This is review number two hundred and ninety nine. This anime is part of the Spring 2014 lineup. The year is about to come to an end and I am still stuck in this lineup. At least I am about to cross the big three so that’s something to celebrate. Just one more until thirty percent. So anyways, this anime is called Break Blade or Broken Blade. The English title seems to have an alternate English title. It’s weird. It’s a twelve episode mecha anime about two countries fighting because they hate each other. It follows your typical pussy b*tch hero but also some sweet robot battles you just want to slather in gravy. I’m hungry. Anyways, this anime is awesome. It’s a redo but it’s still awesome. Let’s read on.

Story

Break Blade is about a guy named Rygart Arrow. He was summoned by the king of Krisna, his old school buddy, to discuss something important. It seems that their neighboring country called Athens has decided to invade. They already sent their terms for surrendering and it involves giving all of Krisna’s supply to Athens and then promptly executing the royal family. A squad of high advanced robots is already heading to the capital of Krisna. They are skilled and they are far superior to any robot Krisna can produce. The man leading the campaign, another childhood friend named Zess. Rygart is asked to help defend the country but he knows deep down that the three close friends can still talk it out. He isn’t aware just how much a few years can change them and this naïve guy is about to witness the horrors of war up close and personal. With a special robot at this side though, Rygart will now join the war hoping to end it once and for all.

Taking the Pants Off

Let’s call it as it is: the most underrated of the Spring 2014 anime. I have seen good ones go under radar and I actually enjoy bringing them back up the surface. This remake of a 2007 movie series by Production IG and Xebec is something I can’t believe sunk quietly. I think there are many reasons behind it and I do think there are a couple of problems. It is still a remake of something that’s been done. It also has some rather old school character designs with no moe eyes and overly stimulated teenage characters. I think this is also why I love the anime so much. You ever open a book and just smell it to see how old it is? Ok, I’m weird. But the old pages browning at the side, the smell of mold and the dust sticking to the pages makes me appreciate how old a book is and it makes me think back to the people who once used it. I often don’t buy used books unless the name of the previous owner is in it and if it doesn’t look used. Anyways, what I’m getting at is that Break Blade feels old. The old school character design, the old school feel of the background and the old fashion monomyth story just feels like a refreshing change from all the unremarkable things the Spring 2014 delivered. This mecha anime was able to deliver an amazing story and loads of action packed scenes in just twelve episodes. I really love the structure of the story and the way it balanced all the characters. Break Blade feels like a very well-conceived mecha anime that I’m actually glad Production IG and Xebec decided to bring back. After all, if Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure can rally a strong force of fans both new and old then I’m sure Break Blade can do the same. It looks like an older version of Code Geass with the same sound storytelling, compelling characters and awesome action scenes. It didn’t have any geass though but I’m sure an ancient robot built to defy expectations can cover that and the amount of awesomeness done in twelve episodes is also something remarkable.

This anime is about a world where people can use magic to power up everything around them. It basically acts like electricity since it is used to functions different stuff from guns to coffee makers to even a giant robot. Rygart Arrow is born without this power. It’s something that affects only very few people but he isn’t bothered by this. Anyways, the story follows this war between two neighboring countries. Athens has already annexed another country citing reasons that they were instruments used by a stronger nation to try to bring down Athens. Athens now has Krisna in its sight. Rygart is pushed to join this war after an ancient robot is revealed to be only operated by someone without no magic power. Rygart doesn’t want to be part of this war though and he would rather get the two sides talking. Unfortunately, both sides know the situation is past anything resolved by talking. It really truly is time for war. Athens has decided to send a unit led by a close friend of his named Zess. Rygart is hopeful that Zess will listen to him but the amount of dead bodies around him seems to be a rude wake up call for Rygart as he realizes that things really are in dire situations now. The show immediately set up the status quo wonderfully and all the important characters needed to make this anime amazing. I love how it presents everything clearly from the get go and it just develops certain parts of the story in a nicely paced setup despite skipping a few scenes from time to time. Despite the clearly rushed setup, the story still blossomed greatly. It starts dialogue heavy as you feel out the different roles of each character then the anime rewards you with some amazing action packed sequences that come from all sides. It’s not just the good guys attacking the bad guys. The complexity of the fights is so amazing that even the bad guys can dish out some amazing things that’ll leave you asking for more. It’ll leave you wanting more fights, more characters clashing one on one and more robots falling to the ground with its pilot dead. War is a complex story to tell but Break Blade seems to have all bases covered and all things considered to really present one compelling anime. As a reviewer, this makes me happy as I dissect every layer this show has built up.

