Overall Rating 6.2 out of 10 - Has occasional bright moments but flawed on fundamental level.
I can still recommend for those who interested is somewhat smart shows.
Sometimes there are shows that do seem to have potential to be something great but drawn in their own echo chamber cycle jerk bubble. One example of that is Mawaru Penguindrum, it does have its moments of occasional brilliance and illustration of deep and profound ideas. It does share a creator with highly rated and acclaimed not only by me, Revolutionary Girl Utena. Sometimes you can see it was made by the same person. However more often than not it just drawns in Ikuhara's love for dominaties and male abuse. The core story and main characters of Mawaru Penguindrum are shit, but occasionally you see interesting things on the sidelines of this mess.
Shoukoku no Altair is somewhat the same in that regard. Occasionally it has interesting ideas and clever plots and military maneuvers, but most of the time is just a conservative pondering to status quo and elderly. Our protagonist is ostensively smart guy who can pull out a witty solution to tricky problems, like Yagami Light. At the same time, he is a loyal to his masters as Suzaku or Tanjiro. Lelouch would have scoffed at him.
Lelouch had conviction that world is not fair and eventually developed a vision to change the system and make world better for himself and most of the people. Mahmud just serves his country to stop war, a useful tool for the leadership as he himself described himself in the episode 12 or 13.
Mahmud Pasha Bey Pasha travels the world, meets various people, occasionally saves them and participate in events that happening there. All to save Turque, screw that, Turkey from the vaguely defined Balt-Rhein Empire, that is something between Austria and Russia. Half of the people he meets are as gimmicky as One Piece characters and as one dimensional as well. Sometimes there is someone more interesting, but no one really likable. Creators have bad taste when it comes to people. That includes women too.
Most themes include preservation of countries, status quo, sacrifices and so on. Creators are so encased in their bubble they could not muster even one character who is cohesively acting in self-interest. Sultans Balaban and Uzun were the closest. In the world of Shokoku no Altair almost everyone is eusocial as bees and not self-absorbed as humans. If not, then they are instead driven by emotions and some past glory. That is a vary narrowminded look on the world to say the least.
On the positive side Turkish aesthetics are good. A rarely used theme in anime, outside of hentai. Alas we did not get hordes of cute harem girls fawning over characters, creators wasted such an opportunity, such a disappointment.
Art is for the most part good, colorful and diverse. Each country does look noticeably different and distinct from each other.
Overall, I can somewhat recommend it.
No comments:
Post a Comment