Mecha-ude (TV)

I've been struggling with trying to write this review for weeks at this point, and I am as a result also still unsure if "Not Recommended" is too harsh a rating to give the show for what I actually think of it.

The reason this review has been so hard to write is because Mecha-Ude isn't an outright bad show, but it is also not a good show either - it mostly just feels like a chore to sit through most of the time. As a result, my feelings on this show are more subjective than average and I could fully understand why some viewers might ... come away from it having completely loved it.

However, when watched with "my eyes" Mecha-Ude is a bit of a mess that jumps from scene to scene with very little connective tissue between them; and even worse, the show barely feels like it has any story to tell to begin with. This COULD have been fine, since this show is clearly focused on its action first and foremost, but since it has so little story to tell, it becomes very hard for the viewer to find themself invested in what action scenes are presented to them. Mecha-Ude thus has very little going on other than "fireworks" most of the time - "fireworks" the viewer barely even feels like watching.

As stated, I don't hate this show at all, but it simply has so little to offer the viewer that watching it feels more like "work than play" and that is pretty much as bad a flaw a show can have - especially one focused on action like this one is. As a result, the show mostly feels like a waste of time.

Mecha-Ude is the most underrated anime of Fall 2024, hands down. In fact, it’s one of the most underrated shows of the entire year and it angers me so much because this show is amazing. The long crowdfunding journey for the show to even get made makes it all that much more special as well. Sawano and Yamamoto on the OST, classic studio trigger vibes, awesome characters and great sci-fi action? This had all the ingredients of an instant classic and for me it lived up to that.

Mecha-Ude is one of the few legitimate passion projects we have in modern anime. This actually ... started way back in 2018 as an OVA and crowdfunding for it to be made into a full blown anime went on for years, finally coming to fruition this season as a proper 12 episode show. The lack of big backers and a traditional production process gives Mecha-ude a unique feel compared to most other anime. It’s a little rough around the edges at times, but that gives it a charm other anime don’t have. The character designs and art have a certain freshness to them and are endearing. The animation at times feels low budget and you can tell it’s a smaller team, but it has some amazing moments where the sakuga is up there with the best of them.

Story wise, Mecha-Ude has quite a few twists. I definitely wouldn’t call it generic or your run of the mill seasonal. You can tell a lot of time went into crafting a story that’s engaging and impactful. There were multiple times throughout the series where I had my jaw on the floor from how crazy a twist was, a big reveal, a death, etc., I have to tip my hat to whoever was in the writing room because they cooked. There’s a lot of similarities with transformers as well so if you’re into that, you’ll enjoy this. Hikaru and Aki as leads worked very well. I’m a big sucker for the haters to “lovers”(both literally and figuratively as in a platonic love) trope and think it was executed well here. Aki is a bad ass lead who can hold her own and often saves Hikaru’s ass from some tough situations. We get to see our MC master his abilities and be able to stand in his own by the end which was really cool. I quite like the storytelling technique of an outsider getting suddenly thrust into a big war or secret society, learning the ins and outs and then becoming a big part of that group/movement. The mecha-arms themselves were also really cool. Lot of interesting lore, abilities and directions that were explored not just here, but potentially in future multimedia projects if they choose to.

I’m gonna be honest, one of the biggest reasons I love this show so much is the Sawano OST. Sawano is my fave composer of all time and probably my overall fave artist as well currently. So anything he touches is gold to me. SennaRin , a frequent collaborator of Sawano’s and another of my faves, worked on the OP as well so this was like a match made in heaven for me soundtrack wise. As usual, Sawano’s OST really took this to new heights making the big fight scenes so hype. I will definitely be listening to this OST consistently.

People ask for underrated or hidden gems all the time and this is one of them. I feel like this’ll be a show that as more people watch in coming years will be more appreciated ala kiznaiver. Great story, characters, soundtrack, action and made with pure love. A long journey, but one well worth it.

Mecha-Ude gets 10 arms out of 10.

I don’t get how the reviews for Mecha-ude are all mixed. Six episodes in, and it’s sitting at a 7.12? Really? It’s ranked #29 by score and #31 by members this season, yet it feels like one of the most exciting shows out right now. Mecha-ude is easily my top pick this season. And that’s saying something, considering I’ve been reading Dandadan for years (one of my all-time favorite manga). Also, I’m not the biggest fan of full CGI, though that’s a rant for another review.

