Sep24
Aldnoah.Zero – 12 [END]
Slaine with a gun + season 1 finale = people are going to get shot
Jrow, Fosh & Skylion are here to talk about the final battle between Inaho & Saazbaum and also give reactions to the final scene in which Slaine shoots some people and leaves us asking, “they dead for real?”
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:00 — 20.4MB)
Extra Deaths
<caption what looks like more than a CPR scene with that lighting>
About Tag Team
We live, laugh, enjoy and strictly believe on "more the merrier". When together, we usually come up with very chatty, conversation-based episodics and interesting posts.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
FINALLY, decent Urobutcher count. Let us pray that the dead stay dead and not do a Marvel/DC resurrection. I expect to see someone weaponizing Earth/Mars into a weapon by equiping planetary engines/space fold/hyperdrives/etc2 and sending it into the other planet. That would definately up the Urobutcher count. ^_^
(Two left.)
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yeah if anyone that “died” comes back ill rage hahahaha
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
You know deep down, they’re going to come back somehow. Throughout the series, he haven’t seen any characters with enough development to become viable replacements.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Possibly! I just wont hold my breath.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Neither would I. This feels predictably cliché.
POWUH: iLurker with 13 comments
And there’s the second season for Aldnoah Zero too…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Which prevents anyone actually believing they’ve really died. Because they’re the most developed and focused characters the first half has made.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
I’ll be honest, this show was kinda bleh :\
I still liked it, because the plot was interesting, and the music was splendid, but it was just…. generic. And the end struck me. I liked Slaine the most in this anime but he got little screentime, absolutely no development or proper backstory whatsoever. I’m not talking about the others. It felt like this show just happened and that was all. I can go on for hours about what i didn’t like about it and stuff, but i still more or less enjoyed it enough not to drop. All in all it was a disappointment, especially for something that Gen Urobuchi laid his hands on. Was he really writing it? The whole thing? Because the princess got ‘revived’ twice. First time okay, the excuse was fine, but the second time…
POWUH: iLurker with 19 comments
Urobuchi only wrote the general concept and the first three episodes. The final story and remaining episodes were written by Katsuhiko Takayama (Baka and Test, Sasami-san@Ganbaranai, Cat Planet Cuties, and Boku no Pico (no joke!)).
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
For the record, Katsuhiko is good at adapting Urobutcher-senpai’s work. Though, I’m not sure if senpai noticed him or not. 😉
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I thought this ending was atrocious. Utterly terrible. If it was Gen Urobuchi who had the idea for this ending, it’s completely in keeping with his ‘style’: Do something pointless and ‘shocking’ to be ‘edgy’. I’ve heard that he wasn’t involved in the ending, but I it certainly fit the kind of thing he would do (maybe someone else thought they’d try to emulate him? You guys mention Katsuhiko). It was just awful. Here’s the thought process for coming up with that as I see it:
“So we get them all in the same room in the end, and we have them all kill each other!!!”
“Why?”
“Because it would be so cool!”
“But what point does it make?”
“Point? What are you talking about. Let’s just do it cause it would be awesome. Maybe it’s something like the futility of war and shit. We’ll say something like that.”
“Haven’t we made that point with the whole rest of this series, in a lot better way? Why have Slaine flip out here at the end?”
“Shut up. Slaine kills everyone.”
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
For the record, that is exactly how it went down. That’s also how the decision to rotoscope Aku no Hana was made.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Loved it, I thought there was actually a lot of power to that end scene. Darn, I knew that one time we agreed on something wouldn’t last long. 😛
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
The idea was fine, but it could be done SO MUCH better that it looked kinda pathetic and pointless.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I agree with what you pointed out. Even though there’s a high chance those shot are still able to draw breath.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
Boku no pico?? O_O srsly???
Well, the idea of Slaine killing Inaho is fine with me, it’s just that that ending was neither surprising nor expected. Emotions werent even awakened, considering im an emotional watcher. And thank god it wasnt him. I got confused, because someone told me it was him, someone said he did 4 episodes and so on… and i kept forgetting to google it. But again, thank god it wasnt him. Although its so sad that such potential was wasted completely. ;_;
Oh, and I hated the princess. Did I say that already at some point in the episodics?? 😀 She was so freaking irritating… -_-
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I don’t think Urobutcher is the writer for you Highway, I see his style of storytelling to be somewhat creative and unique! I think it takes guts to actually kill main characters which I feel is lacking in anime today.
