Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova

Some might actually say that this is an Harem style anime with efforts to bled CG into an anime along with some other factors lets go ahead and look at some points. Story itself is so far interesting in no way is the anime accurate to them manga so if you were turned off by the anime give the manga a chance there are a few detail that were missed. Art style was a bit hard at time to watch with the blending of Cg effects in with animation. Movements of characters at times did seem fluid and you could tell off the bat that ... it was cg. I enjoyed the opening theme a lot and the ending theme the over all sound quality of this anime was decent enough a lot of the voice overs I did enjoy a lot. Character development was a bit wonky but once again not compared to the manga. Overall it was an enjoyable anime that had interesting points and also a good story to boot the idea that this also considered an harem anime is far from it. The female mental models are not after the main character or even after Iona but they are what the AI thought that ships would look like due to the fact that humans humanize things like cars, boats and planes we generally refer to those items as "she" so I give the creator an extra point for that idea alone and my final verdict would be 7.1 score for this anime. Please do give the manga a shot its a lot better than the anime.

O que falar sobre Aoki Hagane? Se ele já é um anime magnífico por si só Hagane é o tipo de anime que você não dá nada, por tratar-se de embarcações/submarinos. Porém, ele tem um diferencial. Além das embarcações terem “sentimentos” e meio que serem “pessoas”, ele aborda uma temática, bastante peculiar. O anime em si, passa-se no futuro. Quase não existindo mais terra, superfície. Então, as forças armadas de maior poder, é a marinha. O personagem principal, como capitão de sua tripulação. Realiza certos serviços, para a marinha, e o anime, vai desenrolando-se basicamente nisso. Mas, por quê, Hagane consegue ser tão bom? Primeiro: ... o personagem principal, é um gênio estrategista. E personagens do tipo “inteligentes” sempre são bem vistos. Segundo: o anime se baseia em um futuro meio que pós apocalíptico, com um toque de Seinen e Cyber-punk. Para os que adoram tão tema, irão amar. Terceiro: a história que o anime apresenta, é boa, então não há tanto o que reclamar. E quarto: o anime traz algo inovador, que é as batalhas de submarinos, baseadas em estratégias e tudo mais. E, é por isso que Hagane consegue ser tão bom.


What to talk about Aoki Hagane? If it is already a magnificent anime by itself Hagane is the kind of anime that you give nothing, because it is about boats / submarines. However, it has a differential. In addition to the vessels having "feelings" and kind of being "people", it tackles a very peculiar theme. The anime itself, happens in the future. Almost no more earth, surface. So the most powerful military is the navy. The main character, as captain of his crew. It performs certain services, for the navy, and the anime, it goes basically unfolding in this. But why, Hagane can be so good? First: the main character, is a genius strategist. And "smart" characters are always well-regarded. Second: the anime is based on a future post apocalyptic medium, with a touch of Seinen and Cyber-punk. For those who love such a theme, they will love. Third: the story that the anime presents, is good, so there is so much to complain about. And fourth: the anime brings something innovative, which is the submarine battles, based on strategies and everything. And that's why Hagane manages to be so good.

Alright. If you are going to watch this anime, you also have to watch BOTH movies after you finish the series. You see all the people complaining about unanswered questions? The movies answer them.

Alright, now for my review.

Art style is great. While people complain about CGI in anime, the CGI in here is great. It is not like some anime where CGI kills it. The amount of detail is amazing. Since the show takes place mostly at sea, not much detail to see in the background. However, the foreground has lots of detail. For instance, the ships seen in the story are based off real ... ships. Every detail is there from a ladder to the anti-aircraft armament. to a chip in the paint. Even when it shows characters in the foreground and lets say an information panel is the background, you can clearly read the information on that panel. The art is not mind-blowingly amazing, but it fits the shows well and is not an eye sore.

Plot is great. People say the plot is non-existent, they are wrong. To be honest, it is a bit weak when you watch the anime alone, but when you tie in the movies it becomes really strong. Character development is strong. People say that the crew of the I-401 gets no backstory or character development while the Ships of the fog get more even though they are side characters. They say that is a bad thing. In reality, the show is not just about the crew of the I-401 saving humanity, but it has a Philosophical twist. The Ships of the fogs are basically sentient beings that can express emotion, but don't understand it. Since they don't understand it, they look down upon it. The Characters develop as they learn about emotions, and each character finds peace in a different emotion. The human characters, on the other hand, get very subtle changes, mainly with their view of the ships of the fog. If you like subtle character development this is a good one to watch.

Music fit the anime pretty well no complaints

The anime was a joy to watch, it always remained interesting and the battles always had unique tactics. By that I mean they didn't reuse the same trump card to defeat every enemy.

