Aldnoah.Zero - generic discussion thread

[Wandering Soul]

I really do like Inaho's character. Despite first impression he isn't emotionless and I really like how when he dealt the last blow he said this is for my friend. He doesn't seem like a super pilot but he is going to get by using his brain. He reminds me of Lelouch and L-Elf only more stoic and at times clueless. He uses Guerrilla tactics and prefers to stand back instead of rushing to the front lines until it is time for him too.

Slaine also impressed me too. He gunned down Trillram once he found out about his actions and shot him a few more times for good measures. Looks like going after the princess was enough get him to retaliate even when all the abuse he suffered wasn't. I am interested in seeing whether he tries to join up with the princess or take down the people that tried to kill her from within. I am enjoying both MCs right now.

The OST has been enjoyable. I also like how Inaho's classmates are comptent and can take care of themselves. I am interested in seeing what the show does with Rayet from now on too. I hope the new writer can continue making this show more enjoyable.

[Klashikari]

Originally Posted by DevilHighDxD

It not like we know every bits and pieces about the properties of Aldnoah Light(the light), also the animator will want to show us the actual chasing sequence with a visible machine rather a black mass of nothingness and there also the anime's logics. Overthinking about these trivial stuff isn't gonna give you the answer anyway, just focus on the ones that make sense.

Surely you jest.
I can buy the fact most space mecha anime forgoing the issue that there is no sound in space, in order to avoid dull battles. However AZ can't have such luxury, exactly because it goes against to its very own setting and context.

You just don't introduce a logical statement by contradicting the said statement yourself. It is a frigging oversight which make the said episode even more stupid than you might think.
Declaring that the pilot is blind due to light absorption make the actual issue even more plain: everyone outside would see a void/black mass with actual hole (in fact, plain purple metal part) for the receiver moving around, exactly because these parts reflect light, while the rest wouldn't due to the barrier.

Following this part, it makes that bridge ploy completely unecessary because you would actually see right from the get go the gap which isn't covered by the barrier. Any idiot would simply snipe it with a rifle instead of going randomly against it, or trying to paint that location.


The series is trying to establish a serious setting, but there are way too many flaws that make a lot of scenes absolutely silly.
I can buy HAMMY villains for the hell of it, so long it isn't stupid to the very last degree, yet it did at the end of the episode. Let's assume that Slaine didn't go for the kill, what would actually prevent him to warn other factions about this treason? What if Slaine had a recording device and tailed Traillram for actual evidence?

There are way too many convenient parts to the point it is difficult to take the series seriously.

[Irenesharda]

Originally Posted by Tempester

Oh wow. Trillram is a huge idiot, spouting out his traitorous intentions in front of Slaine like that. Isn't it odd how he murdered the assassins in episode 2 so they couldn't divulge the secret behind the assassination, yet he himself revealed it in front of Slaine, somebody whom he had no idea was in on the plan? He must be incredibly dense to think Slaine would continue to cooperate with him after saying that.

It's all about how Martians see Terrans. Trillram thinks more of the Martian assassins than he thinks of the Terran slave that flies his plane. I thought it was stupid to say all that to him too, but as I thought about it, it reminded me of how a person would express all their anger to a pet. Also, Slaine has been the doormat that everybody has walked on, and he give off a sense that he can be controlled and scared into silence. So, Trillram, like with a dog, probably never thought much of it.

[Tempester]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

Declaring that the pilot is blind due to light absorption make the actual issue even more plain: everyone outside would see a void/black mass with actual hole (in fact, plain purple metal part) for the receiver moving around, exactly because these parts reflect light, while the rest wouldn't due to the barrier.

Following this part, it makes that bridge ploy completely unecessary because you would actually see right from the get go the gap which isn't covered by the barrier. Any idiot would simply snipe it with a rifle instead of going randomly against it, or trying to paint that location.

