================
Robotics;Notes
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:CreationDate: 2015-03-08 16:16:10
:Id: anime/review/robotics-notes
:tags: - anime
- review
:rating: 3.5
:original: https://www.easternkicks.com/reviews/roboticsnotes
When I was in Japan last April, I was on the lookout for interesting
new manga and anime that may make their way to the rest of the world
in the near future. The "Robotics;Notes" manga caught my eye for the
flashy cover and the air of general enthusiasm about giant robots. So,
when I discovered that not only there was an animated version, but
that it had already been translated, I jumped on it and watched it
all. Yes, doing that was a bit hampered by Manga Entertainment
deciding (as too often happens) to release a 22 episode series in two
batches of 11 episodes each: never doubt the lengths I'll go to, to
provide comprehensive reviews :)
This series is vaguely related to "Chaos;Head" and "Steins;Gate", but
mostly because of the semicolon. The main authors of the other two
series, Nitro+ and 5pb, had nothing to do with "Robotics;Notes", which
was developed mainly by SHIKURA Chiyomaru (志倉 千代丸) who produced
and supervised the other two series.
So, what's it about? In the near future, SENOMIYA Akiho is the
president of the robotics club at Tanegashima High School. She got her
passion for robots from her older sister, Misaki, and the very famous
TV show Gunvarrel (yes, they actually spell it that way in the
original). Misaki had founded the club some ten years previous, and
had started building a sort-of full scale replica of Gunvarrel. Akiho
is carrying on the dream of completing it, after Misaki left the
island to go work in Tokyo. Things are not looking very promising,
since the only other member of the club, YASHIO Kaito, spends all his
time playing an online robot fighting game called Kill-Ballad. To make
matters worse, the school vice-principal balked at the huge funding
request that Akiho presented her, and demands the club be
disbanded. But of course the story can't end there: with the help of
the grumpy owner of the nearby hardware store, the genius developer of
Kill-Ballad (FURUGOORI Kona, in my opinion the best character of the
show), the engineers of the nearby JAXA facility (where Akiho's father
works), the president of the Space Candy company, and a few
schoolmates, they will overcome adversity and build their dream
robot. Or maybe not: Kaito becomes aware of what appears to be a large
scale conspiracy that has been running for more than a
decade. Investigating the reports of this conspiracy will lead to
revelations about the lives of people they care about, and even about
why Gunvarrel's last episode was never aired. But in the end, the
giant robots of Justice will always defeat evil and save the world,
powered by courage, friendship, and a lot of technobabble.
"Robotics;Notes" builds quite a good narrative, with characters who
feel different than the "stock" figures we too often get: Akiho loves
robots and wants to show her sister that she's not less capable; Kaito
looks very self-absorbed and quite rude, but he is curious and cares
about others; Kona seems to be a caricature of the shut-in pervy
otaku, but her backstory explains why she became what she is, and
she's determined and capable (still pervy, though :) ). Even the bad
guys have some semblance of motivation, and there's a couple of
interesting plot twists that you'll have to wait for the second half
of the series to see.
It's really not one of the great works of anime, but it is engaging,
and I wanted to know what was going to happen to all the people in
it. Sadly, a few details were handwaved too much, leaving some holes
in an otherwise consistent plot. I liked very much the idea of a
"second generation" robot story: young people growing up with robot
anime, using the technology they have access to, to build giant robots
like they saw on TV. The fact that they had to come to terms with
their budget limitations made it all the more interesting. Also of
note, the setting is real: Tanegashima Space Center is an actual JAXA
facility, on Tanegashima island, near the southernmost point of Japan
(only Okinawa is further South).
If you have even dreamt of building your own fighting robot, if you
like mostly-consistent near-future SF stories, and conspiracy theories
make you curious, this is really the series for you.
