Rinne no Lagrange

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Description: Kamogawa is a seaside city in the Chiba prefecture. Kyouno Madoka, an energetic student at Kamogawa Girl's High School, and the only member of the Sweats Club. What that club does is somewhat of a mystery, though Madoka loves to "rescue" others. Her life changes one day when her uniform is stolen when she is saving a drowning girl. Afterwards, she meets a girl named Ran in odd clothing (also the one who stole her uniform), who asks her to "pilot a robot".

Genres: Mecha, Action, doushi (comrades).

Links: AniDB, ANN, Official Page

Underwater: 720p
Commie


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What I really enjoyed about the episode was the cast. It's mostly Madoka being energetic and totally crazy, but it imparts a fresh and motivational air just from her attitude alone. Showing up late to school in only her swimsuit and getting chewed out, with words of gratitude for saving the girl at the end, said a lot about her, as well as how others view her. She's always willing to help and takes on a great deal of tasks...simply because people ask her to. It isn't that she'll just do what she's told, it's that helping is her raison d'être.

The other two highlights of her insanity are calling the controls of her robot "gross feeling," and the german suplex to the enemy at the end. She's an unconventional hyper tomboy of a robot pilot, but she's still a girl.

The cast stood out for me a lot. The highlight being Madoka, voiced by Ishihara Kaori (Suzuna, the little sister in Kaichou wa Maid-sama). The others didn't really have that much screen time to properly judge them, but Madoka's cousin, voiced by Noto Mamiko was a clear influence on Madoka's behavior, and was nicely performed as well. I've always been partial to her slightly more militant voices over the gentle ones.

And no, it is not an all girls cast.

[Underwater] Rinne no Lagrange - 01 - 720p v2: Torrent | DDL

[Commie] Rinne no Lagrange - 01 - 720p: Torrent | DDL

Oh my fucking God dat OP. Oh dear Jesus, Amen.

lol... All I could think of while watching the OP, is how sparkly it was.

I liked the first episode. Quirky and great animation. Will follow.

Good times in the first ep, robot fights with wrestling moves is right up my alley. Success! This looks like it'll be fun.

Good graphics, the energetic girl (absolutely no-emo), and finally the German suplex sealed it; I like this show. I very much hope it won't disappoint me, because I'd be very disappointed indeed. Instead of endless whining and hesitation (yes, Eva trauma) this is exactly how a teen should approach piloting a mecha. Even a girl if she's like Madoka and not like the three commoners that giggled at the alien girl's costume. I hope this keeps everything up like Star Driver did.

The enemy didn't give overly evil vibes immediately, so I wonder how the bigger story will develop.

I love Madoka's energy. She's got style too (popping balls from under the tennis uniform = win), though it's often hidden underneath her overpowering enthusiasm (eh? eh? EHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?)/

The alien girl's cool too, and her archetype gives her a slight default win in my books at the moment, but I guess I'm in.

Episode 2 by Commie

Good thing that slump didn't last any longer than that. I don't even really get what caused it. Madoka shouldn't be a person to fall into depression like that in the first place. Or if it only happened afterwards as a result, then that Vox surely has a tricky and capricious OS. Now we only need to get the Rei clone and titties aboard their own machines.

I wonder, though, what we will get after these guys. Madoka defeated the first guy despite having never even seen a robot like, let alone flown one, and I'm somehow expecting these two other guys not faring that much better in the long run. The male alien is super suspicious, of course, so it wouldn't exactly surprise me if he was a villain or at least hiding something horrible.

[Underwater] Rinne no Lagrange - 02 (720p) [99517157].mkv

Go with Underwater cuz:

- TLCed by 8th, a respectable TL.
- The video (OP at least) looks sexy as fuck~
- Daiz from Underwater is kawaii.

Damn it.. all three pilots make me smile in different ways. I expected Mugi to be happy-go-lucky... but she's even more ditz than Madoka!!

In the end though, I think I still like Lan the best. The others are more in the "fun" category.

