Aquarion Evol

[daigundam lagaan]

Yeah, after that it's like written in stone that Amata would end up with Mikono.

IMO, Mikono and Cayenne were way better than Sylvia and Sirius. At least Mikono and Cayenne didn't have an incestuous thing going on.

A few more questions. How old is Yunoha, if anyone knows? And am I really the only one who thought Shrade would turn out to be a scumbag in the beginning?

[Strike Zero]

What I'll remember is Amata and Mikono watching the movie, Amata taking Mikono's hand and the two of them ending up in the sky. Now that's romantic.

I will admit that I thought that moment was great too at the time, along with scene they had on the roof in the city a few episodes prior. Then again, those were also pretty heavily-handed when it came to visual spectacle.

I can see what you're trying to get at when you say my preferences are shallow, but when it comes to love in a show like this, I feel that the spectacle plays a pretty important part in anything that they show us. I mean, this is a super robot anime for crying out loud, not a down-to-earth drama like Air where I can naturally point to a quiet, meaningful scene shared between two people and go "yes, that was a really powerful moment." In this setting, a dynamic action girl like Zessica is going to outshine a character like Mikono in just about every instance.

A few more questions. How old is Yunoha, if anyone knows? And am I really the only one who thought Shrade would turn out to be a scumbag in the beginning?

Yunoha is 15. Which kinda threw me off when I first found out, 'cause that makes her older than Jin (14).

As for Shrade, he didn't strike me as quite so bad, though I wasn't sure what to expect from him initially. However, he quickly shaped up to be one of the most awesome characters in the show, if not the most awesome.

[daigundam lagaan]

Dang, she looks like she's 10. And I just looked it up, her VA is 16.

I was really happy about how Shrade developed. He really was an Amazing character

[Shinji103]

So the whole "buried alive" training counts for nothing? Or how about getting Cayenne and Amata to unlock the Mugen Punch? Or convincing Mix to gattai with a guy?

Strike Zero already hit on this point, but yeah, it doesn't really count for much. Because she didn't really do anything. She just sat there and her Element power did all the work.

[Destiny_Gundam]

I can see what you're trying to get at when you say my preferences are shallow

To be clear I'm not calling your preferences shallow, I'm calling the Amata/Zessica relationship shallow. Zessica liked him and for most of the series she sulked in the shadows because he didn't like her back. Not much more to it than that.

Zessica's moments were certainly more overt, though, even if there was only two of them.

Strike Zero already hit on this point, but yeah, it doesn't really count for much. Because she didn't really do anything. She just sat there and her Element power did all the work.

She still spoke to them and encouraged them and even if her powers did all the work, it's still her powers! It's like saying Zessica didn't save Amata from falling off that building, her powers did.

Of course you're going to think she didn't do anything if you keep trying to invalidate the things she does do.

[Shinji103]

She still spoke to them and encouraged them and even if her powers did all the work, it's still her powers! It's like saying Zessica didn't save Amata from falling off that building, her powers did.

Of course you're going to think she didn't do anything if you keep trying to invalidate the things she does do.

I'm sorry Destiny, but that's completely grasping at straws. "She spoke to them and encouraged them"? Not exactly memorable or siginficant material in any sense.
Um, Zessica saving Amata from death and Mikono talking to people are two very, very, very different tthings.

Of course I'm invalidating the things you're saying she did, because you keep saying she did things when she didn't. >.> I get that you like Mikono (I love her too ), but you're trying to build credit for her where it isn't due. Especially when she's literally just floating around in some alternate space in the finale doing absolutely nothing, combat-wise or anything-wise, other than waiting to be saved.

[daigundam lagaan]

oh yeah, and also with all the vectors turning to heads? I remembered in the final episode of the original series, There was some danger that the vectors would blow up if they all stayed heads at the same time for too long. But in this one was all like "Nope, we can do whatever we want"
Anything else I'm missing?

[Destiny_Gundam]

Not exactly memorable or siginficant material in any sense.

Maybe so, but it is something at least.

Especially when she's literally just floating around in some alternate space in the finale doing absolutely nothing, combat-wise or anything-wise, other than waiting to be saved.

She was going to deal with Mykage but Amata stopped her before she could.

[nacho-wan]

oh yeah, and also with all the vectors turning to heads? I remembered in the final episode of the original series, There was some danger that the vectors would blow up if they all stayed heads at the same time for too long. But in this one was all like "Nope, we can do whatever we want"
Anything else I'm missing?

Mass produced items tend to be less dangerous that one-of-a-kind.

[daigundam lagaan]

oh yeah, and also with all the vectors turning to heads? I remembered in the final episode of the original series, There was some danger that the vectors would blow up if they all stayed heads at the same time for too long. But in this one was all like "Nope, we can do whatever we want"
Anything else I'm missing?