This anime has two chapters. The first one is about Zess’ invasion campaign and the second one is about General Borcuse’s campaign. There are three plot points for the first chapter. Even though it only consumed half of the show, I do think a lot was done in that short amount of time. The first plot point is about the four childhood friends. Rygart the non-magical son of a farmer, Hodr the next king of Krishna, Zess the serious and prideful student from Athens and Sigyn the magic geek who became the Queen of Krishna have a really wonderful and complicated relationship the show setup right from the very start. Before the war even started, these four characters were the main highlight of the show and it focuses on their role pertaining to the war. Zess is already invading with his small unit of high tech robots. Hodr is refusing to surrender because of the undisclosed surrender agreement that the royal family will be executed, something Zess is not informed of. Rygart is a small time farmer with no magic who suddenly became the pilot of an ancient robot with freak capabilities far better than anything produced in that age. Sigyn is the Queen of Krisna who insists that Rygart’s ancient robot would be the key to Krisna’s victory. In this chapter, the show constantly does a flashback from when the four characters are in school highlighting the happy days gone by. It features the various attitudes of the characters toward each other and how they managed to become friends. Upon establishing this, the impending war now feels like a personal quarrel between the four friends. A lot of emotions are brought up that was established in the flashback. Hodr is an easy going man who has no need to royal status yet he now clings on to it stubbornly refusing to give up his country. This makes Zess extremely mad knowing that Hodr just won’t back down. Rygart and Hodr are in total shock to know that Zess would double cross them after all the time they went through together. Zess is loyal to his country, it seems, and he’ll even push his most trusted friends aside to service that country. This becomes all the more hurtful when you see Zess killing soldiers with ease forcing his friends back into a corner. Rygart intervening was the cherry on the cake though. This man grew up with the belief that if situations are dire, he has a choice to run away. He is now forced to take up arms himself and try to help mend this friendship already pulling apart at the seams. To make matters worse, this unstable friendship will now be the cause of so many people dying because of war.

The first plot point is set up amazingly. The seriousness of the situation is beautifully presented and the fact that it is rooted to four friend’s unusual friendship is what makes the whole thing exciting. The greatest wars are always fought between two best friends and Break Blade is a great example of that saying. With the audience, the whole thing become very much personal though and they’ll easily side with Krisna after seeing how rabid Athens is. As the story progresses, the various flashbacks provide more depth to the four characters as their impending clash is set to shake both countries. War is what ultimately results when Zess invades with his small unit penetrating defenses and setting his sight on the capital of Krisna. This would be the second plot point, war. A good show about war often tells the story of both sides. This was the case for Break Blade. It doesn’t just focuses on Krisna being at the mercy of five high tech robots. It also features Athen’s side of the story. This soon brings forth the best aspect of the show for me.

Politics.