I should warn you, if you don't like having a show give you only the barebones backstory to just tell you what got you here, then you will be frustrated with this. If it isn't important, you don't know the backstory. What matters in the anime is the present and future, the past is not important. All you need to know is who this character is and if they are friend or foe.

While the idea is not exactly unique, it is executed well, but only if you watch the series and both movies. Even the first one, which shows highlights from the anime series for the first half with a small prequel scene, and then takes place where the anime left off when you reach the second half of the film.

All in all, if you like anime with some philosophical twist, character development that you actually have to think about and dissect, and don't mind watching this 12 episode series and two 110 minute movies, you will like this.

Going to try to write this one in paragraphs instead of the separated categories like I usually do, those who find those sort of reviews more helpful ill leave a version of that review on the bottom

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Review for Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio : Ars Nova (Arpeggio Blue Steel)
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At the beginning I personally was not used to the mix of the 3D animation and sort of 2D backgrounds and sort of thought the character's movements were very stiff. Though as watch more this will bother you less and less till the point you don't notice anything wrong with it. The Main characters have been developed ... well, the supporting cast is really strong and may as well be mains.

An anime that at first glance may seem like it would become a harem but it doesn't and though this may seem disappointing for some it actually develops quite nicely all the characters have their reasons for their actions and they are'nt all after our protagonist.

The sound has been done well all the voice acting is great, the sound effects for all the naval battles meet 'quality standards' as to say, I'm sure you would have heard them elsewhere.

I personally enjoyed the anime and personally feel there is room for a season 2 but the season closed in a way where it is not needed, Looking forward to the movie.

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Review done in my usual category type: (for those who prefer it that way)

Story : The story played out in this anime may not be unique but it has been executed very well, Lots of ups and downs and very little down time from the action. So if your looking for advance tech naval strategies this is the anime for you.

Art : The art style is essentially 3D Characters, 3D Ships, 2D backgrounds (it seems to be I'm quite sure it is). The 3D characters threw me off a bit during the first episode as the characters movements seemed stiff and not fluent. Though its like they changed artists after the first episode and the art feels better after the first episode. 3D ships well personally I feel this may be the only way to get some really cool naval battle action and its very well done.
Indoors and basically when they are not on the ship the backgrounds are 2D the characters may seem 2D during these scenes as well. Messy start but works well as you continue to watch.

Sound : Great voice acting, Good sound effects. The sounds reach 'quality standards' as per say. Done really well I'm sure you heard some of the effects used in other things.

Characters : The Main characters have been developed well and the supporting cast is also quite developed and strong, They may as well all be main characters in this. Happy to say there is only one love triangle and the other girls have their own reasons for their actions.

Enjoyment : Personally enjoyed watching our protagonists solve problems and how all the naval action is done, The story was enjoyable to watch and I'm looking forward to watching the upcoming movie.

Overall opinion: It's an ok anime, it could have been much better.

Story 6/10 I'm quite disappointed regarding the storyline of this anime. Although the storyline isn't terrible, it doesn't progress much and there are some things that should have been included in it. So the anime is pretty much about a boy commanding a submarine and a few warships and defeating a group of enemy ships known as the 'Fog Fleet' that have been attacking human ships. One of the things that really should have been included in the anime is the origins of the fog fleet. The only things we really know about the ... fog fleet are that they are pretty much a group of super warships armed with weapons that surpass human technology that aim to destroy human ships at sea and the fact that they are given orders from an unknown authority that controls them. Other 'holes' in the storyline include what happens to maya after kongo is defeated and even more important, the fate of the fog fleet. Do they eventually come under the control of Gunzo or do they all get destroyed, wiping out their threat? Regarding Maya after Kongo absorbed her, how come she doesn't reappear after Kongo's defeat from Iona? Furthermore, we don't even see Gunzo successfully delivering the torpedo that has the potential to defeat the fog fleet to USA. The storyline is quite shallow and it lacks some important things, lowering the score down.

Art 10/10 The animation in arpeggio of blue steel is outstanding. CGI effects during the battles are especially stunning. It looks boss when the lasers and missiles explode or hit on impact. Character design is also excellent.

Sound 10/10 The sound track is great in the anime. The opening song suits this anime very well. The sound for the battles is also done well and it mixes well with the stunning animation.

Characters 4/10 I don't really like the characters much in this anime. Most of the time, the characters are really one-dimensional and you don't see much about them because they don't spend much time on the screen. Another thing I find doesn't make much sense is why the characters (except Iona) choose to follow Gunzo instead of staying with the fog fleet.

Enjoyment 7/10 Arpeggio of blue steel is a reasonably good anime if you like anime that has superb animation and sound mixed with battle scenes for more interest although it could have been better had it been longer so that there would be more development.

Recommendation: Would recommend it, however not as a must-watch anime.