Mecha-ude just has this undeniable charm. It feels like TRIGGER-lite, and that’s a massive compliment. It’s got this gritty, DIY ... vibe and a lot of heart. Maybe it’s the soundtrack, which was done by the same guy who scored Kill la Kill, and yeah, both OSTs are fantastic. Or maybe it’s the humor, which often hits perfectly through the animation. Sure, the animation itself isn’t always the smoothest, and some of those high-speed action scenes are a little chaotic to follow. But even then, they’re super fun to watch. The world-building may not follow a simple copy-paste logic, but neither did Kill la Kill or Gurren Lagann, and both of those are absolute classics.

Now, I’ll be real, this isn’t TRIGGER. It’s got some rough edges: the animation is occasionally spotty, and the art style isn’t exactly mind-blowing. But the overall art is more than reasonable for what it’s aiming to do, and those fight scenes? They’re still hype and exciting. It might not have the budget of a blockbuster, but that honestly doesn’t matter here. This isn’t a show that relies on groundbreaking visuals. The story itself may not be revolutionary, but it doesn’t need to be. This is a character-driven narrative, and Mecha-ude nails that part. The characters feel authentic, and it’s easy to get invested in their journeys.

The rest of the staff deserves some real credit here too. They’ve brought together a solid team that knows what they’re doing. The voice actors deliver top-tier performances that elevate the show’s tone, adding depth to the characters even when the visuals aren’t going all out. It feels like a show created with genuine care and it’s refreshing. The vibes are electric yet grounded, which is rare to find these days. And the entire production just works in a way that feels worth every minute spent watching.

Honestly, Mecha-ude is criminally underrated. If you’re into character-driven narratives, you need to check it out. And if you’re a fan of Kill la Kill or Gurren Lagann, it’s an absolute must-watch. This series is just oozing with potential, and it’s more than earned a spot on my watchlist. I even dusted off my account after years just to post this because it’s that worth watching.

As much as I want to promote this anime because of their dedication as I said in the "pilot" episode, I might want you guys to watch this with low expectations. Trust me because you would definitely be highly disappointed.

Let's start this review with animation. I am in love with it. Not only did it feel nostalgic it also didn't use 3D, at all. It is those classic cartoons, anime, or animation TV shows back in 2011. I can't praise enough how much I love this animation quality. Again, they should be proud of their achievement, they got a new fan. Although the animation is ... top-tier, unfortunately, it doesn't carry all aspects of the anime.

Another good thing about this anime is, the VA. I can hear their enthusiasm while playing their roles, especially, Amaryllis. Like holy sh*t girl, your screech is so good. You can't deny that Youka Hikasa is very good at acting like a crazy b*tch. I love her voice. I also like Jun's voice, these two were like screeching buddies. Other than them, I feel like they did a great job. Kudos guys.
*Edit: (Add bonus segment, after seeing Youka's carrier as VA)
Holy moly I can't believe I didn't even notice it, this woman's voice acts as Stephanie in No Game No Life, Lord Enorme in Gushing Magical Girl, and Olivier from No Guns Life. No wonder I love her voice.

The last good thing about this anime is the OST. Well, once again, we got the good ol' Suwano on the department to bring the OP and ED. Good job delivering Suwano's masterpiece to the scene, Setsuko. I love the OP and ED a lot. I don't think I should say it again many times about the OST in the anime itself. I'm giving two thumbs up for those.

Anyway, let's move on to the most important part, the plot/story. Man, I was so hyped for this but I got let down. I swear every time I feel like the thing I like gonna be good it always ends up messed up in any shape or form. I do understand why they had to rush the story, their budget is probably not really big to begin with. But man, if only they could extend this anime a bit to marinate a lot of plot points, I guarantee that this anime would be a hit. At least get this anime to hit 24 episodes in length, I can definitely see the potential. But as it is, it felt like Chain Chronicle all over again. So many characters, and so many events going on in one episode that you can't even keep up with what's going on and who is the one in the scene right at that moment. I was disappointed.

Characters. I don't even know what I can say about this section. Even Alma and Hikaru, the MCs of the story, don't even have a strong character to begin with. It's such a letdown.

Overall, I give this anime 6.7/10. It's such a letdown, man. I wish them good luck on their new project, though I can definitely see the potential in Trif. They know how to animate things well. As for now, they only have nine projects, some of them are ok, and most of them are not that good. I hope they can get that hit show to make their name in the field because their animation brings so much nostalgia to me and some of the people who watch this.

