Aquarion Evol

[VF5SS]

It's like episode 13 or something where after a really awesome battle with the Shadow Angels where the Aquarion proves it is in fact crucifixion proof, they have an entire episode that is 80% restating plot points from the first half of the show as they run recap footage while the characters say everything we already know. It's like those Votoms recap episodes with less smooth jazz.

[DuelGundam2099]

Strange, I thought that episode was okay. If you want actual bad recap episodes watch Ryu Knight.

[Destiny_Gundam]

No, he's talking about that episode where they go to the crazy alternate word. The really crappy animation might have been considered intentional since it was a weird world, however the animation was terrible before they entered it too.

[Shinji103]

No, he's talking about that episode where they go to the crazy alternate word. The really crappy animation might have been considered intentional since it was a weird world, however the animation was terrible before they entered it too.

What Destiny said. ^^b

[DuelGundam2099]

But........ I liked that episode.

[pd771]

But........ I liked that episode.

I did too... and it was understandable why that happened. I think they gave the episode to another animation company so they could go crazy with the art style. It would have been a lot of extra work to not have that studio animate those couple minutes of time outside that world, so I gave the inconsistent animation a pass.

[Destiny_Gundam]

I don't particularly hate the idea or content of the episode, but that art was undeniably horrific.

[DuelGundam2099]

I thought the art was kind of fun.

[Mickeymac92]

I actually didn't like Aquarion, but I'll keep an eye on this new series to see if it's better. Like Imperial, I found the cast unlikeable and I never found that they had much characterization or development. Plus...I thought the main cast was just plain creepy. It's hard to explain...

[Shinji103]

Well episodes one and two aired back-to-back, and I loved it!

........or so I'd like to say, but unfortunately there were a couple rather large killjoys. First off, it's just as I feared and has been indicated by the promotional material; the new Diva does indeed employ a ridiculous gender segregation regime, to the point of building a giant wall between the male and female campus grounds, creating holy bindings or somesuch to prevent male/female combining, and spouting religious babble about the dangers/evil of inter-gender relationships. Worse still, you have the inevitable character who annoyingly and incessantly babbles about how unsightly/vulgar/ugly the opposite gender is (the redhead with glasses, MIX), and worse still even the heads of the respective gender groups can't avoid arguing about the other gender being inferior, even in the middle of combat in the command center. For some reason, I guess they needed to crank up the "gender conflict" pioneered by shows like Vandread to ridiculous levels.

And as if that wasn't bad enough, you have Cayenne, the extreme jack@$$ who takes "extreme" straight to "I want to see him become a bad guy so the main character can skewer him and watch him die a slow, painful death" "extreme." (and I am usually very forgiving about these things) I've seen few "good guys" as terribly jack@$$ as this one.

Anyway, getting away from the absolutely terrible things that make me want to put my fist through my computer screen (something that very few things have ever given me the urge to do), everything else was really great; it felt a little like they rushed stuff between Amata and Mikono, but it's not like they were holding hands and spilling their love for each other 10 minutes after they met. If Banagher's quick warming up to Audrey didn't bug you, than this won't.

No OP, but they did give us the awesome new OP theme during the combining sequence of course. I love that song. Kagura is definitely Apollo's reincarnation. Not only does he "smell" things like Apollo, he even crawls around on the ground on all fours and jumps around like a dog just like Apollo. ^^b

Amata may be no Apollo, but he wasn't that weak-willed at all these two episodes. It didn't help him "man up" that the Aquarion Evol was practically in chaos here and weak as hell, but he still managed to get a good run out of it.

Mikono does turn out to be a weak-willed damsel-in-distress type on the weaker side of the scale this episode, but I'll gladly take her level of weak-willed-ness over the idiocy of the gender segregation and the jack@$$-ness that is Cayenne. It wouldn't hurt to quickly have her get over her weakness and and become a pilot, though.

We already have our first personal good guy/bad guy conflict; apparently there's some kind of marriage thing that will mean bad things if it happens, and the partners of this supposed marriage from hell are...........Kagura and Mikono. ^^b So Kagura has decided to hound down Mikono at the end of the premiere, this laying the groundwork for the Amata/Kagura rivalry.

Unfortunately the next episode preview shows more Cayenne being a jack@$$, apparently more MIX being a sexist, and we really might get stuck with this gender segregation nonsense for a while. Please PLEASE Kawamori, don't make this last long. I really like this show overall so far, but I'm not sure I can handle the BS much longer. >.>

[yazi88]

I like the character designs in Evol far more than in the original Aquarion, especially the female ones.

Plus the main character isn't a complete dick like Apollo who is one of my most hated main characters in mecha anime, alongside Kira, Kou, and Basara. At least Basara was good at singing and playing his guitar. Then again, he was also asexual, probably.

[DuelGundam2099]

Apollo who is one of my most hated main characters in mecha anime, alongside Kira, Kou, and Basara.

Kira and Basara I can understand, but Kou (if we're talking about 0083's main character) and Apollo? Really? Personally I don't mind all four of them. That and I'll see this once the subs are out. I've never seen a harem anime unless you count Nadesico, so this will probably be unique for me.

