Story: 4/10
The story is predicated on the assassination of the princess of Vers (Mars) but it isn't engaging at all. During the whole series, she's essentially the character in the least amount of danger after the failed assassination attempt. A few minor changes would have made this anime a 7, 8, or even a 9. The removal of some minor character, some relationship links, some familial ties maybe.
*spoiler - Ep 2* Had Inaho's sister actually died, the MC would have had something riding on defeating the Vers knights.
Most of the characters have their own tragic reason for wanting to battle the Vers empire and end the war... everyone but the MC. He's just the brother of a pilot school instructor, who happens to be yet another Logan's Run-esque middle school aged messiah figure/tactical genius. He's comparatively good at maneuvering the bots, only because everyone else literally stands there shooting at things.
The story has zero stakes in play, every character is floating in the thin water soup that is the 'plot' of this anime, and in fact, many of them don't need to be there at all, namely Lt. Marito. I really could have given a shit about the fate of these characters.
Art: 7/10
A typically visually pleasing anime from A-1 Productions. A little bit of same face different hair syndrome happening with a handful of the female characters, but hey, look at K-on, those girls are essentially the same person in four different wigs and most people like that anime.
Characters: A sub-par storyline clearly doesn't have many compelling characters. 4/10
The only character that has any inkling of development in these 12 episodes (though at the time of writing I've only seen 7 episodes because the plot is pretty transparent already) is Slaine, and that's only because he starts off as a spineless fanboy and becomes an almost three-dimensional character, almost.
Sound:8/10
The soundtrack during the lacklustre fight scenes almost makes you think something integral to the plot is happening; but of course, that's just the magic of a decent soundtrack. If not for the music, the fight scenes would have been at best, cringe-worthy.
TL;DR: Banal anime with barely any plot, cool enough art, and semi-decent characters, watch it if you're tired of animes with umm.. plots and character development I guess.