War is a complex thing. Break Blade featured Zess treading the land of Krisna and attacking its soldiers. It also focuses on the generals of Krisna trying to stop this small unit before it reaches the capital. In fact, it even gives us the side of desperation from the King of Krisna as he is unable to stop the incoming danger. After all that is established, it also gave us Athen’s side brimming with so much red tape and political deceit that ultimately makes this war story so much more complex. The official reason Athens is invading Krisna is because they claim the country helped another nation attack Athens. The nation of Orlando used their military skirmish in Krisna as a ruse to gain entrance to Athens. Athens responded by annexing a neighboring country and soon decided to annex Krisna as well. The actual reason though is because Athen is actually experience a dwindling supply of “quartz” that objects run on to make it magical. Basically, it’s as important as food or water. Athens is now facing low supply of it so they decided to take the neighboring countries’ quartz and came up with a BS reason to cover the fact. It’s absolutely beautiful in how two faced this nation is. It doesn’t stop there though. Current generations of soldiers are being taught the evil things Krisna did in their war with Athens that happened a long time ago. This includes publicly hanging people using their robots. They now have a bunch of soldiers with deep hatred for Krisna fighting for them. The truth though is that both countries have done some atrocious deeds on both sides. Athens is playing the blame card and are now painting Krisna as a barbarian nation only out for blood. The best part though is how they slid a secret agreement to the surrender of Krisna that involves the royal family being executed. This was not known to Zess who is mad at Hodr stubbornly refusing to give up. I love how Athens really manipulates the masses and their political savvy moves really make this war all the more damaging to both sides.

The battles between the robots are pretty cool as well though. As I said, both sides are taken into account. Zess’ team had a moment where they aren’t shown as ruthless invaders but also a bunch of close soldiers treading enemy territory. It displayed the bright and playful relationships of Zess’s small unit as it stops to rest and such. The show even snuck in a mention of how Zess has a small boy waiting for him to return so he best not die in this small invasion of his. On the other side, the generals of Krisna are being introduced. Each has their own colorful personality that helped established how much they are human as anyone their fighting. I think this is also a reason why the war is compelling to watch. There are no people out to kill just for the fun of it. No one hacks and slashes while having fun. Every soldier is grounded as they know the fate waiting upon them in the battlefield and they seek to enjoy the lull moments knowing they may not make it back the next time. The show wonderfully humanizes the battlefield and you’ll soon be rooting for the characters, not to win, but to just comeback to base safely. With this feeling of safe return though, the anime flips it and then kill some soldiers giving us a very vivid description of war. To be fair, the robot battles looks a bit clunky but you can’t believe how the show flips that as well. It’s not just robots shooting at each other. Much like the rest of the show, the process of war is as complex as you’d expect. It’ll have foot soldiers firing guns, it’ll have robots out maneuvering each other, and it’ll have highly skilled ones possess unique weapons and so much more. I think the surprises of the actual battles will really entertain you so I’ll just end it there.

The third plot point is the classic monomyth story. Rygart undergoes a transformation very much standard to a “hero’s journey”. A monomyth is a basic pattern for telling a story about a hero’s journey. You can call it cliché but I’d like to call it a classic. I even dug up the term monomyth to make it sound different, you assh*les. The monomyth has three parts. It’s called the Separation, Initiation and the Return. The first chapter of this anime utilized the patterns of the Separation to illustrate Rygart’s unique participation in the war. The Separation starts with the first act called “call to adventure” where the hero is asked to venture the unknown. Rygart was called as well when the king asked for his help to join the war despite not being able to operate a robot by himself. This transition to the second act called “refusal to the call” where Rygart would choose to run away instead of accepting the king’s invitation. In fact, Rygart was brought up with the idea that he was always welcome to run away if things prove too difficult for him. Rygart is also ignorant of the horrors of war and this poor bastard good a hard dose of it opting him to run away faster. Upon realizing how this war can turn ugly and how their friendship is less important than the lives of any soldier, Rygart would then find the resolve to try and find a way to stop the war himself. This then starts the third act called “Supernatural Aid” where the hero’s magical helper or guide is presented. For Rygart’s case, the robot he operated on a whim soon became his only tool to winning the war. The Queen also steps up here where she would put all her efforts into making the robot more effective in the battlefield. With its freak capabilities outmatching any other robot, it is now a key to truly turning this war around. After this, the fourth act is set up called “Crossing the Threshold” where Rygart ventures into the unknown. In this case, it’ll be the first war he’ll ever participate in. Truly inexperienced and lacking in combat, Rygart would soon confront Zess and forces him to retreat. Of course, this is where things become incredibly real for Rygart as he gets accustomed to operating the robot, moving proficiently on the battlefield and actually learning how to freaking fight. Rygart’s progression as a character is really nice as you see him rise into a dependable hero. He started as this unlikeable guy who has pacifist ideals ignorant of the truth. The anime really fleshed him out properly and well enough to root for him as he fights an enemy on the battlefield. Once this fourth act is established, we enter the last one called “belly of the whale” where sh*t gets real as the hero truly sets out on his journey completely different from the man he started out as. The belly of the whale is also part of the second chapter where General Borcuse begins his invasion campaign.