It really seems like a light-hearted Eva with all their launch sequences and An- .. umm, Aliens coming in to attack. That's cool by me. The varying combat styles that would hopefully be coming would be nice. (Lan = speed/pilot skills, Madoka = school sports improvised combat, Mugi = ????? )

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

Damn it.. all three pilots make me smile in different ways. I expected Mugi to be happy-go-lucky... but she's even more ditz than Madoka!!

In the end though, I think I still like Lan the best. The others are more in the "fun" category.

It really seems like a light-hearted Eva with all their launch sequences and An- .. umm, Aliens coming in to attack. That's cool by me. The varying combat styles that would hopefully be coming would be nice. (Lan = speed/pilot skills, Madoka = school sports improvised combat, Mugi = ????? )

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Long range lol-wut skills that depend only on luck probably.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Xelbair

Long range lol-wut skills that depend only on luck probably.

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That's what I'm expecting as well, at this point. It's hard to imagine her having any believable close combat skills.

Long range support definitely came to mind, as weird as it seems to have someone like Mugi guarding your back...

That's why it must be purely luck dependent and weird as possible.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Xelbair

That's why it must be purely luck dependent and weird as possible.

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"Intelligent" missiles came to mind, but being aliens and all it must be laser based. Heck, even the human weapons were laser based.

I was rather underwhelmed at the "best pilot" guy. If anything, his brother who just joined the fight should be a better pilot than he is. If it had been "best fighter" instead it may be more true.

She will be able to control her laser bullets in flight creating cool curves out of them but they will nearly always miss by 1mm her allies, and hit enemy perfectly :P

Overwhelming Jersey Club Spirit!

[Underwater] Rinne no Lagrange - 03 (720p)

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Madoka is hilarious.

One thing I have been enjoying is Madoka's unorthodox mecha fighting style. She is probably one of the only mecha pilots who actually cares about what she smashes, what she gets smashed into, and keeping her enemies from damaging her beloved town, which she knows pretty much everything about. Enough to intentionally fall into empty lots and abandoned buildings. That's impressive in its own right.

The fun part is that her stupidity (like attempting the bare-handed blade grasp, or trying to strangle a robot) is confusing the hell out of the guys, enough that they think she's really skilled, or performing elaborate rituals and finishing moves.

I guess the real question is what the guys meant by needing the Vox's help (I can only guess about it being against an occupation by Lan's people) and what the Vox do to their pilots.

No substantial Mugi appearance this episode. :/ Guess she used the fighting to escape the facility as planned.

Yeah. It's indeed still a bit of a mystery why the invaders need them so much. At the very least it's now rightly questioned whether Lan's people are any good guys at all. The curse of the Voxes is another interesting question. Is it just a power corrupts issue or something else? You'd think something more substantial based on Lan's troubles to overcome her fear of piloting hers.

Madoka's fighting style is indeed hilarious but I have to confess I was expecting more from her after her formidable performance in the first fight. This time she did little but try to defend herself, aside from the one cable attack. I hope they let her practice a little before the next attack so that she can even discover what manner of weapons the Vox is carrying. Surely there's at least a lightsaber.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kraco

Yeah. It's indeed still a bit of a mystery why the invaders need them so much. At the very least it's now rightly questioned whether Lan's people are any good guys at all. The curse of the Voxes is another interesting question. Is it just a power corrupts issue or something else? You'd think something more substantial based on Lan's troubles to overcome her fear of piloting hers.

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That's pretty much it I'm guessing. The VOX system will corrupt you into just something that will just destroy and rule. I'm not sure if the final lines mean that the corruption is permanent along with your fixation on the Vox, or that you physically can't leave the cockpit. Mugi's vox will apparently "spew darkness from its mouth".. I'll anticipate this long range darkness barrage..

I liked that while Madoka came up with the energy and radical ideas, it ended up being Lan who could execute the blade-catch with her precision pilot skills. At least while Madoka is the spiritual leader of them, she's not automatically better at everything because of it. (except maybe better at pulling through because she'll never give up).

The pilot-corruption part, islands.. aliens.. reminds me of Fafner now.

