Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova (2013) User Reviews

Arpeggio of Blue Steel

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 31 December 2013]

Set in a future where global warming has caused the oceans to rise a new threat has appeared; The Fog. The Fog are a fleet of highly advanced self-aware ships and they are preventing human use of the seas as well as blocking communications so the various pockets of humanity are totally isolated from each other. Each of the ships has an avatar known as its Mental Model which looks like a human girl. When Iona, the mental model of submarine I-401 makes contact with Gunzou Chihaya she defects and the fight back begins in earnest. Inevitably The Fog come after Iona but there is something strange about her; any other mental model that comes into contact with her starts to see things her way… usually after the loss of their actual ship though. After a few skirmishes with The Fog, Gunzou, his crew and various mental models must take the I-401 and deliver a new weapon to America where it can go into mass production; it won't be easy though as there are plenty of Fog ships in their way; including one that is determined to destroy the I-401 herself.

This was an enjoyably series with plenty of action, a good set of characters and even a few amusing moments. The idea that the ships would need avatars that looked like girls is of course slightly ridiculous but it served to make them likable in a way that having a 'talking computer' wouldn't have been… to the extent that I didn't give the matter any thought while actually watching the show. Apart from protagonist Gunzou the human cast were fairly peripheral compared to the various mental models. These were far more interesting characters as they developed as the series progressed. One might expect a 'girls at war' series to include plenty of fan service but unlike shows such as 'Strike Witches' it is fairly minimal here; that isn't to say there is none though. The character designs were good and the animation looked great with 3D elements being nicely integrated to the regular 2D; the action scenes look particularly good.

These comments are based on watching the series in English with Japanese subtitles.

Good Show Cool Plot Bad Character Development

[DeToxicOtaku · 6/10 · 30 April 2015]

Actual Score: 7.3/10 First Lets Talk about the plot the plot was actually really quite good and a bit different.The Plot Goes A Bit like This The Main Charter How is in control of a enemy AI ship and defeats other ships know as the flog that also are AI. The the ship all start to fall for the main character forming a ship harem.This plot is a little bit cringe but still quite good. Plot 7.7/10 Now Lets talk about The Animation The Animation was Good But Nothing Special. Animation:7.4/10 Now The sound. The Voice Actors we Good. There Is No Dub. The Sound Track Is Really Good. Sound 7.5/10 Now Lets Get To Th Bad Part Of The show The Character Development.Now Where This Show Truly Fails Is In Its Character development It Feels Like The Characters get Nowhere by the end Of The show And They fell Like they Don't really have Any emotions which i fell Makes the Show Boring And Empty.Take this For Example The Main Characters Are in A Big Battle where they could lose there lives and they not scared or worried and they don't seem to care about each other at all. Character development: 7/10 Finally The Story: yes It has A good Plot and Story Line But The Story Doesn't Go In To Detail About the Charterers or how they got to where they are now or even really why the fog is there its just a bit empty and dull. One Example of This Is in The first Ep where It shows us Where the main character and submarine-401 meet But it Doesn't Finish that part of the story a all. Story: 7.3/10 Overall: 7.3/10

I want more of it

[jaysshukla · 6/10 · 19 September 2021]

The events take place in some distant future. Due to global warming and the rising sea level, much of the landmass is lost. Meanwhile, the world comes across the huge powerful ships, which could be(or always are) equipped with many powerful war weapons. Each ship has its own Mental Model as well, which looks and talks like a young girl and as the series progresses, it also becomes clear that they are also capable of feeling like humans. They even have their own personalities.

With such a brilliant setup, one would expect at least few multiple stories or arcs out of it. But surprisingly, they only preferred to have only one arc in the anime and it was also a relatively simple arc. After the anime gets over, I didn't feel like it should just end here. I started longing for the season 2.

It is a good watch. You wouldn't get bored while watching this anime. It has some good action scenes, some heartwarming moments and some really nice characters. The animation is also good and the soundtrack too isn't bad.

I do recommend this anime. It isn't bad at all and it is only 12-episode long. One would be able to finish it in no time.

Good anime show with an interesting story and characters.

[lamerok · 9/10 · 17 November 2015]

I watched this series on Netflix with Japanese dialogue and English sub-titles under the English title: "Arpeggio of Blue Steel" .

The animation was good, the characters were interesting and the story is entertaining (albeit somewhat unusual). I thoroughly enjoyed this series

The show's main antagonists are the "Fog", a fleet of ships that suddenly appear and take control of all of the earth's oceans and stop humanity from traveling by sea or air. The Fog ships appear to be World War II era battleships, cruisers and submarines but are in fact extremely advanced automated weapons platforms. The Fog ships do not have human crews but are instead controlled by artificial intelligence. The more important Fog ships have avatars called Mental Models who are all attractive females.

The show's main protagonists are a rebel Fog submarine (I-401 aka Iona) and a young man (Gunzo Chihaya) who captains this submarine. The origin and ultimate purpose of the Fog are never explained, nor is it ever explained why I-401 abandoned the Fog and sought out Gunzo to be her captain.

Despite the unusual premise and the lack of detailed back-story, I found this to be a very entertaining show. The Fog Mental Models were interesting characters who developed over the course of the series and there was a good bit of action in I-401's battles with the Fog.