Aldnoah.Zero (2014–2015) User Reviews

Incredible! :D

[crimson_knight_7 · 8/10 · 8 February 2016]

In 1972, an ancient alien hypergate was excavated on the surface of the moon. Utilizing this technology, humanity began immigrating to Mars. During their time on mars some colonizers uncovered some highly advanced technology originally left behind by some mysterious alien race. Through this technology, the recently established Vers Empire declared Mars and its secrets for themselves. Due to Vers Empire's technological pride, the Vers Empire declared war on Earth in 1999. Overwhelmed by the human martian's technological militaristic advancements, the people of Earth destroyed the hypergate, thus shattering the moon and dispersing the remnants of the Vers Empire into a debris belt around Earth. Cut off from Mars, the remaining members of the Vers Empire established several enormous orbital space stations within the debris belt and a ceasefire was inaugurated. However, after 15 years of tensioned peace, an attack on the Vers Princess, Asseylum Vers Allusia, during a peace mission, causes the Vers Empire to launch an all-out attack on the citizens of Earth. Overwhelmed by the Vers Empire's superior mecha militaristic technology, Earth's only true defense is the brilliant tactical mind of a high school student named Inaho Kaizuka.

As someone who has watched several different Mecha anime such as the Gundam franchise, Robotech, Code Geass, Neon Genesis Evangelion, etc… AldNoah.Zero, directed by Ei Aoki, originally created by Gen Urobuchi, is a brilliant story about a small handful of citizens from both Earth and the Vers Empire who are desperately trying to stop a war which was caused by an attack on Princess Asseylum Vers Allusia. This show is atmospherically driven by wonderful music, amazing characters, outstanding animation, and a pleasingly intense action-packed plot. This series successfully challenges the stereotypical archetypes of conventional anime and leaves you wanting more. My only suggestion is that you watch this anime in its entirety, (All Seasons!), because it will emotionally astonish you.

8 Stars

Nothing special, but it still deserves a watch.

[ibby-49632 · 7/10 · 15 December 2017]

Aldnoah Zero is one of those shows that is stuck halfway up the ladder. It hasn't reached "great", but is out of reach of "bad". While there are better alternatives to this show (Code Geass, and Neon Genesis Evangelion, for example), that doesn't mean you shouldn't watch it. It has enjoyable fighting scenes, a pretty neat soundtrack, and interesting characters, and quite simply, is entertaining. The disappointment lies in the direction of the show. It started off with a riveting premise (I actually thought it would be another Code Geass), but it fell short of expectations, which is why I think this show receives substantial amounts of hate. Just to clarify, the ending wasn't bad, it just wasn't satisfying. So if you're bored, and can't find anything to watch, you might as well settle for this average show, just don't expect much. Enjoy it for what it is.

Bad ending

[tejveer-17883 · 7/10 · 14 August 2021]

I am giving this review according to season 1 They completely ruined season 2 it's so boring and ending weird too i expected so much from it disappointed.

Most thrilling Mecha action series!

[irfan_also · 9/10 · 24 September 2014]

Season1, Just 12 episodes of awesome, Mecha fight scenes. every episode has exhilarating fights and the nerve-wracking suspense in every episode will keep you wondering what's gonna happen next... The series is packed with different Mecha every episode, transforming, laser saber, shields, missiles. The story line is also good but I personally didn't care about how the story line was going because of waiting when the action will start off again, I'm sure it'll be the same in your case as well when you start to watch. the season 2 is airing on winter 2015, the season ended with all the suspense so I'm hoping for a storyline in next season. If you ever wanted a mecha series then this is it!!

A Disappointing Ending After Such A Wonderful Start

[burak_altin · 7/10 · 3 October 2015]

Even though I can't claim that I've watched many Mechas, I'm a big fan of Mecha genre because of my love for sci-fi and robots. Knowing the fact that most of the Mechas having trouble with their scripts, I try to choose ones that have something to tell (e.g Code Geass, Neon Genesis Evangelion etc), not the ones just showing big robots with great action. The first season was great, actually, I hoped it'd be something like Code Geass, which is one of my favorite Anime. But then, came the disappointment. The start of the second season wasn't bad but as the Anime got closer to its finale, things really got out of hand. It had the material enough for at least 30-40 episodes but instead, it ended in a really unsatisfying way. But I still think it was worth watching despite all the flaws, and I have to say that the music (especially the first season ending song "aLIEz") was pretty good.

Like sci-fi? Like Anime? This is awesome

[shamir14 · 10/10 · 10 February 2015]

I am writing this as another reviewer had the nerve to give it one star because he disliked the ending. I would honestly give this a 9 but I am giving a 10 to try and counteract the troll 1* vote.

