Space Opera Fans discussion

So if you pay attention to the anime world you would know that Gen Urobuchi went from a very well liked but moderatly nitch VN author of such things as Phantom of Inferno, Cyber Slayer, Saya no Uta. To in in 2011 him becoming extremely popular and successful with Madoka Magica and Fate/Zero(really awesome). Which both raked in the megabucks, after that he wrote Psycho-Pass(think Equilibrium/Minority report). The one thing in common between all these series is that despair/fate/tragedy are all very common themes so if you like large swaths of cast members dying you should probably check this out.

Well come 2014 he had another new series he is writing for Aldnoah Zero. So far it's looking like another knock out of the park based off reception. If you have ever seen a Gundam before you probably know the basics, war breaks, people die. Main character gets drafted/forced into military he turns out to be really competent and skilled, he has a rival around his age in the opposing army.

"In 1972, an ancient alien hypergate was discovered on the surface of the moon. Using this technology, humanity began migrating to Mars and settling there. After settlers discovered additional advanced technology, the Vers Empire was founded, which claimed Mars and its secrets for themselves. Later, the Vers Empire declared war on Earth, and in 1999, a battle on the Moon's surface caused the hypergate to explode, shattering the Moon and scattering remnants into a debris belt around the planet. Cut off from Mars, the remnants of the Vers Empire established several massive orbital space stations within the debris belt and a ceasefire was established. 15 years later, in 2014, an attack on the Vers princess during a peace mission causes the Empire to launch a new attack on Earth, this time determined to conquer it once and for all" - Wikipedia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xoqly...

It's a pretty simple 3 episode test if you don't like it by then you will probably not enjoy it.

All I have to say on the Aldnoah Zero topic, is that they are still wearing school uniforms as of episode 8 and the mecha genre has been a difficult sell for many demographics other than the 13-40 male demographic. Urobuchi's last sci/fi Suisei no Gargantia also did a great job of pandering to the moe fetish crowd, with a script that could have been good. I see nothing new in Aldnoah Zero that might attract a larger audience. He's still pandering to a niche audience that actually buys merchandise and blu-rays back home in Japan. Can't blame him for wanting to make money I suppose, but it also makes his product somewhat unapproachable in most other western markets. Aldnoah Zero's first episode was appealing with it's Mars invasion and aldnoah drive. I can't remember which book it was that I just read recently that describes, how certain scenarios are reasons for dangerous space fairing species. This scenario is one that specifies Humans find alien tech that advances them beyond their political evolution to safely use such a technology without becoming violently belligerent towards it's neighbors.

Thanks for posting this Aaron! And Rion for commenting. I don't know much about Anime, but it's super mega popular with my kids so you'll have to help me out so I don't embarrass them! Please ... if either of you come across other cool space-opera-ish anime / manga / comics, could you share them? Sometimes it takes a while for word to get out that we're not one of those communities that snoots their nose at a perfectly good sci-fi graphic novel :-)

Rion wrote: "All I have to say on the Aldnoah Zero topic, is that they are still wearing school uniforms as of episode 8 and the mecha genre has been a difficult sell for many demographics other than the 13-40 ..."

I have no idea what happened on Gargantia the few episodes right at the start and end were good, which were conicidentaly the ones Gen did all the writing for. The rest was bland and generic, I'm not sure how much of Aldnoah he is writing but it hasn't fallen off yet, which is a good sign hopefully it stays good and working on Gaim/that movie thing doesn't drag him off then I get to watch another promising series fall off a cliff.

Knowing your target audience is an important skill to have and as far as pandering and playing it safe, tell that to American Tv companies that take a show with an episodic formula then beat that formula until it stops making money. At least Japan with all it's pandering problems ends series(with a few exceptions) in a timely fashion and moves on the next thing. How many sci-fi shows that were good on American Tv got a satisfactory ending and didn't have entire seasons that could be considered bad, bonus points if it's not episodic?

Very late to the party- and we have since had Witch From Mercury- but I'd say one of Aldnoah's problems is that it was simply too close to Blood Iron Orphans.

The princess is such a retread of the Gundam princess motif, and she even looks way too much with Kudelia (as IBO would put it, Kudelia Aina Bernstein).

Even the killer soundtrack could not fully differentiate itself.