed in Gundam was balled into a singular entity then condensed into a neutron star. That "star" being this highly volatile character, ready to "go off" at a moment's notice—and boy, does he ever "go off."
As if making meta-commentary about the show being a bootleg version of the Gundam franchise, the mecha suits themselves are these jagged clumps of computer-generated apathy. Horrendously processed things that act as constant reminders that you're watching an anime and not truly experiencing it. Thankfully, some of the people staffed with bringing this anime to life seemed to have cared about the finished product, as the post-production work helped aided in masking the issue as much as possible. Fights would often take place at dusk or dawn, with dust and debris kicked up to camouflage the inherent ugliness of the suits in motion. Pilots divebombing as they're surrounded by snow, the cast shadow of a winter storm draped behind them. Busy locations with buildings and landmarks to keep from fixating too much on the CGI combatants. It was all very commendable. Didn't stop the rest of the staff from not giving a fuck, but hey, at least someone tried. Also, Yuki Kajiura did Yuki Kajiura, so there's that.
When watching Aldnoah.Zero, it's hard to get upset at it. Sure, you could raise your pitchforks high for what's a blatant ripoff, but really, who cares? It's not going to stop Gundam from existing. There's a 65-foot replica of a Mobile Suit overlooking Tokyo bay after all, while the most adoration Aldnoah is getting is a few action figure purchases off of Amazon's website.
With lots of violence, cartoonish villainy, and silly narrative twists to go around, Aldnoah.Zero was an entertaining off-brand. The kind of thing you pop in for cheap thrills and occasional blips of entertainment, only to forget it 15 minutes later when you do decide to watch an actual show instead. With all things considered, Aldnoah just ended up demonstrating just how much of a seminal piece of work its parental inspiration is, and if only for that bit of indirect self-reinforcement, I accept this dimestore bootleg into the fold.