This show is a lot of fun so far, I love that Madoka's mech is diesel enough that she can tank hits while making rookie mistakes left and right but doesn't provide her any hax piloting assistance so she still has to figure out how to fight on her own. Her ability to think on her feet while under pressure is quite admirable as well as her penchant for sass talk.

[Underwater] Rinne no Lagrange - 04 (720p)


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It's too soon to say whether or not Muginami is living up to her legend of 'spewing darkness from its mouth,' but she's certainly got a mischievous streak in her. She went right to investigating Madoka. She's certainly not aligned with Lan's faction, but she knows just as much if not moreso about the Vox and the contract. She can't be all bad though. Even if Lan's faction is her semi-enemy, she went right to rescuing Lan once she realized that Lan can't swim and she had done something truly regrettable. Her true goals are certainly something to look out for.

Lan's competitive streak was certainly amusing, as was her new obsession with not wanting to be left out of anything going on with her new friend.

Madoka's teacher (Iwabuchi) is hilarious. First poking at Madoka with the shinai in the first episode, and now defending Madoka's well-being and school life. It's pretty obvious now that she too was once part of the Jersey Club. That's why she's both harsh and caring toward Madoka. The way the teacher defers to Youko, it seems more and more like the Jersey Club is more like a girl's biker gang. Youko and Iwabuchi really beat down on that Commander.

Madoka is thrilled she is living up to the Jersey Club legacy, and was on her way to "beating" Youko now that she's got a whole two members (by the end of the episode, Lan made three). Was Iwabuchi Youko's only member?

The comedy in this show is great.

Ah <3 this show though I was sad we didn't get a success circle this time around. Madoka is such a fun and endearing protagonist although I feel like she did Lan a bit wrong the way she squeed so hard over Mugi and never mentioned her other good friend. Hopefully she'll get a wake up call and learn to show equal appreciation to everyone in her friendship harem within the next ep or two.

Ryll covered pretty much everything else with noting but I can't help but wonder why the enigmatic new bad guy leader wears such human looking clothes compared to the others we've seen so far. Also I wonder who the true traitor will be after they finish going through the Mugi scapegoating and/or friendship no jutsu side changing sub arc that I smell coming from a mile away.

Whoever was responsible for the security of the base will be fired unless he's dead already. Not being able to prevent the hacking of the cell door open would be one thing (they should learn to require physical switch to be used for anything to happen) but allowing the dude to waltz around the base to his Vox makes it ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as a school swimming competition having no qualified lifeguards and an emergency team. Madoka and Mugi saving Lan initially was given considering they were right next to her, but that there were absolutely nobody on the beach either, save random onlookers, is unbelievable. The school principal owes a dogeza to all participants and their parents.

Anyway, a great ep despite those two details. Lan trying to stick close to Madoka was fun to watch. She clearly has no real job to occupy her time like the sinister male alien, who's always looking over the commander's shoulder.

Even the newly arrived, older enemy dude doesn't give me last boss vibes at all. I still can't help but look at the male alien for that role, or whatever is behind him. It's hard to believe Lan would know anything about it, though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ryll

She's certainly not aligned with Lan's faction, but she knows just as much if not moreso about the Vox and the contract. She can't be all bad though

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Mugi's actions suggest that she's already made a contract and unlocked the Vox on her own robot. Her own mark is down there. While Lan couldn't unlock her Vox before out of fear, I would say Mugi's the opposite. She jumped into the contract only to start regretting it now. This dark side of hers may even be the early results of such corruption.. She may not have been inwardly wary as she is now.

Dunno what to make of Underwater's translation of "She really can't swim?!". Had she learned of Lan's inability to swim before?

Mugi's hair colour is also the same as the alien "advisor" of Lan's.

Lan needs a slimmer uniform, or one that is more airy (and less baggy) to show how petite she is. Her current one doesn't do her justice.

[Underwater] Rinne no Lagrange - 05 (720p)
[Commie] Rinne no Lagrange - 05



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I really like the totally backwards narrative Rinne no Langrange keeps taking. Instead of a sudden betrayal we all knew was coming, they just...show up and say, "we are your enemy."

