Aldnoah.Zero Season 2 Episode 7 アルドノア・ゼロ Anime Review

SLAINE   

What the hell are you planning Slaine? Not only he's hiding the fact the Princess Asseylum is alive again from Princess Lemrina but also lying to her that Princess Asseylum's condition is getting worse, whoa. Before we discuss that lets see some other important stuff we got to see in this episode.

This episode had follow up on what happened after those two bizarre moments from previous episode. Firstly, Slaine is just a lot powerful now as not only he'll be marrying Princess Asseylum but also he'll have the authority as to who can possess the Aldnoah drive activation powers which means that all other orbital Counts will have no choice but to follow him. But there were some Counts who didn't pledge their loyalty to him as mentioned in this episode which can cause a major twist in the future or they'll be destroyed by Slaine. Now secondly about Princess Asseylum. That cliff hanger in previous episode was really good but if you've read my previous episode's review, I mentioned how they shouldn't make Princess Asseylum just lose all her memory cause come on, that's a very bad idea, but with this episode they kinda did that to an extend but in a predictable way. She remembers everyone like Slaine etc but probably doesn't remember the incidents which took place at the end of the previous season. Well, I don't know what to say about this, yes it is very predicable but it depends on how they execute this as the story progress. Also Slaine doesn't like Princess Asseylum remembering Inaho as he threw those flowers he had got for her before she mentioned about Inaho.

Count Mazuurek is back to his base but is having second thoughts about going against Slaine now that his powers have increased dramatically still I can sense he's going to cause some problems in Slaine's plan in the future. Now coming back to main topic, Slaine. Princess Lemrina definitely has some feelings towards Slaine as shown in this episode but also she's is glad that what she did to her sister by screwing up with that life support system has caused Princess Asseylum condition to get worse as Slaine told her cause now she can finally replace her and not just remain a substitute. But why is Slaine lying to her? is it because he knows that she hate being substitute to Princess Asseylum or is he planning something completely different but either way he's definitely using Lemrina and the moment she finds out that he's been hiding this, she's going to flip. Even Princess Asseylum will flip when she finds out how he and Lemrina have exploited her persona. A really interesting direction in which this series is going with Slaine here not mention how they are developing Slaine's hatred towards Inaho while Inaho pretty much seems to be on the same wavelength with Princess Asseylum. Also how Slaine is not letting Princess Asseylum know anything about what's happening outside is actually foreshadowing about that whole bird in a cage reference shown couple of episodes back.

Overall a great build-up episode, at the end they showed us how various orbital knights are uniting and attacking together something we haven't seen before, pretty much telling us that Slaine's plan is in motion. Thank you for reading this anime review! what do you think about Slaine hiding the the fact that Princess Asseylum is alive from Lemrina, let me know in the comments below and have a wonderful day or night wherever you live! Links to this episode are available in download section.

Aldnoah.Zero Season 2 Episode 6 アルドノア・ゼロ Anime Review

That cliff-hanger   

The Princess? WTF? like what the hell just happened? Before I dive into that, I would like to correct something I mentioned in my previous (episode 5) Aldnoah review. I mentioned that Inaho's sister, Yuki saw Inaho & Rayet helping Mazuurek escape and I was wrong. It was Inko and not Yuki who saw them and this episode clearly sheds light on this topic as Inaho is now aware that Inko knows what really happened, so yea, my apologies for mixing up characters there. Alright with that off my chest, lets dive into this episode.

This episode can be divided into two parts, firstly the part in which Inaho pretty much outsmarts a Count using the power of his new eye and the second part consisting of Slaine's duel with Marylcain. I liked how Rayet and Inaho worked together again as a team something this episode focused on which I'll discus in a moment but before that, I'm also digging the intellectual part of Inaho like how he outsmarted that Count as he realized the biggest disadvantage of that Count were his lasers cause they will only travel in straight direction and not curve with Earth's surface unlike those missiles used against him. It also looks like that Princess Lemrina and Slaine are planning something. They both have gone through somewhat same troubles and now that Slaine has power and with Lemrina portraying as the real princess, they are planning something as Lemrina is shown discussing that with Slaine. Though we have no details about it, we pretty much got it's trailer before the ending credits. Now, do you see the irony here? Rayet a martian is working with Inaho and Lemria is working with Slaine who is a Terran. 

