Opening Songs
OP 1 - Forbidden Resistance (Nana Mizuki)
OP 2 - The Apocalypse Of Truth (Yoko Takahashi)
Ending Songs
ED 1 - Rinrei (Eri Kitamura)
ED 2 - Love Song Of The End (Nana Mizuki)
Genre: Action, Drama, Fantasy
Episodes: 25
"Cross Ange" is one show that not many people like. Its understandable though. "Cross Ange" is fan service heavy, its ridiculous, its gory, and at times, its downright offensive. Still, I feel that its one of my favorite mecha animes in recent times. I shit you not. I'm not a huge fan of the mecha genre, but to me, "Cross Ange" does many things right that many other similar shows don't. Sure it may just be my inner geek rooting for a show that's primarily dominated by females (if you look at it that way, you're a sexist, yes you are), but "Cross Ange" manages to establish a show that doesn't hold ANYTHING back, building upon a character in a highly offensive world, forced to live in an even more disgusting environment. It's PAINFUL to watch sometimes, but the payoff for sticking with "Cross Ange" is HUGE, much more so than many other shows. If you're a mecha nut, you've probably watched this already, otherwise, this is a strong entry to mecha genre if anything, as long as you're willing to grit your teeth for the first few episodes.
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| If you want a female lead she has to be sexy....that's what they all said, don't look at me! |
As with most shows with Nana Mizuki in it, "Cross Ange" has plenty of theme songs BY Nana Mizuki. The first opening is "Forbidden Resistance" by Nana Mizuki herself, and since we haven't had many good Nana songs in a long time, I was really happy with "Forbidden Resistance". Its strong, its intense, and its definitely OP material. It has a little bit of a folk dance feel to it which I really like, but otherwise, its definitely a Nana song throughout, I really like it. The 2nd opening is " The Apocalypse Of Truth" by Yoko Takahashi, whom is a singer that I haven't heard from in a long, long time. Its a bleek song, though its not as powerful as "Forbidden Resistance". I prefer the "Forbidden Resistance", it fits the show more, seeing how much of a rebellious character Ange is.
As for the endings, lets just say that they went full out "Gundam Seed" like NO other. As for the songs though, the first theme is "Rinrei" by Eri Kitamura. Its subtle and a little bit soothing, certainly the lightest of the songs used in this anime. I very much prefer the 2nd ending theme, which is "Love Song Of The End" by Nana Mizuki. Even for an ending theme, its sounds quite intense, always giving off the vibe that spells out "Look forward to more next week!". If you ask me, Nana is on a role with this show.
Rating: 8.0/10
"Cross Ange" feels like a journey throughout, a journey that you're experiencing through the eyes of the protagonist. I'm sure that's the purpose of every anime out there, but "Cross Ange"'s journey is one of the most...influential ones out there. It invokes so many emotions within it that I don't know what to feel, there are times I hated where the story was going, only to find out that what happens after was a lot more awesome than what I could have ever imagined. The protgaonist, Ange, is one of the few protagonists in anime history to go through so many changes that its actually kind of silly. "Cross Ange"'s story, plot and character development are beyond strong, and is in my opinion the strongest element that the show has to offer, everything else is honestly just fluff. The animation quality, the visual style and music are top notch, the mecha action is honestly average at best because the mechs have little variety from one another in terms of looks and abilities. The mech action might not be fantastic, BUT, "Cross Ange" is a lot more than just mechs fighting against big dragons, and those overshadow the mech combat IMO. Character variety is great, there are A LOT of different kinds of characters in this show, which spices up the various moments where characters interact with one another.
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| SHINING....wait, wrong show. |
Angelise is just a princess. A very fortunate princess belonging to a very prosperous kingdom that is bound to succeed one day. In fact, Angelise was already prepared to ascend the throne, being the high and mighty lady that she was. In Angelise's world, where the light of mana rules the world and is essential for living, those who cannot use mana are condemned, these are known as Norma. There are only female Normas, why this is the case, nobody knows. In any case, Angelise has never had to use mana during her entire life, and was always catered to by her maid. During the day of her baptism ceremony, lo and behold, it was revealed that Angelise was in fact, a Norma. She was stripped of her status, her royal family broke down, her father was executed, and her mother was shot trying to protect her. As if things could not get any worse, she was sent to an exiled Norma island, where she was tortured and "branded" as a Norma...by being sexually abused. Fun, fun times for Angelise, and her life as a Norma was only just beginning. Now she has to join fellow Norma to risk their lives to fight against dragons in mechs. Fun, fun times indeed....
"Cross Ange" may not have been one of the most "justful" shows out there, but it certainly manages to tell a great story. I don't really care what others think, I think that "Cross Ange" is one of my favorite mecha shows in recent years, and its probably going to be one of my favorites of 2015. Lesbians and fan service aside, "Cross Ange" packs a great punch.
Peace.