This plot hole could have been easily solved by having lasers be able to hit the Martian mechs (thus light as well), but giving the mechs heat-resistant armor.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

Then they should come up with a weakness that let them do all that while making sense. It's not really that hard you know. They fucked up because they were lazy. They know a lot of viewers won't care if the series makes sense as long as the production values are good and the girls are cute.

No, viewers won't care because not every sci-fi works in existence have to stick to physics from A to Z and many don't pick up funky liberties with physics. Otherwise, you would see Titans in EVE online having their own gravity pull because of their mass, the Predator would not see the way he does because IR vision don't work that way and don't get me started on robots in Pacific Rim.

In all seriousness, there is no need to put every single detail under scrutiny to such extent.

[Kazu-kun]

Let's agree to disagree. Personally, I don't think for a second so many viewers would give the glaring nonsense a pass if this series didn't look as good as it does.

Also, we care about the "details" because the series is trying to sell itself as serious business. If it was more campy, I would be more willing to suspense my disbelief and forget the silly stuff. Heck, I might even enjoy it.

[Stanelis]

Originally Posted by Sheba

No, viewers won't care because not every sci-fi works in existence have to stick to physics from A to Z and many don't pick up funky liberties with physics. Otherwise, you would see Titans in EVE online having their own gravity pull because of their mass, the Predator would not see the way he does because IR vision don't work that way and don't get me started on robots in Pacific Rim.

In all seriousness, there is no need to put every single detail under scrutiny to such extent.

Yeah but they actually tried to explain loads of cheesy technical stuff (I mean : why would we be able to see the details of the mecha if no light could reach its surface in the first place ?) when it would have been easier to make it more logical without changing anything about what was happening in the episode (falling into the water could have just depleted the power of the barrier or overloaded it).

In eve online they simply don't try to explain stuff.

Nobody expect things to fully make sens in a SF media (else it wouldn't be SF), but when you start to make things follow rules, you stick to them.

[cubicbalance]

Went back and looked at episode 2 again... the cameras are taken care of storywise...

Spoiler for screenshot proof:

[Tempester]

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

It's all about how Martians see Terrans. Trillram thinks more of the Martian assassins than he thinks of the Terran slave that flies his plane. I thought it was stupid to say all that to him too, but as I thought about it, it reminded me of how a person would express all their anger to a pet. Also, Slaine has been the doormat that everybody has walked on, and he give off a sense that he can be controlled and scared into silence. So, Trillram, like with a dog, probably never thought much of it.

I would agree with you if the matter involved the assassination of another knight or some other ally of lower status, something that the timid Slaine could plausibly get involved in. But this is about the princess, an important member of the royal family that Slaine has served for years. Even the most meek person would think twice about becoming the accomplice to an assassination plot of the princess when it was just revealed to them for the first time. Directly turning against the royal family of your country or empire on a moment's notice is a big deal no matter who you are.

[Irenesharda]

Originally Posted by Tempester

I would agree with you if the matter involved the assassination of another knight or some other ally of lower status, something that the timid Slaine could plausibly get involved in. But this is about the princess, an important member of the royal family that Slaine has served for years. Even the most meek person would think twice about becoming the accomplice to an assassination plot of the princess when it was just revealed to them for the first time. Directly turning against the royal family of your country or empire on a moment's notice is a big deal no matter who you are.

Well, think about how much pull Slaine actually has, which would be none. Even if he said something, Trillram, who lives in the same castle as him and is also a Baron and a knight himself, has more influence than Slaine would ever have. Even Cruhteo, who Trillram was freeloading off of, thinks more of Trillram than he does Slaine. If Slaine said something against him, Trillram would say that of course he's lying and accuse him of slander, and Cruhteo or Trillram himself would have him punished and/or killed. Slaine's position just doesn't give him much room to do anything. Even if he had proof, they could simply say that he made it up for some reason. They could use everything from his "Terran sensibilities" to his "jealousy over the Martians" as motive of why Slaine would "lie".