The sci-fi genre has never been better with the debut of Aoki Hagane no Apreggio: Ars Nova. Not to mention it is also apart of the action genre to make it much more of a power house. This is definitely one of the animes of the Fall line up you do not want to miss out on for an array of notable reasons. Intriguing story filled with mystery, action packed episodes that will literally glue your eyes to the screen in an amazement, incredible, yet refreshing art & animation and more. One could possibly argue it has the whole package, aside from few little kinks.



Story ... - 8.5

There is definitely a nod to the older generations of sci-fi with all its glory of futuristic advanced war ships with laser beams and catastrophic missiles. Ars Nova is equipped with all of this. The series has a very intriguing setting to say the least, with many questions and mysteries shrouding the plot of the story. As the synopsis mentions the world, of course humanity, is essentially underseige by an unknown enemy later known as "The Fleet of Fog," which are futuristic,technologically advanced warships, that totally outclass the humans races cruisers. The protagonist is the last hope against these mysterious foes that inhabit the waters all over the world. As for plot progression and overall pace of the anime is very exceptional, not too fast and not too slow. No complaints here and it should very well stay like that.



Art & Animation - 9

Probably the most notable thing about this series is the art style and animation. The whole anime is rendered out in CGI as mentioned in my blog post about my first impression about the Ars Nova. This can be a hate it or love it type of deal to many, however in my opinion this type of style looks fantastic and sometimes can hardly tell once involved and engrossed in the story & visuals. This gives off a new level of perception and how we view anime. How often do we get to see full CGI episodes? Some usual methods that anime today try to incorporate CGI for example are, slide of the camera in a battle scene (EX: Attack on Titan last episode), aerial view of an army (Kingdom 2, pretty horrible, yes I know), simple cars passing by (Golden Time), mechas in battle (Valrave) and so on. Battle scenes between these vessels of mass destruction are phenomenally done and are extremely exciting and engaging to watch. The color choice and vibrancy or radiance from the ships and missiles are beautiful and visually stunning.



Characters - 7.5

There are a variety of characters on this show, however the obvious highlight and focus here is between the protagonist and his companion. This type of connection reminds me of a variety of animes in the past that delve in the same type of scenarios. The duo certainly makes itself one of the more notable batman and robin type roles in today's anime. One that quickly comes to mind is Outlaw Star and perhaps even one of the more recent animes, Suisei no Gargantia, however it doesn't nearly reach as much depth as the for-mentioned predecessors . Character development makes an appearance ever so subtly which is good. Slow and steady wins the race. One thing in this section that hopefully gets addressed as the series progresses is making more time for back stories of the other cast members, rather than the spot light being on the two main characters the entire time. Getting familiar with each character and by adding depth to them really makes for a good supporting cast that can shine and be more memorable.



Wow Factor - 9

Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio is definitely a thrill ride worth experiencing whether your a fan of sci-fi or action. Each episode thus far is perfectly done and has a good mesh of different genres and elements. Watching intelligently, well thought out strategies unfold and take action really makes the action scenes very suspenseful to watch and literally being absorbed or for a lack of a better term, immersed in the action. Absolutely one of the better animes of Fall 2013.



Final Grade - 8.5 -> 8 (AnimeList)


+ Intense action
+ Stunning animation and refreshing art direction/style


Do I recommend this series to watch? Yes, if you like sci-fi shows with battle ships, high powered lasers, war, enthralling action, refreshing art style, and with an intriguing story. Aoki Hagane no Apreggio: Ars Nova is definitely the one for you.



- Azure Sky of AniRaters

Arpeggio has a story which has been done before. Post-Apocalyptic fighting for earth against an not very known enemy (Neon Genesis) but with cute girls on battleships and submarines instead of giant frightening monsters (Angels). For the sake of a fair review I won't compare the two series any longer. This series does art fairly well with CG (Considering I myself don't like CG too much). The action scenes seem fluent and the battles seem well made but some times it can be off disservice (When they are talking 1 on 1 it seems a little bit rough with the animation). The soundtrack wasn't that ... exciting but did some of its job but other times I completely forgot this anime had a soundtrack. The opening song Savior of Song sung by the YouTube singer Nano who did an excellent work on this track. The characters are quite stereotype like with Iona who is the typical Kuudere and Takao who feels like the typical Tsundere. The main character Chihaya Gunzou is actually some what useful in this story and I feel I like him more then normal male protagonists in this genre.

Overall the series can be given a watch considering its episodes only go up to 12 but do not come into this anime expecting something new because most of this show has been done before. I can give it credit for making underwater naval combat intense.

