Eva’s First Impression
When I first started watching this, the first thing that crossed my mind was, “Man, it feels like it has been a while since I watched a mecha series.” but that isn’t actually the case. Watching a mecha series with mature characters and involved in an active war right off the bat, now that has been a while.
We have our hero Tokimune an Arandas who appears to be one of the more recent solider/pilot that have been dispatched into battle. He is an active character who doesn’t always know when to hold his tongue, complains out loud to himself when they are unable to eat or how crappy their “trail/trailers” (aka mecha units) are. He is also someone who can’t stand the idea of abandoning civilians who are being pursed by the enemy, and ignored orders and entrusted this detour mission to himself. However it always/usually comes back to bite him in the ass, and he scolds himself for it because he knows it’s one of his flaws that he needs to address. It feels like it has been a while since I’ve seen a pilot character like Tokimune because in most cases, either they are a perfect soldier, or they have no prior battle experience.
Jamie was part of the team who created/designed the Argevollen Stablis Prima (which the enemies were trying to get their hands on). She is the only survivor of those who were in the truck. Despite her funny and adorable personality, she also has a bit of spunk in her, so I am looking forward to Tokimune’s and Jamie’s dynamic in the future (after all she made quite a first impression by punching him in the face when all he was trying to do was save her).
I am very excited to see how the Argevollen will function in the future given that it appears to be a psychologically controlled mobilesuit that will run out of juice if the pilot gets tired as well. Anyhow the Arandas definitely need it considering the fact their enemies (Ingemila) has far more advance military equipment than they do and they are being destroyed because of that. It is practically futile to go up against Ingemila unless you have the right equipment, otherwise it will just turn into a suicide mission. And it certainly doesn’t help when the old geezer generals flee without giving any morale support to the local soldiers. Ugh I already hate those geezers.
Overall I felt it was refreshing given how heavy the mood started out as and was well paced. The main characters have attitude and I certainly hope it will continue that way. The basis of the plot isn’t new, but regardless of that I am looking forward to seeing how it will unfold now that they finally have a weapon that can fight up to par against the Ingemila units. The animation was pretty solid, and the CG turned out better than I had initially anticipated and I am already loving the designs of the mecha units. They look quite wicked!
As usual I will be crossing my fingers that this series won’t be too bloody as I was (as precaution) covering my eyes (because I wasn’t sure how bloody it was going to be), but man- that first kill in the Argevollen, that was brutal. Thank god we didn’t actually see anything but a major blood splat, but if you happen have a good imagination, you will most likely cringe or shudder when it happens.
Unfortunately due my busy schedule for this summer, I will be limited to only covering one new show of the season, which is likely to be Free! Eternal Summer (as I am already carrying over four shows from the Winter/Spring Season). In the mean time I will definitely be keeping a close eye on this one, and if no one picks it up, I will probably do a Random Review if it turns out to be an awesome show.
Possibility of Blogging: Low
Possibility of Watching: High
