Hundred

8 October, 2016

Oh gosh. I didn’t know it would be this quick. Just when I thought I had rebuked such typical show of borrowing so many elements from other series in the same genre, here comes another one. Yeah well, perhaps in this sense it isn’t as bad as Saijaku Muhai No Bahamut, but Hundred still feels like it has borrowed from harem, mecha and sci-fi elements from other similar animes. I’m too lazy at this point to list them down now. Heck, making it worse is how the name of this series sounds lazy as well. And I thought it wouldn’t be so bad (of course it is) had it been about a cheap sleazy fanservice filled anime about a hundred girls chasing after a single boy and hence the name of the series. Alas it didn’t turn out that way as it got its name from something less inspiring. At least from my point of view. Oh well, what to do? Since I love this genre so much and keep coming back, might as well sit back and relax the cringe worthy crappiness. You know, new boy with high hidden talent arrives at new school. Has dark secret and past. Meets a handful of girls who would become his b*tches, including the b*tch that hated and challenged him at the start, fights monsters with their mecha suits, more girls, crisis that threatens to harm innocent lives, saves the day, more harem hijinks. Oh yeah. I’m getting pretty good at this now.

Episode 1
Why is it always the main character must have some sort of traumatic past. His old city ravaged by a monster and he tried saving a girl. Something among those lines. It is no wonder Hayato Kisaragi once more wakes up from such dreams as he approaches the academy ship of Little Garden. Apparently Hayato has some super reputation as a pair of girls wait in line to welcome him. Not the kind to revel in the spotlight, Hayato gives them the slip only to be spotted by Reitia Saint-Emilion. Before he knows it, the crowd gathers around him like a rockstar. His specialty must be giving the slip because he easily does that. Emile Crossfode, his childhood friend hugs him, glad to see him here. Please bear in mind this is a boy!!!! No sh*t. Or is it… Later Reitia apologizes to Hayato for calling him out like that and making him attract attention. Students attend the opening ceremony at the hall hosted by student council vice president, Erica Candle and Liddy Steinberg. The president and queen of them all is Claire Harvey. Noa Sheldon and Liu Xuemei arrive late as they were the ones waiting for Hayato. However Claire will not take this sh*t and tells them to pack up and leave. Woah! Such heavy drama stuffs on the first day? I’m sure Hayato wants to protest but he is too meek. Surprisingly it is Emile who stands up to that b*tch. He risks expulsion too as Claire explains the failure to follow orders will lead to death of the entire squad because as Slayers, they will be fighting monsters called Savages. Emile brings up Hayato’s Hundred compatibility score so Claire asks Hayato’s opinion. He too opposes their expulsion. And thus Claire challenges him to a duel in which their expulsion will be cancelled if he wins. Why is it that such genres has the main character end up fighting the powerful b*tch on the first day?

Later Emile introduces Hayato to his best friend, a technologist on Little Garden, Charlotte “Char” Dimandius and her cat maid assistant, Meimei. There is also this autonomous computer that controls Little Garden, LiZA. Basically a powerful AI. Char proceeds to explain about the mecha suits known as Hundred (a term derived from Century Armament) that is only effective against Savages. They have many forms but ultimately their goal is to protect humanity. Since Hayato is willing to shoulder that responsibility, Char gives him his Hundred. Hayato than has a mock practice with Emile. And he gets owned. At the end of the day, he remembers he forgot to visit his little sister, Karen at hospital. Now, how to you please a pouting woman? A peck on the forehead like she wanted? Ah, now she is all nice and sweet again. And why do animes that feature nurse, they must have super big boobs?! Is this hentai? You can’t blame Hayato for looking at Miharu Kashiwagi’s boobs, right? When he returns to his room, he is shocked to see Emile changing. Don’t jump to conclusions yet… Emile throws stuffs at him. So after calming down, why is Emile in his room? Because they’re roommates, silly! As Emile sews his uniform, he accidentally poked his finger. The little blood is enough to send Hayato’s trauma activating. He quickly sucks his finger to stop the bleeding. Hardly anything romantic. He explains himself that he was involved in a Savage attack years ago so this is somewhat his reflex. And now time for Hayato and Claire’s battle to start.

