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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Rent | 8 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 7 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:2965#1552] |
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Surprisingly solid for an ecchi action-drama anime mix, Cross Ange explores our titular heroine, Ange, being exiled from her kingdom as a princess when it is discovered that she hasn't inherited the ability to use magic like the majority of humankind and is forced into serving as a mech pilot to combat enemy dragons that enter into her world. But as Ange fights on against said dragons, she comes to realize that the nature of the world is not as what as it would seem on the surface when she discovers some shocking truths concerning it. Before I get into what makes the series solid for the most part, let us explore the rather obvious barrier that will keep many from considering watching this series in the form of its ecchi content. While not as hard with perverted content as titles like Seikon no Qwaser, Cross Ange still tosses in the typical elements of the genre that include scantily-clad attire for the female mech pilots, lingerie and bikini shots, lesbians, sexual humor that includes a running gag of Tusk falling into Ange's crotch, breast groping, bathing scenes, scenes of implied or full-on intercourse, and non-detailed nudity on prominent display. The first third of the series devotes a good deal of its time on its perverted shenanigans and has been known to turn-off first time viewers of the series. While some of these bits do carry over into later episodes, the series fortunately reduces its focus on them as the plot becomes more focused on exploring the truths that Ange comes to discover about her world. What allows Cross Ange to stick out from many of the typical mindless ecchi romps is the engaging storytelling and character exploration it offers up from the events affecting Ange and other non-magic folk. The world that Ange lives in considers non-magic folk to be societal outcasts and are isolated from society upon being discovered. Facing this prejudice upon having her non-magical origins discovered affects Ange's psyche a great deal throughout the span of the series as she becomes cold and detached from others due to the fear and mistrust she develops from being discriminated against and forced into fighting dragons. As she spends more time with the non-magic folk and learns of some shocking truths to how her world is ruled, this drives her to eventually defy the established world order of the series. This development also extends to other non-magic folk in the series as Cross Ange devotes time to exploring the pasts of several of the mech pilots that led them into their present predicaments and develops a number of the characters and their relationships with others. The later villain revealed in the series, Embryo, is also a rather cunning and manipulative one with his knowledge of the world's hostilities and technology, and taking advantage of the vulnerabilities of several characters to bring them to his side. Outside of the ecchi content, Cross Ange does have some shortcomings in regards to its plotting and characters. There are some unexplored plot elements and holes (Ange and Salamandinay's past connections and how Tusk survives a seemingly suicidal attack being notable ones), and some characters get little fleshing out to make them as irredeemably or over-the-top evil as possible. Still if you can tolerate the regular sights of ecchi to be found through Cross Ange, it still makes for one of the better quality offerings of the genre thanks to its solid exploration of the issues surrounding its world and how they affect Ange and other non-magic characters. Last updated Sunday, September 11 2016. Created Sunday, September 11 2016. | ||||||||
| Unevaluated |
 Stretch
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[series:2965#628] | ||||||
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(One episode watched): Mobile suits versus dragons? Apparently that's what Cross Ange will eventually be about. But for now, episode one tells us how main character Angelese ('Ange') plunged abruptly from the exalted position of Princess to an abused and despised prisoner, all because she possesses some sort of unconventional 'Mana' powers that are irrationally feared by the people. I've noticed that depicting magicians as misunderstood people who are unjustly discriminated against is a common tactic, though I don't know why; maybe it was handled well by some previous work. But Ange's fall from power is shoved down our throats in such a stereotypical and rushed manner (with a 2D, 100% evil villain behind it) that I had a hard time suspending disbelief and taking it seriously. As if that were not bad enough, it soon became clear that this show would be relying on not just fanservice but ecchi to draw viewers. It gets pretty explicit, like the search of body cavities which Ange undergoes as a new prisoner. So, melodrama and porn seem to be the two legs that this show will attempt to stand on. No doubt Ange will wind up as a dragon-fighting mecha pilot, and the opening fight was OK, but it doesn't seem like something which I am willing to be alternately bored and dirtied for. Last updated Thursday, October 09 2014. Created Thursday, October 09 2014. | ||||||||
