Aldnoah.Zero: Mecha, Moon Hypergates and Martian Knights

A Moon discovery flips the entire timeline on its head: Apollo 17 finds the Hypergate, Mars becomes reachable in an instant, and humanity stumbles into alien technology that turns politics into warfare. I’m JB, and on Mecha Monday I take Aldnoah.Zero from its big alternate history premise to the messy fallout that follows when Mars declares independence and the Burst Empire decides Earth is next.

I get real about my watch experience too. Subbed, the names and moving parts washed over me. Dubbed, the plot clicks faster, but pacing is pacing, and I talk about why the series still felt slow even with action and drama on screen. We also hit what Aldnoah.Zero absolutely nails: strong music cues, emotional highs and lows, and rugged, worn-in Cataphract designs that make the conflict feel lived in. Then I dig into the “too many cooks” issue and how multiple writing voices can blur focus.

From there, I break down the core trio that carries the story: Inaho’s cold-blooded battlefield logic and AI eye upgrades, Slain’s loyalty turning into a personal war, and Princess Asseylum caught between symbol and human being while trying to stop the bloodshed. I also talk endings, including why a grim stop can sometimes feel more honest than forcing an upbeat wrap, and I land on a 7/10 along with where I’d place it on a mecha anime starter path next to Gurren Lagann and 86.

If you’re into mecha anime, military sci-fi, and anime reviews that don’t sugarcoat boredom or hype, hit play. Subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review, then tell me: where would you rank Aldnoah.Zero?

