Knight's & Magic

[MFauli]

1823


A mecha otaku is reincarnated into another world as Ernesti Echevarria, also known as Eru. In this world, huge humanoid weapons known as Silhouette Knights exist. Dreaming of piloting those robots, Eru and his friends, Archid Olter and Adeltrud Olter, aim to become Knight Runners.

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Episode 1 is out
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That was very enjoyable. The premise would be best described as another "Tanya the Evil"-scenario, except with a friendly hero.

Great animation and music, quality character designs. And I loved how this guy suddenly introduced magic staff-rifles :D

Ofc it needs to be seen if the story is being presented in a serious manner of it´s another choker-anime like many fantasy-anime from last season. However, death appears to be a thing in this world, and the final scene showed a menacing enemy. I´m confident for now.

One weakness I found so far: The premise of a guy from our reality being reborn into this fantasy world has been forsaken quickly. I hope there´s more consequence to his past, beyond "I like robots and that´s why I´m such an avid learner".

[KrayZ33]

I didn't expect a whole lot from "Knight's & Magic" (wtf)

And while I'm not into it yet, I like the fact that the mechs look like they are battle hardened and about to fall apart from constant encounters.
I wish all Mecha anime would do this more consistently.

For now, I just hope that this little detail won't change when MC creates his own robot - it's okay for me if it looks nice and clean at the start of course.


One weakness I found so far: The premise of a guy from our reality being reborn into this fantasy world has been forsaken quickly. I hope there´s more consequence to his past, beyond "I like robots and that´s why I´m such an avid learner".

If it's only used to introduce more mecha elements (like the "staffcanon"), it'd be a really lame plot device.

The other weakpoint so far is that they let middleschoolers be protegés of highschoolers and go out alone to such a place. Wth...
Half of them are clearly not fit for this. Why do they do that without a proper escort of veterans (adults).

[MasterOfMoogles]

Surpassed expectations immensely. Not that they were high to begin with.

Good animation and pacing, I actually expect interesting things from this show now.

[Kraco]

I hope there´s more consequence to his past, beyond "I like robots and that´s why I´m such an avid learner".

Liking robots is the source of his motivation, and it seems to be a giant source. However, his genius for magic comes from the similarity that world's magic seems to bear to the logic behind programming languages.

All in all this was much better than I expected, but on the other hand, I've been reading a whole bunch of isekai manga of late, so I guess I was in a perfect mood for this series in any case.

I'm happy I wasn't drinking anything when I started to watch this. A couple of the names would have made me spill that drink all over my keyboard.

[MFauli]

The silly names in Re:Creators have made me immune to silly name-reactions :>

[Kraco]

Episode 2


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This show really is much better than I could expect, and it seems like it's only getting better. Aside from the miserable performance of the first squad of knights (the ones defending the fortress), the fight was splendid as well. Ernie laughing like a maniac when he finally got to operate a mecha was jolly good. In a funny way the fact he had no education on those things was a plus for him, as he could simply fight like mecha are shown to fight in anime, he wasn't burdened by the useless centuries old doctrines that are holding back all the others. Although that being said, obviously the Silhouette Knights were designed for the lethargic movements as the frame couldn't take Ernie's piloting. He really needs to include inertial dampeners (shock absorbers) in his own design so that the sudden decelerations won't break the joints. I suppose reducing the mass would also be wise since he seems to value speed over tanking.

Outside of action, I appreciate how he simply stoically accepts getting hugged by the pretty girls. I hope he remains like that for the time being, until he actually gets interested in someone, should that happen. Much better than panicking and other shit.

[shinta|hikari]

WTF most of that fight made no sense. Most of this show is wish fulfillment garbage for mecha otakus.

1) Why didn't he use his other sword to attack the other eye? It worked once. A blinded enemy would've been helpless, or at the very least way easier to beat. Not attacking the other eye is the height of idiocy.

2) How would he know that electricity conducted into the eye (and he did know, look at his confident mug and victory declaration) would even work? It's a magical blastoise for crying out loud. How would you even know if it has a brain? I'd get it if he just tried it out as an experiment, not an attack that essentially kills him if it fails.

3) Why the hell is this guy so OP? He just messes with the rules of the world whenever the plot needs it. He even deduced that the monsters were running from a bigger thing the second before the behemoth conveniently showed up, as if to make him seem more OP than he already is. Oh wait, that was the point.

4) And why is he a friggin' psychopath? People died in those machines, and he is like, "robots can only be killed by robots!" He was a friggin' programmer in his previous life, not an assassin or soldier.

That said, I can enjoy this if I turn off my brain. The action looks flashy enough.

[MFauli]

Great episode.

shinta, your complaints are REALLY weird and weak:

Regarding 2): It´s an alternate world with magic. That doesn´t mean that life animals, no matter how monstrous they may be, have completely different inner workings. It was entirely reasonable to assume that the turtle has a brain, and the eye is directly connected to the brain (actually, the eye is part of the brain, strictly speaking). From there, it doesn´t take much to figure out how to kill a tough enemy, ESPECIALLY for someone who´s likely into video games and stuff. We´ve all seen the Pokemon-anime where Ash´ Pikachu defeats a Rhizeros (stone element) by attacking it´´s mouth/horn to do damage. We´ve all toppled over monsters in Xenoblade so attacks would do damage to the soft underside of a monster. And so on. If I were Ernestie, I´d have done the exact same thing.

Regarding 3): Because, as I just said, he´s a gamer/otaku. Kraco mentioned it, too: He doesn´t have the "proper" education of all the other mecha pilots in this world. Instead, he naturally moves the mecha like he remembers from his beloved games and anime.

Regarding 4): Almost the same reason as 3. Because he´s completely detached from this world´s manners. For him, piloting an actual mecha is a wish come true. Would you care about a ringing bell if you were in the middle of fucking a hot loli girl, enjoying her waki? It´s the same with Ernestie and mecha.



I will say, though, that the normal mecha pilots were depressingly weak. What was they plan to beat this monster? What would have happened if Ernestie hadn´t been there? And does it mean that this was the strongest monster ever to appear? Because it´s hard to imagine that these pushovers successfully defeated an even stronger enemy.

[shinta|hikari]

Before I get into the other responses, respond to number 1 first. Why the hell did he not take out the other eye?

2) That was my point. It's an ACTUAL alternate world with monsters. You can't expect it to match video game tropes. I understand what you said that one must test assumptions, but my complaint was about his confidence. He COULDN'T be sure, but he acted as if he was. That was obviously for coolness factor. You may have done the same thing, but would you have been sure enough that it will work to bet your life on it?

