Dec 18, 2014
Allow me to preface this by saying that I find the concept of reviewing anime to be laughable. If you do not like the anime by the summary enough to pick it up, chances are a person will not be able to sell the idea to you. Furthermore, there is always the 1/4 rule, where you watch the first quarter of an anime before deciding to drop it.
The fact that I am making a review is a testament to how much this show caught my interest and became one of my favorite shows of the year.
This show has often been accused of being 'generic,' while
...
it is anything but. While by all means a show that could be called a 'Real Robot' anime, it is best to not even consider it a mecha-- rather a military drama, that features giant robots. More than anything, we are watching the daily life of a platoon of troops as they move from place to place.
We see tactics of military combat, rather than brute forcing using the super-protype, the Argevollen. While strong, all of the advantages provided by it are primarily a combination of psychological effect (a powerful machine capable of destroying a machine with a kick, while moving far too quickly to seemingly be piloted by a human), as well as the element of the unknown (most of the people who encounter it die, or are captured). And even then, the show constantly needs to remind you in the early part, that what our protagonists are using, is a prototype.
They can't fix it properly due to not having the full manuals on its assembly. They can't equip it properly, as all of their weapons are meant for another model of mecha. They can't change pilots, due to how the OS and UI of the machine was set up, only able to register the MC and activate with the Heroine.
The fights in the early part feel sluggish, as though these machines are not meant to be lightning fast warrior that we are used to seeing mecha portrayed as. It's something new. Another thing that is new, is seeing how easily the machines are taken down-- even the titular mech. We see them shot and shut down/destroyed by artillery fire, or even infantry. Sometimes, they don't even get in their robots.
Combining a refreshing concept for a show that is officially of the mecha genre, we have the character designer from To Love Ru: Darkness working on this, giving us something that is aesthetically pleasing. That is to say nothing of the soundtrack, which feels fitting of a military anime.
Characters all get their time to shine, but sadly for the life of me, I could not remember their names. Too many, but then I realized that most of the names that were memorable, were the nicknames that people gave the characters. This made sense, seeing as how in the military, giving nicknames to your juniors and other colleagues is something that the media loves to portray. It gives a sense of camaraderie.
Overall, I highly recommend Argevollen. If nothing else, you get a show that is unlike many others of the genre.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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