Series Review – Rinne no Lagrange (Part 1)

Rinne no Lagrange – The Flower Declaration of Your Heart

Rinne no Lagrange, as a series, has it’s fair share of cliches and stereotypical characters. The cliches don’t always detract from the overall experience, but they’re noticeable enough to hurt the overall direction of this series. Rinne no Lagrange also tried out a rather interesting idea, where it attempted to frame the antagonists in a more humanistic light; the result is a more sympathetic, realistic set of antagonists that don’t feel like much of a serious threat at all. All in all, this first half of Rinne no Lagrange was a mixed bag with plenty of flaws, which will hopefully be improved upon in the second half of this series.

There actually isn’t anything unconventional or controversial with regards to this anime; in fact, it’s premise is quite reminiscent of your standard conflicts in anime. Long story short, the enemies are targeting the earth, and a girl named Madoka happens to be the one girl needed to pilot a giant robot and fight off these enemies. It’s a simple enough premise, and has occasional moments that have some powerfully negative undertones that could easily turn the story quite depressing. However, it’s the execution to the story that has made the conflict feel rather weak.

The key issue is that the story opts to develop the antagonists as actual people with their own silly goofball moments, and thus, never effectively uses the antagonists to build a truly intense conflict on any large scale. The atmosphere remains lighthearted and goofy all the way until the end, and even brief moments where the story gets serious is cut off somehow. The drama doesn’t quite pan out well when there’s slice-of-life scenes heavily interspersed between the serious dramatic moments. The super-positive attitude of Madoka, the main heroine, also serves to break up any serious developments with a comical response of sorts.

On the plus side, the characters to this series are actually quite enjoyable to watch, even with some of the stereotypical moe traits that we’ve come to know so well. Madoka is an extremely positive and cheery character, and actually pulls it off well. The key to her character is that she’s positive but realistic, and also has her own fair share of insecurities and emotional baggage that balances out her personality. The other two characters, Lan and Muginami, have some more complex issues and backstories, but they too manage to have their own fun little quirks that make them memorable. The beautiful animation and diverse color palette does help showcase these three characters, especially during much of those slice of life moments that dominated this series.

To be fair, while I do complain about the lack of a good conflict, Rinne no Lagrange was designed from the onset to be a two-part series, with the second half coming in Summer 2012. If you look at this 1st half from the perspective that it was all buildup and story setup for the second half, the creators did a fairly decent job. We have a strong understanding of the characters, the story did well in establishing the setting, and the basic points of conflict have been elaborated upon and refined. The second season could make use of everything from this 1st half to create a more powerful, compelling story.

As of now, this 1st half of Rinne no Lagrange was a light, entertaining anime with a whimsical atmosphere and story. It never quite got super serious, and instead had a ton of bright, happy in tone slice of life moments that did not emphasize the more serious foreshadowing throughout the series. The writing doesn’t really blow your mind away with a superb story, but it does well in keeping characters fun to watch. I do wonder if the second half of this series will keep up this cheerful front, or decide to get serious, because that will probably determine whether Rinne no Lagrange will be well remembered or not.

Animation/Art: 8.0/10

Music: 7.5/10

Setting: 8.0/10

Characters: 8.0/10

Story: 7.5/10

Overall Enjoyment: 7.8/10

Rinne no Lagrange – 12 (Final)

Episode 12 Final –

Well it seems that this season has had quite a few rather decent endings. Considering how Lagrange hasn’t really done too much aside from buildup, this final episode had a good mix of foreshadowing and character focus. The climax was puzzling and a little mysterious, sure, but it was a good way to perk my curiosity enough to get me interested in the 2nd season for this series. On a side note, I’m finding it slightly frustrating that more anime are starting to turn into 2-cour “split in half” affairs. It’s already happened with Fate Zero and Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon, and now you could add Lagrange to the list.

Anyways, in terms of story, this episode had a rather straightforward climax and resolution. The resolution pretty much just noted how Madoka is, indeed, a strange girl, and has gotten entangled in something huge that she is not yet quite fully aware of. At the same time, the episode emphasized the notion of friendship and how, to Madoka, it is very important. The importance of friendship to her stems back to her own mother’s death, and it seems that traumatic event will have an impact on her worries for a while longer. Madoka’s temporary berserk-state was due to her fear of loss, which was triggered by the potential loss of her older sister figure.

