Aldnoah.Zero

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).