~SETTING & PLOT~
The plot essentially revolves around a high school robotics club and their quest to build a giant robot to be displayed eventually at an expo. However, as the story progresses, a massive conspiracy is uncovered and they must work to save the world from evil. I was a bit skeptical about the high school setting and have always found the concept of high-schoolers having the power to save the world to be slightly unbelievable, despite this being used often and sometimes with great success. In this case, I didn't think the high school setting was conducive to such a complex plot with conspiracies/propaganda/brainwashing.
Additionally, the pacing of the anime wasn't great either, the buildup in the first half was too slow and drawn out, there didn't seem to be enough plot progression, and the final few episodes seemed to have a bit of a frantic ending. As a result, many complex aspects of the anime were left unexplained creating confusing plot-holes.
Finally, one of the most dissatisfying aspects of the story for me was the resolution to the evil/conspiracy/threat to humanity. After all the buildup and following the protagonist do research into this conspiracy, I expected puzzle pieces gathered throughout the previous episodes to fit together and neatly form the resolution. However, unfortunately, the resolution was rather cliche and seemingly pulled out of nowhere, as if the writers tried to create a puzzle so complex and difficult that they couldn't even solve in the end.
~ART & ANIMATION~
This is one of the more impressive aspects of Robotics;Notes as Production I.G have done a fine job in making this show aesthetically pleasing. The characters are well drawn and the animation is smooth with no noticeable flaws. The most impressive facet is the 3D animation in the fight scenes involving robots. It was quite fun to watch and I would've liked to see more of these scenes.
~SOUND~
The soundtrack is also very good and the voice acting was competent. The orchestral main theme especially in the fit the series well as a BGM and the majority of the OST worked effectively in accompanying the series. Both OP themes were enjoyable and had plenty of energy. The voice of Kanako Itou was beautiful in the ED theme 'Topology.'
~CHARACTER~
In terms of characters and their development, Robotics;Notes sadly falls short. The main characters in the series consist of 5 members of the Robot Research Club:
> Kai - nonchalant protagonist who likes to play and is very good at video games
> Aki - robot enthusiast obsessed with Gunvarell, childhood friends with Kai
> Subaru - champion robot fighter with great expertise and knowledge in robotics
> Junna - karate kid, who is afraid of robots
> Kona - shut-in geek with a dark past
The main problem lies with the lack of character development. We only get one episode to show the backstory of Junna and get to know her, and Subaru doesn't even get that! Kona was one character who was intriguing and had a bit of mystery about her. We get teased with one flashback scene mid-series and she pretty much get next to no airtime thereafter.
So the majority of the airtime goes to Kai and Aki both of whom in my opinion had some flaws. Firstly, I thought Kai was a really plain, bland character for a protagonist. He just seems so nonchalant in everything he does and just doesn't get you interested in what he's doing. Aki is a bit too one-dimensional for my liking as nearly every scene she appears in is in somewhat related to building the giant robot; whether it be building it, talking about building it, or gathering support so she can build the robot.
~OVERALL~
Despite being well produced with its art and sound being obvious highlights, Robotics;Notes had many flaws which compromised my enjoyment of the series. The messiness and confusion of the story's plot-holes is a major one of these flaws. The poor pacing never allowed the series to gather momentum and it was at times a struggle maintaining interest, and despite characters initially showing potential, most don't get much development making it hard to connect with them and care about them. I wouldn't say Robotics;Notes is a terrible anime because it does have some nice moments, but it's just not very good and has way too many negatives in the story and character departments. Ultimately, it wouldn't be the sort of anime I would recommend.