I can look back at several war themed anime and manga where nobody from the main cast ever dies because the writers seem to be afraid of the fan hate to kill anyone off and the Bleach manga comes to my mind when I talk about this which as most people know has has been running for years and after a few recent chapters the creator tried to kill off a main character and he got tons of hate for it, but after a few weeks that character came back! That to me is dumb and I hate that…
Anyway yeah I see your point HWY on it being OH MY GOD shock factor, but that is just how Urobutcher rolls and I don’t think he will ever change his style because it works for him yeah not everyone is going to like it which is fine we can’t all like the same writers xD
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Actually, I really like a lot of the things he does. I just dislike that ONE POINT in every show that the brand gets to his head and he has to do something that just is idiotic. Like Psycho-pass, I thought was great, except for Show ▼
He’s a very good writer. And he does setups that work really well, like Gargantia, Psycho-pass, and even Aldnoah Zero. It’s just that there usually is one time that it gets to him that he has to be edgy and make it awesome, and that’s when it just gets stupid.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
True I see your point on his use of shock to create some kind of dramatic reaction
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
The only really interesting thing here is Inaho’s potential death. I’m still skeptical as to whether he’s gone for reasons I will discuss later, but it would certainly be fresh to see the show follow someone else in the second half. Like maybe Slaine, or perhaps even Rayet. But in any case, the failure of a/z’s semi-finale is its repetition of previously seen formulas at such a crucial moment.
The princess has been “killed” twice before now. And you expect us to believe she’s really dead now just because of a little blood? Half of me wants to believe that it’s true this time, but I’m hard pressed to convince myself knowing the show’s track record. It simply doesn’t have the balls to kill off any of the main cast. I would be pleasantly surprised if it found the courage this time.
And while we’re talking about unimaginative repetition, how about that Dioscuria? I thought the show was saving something truly special for the semi-finale. But no, all Saazbaum gets is an awful mash-up of powers from every single Vers cataphract Inaho has already fought. That was some of the laziest bullshit I have ever seen.
But I digress. I guess the moral of the story is that Asseylum has nine lives. She’s used three of them now. So we just need her to die another six times over the course of the second half. Should be a piece of cake for a/z, right?
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Well, I did think Dioscuria had a cool transformation sequence. 😀
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I think Rayet will step up as the new “princess” while Slaine will probably turn into either the main villain or the anti-hero like Jrow said, but as far as Inaho goes I don’t want to see him return in the second half! If he does that would feel kinda dumb! I guess worst case he returns with Amnesia and is unable to fight for a few episodes; however through the power of anime he will recover fast and save earth.
Lol yeah it really is hard to take the princess as dead because she seems to keep coming back again and again or is she just lucky? What if her Aldnoah power adds some kind of luck factor? Just kidding! That would be silly to add extra powers to the Aldnoah.
Sasubaum the Voltron of A.Z
Slaine is gonna clone his very own Asseylum army and take over marz! Muhhahahahahahahaha
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
My brraaaaain… IT’S MELTIIIIING TT.TT
Slaine, you asshole!
And you, Urobutcher-san, I hate you! Though I don’t. Like, how can you kill two MCs, leave two important side characters in the brink of death and END THE SEASON and announce another one?! Are you serious?
And what with this weird trend lately of ending animes on huge cliffhangers? You don’t do it! It’s unfair!
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
It’s how they keep you coming back for more! 😛
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
Yeah, and I just keep coming back with a dumb face. I WANT MOAR! Dammit.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
They’re feeding an addiction that’s growing inside. And you’re knowingly playing into their hands. 😉
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Slaine just did what he had to do and clearly we can see his emotions were a bit CRAZY so I can see why he did what he did! I mean did anyone really expect Slaine and Inaho to be friends? I mean come on…
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
It’s really the end of Orange and Bat. The Slepinir has been totaled and Slaine got upgraded from the skycarrier. But yeah, if they didn’t join forces by the middle of this point, they just weren’t going to.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
His emotions were a bit crazy and that’s why I can’t see why he did what he did. Like, the whole thing was such a shock to him he didn’t even know what he was doing by the end. “Whatever, I’ll kill this guy who’s been pissing me off even though he could help me, even though I caused the princess’s death, even though I’m the asshole in this whole story.”