So you understand my taste in anime, here are my other 3 favorites: FMA, Code Geass, Attack on titan. I would put this up there with them. Watching recent animes is always a pleasure because the artwork is stunning (as with attack on titan).

It has a likable main character who's genius and cold-humanity are a joy to watch. The other characters are pretty cool too and there are a lot of them. The abundance of interesting characters can be daunting in the first 3 episodes. To be fair I thought the protagonist was boring in the first 3 until the action began.

Spoilers:

the ending is a real shock. The other reviewers hatred I think is because he's empathising with Slaine. He is torn between races, Martian or Terran? His emotions are also split: His love of Asseylum and the sympathy he has for Asseylum's assassin. I do feel like they could have written Saazbaum's tragedy a bit better.

All in all worth a watch. Especially if you like the other animes I mentioned at the beginning.

Mobile suit anime for non-mobile suit viewers

[conan-42640 · 7/10 · 6 June 2021]

This is the only one and my first mobile suit anime I have ever watched so far, and I don't dislike it. This review I write for myself, so sorry for unprofessional or insubstantial review.

I like the conflict stated as the main point of this story. Conflicts and wars really happen from people from different states, even both sides are humans. It really makes sense. If there were the Mars colonization, that would be the situation that might happen.

The characters are so dimensional. It could be said that everyone is. Especially, Slain, he is the badass villian. He changed from a normal world immigrant to the one who is ready to fight against every side. He developed from innocent lover to a dominant lover who just want to possess the princess. You can see in ep.12 that he cared about Inaho approaching the princess more than princess' well-being. He just wanted the princess to beside him. Then, he wanted to control everything by making his way up to be the chief to build dominion and kill Inaho. His way to make his way up was smart too. He endured being loyal with the count he hated and eventually became his adopted child. Then, killed him to be the count and eventually, became the emperor.

Other characters

• Inaho who stepped in the wars to revenge for his highschool friend, and he did very well. He used his brain to fight and that could win against the aldnoah mobile suits. I like how he smiled a lot when talk to his sister too. He really likes his sister.

• Ingo. She obviously likes Inaho and I guess they will date.

• Asselum princess. She is the strong princess and prioritizes humanity more than her happiness. She chose to marry with a count for peace. I love her tenderness and friendships with Inaho and Slain.

• Relation between the doctor and the soldier who has bad past with mobile suit fighting are obvious for me that they may be not just friends. Hehe
• Love of 2nd princess giving to Slain is real too.

Finally, I think the ending makes sense. The ending of Slain who had totally changed is appropriate. It is too late for his mental to become normal again.

A great and worth while anime to watch! Recommended especially ages 12-14.

[btomberry · 10/10 · 20 June 2017]

I highly recommend this series to anime fans, especially in the 13-14 age group. The show has both funny and serious moments, and the plot is clear and understandable. The artwork is outstanding down the the smallest detail. I watched the dub and it was worth the hours i spent completing the series.There is a mix of epic battles and emotional drama (not to deep for a 12 year old) I still listen to the opening (1 is best) from time to time. As far as recommendations go, This is an anime you will want to watch, especially for teens.

Disappointing season 2

[jaysshukla · 4/10 · 19 September 2021]

The mars) attempting to cool down the tension by visiting the Earth. However, it doesn't work out and soon the battle follows. There was a lot of action in the first season. We even saw some brilliant war strategies and we were also introduced with the soldier struggling with PTSD. The season 1 felt really genuine. Sadly, by season 2, the plot was just going nowhere. Before I could realise, the anime was no longer making any sense. It merely became an anime about two teenagers who rise through ranks and are now ready to lead their respective planets in a major conflict.

The characterization is even worse than the storyline. The characters are very hard to relate with. There was a character who was initially well-intentioned, forgiving and peace loving but becomes war-hungry as he is frustrated that his love interest got nearly killed and is now comatose. His personality got corrupted so easily. Perhaps, in this scenario, the viewers deserve to know more about his mindset. Even the main character is not very well written. He is shown as emotionless. However, his stoic demeanor is really exaggerated. I don't think we would come ever across to such a robotic teenager in our real lives. While that would have been still okay if we were given at least a bit idea about his past.

The animation is good and there are also some powerful action scenes. However, they are not at the level of Attack on Titan that they would be able to cover up for the weak plot. The soundtrack is amazing. The season 2 ending gives us a bittersweet feeling.

Overall, I don't feel like recommending this anime to anyone. There are plenty of good anime out there with some being fairly long ones. I don't think it would be wise to spend time watching this one.

Ignore the reviews saying the ending is bad. Let me explain.