Transcript

Mecha Monday And The Premise

SPEAKER_01 0:00

What up, gang? It's JB, and the Zone Podcast is back at it again with another Mecha Monday. Today's topic is AUNOA Zero. In an alternate 1972, during the Apollo 17 mission, an ancient alien artifact named the Hypergate was discovered on the surface of the moon, allowing for near instantaneous travel to and from Mars and the colonization of Mars. After settlers discovered additional alien technology on Mars known as Al Noah, they unilaterally declared dependence, independence, from Earth and to found the Burst Empire. Later, the Burst Empire declared war on Earth in 1999. And a battle on the moon's surface causes the hypergate to explode, scattering the moon and scattering the remnants of the moon into a debris belt around Earth. Cut off from Mars, the remnants of the Burst Empire forces establishes several massive orbital space stations within the debris belt, and a ceasefire was established. 15 years later, in 2014, an attack on the first princess of Earth during a diplomatic mission to Earth causes the Empire and its 37 clans of orbital knights to launch a new attack on Earth, this time determined to conquer it once and for all. Now, initially, when this anime was new, I kind of snoozed through it. Like watching it sub, it was alright, but I don't know. I just felt like a whole bunch of words out to me at first. But then I watched it dubed, and I was like, okay, it's easier to keep up with what's going on. But even then, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna hold y'all, I'm not gonna lie, it's kind of boring to me. I don't know. Like even though there's a fairly good bit of action and drama and whatnot, just eh, just visually, the series still holds up, and the music is very good to hear. Bonus points for the worn-out designs for the uh cataprat units and uh musical numbers complementing the emotional highs and lows of the show. However, having four writers on this, it felt like too many cooks in the kitchen. That's just me. I mean, it it would have been one thing if it was like well no I don't know, just felt like a lot. Uh, you know what? I'm gonna uh just talk about the main three characters for the most part since they pretty much make up what goes on with this series. I'm gonna start with Inoho. Uh Inoho, uh Kaisuka, the primary protagonist, a student attending uh Shinawara High School at the top of his class. He lives with his elder sister Yugi before the start of the war, on which the plot is focused. When the war begins, he joins the United Forces of Earth along with his classmates in the war against Earth. He is characterized by his by being motionless, stoic, uh crazy enough. Um, some people were like wondering like, is he like autistic? I'm like no comment. In addition, he displays extraordinary ingenuity in battle, regularly devising devastating tactics to defeat Martian Knights in battle. According to Yuki, he may have developed feelings for Princess Asylum, and this is later proven true when his AI partner inadvertently confesses to Asalem that Inaho sees her as an extension of himself and values his life even more than his own during the war, while the rest of the squad uses more heavily armored KG7 Arion. I hope I pronounced that correctly. He operates a training unit, the KG6 Slefnir, as his personal machine, preferring his greater maneuverability over the thicker armor of the Arion, which he correctly determines matters little in the war against the more technologically advanced first empire. He has the ability to activate out Noah drive technology, having inadvertently received a part of Salian's powers after carrying out CPR on her and accidentally ingesting some of her blood and saliva. That's unitary and gross and a little dangerous. After he was shot by Swain, he receives a cybernetic left eye to replace the damaged one. The eye, which contains both a processor specialized in movement prediction algorithms intended to replace the also damaged temporal cortex of his brain, and an AI, originally designed to run set algorithms, advances his ability to engage orbital knights to an even higher degree, but the more powerful AI run eye comes at a massive cost as his inability to process large amounts of data for a long period of time continues to damage his brain. In the final battle of the war, he defeats Slain in one-to-one cataphractic combat, sparing his life at the request of a Salem. After which, Slane is imprisoned, and the series ends with Inoho having the AI run implant removed, explaining a Salem's wish that he lived to uh Slain and confirming that Inoho will watch over him during his imprisonment. He leaves Slain's um private prison looking out to the sea, reminiscing about his days with Salem. Okay, that was just the main guy. Now, let's switch over to Slain and Oh my god, that's a whole lot to say about these three characters. Slain Troyart, the secondary protagonist, is a Terran, you know, earthborn human, subservient to the birth count um Crutail and Eno's Nemesis. Slay is a close friend of Princess Salem who saved Slain and his now deceased father five years prior to the beginning of the story. He is fiercely loyal to her, and although he is at first a pacifist, he will shoot to kill when he believes that Princess Salem's life, uh safety, is endangered. After a sauce bomb nearly kills a Salem, he shoots and leaves Inaho for dead, sparing Saussbomb and declares his full loyalty to the Martians. He is later knighted by Count Sawsbomb and pilots the Cataphrat Athersis, which once belonged to Kruto and has a precognitive ability. After being named as Saussbomb's heir, he kills Sawsbomb as then Vincent for Princess of Salem and rises to the rank of Count. Wow, that was quick turn of events. Long in love with the unconscious of Salem, Slaying grieves her silently and agrees to marry Princess Lemria? Lemria? God damn these names. Who poses as a Salem. Upon the Salem's reawakening, his frustration and despair corrupt his personality, and he changes from a peaceful, well-intentional young man to a war-hungry militant. This compounded with his growing ire for you know how success and on battlefield, his ignorance to his fellow Terrence's political subterfuge, and the realization that Salem has feeling for his greatest rival cause a mental breakdown that destabilizes his own ranks. This position allows the Salem's revelation of his conspiracy to cause him to be abandoned by the majority of his allied counts. In a final act of defiance, he engages in a brutal final battle with Inaho, piling his thorns against Inoho in a brutal one-to-one combat. We already know he lost. And afterwards, he spent his time in jail, being bitter and rage, uh only being quilled by Inoho, telling him that a Salem specifically asked Inaho to spare him. So I guess the silver lining is at least a Salem still cares for Slane, just don't care for him as much as she does for Ino. Oh god, it's almost like uh Slain being treated like Jacob from Twilight. Alright. Final main character. We have a Salem Verse. Alucia is the first princess of the Birds Empire. She is very close to Slain and is curious to learn about Earth, visiting Earth on a diplomatic visit. Her Mordecade is attacked and she is presumed dead while she was not killed in the attack. And Bodily Double replaced her as she had fallen ill. And the attempted assassination is used by the Orban Knights as a cast's belly for the invasion. As alien uh travels to Ino's group under a false identity, um Salem. Well, Salem.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

You know what? Why did he just call her Salem mom the whole time?

SPEAKER_01 10:12

Fuck, I forgot about all that.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

But also lazy. Just lazy. I don't know. Like, why you know, let's keep him going.