3) That's the problem. It's an excuse that allows him to just pull whatever on us. I am personally sick of OP Gary Stus running around making stuff up as they trample their path across the new world. At least Tanya struggled a lot in her story. I think this is more of me being oversaturated with these wish fulfillment stories, which are a dime a dozen in light novels and manga, and now anime.

4) Did you just equate his lack of sensitivity towards death with manners? It's more of a moral question, and I'm fine with psychopaths who don't care about that. What I don't get is why he is the way he is. He was a relatively normal person, albeit very intelligent, in his previous life. He genuinely cares about his friends (which most psychopaths don't), but somehow, he is more concerned with the safety of machines over human life. Life over objects is not a perception limited to that fantasy world. It's also common sense in his original one, which is modeled after ours.

And yes, I would care, as would any logical human being. We aren't animals that only care about fulfilling our desires.

[MFauli]

I can´t answer your 1.), because a) I don´t remember the scene in detail, and b) it might be a case of bad writing. Happens.

2.) Again, if I fought a turtle-monster, I´d make the same assumptions that Ernestie did. Would I be guaranteed success? No. But it´s a reasonable assumption. You´re talking about it as if it was an outlandish assumption that shouldn´t have been realistically possible. Disagreed.

3.) This is episode 2. Tanya was OP for most of the anime. How about we wait and see what happens?

4.) You´re answering your own question: It´s a fantasy world. For Ernestie, this still isn´t real. Admittedly, he´s been living in this world for a couple years by now, but we don´t know how much he´s accepted that as "real". Evidentally, he spent most of his time learning high-level robot-stuff so he could pilot a mecha as soon as possible. That´s his one and only goal. Some fantasy knights dying? Who cares, they´re not real, not in the sense of "my" real world.

I will say this: If this anime wants to aspire to greater heights, it WILL need a moment of humiliation for Ernestie. Him losing. A dear friend dying. Stuff like that. If this is 12 episodes of Ernestie pwning everyone and everything, it´d be bad in hindsight, yes.

[shinta|hikari]

2) Stop making stuff up. Look at the bold part in what I said in the original post. How is that me saying it was an outlandish idea?


2) How would he know that electricity conducted into the eye (and he did know, look at his confident mug and victory declaration) would even work? It's a magical blastoise for crying out loud. How would you even know if it has a brain? I'd get it if he just tried it out as an experiment, not an attack that essentially kills him if it fails.

3) Tanya got injured left and right from the start, and that is with her training her combat magic diligently. This guy, without ever even sitting in a mech, suddenly piloted it beyond flawlessly and destroyed a monster that dozens of knights can't beat. See how different that is? He is unmatched at magic, athletic (albeit short), intelligent, and can insta-program a mech he's never touched before. That is clearly lazy, if not outright bad, writing. It is clear that the author doesn't even know the first thing about actual coding and what programmers actually do.

4) But he cared about the mechs that were destroyed in this "not his world" place. If he really didn't see that new world as "his world," then why would he get so angry over a bunch of robots getting crushed? I'm not actually complaining about his lack of concern for life. I'm complaining about his comparative concern for life vs. machines that can be rebuilt (and apparently made from scratch).

Good luck having this walking wish-fulfillment trope lose. I'm being sincere when I say that.

[MFauli]

I disagree with everything you wrote, so I don´t see any sense in continuing to answer. Have a nice day.

[shinta|hikari]

Disagreeing with something that has clear evidence (my quote for item 2) is hilarious. You can disagree with the rest because they are opinions, but disagreeing with a fact is nonsensical. Unless you're Trump :(

[Kraco]

Yes, I also think it's lazy writing that this was his first time piloting a mecha (unless the anime actually cut relavant stuff). It would have been much cooler if we had had previous flashbacks of him sitting in one with his father or somebody, allowed to try out things supervised, and then perhaps something like trying those programs with a cockpit of a disassembled mecha or some old training machine. However, these things are actually controlled with magic, so it's also possible that piloting one is as easy as moving your own body. Who knows. Nevertheless, even in that case the super easy programming part was bs.

I don't have particular problems with his personality. He's a man obsessed. Such exist. He's not only obsessed with the mecha as machines but also mecha fighting. I don't think he lacks fear of death entirely, but his adult soul already accepts that in a fight to the death somebody necessarily dies, either the enemy or he (and his allies). That's soldier mentality. It was no different from the loser knights defending the fortress earlier: They also attacked, despite knowing they would likely perish, because it's their job and if they don't try, then the monster would slaughter all the people in the city, including their families. That still doesn't mean Ernie wouldn't feel pissed off when precious mecha are destroyed.

I do hope Ernie encounters difficulties later, but I'm not particularly concerned right now. I sometimes get annoyed by too OP isekai MCs, sometimes I don't. I guess it depends on the character's personality and the general entertainment value of the story. If there's nothing else but an OP MC kicking ass, it's boring, but if there's a whole lot of other things going on and an OP MC kicking ass, it can be good.

[shinta|hikari]

I actually found the way the student knights handled the behemoth to be stupid. If the thing responded to and can get aggrod by range fire (and it did), why the hell were they trying to pummel it with swords? If the goal was to buy time for people to escape/reinforcements to arrive, they should've focused on baiting it and running away (aka kiting), making sure to avoid the direction of its mouth, which could breathe fire.

I also found the knights defending the wall idiotic. Why did they have to fight (aka get massacred)? They barely slowed the thing down. When they slashed the foot and that didn't work, what made them think doing it again and again would do? Retreat is also a part of strategy. Their CO is a friggin' moron.

I don't like how the writer had to dumb everyone down to make the protagonist look even more OP than he already is.

[MFauli]

And I think we ought to wait for the next 1-2 episodes before fitting such an outrage as you´re doing. The king already realized what a danger Enersti´s power could be, meaning, it didn´t go unrecognized that Ernesti is unusually powerful/capable. That´s a good thing, as it shows that the people in this world aren´t dumb and just go "aww, yeah, you showed that monster, Ernie, great!". Nah, they noticed that something´s not normal about him. Will be interesting to see how that goes.

[shinta|hikari]

What outrage? I'm just nitpicking. I said so from the start, that I can enjoy this show if I turn off my brain. This show isn't even taking itself that seriously in the first place, something expected considering the saturation of this story type in the current market. It is by no means terrible or not entertaining.

Basically, it's a teen-oriented, wish fulfillment show, but I'm analyzing it like it was Game of Thrones or a big budget Hollywood movie. Why? Because it's fun.

[MFauli]

That´s my problem with your postings, " I can enjoy this show if I turn off my brain". This anime hasn´t yet done anything that justifies labeling it as a brain dead show that´s just there to shallowy entertain without food for thought. That´s what I mean with "let´s wait for 1-2 more episodes".

Tanya started exactly the same. Her being OP, massacring any opponent. Then they first real obstacle came. Later another came. That´s when this anime became so incredibly great.

