I was surprised at how hyped I felt by the end of the first episode of AMAIM. It establishes it's world and military problems well, Amou and Gai, a super AI meeting and helping each other even under the reality of becoming terrorists was well set up and animation seemed to be pretty good.
The real problem with AMAIM is it’s pacing. After around the 5th episode the story hops from mecha, military action to a strange mesh between a slice of life and boy scouts genre… thing. It doesn’t really work.
Amou is a pretty okay lead protagonist. He’s shy and indecisive, but he’s not an insufferable idiot like most teen protagonists caught the centre of a military war anime. He’s not Shuu from that piece of shit Guilty Crown is what I’m saying. Amou feels like a typical teenager who has gotten into something way over his head with no way of turning back and he has real flaws to back up those feelings. By the end of the season his character arc is actually quite satisfying. That said, he’s not a particularly interesting character to watch which is the problem. That could be said for the other two lead AMAIM pilots. Gashin is the dark, brooding type who's father was killed by war and blah, blah, blah you’ve seen the archetype a million times before in other, better (and worse) anime and Shion likes to… make pots? Well it’s original at least.
The AI’s can range from silly too annoying. Nayuta is definitely the worst offender, but I actually really liked the chemistry they shared with their respective pilots, especially Amou and Gai. They act like real buddies and it’s kind of cute watching them joke around and support each other.
The animation is pretty good. When the action is low it can get a bit distractingly sloppy especially in the faces, but when the action is happening the show can get fucking awesome! I found myself surprising invested whenever the mysterious, rouge mech Ghost was fighting and the last episode was an absolute blast.
It’s unfortunate that the whole show couldn’t have been as engaging as the final episode of the season. Sloppy pacing, cliche villains and inconsistently interesting main leads means theres a lot holding this show back from being good, but I do think it’s an okay show. When the show hits, it fucking hits and, I mean I watched the whole thing so… there is a lot to like about it too if you’re willing to give it a go.
6/10 It’s Okay *Thumbs up*