Mass produced items tend to be less dangerous that one-of-a-kind.

but as we saw, Kagura was using Vector Sol, which would have blown up

[the Gatekeeper]

oh yeah, and also with all the vectors turning to heads? I remembered in the final episode of the original series, There was some danger that the vectors would blow up if they all stayed heads at the same time for too long. But in this one was all like "Nope, we can do whatever we want"
Anything else I'm missing?

Mass produced items tend to be less dangerous that one-of-a-kind.

but as we saw, Kagura was using Vector Sol, which would have blown up

"Kagura used Vector Sol." That is your statement. At the end of “Aquarion Classic" all three original Vectors formed heads, this time they didn't. Only Sol, and thats the usual drill: one head.

[Soma Taozi]

Okay so I just finished Aquarion and I am wondering if I should watch EVOL. See the thing is I had some problems with Aquarion…Don’t get me wrong I liked several of the episodes (mostly the last 4) and the characters, but the whole monster of the week thing got REALLY tiresome after about 10 episodes because the show basically followed a simple formula:

(Insert character name) has issue(s) that is either emotional/physical, problem escalates until it effects their piloting/relationships with friends, Harvest Beast appears that generally has a power that applies DIRECTLY to the issue (convenience for the sake of story=lazy writing), problems issue in combat, Commander gives some philosophical speech that for some reason SOLVES EVERYTHING AND IS ALWAYS RIGHT (which got REALLY annoying, I don’t care who he really was in the end), current opening theme song of Aquarion Plays, Aquarion wins…yay…

It got old. At least Eureka 7 Ao, Raxhaephon, Evangelion, and Fafner, ect changed the formula of the Monster of the Week but this show didn’t. Which was sad because I liked everything else about the show…I liked the characters, the overall set up, the world, music ,the artwork, the action, mecha…but overall the show just took no risks (expect for the ending)….and after the same thing over and over, it started to make me dislike every episode that followed this formula, even if I liked the characters involved.

I just waited and waited for something surprising to happen and nothing really did… again until the end (which I frakken loved).

Don’t get me wrong, the whole set up for Aquarion is great…previous age where the characters now had experienced….they fell in love, fought against evil, ect, ect…but for a story that was based in a LOVE story between Apollo and Silvia, where was it? That whole set up just screams “out-there risk,” and although there were personal relationship developments, the potential drama of the story suffered because Aquarion’s Monster of the Week fetish.

I don’t know…I just feel that I would have liked Aquarian more if it had less monsters and more drama (personal, political, ect)…it would have added some tension to the story, because by repeating the same thing, just made me shrug every time something happened to a character (which was why I found Baron’s death so surprising)…because I knew they were going to be okay, because if something were to happen to them before the end of the show THAT WOULD BE A RISK.

Really, the only thing I truly enjoyed in Aquarion thought-out the entire series was the underlying sexual tones, which gave me plenty of giggles, but besides that there were a few episodes here or there that I really liked overall and the show got really good around episode 22, I would just like to know if EVOL is worth it? Is it good? Does it eliminate the Monster of the Week nonsense? Show I watch it? Yes? No? Maybe?

[DuelGundam2099]

Prepare to give Evol a 10/10, one problem I have with it is that they have no monsters of the week; just abductors, 4 gnis commander units, and a pair of cherubim that get revived. Well, you might have another issue in which everyone except for me has: Mikono. Seriously, nobody likes her because she's not an action girl or something along those lines.

I liked everything else about the show…I liked the characters, the overall set up, the world, music ,the artwork, the action, mecha

Me too! It's my favorite anime ever dubbed into english!

the potential drama of the story suffered because Aquarion’s Monster of the Week fetish

I like monsters of the week (not to fetish points of course, but they always make me look forward to something by the next episode).

[nacho-wan]

Aquarion is a show where your mileage will vary from anybody else. Evol even more, In your case I would watch it for completition sake but don't expect anything grandiouse or profund about it. At times it is dumber that the original, but at least it is not so monster-of-the-week

[DuelGundam2099]

I forgot to mention to Soma, remember Apollonius's dog in the flashback? Trust me, it comes into play in Evol. Not going to say where or how, but once you know you're going to have lots of feels.

[Strike Zero]

@Soma: It sounds to me like you'd get more enjoyment out of EVOL than you did the original series.

My only recommendation is if at any point you begin to prefer any romantic pairing that isn't Amata/Mikono that you abandon ship immediately, otherwise the ending will end up leaving you with a long and lingering feeling of complete bitterness like it did with me.

If not though, stick with it, you're sure to have a blast.

[Destiny_Gundam]

I've said this before, but Evol seemed to have gone out of its way to avoid all the flaws the original had (and they even poke fun at it). So definitely watch Evol.