Ah, Ars Nova. One of my favorite show in Fall 2013 anime's lineup and definitely my favorite anime in the field of action genre. Despite the CG animation, which I really don't mind, it is one of the anime with good story even though it became somehow less serious after Makie's episode (e.g. Hyuuga being dere on Iona) but regained seriousness before it ended. And being a nano fan, I enjoyed Ars Nova's opening as well as its other OSTs. You can say it's a horrible anime maybe because of the CG animation and/or the story but one thing I can say is that Ars ... Nova is unique in its own way and that what makes it special.

Now, going to the story..

So what's Ars Nova is about? Well, you can say it's like Code Geass which has a protagonist that came to meet a not-your-normal-girl type and has gone to become like fugitives who is an enemy of both government and "Fleet of Fog" and encountered other Mental Models in the series. Besides that, another story in Ars Nova is how Mental Models, take Takao for example, have started to have emotions and feelings for humans like Chihaya Gunzou and with those traits, caused them to be "defective Mental Models" and become an enemy of the Fog.

Those said, one might think the story is boring and bland but it is not. Well, there's few non-serious scenes like the Hyuuga thing but overall, it's as great as it gets. The battles, which the series is full of, are top-tier action in Ars Nova way because obviously, it is not like Reborn or Fairy Tail which have constant clashing and fighting everytime whenever there's battle but Ars Nova is more of a Code Geass type that has strategies in between battles. Regarding the being defective Mental Models part, there's nothing much I could say but as we know, things are developing and most of the time, copes with the environment they are on and that said, I think it's normal to them to develop such traits and be defective. And lastly, the ending. Like most endings, what happens after is short but well done. Overall, Ars Nova's story makes it worth a watch and clearly deserves a high rating.

For the art... Like what I said before, Ars Nova is full CG animation and probably many people would find it bad but in my opinion, it actually suits the anime well. That said, because it's a CG anime, the emotions of the characters are overall not that good as there were many times when they are emotionless and doesn't fit the scene but aside from that, the ships, the battles, the designs, all were superb and that's why I gave it a rating of eight.

Moving on to soundtracks..

As what you can see on my profile, nano is one of my favorite people and she's one of my favorite singers due to her capability of singing in both English and Japanese and with that, obviously I would say the opening as well as the fourth ending was great but seriously, it is great. The background music during battles were doing what exactly their job is and it is to give the action scenes more intensity and make it more exciting and great. Other background music is also as great as others and they compliment the scene well.

For the characters, basically, the supporting characters like Kongou and Takao did get the most changes. I'm not going to say what change they had throughout the show but I guess those changes made the story flow. For our main characters, Chihaya Gunzou and Iona, there's not much development except for Iona understanding the humans and that's it. They pretty much stayed the same as well as their colleagues which didn't have that much screentime. With those said, I guess you can conclude that antagonist got more changes and Mental Models are one of the focus of the story (like what I said).

So overall, Arpeggio of Blue Steel: Ars Nova is one good action sci-fi anime. The CG art should suffice and this aspect is the one to decide whether you'll watch it or drop it but look at other aspects first before doing so. There are less serious scenes which make them breather scenes if you are having a hard time because of the actions that are happening throughout the show. The show was enjoyable at the very least. It couldn't be entertaining like other anime for it being only a 12-episode anime but I think it can be enought to show how good and enjoyable this show is. So if you are looking for an action/sci-fi anime, why not try Ars Nova? Trust me, it's worth as it is unique in its own way.

The premise of the oceans being blockaded by an alien force intrigued me enough to watch the series. Arpeggio can be described as a naval anime with a dash of harem thrown in. The characters and storyline are terribly undeveloped. The sentient AI are empty dolls and most of their conversations are abstract musings about free will, love, altruism, etc. Even the human characters are totally one-dimensional, including the protagonist captain. There are only a few rare scenes where the characters are allowed to be eccentric enough to be amusing or interesting; otherwise everyone is almost always emotionless. It doesn't help that the characters are ... also computer-modelled. Their movement looks stiffer and more boring than regular 2-d animation.
The question of the origin of the aliens and their purpose are not answered in this season so there's no satisfaction of solving that mystery. The CG animation is often flashy and occasionally pretty cool looking and the naval tactics are sometimes clever, but aside from those two points, there isn't much of interest about this show.

What would happen if machines developed or were given sentient life? Would they eventually obtain personalities based on their surroundings and experiences, or would they remain the emotionless brains they were developed to be?

The story behind Ars Nova is unknown setting. We don't know where they came from, what they want, who made them or why some are helping while others are destroying. The story played however is no so much the journey that they make but is more so based around how the actions of humans, peak curiosity in supposed, emotionless sentient machines. It plays itself out really well without itself predictable outside ... of some action/battle scenes.

Art styles seem to be that of an experiment. CGI out the wazoo. Characters, large object, just about everything that isn't scenery or background is made with CGI. It makes everything animated run incredibly smooth but still lacks in a few places when trying to add emotion to the characters faces. However with the addition of cell shading, only on characters while everything else uses full shades, tones and gradients, they have pulled of the 3D visual effect really well without it looking like the whole thing was made in a simple program like MMD.