[renuac]

I found this episode to be fun but disappointing compared to the two previous ones. Probably because it felt so incredibly paint-by-numbers. Case in point: the introductory arc villain always goes down easy and Trillram was clearly never going to be more than that, leading to a complete lack of tension during that entire fight.

The episode did set up some interesting points for the future though, what with Asseylum revealing herself so quickly and to so many people, not to mention Slaine now being aware that she is alive. From the maid's comment in episode 1, I was expecting Asseylym to have some kind of control over Aldnoah; hopefully whatever abilities or special tech the Vers royalty have isn't limited to changing their appearance

As others have mentioned, it's strange that Asseylum was so utterly unconflicted about taking down one of her empire's knights. I can understand her wanting to help the innocent Terran civilians and atone for the chaos she unwittingly caused, but she didn't hesitate for a moment to reveal Vers military information to Rayet, and neither did she look the least bit disturbed when the Nilokeras went down. I suppose that it could just be that she is really pissed about the Martian attack, but still.

Other than that, Rayet now has no real reason not to reveal what she knows about the assassination plot, so not knowing who to trust among the Martian knights should give Asseylum a reason to stay on Earth for a while.

On the subject of weaknesses, Saazbaum mentioned that his castle needs to "feed", which I assume means it needs to periodically replenish energy on a large enough scale that even communications are shut down. If so, that's a pretty glaring weakness in the landing castles' defenses.

Originally Posted by Klashikari

Declaring that the pilot is blind due to light absorption make the actual issue even more plain: everyone outside would see a void/black mass with actual hole (in fact, plain purple metal part) for the receiver moving around, exactly because these parts reflect light, while the rest wouldn't due to the barrier.

Following this part, it makes that bridge ploy completely unecessary because you would actually see right from the get go the gap which isn't covered by the barrier. Any idiot would simply snipe it with a rifle instead of going randomly against it, or trying to paint that location.

And hit what, exactly? Unless the pilot or some absolutely vital piece of equipment was directly in line with the barrier's blind spot, a bullet, no matter how powerful, probably isn't going to do crippling damage. Not that I disagree with you that the physics in this show are off (I still haven't gotten over the moon thing), but in this case, the gap in the armour seems to have been well enough protected that even for Calm, who was looking out for it, spotting it wasn't immpediatly obvious. Minimizing and being able to hide that gap was possibly one of the reasons that an antenna rather than cameras were being used in the first place.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

It's all about how Martians see Terrans. Trillram thinks more of the Martian assassins than he thinks of the Terran slave that flies his plane. I thought it was stupid to say all that to him too, but as I thought about it, it reminded me of how a person would express all their anger to a pet. Also, Slaine has been the doormat that everybody has walked on, and he give off a sense that he can be controlled and scared into silence. So, Trillram, like with a dog, probably never thought much of it.

Yeah, but he also forgot Slaine wasn't his dog. He's the Princess', or maybe Crutheo's, officially.

[Stark700]

I'm pretty interesting in knowing more about the MC's past, in particular Inaho. I notice how calm he is during the whole operation when they were fighting back as if he had the whole thing plotted out in his mind already. And of course it did go the way they intended even with a little experimentation before the operation actually began.

I think somewhere down the line, the show will show parts of his past. Anyways, good to know the princess is alive and well although I wasn't surprised at all.

[Elder]

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

But light has to actually be reflected off an object for you to see it. If the barrier absorbs all light, than the only place you would actually see anything would be the gaps. Light that is absorbed, just like light sucked into a black hole, isn't seen.

I think they could have just left the "light being absorbed too" part off and it would have been fine, but the writer was a little overzealous.

How do you know the barrier isn't giving off light of its own? You only know it absorbs incoming information and objects from other parties. The color may be a simple result of its field giving off its own light source or like in the result of Black Holes may be similar to Hawking Radiation..

[bakato]

The physics actually work out if the light that allows us to see Nikoleras is coming from inside it. Also, for the guy who said it would've been easier just to use a camera lense that would have been a potential weak point since an explosion could take it out.