I feel like these days everyone is looking for a masterpiece of animation, art, storytelling, etc. and overlook the shows that are just good. just plain normal good. why do such anime that don't go too deep or far yet still work and are enjoyable get so little praise? this is the same situation for why everyone thinks Demon Slayer is "mid", some things just work. even if they don't have that mind-breaking of a premise. in the end, it's just about enjoyment. and that's how I feel about this anime. it's not too long yet it sticks, I like the humor it has and ... the characters are fun to watch and follow and I'm in love with the interactions the main cast has. the music is OFC amazing thanks to Sawano san's amazing talent. My biggest problem with this show is that sometimes the pacing is a bit too fast for my taste but it's at most confusing to follow.

I think this is the kind of anime where you just gotta flow with it. go to that little kid who was excited to come back home to watch Yugio and Naruto. it has the old-school typical anime feel, which tells of this project's mind-blowing history, it was years in the making, and even if it won't be an amazing story I want to see the vision this staff put so much time and effort to publish.

This one gave me old-school anime vibes, and by old-school I don't mean the art, animation or the timeline- "the old-school" here means the anime story is very simple and straight. The opening song of the anime is great I highly recommend listening to that.

It's a straight line simple story of those old animes (like -beyblade, pokemon) that we used to watch , almost as if the story is very predictable. But that does not necessarily mean it's not good. As far I am enjoying it, feeling really nostalgic to see similar story layout. [Short summary not a spoiler, skip this part and read the ... next passage if you want to] MC finds a companion calling him from afar, in this case a mechanical talking arm, now people are behind him to utilize his power. As he and the mecha arm both are unaware of what they are capable of they are just going with the flow; saving anyone they see in danger and being friendly with everyone.

This anime is neither overpowered nor strategic. There is no ulterior motive to learn here by watching this anime, only if you feel like getting back into old-plain anime stories can give it a watch or just leave it - you can decide that by watching the 2018 version of the anime. In 2018 the anime released a 25 minute duration advertisement episode, the same story they showed in episode 3 in this 2024 TV release; or you can use the anime's first 3 episode rule. After watching first 3 episodes you decide whether you want to watch it or not.

Overall
Story - mid
Action - good
Art - decent
Animation - good

I can not rate it precisely, since the anime is still ongoing and I did not watch it very far. After finishing the anime my rating may or may not change.

Mecha-Ude - Is anime going back to its roots, any good at all? I'd argue that if you don't see it from a modern lens, it'll do wonders.

Out of all the different sources when it comes to anime production, nothing beats originals because of its blank slate that gives the works fair criticism just by experiencing something that's done before, but to different concoctions based on the vision of its staff involved in the matter. And that can be quite the tricky measure to weigh each and every factor that gives the shows a run for their money, because it is the sole keyword of ... investment that determines its success. And one work in particular has that reputation of evolving from what was a pilot sneak peek into a full-fledged series: Mecha-Ude, a once-$60k Kickstarter project back in October 2016 that met its goal just the month thereafter to produce a 25-minute ONA released in May 2019, to then be commissioned as a TV anime project just 3 years later that, come this Fall, is finally a series realized in the making. So, just like time (which is also a finite investment), is the anime worth it after 8 years of blood, sweat, tears, time, and financial planning from its visionary director of Sae Okamoto and the newly commissioned TriF Studio?

For starters, if you've watched the ONA way back in its heyday, it was a loving swan song to the mega-popular mecha series of all time, from the likes of Gainax's legendary mecha Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann to the evolution towards Trigger's Darling in the FranXX and the Gridman series (though Kill la Kill was in a way a deep inspiration, and Little Witch Academia being very similar in its Kickstarter origins), so much so that back then, there was potential to expand the series based on its pilot into something bigger. And though the anime itself feels pretty much like your typical standard Shonen-focused premise that involves genres and tropes that would usually go hand-in-hand, I think that Sae Okamoto choosing to stick towards conventional terms is a good strategy to bring out the old-school feel of the early 2010s, something that in this day and age of the AniManga industry is sadly few and far between...and is ever so slightly diminishing away from what used to be the staple slate that, next to the Isekai/fantasy genre, matches its numbers (in terms of less quantity and more quality) from the decade earlier.

Just think about it: a dystopian sci-fi future in the very likeness of the Transformers franchise, where mechanical beings descend into Earth after losing their homeland in space and live amongst humans with the intention to fuse (or the correct term: to derize) to them as their means of survival. These mechanized limbs and appendages, called Mecha-Ude, have their usages, though pretty much like the good vs. evil factions of the Autobots vs. Decepticons, while most of them are relatively harmless, some would be used for evil purposes (the whole "take over the world" shmuck), and that's where organizations like ARMS vs. the Kagami Group come in with each their objectives and goals to free and suppress these Mecha-Ude to their own likings. The Sam Witwicky character here is the average boy of Hikaru Amatsuga, who ends up finding one such rare Mecha-Ude that unfortunately is in a state of amnesia, not knowing who or what it is, and all he knows is that this Bumblebee-ish robot called "Alma" is so precious towards both factions because of its reputation as the "Trigger Arm," one of the most powerful Mecha-Udes that could significantly change the tide to whoever finds it and harnesses its unparalleled power.

