Cross Ange

[Strike Zero]

Oh. My. God.

At first, I was taking all of those screencap comparisons between this show and SEED with a grain of salt, but man, I am starting to believe that Fukuda really isn't even trying anymore.

And who the HELL is that guy? He wasn't shown in ANY of the PVs leading up to the premiere!

[Kuruni]

Straight to the point

Who know, he may even use something he plan for SeeD the Movie some of you still waiting .

[YokozunaBulldozer]

...*passes by to go watch G-Reco and mark calendar for Build Fighters TRY episode 1

[Destiny_Gundam]

Yes, thank you for that utterly useless post.

Re-used footage is hardly as big a deal as people act like it is.

Anyways, I was mad at Ange for her treatment of that kid, and it made me look forward to having her whole life crash around her. Hopefully she'll endure that hardship and come out of it a better person.

[Ryujin]

Imho, the first episode was a touch too overdramatic with the handling of the Norma kid, creepy imouto-complex evil onii-san & other stuff, but it does get the message clearly across.

It's also interesting how the dragons are classified in the manner of sailing ships; so far we have schooners, brigs & galleons, and apparently there's also bounties involved.

Let's see how it goes in the following episodes.

Also, thumbs up on the tongue-in-cheek voiceover for the episode preview.

[Raikoh]

I'm offended. At the sound mixing. Seriously, what was up with that? They kept all the voices on the left channel and all the music on the right channel.

Other than that, I think that Cross Ange had... I want to say a solid start? I'm not sure what the tone is supposed to be, since that next episode preview was so jarring it practically gave me whiplash, but in another couple episodes we'll probably know if Cross Ange is taking the piss or trying to be serious.

Either way, I guess you could say I liked it. It clearly isn't for everyone, but I thought the characterization was interesting. The racism against Normas makes perfect sense to me, as well. If there were a group of people who would literally fry any electronics they touch, I wouldn't want them in my house. I wouldn't want them near my house. Hell, I wouldn't want them near my car, and my car isn't even that important to me other than "it takes me from place to place."

I get why people are upset about this unseen male character suddenly appearing, but I'll reserve any comments until we see him in action. People are just knee-jerking to see the character in a position of intimacy with Ange as well as looking like Kira Yamato. My theory (based purely on conjecture from his lack of prominence in the OP and ED animations as well as lack of media attention) is that we've got an inevitable death coming - think Smith from Gunbuster.

As for, you know... That scene.

Spoiler

I actually think it was shockingly effective. First off, let's address the elephant in the room: whether they added a line of dialogue or not, I can't see how someone could have come out of the scene with "rape". They were taking Ange's personal effects in the scene, as well as trying to hammer the nail home that "you aren't a pampered princess any more" so doing something invasive, dehumanizing, and disturbing - in this case, a cavity search - was both justifiable and plot-wise makes sense.

Either way, I try and finish everything I started and I've sat through worse things this year. Will it be good or bad? Who knows? I don't think I can make a conclusion until we hit the 1/4th point, but so far it's looking like it at least won't be terrible regardless of whether it goes for grimdark or fun.

[Soma Taozi]

From what I have seen a lot of people have given up on Cross Ange before they even watched it simply because it was produced (not even directed) by Fukuda. I have to agree Raikoh (which I think is a first) in that it had a solid start.

Ange is more tragic then I expected. I can see why people dislike her for her treatment of that kid...but I can understand her perspective, she was just raised in a world where this is the norm....a (PUNS!). And the fact that she is a norma herself just adds another layer of sadness to her life.

Overall she is not a bad person, just naive...and I look forward to that naivete being replaced by strength!

[Strike Zero]

I'm just going to put it out there that, no, the first episode wasn't terrible. BUT, it is by this point most apparent that one of the show's primary selling points is going to be the SAABISU, even during the most inappropriate of times (I thought maybe that one blog post was exaggerating when it mentioned the camera zooming in on Ange's wiggling butt in the middle of her torture scene -- apparently, not so much). For those who know me well enough by this point, you may rightly assume that this pretty much guarantees my attention until the show is over. Huzzah!

[MarshalBraginsky]

Hopefully this new mecha anime is good, although how many episodes are slotted for this show? Because we're gonna be very busy with three mecha anime shows this fall, ranging from this one, to G-Reco and GBF-Try.

About the rape scene, since when has Fukuda ever experimented with controversial stuff in his shows? SEED Episode 16 (Remastered series) had a scene of Kira and Flay in a sex scene, and don't forget the bouncing boobs fanservice. (Applies to Destiny as well).