We have seen the introductory episode and an action-episode of Knights and Magic. The next two episodes will be the deciding factor which direction this goes: Brainless fun or well thought-out scenario.

[shinta|hikari]

Hasn't done anything to justify being a turn off my brain show?

How about not attacking the other eye when it clearly worked the first time? (Turns off brain, enjoys.)

How about the protagonist who has never ridden a robot before suddenly showing up all known pilots, killing a giant monster that pawns platoons of knights, and impressing the friggin' king? Because he is a "genius programmer?" That very premise is a joke. Even Kraco, who likes this show, admits as much. (Turns off brain, enjoys.)

Programming doesn't work like that, and no, hacking doesn't work like what you see in TV. But you see, that's the point. This IS a TV show, for teens no less (This is fact, being adapted from a light novel targeting youths). The Isekai (transported to other world) genre in particular is terribly saturated with boring OP protagonist drivel. Exceptions like Tanya, Grimgar, or Overlord are rare, and even then they suffer from the same problems sometimes (plot convenience). So this show is actually okay and is what it is. It's a dime a dozen OP wish fulfillment show. Don't expect it to make sense all the time. It is fine if it's flashy and entertaining. I'm just nitpicking at it for fun. The same way I keep replying to you for fun.

Clearly this is just my prediction based on what I've seen in these 2 episodes, but I think I've consumed enough of this sort of media to be a good judge of how it will likely turn out. (EDIT: And no, I have not read a word of Knights and Magic LN.)

Maybe this will surprise us and turn out to be amazing, but I wouldn't bet on it. Based on the lazy writing so far, the harem-y setup, the absurd (and unnecessary) OP-ness, this has already ticked all the boxes of typical isekai fare.

[Kraco]

I actually found the way the student knights handled the behemoth to be stupid. If the thing responded to and can get aggrod by range fire (and it did), why the hell were they trying to pummel it with swords? If the goal was to buy time for people to escape/reinforcements to arrive, they should've focused on baiting it and running away (aka kiting), making sure to avoid the direction of its mouth, which could breathe fire.

They were just students with no battle experience but too much pride and vigor (until people started dying). They also must have thought nothing can stand against their mighty Silhouette Knights. If you have got a sword, you have to try it. It's a pity they didn't have anyone naturally competent among them, although even if there was, they didn't seem like people who would have listened.


I also found the knights defending the wall idiotic. Why did they have to fight (aka get massacred)? They barely slowed the thing down. When they slashed the foot and that didn't work, what made them think doing it again and again would do? Retreat is also a part of strategy. Their CO is a friggin' moron.

They were fools, yeah. Plus I have got a feeling these kind of gigantic monsters are only familiar to them through books. Maybe their great grandfathers once fought something like that, who knows. They didn't know what they were doing, and that moron CO instead of deciding to act approriately for an unknown situation chose to act as if it was a normal situation. Still, I can't blame them for lack of courage, like I said before.


How about not attacking the other eye when it clearly worked the first time? (Turns off brain, enjoys.)

The monster wasn't actually too stupid, so it's possible trying to attack the other eye would have been a suicide. You can surprise someone once, but repeating the same thing is pushing your luck. If you were in a fight and somebody took out one of your eyes, you'd do anything and everything to retain your remaining one. The monster wouldn't have anymore simply relied on its tough skin.

[KrayZ33]

How about not attacking the other eye when it clearly worked the first time? (Turns off brain, enjoys.)

"Why did the boxer not use his knockout punch from the very first second!"

Making it sound like he can do whatever at any time whatsoever - noice use of dem brainz.
Obviously, the big ass monster was just standing there and not breathing fire that would melt about pretty much everything in a huge radius.


How about the protagonist who has never ridden a robot before suddenly showing up all known pilots, killing a giant monster that pawns platoons of knights, and impressing the friggin' king? Because he is a "genius programmer?" That very premise is a joke. Even Kraco, who likes this show, admits as much. (Turns off brain, enjoys.)

MC has the ability to control magic, magic is basically script writing, MC is very good at that - robot is controlled with magic, rewrites code and scripts to make it work without certain physical inputs

maybe you should actually turn your brain on instead of turning it off all the time when you watch it.
It's not dumb just because you say it is or because you'd have, in your ignorance, done something different

I don't know, I'm not liking the 2nd ep as much either (basically because he made the mecha look like it's not a 100t mecha anymore), but this amount of wanna-be clever is ridicilous.

Of course it's very convenient that magic is just like programming - otherwise MC would be useless and this show could've gotten a "this boy is just really good in controlling robots, just like in Code Geass" guy.
The biggest issue with this show will *probably* be, that no one will ever explain as to why he is in this world and why he regained his old memories.

And what's the point of a mecha series when there is absolutely no weight (as in actual force) in combat scenes.
I'll never understand that.

Yay - it swings a sword just like a normal person - but it looks more stupid. Oh and then there is that Space combat scene in the OP...ugh.

[shinta|hikari]

maybe you should actually turn your brain on instead of turning it off all the time when you watch it.

How about you speak with some respect? Ad hominem attacks won't get you anywhere and will only detract from your points.

You do know he was running around, on top, and under the behemoth, right? Why didn't he run up the neck, over the head, and then poke the eye out from there? What can the beast even do to hurt him when he is in that area? Why not take advantage of the enemy's blind spot because of its damaged eye and attack from there?

All of these seem perfectly reasonable plans of attack to me, compared to, for example, forcing a crying, distraught knight to pilot a mech, using a large-scale spell to attack the beast (which has a flame breath attack, as you said, but didn't think to use it then) head on, and then jumping in front of its face to manually electrocute it? See why I can't accept "it is difficult" as a reason to not stab the other eye?

I find it strange that there is a need to defend this part anyway. It was clearly done to prolong the fight and to show flashier attacks. Why? Because that is what this kind of story is all about. It's not about efficiency or making logical moves. It's about what entertains the target audience (clearly not nitpickers like me). Blinding both eyes may have been the most effective method to win, but that also means it is boring and predictable.

So you see, I do understand why it unfolded that way. And like I said, I am actually just nitpicking, and that this isn't a dealbreaker of any sort. Why defend this? Just chalk it up to action fanservice, much like how the Avengers always choose illogical and inefficient ways to defeat random grunts when just hitting them with straight punches and front kicks would be faster.

The premise is ridiculous. Coding doesn't work like that, even if you are a genius. You can't just touch code you've never seen before, instantly understand it, and then rework it in the span of seconds (Yes, seconds. See how the mech became faster and faster? He clearly said he was reworking his code to do that. For that to happen, he had to be optimizing code he just wrote a moment ago, which makes you wonder why he didn't write the more efficient version in the first place. WTF.) Even a highly skilled developer will have trouble fixing a defect from code he didn't write, much more reworking a foreign OS. What this guy did is beyond ridiculous and was clearly thought up by an author with no IT experience whatsoever.

