I think the main thing that made this anime great was the fact that it was fairly unique, as far as Mecha goes. I have not seen too many anime out there where the main character is not piloting something over powered. In fact this time around the mech was incredibly under-powered compared to all the guys who he was fighting, that is something new. Plus they made his obvious invincibility, as the main character, more about his character than anything.

That was the part that I really enjoyed. Inaho was all about figuring out how to fight the enemy. You know in glaring contrast to the rest of the seasoned enemies who would just shoot until they were killed. Inaho, would step back and figure out what exactly was going on. Then he would devise a plan to win the fight. I mean really, you do not ever really see that in anime. Most of the time it is the main character going crazy and guns blazing. True enough, he had the arrogance of the Vers to help him, but he still took down more pilots than anyone else. It is kind of funny to think how smart he was, the rest of the crew could have used that.

Another great part of this anime is the fact that the universe is so rich. It is in great contrast to a lot of space mecha anime. You know where humans are waring with other humans who are on a similar level. This anime takes the route of the fact that the Vers empire came upon a great stash of technology that advanced them thousands of years. While the earthlings were all just advancing the way they always do. It was kind of weird to see the opposite effect. You know where the enemy is mowing down the good guys with sheer brute force. Normally that is the job of the main character. Plus the story that they tell is really good.

Aside from the usual suspense that they leave you in from battle to battle. There was the whole factor of what was going on in the crew and how they had to survive. You have the secrets of some that overwhelm them and you also have the brains of the whole operation, Inaho, making sure that things go the right way. I found it really funny how towards the end of the anime Inaho was the one making all the calls and coming up with all the plans. All the adults were the ones telling him his plans were stupid, you know regardless of the fact that they had nothing to offer up. I mean it is really funny how the captian and the teachers all kind of take a sideline to this one character who keeps everyone alive. Normally the crew has a bit more to do with survival.

So yeah if anything this anime is made great by the fact that there is a normal character who does all the ass kicking. If anything, Inaho makes the anime great because he is pretty atypical of all the normal main characters in mecha anime. Which is a good thing. It is not everyday that you get that kind of stuff. Plus the whole twist of the bad humans being overpowering the entire anime is another great twist.