Episode 2
Claire is so confident that she is willing to give Hayato a few handicaps like support from Emile and she herself won’t use full body armament. When it starts, Hayato couldn’t control his acceleration and rams into Claire. More cliché stuffs. Hand on boob. Oh dear. Mad girl. How will she get married now? She fights back and Hayato is losing. Before she is about to finish him, something inside him activates. His movement changes, he is faster and his attacks sharper. Is this Hayato? She is forced to use her full body armament to stop him. Although it might seem she broke the rules and officially won, she claims she lost to herself. Therefore this match is a tie. Later she visits him in hospital. He has no recollection when he transformed. She is curious to know who he is because for a student to just wield Hundred for a couple of days and pull off all those super manoeuvres and corner her, it shouldn’t be normally possible. Next day, Hayato agrees to go out to Central town with Emile. Because Emile wants to date him. Bear in mind he is a guy… Or is it… Hayato attracts lots of stares because of the duel with Claire. Even Karen calls him as the hospital staffs are talking about it. So worried this sister that she gets permission to leave the hospital to join Hayato. She meets Emile for the first time and her suspicions are good as ours. Is he really a boy? Even more disturbingly, Karen hopes there isn’t any gay time between them. They noticed an advertisement of a popular idol, Sakura Kirishima who is going to have a concert on a nearby island, Zwei Island. Karen joins them in the outing and well, not sure if this is bad luck because they bump into Claire and her student council members, including Claire’s assistant, Chris Steinbelt. Claire needs his help for the student council. More accurately, she wants him to join Selection, a special unit under the student council. He will remain as a student and get to fight real battles with Savages. Seems they don’t have enough Slayers due to a previous mission. Of course all this is voluntary. If Hayato is joining, Emile wants in too but they claim he doesn’t qualify. This is when Emile dares them to a challenge right now. Liddy isn’t happy Emile is being rude so he challenges her instead. Wait a minute. They are going to fight right here and right now?! Thankfully the alarm goes off before it gets serious. Looks like Savages have appeared on Zwei Island. They will settle this later but Char suggests Hayato and co to be taken along too.

Episode 3
Despite his looks, Chris is actually a smart analyst. There 3 Savages on Zwei Island and to be Trenta type. Claire changes her mind of not deploying Hayato and Emile because they lack experience. Claire’s plan is to hold off the Savages till the support from Warslarn HQ arrives. Char didn’t think she would rely on her older brother, Judar who is also the CEO. But Hayato reminds her of what she just said about noblese oblige, using your powers for the sake of those who don’t. If they wait for support, the city will be destroyed. Char adds that her recommendation was from LiZA and the newbies are their best bet in reducing damage. Claire agrees but the duo will remain on standby. Our student council veterans easily take the first one out. Emile pushes Hayato into the action and they too easily take out the second one. Why is it always the last one that is the toughest? Erica and Liddy almost died and yet Claire still believes she can settle this herself and not need their help? Guess what? She runs out of energy! Could have died too had not Hayato carried her away. They are in the Savage’s firing path but if they move, the airport will get hit and many will die. Hayato uses his barrier to deflect the beam. Nicely done. When Emile defends unconscious Liddy, his clothes gets ripped apart. Well, what do you know? Boobs! I knew it all along! Hayato remembers Emile as the girl from his trauma, Emilia Hermit. He goes to protect her but gets crushed by the Savage’s might. And then this is where Hayato transforms again into his full body armament. He is going wild. Going on a rampage. Man, he is savage! The only way to stop him? Emilia kisses him! Calms him down. Instantly. Together they destroy the Savage. With all that done, time for Claire to be shock in seeing Emile as a girl. It is unfortunate Sakura’s concert was cancelled but nobody got injured thanks to them. And as compensation for making Karen worried? A kiss on the forehead. Nobody’s kiss must outdo her.

