(L+CR) Shirogane no Ishi Argevollen

[Cyprene]

Can anybody explain to me what Samonji's plan was with the Perphevollens?
I couldn't figure it out at all.

[thundrakkon]

Originally Posted by Cyprene

Can anybody explain to me what Samonji's plan was with the Perphevollens?
I couldn't figure it out at all.

It was partial suicide mission and partial push back the enemy for better peace negotiation terms. Reclaiming the Wall meant better negotiations for peace terms. The push afterwards was to destroy the rest of the Perphevollens and Strom Betas, plus to die for his sins and meet his dead girlfriend, so that no one has this technology to overwhelm the opposition.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Phew, I've been so busy and there are many series I enjoy this season (as well as watching backlog shows that I haven't watched) that I need to cut some of my posting activity and just enjoy the shows. But since this is the final episode of one of the shows I truly enjoy, I need to do this.

Well, I have to say that the ending is quite good and actually really fits with the tone and the nature of the show where war and its politics depicted closer to our reality than many other anime series (not just mecha-anime). The bigwigs of the military industrial complex are still alive and got away with it in the end (except for a certain slimy CEO), pretty much like how it works in our world too. Samonji's action as well as Unit 8's action made a lot of sense now that I've seen the big picture and found out what they wanted to accomplish. What Thundrakkon said above pretty much summed up Samonji's plan that I dont really have to add anything. And Unit 8 pretty much wanted to stop him from "being selfish" (aka. doing the suicide mission) because they owe (and love) him so much. But I'm not sure whether Suzu & co's action is actually right in regards to the U-link system. Samonji did have a point in wanting to destroy the precious Perphevollen to prevent the escalation of war using the U-link system. I doubt his shutting down the system is enough (and we still have to deal with the militray industrial complex and what's left of Kybernes and their Volen-series' blueprints & data).

Resolution with the characters is pretty good given the nature of this series. Nothing is set in stone between Toki & Jamie (or Namie, for those of you that fancy her). They just became very close-friends now which I think is a natural development from being total strangers they started out in the first episode and they're also relatively quite young, so no hurry there. Suzu seems to became Unit 8's squad-leader now that Samonji has gone. It's sad that it seems the "relationship" between Samon & Suzu ended up bitterly as Samon just can't let go of his old flame to the point that he chose death to meet her again. Oh well, at least Suzu got to taste the D of the man she adores (hey, girls can enjoy a one-night-stand too, right?). Maybe she can end up with Izumi , he's a (single?) nice earnest handsome guy with high rank and promising future as well as having known Suzu & Samon for quite some time and seem to get along rather well. The other crew of Unit 8 get good send off for side characters. Lorenz and Akane seem to have found true love, eh? The one that I felt disappointing is the development of Rich. He changed from this cool and calculating ace pilot into a mere raging Berserker that ended up not even able to "touch Argevollen in his last moment of rage" so to speak. There's a tragedy in that event somewhere if you look at it and if that's what the writer was aiming for with Rich's character then they get the job done rather well at the cost of my personal satisfaction. Still, I'm glad that Rich's downward spiral is not just there for the kick or twist, but closely related to the plot involving the negative effect of U-link system to describe to the audience what Rich & Toki were suffering from and to give the viewers a depiction of what Toki could've become if he doesn't have his sister's 'protection' somewhere inside Argevollen and Jamie's support. Holmes is still going on with his own agenda and it involves Samonji too now (which is ripe for a second season material if they decided to make one). The one that I truly dislike is the development of Liz Roderick after her introduction when she lost her commander, Daniels, during Arandas' ambush. Her character has become so flat. It looks like the writer has neglected her and decided to give her some leftover role which tbh can be switched with any no-name Ingelmian officer.

Other thing I like from this series is how it gives the finger to some mecha tropes and cliches: There's no side character's "epic death(s)" from the protagonist team which has become so common in countless other mech shows; Lorenz purposefully waving death flags everytime he sortied that actually resulted in his survival ; The entire member of Unit 8 survived from start to finish; No silly fanservice-episode where the protag girls wore swimsuits which shows like Code Geass, Muv Luv, and even some Gundam series are victims of; We actually had a normal casual sex in this series which isn't rape, NTR, deception, brainwash, or other shit like that. Thank god; The true experienced bad guy(s) still got away with it because they are truly untouchable (so far), especially from our meager Unit 8. There's no BS such as a group of teenagers able to solve the problems of the world and whatnot: Last but not least, the adults are still generally more competent than the teenager MCs in terms of skill, knowledge and experience. You wouldn't know how much I appreciate it considering so many mecha series are basically saying "Move over, adults. You know nothing. These random teenagers can do what you do 100x better. The world is in their hands". Aldnoah is a prime example of this.

Overall, I really like this series. Story-wise, it's equal to the anime that I think inspired it, MS Gundam: The 08th MS Team. Both have their own pros and cons but quite well-made and have very good depiction of war. I might as well say that Argevollen is the modern (low budget) version of 08th MS Team. I'm okay with this show's ending, but I will welcome second season with open arms.

PS: Yup, there's not a single aircraft seen in this anime. So, at this point, it's safe to conclude that aircraft does not exist in Argevollen universe that a high wall is still pretty useful for modern battles. It seems nothing is able to fly anymore after the "Axis Inversion" mentioned by Conrad Daniels.

[DMurphy]

Just saw the final episode.

It was strange. Not bad, I enjoyed it. But very strange.

