Category: Robotics;Notes

This is a question to the people who pilot real robots: is it really comparable to video games?

You know, I have never controlled robots other than your occasional radio-controlled car as a kid, but it seems to me that there is much more involved than just learning the controls. Most notably: keeping the balance. As a video game programmer, I’d want to make controlling a character as simple and easy as possible, but is that really viable with a robot that is bound by real physical rules, and who tumbles over if the balance is even a slight bit off?

This is criticism, but I don’t think that it’ll hurt this series that much. I personally think that Btooom’s lack of realism in its bombs is a bigger flaws. Still, I think it’s worth to think about how robots would really move in order to better understand this series, compared to doing this when the plot twists really start coming and all hell breaks loose, based on these flaws. I remember having trouble to accept some of Steins;Gate’s biggest plot points (which I won’t mention here due to spoilers).

In any case, this episode was surprisingly witty. I liked how the characters already went to a local robot tournament and had a bit of fun in the matches, but especially that Pleiades guy was a very nice twist. It’s a very creative way to introduce a new character. This episode also introduced the actual character of Frau, and her character too seemed pretty interesting based on her off-screen actions and that single smirk of her.

What I also like is how this show also has exciting music in quiet scenes, most notably the build-up scene right before the match.
Rating: 5/8 (Great)

Hell yeah! This is what I’ve been waiting for for years now: two Noitamina series, airing at the same time, taking up 22 episodes. Especially after the kick in the balls that was Guilty Crown, it’s great to see Production IG actually making up for that with two actually good series now.

Robotics;Notes and Psycho Pass are both science fiction series, but their execution is completely different. The former focuses more on suspense, the latter on slice of life. The former is about adults, the latter about teenagers. The former will be more tense and more exciting to watch, the latter will have better fleshed out characters. It’s a matter of time to see which one fares better.

The one thing I like about the semicolon series is that they’re all different. Instead of trying to make a Steins;Gate 2 with an Okabe ripoff, the characters aim to be completely different characters here, not to mention that the themes, while still science fiction, are completely different, and there is much more slice of life here, even compared to the already slow-paced Steins;Gate. The results are mixed.

The thing with Steins;Gate was that it had its complete own style that set itself miles apart from all other series. Robotics;Notes doesn’t have that and just looks like a teenaged high school series. On the other hand, this also leads it to try less hard: none of the characters are as out there as with the cast of Steins;Gate. The result is that the characters aren’t as enjoyable to watch, but also they’re far from as annoying as some of the characters in Steins;Gate were.

I still like the characters of Robotics;Notes, especially the lead female as she actually gets things done and has a goal to work for. The male lead still needs to crawl out of his shell and get away from gaming. By far the most dubious point in this episode was where he agreed in front of an exhausted female lead to pilot, only if she changed the controls to be more like his favorite game. I mean this guy just totally is not flexible. Why does he stand in the foreground of the promo art, hinting that he will be the central character? Let the girl be the one to stand in the spotlights! Oh wait, they did; never mind.
Rating: 4.5/8 (Good)