Feb26
Mechanorn – 14
Things are getting crazy!
Welcome back to another episode of MechaNORN! Hopefully the Aldnoah.zero portion of the episode sounds alright because I had to do some small edits on the audio because the sound was slightly off, but anyway enjoy the episode!
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Time stamps
Aldnoah.Zero2 00:04
Gundam Build Fighters TRY 13:14
Cross Ange 28:11
FK YA EXTRA MECHA
I also love snack time!
Some people really love their Gunpla.
Serious maid is serious!
Bonus fun
Sorry Ange, but you took too long.
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
Alea iacta est… I expect Asseylum to be disgusted with Emperor Slaine and Lemrina going yandere while all the earthlings die. It is all set for an urobutcher ending.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
If it’s Urobutcher, then we can only hope.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Well, he hasn’t really worked on the show since episode 3, so I doubt it.
Aoki’s been really the one holding the reins now for the most part.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
His name was attached the moment Aldnoah.Zero was first announced so he should at least do something.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
nope Urabutcher aint got time for that! I am starting to dislike him lately because he seems to start a project and abandon it midway through! Why? I don’t think we will ever get that answer, but I do know he gives everything to Madoka….
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Only because it is a Bad End. 😛
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
What you said can’t be ignored. Hopefully he’ll invest his projects full time later on.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
I meant Madoka was a Bad End end. Obviously Aldnoah Zero isn’t heading in that direction.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Sorry, I’m mentioning on what Fosh was talking about.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I doubt it. Asseylum was willing to sacrifice herself to what was basically a complete stranger last season, when she apologized to Rayet, despite the fact that it was Rayet who tried to kill her and her family who sparked the war in the first place under orders.
Slaine means a heck of a lot more to Asseylum than Rayet did. He is her first and best friend, and she’s known him longer than any other person in the show except her grandfather. The two were as close as siblings to the point that when his guardianship was given over to Cruhteo and he was taken away, she went into an actual depression until Eddelrittuo was brought in to take her mind away from it.
I can’t see Asseylum giving up on him, it’s not in her nature. Slaine might have lost his way a little and doesn’t think himself worthy of her anymore, but I think she will try to guide him back towards the light. Eddelrittuo truly cares about him too, so I think they will both try to help him find his way again.
As for the ending, I’m not quite sure yet, though knowing the shows themes, I’m guessing there will be some kind of understanding between the Martians and Terrans and they will all live together somehow. It’s been kind of hinted at throughout the series. 😛
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Cross Ange: The show works really hard to make Salia be a very sympathetic character, and I think it pays off. There are a lot of ways you can take that “Not good enough” character like Salia, either make them overly bitter and mean, make them just awful, or do what they’ve done with her here and make her kind of pitiful, but not pathetic. To Salia, Ange is almost everything she wants to be: the person counted on by Jill to lead Libertus, the person loved by Embryo, the person in charge of the Arzenal squad. And every time, without even trying, Ange surpasses her, because Ange is just a more charismatic, more willful, even more privileged person. But despite all of her disappointments, Salia is a good person. She could walk in and shoot Ange, but she doesn’t. She helps her escape. I get where she’s coming from: If Ange goes away, Salia gets Embryo (or at least she thinks). And what’s almost the saddest part is that inside, Salia knows that Embryo doesn’t love her or need her. But like all the girls we’ve seen from Arzenal (except maybe Ange), she just needs something to love, something that she hopes will love her back. For Ersha, that’s those kids. For Hilda it was first Zola and now it’s Ange. And for Salia, it’s gone from Jill to Embryo.
And continuing in that theme, for Rosalie, it is Chris. I really liked that scene between Rosalie and Hilda (except for some kinda odd animation, but it’s actually hard to get in bed with someone like that smoothly). Rosalie thought maybe they could comfort each other, both missing the people they really want to be with, and they did end up helping each other, just not in the way she originally thought. We’ll see how much goes wrong with Hilda’s new plan, but at least she’s trying something.