[aero9977 · 9/10 · 30 March 2016]

Spoiler Ahead

The stories logically makes sense. There is no plot holes I can see. People complain that they destroyed Slaine's character, but that was the point. The worse way to go isn't to die but self corruption. This story resembles the rise of dictators. The Vers rise to power is quite similar to how the Nazis rise. A country desperate for resources and claiming to be the superior race even though we're all human. Like the Nazi, their tech were initially more advanced then the Terrans. Did you know Hitler and Stalin originate from difficult countries then the countries they ruled. So is Slaine, a Terran who had at one point became more powerful than any Orbital Knight. And like every dictator, the ends is similar. Self corruption and losing site of a goal. This story show themes of war and peace, the future, and who you want to be in this world.

But in the end everything fell into place. Slaine believed he was already too far to come back. If you asked what was the needless slaughter at the end of the series for, well look at how Hitler commanded kids to fight at the end of a losing war. But I agree the ending was sort of bad and if I had to rate the story of human history, I would also rate it bad too. The anime isn't only trying to write a story but to represent human conflict and human nature all together and in that it succeeded.

I also found interesting that each Orbital Knight are the only ones with these powerful mechs. Just like the feudal system in Medieval Europe only the nobles can afford full plated knight armor. And as for Aldnoah, it resembles God and the church. Or maybe military strength.

During the Emperor of Ver's mindless rant, you can see he initially wanted only peace but then give into the hate after learning you can never get back what was lost including his son.

The most touching scene I felt was that Slaine's men he ordered to retreat came back to his side knowing the monster he had become.

Production - 9/10 The POV shots were amazingly directed Example: from viewing the Ships slingshotting across the atmosphere from the perspective of the destroyed earth. These shots are a real treat conveying multiple messages in one scene. A picture can speak a thousand words, so how about scene with 60 fps. Combine with amazing art quality and lighting effects will want you to replay to get a good look at the scene.

Music - 9/10 Hiroyuki Sawano does it again. As soon as I heard it I knew it was him.

Story - 8/10 Hey what you know an anime protagonist who needs the help of his friends (sometimes) and uses is intelligence instead of brute strengths or magic (well I guess the Aldnoah counts). And NO FANSERVICE (I think). Scientific ideas and theories on how these machines and weapons work may seem overwhelming with all that science jargon but then later dumb down and explained. A story that takes you into multiple perspective of ever factor of the war from the soldiers, to the Aces, to the repairers, to the ship pilots, to the commanders. A story where you actually care about both sides and don't wish for them to fight. You understand there perspective, dreams, will strength, and hopes. As you see their rise to power and character development and from a nobody into a badass; this show is worth to watch.

Final score 8.5 so rounded up. The presentation mostly carried this but I did enjoyed the story. Though still childish as practically everyone lives (just the extras die). Extremely lucky in executing tactics and strategies. Most times plans don't go that smoothly. Also high schoolers beating veterans. At least make them college students.

Just don't watch it. It Meaningless anime series.

[shuvongkor · 1/10 · 20 June 2020]

The first couple episode is okay but right after that everything is garbage and trash. Especially the ending is so bad, if you watch it, you will wish you never saw it, just like I do. Character development and direction is so bad, that will make you angry and disappointed at the same time. And also there is no real objective of the series or character. They are all inconsistent and boring.

So just don't waste you time by watching this garbage anime.

Despite ending Hiroyuki Sawano delivers

[davidatom1 · 8/10 · 27 March 2016]

Lots of reviews cover why this anime is bad because of the lackluster ending and mediocre writing, but it really delivers some powerful scenes and the soundtrack is INCREDIBLE.

The plot is generic futuristic/alternate reality mecha: a world on the brink of war and young people's experiences through the ordeal (typical Gundam archetype). The big characteristic is the stoic main character that isn't overprotected by a plot armor, I've come to appreciate his stoic style. Animation is great, mecha fights are well executed. However from plot and animation itself it is slightly above average at best, what really makes this anime an 8 is the INCREDIBLE soundtrack by Hiroyuki Sawano (Attack on Titan, Gundam Unicorn, Guilty Crown, etc).

Best Anime I've watched. And that's saying a lot.

[chrisjosh-41201 · 10/10 · 7 October 2018]

When the anime first started off. I was a bit skeptical. Didn't know what to expect. I got further into the anime and realized it was actually really awesome! Season 1 was amazing, really good. The ending to it could've been as is, with Asseylum and Inaho dead. But when I saw Slaine shoot Inaho, it felt like I was shot. I continued onto Season 2, expecting Asseylum Vers Allusia and Inaho Kaizuka to be dead. But it was quite a shock to find out they were alive and doing well. I loved the artwork, voices, and especially the soundtrack. The Openings were always the one to get me hyped up into watching the show. The Season 2 could've ended better, with a cliff hanger or something. So that it could introduce a Season 3? Because Season 2 kind of felt rushed to me. Although it was really amazing to see the battle come to an end, I didn't expect Slaine to fall. I expected him to win and then Season 3. Boom! But no I guess they ended it there. There's probably no chance of a Season 3, but you just gotta hope (That is if you want one). Another aspect I love that they added was how Slaine was first helping the Vers Empire then later turning into their enemy. I never expected that to happen. After all, he was a pretty cool villain. After all that, if you like Robots, Outer-Space Battles, and Futuristic Machinery. This anime is definitely for you. I just found this anime on a Robot & Cyborg category on Netflix. I watched the trailer and decided to watch it. Best decision I've made in my entire life.

