Category: Rinne no Lagrange

Eh. This remains Xebec, unfortunately. I’m glad that next season they will end up animating something as manly as Yamato (it had better not be just a recap!). This episode brought back the shameless fanservice unfortunately, and overall only was interesting because of how it completed the bonding between the three main characters, something we knew was about to happen.

With those boob groping scenes, I just can’t help but think back to that parody that B Gata H Kei had in it once, where they showed what the male version of that would be like. Yeah. I would know this, but do females really randomly get naked and grope each other when there are no males around? And okay, if the fanservice was creative I would not have minded. But this was the same stuff we see everywhere.

In any case, there sure are a lot of building up episodes this week, which doesn’t make it the most interesting in terms of anime. The trick with building up is to remain interesting, and Muginami’s backstory just wasn’t interesting enough for that, unfortunately.
Rating: – (Disappointing)

That was yet again an excellent episode from Rinne no Lagrange. The creators had a particularly nice role for Muginami here, leading up to a finale that finally made the whole premise behind this series a bit more intriguing. And on top of that the artistic direction was particularly solid this episode.

Also, this show has found a very good way to keep me entertained during the quiet parts when it’s building up. The chemistry between the characters still is as sharp as ever. I’m referring to those small details, like Madoka getting lost inside the building for a while, or the way in which the officer forgot one of her hair curlers. The energy drinks were fun too. It all just brings life to these characters, much more beyond what you would have expected at first.

The battle in this episode also wasn’t brainless action, but instead really focused on the characters here, as the titular Rinne finally makes its appearance.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Holy crap.

I mean it’s easy to just dismiss this show based on first looks. A bunch of girls piloting mechas to save aliens? That sounds completely generic. And yet the execution and direction are just so damn good here. I mean, this is the Fafner team of Xebec, working together with Tatsuo Sato, written by the guy who wrote the second half of Darker than Black. And it’s true that the biggest sin of this series is being so generic: with an execution and staff like this, just imagine what it could have been if it had an actually good premise here.

Nevertheless, the characters in this episode were awesome. The chemistry between these guys is really fun to watch. This episode introduced the main bad guy, and this completely sets Muginami apart from the stereotypical ditzy girl she was at first. This episode first starts with revealing that she indeed is a villain, making use of some great tension between her and Lan, only to reveal afterwards that she has just been acting on her own, and instead is being seen as a parasite by her comrades.

These kinds of episodes really allow the sharp direction here to shine. The main villain is also very interesting at this point (the coat thing was very funny), and the sharpness and timing of the dialogue here is subtle, yet witty. On top of that, this show has a second season confirmed in the summer season, so there will be enough time to really flesh these characters out.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

The chemistry between the characters is really good in this series. This was supposed to be just a dull building up episode, but thanks to that chemistry I didn’t mind that at all. These characters are very funny when they’re together, and I’m not just referring to the main characters. The side-cast also is full of characters who are great to watch and who love to make quips towards each other.

One of my biggest fears for this series was the third main character. The last thing that this series needed was another ditzy stupid female. And yet, surprisingly she turned out to be a completely different character, using her traces of ditziness actually to her own advantage. I also like how this series didn’t try to glorify how she was using CPR. It’s been a while since I didn’t see someone freak out and link saving lives to randomly kissing.

Unfortunately, one very annoying cliche slipped by. Two, actually. The first is the lead character suddenly living together with a bunch of cute girls. The main one though was the “waitress scene”. That’s something I’ve seen dozens of times before and it was only saved because of the good characterization.

And again: this episode showed the damages of the last episode being rebuilt, both for the main characters and the aliens. Another thing that this series does well is that the town that this is set in feels alive. This show is very good at putting in small details that flesh out the characters, but it’s doing the same thing with the setting. I like that.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

And this is why you should never leave a teenager in charge of intergalactic negotiations. “Long term? Who the hell cares about long term! You attacked us so I’ll attack back!’. Also, this is something that I’ve been noticing in quite a few other series as well. I mean, I get stylizing things as “there is no sound in space” and stuff. But it’s a bit bizarre to have the dark parts of the moon translucent…

In any case, I like what this series is doing here. Once again this episode placed a lot of focus on continuity. The battles aren’t just destroying random buildings. They’re destroying random buildings that people live in. It shows that everyone is involved.

Also, my fears of Madoka being too perfect also turned out to be ungrounded. Her aforementioned stubbornness is an interesting way to show her flaws. The enemy was willing to actually negotiate, and yet her pride for her hometown was an interesting way for her to ignore that. The big danger for this is taking it too far. Flawed characters are of course great to watch, but when these flaws make them mindlessly stupid then it’s just a sure sign of bad writing. So far though, Madoka isn’t really stupid. Just mindless and really impulsive. On top of having some bad ideas, she also balanced this out with some good ideas. Part of the fun of this show is how she perplexes everyone around her aside from her cousin. That cousin who really needs a bigger role here.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Rinne no Lagrange’s biggest flaw is its pointless fanservice. Aside from that, it definitely doesn’t stand as inferior as the other Tatsuo Sato series this season. Where Mouretsu Pirates had its characters that impressed me, Rinne no Lagrange surprised me with how creative its direction can be. And I don’t mean in the big lines; that part is pretty standard. Instead, I’m referring to the small scenes and scenarios. These were written with inspiration.

The result is a standard mecha show at first, with some nice touches once you look more closely. Ships that were destroyed last episode are still broken and help bring continuity in the world, to that one robot that was defeated being towed away… still upside down. But I’m also referring to things like getting lost while trying to find a hotspot for your cell phone. Oh, and the regular weapons actually aren’t useless this time, but actually serve their purpose to buy time.

The crowning moment of this episode however was the underwater scene. It’s a very neat idea at that point in the episode, to just have her quietly talk with her sister. when she felt down. And Youko, you made my day. You are without a doubt my favorite character of this series.

The cast in this series is fleshed out very differently from Mouretsu Pirates. Mouretsu Pirates did it by giving characters really time to play themselves out. It had humour, but that was secondary. In this show though, the tongue-in-cheek nature is much more a core part of this show, and the characters are fleshed out in how they react to everything, rather than how they act.

Oh, and that soundtrack of this show is really good here.
Rating: ** (Excellent)