Anime: Argento Soma 6v535n

Here’s how I generally rate my anime:

Art & Animation: 4.1/5
* Artwork: 4 (Good.)
* Animation: 4 (Good.)
* Originality: 5 (Excellent!)

Backgrounds, mechas and most of things are really well-made. Characters are a little bit weird, though. I never got used to how they look. But the artwork is pretty unique, I’ll give them that. The animation is also really nice. Fights are not that realistic, though. It’s easy to discern which scenes were made in a hurry or lazily and which weren’t. But, all in all, it’s good.

Sound: 3.2/5
* Sound Effects: 2 (Bad.)
* BGM: 4 (Good.)
* Voice: 4 (Good.)

I personally didn’t like Argentosoma’s sound effects. I think it’s the worst shooting sounds I’ve ever heard! I also didn’t like those alien moans and most woosh sounds, as they were too taken-from-a-generic-sound-effects-database for me. The BGM, on the other hand, was awesome and really gets you in the right mood most of the time. Not only that, I caught myself humming and trying to sing along—no better sign of great music! I'll have to complain about the ending theme, though. While the opening is amazingly beautiful, I can't believe how bad the ending theme was! Voice acting was good. My only complaint is some high-pitched voices that were really annoying—especially because those characters were the ones screaming the most. Technically speaking, no problems there, but my ears didn’t like it at all.

Story: 3.4/5
* Concept: 4 (Good.)
* Development: 4 (Good.)
* Originality: 1 (Terrible!)

Well, what can I say? This is so much a clone of NGE that I felt ashamed. You get very similar aliens (not officially being called "angels" but having halos nonetheless) coming from space trying to get to a specific location in Earth while humanity tries to prevent it. In order to do so, humankind relies on the very same alien technology they're fighting against, only modified to satisfy humans' necessities. And by "alien technology" you may understand "mechas/giant robots/giant monsters". But, given the chance, it proves to be really good! It couldn’t go wrong, anyway (actually it could, but it didn’t). On the other hand... I won’t spoil it for you, but it was a letdown when I found out why the aliens were invading. It may have been a huge letdown for me, but unexpected nonetheless and it didn’t spoil the fun. They did a really good job working their ideas into it, but I get the impression that they could’ve done better with half the episodes they used.

Characters: 4.5/5
* Likeability: 4 (Good.)
* Development: 5 (Excellent!)
* Individuality: 5 (Excellent!)

I didn’t specially love the characters (besides Hattie and Mr. X), but you’ve gotta give them some credit for being unique in their own personalities. They’re also really well-developed, learning, changing and revealing themselves to us throughout the series.

Value: 2.8/5
* Sentimental Value: 4 (Good.)
* Historical Value: 2 (Bad.)
* Rewatchability: 2 (Bad.)

In the end I kind of got attached to it. Not too much, though. Maybe because of my love for NGE? I can’t tell for sure. Would I wanna watch it again? Hmm, I don’t think so. It’s way too slow-paced for rewatching. Is it important in anime history? Only if you consider NGE cloning, since it’s the best of this genre (if you can call it that) I’ve seen so far.

Enjoyment: 4/5 (Good.)

I enjoyed watching Argentosoma. I had this “I wanna watch the next episode now because I HAVE TO KNOW!” feeling, but sometimes I felt kind of unmotivated because nothing really happened in some episodes.

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Verdict: 7.56/10

Well, I have to say it—best NGE clone there is! And don’t get me wrong, this is a good thing! As I was watching the first 4 or 5 episodes I almost gave up keeping it up, but I’m glad I didn’t. That’s basically what I have to say. Don’t give up if you think this is WAY too much like NGE at the beginning—it will have been worth your time by the end of it!

Well this is unprecedented in the time since I write reviews: I actually waited for my impressions on Argento Soma to cool off before I actually started writing this review or else I might have succumbed to rating this anime as a 9.5+ series. Why? Because I simply loved Argento Soma to bits. I've been at a stalemate with mecha anime recently so AS came as a refresher after a lot of anime that really couldn't appeal much to me. So I watched AS after having put it off for about a year. I must say it has been one of the best anime experiences I ever had, partly because of the main character that I found to be at times extremely interesting and at others very annoying (more on this later) and partly because of the story that truly becomes a masterpiece as it progresses and lastly...because of the mecha action of course. He he...read through this to see my reasoning for my noting.