Imagine it this way. What if, instead of him stealing and reprogramming a robot on the fly, he had been working on his own unit before this incident, making him familiar with how they work? What if, he already had experience editing the code from a different mech because he was given a (convenient) chance to? What if he merely rewrote his already tried and tested code for the stolen mech this episode? How much more convincing and realistic would that have been?

But you see, this kind of show isn't about realism or making perfect sense. The way it played out reeked of lazy writing, sure, but it also had the most "WOW factor" and flashiness. It is almost expected for stories of this ilk and might even be intentional. At the very least, it is acceptable.


It's not dumb just because you say it is or because you'd have, in your ignorance, done something different

It's not dumb because I say it is. It is dumb for actual reasons, which I stated above. And please ease up on personal attacks (the one in bold). Also, just because it has dumb parts does not make it not entertaining or a bad watch. A lot of stories have aspects like this.

[KrayZ33]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignorance


You do know he was running around, on top, and under the behemoth, right? Why didn't he run up the neck, over the head, and then poke the eye out from there? What can the beast even do to hurt him when he is in that area? Why not take advantage of the enemy's blind spot because of its damaged eye and attack from there?

Yes, he was running around because he didn't want to get eaten, crushed or die.
He even tried to get to his head once more but then the turtle spit fire in his general direction.

Also, what can he do? Maybe spit some fucking fire? Did you even watch the episode? How did the first Knight die again? Oh right - he died when he was stabbing that monster's eye.


The premise is ridiculous. Coding doesn't work like that, even if you are a genius. You can't just touch code you've never seen before, instantly understand it, and then rework it in the span of seconds (Yes, seconds. See how the mech became faster and faster? He clearly said he was reworking his code to do that. For that to happen, he had to be optimizing code he just wrote a moment ago, which makes you wonder why he didn't write the more efficient version in the first place. WTF.) Even a highly skilled developer will have trouble fixing a defect from code he didn't write, much more reworking a foreign OS. What this guy did is beyond ridiculous and was clearly thought up by an author with no IT experience whatsoever.

He could just be a pretty good robot pilot guy
Or Frodo, or Harry Potter.
Same effort, same story, same thing.

Also half of what you wrote is once again, ignorance. (funny enough that you even think they run like computers)

"why didn't he write the more efficient version in the first place" -> yet nagging about how unrealistic it is to code something so good and fast.


Even a highly skilled developer will have trouble fixing a defect from code he didn't write, much more reworking a foreign OS. What this guy did is beyond ridiculous and was clearly thought up by an author with no IT experience whatsoever.

Why do you even think this has anything to do with an OS or even unclean code? Building a Spell works like Code, but that doesn't even remotely mean it's as messy and complicated to either change or even look into it.

For now, all it means is that MC has the right mindset to get behind the idea of Magic more easily

[shinta|hikari]

What I meant by running around was, he had the ability to navigate the battle area with ease. If so, he could've just as easily gone for the other eye instead of pointlessly bashing his sword, which broke, against armor/magical force field.

The thing is, he already stabbed the right eye, proving he is capable of it. If difficulty really is the reason he didn't take out the remaining eye, then why did he choose a much more unreliable and difficult three phase plan in the end? Now that, is hard and dangerous. If the crying knight didn't get his shit together at the very last second, they'd both be dead.

About the other stories you mentioned, while I'm not that familiar with LOTR or Harry Potter, I'm pretty sure they didn't have coding as a part of their skill set. Moreover, if they also had such a stupid central conceit, I would also call them out on it. Unfortunately, I don't know these stories very well. I didn't watch Harry Potter, and I don't even remember the main plot for LOTR.

Quote:
"why didn't he write the more efficient version in the first place" -> yet nagging about how unrealistic it is to code something so good and fast.

That was a subpoint. If he really could do something that amazing, then he should be also able to do the latter thing. It wasn't important to my original point that the coding premise is bullshit and can be ignored.


Why do you even think this has anything to do with an OS or even unclean code? Building a Spell works like Code, but that doesn't even remotely mean it's as messy and complicated to either change or even look into it.

Because that is the entire premise for his skill. He is a genius programmer, and therefore a genius magician. Why? Because code works similarly to magic. This was mentioned in the show.

If his only edge is only having "the right mindset to get behind the idea of Magic more easily," he would not be inventing new weapons or becoming an ace pilot in the blink of an eye.

EDIT: As a clarification, I'd like to say that I'm not against the concept of coding skill = magic skill. I'm criticizing how they handled it in this story, when there were clearly better, more grounded, ways of doing it. The protagonist is waaay too OP for a really weak reason, and that's coming from a guy who likes Tatsuya.

EDIT2:

Quote from Krayz:
Also, what can he do? Maybe spit some fucking fire?

Wait, how can the behemoth spit fire towards the top of his own head? The attack I was describing involved jumping on the beast, running up its neck to the top of its head, and then launching an attack on the eye from there. Then he can just kick off the behemoth's face sideways. His acrobatics during the episode should allow him to do this level of movement.

[Kraco]

The biggest issue with this show will *probably* be, that no one will ever explain as to why he is in this world and why he regained his old memories.

This is an isekai genre series. Usually the setting is the MC retaining their memories, more rarely they don't but at least the audience knows the character is originally from our world (or at least a world more like ours than the whatever world they ended up in). Some series go to some lengths to give the transfer a reason, some don't do any such thing. It's just a reincarnation after getting lethally hit by a truck. There's no particular reason to explain it since it's the basic setting. You don't explain how there can be magic or pointy eared elves in a fantasy world either. There just are.

In short, it's no issue.


And what's the point of a mecha series when there is absolutely no weight (as in actual force) in combat scenes.
I'll never understand that.

There was some weight since the mecha couldn't take his jumping around, which was clearly out of specs for the mecha's design, and thus the joints started to break down.

[shinta|hikari]

Surprisingly, some isekais do explain why, not that it makes them inherently better or anything.

[KrayZ33]

The thing is, he already stabbed the right eye, proving he is capable of it. If difficulty really is the reason he didn't take out the remaining eye, then why did he choose a much more unreliable and difficult three phase plan in the end? Now that, is hard and dangerous. If the crying knight didn't get his shit together at the very last second, they'd both be dead.

now... This show is somewhat forgetable, I'll give you that... but you should at least have remembered that he couldn't and why.

[shinta|hikari]

Couldn't what?

The moment he stabbed the right eye, I was already saying out loud to grab another sword and stab the other one as soon as he can. Did I miss a defensive mechanism the behemoth has?