Moving on, in the second part besides that awesome duel in which Slaine, though had a hard time at the start, still won eventually (something very predictable), there was a big announcement. Princess Lemrina, disguised as Princess Asseylum announced that Slaine will be her husband, whoa. Just think about the possibilities here, Slaine is definitely trying to achieve something going against all odds since he's not martian and now after this marriage, it just puts him in a whole different position as he has all the power he needs. I suppose this was Lemrina's plan but perhaps there's more to it that will be revealed soon. Just when I thought this was enough of a cliff-hanger, they pull out another. Now I don't know whether this was intentional or not from Lemrina's point of view but whatever she did with shutting and turning on that life support system of Princess Asseylum, it somehow worked and the she's awake! The more confusing part is Lemrina's dialogue during this scene as it makes her look like she really tried to kill her instead. All of this was shown after the credits for those who missed it out.

Definitely a massive cliff hanger, I mean what exactly will happen next? The only thing Princess Asseylum will probably remember is that she was shot by Slaine and will probably want to kill him as soon as possible but how will she react when she finds out what Princess Lemrina and Slaine did behind her back? This ending sure points out various directions in which this series might go, I just hope they don't pull something like Princess Asseylum losing all her memory. Also in the previous opening I suppose,  Princess Asseylum was shown holding a gun but it wasn't revealed as to who she was pointing it at and I assume that it is foreshadowing to what the princess's decision is going to be towards Slaine. Overall, a good episode with a lot of action and build up not to mention that cliff-hanger. What do you think about Princess Lemrina's move? do you think that she intentionally caused such overhaul in the system which caused Princess Asseylum to wake up or was it unintentional? Let me know in the comments below! Thank you for reading this anime review and have a wonderful day or night wherever you live! Links to this episode are available in download section.

Aldnoah.Zero Season 2 Episode 5 アルドノア・ゼロ Anime Review

DEATH-FLAG? 

A Count that agreed (to some extend) with Inaho? Perhaps its a first step towards a bigger picture, that is to establish a bridge between Terrans and Martians. Besides that we got a lot of development on Inaho and Rayet's characters in this episode as they both work together and help Mazuurek escape so that he can carry on Inaho's message to let everyone know that the current princess is an impostor and so on. But it is the trouble in paradise among the Martians Count which is the highlight of this episode. Before that, lets discuss some other things stuff shown in this episode. 

It has been shown many times before but in this episode, Yuki's message reached out to Inaho loud and clear. As his sister, she never wanted him to get involved in all this war and stuff but, whether he wanted it or not, he got involved and to such an extent that he can't back out now, something that Yuki knows but considering in how dangerous situations Inaho gets himself involved, she doesn't wanna bear the pain of losing him again. In the end, Inaho shrugs off all the concern and tells her that he can't just stay around doing nothing and has to save her cause she was shot right in front of him while trying to save him. The way this scene was portrayed, its clearly a deathflag. It's likely for Inaho but who knows, perhaps that deathflag might be for Yuki as well cause in previous episodes, it's shown how Inaho is somehow getting less and less in contact with her lately as he didn't properly met her after coming back to Earth and so on, again I could be wrong. Besides that, we also get to see a short reunion of Marito and Magbaredge.