Sorry… I’m actually really angry at Slaine.
I did expect them to be allies at some point, but after Inaho ditched on him saying that he was using the princess in whatever way he needed I lost hope. But did he REALLY need to kill him?
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Well, you hit the nail on the head there when you said that his emotions were a little crazy. In fact, I’d go with emotionally unbalanced. Remember that all he knows of Inaho is what the boy told him at their last encounter. Inaho admitted that he was exploiting the princess for his own gain, and for Slaine , that puts you at the same level as the knights that started this whole thing. And in his mind, this Terran who left him to die and who was using princess is now about to soil her body and memory by touching her. So, he stops him. He warns him not touch her. Inaho, knowing what he’s doing, pulls out his gun even though he has no intention in shooting, and Slaine shoots him on instinct, killing him.
It’s your classic “suicide by cop” scenario except with a boy literally broken and insane with grief, rather than a cop.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
A cruel tactic to fill us with suspense and anxiety as we wait for the show’s second half. Split cours are insatiable and this unholy trend first began with Fate/Zero three years back when this Fall officially kicks in.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
F/Z had legitimate reason for the mid-season break. Ufotable really needed a breather before wading neck-deep back into the animation. And boy did it pay off.
I can’t speak for all these other shows following suit though.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yeah it works for some but not all! I know after F/Z we had stuff like Rinne no Lagrange which also had a mid season break, but that kinda counted as another “season” so yeah it doesn’t work for most! I dunno if that was the case with Valvrave or not…
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
My biggest complain is actually with Yowapeda. I know it was a three course series and all but you can’t stop in the finish line of the second day of a three day race. It’s wrong. If you’ve gone as far as making three courses, you might as well end the year and finish the ******** race.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
I think they did it because another run was already confirmed. At least we can find out what the hell happened in Fall.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
That’s awfully optimistic, Kyo. I think they’d need another 3 cours to get to the end of the third day of the race.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
There were quite a few. The series I recall going the split cour route after Fate/Zero were Gin no Saji (Silver Spoon), Hamatora, Space Dandy (Though I dropped it after the first season’s second episode), Jormungand, Kakumeiki Valvrave and Rinne no Lagrange.
And soon Aldnoah.Zero, Hitsugi no Chaika, Prisma Illya, WIXOSS, Mushishi Zoku Shou and possibly Tokyo Ghoul will be joining the group.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
The problem though is not the fact that they split cours. Silver Spoon having a split cour is not a problem at all, since it’s a slice of life show. The problem lies on the shows that has a fuc*ing cliffhanger at the end of a cour. This is so wrong.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Then animes like Fate/Zero, Hamatora, Jormungand, Kakumeiki Valvrave and others that have just finished their first halves are guilty. They left huge WTF cliffhangers making you beg to see what happens next but you have to suffer the wait of a whole season to get closure.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Okay, so, what the heck did I just watch? First Dioscuria was OP as all heck, but of course it had all the powers of all the other mechs that came before it. Of course that gives Inaho a jump on it since he knows exactly how to beat it. It becomes a fight to see how they can get the princess to the center of the castle first.
Slaine arrives in his skycarrier and is beginning to have conflicts as he’s constantly having to defend himself against Terrans, rather than against Martians. Saazbaum is a great villain even though he pretty much falls apart against Inaho, yet Inaho still has a struggle. Slaine finds himself inside of Tharsis, and oddly enough, is able to activate it. Tharsis seems to have speed abilities so far as we can see. Slaine hears Saazbaum having trouble and comes to his rescue since Saazbaum saved his life. Slaine saves Saazbaum at the last minute right as Asseylum shuts down the system.
However, because Slaine saves Saazbaum, it gives the count the chance to finally kill Asseylum. Slaine overcome with the fact he’s the one who allowed this to happen, turns his gun on Saazbaum and attempts to shoot him to death. Inaho, who has been injured, crawls over to the dead princess and we get the “flashbacks of death” as he shows his love for the princess. However, Slaine will not allow it. This is the first time Orange and the Bat have ever met face to face. Slaine will not allow Slaine to touch the princess’ body. Inaho realizes that it’s “Bat” that he faces and in a very similar to their situation from their first meeting, they draw their guns on each other. However, this time, it’s Slaine who not only fires first, but this time, finds his target and kills Inaho.
