Why do we even need a male protagonist? To rally the harem? To inspire the masses? To be the love interest? To give us a person to “become”? I say screw that; this story would be exactly the same without Kaito and I’d even argue that it could be better. Oh look Robotic Notes has a female protagonist… That sentence alone could easily separate Robotic;Notes from the masses.
“But then who would be the main character? Who would we control in the visual novel?” Otaku out of his comfort zone
Well you’d control Akiho of course and it would the epic.
“But good sir how would the relationships and love aspect work because all visual novels need that.” Confused Otaku
I have one word for you that could revolutionize the anime and visual novel industry and that one word is YURI….. Akiho could be a lesbian. I’m sure all the visual novel fans wouldn’t mind controlling a lesbian instead of a school boy. That or instead of sappy love you could just make friends with the cast and experience a story instead of hooking up with a girl.
Although I do like Akiho I think part of that reason I like her is the way she interacts with the environment The setting and I’m not talking about the school club (shoot me if I even say I love school clubs as a setting) I’m talking about the club room itself, that huge overgrown runway type area and the warehouse. The way this area was set up showed just how little attention is payed to the school grounds and the facility of a club which doesn’t matter.
What gets me is although the road/runway has grass growing through the concrete and the door has to be opened manually it houses a futuristic robot and high tech equipment to construct it. At the moment the area has one person working hard in it which is a huge contrast to the hustle and bustle we’ll probably be seeing in this area in the last episodes. I do like the solo effort Akiho is putting in to constructing the robot and I’m sure that alone will drive this plot because the guy certainly isn’t.
Certainly not a quick start but I’m sure we’ll see good things from Robotic;Notes as long as they don’t give the protagonist too much screen time.
Agreed, it would be nice if more visual novels broke away from the generic harem formula… I mean, they don’t even need to be about relationships at all. Not all of these stories need to have a “who will you romance?” setup in the first place. There would perhaps be more interest in visual novels in general if it expanded into other genres more. (I realize there are exceptions, such as Higurashi [which doesn't feature choice-making for the stories in the first place], but these seem rare.)
By: Cholisose on October 14, 2012
at 9:32 am
The sad thing is there is nothing we can do as anime fans to get them to break the trend. It doesn’t help that when the trends are broken (Higurashi) they target a completely different audience to the people stuck in the harem styled story setting.
Hopefully it turns out similar and steps away from the romance aspects in favor of storytelling. Only time will tell I suppose.
By: AceRailgun on October 14, 2012
at 9:42 am
The thing about this is that we’re a minority in the masses of the audience that favors story over romance. Remember, VN’s major auidence are otaku that don’t have a real life and can’t have romance, who want to experience romance and the choice who will romance through other means.
That said, I still feel that the two main characters still feel plain for me. I guess I can attribute this to the slow start of the anime.
By: Kuro on October 16, 2012
at 3:35 pm
I suppose I’m not really looking at Visual Novels for what they really are and instead hoping that someone could use a great story telling platform for something other then second rate rehashes of the same love stories.
Well I’d agree that the guy is plain but I feel like the girl could potentially be interesting. Only time will tell and hopefully the pace will pick up a bit so we get to find out more faster.
By: AceRailgun on October 16, 2012
at 3:45 pm
Cholisose, companies do whatever people buy. it seems that most people in that nichè prefer that kind of entertainment, that’s all there is really…:D
By: feal87 on October 17, 2012
at 7:10 pm
We are dreamers and we just wish there was more to the industry then the same love story over and over. One day it could happen but for now we are stuck with the harem formula.
By: AceRailgun on October 17, 2012
at 7:19 pm
Ugh this makes me want to make a visual novel for my series. Honestly I love the style Higurashi and Umineko is written in a lot more than this.
By: Ritsuioko23 on October 16, 2012
at 2:58 am
Hirarashi and Umineko were all over the place when it came to a linear story and I’d say that Higarashi did it much better. I think if they used this structure a little more we’d be in for some real treats.
By: AceRailgun on October 16, 2012
at 8:15 am
I know what you mean man. I always like to see something new in an anime or movie. It is very rare and usually they don’t think out of the box which is sad. Would love to see them breaking the thread as well.
The first episode was alright. Nothing that is really interesting just an episode to get the anime going. It might be good in the end. If it weren’t connected to Steins;Gate I might not even watch this anime. It seems to have some connection which is what I’m waiting for. This is as close as I could get to a new Steins;Gate before the movie airs.
By: Rei on October 16, 2012
at 2:59 am
It was a little underwealming for a first episode but I think the calmness and lack of a huge cast actually worked in it’s favor for an introduction. I don’t remember being instantly hooked on Steins;Gate either so I’m willing to give it some more time.
I’m pretty sure the connections to Steins;Gate will become apparent soon enough but even I’m not sure of the extent they are connected. Although they did have that dimensional number calculator think in the first 5 seconds of the episode so they must be trying to remind us it’s related to Steins;Gate.
By: AceRailgun on October 16, 2012
at 8:18 am
Hey, at least we have a fun girl!
By: Marow on October 18, 2012
at 10:51 am
That’s true it could be much much worse. At least we have her.
By: AceRailgun on October 18, 2012
at 11:11 am