The irony in that whole "caged bird" dialogue, damn. It can go in both ways, to Princess Asseylum, who no one knows is in coma state cause Slaine wants to keep her to himself as he mentions "some birds are caged cause they are beautiful" clearly referring to her kind hearth and perhaps the possibility of someone else exploiting her for powers. And secondly, to Princess Lemrina who no one knows is portraying as impostor princess and is pretty much being exploited for her powers by Slaine. She can't even move freely on their base as it might reveal her identity. We also get to see the outburst of Rayet's emotions as she tells Inaho that she hates all martians as they betrayed and killed her father and also herself for trying to kill Princess back then. Though it was hard to convince Mazuurek, somehow Inaho did it and won his trust as he helped him when Inaho and Ryet caught him running away to escape safely in a hope that he'll let others know of Slaine's devious act and find out where the real princess is. And only Yuki knows all of this as she refrains from telling other know she spotted Inaho and Rayet with Mazuurek. 

Mazuurek is probably the only Count at the moment who had/has the same objective as the princess and not just attack Earth. Coming towards end, we get a very interesting challenge laid out by Marylcian as he challenges Slain for a battle in order to determine who'll take over the vacant role of Mazuurek's position as they consider him dead having lost his contact. Interesting to note how others Counts are starting to suspect Slaine as not only did Saazbaum died oddly soon after he adopted Slaine as his son but also the fact that the Asseylum is always with him coming to an conclusion that he is using her. If this battle does takes place, it'll be interesting, as we know nothing about Marylcian's mech. Hopefully we'll also get the answer as to what's Slaine's objective is as Inaho asked Mazuurek to find it out. Overall a good episode, music was really good throughout. A lot of build up and character developments as well. Thank you for reading this anime review, what do you think could be Slaine's main objective? let me know in the comments below and have a wonderful day or night wherever you live! Links to this episode are available in download section.

Aldnoah.Zero Season 2 Episode 4 アルドノア・ゼロ Anime Review

WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING 

This whole episode for the most part had one main objective which is to show us, our main characters' shift or change in personalities compared to the previous season. I mean besides that predictable Inaho saves everyone again scene, the whole focus of this episode was on personality change. Also, Marito returns in this episode, it's really sad they just left him out considering the amount of build up he had and he could've been used in a more appropriate angle with Saazbaum cause of whole drama portrayed between between these two characters and Saazbaum's wife, so I really wonder in which direction his character is gonna develop from now on.

Moving back to our main topic, the personality change. Anyone who saw Inaho in the first season probably thought at some point that he lacks human emotions and now for some reason ever since Slaine shot him, he's showing more human emotions. Right off the start of the episode we get to see him trying to pull the blanket to cover his sister who has been by his side after his surgery, the amount of emotions he shows in this scene alone is twice as much compared to the entire first season! On contrast, Slaine, following the wise words of Saazbaum as shown in the pic, wiped out the entire trident base by himself, I mean whoa, that's really impressive. Not only he outclassed the base but he smartly looked into the security and stuff and caught them off guard. As a result, everyone from workers to other Counts started respecting him and more importantly started trusting him cause only someone on their side could pull off such a murderous act against terrains. Still I for one think he's still hiding or planning something else, like he's a wolf hiding in sheep's clothing and not showing his true colors. Really interesting development here of his character in this episode. 

Besides that, one of the Count is captured, he looked scared to begin with and didn't wanted to destroy the Earth but instead use it's resources as he's shown discussing it with other Counts. Interesting to note how his mech could control or manipulate gravitational waves and use it to create a tornado, that's badass. A good episode overall, music was superb as usual and animation was top notch. Thank you for reading this anime review, have a wonderful day or night wherever you live! Links to this episode are available in download section. Thoughts? let me know in the comments below.