The second chapter is about General Borcuse attacking Krishna. Zess’ attempt at ending this war with little bloodshed did not happen as something unexpected came up. Athens also wished that Zess would succeed since their resources are being diminished fast if a full scale invasion was to happen. Unfortunately for everyone, a full scale invasion was the next step for Athens. General Borcuse is a man who is considered ruthless and rabid. He once attacked with 200 soldiers completely over whelming the opponent. Most general would send their best and attack with a good amount of soldiers. General Borcuse prefers a blood bath with his most brutal soldiers on hand and a force strong enough to flatten anyone who opposes him. With Zess defeated, the belly of the whale is about to turn pretty ugly. This war is about to turn insane and absolutely horrific as one ruthless general set things up for a blitzkrieg attack to crush the country of Krishna. The great thing about the second chapter is that it introduces more soldiers from both sides. As if assembling the chess pieces needed to play the game, the various important characters are established. The previously introduced characters are being scattered across the board. Rygart is placed on a small unit that will act as a support for one of the leading general’s forces. Meanwhile, General Borcuse’s forces are getting ready to sharpen their knives. From an elite team of five called the Spartan Squad to Brocuse’s personal forces of brutal killers like him, the chess board is littered with a lot of interesting chess pieces. Old forces from Zess’ campaign also rejoin the fray as this Blitzkrieg will truly make Krisna bow down to Athens’ greatness. It’ll be a melee of awesome characters trying to kill each other while the horrors of war are also presented in such a vivid fashion. Skilled warriors from both sides will fall as the amazingly battle hardened proves they are the tougher among the rest. The second chapter not only utilizes chess pieces for the battlefield, it also developed certain characters to fully expand the plot and to give us branching subplots to further develop the story.

There is a noticeable lull though before the war erupts. Since the show introduced a ton of characters and developed others, they really needed time to fully become important pieces in the show. Some of them are involved in some of the most intense battles so a lot of dialogue heavy scenes really dominated the second chapter. All of this talking is worth it though as the very first time General Borcuse graces the battlefield is really enough to make your jaw drop. I know I did and I even scream like a mad man watching the last few episodes as it just display insane action and a story so engaging I was screaming random gibberish in excitement. The impeding invasion of this ruthless man included a mountain of non-operational robots, a gloriously epic handicap match and a showdown so fierce even the sky was crying at its conclusion. It’s one hell of an anime from start to finish.

The characters are all nicely developed. Some of them are even nicely fleshed out as they start off a foot soldier then soon become an integral part of the battles later on. Rygart is your typical idiot piloting a mecha. He lacks experience and he lacks the logic to really be useful in the battlefield. In fact, he doesn’t really do anything refined. He’s a clumsy guy piloting a robot that is outstanding on its own. Rygart’s only positive aspect is that he is stubborn. Being slammed to the ground does nothing as it only means that he needs to get back up. He was so lacking in battle experienced that he was caught by the enemy twice. He learns from his mistakes though and grows from it. He also doesn’t back down even when up against the fearsome General Borcuse. It’s a shame the anime didn’t further explore the mysteries behind the awesome robot Rygart is piloting as the connection between the two would’ve made Rygart a tad more useful in the show. I’m guessing he matures some more in the story and I would love to see that if they decide to continue the anime for another season. I love how stupid Rygart is though. His lack of logic kills people and his naivety when it comes to Zess and Hodr is a nice catalyst to plunge him in the situation. A Rygart and Zess rematch needs to happen though so I do hope they give us another season.