Shock Moments And Ending Debates

Rating It And Mecha Starter Path

Final Thoughts And Sign Off

SPEAKER_01 10:25

Until she transmits a message to her grandfather on Mars in hopes of stopping the bringing up the war. After Sauce Bomb nearly kills her, Slain convinced the count to save her. Instead, she remains in suspended animation while recovering from her injuries, eventually awakening to find that Slain and Princess Uh Limrina are waging war against Earth in her name. While escaping Slain's military base, she encounters an unconscious Inaho and is unable to escape with the help of the AI implementing and its mechanical eye. While assisting her, the AI inadvertently confesses Inoho's affection for the princess explain that the earthling music does weaken already mentioned that. Kane. Clan Kane? Okay. Who shares her desire for peace with her? She does this to separate the birds and uh military from Slain's forces, which he had allied by using Lemuria and Lemrina, excuse me, in disguise to claim the position for himself and exposing his treachery by denying Slain the military of his allies. The Earth military is able to feed the remnants of Slain's forces, uh, can take control of the birth empire as alien, marries clam cane, and establishes a lasting peace between Earth and Mars. The series ends with her reminiscence about her lessons with Slayne and her days at sea with Inaho. So let me get this right. She don't even marry Inaho. I mean, I know I watched it, but that's the thing, just like uh it was such a snooze that I felt like I missed some details, but at the same time, I just felt bored watching it. Crazy enough, episode 12 when Asalium and Inahoe um reunite, and then I swear to God, it was like this touching moment. And then oh my god, watching too much uh Raps or Petty's videos. As soon as it was like all touching and shit. Oh, I it seemed like I picked the perfect time to say gun to your head out of nowhere. Keep in mind, yes, I may have watched season one, and I think season two, that's the crazy part. It was like the blur the first time around that I don't remember watching season two. But I assume that I I just had no idea what was gonna go gonna happen. I said gun to your head out of nowhere. Next thing you know, this bitch was getting gunned down by somebody, um, Cal Saul's moment, uh, to be exact. And I was like, hey, yo, I was joking. Like, I didn't know that was gonna happen. That was the perfect time to say that, and I didn't even know that was gonna happen. Uh I'm not gonna lie, watching season two though, it made me wonder if would this anime be better off ending on the note that episode 12 of season one left off on? I don't know. Like, it would have been like kind of bleak or grim or like just kind of like ending the series on the sour note, but that's honestly kind of how it is sometimes. I mean, when I get the guilty crown, you'll understand that sometimes people don't have a happy ending. It'd just be like that. And not say that, oh, I don't like happy endings. I do, it's just it don't work like that sometimes. But I just like the reality of that, okay. Yeah, like uh it's the end, and for the most part, yeah, we survived, but I wouldn't say, like, oh, just make the endings help upbeat where it's like, oh yeah, everything's all hunky dory and all that shit. It's like, nah, you know, let's just say in the fact that a lot of people died and shit went crazy, and uh, it doesn't necessarily have to end on a positive note, but it's more like uh it just gotta feel like an ending. That's all I gotta say. It gotta feel conclusive. And speaking of conclusive, if I were to rate out Noah Zero, I wanna say it deserves at least a 7 out of 10. Like, despite what I was saying and how it kind of bored me for the most part, it's passable for a mecha anime where it feels like a standard mecha anime. Would I put it on the mecha anime starter pack? I can't say that with full confidence. It's more like once people, new people who didn't get into uh mecha anime, they probably would appreciate getting into some shit that like gonna feel exciting and whatnot, and kind of ease them in. Kind of like saying, Okay, uh, we watched something like Girl of Gone, and that was like, oh, it's amazing, and all that shit. Like, okay, cool, cool. You like Gorilla Gone? Okay, cool, watch this, watch this. Watch 86. And I was like, okay, it's still amazing, but also again, a little grim, a little dark and whatnot. So, okay, good, good, good. Because you're kind of understanding the halves of what mecha anime is. Like, like I said in the previous Mecha Monday, where either mecha anime is gonna get really weird or it's gonna get like dark and grim and military-like. So, yeah, I would say start with something like Gorilla Gone, then transition over something like 86, and then you'll get something like I'll know a zero, where I'm like, okay, pretty much the standard for mecha anime. It's like uh war going on and some folks are getting involved in some way or another. So yeah, like I'll know a zero would be like uh typical mecha anime. Like it barely passes for me. It's like it's barely good. I was just not that entertained by it. That's just me though. But with that being said, that's all I gotta say. Go ahead and have yourself a good morning, good afternoon, good evening, good night. But ultimately, take it easy and remember that great things are coming, and I need you to stay nerdy for what's coming.