Aldnoah.Zero Season 2 Episode 3 アルドノア・ゼロ Anime Review

SLAINE'S MASTER-PLAN

Before I start reviewing this episode, I would like to mention two point that I forgot to mention in my last review, when Slaine got that kiss from Princess Lemrina, he had a colorful glow so this is just something that I think, maybe that kiss gave Slaine something more than just Aldnoah drive. During his encounter with Inaho, Slaine was able to dodge his missiles or bullets and that pattern in which he dodge those also had that same colorful glow. Secondly, Inaho is expressing more emotions in this season so far than the previous one. There's another interesting point that I would like to mention, I love the Opening theme song, so I went ahead and watched it again and saw something that really surprised me. At the very start of the opening song, we are shown a glimpse of the moon's surface and if you look closely, it has wrecks of Slaine and Inaho's mechs! Does that mean one or both of them will die in the future? So with that off my chest, lets move on to the episode.

Slain, a freaking genius. Honestly I never saw that coming, everything that's been happening ever since that "why Slaine why?" scene from last season's finale was his whole set-up or master-plan to achieve this. Right after Saazbaum shockingly declares him as his son or foster son clearly showing us that now he completely trusts Slaine only for it to backfire. Basically Slaine just used Saazbaum and once he got what he wanted, he got rid of him.  When Slain's servant, Harklight said "you are one step closer to your goal" after Saazbaum's shocking announcement, I just knew Slaine was up to something, I'll get to that soon but before that lets discuss some other stuff. At the start of the episode we get to see some of Inaho's new abilities as he pulls off some good moves in chess against Magbaredge revealing that now he can concentrate his brain cells to specifically focus on a particular task, that's pretty awesome. Besides that we get to see Inaho vs Slaine again, oh man I love when these two face off! At this point I'm not really sure whether Slaine's ability to predict the direction of missiles etc is something he got from Princess Lemrina's kiss or it's something his mech has. I also like how Terran's mech use space asteroids as a leverage to pull themself kinda similar to how spider-man shoots his web strings on buildings around him to move in his desire direction.

So coming back to the main topic, Slaine or Count Slaine now. He won Saazbaum's trust, used Inaho's abilities to weaken Saazbaum and ultimately betrayed him by getting rid of him to start his rebellion to save and avenge Princess Asseylum and change the world they live in for people like Harklight and others who belong to lower class, very interesting. At this point we really can't predict his actions I mean who knows if he starts killing other Counts or starts a completely different group which is neither on Terran or Martian's side. This whole shocking betrayal just opens up to whole new theories but basically its safe to say that he is against and not against Earth at the same time. One thing is for sure, he's smart enough to plan his future moves. 

Overall a very enjoyable episode, the CGI animation was superb, really looking forward to more of Inaho vs Slaine though it's little too early for them to square off. Music, brilliant as always. Thank you for reading this anime review, have a wonderful day or night wherever you live! Thoughts? let me know in the comments below. Links to this episode are available in download section. 

Aldnoah.Zero Season 2 Episode 2 アルドノア・ゼロ Anime Review

 iNAHO'S LEFT EYE

This series just keeps on getting better and better by each episode! The opening, pure eargasm! I suppose that opening song was played during the ending credits of the previous episode but none the less, it's now the opening and what a opening it is, beautiful, really sets out the perfect atmosphere for viewers. Moving on to the episode, it looks like the King or Vers Rayvers is not yet aware that his granddaughter, Princess Asseylum is in comma or similar state as Princess Lemrina, introduced to us in the previous episode is shown in her Asseylum's avatar talking to him. So that means Saazbaum who first told Vers Rayvers that his granddaughter was assassinated is now lying to him that she is alive, interesting.

This episode had one particular scene which was really confusing. Slaine was not able to start his mecha with his Aldnoah drive he obtained from Princess Asseylum as Princess Lemrina deactivated it. So Slaine requested her to activate it but she refused it and said that he is only using her for her Aldnoah drive which Slaine bluntly accepted. A very interesting fact is also revealed to us during this scene that Princess Lemrina is actually step-sister of  Princess Asseylum and basically she envies and hates her sister as she got more attention than her. So Slaine consoles her by stating that even he went through tough times as he was a Terran. In the end, she kisses him and now he can activate Aldnoah drive again, what the? After all that saga, Saazbaum and his battleship along with Slaine are shown heading towards Trident Base  to destroy it. Inaho and others had already arrived there beforehand.

