Nice post!!
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Well, the MJP kids don't especially act like kids. That is, they don't act like kids who'd have the MJP backstory. How do you genetically engineer children to become soldiers and end up with anything but the main character from Gargantia? I guess if you are running a lousy super-soldier program.

That said, the MJP protagonists are pretty clearly meant to be a metaphor for the way Japan's current generation of teens and twenty-somethings feel about themselves. The characters play to that sense of helpless inadequacy, and the various ways it masks itself in a modern society.

So if the story ever really engages with that theme, then the characters are perfectly justified. If the story even was just a less sarcastic Nadesico, the main characters are perfectly justified. If the series tries to play things really straight, though, I'm not sure it'll work.

Yeah, Gundam-- especially recent Gundam-- tends to have fairly weak and generic protagonists. I would say you could generalize that to almost any series with a high price tag, honestly. Production committees right now are really timid and desperately afraid of properties not being popular.
 
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The kids were raised in individual families and transitioned into a military environment instead of being raised from birth as soldiers like Ledo.
 
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The kids were raised in individual families and transitioned into a military environment instead of being raised from birth as soldiers like Ledo.

But before they were sent to the military they had their memories wiped. On that note, this series kinda needs the comedy to balance it out, otherwise the story would be really, really depressing. Episode 4 goes into great depth of what their lives were and are like, and I was tearing up just hearing about it. (Well, either tearing up or my eyes are just watery from being sick.)

I understand MJP is thought of as one of the worst series this season in some areas, which is weird because as far as mecha design and characterization its probably my favorite giant robot series in a while.
 
Disappear into light!!
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But before they were sent to the military they had their memories wiped.

Personal memories. Their mentality and psyche remained, for better or for worse.

It's too bad if the show is not doing well, I'm really liking it. It's rare to see a mecha anime where the dialogue scenes are as entertaining as the cool mecha scenes.
 
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Another Climax
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Personal memories. Their mentality and psyche remained, for better or for worse.

It's too bad if the show is not doing well, I'm really liking it. It's rare to see a mecha anime where the dialogue scenes are as entertaining as the cool mecha scenes.

I agree and the fact the main kid despite all the grief he gets on the show is probably the most likeable mecha show protagonist I've seen in years. Normally they all start out with some annoying quality that you learn to ignore. Here his biggest flaw is probably being somewhat bland hero type.
 
Another Climax
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Episode 8 been out, I can't help but bump this because this series seems to have become my favorite of the season.
 
Disappear into light!!
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I myself am religiously watching the show, just didn't had time to look for the thread to post:sweat:.

While the show uses a lot of tropes and cliches, and used them pretty straight, the story is entertaining and well-written so far. Plus, it did an interesting twist with the nature of the Wulgaru as a supposedly advanced civilization.
 
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Episode 11 was pretty good. 12 wasn't bad as far as character development goes, but I do think its a rip-off to do something like 12 and then follow it with a recap. As if episode 5 wasn't devoid of action enough.
 
Nice post!!
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The recap ep is seriously bullshit. Why do a 24-episode series just to assume people aren't going to watch all of it? You might as well do a 12/12 split in that case.

(Also, why is this show about fighting space rapists? Why all the rape in my robot shows this season? Anime industry, is there something you need to talk about?)
 
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