Sounds here and there can be picked out from common stock model sounds but with the vast majority sounding new, they take action scenes to a whole new level of excitement when combined with the animation style. Music is no let down either with the addition of music in some scenes makes them peak over the rest of the anime through its form of captivating its viewers with how well its placed and used throughout. Opening and ending themes are as well, like the animation style, seem to come across as experiments as seldom do you hear a large amount of both English and Japanese lyrics mixed together. It has three ending themes that it rotates through depending on how the ending of the episode played through which adds to elongated sorrow or enjoyment of the viewer.

Character development, or rather for this anime it wouldn't be incorrect to call it, machine development, seems to be the main focus of this anime as their mission is quickly forgotten to the viewers and the emotional factors between the ships and the humans quickly takes over in the spotlight. Some jump forward far too quick for comfort while others progress as a nice pace which makes for many pieces of humor when the two personality types collide outside of battle. Each character's rate of emotional development is played out precisely as it should however, so while you do have your token over dramatizers, tsundere's, etc. They all have specific roles to suit their own personalities

The enjoyment factor for the anime can sometimes vary greatly in some episodes while in others will maintain steady, whether it be high or low, for a couple episodes at a time. Feels from light to heavy, can be found in some episodes and despite them being machines, make for really dramatic and emotional deaths. However when viewed from a broader perceptive, its difficult to say that the overall series was not enjoyable, as no two action scenes play out the same and out side of action, the humor is wide to cover all types and serious debates/talks are well thought out.

Some shows are just so great and well done in every aspect that they open themselves up for what I refer to as 'cloning'. Basically, a show that's done amazingly and has a huge following is taken, altered every so slightly, and spit out by another person as their own. In some situations, it's blatantly obvious when a show is being copied. However, when done right, two shows can have very similar concepts and plot lines, yet still be vastly different. As is the case with Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: ARS Nova, or as it may be more commonly known, Arpeggio of Blue Steel.

I mentioned ... how this show was similar to another show I watched. In fact, it had only been a month or so since I finished that show that I began Arpeggio of Blue Steel. The show in question is one you may have heard of known as Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion. Now, how are these shows similar? Well, that's as clear as day and it was the one thing that kept nagging me when I was watching Blue Steel:
1) Main character is a dark-haired youth who spends his time at the start of the show moping about the current status of the world
2) The aforementioned current status of the world is bad, as some outside force is oppressing humanity
3) The main character is bestowed a gift or power that helps him combat the tyranny of this outside force
4) The main character rallies a group of teenagers to fight alongside him with him as their fearless leader
5) The main character uses their superb strategical skills to overcome forces that are far more powerful than he

There are other similarities as well, but those are the main ones that appear in just the first few episodes. And yet, for all the similarities they share, Arpeggio of Blue Steel is not just a carbon copy of Code Geass. For one, Arpeggio of Blue Steel focuses on the naval aspect of war, seeing as how the antagonists are battleships. Also, where Code Geass was a fairly dark show at times, Arpeggio of Blue Steel is much more light hearted, with violence being reduced to ship v. ship combat and blood being virtually nonexistent. However, there are also many negative differences. First, Arpeggio has little to no character development at all. There are some people that seem relatively important, but barely make an appearance. The show focuses more of the development of the antagonists than anything, leaving the actual crew of the protagonist's vessel to just be stand-ins and do whatever the captain commands. Secondly, the plot armor for the main character and his crew and any other protagonist is hugely overused. There is almost no concept of danger because the main character is just 'that good' with strategy. The last big thing that bugged me was that the fan-service was very, very overdone. I always say that fan-service can be a good thing, but when you have butt- and breast-shots of almost every female character in just the opening alone, it detracts from the serious atmosphere the show seems to be aiming for.

Overall, Arpeggio of Blue Steel is a good show. It may be similar to other shows to the point where my friends and I call it "Submarine Geass", but it remains a strong show that can stand on its own. With a very unique 3D-ish art style and a FANTASTIC opening theme, Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio is a good show to watch if you're looking for a break from something more intense, like Attack on Titan or Tokyo Ghoul.

Positives:
+"Savior of Song" is a great opening theme
+Plot is interesting and easy to understand
+Good amounts of comedy, action, and emotion
+Animation is colorful, unique, and mostly well done
+Music is very good

Negatives:
-Only 12 episodes in length (though there are a couple movies)
-Character development is minimal
-The 3D effect of the animation sometimes makes the show feel as if it were lagging
-The show is for the most part boring and uninspired for the first 5 episodes, though it does quickly pick up

This show is nothing special and is nowhere near a masterpiece, but it is an enjoyable ride that will keep you entertained for a short time.
And that is why Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: ARS Nova gets a rating of 7/10

Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova is set in a future where most of the world is buried under water. Humanity's last hope is to trade with each other via sea and air. But one day a mysterious force via the name Fleet of Fog appears and blocks off all the sea and air routs. Now humanity's last hope lies in the hand of a boy named Chihaya Gunzou and the fleet of fog submarine I-401.