[Shinji103]

Kira and Basara I can understand, but Kou (if we're talking about 0083's main character) and Apollo? Really? Personally I don't mind all four of them.

Exactly what I thought.

That and I'll see this once the subs are out. I've never seen a harem anime unless you count Nadesico, so this will probably be unique for me.

I'm not sure why you think this will be a harem anime though; at most it'll be a love triangle. I really doubt we're going to see any more than two girls vying for Amata's affections, and even on that I wouldn't bet anything I care to lose. (much of the promotion material for Aquarion Evol has focused on Amata and Mikono as a pairing despite the occasional scan of Amata, Mikono, and Zessica together)

[DuelGundam2099]

Well, I just watched Evol....................

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It's so good, almost makes me want to cry (not really). Where do I start?

I like the references to the original series with the "You're the only reason Skies of Aquaria are still playing" and the whole "The movie wasn't great, but the opening song caught on". I can already relate to this Amata guy.

As for the city, it does reminded me of Venice more than it does Hong Kong. The art style is like the original series with natural updating. I kind of dig the whole religion over Aquarion and the myths that go with it. The music....... I'll wait until I'm further into the series before making final judgement. I also enjoy the new bad guys to an extent. The other Apollo guy is neat and so is his Aquarion-ish mech, the Gnis (I think that is what is called). Finally, I thought Shush was adorable. What? I do intend to find out more about the mechs as to whether or not they are the original Aquarion or copies or something.

HOWEVER, I have gripes. First off, while Mikono isn't exactly exactly hitting my annoying list (yet), she needs to stop, oh how do I say this, get surprised by every little thing that goes on. Honestly, you can be wowed by something, but you can only do it for so long before it gets annoying. The nun is also not shaping up to be likable or whats her name with the pony tail. As for the enemy grunts; they're no cherubim. In fact, while we're on the subject, the "Abductors" currently are not good Shadow Angel substitutes.

My BIGGEST gripe right now? People lacking super powers. That is why I loved the original series as much as I did, every pilot had a unique ability and it could be used with various combinations of other powers to give Aquarion's many attacks. Sure, the characters were not the best, but they were STILL able to be unique. This.............. I'm gonna wait and see.

[Destiny_Gundam]

Well they do all have super powers, it's just that Aquaria can't use them. They need a guy/girl Aquarion gattai to use them in battle as seen with Zessica and Amata's abilities. The whole forbidden guy/girl thing seems to be for the sake of not letting it get too powerful.

So yeah, I pretty much like everything I see here. So far as parallels go, Zessica seems like she'll be a lot nicer and more fun than Sylvie was. Cayenne, though, looks like he could be as bad, if not worse, than Sirius was.

[yazi88]

Anyone else think that the cyborg guy in charge of the boys Aquaria divsion looks and acts like Orange-kun?

[nacho-wan]

WOW. I was blown away by the first episode. I can't find ground for the complaining of the fellow previous posters, I personally find it a little bit exagerated for the first two episodes. But to everyone their own.

The hole church thing is hilarious since it seems they didn't get the correct message. Maybe the myth was modified so many times in 12.000 years that it turned into something completely different?

I really loved the movie setting. That was so much in Kamamori's style. But, I so want a Apollon and Celianne statue in my front garden!

Mark my words, Apollo reincarnated in two different personas: the animal one and the kind one.

[Gatx]

No, he's talking about that episode where they go to the crazy alternate word. The really crappy animation might have been considered intentional since it was a weird world, however the animation was terrible before they entered it too.

I always thought it was funny that both this, and Gurren Lagan, being over the top super robot shows, had one episode with a guest director that everyone absolutely abhors.

Anyway loving the series so far. Thought the title was a strange way to say "evolution" until someone pointed out it was "Love" backwards, which then proceeded to blow my mind. The theme song is also growing on me. Thought it was so so in one of the trailers but of course once you hear it in the context of the combining sequence it is just, wow.

As for characters that are unlikeable or annoying, that's what "character development" is for.

[Shinji103]

I have this bad feeling that I'm really going to hate tomorrow's episode. Not in the sense that it'll be badly written, but in that it'll have things that will really piss me off as a viewer; the leaders of the campus are all about "now romantic relationships" and gender seperation, and then you have Cayenne the extreme jack@$$, and I have the uigly feeling that all of this is going to come down on Amata and Mikono very hard and all at once next episode with plenty of "Forget it chump; no contact with women!" and "Everything bad that happened is your fault!" At least for Mikono there aren't any particularly violent or jack@$$ chartacters on the girls' side (though there is MIX who is clearly anti-male) and they probably won't blame her for anything, but that's not going to help Amata much. And you can bet that they're going to at least want to talk or see each other or something simple, but of course they're going to get a big fat "NO GIRLS/NO BOYS!" >.>

PLEASE abolish this segregation thing early, Kawamori. >.>

[Destiny_Gundam]

So...

Spoiler

Amata accidentally flies under Mikono's skirt, prompting her to be miffed at him. During a simulation when he learns that the girls are watching it, Amata forms Aquarion, flies into the air and then plummets to the ground, the impact wiping out some of the enemies. The dust clears to reveal that the attack was actually THE MOST EPIC DOGEZA EVER! I was laughing my ass off for a good minute.