I'm telling you, this show may have its influences taken from Transformers, but still wholly makes its own story that is palpable to understanding, though its pacing for the standard 12 episodes could afford to have one extra episode just to slow things down from its rather ridiculous speed-running phase (that making this a 2-cour series, is next to impossible for the straightforward and simple story).

If there is one fault that the series just does not do justice, it's the character cast, and there's a bit too many of them to ever just be useful plot narratives in an already overcrowded scenario such as this. Every Mecha-Ude has a human attached to them, and in Hikaru's case, Alma is permanently stuck to his hoodie, seemingly with a mind of its own at times. Being the clear outsider involved in a rather competitive nature, the dull boy makes do with what he can, though ineligible at first since Mecha-Ude relies on its source of power from its user to survive: Arbitrium. And it's in this nature that both Hikaru and Alma would meet people from both ARMS and the Kagami Group fighting in endless retaliation to pursue Alma, and being on the good side of things, rests his laurels on the one who would be his protector ever since: Aki Murasame with her twin-wielding Mecha-Ude of Sinis and Dex. And though the rowdiness of the matter would come to haunt the both of them through the Kagami Group's young master, Jun Kagami, wielding the experiment that is the worm-type Mecha-Ude of Ouroboros, plus the shenanigans of the childhood friend trope with Meru Shirayama just being the romantic gossip girl, Hikaru's life is never the same with Alma completely stuck to him, trying to both wield his way to safety while unlocking the memories and figuring out the truth behind the Mecha-Udes invading Earth and their primary purposes to begin with. If there's one thing to expect from this, it's wild, running insanity of the mix of in-your-face comedy and the serious nature that will have you invest your time into them if you consider the right characters at differing points of the spectrum.

With TriF Studio delivering both then the ONA and now the anime series, it's clear that the studio has been taken onboard alongside director Sae Okamoto from the very outset. And despite the rather small staff team that Okamoto has alongside her, they still find a way to make the show work its flex despite being a total rookie towards TV production-based anime. Yes, it's not Trigger level'esque and it does have its inconsistencies, but the overall product is actually better than I remember from the ONA, most particularly on its action scenes which have some Sakuga moments from time to time, which is impressive for a studio helming its very first full-fledged anime production, and especially from a female animator-cum-director no less who understands and executes the job much better than most subpar 3rd-rate directors.

Of course, you need a OST to beat the heart of the Sakuga, and who better than the famed composer trio of Hiroyuki Sawano, Kohta Yamamoto, and AWSM's Daiki to helm the music and give the series the oomph that it deserves in the sound department. And as is with every Hiroyuki Sawano project, the show featuring Kuhaku Gokko's Setsuko for both the OP and ED is quite the sound bomb offering the bombastic start and a calm finish. You can't go wrong when the famed maestro leans his talents to help a show excel in musicality.

Going back to the question at the start of the review, I'd feel that AniManga nowadays is quickly losing touch when it bucks the current trend and fails to acknowledge the trends that came before it, to which this show's purpose is to bring us back into our roots of the teenage years and watching classic mecha shows that would live up to the hype. Well, while Mecha-Ude won't win any awards whatsoever, the sole recognition of it being a criminally underappreciated show due to its relentless pacing that would throw just about anyone off, I'd argue that it actually pays off in the long run, for a vision that was once a piece of the puzzle, now magnified in its full reality.

Props to Sae Okamoto and her staff team at TriF Studio for a vision finally fulfilled that's 8 long years in the making and do what you will about a product that may be inherently incomplete, but having the finality of completion, all at the same time.

Mecha-ude is a unique series in the world of anime. It is an original project created by director Sae Okamoto and financially backed by people on Kickstarter. This is an incredibly underrated series that has many aspects that are well done, but some that are lacking.

Aspects of this show that are well done are music, voice acting, and action scenes.
Music: The composer is Hiroyuki Sawano. While this isn't his best soundtrack, it is still a Sawano soundtrack that slaps and adds to the hype of the action sequences.
Voice Acting: All lines are well delivered. At times it sounds like the VAs are having fun ... with their lines.
Action scenes: This is the focus of the show along with the music. Everything is well animated with great shot direction. The series also takes full advantage of the uniqueness of the different mechanical arms used to provide a level of interest and uniqueness to each fight.