And I’m amazed how they have reinvented Jill / Alektra 2 or 3 times. I think what came out of this last episode is that she was basically what Salia is now: The girl that just wasn’t good enough. The question of how she came back to Arzenal is the big one: Did she break away from Embryo realizing that she didn’t mean to him what he meant to her (the same realization that Salia is trying to deal with now)? Or was she cast aside by Embryo? Or was she sent back by Embryo to be the thing that he has to fight against to get his way?
I know that people tend not to like characters in Cross Ange, but I really do think that they’re well-developed. Or at least I have an interest in them, so I’m more likely to analyze them.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
For what could have easily been a trashy yuri harem show, Cross Ange has given some depth to characters who otherwise could have been unsympathetic. True, Embryo is your basic evil insane super scientist who wants to destroy and remake the world because people aren’t what he wants them to be, but we were given reasons why Jill/Elektra, Salia and some of the other girls have acted in ways that could make them seem villainous or get the audience to dislike them. Instead, you can feel sorry for Salia and understand why Jill is ready to ruthlessly sacrifice anyone and in large numbers in the cause of Libertus and to destroy Embryo.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I think it’s interesting that the only truly hateful character in the show is Sylvia. Whether she’s that way because of Embryo and his puppet-master ways, or whether she just completely broke with all the emotional whiplash she went through (having her beloved sister ruin her body, then ruin her cushy princess life, then kill her brother and be completely unrepentant about it), she’s just the most awful person in the show.
But the biggest achievement of Cross Ange, I think, is that all these characters, despite being a bit formulaic and over the top, are authentic. They don’t make them do out of character things for the plot, or for shock value, or just for fanservice. They’ve been consistently authentic, with changes in outlook and attitude well justified and explained. And they’re not just put up there as ‘good guys’ or ‘bad guys’, the way that SAO would do something like that. They’re all just ‘guys’, or ‘women’. Not bad, not good, just doing what they do.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Cross Ange: No matter how you look at it, Jill and Salia are more alike than you’d like to admit. The greatest thing they have in common is that they were manipulated in huge degree by their insecurities.
Ange held out fairly well and long in Embryo’s territory but I knew it was a matter of time before got overpowered and it was harsh, too. Embryo may not be the standard kind of villain but he doesn’t hesitate to his menacing aura. The way he goes about it is “sophisticated” if it needed to be described. He also managed to have commentators all over on edge. They were all fearful the longer Ange stayed around him, the likelier something to happen.
Getting women to submit by drowning them in ecstasy to the point of climaxing by a single touch? FEAR HIS POWER!!!
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
He should have been the main character instead of the wuss. Outdoes Kirito-jesus-sama in terms of harem l33tness.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
The difference is Kirito has his eyes set on one girl only.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Yet all the girls are attracted and form a Jesus-kirito-sama Harem.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Such is the fate of a male lead that manages to get on a girl’s good side.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Cross Ange: I also had a feeling Hilda would start developing an interest in Tusk after the way she’s been acting around him even though her actions were a bit hostile in the beginning. The OP visuals did a better job of showing the display. Easy to see she’s going both ways. The question is: who will she want more?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I don’t know how much Hilda’s falling for Tusk, but I think she’s warmed up to him as someone who is trustworthy, as much as someone like Hilda can trust anyone. I also think she sees the way he acts towards Ange and wishes that someone would act that way towards her, preferably Ange.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
It may be subconsciously Hilda thinks the only way to get Ange is to accept Tusk as part of the bargain–it’s both or neither for her.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Either way, she’s getting variety. 😉
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I’d also like to comment on that scene between Hilda and Tusk. I thought that it was played a little differently, actually. Hilda’s ‘offer’ to Tusk seemed like an inexperienced girl’s attempt at a quid pro quo. Somewhat tragic, she offers pretty much the only thing she thinks she has of value to a guy. I didn’t get any inkling when she said “You can do me if you take me to Ange” that she was interested in Tusk at that time. It was just “This is a price I’m willing to pay for what I want.” It was also a great gap between the tough, experienced prison girl and the completely inexperienced woman that she is. Sure it’s cliche, but as we’ve seen time and again, they make the cliches work in this show because the way they’re used is really authentic.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Aldnoah.Zero: Marylcian’s end was certain the moment he challenged Slaine. This is why pride is one of the seven deadly sins because it proves costly.