[KrayZ33]

Yes, haha

Well, it seems like you missed a lot of things.

The Turtle threw him off, the defence is a 360° lava breath that burns everything, and he couldn't finish him on his terms because the machine broke down - which is why he made use of that whiny traitor in the first place.



Wait, how can the behemoth spit fire towards the top of his own head? The attack I was describing involved jumping on the beast, running up its neck to the top of its head, and then launching an attack on the eye from there. Then he can just kick off the behemoth's face sideways. His acrobatics during the episode should allow him to do this level of movement.

And how will he remain on the top of it's head without holding onto something?
Try balancing an apple on your head, and then let your chin touch your chest.
And make pictures of it too!

Gn8 btw. Maybe we continue this tomorrow.

[shinta|hikari]

Just rewatched it. What I actually missed was the tail that could hit him from the back of the behemoth. However, instead of seeing your point, the rewatch only reinforced my belief that he could've attacked the eye if he actually wanted to. He had multiple chances of facing off with the beast and he even jumped over the flame in one of them, but he never aimed for the eye. In fact, he even said that he had to take out a leg or something, which was clearly armored. Why not the fricking eye?

And it's fairly easy to remain on top of its head because the head is wide enough. Did you even see how the mech moved? He was flipping all over the place and landing on his feet the whole time. Its balance can surely keep him 1-2 seconds on top of the head before jumping off, stabbing the eye, and jumping away/getting tossed off because the creature is in pain.

I guess the core of my complaint is WHY didn't he express intention to blind the behemoth completely? I'd get it if he just said, hey, it might be a good idea to blind it, but I can't! Instead, he mentioned taking out an armored leg that is as wide as a house...

[MFauli]

How about you speak with some respect?

It´s hard to respect your opinion when it´s that easily refutable, yet you continue to press that you´re right and everybody else is wrong. It´s especially frustrating to read when you make those crazy long postings, trying to shit on an anime that only had its second episode and thus lots of chances to explain away most current shortcomings.

But that´s even necessary, because, again, pretty much all of your points can be countered if you actually "turn off your brain", like Kray mentioned.

I feel dumb repeating myself the n-th time by now, but you really should wait for 1-2 more episodes before making these negative, critical assumptions, going into such perceived detail and ranting and ranting. If in 1-2 episodes no proper explanations are given, I will be the first to complain about it. But that´s then and we cannot see into the future. What we have no is a perfectly fine, enjoyable anime that didn´t do anything crassly wrong. Definitely not to the degree of "I have to turn off my brain to enjoy it".

[shinta|hikari]

It's not about my opinion. You can disagree with that all you want. It's about having respect for other people. I argued without attacking him or you, but you both have made direct negative comments about me. Attack the argument, not the person.

The funny thing is, Kraco agreed with me on some of the points I made, so no, it's not "I am right and all of you are wrong," but "This is what I think. Tell me what you think. Apparently someone agrees too."

Why are you guys getting angry (clearly so if you attack me) from having a discussion? If you don't want to respond then don't. If you do, then respond. There is no point telling me not to do so because I still want to.

The funny thing is, you say all my points can be countered, yet none of you have managed to actually refute my first 4 points even now. If you did, I cannot keep on posting in detail of why I think my position is right. Being refuted means being stopped from doing that. You are still welcome to try, of course. I have responded to every single defense you have made and will continue to do so.

One last thing to add, I don't think this is a shit show. But even if it is and I call it out, that is no reason to feel offended for liking it. People can like bad things, and that's okay. No one has the right to judge you based on your preferences. Heck, I like certain shows I'd consider shit.

EDIT: To provide some clarity, I believe I need to elaborate on what I mean by "turning off my brain." It doesn't mean the show is for idiots and that only idiots enjoy it. I have repeatedly said that this isn't a bad show, and I still maintain that. Not "turning off my brain" means approaching something not for enjoyment only but also with a layer of critique. This means questioning and pointing out parts that could've been done better, or are a little too unrealistic. Some call that nitpicking, including myself in my previous posts.

So tell me this, why are you two being so defensive when I myself am saying my criticisms are no big deal (except maybe the dumb premise, but a lot of premises are dumb) and don't make this a bad show for what it is?

[MFauli]

When someone writes huges postings about how bad something is, I kinda interpret that as "a huge deal". Sorry if I misinterpreted you, then. I took it the way I would post, and if something is not a big deal for me, you won´t get much more than a one-liner from me.

And yes, I also took "turn off my brain" as "a show for idiots".

Anyway, I can only repeat that I believe episode 3 and 4 will tell us all we know and if we should turn our brains off OR on. ;>

[shinta|hikari]

What can I say? I like to write.

[MasterOfMoogles]

All I could think about this episode was Kira Yamato.

Ernesti isn't anywhere near as good as him. Kira reprogrammed his mecha while fighting.

[shinta|hikari]

Was that Kira's first time riding a gundam then? I don't remember.

[MasterOfMoogles]

Yes, he was just a student I think?

[Kraco]

The funny thing is, you say all my points can be countered, yet none of you have managed to actually refute my first 4 points even now. If you did, I cannot keep on posting in detail of why I think my position is right. Being refuted means being stopped from doing that. You are still welcome to try, of course. I have responded to every single defense you have made and will continue to do so.

I actually addressed your not attacking the other eye point in an earlier post of mine, but I think you totally missed my post because KrayZ33 posted right after it and you concentrated on his post. So, I sort of feel like I tried to counter your point (that single one), but since you missed my hypothesis, I can't do anything about it.

[shinta|hikari]

I read it and I believe it was addressed by my succeeding posts about the relative difficulty of his final gambit over actually just attempting to poke the other eye out. I also specified that I was mostly criticizing how the protagonist made no evident attempt to destroy the other eye, or even said a one liner excuse saying it was too risky (He was doing a monologue the entire time, so this would not be out of place at all, not to mention an exposition-bot narrator explaining everything happening.).

[Munsu]

I think you're all wrong about the battle.

It was very evident to me that the only reason he didn't go to finish the fight quickly was because he was having a shit-ton of fun and wanted to test a lot of his theories.

[KrayZ33]

Interesting.

Tbh, probably right too.

[shinta|hikari]

I agree.

[Kraco]

Episode 3



- - - - -- - - -



In retrospect it might be easy to judge that cutting edge weapons development shouldn't be conducted at a random school's maintenance workshop, but it would have been quite a stretch from the king to want it to happen at a secure place. The developer is not a recognised expert, after all, but a kid. That being said, those spies should be small fries as well to pay attention to it. Small fries or real monsters of insight. The results so far are so high already that realistically speaking when the king and officers hear about this, they should make sure some measures are taken. After all, the reactor is a state secret, so it's not like everything would be public knowledge in that country. That being said, I might be thinking outside of the scope of this series.