This show suffers from some bad writing and editing. Like stated above, the action is the main focus of the show. When the show does slow down to deliver some exposition or character development, it feels rushed. It almost feels like these sequences were an afterthought to make sure each episode hit its minute limit. Because of this, I think the show would benefit from a 16+ episode season allowing the writers to flesh out the world, character motivations, and character development. This would also allow for a romance, or any, B plot vaguely hinted at through the actions of a side character.

Overall, an enjoyable watch and underrated series.

This is probably the most generic shonen story possible. A young boy beats up evil bad guys with supernatural strength and the power of friendship. The show doesn’t try to do anything new or interesting, and it doesn’t hide that fact. This is an unapologetically mediocre series that is fine if you really have nothing else to scratch the shonen itch.

I’ve given this a 6 only because the animation for this show is actually exceptional, and often carries the pretty boring plot line. Also, Sawano Hiroyuki does the music, and most of the emotional high points were thanks solely to him.

I think while this show does execute on really fluid and interesting animations, it's sort of really shallow with a story that lacks a lot of depth and re-hashed plot points from other shows that offer nothing new.

The story moves way too quickly, new characters are introduced all the time, and from one episode to the next it feels like there's a lack of fluidity.

Nonetheless, I think as a first show for a new studio, this is pretty good. There's potential for this team to improve on the weaknesses of this show in whatever their next venture will be.

Absolutely recommended! This is a light hearted, fun watch with some cool animation and a story and heart reminiscent of Gurren Lagaan. The other reviews touch on a shaky storyline and what feels like rushed pacing at times, but honestly I really liked that speed. It caused a nice buildup to the final fight, and while it was difficult to keep up at times I loved all the twists and turns and revelations in this anime. My absolute favorite was the final scene, which perfectly paralleled the beginning of the show with complete ease.

Overall, Mecha-Ude is a Gurren Lagaan-esque anime, a fun watch if you ... don't look too far into the plot and instead let yourself get swept up in the characters and heart.

It's alright. Animation and sound-wise it's good, but it feels like 2010's Shonen slop. Power of friendship ah anime. The story is as interesting as worm food, little more than everything Shonen show you've seen before. The characters are pretty flat in terms of writing. Characters reach just as you would think a 2000's Shonen cast would; slow, with little else in any other department. The direction is fine for the most part. and pacing also seemed good. The main highlight is the art and the art direction, overall it's good. You can feel movements and the weight pretty well, and nothing seems to drag ... on for too long. I thought it was decently fun, and if only for just the decent visual spectacle, you should at least give it a try.

Currently we sit on episode 4 and damn, the phrase: 'Wasted potential' rarely fits as well as it does here. I know it's a bold statement for only 4 ep out of 12. Quick rundown:
You have the name giving robot kinda living beings called Mecha Ude with their own mind which can "fuse"(more like attache) with a humans body. This will increase the humans physical strengh and the Mecha Ude can activate it's true form like an extra robot arm, a tail, variety of guns, whatever and makes both of them dependant on each other. The Mecha Ude needs something called Albitrium which every human ... has inside his body. If they get seperated by force the human will die after a few days since the Albitrium in his body will leak(imagine it in a form of gas) and the anime states that Albitrium is like the soul(don't quote me on that).

Now to my points:
The anime jumps from event to event. I don't mean it's fast paced(which it sometimes is but not hasty) but I miss the connections between the scenes from time to time. Sometimes you watch a scene with almost no connection to the last scene, no transitions or explanation why character XY is at place XY.
Another thing is the bad/weird storytelling and how things are connected, character decisions are made and how they are executed. There are so many examples in only 4 episodes I don't know which ones I should take.
For example(Minimal Spoilers now, jump too *** to skip):
1. You're one of the good guys. Imagine your job is to retrieve an really important Mecha Ude(their unactivated form is like a rubic cube). You then find out it has fused with a random civilian teenager(MC, who ditched school that day since he had to follow a voice in his head which led him into a cordoned off area by the police he simply ignored because the voice in his head asked for help- how to become the MC clichee).
Now you have two options how you can convince him that you don't want to kill him and that you need him to follow:
Option 1: Gain his trust by like introducing yourself and explaining him the situation.
Option 2: Tell him that if he moves he's dead, which would make him scared and increases the chance he would try to escape.
Guess which option the character(main female character) in this series chose.
You can argue it's a good introduction for this character to give the viewer the right impression on what kind of personality/character traits this character seems to have.
But looking at the importance this situation has for the story it's just a bad call. There are plenty of better ways to tell her personality without making her look stupid.

