ALDNOAH ZERO Key Point Anime Review
THE BOTTOM LINE:
This anime is worth watching, but you should know that the endings of both season 1 and 2 are disappointing and leave a lot to be desired. This anime is predominantly about mechs with some space battleships mixed in. Season 1 is better than season 2 because it has more intense fights and situations with an underdog feel. The anime has plenty of unique mech designs and interesting powers that are worth taking a look at. The main story is interesting, but grows more tired over time. (Note: If you’re worried about seeing characters who won’t be introduced until later, don’t watch the season 2 opening or ending at the end of this post).
SETTING:
A combination of Earth, Mars, the moon, and space.
On Earth, the story takes place in areas around Tokyo and Russia, but the landscapes are mostly barren or destroyed and not clearly recognizable.
STORY:
This is a good mech anime with some space battleships.
A male main character that is incredibly smart and talented.
The main character devises strategies no one else is capable of and fights battles with little chance of success.
The people of Earth are at odds with the inhabitants of Mars.
Earth is at a technological disadvantage to the people of Mars. Earth has abundant food and resources, while the Martians have access to a futuristic power called Aldnoah that they use to make superior weapons, ships, and mechs.
The plot revolves around war, battles, and political ploys.
Season 1 has many mech duels with stark power disparities between the two sides.
Many characters with close friendships, but not much happens in the way of bond building.
The story does a decent job of showing the gradual corruption of good intentions and the consequences.
The Martians have a large nobility comprised of knights that serve a royal family, but the knights are largely autonomous and lack a command structure. There is some information about ranks within the knights, but it is not described in detail.
The main character operates a seemingly weak training unit, but uses its capabilities to turn the tides of battle.
Betrayal themes.
There is a PTSD sub plot in the anime that is very bad. A PTSD sub plot could have been done well, but this one mostly just wastes time and amounts to nothing meaningful.
The love themes are ok. Part of the problem is the main character is extremely analytical, so it’s not in his nature to show affection in the ways most people are used to seeing. There are also times where, even in the context of his personality, the things he says to further relationships are very odd.
The battles and mech abilities have a lot of physics concepts woven in.
The story has a few inconsistencies relating to the Martian king that aren’t well explained.
The more powerful Martian mechs have unique powers.
Martians believe they are a superior breed and look down on the people of earth (called Terrans).
Themes about weak characters rising to power.
This anime has no comedy. (Or at least no good comedy).
The endings of season 1 and 2 are unsatisfying.
CHARACTERS:
The main character is relatively emotionless and very analytical. His lack of emotion seems problematic from a character development standpoint, but he was intended to be this way and it’s fine despite him not changing much.
There are a few interesting antagonists.
Secondary and tertiary characters in the anime have weak personalities.
Character outfits are mostly boring military uniforms.
There are some interesting mech and weapon designs.
DIALOGUE AND VOICE ACTING:
The voice acting is good over all. Very few weak performances.
Dialogue is average. There weren’t any lines that stood out to me as good, but the bad dialogue lines are limited. Most of it is just pretty formal language or just translated to English with some awkwardness. Some of the strongest moments communicated are actually silent gestures by certain characters.
ANIMATION:
The animation is decent. It combines traditional animation with some 3D rendering for the mechs. The 3D parts are integrated well and aren’t distracting.
MUSIC, OPENINGS, AND ENDINGS:
Season 1 opening song (opening 1): “Heavenly Blue” by Kalafina. This song is good and is part of Kalafina’s work before Yuki Kajiura’s departure from overseeing Kalafina’s development. Kalafina is disbanded now, but most of their old songs are great if you want to check them out. They have a lot of songs with strong vocals and a dramatic feel to them.
Season 1, first opening animation (opening 1): The season 1 opening animation does a good job of displaying the characters in ways that makes the series look interesting.
Season 1, first ending song (ending 1): “A/Z”, by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:Mizuki. The song isn’t very good. It’s peaceful, but mostly boring.
Season 1, first ending animation (ending 1): The ending animation is ok, but mostly low budget and boring. It’s all still shots of Earth and helps set up one of the character’s wonderment with the environment.
Season 1 Ending 2 (ending 2) song: “aLIEz” by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:Mizuki. This song is very good and is worth listening to. It builds from a mysterious and steady beat to become more dramatic and has strong vocals.
Season 1 Ending 2 animation (ending 2): It’s bad and nothing happens at all, so it’s a good one to skip if you’ve already heard the song.
Season 2, opening song (opening 2): “& Z” by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:Mizuki. I didn’t like this song at first, but it grew on me over time. It has uplifting and dramatic vibes mixed with some semi-strong female vocals.
Season 2, opening animation (opening 2): This opening is similar to the season 1 opening, but worse. It displays the characters again, but doesn’t add much in the way of making them more interesting. Most of the people and events shown in the season 2 opening are things you already saw in season 1.
Season 2, ending song (ending 3): “Genesis” by Eir Aoi. This song is decent. The sweeping chorus and back beat are its strengths. The melody from the vocals could be better though.
Season 2, second ending animation (ending 3): The animation is bad.It’s still shots of events that are either irrelevant to the story or things you’ve already seen.
Author username: Marro Danatalle
Photo credit: Studio A-1 Pictures