Emilia strikes a deal with Claire to continue pretending to be a guy or else the entire academy will be in uproar. Time for Emile to reveal what he knows. He was infected by a deadly Savage virus then. Hayato helped by sucking out the virus and this made him infected too. People with such virus are called Variants and there are less than 10 in the world. A characteristic of the virus is that you lose yourself when you are about to die as the virus activates itself. Emile managed to control it via training. So why did he pretend to be a guy? So he can live in the same room as Hayato? I don’t know if I should call that gay… I’m confused… I didn’t know the virus is a little pervy too because it makes Hayato fall over Emile and squeezing those boobs. How to calm him down? A kiss! This is the reason: To suppress an activated virus, an inactivate virus must be administered. What better way than kissing, right? So we’re going to see lots of kissing from now on? And before the duo could romantically kiss this time (no virus in the way this time), Claire barges in to remind Emile about moving out only to see this scandal. They panic as Hayato fumbles onto Claire. A hand on her boob plus their lips met! OMG! Hayato, why do you always steal Claire’s first times?! The boob groping, the carrying and now the kiss. What next? Her virginity?! Claire and Emile quarrel but the former is made to shut up when Emile mentions about kissing Hayato. I don’t know how this turned out because now Emile bugs Hayato for a kiss. Trying to be the character with the most number of kisses with the main character?

Episode 4
Hayato and Emile are in a mock battle with Reitia and Fritz Granz. Hayato almost lost it but manages to control his inner demons and wins the fight. He is then called by Claire for a mission. As Sakura’s concert is postponed, she has personally requested Hayato to be her bodyguard. It seems the dangers of Savages still lurks. There were 7 in total detected. While in the previous episode 3 were defeated and the balance 4 were shot down upon re-entry to Earth, only 1 body was found. Yup, do the math. They are pretty much out there still. So poor Emile can’t go on a morning date with Hayato since he has to leave early. Hey, did they sleep next to each other on the same bed?! This is a girl pretending to be a boy, you know? So here Hayato is being Sakura’s bodyguard. Inside her room once they are alone, she becomes aggressive in asking him to marry her! She saw from the video how Hayato slain the Savage and instantly liked him. She goes on ranting about announcing it over the media and even planning out their wedding, family, kids, house, pet and oh, a rainbow in the sky. Wow… The only way to stop her is to play her game so Hayato agrees to do all that and wants to seal it with a kiss! Then she backs out and goes take a bath. Hah! So she was just teasing and trolling after all. Or is she… Then there is that accident in the bath in which she calls him to get her recorder. He tries to pick up her clothes strewn all over the floor and she misinterprets it. A little clumsy moment has her slip on the soap. If not for those damn convenient steam, Hayato could have seen everything and really have to marry her. After the usual press conference, Sakura takes him to the site where she is to hold her concert. It seems she is also a Hundred as she transforms into her sexy fairy suit to fly around. There is some explanation about her energy sense to create illusions from Char. Why is she here? Char and Sakura’s manager, Souffle Clearrail used to be colleagues and Char once saved Sakura’s life before. After done with his bodyguard job, Hayato returns and thinks he is the only one to use the public bath. Heck, there Emile is. Emile gets jealous after learning Hayato gets to call Sakura by her first name and wants him to do the same. At least Emile didn’t ask him to repeatedly spam it. Emile shows his scar across the body that is almost healed. And this is another typical women’s logic because Emile has been flirting all the while and when Hayato accidentally gropes her boobs, she screams and calls him a pervert. WTF?!