So, wow, are you telling me that after all of our supposing that it was Yuki and others who had the largest death flags, they subverted all that and made it Inaho and Asseylum, the two characters who everyone knew weren’t going to die, be the ones that were killed?!
Sasuga, Aldnoah Zero. You got me…
So, what happens next? I have a feeling next season will be a timeskip and we might be going to Vers more with what’s going on. We’ve lost 2/3 of our main characters, so I’m guessing Slaine and others will pull up the slack. We have to find out why he has Aldnoah rights and if it had something to do with his father or some relation he has to the royal family. I’m guessing that pendent meant nothing since it never came into play at all. It was just a symbol of the princess’ hopes and her life.
Slaine is now the wild card of this series. He no longer has an allegiance to either side. In fact, if you really want to look at it, this entire season has been showing his growth from the beginning. He starts off as basically a meek slave and eventually grows to become his own person. The death of Asseylum actually help his growth as he leaves the person, the child he was, behind. I think he’s going to want to end the war in her name, but he will do it his own way. Him having Aldnoah rights will give him the leg up he needs as he becomes the main MC.
I can’t wait till next season, and I’ll admit, Aldnoah certainly surprised me with that ending….
Also, who could have guessed that the death flags that were shooting up when Asseylum and Eddelrittuo were having their tearful goodbye moment, or when Yuki kept worrying over Inaho and the two expressing their care for each other, were actually for Inaho and Asseylum and not for Yuki and Eddy?
As for the my answers to the hot button questions that have been swarming through the anime forums and comment boards since this episode aired:
Do I think Asseylum is dead?
-Yes, I think she’s done her job in this series. Also for her to die 3 times only to keep coming back would be ridiculous. Also, the strongest reason is that her death is where all of Slaine’s final development is hinged, and cutting that line between them shows the completion of his transformation and the end of his childhood.
Do I think Inaho’s dead?
-Yes, even more so than Asseylum. His entire end scene is set up like a final death. The music, flashbacks, the sad smile, the soft muffled voice, it was all there. Also, it pains me to say it, but he too has served his purpose to the story. He gave the Earth Forces the ability to look at the Martians as mortal and an enemy that could be beaten. He laid the foundation. Also, you only notice this if you look, Inaho looked like he was about to die anyway. He wasn’t thinking about escape, he wasn’t even looking to give aid to the princess, he just wanted to be by her side. He has an obvious concussion, the temporary loss of vision in one eye, and a broken leg. However, the way he collapsed and was gasping in pain as he dragged himself to her suggests hidden internal injuries. Also, Inaho is smart enough to know not to draw your gun unless you’re prepared to shoot. However, he points his gun at Slaine here, knowing that with that concussion and his eye wound, there was no way he could shoot straight. He doesn’t even attempt to fire his gun either, and we know from their last confrontation that Inaho has a more accurate trigger finger. He knew that if he pointed his gun at Slaine, Slaine would automatically respond by pulling the trigger and defending himself. Inaho is pragmatic to a “T”, he pulled his gun for a reason. He wanted Slaine to kill him.
Is Saazbaum dead?
-No, they specifically showed him still being alive and Slaine not taking that final shot. I’m almost sure he’s still alive.
Is Slaine an idiot?
-No, he seems to work mostly on his emotions, the exact opposite of Inaho. He had unknowingly formed a bond with Saazbaum, so even though he didn’t want the man to kill the princess, he wasn’t about to let the man die. Also, in the heat of the moment battle, I doubt he even was thinking about the princess when they crashed through that wall, and he certainly didn’t know she was there. Also, as a child we sometimes want everything on all sides to turn out okay. For neither Saazbaum nor Asseylum to die. However, Slaine learned the hard way, that sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way.
Will Slaine be a good MC?
-It’s amazing what some character development, more focus, and more characters to interact with can do for a character. Also I think a timeskip will happen as well. I think Slaine will do fine. He’s become a much darker, and more complex person. We’ll have to see where he goes from now on, now that he no longer has to chase after the princess. I also think Rayet will be stepping up to the plate as well as a new MC.
Where did Asseylum’s body go?