[Dextro]

Finally got around to watch it and I have to say I'm feeling a tad underwhelmed... but that's ok. For some reason having such a down-to-earth ending with nothing much of significance being resolved when it comes to the bigger picture fits right in with the smaller scope of the show. I won't be recommending this show to any newcomers but for experienced mecha fans I'm sure to keep it in mind as a nice change of pace.

It's actually quite curious, looking back, how the first episode is completely out of place in the show. It's far too bombastic compared to the overall slower and more realistic pace of the show. I also think that a couple of deaths in the show would have improved it slightly if they were going for a more realistic war portrayal. It takes quite a lot of suspension of disbelief to accept that in such a large war the only two named characters to die do so on the final episode and outside of battle. Makes that whole wanting to stop people from dying in war thing by Susumu's sister seem rather pointless

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Dextro

It takes quite a lot of suspension of disbelief to accept that in such a large war the only two named characters to die do so on the final episode and outside of battle. Makes that whole wanting to stop people from dying in war thing by Susumu's sister seem rather pointless

To be fair, even though all members of Unit 8 survived till the end, we saw countless Arandas soldiers dying left and right. So, Reika's wish is not really pointless. As for Unit 8's survival, well, they did make a point that they're still alive thanks to Samonji's (supposedy awesome) strategy and tactics. As for when Samonji didn't present and Unit 8 still survived, well, let's count it as "good preparation + good luck" and Lorenz's continuous waving of death flags is actually a very effective good luck charm for everyone .

[King Lycan]

When on earth is the OST going to be released ?

[Kurohane]

Argevollen is such a dark-horse anime. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Most of characters were likeable. The story was consistent and had solid world building. You can easily keep up with it. Really, it's one of the few mecha anime that have fictional elements, but still is really realistic. The titular mecha borderlines between super and real robot territory. The super aspect comes into play when it outclasses the standard robots with superior mobility and flexibility. However, a real robot sense comes in with the amount of focus dedicated to actually show the effort and expenses to perform maintenance on it, and constantly have it ready for battle. In addition, the story focuses on the war and the politics behind it rather than lose all sense of story telling for mindless robot action.

What I like most about this anime is that overturns all the common cliches in the mecha genre and anime in general. The MC falling into the cockpit happens, but he's a rookie who has actually training, and not say, a high school student (I'm talking to you, Haruto of Valvrave and so many others!). "The super prototype will become the key to overturn the war" is massively subverted! The higher-ups hardly think it will be of any use, and sometimes even purposely go out of their way to screw with the unit in charge of it, just to have it disappear. They introduce new girl in the middle, and naturally "Oh no, she's going to be an attempt to serve as a rival to the main female lead and stir up some love triangle drama." Nope, that never happens, the MC and her only share a Sempai-Kohai relationship. Lastly, The female assistant to the brooding male captain, who only has one facial expression, isn't a love martyr who blindly follows her love interest, but actually uses her brain and openly questions him when things don't seem right to her. Those particular cliches standout, because I've seen them played straight in many series, and was happy to seem them overturned.

A flaw in the series is just there's not much characterization of the other side. You have the genius pilot who later goes insane due to a plot point about the dangers of a system that titular mecha also uses, a lieutenant colonel and his aide that are "plotting", a brigadier general who is constantly smug, the leader of the opposition's country that never appears outside of propaganda videos, and a good-natured general who dies in the very same episode he's introduced, only to start a stupid revenge plot between his aide and the ace pilot. Compared to the diverseness and colorful people in the unit we follow, the other side isn't as interesting. In the end, the captain of said unit goes astray near the end to serve as part of the final conflict in the story. However, there were believable reasons why this happened. It goes to the main theme of the politics behind the scenes of the war that offers a good grey contrast to the best way to end the war. The country the protagonist unit serves has been on the losing side of the war for quite some time. The divide stems from is it better to surrender and make peace, though that means giving the other country many concessions and hold over your citizens, but also it prevents more casualties and funds that could be used for recovery? In contrast, is it better to continue, consuming more resources and putting more lives at risk, but it's better than being at the losing end where your at the mercy of another country, especially when the chances of a turnaround are not zero (especially when you have legion of mass produced models of the super prototype)?

Another main theme is the corruption of weapons manufacturers, and how they will contribute to both sides of a war to earn the highest amount of profit. They use the titular robot itself as field testing to create a newer model later and then mass production. It really goes into the darkness of the industry. I was happy when the most focused business man that was the female lead's boss got offed in the end, but still nothing on the council that was shown a few times. That's one of the factors that could lead to sequel aside from the last scene itself, and I truly wish one comes. We need more anime like this.

[Yu Ominae]

I'm currently binging as much of Argevollen as much as I can.

Currently at episode 21.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

^ Your necro makes me nostalgic of this good mecha show.

Anyway, enjoy your ride, Yu.

[Yu Ominae]

Finished episode 21 as of now.

I have to say that I agree with the coup idea. The idea of surrendering... really hits home to Philippine politics considering the current president.

Regardless if said person stays in power or not, I'm planning to move back to Canada. Don't have to worry about this crap.

[Yu Ominae]

Finished the stuff.

There's some stuff that they can do better. Like the reveal of the Central Command being made more prominent and more worldbuilding.

[Yu Ominae]

Question.

I've finished the show, but I'm wondering if the purple color in the sky is really like that. I've seen it in my Blu-Ray files.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

I mean, if it's the Blu-ray footage then the purple color is also intentional.

The show did establish that their "world" is not the normal world that we know. There are no birds or any flying animals IIRC. And the people are incapable of flight too after the "Axis Inversion" event.

[Yu Ominae]

Ah cool. Just wanted to see if I was seeing things.

I'll have to get back and rewatch episodes 9/10 - I think that Axis Inversion was explained.