Asseylum woke much later than I expected but given her current state, I can’t yet see her chewing out Slaine for what he’s been doing. It’d be hard to do so considering she took a bullet to the head and a few others elsewhere. Her slight remembrance of Inaho makes an interesting setup and now Slaine fully realizes he has a rival. I’d love to see how that unfolds. That aside, after all the fake announcements and that false declaration of marriage, especially that the real Asseylum is up and about, Lemrina will be severely screwed by the looks of it.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Marylcian was an idiot wasn’t he, but then again, he was shown that way from the start.
I do feel sorry for Lemrina, she needs to let go of her grudge and the need to constantly compare herself to her sister. She is a princess in her own right and deserves to be respected and loved for who she is, and I hope that Asseylum can help her know that whenever they finally meet.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Now that I think about it, Marylcian was guilty of more than one sin. He was wrathful towards Slaine due to his earthborn origins, envied his feats as a count, lusted to be Asseylum’s protector which made him greedy and in the end, his pride blinded him so much it became his undoing.
The reason for her grudge is due to her lineage. Because she was the product of an indiscretion, Lemrina is pretty much half royal blood and since her mother wasn’t of nobility, she may consider herself a princess but one of low birth. That won’t be easy to overcome. Lemrina is like Magi’s Alibaba Saluja and Kougyoku Ren who were children born from the relationship between a noble father and prostitute mother.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Awaits for her to go yandere. Marylcinn was just written to be killed. Deliciously.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It was predetermined when he wouldn’t stop poking around.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Well, I’ll be the first to say that that was a really good intermediary episode, and that Slaine has begun going down a path of darkness that even he can’t find a way out of.
In his efforts to gather support and power in Vers, things have begun to spin a little out of his control. His morality has been skewed and while in his heart he does not wish to do these things, he sees no way out of it but by continuing on no matter the doubts. It’s almost like the infection that is Vers politics have begun to infect him because he has had to embrace it wholeheartedly. I can’t help but think a tragic end is in store for him unless he can be pulled back from the abyss, and I truly hope that someone can.
Asseylum has awakened, and is now in a wheelchair, however, she seems to have lost some of her memories, but they don’t seem to be all gone. She is happy now, but I fear that she will be saddened at what Slaine has done, though unlike others, I doubt she will abandon him or even yell at him. She will try to save and help him as best as she knows how.
As for Lemrina, that is a tragic figure right there, a girl that loves Slaine, but knows that he will never love her back, who is angry at her sister but still cares for her. I don’t know what she will do.
Slaine is organizing the counts under one flag, and is having them fight together, which should have been their game plan all along as Inaho and team can’t fight well multiple kataphrachts that are fighting all at once. So, Slaine has gained control of Vers and sadly seems to be trying to bring Earth to heel as well. He knows this will hurt Asseylum, but at this point he’s gone too far to go back now. He’s decided that her hatred of him is a forgone conclusion so he might as well just go on from here to whatever fate awaits him.
Well, on a good note, he does want the war to end, and it will probably end a lot faster with the counts actually working together rather than apart. Unfortunately, that won’t be such a good end for the Terrans, unless Slaine has some other plan up his sleeve.
What shall this mean for Inaho and the gang as well as Mazuurek who’s finally gotten back to his castle? I don’t know? I will be interested in seeing the fight next week and how that goes.
Also, for anyone who hasn’t heard it, Slaine’s character song, 0.vers, came out some weeks ago, on the OP single. It is one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs in the entire Aldnoah soundtrack. Listen to it if you’ve got the chance.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Since I’m on a Roman run, the Terrans should just poison the well if they’re losing… ie, render Earth unhabitable just to spite the Martians.
Whilst Asseylum may be understand, one forgets that Slain is commiting all these atrocities (which I approve of!) in/for/of/from/becauseof/etc her name. I doubt she would be happy that he has gone against her principles.