Ernie seems to be only happy when hugging a mecha, getting hugged by a girl does nothing for him. He sure has strict priorities. Or maybe that girl isn't his type.

[shinta|hikari]

More Gary Stuness as expected. Is there anyone else in that country with a brain?

[MFauli]

More irrational shinta-hating. Is there any posting with a brain in this forum?

@ep3:

Another fun episode. We have yet to see any consequences, though. Right now, Ernestie has got a banc cheque from the king to do as he pleases. This should change soon as the real combat potential of his improved Silhouette Knights becomes apparent and because of the spies. I fully expect the spies to steal plans for the new mechas, only for Ernie 1-upping them. That way, Ernie will get true mecha fights ;D

What I´m not sure of: Are those improved Silhouette Knights already the ones Ernie *wanted* to create as his own, or is he still in the creative process to develop his very own mecha?



Ernie seems to be only happy when hugging a mecha, getting hugged by a girl does nothing for him. He sure has strict priorities. Or maybe that girl isn't his type.

Or maybe he realizes that he´s in his 30s and she´s, what, 14?

... not that it´d keep *me* from *enjoying* her ;>

[shinta|hikari]

Irrational? Isn't he like super Gary Stu this episode? You may like that or not, but you can't deny he basically showed up the entire country, including the king, and is basically faultless so far. His life is ridiculously smooth sailing too. I personally don't like it because I got sick of it, but I know a lot of people enjoy these types of protagonists.

And you do know posts or postings as you call them actually don't have brains, right?

[MFauli]

Irrational? Isn't he like super Gary Stu this episode? You may like that or not, but you can't deny he basically showed up the entire country, including the king, and is basically faultless so far. His life is ridiculously smooth sailing too. I personally don't like it because I got sick of it, but I know a lot of people enjoy these types of protagonists.

But you ignore any and all info we have at this point in time. Ernestie ist a mecha nerd from our reality. That he manages to improve the silhouette knights (SKs, fuck writing that out every time) makes sense as it was presented: He can directly program their magic that he studied for years to get to this point. He had the motivation of an ambitious adult. And he has a clear image in mind what he wants to achieve, see his beloved mecha-anime. He even said it out aloud this episode, that he has those ideas in his head.

Everything makes sense.

And as for your Gary Stu-accusation: I fully expect a very soon back-firing. Be that spies stealing his new SKs´s blueprints. Be it someone dying because of him. Be it another person that came from his reality showing up as a villain. Etc.. I don´t believe for a second that this anime will be 12 episode of Ernestie showing off how awesome he is.


And you do know posts or postings as you call them actually don't have brains, right?

No, I don´t. I´m a dumb person.

[shinta|hikari]

No, I don´t. I´m a dumb person.

True or not, it's not good to put yourself down like that.

I'm not ignoring the details. Being a Gary Stu has nothing to do if it makes sense or not. It's the fact that he is extremely good at everything that matters and is practically flawless.

[Munsu]

Gary Stu and Mary Sue for the win!

You people just jealous.

[shinta|hikari]

Nah, I'm just a little tired of the trope. I used to love it, like when I started reading the SAO and Mahouka LNs. Unfortunately, I've read more than my fair share of such stories, so I am currently not looking for more of them. I certainly see the appeal of it. Everyone likes badassery.

[Munsu]

Episode 4 is out....





I liked this episode a bit more since we got to know more about the other players. The last scene was promising something great will happen in the next episode, I fear they may be overplaying their hand. We'll see.

[Kraco]

The development speed of the mecha seems unbelievably slow. It might make sense if the general level of the society was more backwards and they barely knew what they were dealing with, if the mecha were ancient relics they don't understand for example. However, the society looks advanced and scientific enough. There wasn't really so big a need to make the MC stand out. That being said, I continue to enjoy how Ernie doesn't care about anything else but the mecha, overwhelming the marquis with his blatant disregard of all political play.

Other humans, not beastly monsters, is a good change of pace for enemies. The enemies even seem to know, more or less, what they are doing, although I suspect they won't understand Ernie any more than all the other characters so far.

[shinta|hikari]

I was right that the people in their world are very stupid. How is it possible to take 300 years to move from one model to the next? I think there were at least 6 model changes in the wall poster showing the development of these magechas. If each model change took around that long in average, that would mean they had magechas since 1800 (more or less) years ago but barely made any progress...

I'd understand if it took them 300 years to come up with the first one, or maybe even 300 years from the first to the current one, but I believe the old dood said 300 years for just one model upgrade.

[shinta|hikari]

Episode 5.

Confirmed wish-fullfillment OP MC bullcrap. I mean, what has happened in the show that was not written to make Ernie look badass?

This makes Tatsuya and Kirito look like neophytes. Neither of them changed the world by episode 4...

[Munsu]

Episode 5.

Confirmed wish-fullfillment OP MC bullcrap. I mean, what has happened in the show that was not written to make Ernie look badass?

This makes Tatsuya and Kirito look like neophytes. Neither of them changed the world by episode 4...

Wah wah, the MC is OP, wah wah!

[MFauli]

God episode. But we seriously need a cruel, important death. There´s no feeling for serious conflict atm, feels closer to watching Pokemon. One great choice for a death would be one of the twins.

[Kraco]

If I had to complain about something in this episode, it would be the miserable defenses of that castle. They got in a single captured, damaged mecha and a handful of men, and practically took control of the whole fricking place for as long as they needed. If I was the king of that country, the marquis, or whoever it was who was responsible for the fortress, would earn a brief but impactful visit to the royal headsman's office.

For Ernie, though, this was ironically enough a stroke of good luck. He was responsible for nothing that happened, yet gained some extra points for heroic deeds. The major point, however, is that now an enemy nation has also the tech for a somewhat better mecha, so Ernie's country needs to pour in more resources to come up with something even better. Naturally they will turn to Ernie to design those better things.

[Kraco]

Episode 6



- - - - -- - - -



The king is not foolish: He realised not all of Ernie's outlandish ideas are suitable for mass production, so he left the established workshop with the task of making moderated Silhouette Knights using appropriate parts of Ernie's inventions to the degree they make economically sense. I'm not sure if the geezer of that lab quite realised it since he seems unable to think outside the box, but he doesn't need know it for the process to work from the king's, and the nation's, pov. It remains to be seen what the results of this match mean, though. Ernie's models should be far superior, but if nothing else, a good bout against pros should reveal any weaknesses his prototype designs could possess. The old lab's models ought to be more stable due to their long history of proven models.

Normally I welcome romantic development on the side in nearly any show, but I'm quite satisfied Ernie doesn't give a shit about anything but the mechas. The girl is rather inconsequential, to be honest. The spy girl would be nicer onee-chan, haha.

