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Medium: OAV
Episodes: 4
Genres: Adventure, Drama, Mecha, Science Fiction
Studio: Trinet Entertainment
OP: “Face of Fact ~ Resolution Ver. ~” by KOTOKO
ED: “undelete” by Mami Kawada
Official Site: http://www.trinet-ent.com/baldrforce/

Rating: 8.5/10

Impressions:

Now this is the type of mecha series I like, and this time, mecha makes up a large part of the show. Unlike Code Geass or Innocent Venus, this show gives me the familiar ‘real’ mecha feeling, like Gundam Seed and RahXephon etc. I actually got this feeling from Voices of a Different Star as well, but let’s not get into that. if you haven’t seen this yet, and you like mecha or science fiction, then I highly recommend you do. Right now. This is an OAV series, as you should already know, with 4 episodes in total. The second episode will be released on the 8th of December, which is just next week. The third episode will be released some time in February, and the last episode will be some time away. Each episode is slightly longer than your average anime episode, but only by about 4 minutes. The CG isn’t that good, though I adore the music, especially the OP by KOTOKO. The ED is sung by Mami Kawada, and those two artists both did the Ops for Shakugan Shana! Why does that matter? Well, it doesn’t. Anyway, being an OAV, the quality should be higher than an average anime show, and indeed it is, but once again, not by much. Character design – average (and there’s this one woman who is exceptionally ugly >.>).

The story is what really hooked me. I dunno but I’m always a sucker for anything mecha and sci-fi, but the characters need to be within a certain age range, since those characters always have fun personalities. Let me give Innocent Venus as an example again: Jo and Jin are either too old or have shit personalities, while Sana is too young (and Gora is just retarded). That is why I don’t exceptionally like that show. But for something like Gundam Seed, the pilots are teenagers, and teenagers equal fun and interesting natures, which equates to a good mecha series! Well, that’s not all that matters of course, but it is the part which either draws me in or repels me. After that comes the story, and this show definitely has an intriguing one. It’s not another ‘kid-pilots-mecha-to-fight-aliens-and-save-the-world’ type show, but something that has the potential to create profound tragedies, intricate romances and insightful mysteries. Well that’s what I got out of it anyway. The concept of the ‘wired world’ is fairly unrealistic if you ask me, but as long as it’s enjoyable, nothing else should matter. Oh, did I mention there’s a fair amount of gore? And expect some nudity since the OP seems to depict it. Hmm, reminds me of Elfen Lied…

Opening Sequence:

[Face of Fact] by KOTOKO (resolution version)

Download TV size mp3 – 2.48mb: Mirror 1 | Mirror 2 | Mirror 3
Download full size mp3 – 5.75mb: Mirror 1 | Mirror 2 | Mirror 3

Ending Sequence:

[undelete] by Mami Kawada

Download TV size mp3 – 2.53mb: Mirror 1 | Mirror 2 | Mirror 3
Download full size mp3 – 6.08mb: Mirror 1 | Mirror 2 | Mirror 3

Story: (from ANN)

Tooru Soma was a member of “Steppen Wolf”, a group of hackers. The group decided to do one more hacking attack by attempting to hack into FLAK, a major military organization run by the United Nations to prevent cyber terrorism. However, they were discovered quickly, which resulted in the death of Yuuya, Steppen Wolf’s leader and Tooru’s friend, as well as their arrest. In order to avoid a long term in prison, Tooru ultimately decided to join FLAK, in order to find out who killed Yuuya. While Tooru tries to find the murderer of his friend, he and his new teammates are to defend the wired world from Fei Dao, an extremist group who threatens to disrupt the stability of the wired world.

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