The emotional moments, and the promises to meet each other again, were a strong hook towards the next season (where Lan and Muginami will obviously return). The ending also kept open a lot of questions, such as the intentions of Villagiulio and his groupies, the plotting of Lan’s older brother, and recently revealed, the young chairman’s strange tattoo engrained on her chest. There’s still lots of mysteries left to this story, and while the character development for this 1st half has been a bit lacking, the buildup in terms of plot and worldbuilding has kept things intriguing.

In the end, Rinne no Lagrange went out with a calm, emotional episode that betrayed the action-orientation I had expected of this finale. But in this case, I feel that it was a satisfying way to hook into a second season. The finale focused on the characters, prompted a few more little questions here and there, and kept the ending calm yet fun (and slightly saddening).

Overall Enjoyment: 4.0/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Rinne no Lagrange – 11

Episode 11 –

Rinne no Lagrange is set to be a split-cour anime, with it’s second half airing sometime later this year (similar to Fate/Zero’s setup). Because of this split cour setup, the ending for the 1st half of the series is fast approaching, and the creators made good use of the time to emphasize Madoka as a flawed main heroine. Along with some decent action scenes and some unexpected plot twists, this episode turned out to be a relatively good at building up towards the finale to this 1st half.

While we did have some bits of development for Muginami and Lan in previous episodes, this time around the story placed emphasis on weaknesses to Madoka’s character. She’s the type that maintains  a happy facade, but tries to hold her insecurities and worries on the inside. It was clearly evident that she has some insecurities about herself from back when she lost confidence in her first mech battle, her realization that Lan and Muginami made other friends, as well as the current situation where her sister/role model got injured. You could say that Madoka’s urge to ignore her previous decision and fight is precisely because she feels insecure; she doesn’t want to lose what little she has gained recently (friends, etc).

This episode may have been exploring her character, but it also involved a lot of mech battles and fighting that we haven’t seen on a this large of a scale. A significant part to this episode was actually how Muginami and Lan had to fight against a relatively large enemy force. Up until now we’ve only seen one-vs-one battles, so the inclusion of a large enemy force brought up some unexpected problems to overcome. The enemy could use tactics previously impossible to pull off due to lack of numbers, resulting in a divide-and-conquer strategy that placed a huge amount of pressure on the two heroines. Also, due to the multiple enemies and allies involved, the battle was more chaotic with unpredictable twists such as stray bullets, unexpected attacks, and so forth. There is a big plot hole here though; if the situation was dangerous, why didn’t the townsfolk evacuate the town again? They’re lucky that Villagiulio’s lackeys had the heart to defend the town.

The plot twist at the end of the episode prompts what will probably be one of the more pressing conflicts in the series; that is, the seemingly severe injury to Madoka’s sister will provoke a strong reaction out of Madoka. Madoka is fighting to protect the town, which stems from trauma due to her mother’s death, but also holds doubts about herself. There will probably be quite a bit of drama surrounding her in the next episode.

In the end, this episode escalates the stakes here with a large attack from enemy troops, prompting a fierce response from Madoka that resulted in another out-of-control Rin-ne to blossom. With the 1st half coming to a close, I guess it’s no surprise that an intense conflict has arisen, but the story still hasn’t answered some pressing questions. We still don’t know Madoka’s relationship to Yurikano, what Villagiulio is currently up to, what Lan’s brother is plotting, the significance to Asteria’s presence, and Madoka’s strange connection with Midori. These questions will probably be addressed in the second half of this series, which will begin airing in the Summer.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.6/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Rinne no Lagrange – 10

Episode 10 –

While I appreciate the buildup for this series, at the same time the characters are starting to lose some of the luster that made them so captivating in the first few episodes. Or to be more precise, I guess I’ve become very accustomed to their personalities, so now it’s the startling lack of change to their personas that is catching my attention. Nevertheless, the buildup for this series has been fairly noticeable, and while not exactly superb, does hint at a large conflict in the upcoming few weeks. The school festival atmosphere didn’t take away from the plot progression to this series, and heck, the episode even managed to keep in much of it’s typical silly moments. We’re also starting to see more signs of some character development, especially for Madoka.