That battle or war, whichever you find suiting, was the first time Slaine and Inaho encountered each other after events of previous season's finale. Before even encountering Slaine, Inaho just single handedly destroyed most of the enemy's so called Stygis Plantoon with pin point accurate shooting that none of his colleagues could do. Inoah was the smartest of them all, first season pretty much showed that a lot of times but now that he has this new eyeball, he is even better than he ever was! As the threat increases towards the main battleship, Slaine enters the battlefield to act as a decoy only to encounter his nemesis who he thought was dead, epic! 

That whole battle scene was brilliantly done, the music created an amazing atmosphere that sucked viewers in and as usual the animation throughout the episode was top notch. We are yet to see the entire fight between our main protagonist and antagonist which we'll probably get to see next week. Besides that I wanted to discuss two things before I end this review, firstly, Inaho is shown investigating the speech that Princess 

Asseylum gave which declared war on Earth, and he seemed to have come to the conclusion that she was not the real princess based on her stress levels during that speech. Secondly, the opening, from how it looked, are they really trying to set up a love triangle between Inaho-Slaine-Asseylum? It might sound stupid but we never know. Thank you for reading this anime review, have a wonderful day or night wherever you live! Thoughts? let me know in the comments below.

Aldnoah.Zero Season 2 Episode 1 アルドノア・ゼロ Anime Review

First step to another masterpiece 

I skipped Aldnoah.Zero when it originally aired cause I wasn't that big of a fan of Mecha series. It was just 2 weeks back when I started watching this series and it completely blew me away. It had everything, beautiful music, amazing animation, superb plot and job dropping ending. The last episode of first season had one of the most horrible cliff hanger I've seen, in a good way. Season 2 was announced at the end of the last episode to cool down all the fans. It certainly is one of the most hyped anime of this winter season alongside Tokyo Ghoul √A. If you still have yet to see season 1, whether you like Mecha series or not, close this review (as this will contain some spoilers from season 1) and go watch it, trust me it's worth it.

He's back! 

"Why Slaine, WHY?" was the cry of everyone who saw the season finale (or episode 12). But guess what, the writers just shot back at us cause pretty much everyone who we thought were died are alive. Set 19 months after the events of episode 12, Slaine is off course alive, Saazbaum is alive as well. I never thought I would say this but Inaho is fucking alive! so glad to see that. He received mixed reaction for being a dull character with no expressions whatsoever last season but he pretty much sinked into everyone's heart over the period.

Inaho's Aldnoah Drive 

 We know he was shot in the eye so he now has a mechanical eye transplanted into him as shown in this episode. Midway between the episode we are given a hindsight about what happened after the end of episode 12, Slaine Joining forces with Saazbaum and escaping from the scene while it was also revealed that now, our main protagonist Inaho has Aldnoah drive, somewhat transferred to him when he gave CPR to Princess Asseylum (This could explain why Slaine could control the Mech in Season 1 without Aldnaoh drive). We are also introduced to a new Princess, Lemrina who is shown faking as the Princess Asseylum in a speech where she declares attack on Earth. We don't know much about her at the moment but she seems to have similar liking for Earth as the previous princess, the only difference is that she doesn't care about Terrans at all and just wants to capture Earth. But, it is revealed at the end of the episode that Princess Asseylum is actually alive like in a coma state, really sets out a interesting plot to look forward to. 

Princess 

Overall the episode was superb living up to the standards of the first season. Oh the music, both the OST and ending song, they were beautiful. I'm really looking forward to this series, the plot is certainly very interesting again this time, I just hope it's executed properly.Thank you for reading this anime review, have a wonderful day or night wherever you live! Thoughts? let me know in the comments below.