Episode 5
Claire wanted to give Hayato some poolside fanservice when she realized too late she wasn’t wearing her top. Free show! Immediately Liddy wants to kill him (even if it’s not his fault) but slips and has her crotch on his face! In rage, she squeezes his crotch! Super ouch! On to serious business, Claire tells him about some variable stone that was stolen during last month’s Savage chaos. Thieves might strike again so he has to be more careful guarding Sakura. On to private business, she wants to challenge him to some swimming duel. I think he made a good choice to pass up wearing those Speedos. Instead he went out on a date with Emilia. What are the chances of others seeing them? Emilia believes it is nil since not many students are on this island. You know say because here comes Fritz and Reitia! Better hide in the changing room. As Emilia goes to get drinks, Claire calls him that Sakura is missing. Not kidnapped but by her own will since she left a note. So everyone is searching for her and she wants Hayato to join in too. Why does Claire sound mad? Because she saw on the surveillance cameras of his date with Emilia. Stalker! To make up for it, he must go shopping with her next time. Speaking of Sakura, here she is right before him! She wants to meet him? Not wanting to risk Sakura seeing Emile, he agrees to go with her. Hayato informs Claire and again she doesn’t sound too happy. Yeah, another girl beat her to him.

At the Grand Canyon, she gives her thanks for saving him. When she hums a familiar song, Sakura mentions that this is a song her mother wrote and not many people hear it. Upon learning his sister is Karen, she quickly put together events that ascertain that they once met before. They met at a shelter after another Savage attack that left her mother dead. The siblings listened to her humming and Hayato noted how it made him feel much better. She can’t believe meeting again the guy who changed her life. Thanks to him, she gained confidence and continued singing. Subsequently, Sakura’s father whom she has never met suddenly claimed her and took her back to his homeland. Shortly she fell ill of a virus. She lost her ability to sing then and Souffle was put in charge as her genetic engineer. However her dad sold her off to Warslarn research facility where the lab’s director, Vitaly Tynayanov and his scientists injected fluids from Savage virus into experimented kids. Many children died. Sakura survived and gained her ability to sing again. However, Vitaly’s goal wasn’t to cure the illness but to turn normal people into Slayers. Regardless of the side effects, the vaccines kept being injected. Sakura’s singing managed to calm them down for a while although it did nothing to completely cure them. In the end, she survived by mere luck. Sakura is happy that Hayato is also a Variant like her. Fate? Coincidence? Taking a bus on the way back, a Savage attacks.

Episode 6
Hayato fights the Savage while waiting for reinforcement to arrive. Sakura supports him and she doesn’t care if people start thinking they are a couple. Emile, Fritz and Reitia are here to back him up. In between fighting the Savage, Emile has time to pry Hayato and Sakura apart. Too close? Surprisingly, Sakura’s voice could make the Savage stop dead in its tracks. Before Hayato can deal the final blow, he is attacked by a group of strange people. They kill the Savage and fight off the rest of our Slayers. Once they get the Savage’s core, they retreat. Seems they work for Vitaly. Back at the academy, Claire explains that these people are Hunters. Illegal Slayers, so to speak. They are going around taking Savage’s core because it is equivalent to the variable stone. At least in monetary value. This information is top secret and they are not to share it with the rest of the world. Later Hayato goes to talk to Sakura. She believes her songs affect people because she is not an ordinary singer. It is because she is a Variant that she can. She is sad her songs don’t actually reach anyone and is just deceiving people. Of course Hayato disagrees with all that. He was touched by her song when they first met. She didn’t have the virus then, right? Such sweet words give Sakura hope once more. She even iterates that she is going to fall deeper in love with him. Sakura performs her concert filled with songs, special effects and flying around. I can’t believe when she sings that familiar song, Karen instantly recognizes her from back then. She has been a hardcore fan and never even realized this once?! Next day when the gang sees off Sakura, she cheekily pulls Hayato’s hand in pretence of shaking them but quickly kisses his cheek! Gasp! Shock! Let the cat fight begin! She promises to see him soon. Probably he didn’t count on this soon because he wakes up to find Sakura on top of him!!! OMFG! And then Claire and Emile barge in to see this atrocity. Sakura clings on to him, the rest try to pull her away. Since when did Hayato become their tug of war? Forget Savages, these girls are savage!