Something I noticed in this anime is how most characters are really old. In most mecha anime, robots are piloted by teenager. It’s a stereotype I actually don’t mind. For Break Blade, important characters are either married or just mature enough to not act like your typical angsty teenager. Rygart is an exception because he is an idiot but the rest of the characters have this level headed personality that I don’t see much in other anime. Zess is a married twenty five year old who decided to invade first hoping Hodr would calmly surrender. Zess is the typical straight laced handsome face character who cares about others but also wouldn’t mind blowing someone’s brain out if his duty called for it. He has a great command of his troops in the first chapter that he really could’ve won the campaign if Rygart didn’t interfere. I love how close he is to both Rygart and Hodr. Throughout the flashbacks, it was told that Zess is himself when he’s around the two and it’s truly a shame their friendship is sent to the wood chipper thanks to this war. As for Hodr, he’s a man who doesn’t care about his status. He simply wants to be himself but he was next in line for the throne. He didn’t really do much in the anime. He was very close to Rygart like a brother showing his vulnerability to him. Aside from that, he doesn’t do anything else. He didn’t join the battle and he didn’t strategize with his soldiers. His pet owl is much more interesting than him. I’m guessing the story would demand his role later on but we can only wait. Hell, he didn’t even got intimate with his wife. What exactly is this guy’s problem?

Sigyn is like the love interest of Rygart. It was only suggested though because the girl is already married to Hodr. Still, the two have a connection that even Hodr doesn’t have with his wife. The attraction is a bit unsettling because Sigyn even favored Rygart among her soldiers often obsessed with developing the ancient robot’s functions with making Rygart safe the only thing in her mind. I do believe these two will get it on someday and Hodr will flip his sh*t but for now, their signals are blazing and their intimacy is slowly growing. There are other important characters for Krishna as well. There are the three generals of Krishna: Baldr, True and Sakura who led the charge in both campaigns driving back any enemy soldiers that step foot in their homeland. Baldr is the interesting one as he has those stupid sunglasses on like a definite bad ass. True is the stubborn old guy who fights like a true knight keen on serving his country. And he even shows his soft side by lending help for the orphans of the country. Some of these orphans even grow up as soldiers serving under him. This includes Narvi who becomes Rygart’s superior on the second chapter. She is a hard ass who doesn’t like being played with. She is as loyal as True and as efficient in battle. Her squad once faced a battalion and they were able to come out on top.