I don't have much against this anime, the story is pretty striaght forward from the beginning and the sound and animation is solid. The action scenes are great, they're ... filled with bright lasers and missiles flying across your screen and sometimes it gets really intense and sometimes I found myself inching forward in my chair and almost jumping up and down because not only am I a huge history and military nerd I also found the scenes enjoying to watch, the happy scenes, the sad ones and the funny ones, I found them enjoying to watch.

However the thing that bothers me is the lack of character development. You know nothing about the main protagonist except that his father, an admiral of the JMSDF and went missing in a huge battle against the fleet of fog and same goes for the entire crew of the I-401.

I suggest you watch the first 3 episodes of the anime and decide whether you like it or not, unless you're like me and is willing to watch anything military related. (Also, if you're a hater of 3D animation I wouldn't put this anime on the top of your watchlist). But if you do like it then I recommend you reading the manga which will explain a little but more about the fleet of fog and the I-401.

I'm Midway-Madness and thank you for reading this review of Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova. Have a good day

Let's Talk about ships, so practically if ships aren't your thing then its better if you do not watch this because otherwise this may totally bore you out.

Next we consider about the story line of the anime. The director of the anime knows pretty well about all military weapons and also about ships as well. Thereby the story is also one of the only and the best Ship-War animes i have ever seen till know

Considering the graphics and art of the anime. I must say that it is pretty amazing and request all watchers of this anime to watch it in Blu-Ray 720P quality ... or 1080P which will give you the best experience. THe character designs have been dealt with the emotioality of the character, considering tako who is a girl with a shy behavior but represents a kind heart, the character design suits her very well, my only comment would be that if Haruhharu's character design would have been a little more different but then again its my opinion only and the other character have been dealt with properly

Next coming to the voice acting and sounds of the anime i must say that this contains one of my favourite ending songs and the theme song is also great, the animations which make up for the anime is also great. Coming onto the voice acting it is also good, not the best of the best but it is good, the sound effects are pretty impressive as well condsidering the missile sounds and gun sounds.

Overall there my final conclusion on this would be a great anime which all fans of military and ships would definitely like and also when you are watching make sure to grab some of your favourite food and sit back and out on your headphones and watch all the episodes in one go, your sure to like this

I've enjoyed watching this anime. it's fun and awesome, warships are well designed it's like a real revived IJN Warships. The art is kinda cheaper but i've enjoy it. and the story is kinda OK but it has a lot of tactical battles and boo... don't mind the last one and of course the characters are well designed too specially Takao, Gonzou and Iona its like kancolle but in the adult faces unlike 12 years all girls and they are so beautiful (Except Gonzou because he's handsome) its like a real Marine class worker's dream and I like how they are made. anyways its worth ... it to watch, recommended.

coming from a 4yr veteran of the USN i loved it. coming from an old school battleship perspective, i loved watching WWII based ships annihilate modern arleigh-burke class destroyers even though they were using some some sort of alien tech.

i was a little disappointed that iona was a sub instead of a surface ship, but all of the naval combat was based on sound theory (excluding the gravity cannons and klein fields ) the anime had a good story line, great characters.

my biggest disappointment however was that the origins of the fog, and their technology was never really explained at all. hopefully there's a second ... season in the works to remedy that and show humanity fighting back. (if there is and i haven't heard of it yet please let me know.)

Arpeggio of Blue Steel is an interesting concept on paper--a fleet of mysterious super-powerful warships appears on all of Earth's major bodies of water, and after crushing the world's navies, blockades every nation cutting them off from one another.

A story setup like this when done right could actually be incredibly interesting. What happens to an island nation like Japan when they are forced to live local again? What happens to a nation like China that still relies heavily on seafood? What about a super far flung nation like Australia?

I was expecting an interesting story, but what I got was, unfortunately, a magic ... girl harem anime. You see, in Arpeggio, each ship has its own "mental model," a physical manifestation of the ships AI. As these mental models come in contact with humans, they begin to question their purpose. Even this could be a good setup, but it is heavily reduced to just another bland harem anime.

Don't get me wrong, I like some harem anime. I enjoyed Highschool of the Dead, I loved Gate, and Princess Lover also had amazing characters. But Arpeggio is just bland overall. The interesting backstory is never explained. The characters are never developed. And everyone has like one personality trait, even the humans, that they never go beyond.