Animation
Let's start off with the character designs and the mecha designs shall we?
Actually I really can't say much on the matter. I found the designs for AS to be quite original and very attractive. I am talking about characters and mechs as well. Especially the mecha designs were very original, the headless, transformable mech being quite interesting, especially later in the anime as some things happen.
Next, Frank's design was a bit awkward at first but you soon get used to him and his Frankenstein type of look.
And lastly on the design scene we have the aliens that almost always look the same with very little differences from foe to foe. It's somewhat understandable as the aliens are what they are (as show in the latter episodes) so I shall not consider that to be a minus.
Each and every single scene is beautifully detailed as are the characters and mechs...the animation is not put to shame even by current standards. I say this because the anime really manages to be quite lively when it comes to battles which are in all and every way beautiful, combined with the characters and their personalities...I must say I was on the edge of my seat at times. I can't find many flaws in the animation style so I can't really say anything bad about it. It was a beautiful anime with character and mech designs that were both pretty original and interesting.

Sound
Argento Soma could have been one of the best anime when it comes to music. Indeed, the opening piece is marvelous. It's truly a work of art such a beautiful song it is...Silent Wind. Sadly, the ending is far from the quality of the opening so I just skipped it most of the times. The voices were good so I have no complaints on this part either...the VAs were great and brought their characters to life irably.
The problem is the BGM. The producers really only managed to hit it 50-50 here. Although there are quite a few tracks that are wonderful, the problem comes because of the fact that the music is badly placed. There are times in which heroic and spirit lifting music is used in situations when it is completely unneeded and situations that could be made better go without the aid of the music. That is the only thing that disappointed me.

Story
I have seen in Argento Soma a development of a seemingly average story into a masterpiece as I never hoped to see. The anime starts off as being episodic with a really confused story (note: not "confusing" but "confused") that has no idea as to where it wants to go and it jumps around with absolutely no idea as to where it was heading. The first episodes are chaotic in the very least, characters come and go, and even characters that seem to have a greater role in the story are brushed aside in mere minutes. It was somewhat satisfactory to see death so ever present but in a way I found it annoying that potentially interesting characters are set aside with no second thoughts. But what it lacks in coherency in the first episodes, the anime manages to replace with action and character interaction. I really could not get annoyed with the plotless first episodes.
The story continues pretty decently, although at times just seeming to concentrate on the everlasting "monster of the week" cliché it manages to gain momentum as it goes on, and simply explode in the final episodes. The end of this anime (episodes 24 and 25) simply left me with my mouth opened and my heart stopped in suspense. One of the best, most touching endings I have seen. Plus that it is one of the few anime that shows what happens after the alleged ending to the actual action and goes into the future of the anime.
I loved Argento Soma's story...truly a masterpiece by my standards.

Character
And now we have the characters. First off I must say that the only character I had the slightest problem with was Ryu Soma. The character just seems to fit into anything, he was a Jack-of-all-trades, nothing was unknown to him be it alchemy, bionics or piloting a mech. At first all of this seems to just encumber the character and he looses any and all credibility he may have. But soon, each element starts to fit into its own socket and Ryu Soma becomes a very interesting character through his interactions with the others and, ultimately, through his very evolution which is completed in the very last episode. I can only ire this character through his grief, his reactions, his petty obsessions and his overall attitude.
The ing cast is all but to be brushed aside. Each character is developed with their motives brought to light, gently but surely. The OVA released 2 years after the original series completes the character Sue who was the only one that annoyed me because she was simply there, with no reason or background. Well, that is forgiven.
And lastly, I mustn't forget good, ol' Frank who actually turns into a character in the end, a stunning turn of events in the story-line.
I believe I've said enough on the characters of Argento Soma, one of the best casts I have had the pleasure of watching in the past months.