2. In this example you're the boss of the good guys. You now have the MC which actually isn't suited to have this Mecha Ude since his amount of Albitrium is far under average(means he's weak) and for his safety, since he(more his Mecha Ude) is very important, you decide he should have a bodyguard. Again you have two options:
Option 1: Choose someone you trust and can handle this task.
Option 2: Choose someone you trust, is the main female character, but due to her past and recent events could maybe slightly be bit impulsive and do some actions which could endanger the person she should protect.
Again, guess what the decision here was.

3. It had to happen as described above. Side girl decides to immediatly run somewhere(Port storage depot or something like that) to investigate something and drags the MC with her. They notice enemies being in that area. If you would take your task as a bodyguard serios you would probably avoid facing them. But guess what our big brain did. Because of her emotions she approaches them directly and since it's obvious a fight will break out she tells the MC to stay close and not leave her side. Seems logic, except the first move she does is an aoe attack around herself which pushes the MC away and then she says: "I told you to stay close!". You might think it was supposed to be funny for the viewer, but I see no details and hints that it was meant to be a joke. It could end here but na.
In her brawl with the other guys stones, baseball bats and even a shipping container fly around and almost crushes the MC so he takes cover and finds a child sitting between other shipping containers.
He wants to protect the child from the ongoing fight(which our girl can't see since she's some meters away), gets kidnapped, gets saved by main girl and then one of her Mecha Ude claims the MC tried to use the chaos to escape and she has the audacity to say; that because of the MC's recklessness the bad guys almost got his Mecha Ude. Just imagine this stupidity, also looking character writing wise.
Thankfully the MC then points out that only because of her they ended up in this situation and that she was the one which created their separation in the first place and that he wants to leave without her, and now imagine this:
She ignores her task of bodyguarding, let's him go and argues this with the reason that the MC should cool down, but may have forgotten that she dragged him into the danger- like no reflection at all. Even the MC's Mecha Ude asks him to apologize since she's their bodyguard and I'm just sitting in front of my screen and ask myself what I'm watching right now. In his shoes I would ask myself too who's the bigger danger here. But hey, they had to create a situation where they are separated for another event to happen...

*** I ofc want character development and know more about the cast, but pls figure out more reasonable and logic reasons which make such events happen and god pls, don't make this kind of stupid characters with the dumbest decision making just to make the story go on. This is just bad storytelling since I can't imagine who would act that way. Yes, it's anime and yes, it's fiction but cmon.

The action is rly good (8/10), but for me it feels like there are sometimes 1-2 frames missing since some connections in the animation feel bit off, but maybe that's just me. I also like how they try to do some cool camera angles but sometimes it's bit too much and I lost focus. Voice acting is top but for now nothing extraordinary yet.
Characterwise there's not much to say. Designs are cool- mostly the bad guys stand out and at all I saw more personality of them compared to the good guys which is also bit questionable but nothing which the next eps can't fix.
I know I bashed a lot here. Itself the anime isn't bad and at least rly entertaining, but lacks so much in my eyes so I can't rly say it's good either. That's why I'm currently sitting on a 5/10. Opening is nice too.

Update: I watched ep6 right now and in some points it got even worse, story still doesn't rly exist, the characters of both sides have no screentime and personality(except the MC's) and that makes me so sad. You have cool character designs, a cool setting and somewhere there is a kinda origin story to be told, but the way everything gets portrayed and shown is so BASIC, boring, in some ways beyond any logic and in many points not fleshed out in the slightest which makes everything you see just slide by in your brain and the only entertaining aspect are the fight scenes(still 8/10, maybe even 9/10).
At all I don't see in which point except the fight animation this anime wants to shine. You can see the anime can be more, but isn't successful since the action seems to be the only focus and everything else like world building and story are left out.
I honestly hope the fans get what they want/expect. Usually an anime should inspire the viewer to get his hands on the manga to deep dive even more in it's world, but here I would get the manga only for the reason to see if it's actually good.
This anime could have been a small shining star...

This anime reminds me the studio trigger somntimes, in the best sence possible. Is a great story, with a good plot at the end and a great rhythm. Is a condense story that don't overexplain or overshow nothing.

The argument isin't so original but the ejecution compensate it. The characters are great, every one matters and never create a "filler scene".