If we’re talking about silly moments, the most obvious and consistently present ones would be the scenes revolving around Lan’s “gap moe”. For those that are unfamiliar with the term, “gap moe” pretty much is when a character has two or more seemingly contradictory traits. For Lan, it would be the fact that it is surprisingly easy for her to get embarrassed over little mistakes and surprises, contradictory to her “calm and cool” personality. The moment where she tries to crack a joke (and fails miserably), as well as the scene where she walked out of a haunted house wailing, are moments where her tough-exterior betrays her actual, more impressionable personality.

Silly moments aside, the episode does also decide to delve a bit into the insecurities that Madoka suffers from, which become rather obvious even after her attempts to hide them. Of course, the little blonde chairman pointing out the flaws certainly made things easier. As we’ve already seen in previous episodes, Madoka has had moments of weakness where she was like any other teenage girl you might know, and this episode continues to reinforce such an image. Even with her headstrong, stubborn personality, she also holds insecurities with regards to potentially losing her friends, and how they need her far less than she feels she needs them. It’s a bit of a abstract conflict, sure, but it’s also a conflict that is totally believable to see in a teenager who had, until recently, been the only member to her club in school. The conflict was obviously dire enough to make Madoka forget about her promise to not pilot her Vox machine, Midori. Whether this will have repercussions in the future remains to be seen, though I personally have no doubt that something will result from her sudden change in perspective.

In addition to the focus on Madoka, this week’s episode also doesn’t forget to emphasize the buildup that’s been a primary issue for the past few weeks. The villains at work here aren’t divided into your typical good-vs-evil roles, and the blurring of who exactly is ally or foe makes the upcoming battle in space a rather ominous affair. We still don’t know exactly who is really trying to help out the main trio, and don’t quite know their intentions either. There does seem to be some sort of interstellar power struggle going on here though. The worldbuilding for Lagrange has been decent, and contributes a lot to the complexity of the villains in this show.

In the end, with Lagrange being split up into two seasons, this episode was obviously meant to be buildup towards the climactic finish to this first half of the show. Rinne no Lagrange has lost some of the strength it had towards the beginning of the series, but it still has a compelling enough set of characters to maintain interest. The inclusion of a more ambiguous set of antagonists, and some decent worldbuilding further complements the characters. The show does suffer from some flaws (such as the extremely slow level of character development), but they are flaws that are easy to overlook as of now.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.3/5

P.S. Little easter egg here. Apparently the creators to this series really dislike some guy named Ken, or at least, doesn’t like him enough to write a rather offensive comment on one of the shirts of the background characters.

Screenshots are later in the post.

Rinne no Lagrange – 09

Episode 09 –

Yep, we have another buildup episode here. And we also see a brief glimpse of a girl who seems to have been quite the influential figure, and is strikingly similar to Madoka (especially because their voices sound the same). Obviously the creators are trying to draw some parallels between the two characters, and seems to be a major hint at the possible major conflict in the future. The buildup itself revolves around the same issues that had arisen in previous episodes, where it’s becoming evident that a power struggle is starting to emerge over the Vox machines. We still don’t quite know what the interested parties are after, but it looks like it can turn out ugly.

That being said, amidst this rather political heavy atmosphere, the actual story involving the main cast has been much more about slice-of-life moments and goofy character interactions. Madoka, Lan, and Muginami haven’t really gotten much character development as a result of the focus on the slice-of-life, which is a bit disappointing to say the least. Madoka has been fleshed out the most out of the main trio, mainly via her connection with Midori, but it hasn’t been a particular focal point as of now.

