To settle a war that has been wreaking destruction across the earth, the moon, and the people of two distinctly similar civilizations—the humans and the Vers—the Versian princess descends to Earth in an attempt to negotiate a way to bring peace to both societies. This instantly goes wrong when the princess is assassinated before the talks can even begin. Enraged, the Vers drop to earth in giant landing pods, instantly wiping out uncountable numbers of civilians. The war has begun again.
It’s not the most unique concept in the book, but even a rehashed concept can find new ways to express itself. Likewise for characters that we think we have seen enumerable times before, so I held out hope in Aldnoah.Zero. Unfortunately, I can only count two characters that go in new directions, and for one of them the new direction is by being entirely unflappable and nonexpressive. Worse, he’s the protagonist, Kaizuka Inaho, a “regular” but intelligent high school student who witnesses the assassination. He serves in the military along with his friends and his sister as a pilot, something everyone has had to train for their whole lives in case the Versian hostilities began again. He proves useful as a pilot, and by useful I mean impervious to all damage not driven by plot development. His tactical planning is impossibly quick and accurate. He operates an outdated machine with more ease than older professional pilots with the newest equipment available. And he never shows a single trace of emotion, which is fine for a serial killer and not for a protagonist who can endlessly spit out inspirational lines like a Pez dispenser.
Apparently he is currently one of the more popular main characters of the season. Unless the creators were making some kind of statement by making a character that could be replaced by a robot—a more plausible explanation for most of his accomplishments, by the way—I can't begin to imagine a less memorable protagonist. He has no notable characteristics. At one point, his sister even has to tell his closest friends what he’s feeling, stating that she has been around him long enough to be able to decipher him somehow. Literally not even the characters closest to him can feel anything from his expressions. He expresses his heartfelt emotions through his choice of words, but not a thing he says sounds genuine, even ones that presumably convey profound anger, sadness, or joy.
The other character who manages to go in new directions is Slaine, the other protagonist, who is human but serves the Vers. He seems to stagnate for much of the show, and most of his personality is his complete and unwavering loyalty to the assassinated princess. This does come up in interesting ways when he is forced to recognize disloyalty towards the princess within the Versian ranks. He handles it decisively at some points, and struggles at others. He seems to be at conflict with the entire world; even his beloved princess manages to betray him in an indirect way. Unfortunately he serves little function in the show besides at a few key points, particularly with his interactions with Inaho and the Versian traitors.
One of the few notable performances is by Areash Rayet, a Versian who was left orphaned by an unexpected consequence of the assassination of the princess, and who displays internal conflict over her loyalty to the Vers after the death of her parents and her abandonment on Earth. Most of this conflict is simply in her spoken dialogues with her human associates, but we do see her internal conflict slip out and dominate her in one fantastic scene near the end of the show. Another rare notable performance is in one other Versian character who manages to prove himself loyal when it is least expected, although it would be rude of me to reveal who it is. Both drops off the radar before too long though, as the show really has no room for characters that are not Inaho, Slaine, and another character who I would rather not reveal. Of the third I will only say that I hate them, their lack of originality, their deus ex machina function, their interactions with Slaine and Inaho, and the way they defy death in spades.
For a stretch of the show, it plays out like a monster-of-the-week series, with a new Versian mecha unit arriving with unique combat elements to it. I will single out the shield unit, as it takes one of the more interesting approaches to impenetrability that I have seen in a long time, and the resulting fights did feel sufficiently desperate. In theory, Aldnoah.Zero does know how to do battle with invading boss characters; rather than a one-on-one between the main character and the unique enemy, the humans all work together with their vastly inferior units, but with more knowledge of the terrain and strategies. The shield unit fight was cleverly done, and it was interesting to see them plan and work around its seeming invincible shield. However, it was interrupted by one persistent presence: Inaho. He fights many of his battles alone, coming up with strategies that have no guarantee or even plausibility, and yet he pulls them off flawlessly. He plans on the fly and comes up with optimal attacks where even the overpowered Versians cannot do anything but rage in stereotypical enemy fashion. He dominates the screen time as well as all key positions on the battlefield. The fights are about cooperation. Why could we not care less about the humans he works with? Because the camera couldn’t care less either.
The other element is the technical side of things, which is comprised of Aldnoah, Cataphracts, and a few other minor details. A nice obvious parallel for my opinion on these details is Code Geass, where the details of weapons like Knightmares and Geass distract from the larger plot. They are tools, and as long as they do not step into the realm of deus ex machina, we allow them to function even without explanation. The mythical force called Aldnoah does unfortunately get used to explain away everything: it makes the Vers superior, and then brings the humans back to their level. It orchestrates the final battle, giving the humans the chance to win a battle that is thoroughly unwinnable. The second difference is that Code Geass had enough other things to stand up on. Removing the weapons would have been less interesting because of the thematic elements they posed, but the show could have been just as intelligent and entertaining. By contrast Aldnoah.Zero would lose its entire basis, turning into a character study of people we have no way of connecting with.
But while the details of the plot would not be able to carry the show, the fundamentals certainly could. The music is good, and the Vers invasion montage at the end of episode one uses it to its full advantage. Kalafina have always had great style with their voices, even if their melodies seem to lack individuality from one another at times. The soundtrack itself was unmemorable but by no means bad; it fit the show and provided the right mood at the right time, which is everything that can really be asked for in background tracks. The animation detail was allocated fairly well, as the space shots are quite nice and the technological elements feel sufficiently futuristic. Space shows seem to be at the forefront of battle animation, and Aldnoah.Zero keeps pace with the times.
Aside from Inaho, most of the complaints I have about Aldnoah.Zero are really complaints I have about the modern mecha genre, so all things considered Aldnoah.Zero works well as a mecha on most levels. The ending begs for a second season, leaving HUGE points left unresolved, but I can’t imagine where it can even begin to resolve them. Urobuchi Gen, known for his brutality towards his characters, was only involved in the first three episodes, but at first glance I would have guessed him to have orchestrated the finale too. It did a great job at putting the characters in a room and seeing their ideologies clash with their personalities laid bare. Along with the first episode montage, there were clear points where the characters explored all the ideals the show seemed to be debating. Racial divides, loyalty, love, and resisting against an oppressive force are all strong elements that pervade throughout the show. At the best of times, Aldnoah.Zero is a harsh, contrasting struggle, full of tricky binary oppositions. At the worst, we have to deal with the protagonist. The latter constitutes the vast majority of the show, so all I can hope for is that he decides to not stick around for the inevitable encore.