For characters that truly stole the scene during battle, I’d point out to three amazingly skilled individuals. One is General Borcuse with his frighteningly powerful mecha. His robot is huge and conceals its weapons under a giant coat. The robot is equipped with everything from guns, swords and even a scorpion tail that pierces anyone that gets too close to him. Borcuse is a great strategist though. He is a freak mastermind who uses fear as a weapon. He once allowed a unit of Krisna’s to attack him. With every other soldiers watching, the attacking unit was annihilated. Surprised at what they saw, Brocuse could feel the fear of the soldiers as they stir panic among the group. Borcuse plays with his prey before eating it. When he sets his sights on Rygart, the mad man did everything he can to make sure Rygart was emotionally in disarray to make sure the guy couldn’t focus on the fight. He is fearsome and rabid like a good general should be. I expected Borcuse to live up to his scary reputation though. As for Cleo, that was truly a shock. Cleo belonged in Zess’ force. She is inept in combat often fumbling at even firing a gun. Zess chose her for his unit though because Cleo was able to pilot the new high tech robot in just one day while the rest took months to master the controls. Cleo is someone you will under estimate then you’ll simply be in shock when you realize how scary this girl actually is. In the second chapter, she kind of had this confusing role though. She often exchanged words with Sigyn and I don’t really understand the purpose of it. I’m guessing it’s something needed for another chapter wherein Cleo would sympathize with Krisna but it’s too blurry to ascertain. I can tell you though that Cleo is a worthless character if she isn’t on the robot’s cockpit raising some hell. Speaking of raising hell, one character absolutely did that on his own. Girge is a character introduced in the second chapter as one of the chess pieces. He is part of Rygart’s new squad and he is considered a loose cannon. He was sent to prison once after killing a teammate during training and this guy has an obnoxious attitude who thinks he is better than everybody. He wouldn’t mind testing his teammates first and he also doesn’t mind abandoning them during battle. Girge is an assh*le but a really incredible one. He is very perceptive. He can read an enemy like a book and he is so smart that he is always five steps ahead of his opponents. He analyzes every possibility before it happens and then chooses the best route to win. This guy is a monster in battle and his bad attitude is easily overshadowed by his incredible skill. If you ever watched this anime, I can assure you that episode ten will leave you in awe. Just trust me. It’s epic upon epic upon epic as Girge delivers one hell of a performance.

While I truly believe this show is amazing, I also know that it is quite flawed. In 2007, six Break Blade movies were released and it basically covers the same thing this anime presented. You could say that it was a definite copy and paste phenomenon as the movies are spread out into twelve episodes. I haven’t seen the movies though so I can’t fault it that much. On its own, this series is incredible with a complex story, well-developed characters and action packed battles that’ll really leave you in awe. I do believe they did a redo of this show though to give us a better version of the events of the manga. If we’re lucky as well, I think the intention of this redo is to give us the third chapter in another season. It’s like Hunter X Hunter or Full Metal Alchemist with their redo, the goal is to give a much better experience. I am really hopeful but, considering how this went under the radar, I’m not really sure if chapter three will come. I truly wish that it does. If Break Blade gets a nice treatment despite its age, one can only wonder the possibilities it’ll do to the anime landscape. Perhaps older series will get a comeback as well. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure proved to us that it’s never too late so who knows. Maybe Record of Lodoss War will be next. How about Fist of the North Star? Hell, I sense a comeback for Berserk is this redo movement is successful. I urge everyone to support the hell out these comebacks because they might consider bringing a slew of classics back if we’re lucky. Only time will truly tell though. This was made by Production IG so you don’t have to wonder if it’s good. It is amazing by default. This was also a joint venture for Xebec. This is a pretty mild studio that focuses more on fan service heavy shows. They do give decent animation so I think their pairing with IG is sound. Bringing back this show for another joint venture is a smart move for them. Now they better join forces again for another season.

Sight and Sound

Character design is pretty much your typical Shounen affair. You have a bunch of youthful characters despite being in their 20s. I do think the age presentation of the characters is a little whacked and it even worked its way into the story when Cleo was revealed to be twelve years old. Seriously, this is twelve years old:

Anyways, body proportions are all pretty good. As I said, they all look young and the male characters have nice body tone. There are muscle details for some and their frame looks great in their respective uniforms. The female casts have nicely defined bodies as well with nice curves and such. The uniform often hides those though but there are opportunities for fan service from time to time just to show off their bodies. The outfits are also pretty decent. The military uniforms look great as it matches the color of their robots. In terms of standing out though, the character design is a bit lacking. Some characters have unique touches like Baldr and his shades or Borcuse and his creepy smile but you really have to be engaged in the story to remember who is who. I often suck at remembering names so I also had a hard time remembering a character reintroduced because I forgot what he did before. Still, there are some chances for characters to look really awesome especially with how their Shounen hairs all differ in style and in color. It’s probably a smart move so the large cast can be presented without any proper introductions.