The only thing bad I could say is that end's. Is not and profund or emotional serie, but is fun and with a pretty moral.
I don't get why the score is so low, if a bigger studio had release this serie I know the score ... whould be higher.

Give it a shot, is a good short shonen.

These are more so extended personal notes rather than a thoroughly planned review, so it won't be exhaustive.

First of all, this passion project is a small miracle of animation (especially considering it's short staff) and, needless to say, it's hilarious that this aired together with Blue Lock's 2nd season (it goes to show how badly big projects can fail). Unfortunately, however, the art style of Mecha-Ude is cut down to the bare bones of absolutely essential lines of objects, giving it sometimes a very "flat-land" feeling. Yet, to some extent, this is done to account for the constantly fluid and clean animation. There is definitely ... no static scene in this show — your eyes will be busy. Admittedly, this can cause some scenes to have poorer readability, but I would also nitpick this about any show with busy animation, so this is not much of a problem.

On another hand, it's kind of unsettling how there is next to no shading throughout the show. Still, the detail given to movement, both from the camera that rotates around to cover the entire playing field of the action, as well as from the bodies and objects themselves, is a fair artistic choice. The show also gladly received Hiroyuki Sawano's music, which, albeit nauseating at this point, cannot fail to push an anime's presentation a few steps up in score. Being emotionally invested in the fights is generally not a problem. And I could not skip the catchy OP even once!

Furthermore, everything about its inspiring atmosphere and the vivacity of its characters (brought about mostly by their voice actors and how they deliver some amusing dialogue lines) grants the viewer a generally positive experience; though never quite chilling. Sadly, the runtime for this series is too short and poorly used. It provides no real statement about anything, while also leaving us with characters that are too simple to be worthy of mention (if charismatic). Out protagonist is an "unchosen one", who is thrown into a supernatural situation and just happens to be too kind to walk away from it — even when everyone else tells him to.

This heroic character works along with Alma, the most important individual out of the Mecha-Ude creatures, since he holds a fundamental ability for their grand objective of reestablishing the Mecha-Ude's previous status quo of reality, and thus, in the process, also free themselves from certain groups of humans who aim to control and suppress their minds. Naturally, you would expect some themes of oppression, deception, coexistence of living beings, friendship and heroism to result from this setting. And they do, but they are all helplessly cliché — you might have already figured out some of them in your head just from reading this. If you watched shounen anime before this show, you have watched this show. It cannot stand out.

For instance, the Mecha-Ude are presented as alien-like sentient beings, but those beings are incapable of being anything other than humans (with a different skin). Their behavior and thinking is too anthropomorphized, to the point of being ridiculous when it comes to certain characters, such as Ayumi. Not to spoil much, but imagine a stereotypical futile high school girl, speaking in modern slang and acting all chatty; this is exactly what she is, despite having lived for who knows how many centuries (and, until recently, being stuck in an indefinitely long slumber).

The plot is also too obvious and unsurprising. It doesn't makes bad diversions, but it also doesn't take interesting turns. Nearly every single thing about it is predictable, to the point that I genuinely cannot talk about it without risking spoilers. It follows the shounen sci-fi formula too close to a tee. With that being said, in terms of story and characters alone, this show is skippable, unless you're a fan of some fun, action/comedy driven sci-fi anime who is looking for a comfortable watch. As for the production side of things, with its hand-crafted and ambitious nature and quality, this underrated piece very much deserves a chance.

No matter what problems I might have with this show, I believe something like this NEEDS to be supported. For those unaware, Mecha-ude, was entirely funded through kickstarter, which is AWESOME! It's clear that the people that made this were super passionate about it, and it shows in the production department.

The show has a very distinctive and expressive artstyle reminiscent of what you would see from studio TRIGGER, the character designs are creative enough as well, pair this artstyle ith some gourgeous animation sequences and with Hiroyuki Sawano and Kohta Yamamoto in the music side of things make this show really feel like a passion ... project and a dream come true for this small studio.

Unfortunately, though, that's where my praise ends, to put it simply, while having some cool imagery and themes that work, the story here is painfully generic, so is the dialogue. This was clearly written like a classic shonen, with the whole "power of friendship" style speeches that make me sigh immediately.

The show also takes absolutely no risks with its story, betrayals have no impact or are subverted into not mattering at all. And death has no consequence

And the amount of screaming and whining from "comic relief" characters was just getting to me by the end, STOP MAKING CHARACTERS LIKE THIS! THEY'RE ALWAYS ANNOYING and they ruin the tension of the show. These goofballs were making comedy sketches in the middle of the show's climax. Stop it!

