Frau is the best thing this show has going for it.

Haha, right. This is basically my problem with sci-fi that doesn’t diverge too much from our own world. The closer a show approaches reality, the more frustrating it is when they get something glaringly wrong. I don’t care about the things that are obviously different— like magnetic monopoles and this thing with the sun exploding— but it’s the details given without explanation that seem ridiculous.

It sort of falls in the uncanny valley of science knowledge because they’re so close. In show’s that don’t even try to be scientifically accurate, you don’t even notice. But when they do get pretty close, the details stick out all the more. It’s great how they have RGB-D cameras, which are currently widely used in robotics, and how they show the effects of giant humanoid robots pretty reasonably. So when they have less believable things, it’s all the more jarring.

Furthermore, many of the plot details in Robotics; Notes don’t withstand much scrutiny. For example, the ability of lone hackers to easily infiltrate one of the world’s most secretive organizations (in Stein’s; Gate) makes no sense. Or the fact that this high school girl with no formal training is the best programmer in the world. Or how a high school robotics club is capable of building such a crazy robot, and yet all anyone cares about is entering competitions which are totally lame in comparison. In a normal fantasy series you wouldn’t mind, but one where the fun is going to come from unraveling some conspiracy theory, it helps if the world makes sense and follows some sort of logic.

Right now, a series of unbelievable coincidences form the backbone of this conspiracy. Frau’s mother is involved, Akiho’s sister is involved, Akiho herself has that weird sickness. All of these events seem, at the moment, to be completely independent. I have no doubt that they are in fact connected somehow. But based on what we’ve seen so far of these children’s abilities, I’m guessing we’re in store for some rather contrived connections. I hope I’m wrong though.