toxshock

I am writing this after binge watching the first 14 episodes. I am quite surprised that Shirogane no Ishi Argevollen hasn't received better reviews, it currently stands at 2.68/5.00. My guess for this is that in the first few episodes it felt quite conflicted whether this was an adult or teenage storyline. It has the depth and subtleness of an adult story, with elements of the futility of war, politics, greed, revenge, power struggles, loss and is an overal intelligent series, but it takes it time to build on it. Where it fails is some of the characters. Jamie and Tokimune are somewhat irritating and I'm guessing they will predictably fall for each other,  and then there are the female engineer techs who are shallow despite their obvious skills in keeping the machines in good working order. There are however some good growth episodes especially for Samonji, who for me is the star of the series. There are many characters and I would hope over the course of the series that we will learn more and it will further strengthen the story. It is especially needed for the enemy forces.

The animation is better than most, using some beautiful details in the landscaping, but less so in the battle scenes. Considering that the premise is war, there is a deep lack of the gruesomeness surrounding the deaths, and although I'm definitely not a fan of gore, it really could have been a tad more realistic in the portrayal of death in war. Sound is pretty standard. Some of the female voice actors are a bit squeeky

I would say, stick with this one. It really does have a great story and hopefully it will accept itself and understand that you don't always need to lurch towards a sterotypical teenage audience. Teenager are capable of depth too.