Heavy Object

Heavy Object Overview:

Heavy Object is the story of a world where the military forces build enormous ‘objects’ in order to defend their borders from other military ‘objects’. It’s a little silly but that’s the set-up.

Heavy Object Review:

I previously wrote up my first impressions after watching episode 1 of this series. It was relatively scathing (and that was the toned down version after I’d slept on it) and to be honest I didn’t see me getting through the 24 episodes. I did finish the series and it actually surprised me by how into it I was by the end, even thinking I wouldn’t mind if it continued, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still fairly critical of this series as a whole.

To that end, I’m going with a plus/minus review. It’s been awhile since I’ve done one and to be honest, it’s the best way to cover the main points I’d like to raise about Heavy Object.

Plus +

The last 12 episodes. After a relatively ordinary to terrible beginning (depending on how critical you would like to be) the second half of this series finally figures out what it wants to be. The over the top fixation on groping and staring at the female anatomy by our main protagonists gets toned right down (though not removed because it is a core part of their friendship by that point) and the story focusses more on building credible relationships and the action.

From that point on (if you make it that far) it’s actually a relatively solid if overly generic action piece. The last three missions in particular really drew me in despite some gaping holes in the plot (but if that was going to be the deal breaker I would never have made it that far). The end result is you walk away feeling that you watched a much better series than you did.

Minus –

The entire first half of the series which has no idea what it is trying to accomplish. We meet Havia and Qwenthur (what is with the names in this show) shovelling snow and then they rescue the Princess (Elite trained to pilot the object) and then they get medals before being sent to another war zone. We go from snow to water to forest back to snow as they bounce our reluctant ‘heroes’ around the globe and their outfits change colours to match the setting.

In between action scenes we see them slacking off, flirting, swapping dirty magazines, occasionally being sexually harassed (or sexually harassing) their superior officer (it’s hard to tell who is the harassed and who is doing the harassment at times), a whole pile of characters come and go, and we blow up a bunch of objects (which makes it difficult to believe that these things are really all that bad given how flawed some of their designs are).

The bottom line is that there is no focus other than constant jabs at the cost of war and the stupidity of some of the orders being given by the higher ups. While an anti-war / humans are terrible theme can work fairly well in a mecha series, it kind of needs to be given a bit more thought than just repeated whining from the cast about how bad it sucks to be a paid soldier (or student working in a military unit in Qwenthur’s case – and who the hell sends a student to the front line of a battle with bombs but no gun?).

Plus +

Havia, Qwenthur and Milinda build a fairly solid bond of trust that after you get over their individual character quirks is quite believable. Also, while the bulk of the focus goes to Qwenthur for their achievements he never actually does anything on his own so at least they aren’t setting him up as some kind of superman (which is a shame because that would make the final episode a little more believable). I like that Havia get’s dragged along, and even though he clearly would prefer to walk away his ties with Qwenthur don’t allow it.

I like that Milinda doesn’t defy military orders but she’ll take ‘advice’ from Qwenthur in the middle of a battle. There are times when the buddy act gets a bit thick but mostly these characters are quite enjoyable to watch interact. Though, Qwenthur really needs to not be so incredibly dense when it comes to Milinda. While it’s a standard trope for the guy to be oblivious in this case it is so over the top and by the second half the of series you genuinely cannot believe he still doesn’t get it.

Minus –

The heavy objects themselves. This is mankinds latest war achievement? Really? Cumbersome, difficult to maintain, hopelessly fragile machines that are limited to a small group of people that can actually operate them, that are economically draining to build in the first place?

They need fairly clear paths to get anywhere, ongoing maintenance so a base has to be built near the combat zone, the outer parts (i.e. the weapons) are not protected by the ridiculously thick armour that covers the rest so are susceptible to strikes, and the pilots only have a thin amount of control because so many systems are automated and even the pilot struggles to cancel some of those systems (such as the self-destruct).

All and all, these objects are a failure of an invention and no self-respecting military would bother. With that, the entire foundation upon which Heavy Object’s world is built comes crumbling down and every conflict around the Objects just becomes ludicrous.

Plus +

While there are factions within the military and between the great powers of the world, not every single person is either a moron or evil. There are real people in positions of power. Some are a little overly ambitious, naive, or separated from the reality of the battlefronts, but we only meet about three genuinely crazy people in this entire series. And no one out for revenge because of some long forgotten tragedy in their childhood.

For a series that hit so many other cliché plot points, the absence of this was actually kind of refreshing. Sure, people had tragic backgrounds, but they didn’t use that as an excuse to do nothing but sit around and brood and laugh hysterically at slaughter. So while Heavy Object may not be realistic in a number of ways, there are some positives here.

Minus –

Why does everyone become obsessed with Qwenthur? Particularly every girl. And why are there maids? I know I said the second half of the series got better but the group of ‘mercenaries’ that Qwenthur hires (after they try to take him and Havia prisoner) running around in the snow dressed as maids really just makes you want to roll your eyes and then bang your head against the desk.

It’s obvious from the beginning that Milinda has a thing for Qwenthur, his superior isn’t actually after him but certainly has a soft spot for him and Havia, the ‘ohoho’ girl who pilots the object from the other guys has a thing for him, the maids like him, the disciplinary lady, and so on and so forth. They all like Qwenthur.

And all the higher ups and plotters in Heavy Object are all focussed on Qwenthur. Why not just take out his superior so he no longer has free reign? Why not discontinue his student whatever he is doing? Why not post him and Havia in different locations? For that matter, why not focus on Havia given without him Qwenthur would have been dead about twenty times over?

Okay, it’s kind of nice for the smart guy to be the centre of attention but this is an excessive amount of fixation on a guy who hasn’t figured out that a 90’s haircut is probably not the best suited style when running around a battlefield.

Alright, I’m not going to heavily recommend Heavy Object to watch because it just doesn’t do enough to warrant it. If you’re after something light, where stuff goes boom a lot, girls are regularly put into a fanservice role, the plot makes enough sense on the surface but can’t handle any closer scrutiny, and has reasonable music (except for one karaoke in the cockpit scene) then Heavy Object is entertaining enough and if you survive the first few episodes actually gets better.

Final complaint: Who has emergency battlefield surgery (including having to have their heart restarted) and manages in the same day (same afternoon even) to return to battle?

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Karandi James

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