I’m not one to watch a mecha anime, but every once in awhile I come across one that I really enjoy.  For this anime highlight I will be showcasing the mecha anime Aldnoah.Zero.  Check out this fan made trailer below (but beware there are major spoilers in it):

Trailer by Panji Kun on youtube and used main theme from show  called aLIEz.

To quickly summarize, Aldnoah.Zero takes place in a alternate universe.  Humans have colonized Mars, and the human colonists of Mars found ancient alien technology which they have taken control of.  This give the human colonists on Mars or Martians advance weaponry and technology, and they create their own empire called the Vers empire.  Fifteen years before the story starts, the Vers empire attacks Earth and after a brutal war, the moon is destroyed and the fall out creates devastation on the earth below it.  After this massive loss of life on both sides, a tentative peace is created.  The Vers empire’s knights and their castle ships orbit the earth.

The story starts when the princess of the Vers empire, Asseylum Vers Allusia, comes to earth on a peaceful diplomatic mission.  Princess Asseylum has an open mind and sees humans and Martians as equals.  While on earth an assassination plot is carried out against her, and she is presumed dead.  This sparks off a war and retaliatory actions from the knights orbiting the earth.  Meanwhile, a new group of recruits are forced into taking leading roles in the combat.  In steps the main character Inaho Kaizuka, who is a genius strategist, and his rookie friends who find themselves on the front lines after they find and rescue the Princess Asylum.  The princess, as it turns out, survived the assassination attempt on her life.  She and her new found allies try to end the fighting by letting the emperor and his knights know that she is still alive, but things don’t go as planned.  It seems that certain members of the Vers elite have no intention of upholding peace and are actively trying to take over Earth.

Princess Asselym Vers Allusia and her maidservant.

There are so many things that I loved about this anime.  It’s got political intrigue and dramatic situations.  Its got love and loss as well as greed and power struggles, and on top of it all the human race on Earth is at risk of extermination.  I liked how global the series was.  Usually, in most post-apocalyptic animes where the human race is fighting to survive, all you really get to see is the story told from Japan’s point of view.  Now this story does focus on Japan, but we get to see other parts of the world like the devastation in New Orleans and the massive fallout shelter and base for the United Forces of Earth in Novosibirsk, Russia.

United Forces of Earth underground base in Novosibirsk, Russia.

And I also felt that they dealt with some heavy issues that are normally skipped over.  One of the issues that they dealt with is the repercussions of war, and the effects it can have on soldiers and civilians alike.  An example of this is seen in Lieutenant Marito who is dealing with PTSD as he tries to get over what happened in the last war and the horrors he saw and had to perform.  Lt. Marito is never fully over his PTSD, but he deals with it as best he can.  It brings to light a serious and sad reality of war that is usually passed right over.

Lt. Marito in the last war.

The other reality of war, that is dealt with so nicely in this anime, is the true reason why wars start and end.  Check out the scene from episode 1×12 called Childhood’s End below:

I think this is a perfect explanation of how war really works. The main character Inaho tells the Princess how war really works and how war can only be ended once the objectives of the war, be it economics, pride, resources, etc., have been met or when the loss of life outweighs the gains. And in this particular war, this is very true. The real reason why most Martians are rallying behind this war is that they believe that Earth is hoarding and squandering all of their plentiful resources. Even though the Martians have superior technology, this does not mean that their economic structure and way of life, like food production, is superior as well. Inaho also goes on to say that anger and hatred are only used as a way to tilt a war one way or the other. I thought this was a clever explanation about war in general. This explanation is demonstrated so well in the series by the Martians who fan the flames of hatred for the humans on earth (Terrans) amongst their people in order to justify their war.

I also found the characters to be very intriguing.  Inaho and Slaine are the two I feel really caught my interest the most.  Let’s start with Inaho Kaizuka.  Inaho is not like your typical hero that you root for.  He’s a little too logical and cold.  He’s a super genius, but, like many genius’s, he has absolutely no tact or social skills.  In battle, his logic and his quick calculations make him unbeatable, but in life, he does not have the best track record when it comes to relating to people.  He rarely shows emotion towards the other characters and you can never really know what he really feels for his closest companions, namely his sister and Princess Asseylum.  We do see that he does have feelings for these two characters, but we see it in subtle ways.

Note from Inaho’s sister which he keeps with him in combat.

And then there is Slaine.  Slaine starts out as someone you love, who is devoted to the Princess and will go to great lengths for her.  I won’t say what those lengths are, but he clearly loves her.  Yet there are times when he also does some questionably things as well (which I will also not say what they are).  Slaine is one of those characters that I am never sure how I should feel about him and he has me very confused emotionally.  He always surprises you and keeps you on your toes as you are not quite sure what side he is truly loyal to. This, in my opinion, is the mark of a well developed and interesting character.  The rivalry between Slaine and Inaho is nothing short of epic.

Slaine and Inaho.

I’m also a big fan of the character design of the Vers Empire.  It reminds me of the feudal culture that I remember seeing in Dune by Frank Herbert which is hands down my favorite science fiction novel of all time.  I liked the juxtaposition of this feudal culture mixed with advanced technology.  And like Dune, the Vers Empire is structured much like a feudal society in that they have an emperor and then counts and knights.  Blood and family lineage is incredibly important to the Vers as it was back in the medieval times.

Paul Atreides on throne, Children of Dune miniseries.

Overall, this is a good series and one worth looking into.  So check out Aldnoah.Zero.