After being disappointed by “Gundam: G no Reconguista”, was rather apprehensive to watch “Cross Ange: Tenshi to Ryuu no Rondo”, considering both are created by studio Sunrise.
Unfortunately, “Cross Ange” too failed to impress me, while admittedly its first episode was not that bad, this mecha anime was alas not interesting and brings nothing novel to the genre.
The overall world setting, the robot and character designs, the core plot, it felt like they simply threw all the default tropes used in the mecha genre together in the hopes of creating a series that would sufficiently appeal to the viewers.
Including dragons and other fantasy elements like mana, or having the main cast be a group of young girls who face brutal battles in a world that scorns them as less than human aberrations is not exactly new either but has been done before, with more success even.
Considering “Aldnoah.Zero” managed to surprise me last season by steadily improving and growing to become a remarkably good mecha show, there may still be hope for “Cross Ange”, though I highly doubt it. Even the performance of renowned voice actresses like Mizuki Nana, Kitamura Eri, Chihara Minori or Yukana may not be enough to lift this show up.
Those of you who enjoy the generic “Gundam Seed” or “Buddy Complex” Sunrise style anime may like “Cross Ange”, but it is likely to be a mediocre, forgettable mecha show of which there are a dime a dozen.