The animation is similarly bad. The entire anime is CGI, and not good CGI. The CGI is similar to the low-budget Netflix anime Knights of Sidonia. But where Knights of Sidonia overcame is poor animation with superior storytelling, Arpeggio does not, leaving the entire experience as an overall disappointment.

Do I regret watching Arpeggio? Not really. It was only 12 episodes long, and while boring, it was not excruciating to endure. However, had I known what I know now about the story, I'd have skipped this altogether. I want them to develop the world more, but I could take a pass on the characters featured in this particular outing into the world of Arpeggio.

The glaring flaw in this anime is that very little is explained. Climate change caused the world to flood... but how? Did the Fleet of the mist cause it? Fleet of the mist...what are they? were did they come from? what are they doing? nothing is explained. Some touching moments if it was not already known that the Fleet of the mist were basically invincible.

The CG graphics were fine some of the time, but looked clunky too often to say it was well done.

The characters are fun to watch, though sometimes over the top. A bit annoying that one second they are trying to ... destroy i-401, then the next they are friends.

I did end up watching this over a 3 day span, so I would admit I enjoyed watching it. But I found too many negatives to rate it very high

Arpeggio of Blue Steel: Ars Nova is an interesting show in almost every way, even though that interesting nature does not always translate into being particularly good.
The most quickly noticable way that Ars Nova is radically different from most anime is the animation. It is entirely animated using cg, a decision that makes it sometimes feel less like a show and more like an unusually complicated tech demo. This is a very subjective parameter, it didn't really bother me much, but some people might find it distracting or off-putting. Watch a trailer, watch one of the trailers for RWBY (they share animation styles), and you ... should be able to tell whether you'll like the animation for Ars Nova.
The character designs range from uninspired, in the case of the main character or the female lead, to very evocative designs that succeed in instantly giving you a sense of who the character is, like the design for Kongou, one of the primary antagonists. A minor character, Sou Oribe, really stands out thanks to the iron-man style mask he wears, but besides a throwaway line about it being for allergies, it seems pretty clear that it was really just put in to remind us that it's the future. The rest of the characters in the harem (and make no mistake, there is a harem in this show) are not especially interesting, but they certainly don't hurt the show any, especially a character that not long after her first appearance ends up in the body of a teddy bear, which is used for laughs just enough that it stays funny.
Normally, vehicle and world design in a non-mecha show is fairly unimportant, but in Ars Nova, we have warships coming out of our nostrils. The design is proficient and very fun to watch in action, where the full cg really shines. It is a huge credit to the production crew that they could get the animation of the people to the level that it didn't bother me, because it meant that there was no uncomfortable moment where things suddenly become cg. The warships seemed a little over-armed, given the hundreds of missiles that get fired on top of the massive WWII style cannons mounted on the ships, but given that the cannons were firing laser beams, it wasn't hard to shut up and enjoy the ride, and my suspension of disbelief stayed firmly in place. The world design beyond the ships themselves wasn't particularly interesting, but it didn't need to be. Maybe a little bit more to emphasize how stretched an island nation like Japan would get if completely cut off from the sea, but again, the show simply isn't interested in a gritty world, so I can get behind the aesthetic decisions.
The sound is average to good, with the OP being a highlight. None of the voice actors stood out in any real way to me, with minor exceptions to Manami Numakura as Takao and Yukana as Kongou, with Maya (by Mako)'s “It's a carnival” being a painfully cute earworm. The performances are somewhat hamstrung by the fact that the female lead is clearly being directed towards a very robotic, emotionless performance for most of the show, which makes the moments where she was trying to break out of that difficult to take seriously or value as highly as they deserved. The term “proficient” seems fitting, while no-one sparkled, there was no member of the cast that dragged the show down either. Sound effects during battles were great, although I would have liked the filters messed with a little more to make it feel more like we were listening through layers of water. Also, missing out on a tense scene with an enemy pinging with sonar searching for the cast seems like a true whiff on the part of the writing staff, and a sad opportunity lost. The insert music is all good, with nothing standing out a great deal nor was there a moment where I wished there was music when there was none.
The writing and story direction is sadly the weakest part of the show. The overarching theme of the show is the question of if the Mental Models (AI that are both part of the ships and independent from them) are, or even should be, human. It's well-trodden ground, and Ars Nova stays carefully within the path blazed for them by Ghost in the Shell in anime, Battlestar Galactica in television, and tremendously done in literature by The Bicentennial Man, by Isaac Asimov. The high themes are somewhat underwhelming as a result. The story is a rollercoaster of quality, with a strong beginning and a strong end, but a middle-section that both drags, and involves characters and storylines that are sadly extraneous. I liked the characters of Haruna and Kirishima, but their adventure is an unecessary sideline that would have been better spent giving more development to the main characters. Spend more time on the main characters, make the show as a whole better, and give Haruna and Kirishima (and their subplot) their own subplot, with room to grow and really matter in the overall narrative, instead of going and having their adventure and then going back to the main characters without really letting what they just did have any impact on the story as a whole.
The show is begging to have massive fleet engagements, but sadly we are teased by the beginning of the show, which has several battles that promise much more, especially given the increasing size of the cast on the protagonist's side, but we never get a fleet on fleet battle, and I felt a little bit cheated by that. If I want to watch powerful teenage girls smack each other around, the mahou shoujou genre is perfect for that, giving me warships and then yanking them away is just cruel.
The romantic arc (such as it is) fell a little flat for me, especially given the harem setup that really goes absolutely nowhere. The main character barely seems to have emotions, and given how busy everyone is with the plot, I can't blame him for not having time to manage a harem of warship AI, but again it felt a little bit like the viewers were being cheated by a clear setup without any dramatic payoff. The strength of anime over western television is the ability to have conclusive endings and characters that really grow and change, and the main character did not do this, nor did his romantic arc really have closure.
The miscellaneous parts of the writing, like the comedy, went over fairly well, the jokes were well timed and rarely were driven into the ground (shakiin!). There were no cultural references that I found overly difficult to understand, and the subs I used (Horriblesubs) gave me what I needed to enjoy the show.
Overall, I thought the show was pretty good, even if it didn't quite live up to its potential. Cut out some unecessary arcs and replace them with more development for the main cast (and more fleet battles) and you have an exceptional show, but as is it's “merely” good. A 7/10, and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to turn their brain off and simply have a good time.

