Heavy Object

Episodes 1-3

The first three episodes of Heavy Object are like the “you must be at least this tall to ride” signs that you see in front of roller coasters at amusement parks. The show's world and characters are introduced in due course, but this initial storyline also serves as fair warning to anyone who doesn't meet its minimum standard of mecha nerdy-ness. If, like me, you own hardcover technical manuals for Formula One cars and fictional spaceships, you'll feel right at home with this series. If not, there's a good chance that you'll spend most of your time struggling to endure the constant sci-fi mechanical lectures.

Heavy Object presents a vision of the future in which most forms of conventional warfare have been rendered obsolete. Battlefields are dominated by Objects, enormous mobile fortresses that can shrug off a hit from a nuclear weapon and come back firing with an arsenal of lasers and plasma cannons. With Objects doing the vast majority of the fighting, there's little left for ordinary soldiers to do except perform maintenance and run away if their side loses a battle. We're introduced to this world by Qwenthur and Havia, a pair of low-ranking soldiers assigned to the support team for a slightly outdated Object called Baby Magnum. The Object's pilot, Milinda, is captured by a rival nation after losing a battle to a more advanced unit. As everyone else prepares to retreat, Qwenthur and Havia decide to run out into the wilderness to rescue Milinda and exact some payback on the enemy.

If you were to place mecha anime on a spectrum from “all style” to “all substance,” Heavy Object would sit all the way at the substance end of the scale. The Objects themselves have a bulky, functional look that's utterly devoid of bright colors and sexy energy swords. There's a self-imposed seriousness behind the way the fights unfold, and I get the sense that someone sat down and thought about all the nerdy technical details of how everything works. Once the main characters start trying to fight the enemy on foot, it's obvious that this show is going to consist of long stretches of talking and planning punctuated by brief flashes of action. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what you want out of a sci-fi action series. If you enjoy learning how fictional giant robots work, then it's all rather interesting. If you're mostly interested in watching said robots actually fight one another, you'll likely find that Heavy Object suffers from a limited supply of stuff blowing up.

When stuff does blow up, however, it blows up pretty darn well. Massive, flaming explosions appear to be this show's specialty and the one area in which it allows itself some visual excess. Technical elements like the Objects' cockpit displays and cavernous hangars are presented in loving detail, and the show has a knack for capturing the sheer scale of these weapons. Character design and animation is also above average, and the opening credit sequence suggests that we'll see a nice variety of environments over the course of the series. If they're all as pretty as the snowy mountains that dominate these first three episodes, then sign me up.

No matter how meticulously detailed your death machines may be, you still need a story and some characters if you're going to keep the audience from dozing off. On the positive side, Heavy Object does a good job of building the wartime equivalent of a buddy cop relationship between Qwenthur and Havia. The rapport they establish through mundane tasks like shoveling snow off a runway ends up being a big help once the bullets start flying, as the guys are able to add some wit and emotion to their long-winded battle plans. Milinda is significantly less compelling than her mechanics, and she comes across as a bit of a blank slate in these episodes. This may be due to the fact that she isn't really the focus of this storyline; the show's initial goal is to prove that a couple of puny foot soldiers can be as dangerous as an elite Object pilot. I'm willing to bet that Milinda will grow into her personality in future episodes, but the supporting cast is more of a worry. The rest of the people at the base have stock personalities to match their roles, and the baddies are the very definition of “generic.” Future story arcs will need more interesting villains if the show really wants to get the audience emotionally invested in the outcome.

As far as the plot goes, we haven't gotten much in the way of a big picture thus far. It's clear that Qwenthur and Havia will accompany Milinda from battlefield to battlefield and help find unorthodox ways of beating their enemies, but there's little indication of what's at stake or who the real villain is. One thing I do like about the writing is that it's managed to keep the manly chest thumping to a minimum thus far. The main characters certainly get to play the heroes, but Heavy Object has been fairly diligent about balancing the thrill of victory with the horrors of war. Qwenthur and Havia aren't heavily armed badasses fighting for king and country; they're just a couple of average enlisted guys trying to make it home in One Piece. If the script weren't dead set on making an average of one out-of-place boob joke per week, it'd be in pretty good shape.

If you're a hard-wired mecha fan who enjoys the engineering side of giant robot battles, then you may want to read my rating as being a notch or two higher. This series relentlessly pursues its target audience, possibly to the detriment of its general appeal. Anyone who's eager to buy what Heavy Object is selling will likely enjoy these first three episodes, but it's not an easy recommendation for the average viewer. As eager as I am to see more, your mileage will almost certainly vary.

Rating: B-

Heavy Object is currently streaming on Funimation.

Paul Jensen is a freelance writer and editor. You can follow more of his anime-related ramblings on Twitter.