Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova Movie 1 - DC

Humanity finds itself in a struggle when the sea level begins to rise to an unprecedented level in the year 2039. To make matters worse, powerful enemies resembling old wartime vessels called the Fleet of Fog roam the waters, severing communication and transit to various regions.

Any attempt at retaliation ends in failure with humanity's current weaponry. Only Gunzou Chihaya stands a chance against the Fleet of Fog as captain of the friendly Fog I-401 submarine Iona. As a result, Gunzou and his crew, known as Blue Steel, are tasked with a critical delivery mission by the Japanese government: they must deliver humanity's last hope against the Fleet of Fog, the Vibration Torpedo Warhead, through hostile waters to the United States for mass production.

Though involved in the unsavory conflict, Blue Steel strives for nothing more than a peaceful resolution to it. As Iona undertakes the current mission and tasks beyond it, the crew upholds their values even in the face of harsh situations.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Iona Main

Fuchigami, Mai Japanese

Chihaya, Gunzou Main

Okitsu, Kazuyuki Japanese

Takao Supporting

Numakura, Manami Japanese

Kongou Supporting

Yukana Japanese

Haruna Supporting

Yamamura, Hibiku Japanese

Musashi Supporting

Kugimiya, Rie Japanese

Kirishima Supporting

Uchiyama, Yumi Japanese

Maya Supporting

MAKO Japanese

Hyuuga Supporting

Fujita, Saki Japanese

Watanuki, Iori Supporting

Tsuda, Minami Japanese

WEST GROUND Producer

Shibata, Kazunori Producer

Kishi, Seiji Director

Iida, Satoki Sound Director

Reviews

Aug 29, 2015

gimmeghost13

Recommended

Firstly, if you are new to the Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio series, I recommend that you watch "Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova" prior to watching this movie. It is not required viewing material in order to enjoy this movie, but it definitely helps with viewer comprehension and world building, which this movie is seriously lacking.

Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova DC is a summary of the ARS Nova animated television series. The reason I recommend watching the series first is because, as a stand-alone movie, the story is under-developed. Many of the interactions, why ... they take place, and their significance are severely reduced without the extended viewing time that the series offers; however, this movie does a fantastic job of tying up loose ends, and giving the viewer a more "complete" feeling when seeing the conclusion of the film-- which is one of the shortcomings of the ARS Nova series. Story: 7 (good)

The art and animation of this movie is awesome. Aside a few isolated scenes where the animation's frame-rate is reduced, the movie does a fantastic job, and it is very aesthetically pleasing-- especially for anyone who has read the manga. 9/10 (great)

The sound is great. No major qualms, except maybe a lack of variety. The tracks that are intended to elicit an emotional reaction do a good job of accomplishing their goal. 8/10 (very good)

The characters in the movie are an accurate rendition of the ones found within the series and manga, but many of the scenes which instill endearment and camaraderie are lacking. One could go as far as to say that the characters are severely under-developed, but given that the original series does not give tremendous amounts of back-story for any of the lead characters, this would be a bit harsh. The characters are as the Author intended, but in the abridged version that is this movie, they lack depth, and as such, some of their interactions are stilted. 6/10 (fair)

Overall enjoyment of this movie as a standalone film would be somewhere between a 5.5 and a 6/10. As a supplement to the Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio series, it is closer to a 7.5/10. Worth the watch if you are a fan of the series. If you are new to the series, the Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio TV Series is definitely highly recommended prior to watching.

Hope this review was helpful.
Regards,
GimmeGhost13

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jan 13, 2026

0063873192871

Mixed Feelings

Spoiler

To start, this isn't exactly a recap movie. There is about 2/3 of recap content and 1/3 of new content at the end. I couldn't notice any meaningful difference on the recap compared to the original, it's basically a streamlined cut of scenes in order for the plot to make the bare minimum sense.

Now, as to why I didn't really like this movie much: it's losing what made it great and starting to become a mindless shonen in which things can be resolved with mid-fight discussions and the magic of friendship.

The anime was already set to go on a bad path judging by episode 12 ... and its power-of-friendship dynamics. And this was reiterated by this movie when Gunzou and Iona tried to sweet talk the new Fog Mental Model in the midst of battle, with energic arguments in favour of happiness, coexistence and the power of love or whatever. But that's not even the worst part of what was once a diversely focused yet still serious and coherent anime: the battleships are now part of a "student council". Oh my god. Why would they do that? I already knew they would introduce this judging by the synopsis, but it still saddened me when I saw it with my own eyes.

I'll not drop it, and will watch the next movie hoping (perhaps vainlessly) they can do something interesting about it, but this was by all means a huge letdown.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Nov 26, 2022

Vi-

Not Recommended

Spoiler

I will make this as simple as possible, assuming you are watching this anime after long time it was released:

- If you enjoyed the series (12 episodes) good amount, you can easily skip the first 60 - 70 min of this movie.
- If you didn´t enjoy much or at all; or if you plan to watch the movies without watching the series (12 episodes): don´t need to even bother watching the movie.

-------------------

The first 60-70 min is basically the recap of the series, but rushed as hell as expected.

The new content is about 30-40 minutes long. Even so, just about 5 min of it actually ... matters, which are:
- The Fog has now a student council (which means new characters and so battleships to be sunken and converted by our "special" priest-captain, aka Chihaya Gunzou). The Fog student council is apparently just copying the school system from Japan. Their objective is to stop 401 (Iona) and Chihaya Gunzou the priest-captain and his crew.
- Chihaya Gunzou father appears. He´s together with the Fog. The movie ends here.

Everything else is the same.
You still don´t have answers, probably in the 2nd movie? Who knows...
As for the art/animation, also the same. Maybe just slightly worse? I am not very sure.

Sincerely, the only good thing of this movie was the few fanservice scenes the new content had.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	This movie has both recapitulation and new content, but it doesn't has everything 0063873192871 - Jan 13	0 replies	by 0063873192871 »» Jan 13, 12:25 AM
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