And to top it all off, the end credits basically spoil what is essencially the next arc of the show through a slideshow. Look I understand you had no idea if this show was going to be successful and you wanted to show off the whole story in case you couldn't make season 2, but did you really need to pull a promised neverland season 2 powerpoint presentation for your ending? Show some confidence in your work!

And what is worse, the scene after those credits is a great ending to the season! It woudl've been a great wrap by itself!

Kickstarted anime for the fans of classic shounen stories. Story isn't nothing new, it's predictable and tropey, but fun enough to be enjoyable.

Story 7/10
Story lacks due to the fact it's just inspired by many older classic shounens. The love interest, rival that joins main team, betrayals. Most of those tropes are easy to read and predict, but pacing makes it still quite enjoyable. That's a complete story, without any weird cliffhangers, as was designed from the start, when it reached the kickstarter.

Character Designs 8/10
Yet again, designs are quite tropey. You can see whether character is "on the good side" or "the bad side" by ... just looking at their color pallette. Human characters aren't that interesting, being basically "stolen" from older shounens, but the design of Mecha-Udes itself is quite nice, especially visually.

Visuals 9/10
That's the thing anime does really well. Despite using tropey characters and quite a lot of CGI for MechaUdes, it looks gorgeous. Some scenes are bit hard to look at, but overall it looks great.

*Recommended in case you're looking for good animation. I feel this is what they set out to do, and it is what they delivered. It wasn't set out to be an ambitious poignant philosophical piece, just a well-animated action show, and it achieved that. The humor is mostly misses, but serve to keep the show lighthearted until things are flashing on the screen again.

While there's very little to actually say about the show, I think the bisexual love triangle was very fun and well done, there could have been more of that and less world-ending perils and I wouldn't mind. If the show did more ... for itself than what it did, maybe there'd be room for waifu warring a bit. Not Rei-Asuka, but maybe a bit of Ichigo-ZeroTwo. I don't see it happening, but wish it would.

The main villain pales in comparison to the pre-final boss, Amaryllis carried the antagonist side, and the writers clearly love her too, as she's as stubborn as a cockroach. Her voice acting and her role in the show outshines everyone else's and is probably the most memorable character in the show.

P.S: I have to applaud the courage to figure out you're most likely not getting a second season, so you do it via slideshow during the finale ED.

TLDR: Slightly above average anime. As long as you are the type that will enjoy the journey even if the destination ends up leaving you frustrated, I think you could enjoy it.

If you are the type to watch 5+ anime in a given season, then I would say give Mecha-Ude a watch. You will probably be left a bit frustrated at the end, but the journey there is enjoyable. Otherwise, I would pass this anime for others. The characters are entertaining, action isn't anything to write home about but it is still fun, and the build-up of what the Mecha-Udes are and what happened in ... the past is definitely interesting. A personal highlight for me is the character Meru who is determined to make her polyamorous ships to set sail. I would probably raise the score a whole point if she took part in the plot more.

The struggle is in the story telling. In the moment everything seems fine. There is some great intrigue in what is going on and you are unsure of the motives of many different characters, both enemy and ally. But when everything is revealed and you look back on the show there is a lot of "What was the point of them doing that?" "Wait, this thing they did before seems contradictory to their goal." "Who even is this character? They just said a few mysterious things in one episode and didn't do anything else for the rest of the series!" The more you start thinking about the plot the more the show just starts to fall apart.

They also did the Promised Neverland Season 2 thing where the series ends with a 2 minute long collage of future events that could probably fill up an entire season and in some ways seem like they could be more promising events than what we just got. I know there is also a manga that is finished, but from the very bare minimum research I did, it appears that the anime covers the entirety of the manga so I have no idea what they were thinking teasing us with that crap. Maybe they wanted to create excitement so they could potentially get funded for a season 2. I personally wouldn't object to a season 2, but I wont lose any sleep if we don't get it.

Honestly it's not a bad anime, it's just not a good one either.

I've seen anime with similar setting that i feel like they executed it better for example kill la kill with the more crazy, goofy, chaotic style or Kiseijuu that had a more mature, gore style or kiss x death (manga) with more mature, ecchi and action style.

the OST is ok, nothing mind-blowing and the animation is looking good most of the times but sometime it look off, especially on episode 3, the missing nose is bothering me

if you've got free time to spare you can watch it if not you can ... pass on this show.

btw as i was writing this review i remembered Midori no Hibi just putting it here, your move