Muginami has been toying around this whole time, messing with Lan because she knows that hostilities will start sooner or later, so she might as well be carefree while she can. Lan on the other hand, takes things so seriously, she'd never be able to enjoy herself. Muginami probably has the right idea, but obviously her implementation was all wrong.

Villaguilio certainly seems like his aim is to destroy the Vox, not take them, as the other three wanted to do. He and Lan both seem to understand first hand what they are capable of doing to someone. I'd guess Lan's brother succumbed to the corruption or whatever it is. So when Muginami took one, he was notably upset. If he really wanted the power, he would have happily taken her in the same way Madoka was invited.

The expression that flashed on his face as he left the cafe was rather telling. While he may have called her a parasite, it felt like he was rather saddened to learn that Muginami took the Vox. He didn't like doing that to her, but it was necessary. I'm guessing if she came back with him, she would be at even more risk than she already is for the corruption.

Her squished cheeks look was pretty cute though...abusive as it was.

I thought Villagulio was getting rid of Mugi so she can stay with her new friends.. but now that Mugi's got a Vox, it means one other strong opponent against him. In the grand scheme of things, that doesn't seem to be a wise decision so I'm not sure how correct my interpretation of it was.

I thought so as well but only for a second. It just didn't answer all the questions, especially how Mugi seemed to like her brother the best, so it wouldn't make sense to allow her to stay with her friends. At this point I'd call Ryll's interpretation the correct one. He's angry she tainted herself and got involved, but under those irreversible circumstances he probably indeed thought it'd be best for her to stay with Madoka. Maybe he even expects something out of Madoka.

Lan is really a useless princess... She should get her act together.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kraco

Lan is really a useless princess... She should get her act together.

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She caught a sword that a certain someone failed to. She's (cutely) incompetent in some ways, but that's cool. *woof*

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

I thought Villagulio was getting rid of Mugi so she can stay with her new friends.. but now that Mugi's got a Vox, it means one other strong opponent against him. In the grand scheme of things, that doesn't seem to be a wise decision so I'm not sure how correct my interpretation of it was.

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Same here, plus there was probably some other reason too.

Episode 6 - Underwater





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I could have lived without the traditional he didn't do anything wrong, it was my fault plot device, especially after Villagulio just before tried to annihilate Mugi. But who knows what their history really is. Maybe he sacrificed his past princely prestige to save her. Though Villagulio now trying to kill her summarily after doing such a thing would be unlikely, so at this point I'd expect her to simply be stupid.

The fight was otherwise largely underwhelming. Helluva lot of enemies - that did absolutely nothing. I guess Villagulio forgot to install the combat AI software.

Indeed. This episode was a bit underwhelming. Madoka being insolent to the commander was one of the best parts.

I guess we'll find out more of what's really going on next episode, as well as some bits about Muginami's past.

Underwater - Episode 07

The eels really did the trick in this episode.

I guess something else happened as well, such as nude swimming, but I forgot it already.

eels > nude swimming, that's for sure.

Underwater - Episode 08

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sapphire

Oh my fucking God dat OP. Oh dear Jesus, Amen.

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This comment actually made me download the first ep.

DAT OP IS....Attachment 1221

I shall be watching this when I get in from work tonight.

Nakajima Megumi has been churning out loads of awesome songs recently, 2 of which are for this show.

Underwater - Episode 09

Poor Madoka barely missed meeting the boyfriend she didn't know she has. Or maybe it was sheer luck, considering the dude.

Things should get interesting soon.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kraco

Poor Madoka barely missed meeting the boyfriend she didn't know she has. Or maybe it was sheer luck, considering the dude.

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He ran off after seeing the love of his life show off her incredible grace by falling off the roof.

Is there anything Lan can do competently? I'll admit it is somewhat amusing that both she and Muginami possess the opposite of what their appearances would typically lead one to believe (that the skinny and fit girl would be highly skilled, while the pretty ditz with the large tits would be a klutz). But there has to be something she's actually good at.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

He ran off after seeing the love of his life show off her incredible grace by falling off the roof.

Is there anything Lan can do competently? I'll admit it is somewhat amusing that both she and Muginami possess the opposite of what their appearances would typically lead one to believe (that the skinny and fit girl would be highly skilled, while the pretty ditz with the large tits would be a klutz). But there has to be something she's actually good at.