Story (7)

The story is pretty original.
It touches on what it means to be "alive" and have your own consciousness. When this concerns cute girls that can control powerful battleships this makes it even more enjoyable to watch :) However, for all the consciousness they seem to possess, they can't get further than blushing next to the person they have a crush on. What they really are and where they are coming from is not answered in this show, which is a shame. Maybe this is shown in the manga, but since I believe that an anime should be able to stand on its own, ... I really feel that there are too many unanswered questions.


Character (6):
I had the feeling they wanted to imitate the "genius" of Lelouche of Code Geass without actually giving him any real motivation for doing what he does. He happens to stumble upon this awesome weapon that decides she wants to follow his orders. He is simply a above average smart boy who wants change (who wouldn't want this in this world?!)

There was near to none background on most the characters, their motivation and except a bit for the harem girls there is not much character development. So in this area this anime seriously lets down. However, on positive note, I did enjoy the interaction between the (stereotypical) characters and I thought the dialogs were sometimes very funny.

Spoiler!!
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The best character of the show was in my opinion Takao. But as I could have seen it coming, these type of girls always end up as some sacrifice for the main character while having their love unrequited. Who in real life would ever chose the motherly, quiet, shy, weak, simple girl over the strong, intelligent, tsundere, feminine, independent woman?! Really, I don't know what's wrong with the Japanese men's taste of women :P
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Spoiler end!!

Art (8):
The battles were very nicely animated and it was quite exciting to find out what plan (read: awesome animation) the crew would use to defeat the enemy. However I'm really not a fan of using CG to animate the characters. It looked as if the characters were simply lifeless dolls that can be controlled in computer games.

Sound (6):
Was ok, nothing special, nothing memorable. The OP was nice though, probably going to be a tough DDR song >

After my Hiatus from anime, Aoki Hagane was a welcoming gem. The battles are what kept me watching it, because I know even though it is CGI, the graviton animations were lit.

Aoki Hagane tried a few things and failed at it, like trying to be seinen. This show is not seinen. It tried to introduce complex factors (like psychology and long debates over what constitutes human logic) and frankly, failed terribly. But that's not the reason I started watching this show.
What it does best is what Kantai Collection failed at. Yes, actual ships fighting each other. The reason I upped my rating for this ... anime from a 6 to a 8 is because the beginning of the final battle left that good of an impression on me.

The characters are clique in a way, but there are some irregularities in their behavior that don't adhere to their cliques that its not really clique. These types of irregularities are what makes a human a human, and actually did it well enough to be the first anime where I liked all of the cast. And I mean all of them, even that basic too-high-for-you nemesis that stalks the main character and his troupe throughout the series. Yes I hated her, but the ending of the show was good enough to make me like her just as much as any of the other cast.

Sadly, the animation is CGI. If it would have been reg 2D I would have been so biased I would have given this show a 10/10. There just would have been so much potential for warping the images just a bit to emphasize immense power. However, the CGI goes well with the ship battles. CGI works well only if it doesn't have to animate people. But at least this anime did it better than Berserk 2016/2017.

In the end, a review is only a review and only so much can be said through words. I will personally recommend it just for the effects when the ships are firing the gravitons. The particle effects are lit.