And DG2099, how could you not see all the posts I made in defense of Mikono?

[DuelGundam2099]

And DG2099, how could you not see all the posts I made in defense of Mikono?

You are the exception to the rule.

[Soma Taozi]

Almost 2 years later and I just finished watching EVOL. Soma's watching of shows that no one cares or talks about any more continues...

It wasn't perfect, but you guys called it with saying I would like it more then the original (which after a rewatch is pretty terrible by all accounts).

I will say that I loved the first half, but the second half just couldn't live up the the expectations and build up that occurred during the first part of the show (which seems to be an underlining problem in A LOT of mecha shows these days). In fact, the first 13 episodes are amazing in my opinion (stong characters, strong setting, strong action).

I was fine with the pairing at the end, mostly because I never saw Zessica as a threat to the main pairing anyway (especially after watching all of it at once). I believe Destiny_Gundam put it best when he said that Zess was never on Amata's radar...I just felt bad for her because she was unable to move on (despite telling herself to on many occasions).

Side note: As someone who has gone off repeatedly about female characters in anime...I had no problem with Mikono and she certainly did a lot (although I wish they didn't drag out the whole kidnapping thing for so long). Her character just stalled in some development during the second half...but she wasn't terrible and I liked her a lot...or maybe I am just getting soft.

All told, I liked Evol, it wasn't perfect but it was a lot of fun. Although I am happy that I didn't watch it when it was airing or followed this thread...no offense folks but some of the comments and reactions made me want to slam my head against a wall repeatedly...especially during the first half when they weren't really justified.

Overall, Evol was pretty good and I liked a lot of the elements at play. I just find it strange people's reactions to the show and comparing it to the original...which was never that good in the first place.

Evol is an improvement and I am happy I watched it.

Oh and the music was (as usual of Yoko Kanno) one of the best parts of the series.

[Raikoh]

Being a guy who watched EVOL earlier this year and has a complete set of mixed feelings about it, I can't help but feel like inserting my own two cents here if the thread's been bumped up anyway.

I get what you're saying, Soma, since for the most part I would say that EVOL is superior to the original. However, there are a few key weaknesses of things I liked in the original (which were further solidified when I watched the movie) that were just lacking in EVOL.

The first is the wacky and insane attacks. EVOL didn't really have any memorable moves outside of the Rock-Paper-Scissors attack and the Banana Punch. It just doesn't feel right, especially when the original was filled to bursting with crazy awesome moves like the dribble kick, the Jealousy Tornado, the Bad Luck attack, the Explosion-Gasm, the FootSwordFistCube... The list goes on. The weirdest things in EVOL were donuts and holes, which I admittedly found amusing but I was expecting complete madness in the attacks. Maybe it's just my idea of what Aquarion should provide, but I wish that there was more of the same weirdness that was in the original.

The main reason why EVOL seems to be lacking in attacks is because it is completely lacking in mecha action scenes. I think there are more ON-FOOT fights than there are actual mecha battles. I remember around episodes 8-20 I was completely starved for mecha, just saying, "When are they going to get in the robot already?"

And while the cast is by and large better than the original, this is ONLY applicable to the side characters. Yes, Andy is consistently entertaining. Yes, Yunoha is adorable. Yes, Jin has a great story arc. Yes, Kagura is probably a better antagonist than Toma was. Yes, Malloy and Sazanka are great minor characters. Yes, Paper Bag-chan is funny every time she appears. But Amata and Mikono have all the personality of wet napkins, and for the main characters, that's not a good idea. I personally have constantly repeated that I think the series would've been better if Yunoha or Jin were the main character. Or Andy - though I actually think that in the latter half it could be argued that Andy WAS the main character. Point is that the romance we're supposed to be rooting for is really forced and just boring. The Kagura/Zessica ship is one I find more appealing, and they had less than I'd estimate three minutes of shared screentime (though they actually showed quite a bit of chemistry.)

The original Aquarion had some great development since I initially hated Silvia, but found myself really quickly warming up to her (due to being revealed more of her personality quirks as well as her developing romance with Apollo) and she probably ended up being one of my favorite characters in the series. I had pretty much the opposite reaction with Amata and Mikono, since they just sort of stumble through the series acting exactly the same as they did in the first two minutes of the show (not helped by my estimation that around 80% of their dialogue is just each other's names).

Not to mention that Mykage was just sort of bland as far as antagonists go. His motivation requires some absurd retcons to the established continuity. Speaking of retcons... Of course, you know, the wall-banger of "You're saying Apollo was WHAT?!"

Which is why I say that I have a complete mixed bag for EVOL. Depending on my mood, I'd probably waffle on whether it was better, worse, or about the same as the original.