[BrentD15]

About the rape scene, since when has Fukuda ever experimented with controversial stuff in his shows? SEED Episode 16 (Remastered series) had a scene of Kira and Flay in a sex scene, and don't forget the bouncing boobs fanservice. (Applies to Destiny as well).

Don't forget the infamous "Coordinator Microwave Oven" scene.
And the show was advertised for kids in their early to late teens!

[MarshalBraginsky]

About the rape scene, since when has Fukuda ever experimented with controversial stuff in his shows? SEED Episode 16 (Remastered series) had a scene of Kira and Flay in a sex scene, and don't forget the bouncing boobs fanservice. (Applies to Destiny as well).

Don't forget the infamous "Coordinator Microwave Oven" scene.
And the show was advertised for kids in their early to late teens!

There were two kinds of Microwave Oven scenes though: the one at JOSH-A and GENESIS. GENESIS was basically a Natural Microwave Oven scene.

[Raikoh]

I've heard that it's planned to be a 2-cour show with 25 episodes.

[Henyo]

i was slightly spoiled by Sankakucomplex's, as usual, overblown post about this one.(watched it as soon as i got home.) it was a completely justified scene. it would have been more difficult to watch if they went with more "creative" camera angles. the male character appearing in the Op and ED is surprising alright. but i'm not going be like many a yuri fanboy and wish him a horrible death. my guess would be that he'll be like Kannazuki no Miko's Soma.
having mentioned Yuri, one of the pilots seems to be an out an out bian.(although her design is not to my liking.)

in regards to the re-used shots from the Op and Ed. that's par for the course right? just look at Jinki Extend's Op and Ed. a blatant copy of Gundam 0079 op and Mazinger Z's ending. 0083's Op, IIRC, is similar to Dragonar's 1st op

one last thing: that next episode preview is hilarious. pretty much like Mai HiME and Otome's.

[Destiny_Gundam]

I wasn't surprised that guy was there. Mamoru Miyano (Setsuna) had been in the cast list since the beginning, though his character didn't get any artwork.

As for potential lesbians, in these kind of prison situations there's always the question of "are they really gay or are they just using whatever is available?"

[Henyo]

I wasn't surprised that guy was there. Mamoru Miyano (Setsuna) had been in the cast list since the beginning, though his character didn't get any artwork.

oh yeah. i recall that in one of the ANN update about the show. ze Yuri fanboys will conveniently forget about that one for sure. the possible Bian character may just be the "use what's available" type if we're going by looks only.

moving away from the yuri, the mechs in flight mode reminded of an old Cartoon. the one where the characters gather dragon eggs.

[Raikoh]

moving away from the yuri, the mechs in flight mode reminded of an old Cartoon. the one where the characters gather dragon eggs.

I got more Escaflowne-y vibes from the mecha design, with a dash of Kawamori in the weird transformations (Kawamori likes weird transformations). It's largely because the alternate mode has them let their hair flow through the wind and stuff.

Oh, and I was distracted by my sound mixing complaint and forgot to note that the music is downright awesome. Mixture of classical symphonic sounds with contemporary styles like electronic and rock? Yes please.

[Zeino]

Man, this show really has the people over at Anime News Network up in arms about the ending. Having just watch it. I kind of see their point... I think I'll wait until it's ends before deciding to continue with it. The weird thing is Cross Ange doesn't really feel like anything done by Fukuda. Sure, the opening is a blinding obvious reference to the CE Gundam series but other that so far it feels like it has more in common with Code Geass than Seed or Seed Destiny, let alone Gear Fighter Dendoh.

[Compass]

I like to look at anime and ask "Was this necessary for improving the plot?" That last scene, I want to put on a "probably not." They could have ended it with the ring being taken away. Everything else was nyat bad though.

[Vent Noir]

Would I be a horrible person if I said it would be interesting if Ange and Saki Rukino had a therapy session together? Yeah, I probably would, so I won't say it.

And this was pretty much inevitable/

[Compass]

Would I be a horrible person if I said it would be interesting if Ange and Saki Rukino had a therapy session together? Yeah, I probably would, so I won't say it.

And this was pretty much inevitable/

Saw it, deemed it dead-horse beaten and chose not to post it I still love that theme song. SEED had some pretty good themes.

Edit: Bah. Well, I can tell you the video works perfectly with both Believe and Ignited as well.