Robotics;Notes – 22 (Finale)

Robotics;Notes is an anime that progressed through a series of ups and downs.  During its ups, the anime was amusing and entertaining with an ominous mystery and a robotics theme that was both strong and appropriate.  During its downs, the series was a curious and confusing mess with a story that felt disjointed and incoherent that bounced between two very different sides in a ‘Robotics’ half and a ‘Notes’ half.  And though the series cycled between these high points and low points, the second half of the anime saw a general trend downward with its obvious peaks in the first half and its lowest valleys in the latter half.  Just what happened to Robotics;Notes to take it from a promising and entertaining anime to one with an unclear, directionless plot with highly questionable storytelling.

Robotics;Notes – 17

The purpose of the seventeenth episode of Robotics;Notes was to show Aki regain her fortitude, determination and perseverance; for her to recognize her dreams of completing a giant replica of Gunvarrel in the wake of the disbandment of the Tanegashima High School Robotics Club and when facing the orders to dismantle and scrape GunPro-2.  But you have to really question, how was this challenge or a problem for Aki?  How and why was this viewed as an obstacle for her to overcome?

Robotics;Notes – 15

It seems as though the spirited and cheerful Airi, the shining, sunny personality we knew and loved, is no longer with us in Robotics;Notes.  And though it seems like a cruel and heartless event to occur in the series, essentially the death of a character with her artificial intelligence being lost to digital nothingness, it does serve an ultimate purpose in the series from this point going forward.  That is to say, her character has fulfilled her duties and her intended purpose and now, is no longer necessary.

Robotics;Notes – 14

Robotics;Notes can be split right down the semicolon into essentially two separate parts.  The first is the ‘Robotics’ half which tells of Aki’s story and the construction of GunPro-1 and now, GunPro-2.  The latter piece is the ‘Notes’ side of things, focusing in on Frau’s story and the conspiracy linked to her mother’s sudden disappearance.  Although there is some overlap between the two halves, mainly due to Kai’s character playing fundamental roles in each, there have been two narratives developing throughout the anime that examine two distinct and dissimilar stories.  In doing so, Robotics;Notes has found itself some positives and some negatives.

Robotics;Notes – 9

Every character in Robotics;Notes has a dream, either in the form of a goal or some type of drive that motivates them in pursuit of their desire.  For some, it’s rather apparent, such as Aki and fulfilling her dream of completing GunPro-1.  For others, it may be overlooked, such as Junna wanting to have more friends before graduating high school.  For Kai… well, it’s debatable.  Still, the point remains the same regardless of the character, that each has their own ambitions that they are chasing after.  However, the characters will eventually reach their goals, like Aki has with GunPro-1 in the ninth episode of Robotics;Notes.  The next question becomes, what do they do with themselves when their dreams have been realized?

Robotics;Notes – 7

Have you noticed it yet?  There’s something unusual about Gunvarrel and its extensive, beloved anime.  Not only that, but there are robots everywhere in Japan, whether they’re the traditional and conventional hobby robots or the titanic, imposing and still incomplete GunPro-1.  And now Junna, too, is influenced by this escalating robotic endemic, going from a sweet, young girl who naturally feared robots to one watching and enjoying a mecha anime.  Yes, the craze and obsession over robots and the immense and immeasurable popularity of a mecha anime is quite peculiar and leads me to believe…

Robotics;Notes – 6

The duality of Airi’s personalities is fascinating.  She is the manifestation of a sophisticated and intricate artificial intelligence, able to maintain an amiable personality that evolves through her environment and interactions while preserving her features as a perceptive database, able to retrieve and disclose data through simple Q&A.  However, these two personas are not simultaneous; though both exist within Airi, only one can be displayed at a time.  As a result, Airi begins to seem like two dissimilar characters who switch back-and-forth to serve two distinctive purposes in Robotics;Notes.  And seeing how stark the contrast is between these two personalities, not to mention a few other peculiarities, Airi has quickly become one of the most remarkable features of Robotics;Notes.