A kid touches an alien mecha and loses his humanity in exchange for godlike power. The show never explains why this is a fair trade. You spend twelve episodes watching him rationalize decisions that should destroy him, while the real war, between staying human and staying alive, happens in his bones.

Haruto Tokishima is an ordinary 17-year-old high school student living in Module 77, part of a space colony belonging to JIOR, a small nation that stays neutral between two warring superpowers, Dorssia and ARUS. That changes when a Dorssian fleet suddenly breaches the colony, hunting for powerful mechanized weapons said to be hidden within his school, Sakimori Academy. In the chaos, Haruto comes across one of these weapons, the humanoid Valvrave. With his friends in danger, he climbs inside and agrees to a contract that grants him its power at the cost of his humanity. Aided by L-elf, a mysterious Dorssian agent and skilled strategist, Haruto and the Valvrave set out on a revolution meant to free the world. The result is a mecha action series about a quiet student life overturned by war.