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Year: 2014-2015
Genre: Action, Mecha
Episodes: 24
Rating: 4.25 out of 5
Mars. The fourth planet from the sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System. Mars is known as the “Red Planet” for its reddish appearance. It is also known as Mercury, named after the Roman god of war.
For many years, Mars has been the subject of countless movies and entertainment as the planet once populated by an intelligent race called Martians. In the movies and other entertainment, Martians are either good or bad. Still, they usually have far more advanced technology than Earth. Another aspect of Mars that movies try to show is finding life on Mars. Theories have stated that Mars was once habitual, and many films and shows try to portray this.
What if life was on Mars, and there was a hidden technology on the planet? A technology that could enhance the human race. Would you go and explore that technology? What if the technology was so great that you decide to take it for yourself and become a ruler? How about everyone that came with you is under your command, and you start an army. Would you attack Earth, your former home?
Aldnoah.Zero shows what happens when Earth and Mars go to war with each other a second time. The results will be devastating for both sides. The fight for Earth officially begins with the assassination of a Mars’ princess.
Overview:
During exploration in 1972 on the surface of the Moon, an ancient alien hyper gate was discovered. The scientist studied the hyper gate and find that it a way to get to Mars. Using the technology, humanity begins migrating to Mars and setting up communities on Mars. During the exploration of Mars, the settlers discover new, highly advanced technology. Deciding to keep this technology for their own, the colonists decide to break away from Earth, and the Vers Empire is founded. The Vers Empire decided to claim Mars and its secrets for itself.
In 1999, the Vers Empire decided to declare war on Earth and begin its invasion. Earth and the Vers Empire battle on the Moon’s surface, which causes the hyper gate to explode, shattering the Moon and scattering its remnants into a debris belt around Earth. With no way back to Mars, the remnants of the Vers Imperial Army decide to establish massive orbital space stations within the debris belt, and a ceasefire is established.
In 2014, 15 years after the ceasefire, the Vers princess makes a trip to Earth for a peace mission. During this peace mission, the Vers princess is attacked and assumed dead by a terrorist group. The attack causes the Empire and its 37 clans of Orbital Knights to launch a retaliation attack against Earth for the death of their princess. The Orbital Knights are determined to conquer Earth once and for all. Little do they know that one of the greatest military personal stands in their way of total domination. The battle for Earth will rest on his shoulders.
Review:
The story of Aldnoah.Zero is one that is told with almost all mecha anime series. Two places declare war on each other. One side must defend itself while the other one attacks with force like no other. The two warring places in Aldnoah.Zero are Earth and Mars. Earth and Mars have been at war once with the Moon being destroyed. Poor Moon. Something always happens to it. Now the inhabitants of Mars float in giant space castles waiting for their chance to wage war on Earth again, believing that Earth is weaker than them. Once again, the same story for all mecha anime series. This time around, the princess of Mars has an assassination attempt against her. This is the spark and reason the people of Mars was looking for to invade Earth. That is when all hell breaks loose, and cities are destroyed in an instance. The story actually revolves around two characters, Inaho Kaizuka and Slaine Troyard. Inaho is a high school student on Earth who somehow becomes Earth’s only primary weapon against the Mars invaders. He seems to be able to defeat them with ease even though they have way better weapons. Slaine, on the other hand, is an Earth-born human who serves one of the Counts of Mars. He is in love with the princess and does anything to protect her. As the story progresses and Inaho becomes a significant thorn in Mars’ attacking force, himself and Slaine become mortal enemies. Slaine’s story shows how he rises through the ranks of the Martians while trying everything in his power to protect the princess. Inaho’s story shows how he would do everything in his power to stop the attacking force while protecting the princess also.
Where the anime lacks is character development. It does an excellent job with the main characters, like Inaho, Slaine, and Asseylum. Inaho is characterized by his emotionless, stoic demeanor. He hardly ever smiles, and he always seems focused on the task at hand. While fighting, he displays almost genius-like abilities. He can adapt to any situation while coming up with an almost perfect battle plan to battle anyone. The mecha he uses is one they use in training. The dude is an absolute beast in battle. Slaine is characterized as a loyal person to anyone he serves. He is poorly treated by the person he serves since he is Earthborn. He is a pacifist at the beginning of the story, but after thinking the princess has been killed, he trades in his views slowly changes from a peaceful, kind young man into a war-hungry militarist. Asseylum is the princess of the Martian empire. She is a loving person but is very curious about Earth. She strives for peace. Other characters add on to the story, none of them have any impact. Usually putting high schoolers in this type of anime ruins it sometimes but this anime does a great job in keeping the intensity high. Even on the Martian side. All the Martian Knights are displayed as egotistical with a low opinion of Earth. The only thing that makes them stand out is the mechas they command. Each one is different in their own way.
Without a doubt, the best part of this anime is the music. The music is fantastic in this anime and will get you pumped up. The two songs that are great in this anime are MKAlieZ and Breathless. MkAliez plays when the Martian Orbital Knights declare war on Earth and descend upon Earth. The song has an upbeat tempo and plays as the Knights are descending upon the Earth. The song gets quiet, and then on the impact of the Knights castle, the song rages loudly as people are wiped from the Earth. Great timing and use of the song. The other song is Breathless. This song plays pretty much when Inaho is in battle. It has a very upbeat tempo and gets you pump as you watch him fight against an opponent that he shouldn’t be able to defeat. The whole soundtrack of Aldnoah.Zero is one of the best I heard for an anime.
Even though the animation isn’t a strong point, it does serve a purpose to the anime in making things visually appealing. It does the job when the Orbital Knights crash land on Earth. The animation also is great with the fighting scenes between the mechas. It has a nice mix of animation and CGI. Each Orbital Knight mecha is nicely designed differently from each other. No two Orbital Knight mechas are the same. The anime’s color schemes and use of colors when situations happened made the scenes pop. The animation/CGI does a great job even when showing Inaho’s cybernetic eye.
Aldnoah.Zero is a great anime if you like the mecha genre. The action and battle scenes between the mechas are great as they are in almost all mecha series. The story is one that is told in all mecha anime. Two opposing forces coming to war with each other and then somehow finds peace after the casualties get to a certain point. During this time, two characters come to the forefront as the ones who will decide everything. The anime is definitely a must-watch if you like fighting mechas.