Value
This was an anime that I have enjoyed like none other for months. I trully loved the story, the characters, the graphic style and even the music at times. I will surely rewatch the whole thing because it is rare thar an anime comes this close to my all time favorites.

A side note: I am fully aware of the shameless inspirations from Evangelion but I am not taking down points for this for the simple fact that the elements "borrowed" are put to work decent enough to keep me interested in the anime. I don't mind rip-offs as long as there is a good use to it.

A wonderful, truly wonderful anime.

Animation

The animation is good for its time. Even though at the end, the animation is rather inconsistent, the general design of mechs and characters is unique.

Sound

The music matches with the action. The voices portray well the character. And the opening song gives the unforgettable melody .

Story

The story begins somewhat similar to a romance genre but progresses toward self-awareness packed with actions and mysteries. It leaves the audience few question behind (like how the Dr. Lawrence moves around like ghost...) but the ending is satisfactory.

Character

The development of character is consistent. I like how it build up the main protagonist personality. Very typical drama that starts with hatred and ends with love.

Value

I wrote this review right after watching it but i will definitely watch it again in the future. Just like other Sci-Fi movies, it has some philosophical view to think about.

Enjoyment

The series is exciting to the very end (Except the meetings where the scientists give you a bunch of information that take forever to get to the point).

Animation

I'll be the first to it that I'm a mecha fanboy, and I know that the mecha weren't the foundation of the anime in this as they are in so many other series, but even so, I was a tad unimpressed by the designs, but it could have been worse.

The character design, however, was superb. In fact, Ryu Soma's haircut alone drove me to start sketching anime again. So, there you go.

Sound

The English voice acting was bearable, although like most English dub jobs it was -just- bearable. Hattie's voice got on my nerves 5 minutes after she was introduced, and I had to switch it back to Japanese.

The opening music was catchy, and earned itself a place on my Hard Drive, though the end theme seemed oddly out of place.

Story

It was a lot better than I expected. It went as most anime does, and dedicated a couple episodes to each character, pretty much. In all honesty, throughout the whole thing, I was reminded of the Disney movie "The Iron Giant". O.o I will say, I didn't like the ending all that much.

Characters

The characters were a little stereotypical, in my eyes, but not unbearbly so. You had the hothead, the calm and collected girl, the childish girl, and the cold as ice guy. Typical for a lot of anime. The development of most of the characters was pretty well done, but with a couple of them it was sorely lacking.

Value

I would recommend this to just about anyone. If I had known where I could find it, I would have bought the DVD collection.

Enjoyment

A little bit of everything, though it could have used more mecha action. All in all a good series.

Another well-known anime without review, sigh... here goes mine.

Animation

Maybe, the part I enjoyed most is the design and artwork. The mechas concept is really interesting, specially the left-sided cockpit. The inking is welldone. The color palette is well used to enhance the emotive atmosphere.

Sound

The seiyuu did a great job here, in particular Hattie's voice---the little girl. In these series the soundtrack (op, ending, and ambient music) proves to be one of the kind, using instrumental tango was quite original. Hattori Katsuhisa, Crest of the Stars and infinite RYVIUS, in one of his best performance. I liked a lot the Japanese version of "A Wonderful World," sang by Hattie and Frank is lovely.

Story

At first it feels like NGE, but it is just the shell. Besides the following similarities: aliens attacking earth, trying to reach a particular place, the counter-attack force uses aliens corpses to fight them, it is nothing alike. The first part is about avenge the lost of a beloved. But latter the plot splits into many areas: mankind space exploration, side effects of science discoveries, and the consequences of our own behavior. The conclusion is really unexpected.

Characters

The anime first introduce all the characters, and often offers flashbacks. These characters are always trying to overcome their weakness, I liked this particulary. The main character, Ryu Soma, is first an avenger and latter a scientist; that is, he realizes his mistakes as the series progress. Even, the alien, Frank, madurates.

Value

Just the excelent music makes this anime rewatchable. But, the story is so imaginative that I am actually seeing it for the third time.

Enjoyment

There are so many angles, so well-developed characters. But you have to wait until the 4th or 5th episode to start enjoying the "real" Argento Soma.