Aldnoah Zero was one of the hottest series of late 2014/early 2015. Naturally, anytime something narmy happened in the plot, the fans immediately snarked at it.
- As much as the soundtrack by Hiroyuki Sawano is generally liked, the exact usage and placement of the insert songs in certain episodes also seems to provoke this reaction in some fans, who feel it can be a little jarring and overly bombastic.
- The irredeemable villainy of most Vers enemy pilots and how they tend to be defeated like clockwork by Inaho every couple of episodes makes it difficult to take them too seriously as threats. The moment any Vers pilot says "Owari da" ("It's over"), you can be sure they're about to get their ass kicked.
- The surprisingly extended Slaine and Cruhteo torture scene in Episode 8, which crosses the line from showing a reasonable amount of suffering to an almost fetishistic degree of exploitation. To a certain extent, the extreme contrast between Slaine and the Princess' situations is narmy as heck.
- They way Cruhteo literally punches Slaine out of his shackles is obviously meant to be a capstone of the scene, yet looks so absolutely silly that it can prompt people to laugh instead of cry...or cry because they're laughing so hard.
- Episode 9. The way the flames shoot out of Marito's destroyed tank is rather...melodramatic and can, if you're that kind of person, ruin the scene's gravitas. On the other hand, it can be Nightmare Fuel for those who have seen video footage from the Syrian civil war where tanks that suffer internal ammo explosions cook out and explode just like the tank in the episode did, with fire erupting from the entry hatch and turret.
- On the other, other hand, the fact that the guy manages to survive long enough to dramatically beg to be killed becomes a bit... weird as it goes on. Like it's an Overly Long Gag in the middle of an otherwise serious scene.
- In Episode 10, the way Slaine's handcuffs were just shot off would have probably killed him at that angle.
- Eddelrittuo turning out to be a Badass Driver in Episode 11 is just hilarious. How can she even reach the pedal? Then there are those who found this hilarious and awesome at the same time.
- The season finale, Episode 12, provides hilarious shock value with its massacre of several cast members yet makes one wonder if the series wasn't trying too hard to troll the audience, rather than developing some of the recently deceased (?) characters first. It becomes even funnier once Season 2 rolls in and it turns out NONE of the deaths stick.
- Earlier in that same episode, when a United Earth Kataphrakt corners Slaine and demands he surrender, Slaine's response is to... point a pistol at it. Yes Slaine, your handgun will blow up a 10 meter tall mech. In fairness, it's starting to become pretty clear at this point (especially in the events that follow) that Slaine is becoming increasingly disturbed, with good reason.
- The better question is, what the hell was the Kataphrakt pilot trying to do taking an enemy infantryman armed only with a pistol prisoner in the middle of an active battlefield that had armored vehicles shooting at him at the same time?!
- Inaho's Electronic Eye in the show's second half. The fact that Once per Episode we get a close-up of it focusing and generating absurdly detailed information, with it being able to read more and more info with every passing episode* has led to it being a serious contender for the show Jumping the Shark. Its only justification we hear about its ever-growing power is that it's running a "mutation code" and getting more and more optimized by the episodes. Though it does seem to strain Inaho more and more the better it gets.
- Forget all the above, the true Jumping the Shark moment was when it takes complete control of Inaho's body after he falls unconscious in Episode 22. The eye actually becomes a separate character in its own right.
- That being said, the eye turns out to be a surprisingly sympathetic character, rather than the overused cliche of e-e-e-ebil AI. It is also apparently interested in smoking weed.note
- By the time we reach the show's end, the sheer amount of bullshit that's been thrown at Slaine has reached hilarious levels. It's almost like the writers were channeling the fan hatred for Slaine by devoting the entire final episode to crushing every last bit of his spirit into dust, capped off with the chess game with Inaho.