The characters are starting to become the weakness to this series, where there isn’t much character exploration going on. To compensate, the story does try to focus in on the escalating situation amongst the higher powers behind the scenes, and to be fair it is rather interesting. But the lack of compelling characters makes the plot more difficult to really get into. In short, the buildup here is unfolding in a way that doesn’t take advantage of the flaws to the characters, and instead, leaves them stagnant in terms of growth. It’s a bit ironic how Lagrange started off strong and Mouretsu was slow, and now it seems the reverse is true.

Overall Enjoyment: 2.9/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Rinne no Lagrange – 08

Episode 08 –

Rinne no Lagrange will be following the trend set by anime like Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon and Fate/Zero, and will air in two divided halves this year. Thus, I guess it’s no surprise that Rinne no Lagrange is currently in the build-up phase, where it’s slowly laying down the details to a situation that will probably explode into a major issue in the near future.

What I’m coming to appreciate about this series is that it’s not obvious as to what the antagonists are exactly up to, or heck, who is actually the antagonists. The show isn’t making this a battle of just purely good vs evil, but rather, is slowly painting a very political situation where it seems that many unknown forces are playing a shadowy role in the future of the Vox machines. There seems to be multiple factions fighting over the Vox machines, and it looks like things may get dirty from here on out depending on how things go.

Another nice detail on the creator’s part is making Madoka, the main heroine, a character who isn’t some high-flying idealist. Rather, this show displays how she is a simple, vulnerable teenage girl who also has her own set of doubts and worries. Her uncertainties come to the forefront when she confronts the issue of piloting her Vox machine, Midori, again. She openly voices how she isn’t confident enough in herself to say that she would be able to stop any sort of accidental (and potentially severe) consequences. Her statement reflects upon how she realizes that there can be consequences to her actions, and it’s the uncertainty that worries her.

And finally, this episode did a lot of world-building by detailing the origins of the “aliens” that are currently seeking the Vox machines, as well as push the story forward in a non-actiony way. I never quite expected this series to deviate from the mecha battles that have been the sole source of major conflict so far, but the story has added an extra layer of complexity by including the idea of multiple battling factions. The story could maybe get good from here on out, but it honestly depends on the execution of the story.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.3/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Rinne no Lagrange – 07

Episode 07 –

It’s episodes like this that remind me that Xebec isn’t exactly the best anime studio out there. The visuals have remained quite well-drawn, which is surprising considering how consistent the series has been so far with it’s animation. However, this episode was loaded with fanservice, fanservice, and more fanservice. Seriously, were the ratings to Rinne no Lagrange falling or something? To be fair, the episode did have some moments of good character development for Muginami, as well as reinforced the image that enemies might not be clear cut as they seem, but the fanservice really stuck out like a sore thumb by the end of the episode. The episode was somewhat low-key with it’s character interactions, yet the contrast with the fanservice just felt kind of bizarre.

To be fair, the episode tried to be more serious in tone in the first half. There was some serious introspection on Madoka and Muginami’s part in the beginning, where they each began to realize the problems their attitudes have caused. It is surprising just how clueless Madoka and Muginami could be at times, but at least they realize it over the course of the episode. Of course, the episode does run into the issue where they are pushing the character relationships far too fast. After all, who the heck would call anybody a member of your “family” after knowing them for only a day or so, only to learn she was a member of the “enemy” faction? Yea, pacing was definitely an issue here, where the proper way to do things would have been to slowly develop Muginami over the course of the series.

As for the fanservice itself, I will openly admit that it might simply be an issue of cultural differences. Japanese culture, after all, is known to be somewhat accepting of nudity in certain situations, so the stuff like the skinny-dipping and breast-groping might be passable. The eel-in-the-pool segment, though, was utterly unnecessary. Honestly, I don’t know what to say other than it was a complete turn-off for me, and ruined whatever little story this episode did have.

In the end, the fanservice ended up being a huge distraction from the overall plot. The episode does try to push forward character development, but it is flawed with it’s super-fast-paced approach. The writing isn’t exactly exceptional this week, and the “sad” moments felt weak at best. The idea of seeing everybody as “family” after barely knowing each other was the most poorly thought out idea this episode, where it had no strongly tangible impact on my perception of the characters. Rinne no Lagrange has pretty visuals and decent action, but it’s starting to falter in terms of characterization and plot. And that is not a good sign.