Alea iacta est – there is no return now and things are beginning to slip out of Slaine’s control.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Well, honestly, if you really think about, he really hasn’t done that many “atrocities”. If you really compare him with some other famous anti-heroes like Lelouch or L-elf for example, he’s actually rather tame.
He hasn’t killed any civilians, all of his targets have been military, he is climbing to the top not out of greed or arrogance or even revenge, but to have the power to change things for those that are less fortunate. And all the counts that would go against are moreso racist bigots that simply hate that he’s a Terran.
And honestly, considering how naive and simplistic Asseylum’s principle and thoughts were, I’d go against them too. 😉
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
You cannot make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. Indirectly there will be a few hundred million
Cardassiancivilian casualties. First season already showed that non-combatant casualties are inevitable.On that note: Heil Slaine!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
All what L-Elf did in Valvrave demanded a suspension of belief.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
It’s not L-elf’s actions but more so, his more darker gray sense of morality.
He’s guilty of a lot more “atrocious” things than I’ve ever seen Slaine do, and I see more and more badgering on Slaine that L-elf ever got. He’s basically the antichrist to some people. o_o and I that I really don’t get.
I’ve had it argued to me that he’s guilty of genocide, that he’s the next Hitler or Stalin, that he’s a psychopath, and I really just can’t see it at all. *shrugs shoulders*
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I can’t see anything Slaine doing resembling those people. More like he’s making plans for the future and to make hard decisions. Neither do his actions feel like that of a dictator. The Vers people are slowly but surely rallying behind him of their own will.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
amen to that.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
After watching 09 this week, I have come to the conclusion that Slaine x Inaho is the best outcome. The Martians lack a battlefield tactician. The UFE upper echelons are useless. So if we merge the best of both worlds,
we get locutus of Borg.everyone will be happy.POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
Junya doing Ippo’s combo of Liver Blow, Gazelle Punch and Dempsey Roll. Never thought I’d see a Gundam do that. Based Sunrise.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I loved Junya! He was quite the mid level boss character and LOL dat ippo attack! I haven’t seen that series, but I know all about the Dempsey Roll xDD
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Umm, I don’t know if you guys want to do this or not, but MS Gundam: The Origin I came out in subbed format yesterday. I don’t know if you guys want to include that in your Mechanorn for next week. It’s more exciting for us Gundam fans that have been in the UC world for awhile. But it would interesting to get your thoughts on it.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
In an unrelated note, congratulations on taking 4th place on the top 20. It gets tricky from here on. 😉
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Why thank you, I’ll have to be working extra hard to get ahead now! 😉
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I look forward to it. 😛
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
While I’m working hard myself. 😉
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yeah I plan on watching it and adding it to the next MechaNORN recording! So look forward to that, but ill be perfectly honest I only know a little bit about Char’s background after watching the original MS movies.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Well, I really think that’s all you need. This OVA series IS going to be his backstory, so it will tell you all you need to know. In fact, if it were not for the fact that Gundam 0079 gives you more on the adult character of Char and you find out his beef with and the fates of the Zabi family there, I would have said that you can basically go into this new series of movies cold. 😉
But yeah Char basically started/popularized the whole long term “take down my enemies from the inside by becoming one of them” theme seen in other mecha that even Slaine in Aldnoah has adopted. But it’s pretty interesting to see where all that anger came from in the first place.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I saw it last night with my brother and was surprised! It was more dramatic than anything I have seen from Sunrise/Gundam in a long time! Maybe since Unicorn~
Yeah that is what I know about Char how he worked his way up the ranks to get revenge for the past and a lot of anime characters do just that and sometimes it works while other times not so much like Slaine in Aldnoah…I don’t think hes that great with it xD
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Yeah, it’s been quite a while since Gundam was that serious and dramatic. I’m still hanging in there with Gundam G-reco, but that show is a trainwreck of ridiculousness, and since it’s ending in only 4 or 5 episodes, I’m not expecting it to go any further beyond that.