[David75]

Ernie is a passion driven inventor with some future technologies knowledge.
But he does not have lots of expertise in industrialisation or even man/machine interfaces.

The lab has this world economics, man/machine interfaces and industrialisation processes mastered. So they can polish Ernie's ideas to fully adapt their potential to that world.

Also, I'm pretty the almost bishounen guy is the one doing the job, the old guy is just there for show.

Eventually the two groups will mesh together to get to the op spoilers...

[MFauli]

Tbh it is my suspicion that the king is like Ernie - a visitor from our real world. Can´t really explain it, but the way he reacts ... hm. Either that or he´s just awakening his inner mecha-otaku lol.

[Kraco]

Hmm... I wouldn't yet go as far as say he's another world traveller like Ernie, but it does feel like he knows something few others do. Perhaps he knows people like Ernie exist or existed, and what they did back in history.

[shinta|hikari]

I don't understand this contest that the king came up with. On one side, we have a lab that hasn't made a marked upgrade to the robots for decades. On the other, we have a genius who built a revolutionary machine with unheard of concepts in less than a year. Uh, I wonder who will win?

What is even the point of this? The lab team is using a prototype Ernie came up with for crying out loud...

The king should've just used the wasted development costs from the lab to fund Ernie's R&D, or dunno, feed the poor?

Motivating Ernie is a poor excuse considering the little psychopath's raison d etre is blatantly what the king wants him to do too: Build better robots.

[NeoCybercoin]

Maybe it was to motivate their own lab. Like..."Look at what a kid made! What the fuck are you guys doing?!"

[Kraco]

I feel like you must have skipped my and David's posts. The geezer's lab is needed for mass production and optimising the design economically. It's a different thing to make a single machine that might or might not work in the harsh reality of war when operated by a hundred different people, perhaps far away from full maintenance capabilities.

The competition is probably just something to motivate people and to teach the old lab a lesson. We immediately saw they looked down on Ernie and thought they could best Ernie at his own game due to their long history of building mecha (with little vision, we know). Like I said earlier, with any luck Ernie might also learn something out of this because a prototype is always a prototype and a vehicle of war needs to be tested in combat to find out the lingering problems. Sometimes a prototype will turn out so poor in practice it needs to be scrapped and only some individual ideas spared.

[shinta|hikari]

I already spoke about the motivation reasoning being weak in my previous post. Ernie doesn't need it, and the old geezer is better gone anyway. Teaching him to respect Ernie through a contest is too roundabout and inefficient.

Mass production going to the lab is fine. What I don't understand is why they supposedly needed to fund the new units made by the lab for the contest when Ernie's units will obviously be better in the end.

The lab definitely has its merits, but the contest doesn't. The lab and Ernie should be working together, not against each other, especially because they are funded by the same treasury. Ernie will be the brains, and the lab will provide the tools to build his ideas. Instead, we get the lab wasting valuable resources and time to make a red mech that will get pawned by Ernie's units instead of using that for something else.

[David75]

Ernie's prototypes will probably win, but by a very small margin. That will probably be a lesson for both parties.
Ernie is only interrested in robots, but not in the tedious work needed to optmise a weapon that has to be combat weathered.
A metaphore could be kalashnikov vs M16...

[Kraco]

A tournament such as this will have its broader uses. It's not a controlled environment like internal testing, so it should reveal more things than Ernie simply having one of his buddies pilot a new mecha model for a bit. It also gave a very solid deadline, without which Ernie might not have been personally satisfied with any model and would have developed them ad infinitum because he would have felt they aren't living up to his dream. Now, however, he absolutely needed to have something working to present after a certain date. Other than that, even in RL military suppliers oft need to compete with each others to get government contracts. Such competition forces them to make more economically viable vehicles and other devices. Ernie normally couldn't care less about such details as he's only chasing his dreams.

I also wouldn't underestimate the publicity factor here. The Silhouette Knights have been weirdly static for a long time, but now a whole bunch of important people in attendance will see superior models in action. That should create public drive for modernisation.

[shinta|hikari]

Simulated combat can be done between Ernie's mechs, like they did before with the senpais dueling.

Deadlines can be set by the king. It doesn't have to be a contest.

Budget limits can be dictated by the king too.

Publicity can be done by having Ernie's units fight against each other, like a contest between different models. I do have to admit that for the people watching, having 2 different camps fight is more exciting, like a sports match. Still, I find it hard to justify having an entire research lab work for a long time, funding all the people and equipment there, just for this. It's not like they have sponsors or tickets for this event.


Ernie's prototypes will probably win, but by a very small margin. That will probably be a lesson for both parties.

Are you kidding? Has anything in this show ever hinted at the contest being something other than a stomping by Ernie? That's what's been happening every episode since this started. The most danger Ernie has ever been in was when his own unit blew up because he wanted it to fly.

[Kraco]

If I was the king, I'd feel better to have multiple places develop the mecha, not just a single dude and his team. I suppose even the king only had his eyes opened by Ernie, otherwise you'd think the geezer and the others responsible for Silhouette Knights development would have been replaced a long time ago by people who actually get things done in a time shorter than 50 years.

What comes to Ernie, I seem to recall him saying it's not only mecha but also mecha fights that he enjoys. Perhaps the king saw through him.

[Munsu]

What's the problem with the King wanting to be entertained?

[shinta|hikari]

None at all. I like that answer.

[Kraco]

Episode 7


- - -- - -



A draw was a nice, if kind of safe and stale, compromise outcome, but otherwise the underlying reasons were exactly as expected, as well as the kingdom's further plans of making Ernie produce prototypes and the old lab make production models.

No idea who the relaxed lady at the very end was, but I wish she was the main girl, not the utterly boring girl who's always sticking to Ernie. She's so uninteresting I still can't remember her name. Ernie should go for the onee-san type. Otherwise Ernie surely has things going for him, even getting a whole new castle to serve as his base.

[Munsu]

Yeah, I don't care for the chick that sticks to him... would prefer more interaction with the blonde one, and certainly curious by whomever that was at the end.

That said, the series keeps circling in its developmental phase, while they keep introducing new aspects to this world. What's this Village they mention? The bordering countries? The woman at the end?

If they keep introducing these aspects, while not advancing the story further (aside from the mecha developments) I really hope this is at the very least a 24 episode series, 12 episodes won't do.

[NeoCybercoin]

I did like how that old man from the Lab wasn't as cliche as I thought he would be. Man old man trying to outdo a kid because he's a kid. He seems genuinely passionate about it like Ernesti is. But yeah, who knows who that new chick is. From the glowing eyes I'd say a faction that sides with demon beasts?

