Anime Review: Aldnoah Zero Season 1 and 2 (Strong Start, but Poor and Ridiculous Progression)

I heard about the controversy surrounding Aldnoah Zero's storytelling after the first few episodes of Season 1. Interest in Aldnoah Zero most likely stems from Gen Urobuchi, creator of both seasons, but he only wrote the script for Episodes 1 to 3, and the rest was written by others. From the get-go, you can get a bad feeling about how the story will pan out, especially when a legendary writer doesn't write the whole script for the series.

Aldnoah Zero is essentially a mecha-anime involving conflicts between the colonies of Mars and Earth, because Earth is such a beautiful and resource-rich planet whereas Mars is a barren wasteland, and the revolt by Mars citizens was directed at Earth, and so the conflict begins. To be honest, there's nothing much to say about this story. The first season just highlights the process of getting invaded by Mars and their superior technological mech suits. To be honest, the first season wasn't that bad to watch, but it ended on a cliffhanger, which suggested that they were planning two seasons right from the get-go. The first season is enjoyable because we see our main character - Kaizuka Inaho, outsmarting the enemies with superior technologies with logic and knowledge. It's refreshing to see that a character uses strategy to overcome what seems to be an impossible obstacle to beat. It's like in life, nothing is perfect - there is always flaws in something, especially something that is man-made.

Now it comes to the second season of the series. The second series picks up from where the first season ended on, and it was obvious why viewers would be confused/disappointed in what happens. Slaine, our other main character suddenly backflips in killing his oppressor (the Mars Count) and saves him and takes away the injured, unconscious Princess Asseylum. From then on, it's a mess and it was really exciting to watch. We see some smart plays by Kaizuka Inaho, but now it's more of a him using a biotechnological eye to help him. They should have just made him a pirate (arghhh me hearties!) and make him like Snake from Metal Gear Solid series. On top of that, he was given the activation factor of Aldnoah by the Princess, but somehow he can't deactivate/force enemy Aldnoah mechas to stop. It's as if they were lazy and they just used as a reason for the Deucalion to continue operating without the Princess. Furthermore Slain's reasoning to invade Earth is so ridiculous - his reasoning to invade Earth was so that it will eliminate the opposition so that it prevents the possibilities of a future war. Ideally, that would work, but in reality, that's never going to happen. They will always be factions because there will always be different beliefs, even if they are all from the "same side". I guess one could pity and be empathetic towards Slaine because it seems like it was his destiny to always be the loser or the "oppressed". His character is definitely the one you care most about, and it's kinda sad to see him locked up, despite him also saving our protagonists earlier on in Season 1.

Overall, it's a series that will garner mixed feelings. I personally enjoyed Season 1, but Season 2 was a let down for me, because of Slaine's sudden antagonistic shift and how ridiculous his reasoning was to invade Earth. However, there was no compromise on art and that's always good to see cause the series is good to look at. Also, the second season's OP is god tier. If you are a curious individual like me, I reckon give it a shot. You may hate it or like it but at least you can make a judgement on whether this series is good or not.

Overall Score: 7/10 (S1), 5/10 (S2)

Story: 7/10 (S1), 5/10 (S2)

Characters: 7/10

Art: 8/10

Sound: 8/10

Enjoyment: 7/10 (S1), 5/10 (S2)