-I think Slaine took it with him in Tharsis to bury somewhere. In the end epilogue, when Yuki mentions Asseylum, you see a shot of light leave the castle. He’s going to put her to rest, probably in her blue ocean, under the blue sky that she loved.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Hahaha yeah the Dioscuria was OP but super cool tactical dude Inaho got him in close quarters and kicked his ass! Also it was lame how Saazubaum’s machine was just a mixture of all the previous mechs that Inaho defeated LOL
Yeah funny how that worked out huh? I mean damn Slaine should have killed Saazbaum long ago, but I get that he had information that Slaine needed at the time.
As far as your predictions for who died and who survived I agree with even though I want Saazbaum to be dead and Slaine to take his spot as the “villain” especially after he experienced that loss that Saazbaum commented on when he fought Inaho!
Princess dead? Yeah it is certainly possible because as you said she did her job and now it is time to move along, I mean what else was she going to do? Clearly she can’t stop this war and she said herself that it was her fault anyway.
Personally I am curious to see how big of a gap in time we will get from this episode and what everyone has been doing since Inaho died, but most important who will be the main focus for the earth side? Rayet? Inaho’s sis? Marito? I guess they could bring in a new cast of youngins…
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I’m actually wondering if Saazbaum has all that stuff first and the other knight just copied him? Or if it was the other way around. Saaz is the oldest of all of them except Vlad, and also seems to have the highest ranking of the knights. He’s been acting like their de facto leader since the beginning. Dioscuria’s tech sheet says that it actually has multiple Aldnoah drives, which is probably why it can have so many abilities, while the others all had one.
As to how big of a time gap? Well I’m thinking a few months at the least, a couple of years at the most. We can’t have our main characters be too old now. We must keep them teenagers! Teenagers save the world! 😛
So, I think we might see them at 17-18. I think we’re going to get some new Martian characters, and the main focus of the second season will actually be with Mars. Rayet and Yuki will probably step up to the plate, Eddelrittuo will get to pilot her kataphrackt, and hopefully Marito will now have properly dealt with his PTSD! 😀
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
LOL yeah? They could have easily copied Saazbaum’s mecha or he copied theirs? Either way hahah
As far as time gaps go yeah a few months works or a few years also works for me! I just want to see a drastic gap and I am also curious as to what the earth will look like when we return in the winter like will it be completely under martian control? That would make for a cool plot.
True on Marito and wow I would love to see Eddlrittuo piloting a mecha <3
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I guess this is one way to set a cliffhanger up. Everything leading up to it was epic, action and animation. The shock factor was effective but after letting it set in, I can’t really take in the ending because of the moderate possibility rate that Inaho and Asseylum are still alive. If hanging on by a thread.
Inaho’s fight against Saazbaum, I feel could’ve gone either way. Saazbaum is very capable of being strategically adept as Inaho but it was that he was being blinded by his emotions in the heat of the battle. Inaho got a little more respect from when he just threw his mech riffle and challenged Saazbaum to a knife fight. That actually had a sense of manliness and honor to it.
Where Urobuchi mech shows are concerned (despite him only being directly involved in the first three episodes), Aldnoah.Zero was great and I found it a lot better than Suisei no Gargantia. Straightforward and unapologetic in its population reduction. Now begins the agonizing wait for the second half in 2015. I’m anxious to see what happens next. Plus, there’s the nagging feeling the human race is already three quarters into extinction thanks to the war.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
It is certainly possible even though personally they should stay “dead” because otherwise it feels like the creative team had in studio fight as to what they want to do with the characters.
Yeah Saazbaum let his emotions cloud his judgement and that helped Inaho win in the end.
hahah ya we gotta wait and it sucks not knowing what is going to happen! Well the counter to Gargantia was he was assisting on that project so I took it as him being held back by the studio which prevented him from Urobutching it up xD
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Urobuchi: Good, good!! Everything has gone as I have foreseen!!!
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Hahaha… Doing that while sitting on his throne onboard a moon no doubt.
(1 left, where shall it go?)
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Staff: So what’s your ultimate plan?
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Season 2’s first PV came out today if you want to check it out, but don’t worry, it’s just sound.
Show ▼
Take all of this with a grain of salt of course. We get no images and we learned from Valvrave’s 2nd cour PV that sometimes the finished product is pretty different. 😛
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Ill take a look at it later but ya it sounds interesting! Especially that short line by Rayet? That is something for her at least! Maybe she will become more aggressive in the second half.