Episode 05 –
Rinne no Lagrange has been rather unique in some ways. While it has a lot of the makings of your stereotypical mecha anime, at the same time the show has some strong dialogue and engaging characters. The execution is surprisingly good, resulting in a solid anime that embraces the stereotypes for what they are, but adding in the creator’s own flair.
The characters in particular are notable for this series, where they are fleshed out in some rather tense scenes and moments. Admittingly, Madoka’s super-energetic attitude is starting to tire me out a bit, but the moments where she got super-serious were surprisingly telling of her strong personality. It seems that her older cousin has had more influence on Madoka than she might realize, lol.
The rest of the dialogue amongst Muginami and Lan were equally telling of each of their personalities. Lan ends up being the more by-the-book, rational personality, while Muginami ends up being the happy girl with a much darker side to her that she doesn’t openly show. Seeing the clash of these two personalities adds a fascinating dynamic to the overall tensions in this “humans vs aliens” conflict, and highlights how there is probably much more complications to the situation at hand than we might realize. The plot twist with Muginami being called a “parasite” by her comrades was both stunning in some ways, fitting in others, and rather telling of how complicated the relationships amongst cast members can get.
And of course, there’s the involvement of the still fairly unknown Villagio and his comrades. He gives off the sense of a man with a lot of history, and somebody who has some rather lofty goals in mind. His involvement, as well as his alliance seen in last week’s episode, hints that there is much more going on than meets the eye. There seems to be a shade of politics, power struggles, and myth at work here, which has perked my interest to say the least.
In the end, this episode had a overall solid direction that meshed in character development, sharp dialogue, and some world-building. It’s a combination that has meshed well with the very energetic main cast, resulting in a show that remains engaging and fascinating. Of course, the show does suffer from a lot of the stereotypes that comes with the mecha genre, but the creators are trying to make sure that these stereotypes don’t become a weakness. So far, I’d say it’s been fairly successful.
Overall Enjoyment: 3.7/5
Screenshots are later in the post.
Distant Paradise 