Code Geass: Akito the Exiled - Episode 2
I really can't decide which is dumber - the mech design or the weapon it uses. Probably the weapon.
This was a pretty weird episode. The first half had some really strange character animation, where some characters made a lot of unnecessary movements but none of them seemed fluid or natural. I dunno if it was some weird intended style or if it was just badly made, but it didn't look very good. But the stranger thing is the tone of the entire show. Akito desperately wants to be taken seriously, and it seems to be trying really hard to be an authentic war story - except it's set in the Code Geass universe, with Code Geass character designs, and nonsensical Code Geass story currents. I don't think it really works, but it's not particularly offensive, just weird.
What is equally puzzling is the pacing of this series. It's a 4-part OVA, which usually means a fast paced narrative which tries to get maximum bang for the buck with a limited runtime. That's hardly the case here, where they seem happy with a leisurely pace for most of the first and second episodes, just building up the setting and characters, and setting up what feels like the "real story" to come later. So half the series is over, and it feels like nothing has really happened. I appreciate careful development, but in this case it feels more like I've seen 4-5 episodes in a 26 episode series. Maybe the remaining episodes will get longer and longer, who knows, but the fact remains that it's been over 3 years since the project was first announced, and I feel they've gotten almost nowhere in terms of showing where they're going with this story.
The action remains awesome though. There are some really complex shots on display, and Akane's preference for over the top hype kinetic movements and crazy camerawork fits Orange's CG expertise really well. It's pretty exciting to watch, and it's actually pretty well choreographed. Another impressive point is that they actually bothered to do the "no sound in space" thing with the sound design, limiting sound effects in space to cockpit scenes. Again this shows that the show really wants to be taken seriously as a grounded and "realistic" take on the Code Geass franchise, but when the characters are piloting insect mechs while wearing body hugging plug suits which show off a ton of cleavage and butt cracks, it just feels like a huge disconnect.
So yeah, I don't know how I really feel about this at all. I enjoyed the episode itself, especially towards the end, but there's this nagging feeling as I watch it that it just doesn't feel "right" and I keep rolling my eyes at how it can jump from really stupid Geass-like scenes to really wannabe-gritty scenes of how it feels to be a soldier in war and how "complex" the social situation is in the world. It actually feels a lot like how I felt while watching Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor. Lol.