[Wandering Soul]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Yeah, but he also forgot Slaine wasn't his dog. He's the Princess', or maybe Crutheo's, officially.

As far as Trillram is concerned a dog is a dog. Considering the fact Crutheo is in charge of the base Slaine is on and Trillram seems to high ranked in the base this makes him Slaine's superior. Combine that with the way Slaine is treated and Crutheo let Trillram command Slaine then he probably sees it as Slaine being sub servant to him. He also has no reason to think Slaine has the guts to do anything considering that Slaine seems to be pretty meek and didn't even have it in him to gun down enemy pilots that were targeting him.

Trillram also has more power and influence then Slaine so even if Slaine got evidence or tried to tell others they are more likely to believe Trillram and considering how Terrrians are treated Slaine would be punished.

[kanon78]

Originally Posted by StormKing

This was a good episode but it was also somewhat disappointing. This series is on track to be something more like Valvrave or Code Geass rather than Gundam 8th MS team or Sidonia. It's unfortunate for those who wanted a realistic mecha show but I still think it will be enjoyable.

Looking forward to the next episode.

It's heading more into Guilty Crown territory...

[Verrueckter]

Since when do mecha shows meticulously adhere to physics? I also like the oxymoron "realistic mecha show", you can pick apart the scientific blunders in any science-fiction work. Regardless of these shortcomings this show is quite entertaining, I couldn't ask for more.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by the one above all

As far as Trillram is concerned a dog is a dog. Considering the fact Crutheo is in charge of the base Slaine is on and Trillram seems to high ranked in the base this makes him Slaine's superior. Combine that with the way Slaine is treated and Crutheo let Trillram command Slaine then he probably sees it as Slaine being sub servant to him. He also has no reason to think Slaine has the guts to do anything considering that Slaine seems to be pretty meek and didn't even have it in him to gun down enemy pilots that were targeting him.

Trillram also has more power and influence then Slaine so even if Slaine got evidence or tried to tell others they are more likely to believe Trillram and considering how Terrrians are treated Slaine would be punished.

It still doesn't make sense to tell him after he went to so much pain to kill all the moles. There should be a limit to how stupid he can be, and if there isn't, that's bad writing.

Originally Posted by Verrueckter

Since when do mecha shows meticulously adhere to physics? I also like the oxymoron "realistic mecha show", you can pick apart the scientific blunders in any science-fiction work. Regardless of these shortcomings this show is quite entertaining, I couldn't ask for more.

It's not about adherence to physics in general, it's about adherence to the same physics they're using to explain what they're doing. A story has to be consistent with its own internal logic and rules.

[Irenesharda]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Yeah, but he also forgot Slaine wasn't his dog. He's the Princess', or maybe Crutheo's, officially.

As some have already said, Trillram lives with Cruhteo and Slaine, and Cruhteo, from the last episode, definitely thinks more of Trillram than he does Slaine. If Slaine said anything, Trillram could easily say he's lying and then have Slaine punished.

Originally Posted by Elder

How do you know the barrier isn't giving off light of its own? You only know it absorbs incoming information and objects from other parties. The color may be a simple result of its field giving off its own light source or like in the result of Black Holes may be similar to Hawking Radiation..

Even if it did, it really wouldn't look like the mech as it was anymore, and there would be a lot of distortion between when the shield is on or off. I trying not to put much into it anymore and am just chalking it up to be an overzealous writer who got too excited. Saying the barrier absorb matter is fine, radio waves is fine, sound and light is a bit of stretch, but it's done. I can just ignore it.

Originally Posted by Verrueckter

But the reason why they did it is obvious(imo at least), they want to show off their mecha designs to please their target audience, having an enemy that's just a walking black blob defeats that purpose. Is it cheap? Yes, but it's understandable.

In that case, all they had to do was fix the script and simply say it absorbs everything except light, instead of just saying it absorbs everything in general. It would have taken two seconds and not added that much in dialogue.