Horrible and not worth your time.

[enzospyder · 1/10 · 18 June 2016]

This anime started off horrible and did not change during the course of the series.

I do not recommend anyone starting this series. You will be sorely dissatisfied with the plot, the reasons given for the war, and the character development. Save yourself some hours and move along.

Without going in to speak spoilers, i can only say that key characters do not perform up to expectations. Main character are either not developed, or go against the values they where established with later on the series.

I did have high hopes for this, but as I said, even the first two episodes where lame. Only reason I kept watching was for the OK action, and hoping something would change and would make me love the series.

The ending is so bad it forced my hand into coming here and saying it. for the first time in my life.

[max_mms · 1/10 · 3 January 2015]

The end is disturbingly bad, it's full of pointless nonsense, bad action (with a few funny moments when the "ohhh ohh scary big boss" gets wreak like a freaking n00b. seriously how can he be so bad with such a robot under his power?! And after this funny stupid action...

(There is a bit of spoilers ahead)

...comes a pointless slaughter ending caused by the freaking stupid slaine, its all his fault, his weakness, he kills the coolest guy because of some stupid pride or jealous reason, his stupidity is at fault for this ending. Idk wtf the writers were thinking, this anime goes from a nice 8.5 grade to 7.9, which should be 6.5 imho.

This guys writes it better than me, i just came here so i could get this out of my chest: worst anime ending ever, its even worst than berserk "ending".

http://generallycritical.com/2014/09/20/aldnoah-zero-episode-12- pointless-slaughter/

One word: TERRIBLE

[ajrcvr · 1/10 · 14 June 2016]

I have seen many anime, reviewed a bunch, and yet I've never given any one of them a "1" before. This one gets it! It is as bad an attempt at story as I can imagine, which is saying a lot, since I'm a SciFi-Fantasy author myself. This is a feature which tries to make a story, but never does, mostly because of the mindless, imbecilically & pointlessly stupid violence based on more mindless and imbecilic hatred of people who are virtually identical in every respect. It is DUMB raised to an art form, and an art form which is neither engaging nor interesting. Watching beings kill each other for no particularly thoughtful reason, using giant robots to boot, doesn't help. ACTION for no sake at all IS NOT INTERESTING! The story which they TRY to make, is so lame and half-hearted, that they would have been better off just putting everybody in a ring and have them all fight just to see who wins, forgetting any reason for it. You don't care about the characters, for there is hardly anything in the way of personalities to care about, you don't care who wins, and by the forth episode, I just wanted to see everybody blow up in a gigantic explosion - this made the most sense of anything with what was going on in this feature. There is nothing and no one to be sympathetic over here, no drama which captivates the viewer, and no gripping plot which makes us want to keep viewing until the end. Beyond that, the illustrations are weak and sophomoric, while the animation is only so-so with colors that look as if you're watching things though a light fog. I did make it - painfully - through the 7th episode, and then I just had to stop. I couldn't waste any more of my time on terrible, and terrible was all I was getting on every level. I'd much rather watch a Bugs Bunny cartoon, they are SO MUCH superior. There are many anime out there, and all that I've seen so far are much better than this one, even the bad ones. Do yourself a favor and DON'T WATCH THIS ONE - it WILL make you dumber!

Don't waste your time investing anything in this series; it was a great series right up until the last 10 minutes, which negates everything before it.

[jwcapute · 1/10 · 30 December 2015]

There is only one other review that seems to be conveying the same point I will make. While I don't deny this was a really great series with good action, animation, music, and decent character growth, the last 10 minutes or so completely negate anything good about the rest of the series. Warning: spoilers ahead

After investing everything in basically the 2 main protagonists, and the thoughts of a decent, albeit "happy" ending, they are needlessly killed at the most inopportune time by the character you have been rooting to come up and do the right thing and basically his "captor" with absolutely no explanation as to why they had to be killed at literally the last minutes of the series. If you do watch this you will understand why I say this, but I implore that no-one else invest any time or feeling into this 12 episode series and come back to say that the whole series can be redeemed from its horrible ending. It cannot. I also cannot stress enough that for all its pros, the ending completely ruins the entire series, and I am extremely disappointed that I invested the time to watch the whole thing. Anyone else who's reviews says otherwise must be completely honest with themselves and re-examine their "glowing" reviews. If you do truly like it, all I have to say is shame on you.