Overall Enjoyment: 2.8/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Rinne no Lagrange – 06

Episode 06 –

Rinne no Lagrange has been a surprising show in some ways, while a bit generic in others. So far it has taken up the generic notions of mecha anime that most fans are quite familiar with, and adds some different twists to some of them. The main one would probably be the emphasis on character interactions rather than gruesome and fast-paced mech battles, and of course, the added inclusion of slice of life elements.

Unlike some other anime airing this season, though, the slice of life elements seemlessly incorporates the tensions that come into play during the mech battles, and adds a valuable layer of complexity to the battles themselves. The chemistry between the cast is also developing quite nicely, with this episode in particular being devoted to both Muginami and Madoka. To be fair, character development is lacking a bit in some regards; Madoka has been pretty stagnant as a character after she gained the confidence to pilot Midori, and Muginami was more on the predictable side with her protective actions. Nevertheless, Lagrange has made it quite obvious that characters will be the focus of this series.

One thing that definitely should be noted is just how consistent the art and animation for this series has been so far. The visuals continue to be quite clean and well drawn, and is especially noticeable during the action sequences. While the character interactions are key to this show, the mecha battles are nothing to scoff at either.

If there’s one aspect to this series I’m starting to appreciate, it’s how the story is slowly building up while blurring the distinction between who is an enemy and who is an ally. The “invaders” that are the supposed enemies seem to have some intentions that are questionable, but they don’t quite seem to be out to destroy the world or anything. By that same token, the guy who advises Lan is much more suspicious than he initially seemed to be (Madoka’s sister seems to be catching on). The result here is an ambiguous threat where we don’t know who is friend or foe; it’s a level of complexity beyond that of simply good vs evil.

In the end, Rinne no lagrange does suffer from some issues with regards to characterization. Nevertheless, the series has done a surprisingly good job with integrating character dynamics with a overarching plot that has elements of intrigue, emotional drama, and action. The results have been fairly surprising so far, with a level of character engagement that has been quite enjoyable to watch. I am a bit curious on how the series will progress from here on, but Lagrange has definitely turned out to be one of my favorites from this Winter season so far.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.8/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Rinne no Lagrange – 05

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.

Rinne no Lagrange – 04

Episode 04 –

Well, this show certainly isn’t being subtle with it’s character relationships, especially between the trio of girls. That being said, it seems that Lagrange is also going to be a more character-driven anime, similar to some other series airing this season. The character interactions are given emphasis this time around, and the goofy nature to their relationships actually keeps things down-to-earth yet fun. Or at least, there isn’t unnecessary drama that you would normally find in other anime, such as how there was no ridiculous “kiss” drama during the CPR scene.

To be fair, the story is a bit on the slow side, and the actual situations at hand don’t exactly scream “unique”. Everything that happened this episode, from the maid scene, to Lan being a clumsy girl, to the swimsuit competition (aka fanservice), certainly aren’t anything creative or new to the world of anime. And what’s up with everybody suddenly living together with the main girl?

Part of the charm to this series is actually the characters, and how they have been portrayed. The characters actually don’t feel like over-reactive, overdramatic people. Rather, they all feel real and down to earth. Sure, Madoka is excessively positive and energetic at times. Yet at the same time, as we saw two episodes ago, she also lost self-confidence in the face of danger, and was scared just like any other teenage girl. As for Lan, while she seems like the super-serious type, this episode forces us to realize that she too is a young girl. And like any other teenage girl, she too goes through feelings such as jealousy, embarrassment, and so forth. Even Muginami is refreshing to some degree, where her ditzy characterization hides a seemingly much more complex persona.

Surprisingly enough, while the series does have it’s fair share of stereotypes, at the same time Rinne no Lagrange has been solidly executed. The story, while slow, doesn’t feel like it is dragging along at a slow pace. The characters are energetic and goofy, yet also surprisingly likable and decently written. And the visuals are still fairly good as well. While this show has seemed simple enough, it has managed to do a lot of things right, and for that I do believe the creators deserve some kudos.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.4/5

Screenshots are later in the post.