[MFauli]

Woah woah woah, what´s with all the trash-talking of my Addy?! She´s best girl-material ;>

It was another nice episode indeed, except the same problem remains: no real story, yet. The ending of this episode hints at a real story-development, at long last, though.

btw maybe its my dirty mind, but i found the positioning of Addy and her brother inside the centaur-robot reeeeally unfortunate. "Yo, bend over, sis, I´m gonna rock your world!" ;>

[Kraco]

What's this Village they mention?

Could the village be where the reactors are coming from? The lab also had that different looking guy who, if I understood correctly, is from the village or is some kind of a proxy in connection with it. At some point I wondered that perhaps the mecha were originally brought to that world by a person or people like Ernie, who came from elsewhere. They could have withhold the secret to the reactor within the village. When they showed the lady, I thought maybe she's a descendant of such world travellers.

Although it's also possible the reactor core is in fact extracted from the monsters and the village is the slaughterhouse for that. In that case, maybe the lady indeed is partially a monster like NeoCybercoin said.

Either way, I wish Ernie associated with someone interesting like that.

[David75]

Regarding the story, it's totally possible that it's only about building robots. Feels like it was from the beginning.

[Munsu]

Regarding the story, it's totally possible that it's only about building robots. Feels like it was from the beginning.

That's why I'm worried about it being 12 episodes and they keep trying to expand the lore of this world and what not, which makes me think we won't properly explore them... so would've rather they'd not be introduced at all if that's going to be the case.

[Kraco]

Episode 8



- - -- -- -- -




Too bad the new "girl" turned out to be some 400 years old elf who does nothing but sleep and meditate anymore.

I don't really understand why this show insists on such a breakneck speed. 3 months to master the ancient art of making the reactors, despite all the different techniques and vast knowledge it requires. The only explanation I can think of is that the show wants to keep Ernie a shota, so he can't take a year to learn something as that would make him eventually grow up. At the very least they could have made him simply spent half a year there to only learn the fundamentals and then suggest some modern mofications to the reactors, while the alvs would still do all the actual work. But no. I haven't particularly cared so far about his super hyper ultra uber genius, but doesn't this make the whole Alfheim totally unnecessary from now on? What was the point of even having it in the story? If there had been an elf princess to make a decent love interest for Ernie, it would have saved a lot.

I'm still enjoying this show quite a lot, but I can't help but begin to wonder.

[MFauli]

Despite it being fun to watch, I´m still waiting for a real plot.

[Munsu]

Yeah, there's something about this that has simply a good energy that makes it fun to watch regardless.

My biggest gripe is that so far the coolest fight he's been on has been the first one, when he used his own magic to make a shitload of cool moves and what not. Since we moved to more of the mecha side of things, with magic pretty much being purely used as if it were gasoline on a car, the less enjoyable these fights have been.

[Kraco]

Episode 9



- - - - - - -



Things certainly get a lot more interesting when the enemies are other humans, not witless monsters. Although the terrible damsel in distress princess is more comic than tragic, honestly.

It's quite strange how it seems like Ernie's country and the countries conquered in this ep were perfectly satisfied running the century old models and only having enough of them to fight random monsters. Meanwhile that red country looked like it had turned their whole society into one giant machine of war, like nazi-Germany or Soviet Union did. You'd think the neighbouring countries would get just a bit worried. Of course such things did happen also in RL before the world wars, but I'd say a lot of that was due to the poverty of the nations.

It looks like Ernie's new turbocharged mecha is working perfectly.

[MFauli]

I just hope the villainous country is more than a punching bag for Ernie´s new toys.

Also, I wonder how they built their air ships. We know they stole the new silhouette knights and copied them. But they never got ahold of Ernie´s flying mecha. Makes you think just how dumb the scientists/engineers in Ernie´s kingdom are, lol.

The sword-mecha was cool.

[KrayZ33]

I'm not up to date with this one, but a big gap in military tech isn't really that uncommon. Even in the world we live in today.

[Kraco]

Episode 10


- -- - - -



Yeah, such an idiot trick shouldn't ever work twice. It shouldn't have worked even for the first time, for that matter, but I guess Ernie's nation never had to fight against human opponents, not even the occasional rebels, drunk drivers, and simple thieves. That assassin squad leader woman didn't seem especially stupid and not at all incompetent (although her mecha was already obsolete against Ernie's latest creations), so I reckon she was essentially done in by that offer to restore her family. That is, her greed, ambition, and desire made her try to chew more than she should have. That's of course quite realistic, in the end.

I don't much like the princess. It's not like I couldn't imagine someone like her to behave like this after all that happened, but it still annoys me she seemingly has no royal blood in her veins. She's not ready and willing to do anything for her country, despite the fact she must have lived a luxurious and privileged life on taxpayers' money. As soon as things go wrong, she simply gives up.

At least there were a couple of scenes with Nora the spy girl, one of the very few interesting girls in this show. It's a pity the LN author seemingly was incapable of writing a good main girl. I refuse to believe it's only to emphasize Ernier's mecha obsession.

[Kraco]

Episode 11



- - - - - --



The drake mecha looks unnecessarily big, complicated, and cumbersome. And of course helluva expensive and resource intensive to make. It must be carrying rows upon rows of reactors. However, since it is a flying thing, it can't carry an endless amount of weight. Its armor must be compromised to a degree. I don't see how Ernie would encounter particular difficulties defeating it using his undoubtly superior speed and maneuverability. It's like the WW2 bombers vs fighters.

The princess is fortunately getting a bit less annoying. That's great. Ernie and the enemy engineer remain the best characters. The enemy engineer's overly theatrical speech and poses when convincing his countrymen were funny. He clearly doesn't think much of those leaders, but he must placate them to get funding.

[Kraco]

Episode 12


- - - - -




I have a feeling the enemy nation will be bankrupt the moment that drake mecha goes down. It must cost as much as a whole army of topnotch silhouette knights.

[MFauli]

Anyway, this anime was disappointing. It had a nice setup, well enough animation and cool mechas ... just no story.

[shinta|hikari]

Haven't caught up yet, but...

I told you so.

[Kraco]

I'm not sure I ever expected this to have much in the way of a story. So far I've liked the MC's single-minded obsession and the fights enough to keep me entertained. It's a pity the series didn't have a decent female lead to accompany the MC, but it's fine for a run this short. If this had been two cours, the lack of depth and plotlessness might have started to get tedious.

[Kraco]

Episode 13 Final


- - - - -




Quite a forgettable thirteen in a dozen series, but I guess it was entertaining enough with this one cour length. It says a lot I didn't think for a moment it's a pity this doesn't continue. Of course that can happen as well with excellent shows that presented a solid, natural, conclusive ending, but this ended merely where the current arc happened to end.

It would have made this last ep a bit better if Friend A had stolen a kiss from the queen, but he wasn't really that kind of a cool character.