The mecha designs are all pretty cool. This is probably where Yunosuke Yoshinaga’s style really shines. It’s not the most remarkable mecha design there is but I love how practical it is in combat. They don’t look flashy at all but it had this great design where they look like storm troopers brazing the battle field. Nicely proportioned robots with giant metal armor placed all over their limbs and sporting a gun or even a huge sword, the robots really set the tone for a real rough war to be had. While there are special looking robots for certain characters, it’s often never the point. It’s the pilot that is often focused and their own individual skills. Some are great snipers, some are great in close quarter combat (with a robot!), some are great with swords and some are balanced in both shooting and CQC. The mecha design is never about the flashy look of a robot. These giant chunks of metals are still used as weapon so their design is just as great as you’d expect form a handgun and such. I do love the neat lines though and how Yunosuke keeps his panels clean to properly tell the battle pace and this translates well into the anime.

The animation is outstanding. The first thing you’ll notice is how the animation feels a bit rustic. The background looks old with its use of colors. You can tell its computer rendered but there are certain landscape scenes with styles reminiscent of hand painted scenes. While the surface of the rocks looks detailed because of the computer rendering, the anime has this old school feel to it. I already explain the book smell so I’ll just leave it at that. Even the character design, with the face changing when turning an angle looks deliberate as if to really capture the feel of the movie. I’m not sure how they did it nine years ago but this show seems to be reaching for something old school. Despite that, the animation is still pretty gawddamn amazing. This Production IG x Xebec venture still had some amazing high quality animation. The battle scenes are absolutely outstanding with how the battle is viewed in different ways. From inside the cockpits, from a landscape shot to a shot where the camera follows the clashes of the robots, the animation is really great. There are distant gazes, close up shots and ground to aerial shots to truly give us a wonderful experience with the battles. This is topped off by the amazing movements of the robots. They don’t just shoot or swing a sword, some of them jumps and even rolls around the ground as if they’re a real person which is an added appeal of the mecha design. They have great stances, posture and even some great walking motion during fights. Robots don’t blow up though. Kills are often done by making the robot non-operational by cutting its head off or by striking the chest where the cockpit is and instantly killing the pilot. When robots take damage, their armor chips away or part of their limbs gets torn off. I love how you’ll see quartz fly off the robot until they have nothing left to defend with. Things get more epic though when you witness how robots dodge big lances or how Rygart dismembers a robot with his giant attacks. The battles are really outstanding and it is as great as the story of this show.

The anime’s OP is “Junction heart” by Sayaka Sasaki. It’s a pretty ordinary OP song. Sayaka’s sound sounds a bit subdued and the instrumentals don’t really sound all that impressive. It’s a decent OP but I am more drawn towards the OP sequence. It features all the characters and the stunning battle scenes littered all throughout the anime. It displayed every character utilized by the show and it’s a great chance to actually remember who is who. I still don’t know who pilots what but I’ll try to remember that when we get another season. The anime’s ED is “Itoshiki Aragaiyo, Michibike Hikari e” by Aira Yuuki. Again, another decent song and I do love Aira’s solemn voice but I am still drawn towards the visual. This time, it’s just a giant portrait of the robots in the anime with the camera panning sideways. It features the beauty of the designs and just how talented Yunosuke is at making giant walking metal robots.

Overall Score

9/10 “I don’t care if it’s a redo. The complex story coupled by the nicely layered elements of war with engaging characters and intense action sequences is enough to give this show another go.”

I am really impressed with this anime. It was able to present a lot of great things in just twelve episodes. The different plot points, the large cast and the battles are all nicely presented and balanced well to truly give us one hell of an anime experience. If you enjoy stories of war told from both sides then you’ll love this anime. If you like engaging mecha battles then you’ll like this one as well. If you saw the movies then check out those scenes the movie purposely omitted. With Production IG’s high quality animation and the old school feel, this anime is absolutely outstanding. I highly recommend it.