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*woof* ?

I guess she must have good table manners, being a princess. At least until she drops the glass and spills the sauce.

She's an expert pilot for one, though the Vox links suggest that her skill will not have too much benefit compared to the others because
Voxes are so well matched with their pilots (the clapping sword-block move would suggest otherwise though).

Following the ritual (with the whole water dousing and all), I was amused by the ass-grabbing the most.

Underwater - Episode 10

Underwater - Episode 11

Madoka's psyche isn't certainly the most stable thing in Kamogawa. I was getting annoyed by Astelia continuously forbidding Midori's launch, but Madoka surely didn't tarry in demonstrating why Astelia's caution was more than justified. She's only merry and reliable when things are going good, but if something not good happens to her, she cracks fast.

Astelia did OK Madoka because she understood that Vox Aura only is dangerous towards ennemies, at least it is how I interpreted the fact that there's no trace of such terror on earth, when there is in humans flying away and colonizing the galaxy (and beyond?)

Man I hate characters who crack like that..

Even all of her maru didn't ease that for me.

Perhaps more disturbing is that Madoka doesn't seem to realize she's killing people this time. Or worse, doesn't care. Lan is the princess of a militant nation (and it turns out is actually proficient at shooting things), and the world has always been kill-or-be-killed for Muginami, so I don't think it would matter as much to them. The two of them certainly both recognize what they're doing right now.

But killing others is the complete opposite of what Madoka and Youko stand for and what particularly what Madoka's mother was willing to do even if she wasn't capable enough. I don't think Madoka realizes that these aren't like the drones that Villagulio sent against them the last time. Each and every one is piloted.

Normally I dislike pacifism in mecha (and a lot of other genres too) but for Madoka I would make an exception. What she's doing now, whether she realizes it or not, is against everything that she is.

I can't imagine the breakdown Madoka would have had if Kamogawa was a crater, instead of only a few people at the school getting hurt.

Has Madoka shown to be opposed to hurting any hostile aliens thus far though? I can't remember any times when she went "don't fight, let's talk!!"

Well, she didn't want to kill those three guys at any point, and she certainly didn't want to let Muginami and Villagulio kill each other.

...and they usually talk to her first.

Underwater - Episode 12

This was a poor last episode. First breaking the tension with the flashback style of going through the last battle and then pretty much leaving everything open and unexplained. I don't think we learned even the basics of the main characters or their circumstances (except for Madoka, because there's not much to learn about her). I also find it a bit strange Lan's people come and went without much ado. I guess (because there's nothing else really but guessing with a stupid bye bye ending like this) that they took Lan's Vox with them. Madoka's Vox they left on Earth, even though I'm pretty sure they could have taken it with them and nobody could have done anything about it. They didn't really seem like people who would treasure good relationships with Earth, but who knows.

At least this was funny enough to watch all in all, even though the focus was clearly on mecha and cute girls, with the story itself next to nonexistent.

They had nothing, created plot holes, and had to make it even more empty to try and stretch that emptiness into OAVs and a second season?

Commie - Episode 13

This was a nice watch after Muv Luv, heh.

It's clear to everyone that Lan's brother and the snake-looking-guy are torturing and abusing Lan so they can study and exploit the Voxes. Somewhere deep down, even Lan knows that. So Villagiulio was right the whole time after all. Muginami seems to spend much of her time interfering, which I can only see as an effort to protect Lan and Madoka from Lan's brother, even though she's always attacking.

Lan's being lied to about Muginami's motives, and she knows it. That's why she was sent to retrieve Madoka and Midori. Her brother yet again was finding Lan wanting for his purposes, and wanted another test subject. The look on Lan's face when Madoka asked what she needed help with said as much.


The OP isn't as good this time. It's a good song, it just doesn't really fit the animation they were using, or the feel of this show. The ED is spot on in terms of fit, though it isn't really that good of a song.

Commie - Episode 14

Grania is hot. That is all.

Commie - Episode 15

Commie - Episode 16

Commie - Episode 17