Episode 7
Beach episode! I guess we need one so we could give Miharu an excuse to show off her hentai boobs. It is times like these that Emile hates being a guy… Because Sakura is hogging all of Hayato’s time. Not only Hayato is the hotly wanted property but Claire too because Erica and Liddy duke it out to put suntan on her. More fanservice hijinks as Hayato ends up planting his face in Claire’s boobs. Too bad we cut short this fanservice moment as Judar arrive in his helicopter to bring Claire back. Something important must have cropped up. Later Claire tells her Selections that they have a mission to do a joint clean-up mission with UN’s peacekeeping army. Judar then talks to Hayato and asks him what powers Little Garden. If you think it is some nuclear reactor, then you’re wrong. He takes him down to a secret chamber where a girl is seen in a capsule. She is LiZA. She is the one powering the entire Little Garden. Oh, did he mention she is Judar and Claire’s sister, Liza Harvey? The first Slayer and Variant. Claire is not pleased Judar told Hayato such sensitive information. Judar believes Hayato will be a top Slayer that could change the world’s power balance. Thus he needs to know these things to protect them at all costs. Also, Hayato has divine blood in which he can wake up Liza. All he needs to do is touch the capsule… And… Nothing happens. Looks like he hasn’t got enough power yet. Judar’s reason to rush is because he fears Vitaly might come get her. Judar has a past with Vitaly and needs to talk to her soon. Hence this clean-up mission is just a cover-up so he can capture her Hunters and get some information.

The gang are dropped off at Tian Quan City. Instantly this bratty girl rushes to hug Emile and almost revealing his identity. What’s this about Emilia being a hidden princess? Emilia apologizes she lied to Hayato about her name. It isn’t Emilia Hermit but Emilia Gudenburg. Third in line to the Gudenburg royalty. When you have a girl so obsessed about her princess, you can tell she hates the main character. Claudia Loetty from Britannia’s Slayer army begs Emilia to come home but Emilia has vowed never to go back. But can Emilia do it for the sake of Claudia? Not a chance because she loves Hayato more! Another women’s logic: For Emilia to turn out like that… Whose fault is it? Damn you Hayato! Claudia challenges him to a duel over Emilia. Claudia gets pumped up in fighting Hayato. Too bad Emilia is cheering at how cool Hayato is. Eventually lesbian girl loses and being the sore loser she is, she wants another match. Not a chance. And since Emilia won’t give her face to go back with her, I guess that’s that. Shock! Heartbroken! Claudia runs away in tears, though she is not giving up yet. And she still blames Hayato for it all.

Episode 8
It could have been a normal debriefing had not been Claudia is part Emile’s group. Yeah, she is going to show and prove how superior she is to win back Emilia’s heart. When is she going to learn she is not coming back to you? A little dressing down from Claire at least has Claudia shut up a bit. I’m sure we’re not interested in the fight against Savages or seeing Claudia the b*tch showing off how good she is. Because we’re more interested to see who sleeps with who for the night. Worst possible combination for the shift for Emile is that he got Erica while Claudia goes with Claire and Hayato. After changing shifts, Claudia tries to hook Claire and Hayato and send them on a patrol-cum-date. So she thinks she can get Emilia back? She should try harder… Indeed Claire and Hayato spot a Savage. I don’t know how Claire can even trip but thankfully there is Hayato to finish the job. Meanwhile Claudia tries to tell Emilia that Claire and Hayato are dating by the lake. Although feeling shock, Emilia still won’t give up on Hayato. Yeah, it is not enough a reason to run back to he own country if the person she loves is dating someone else. See, what did I tell you?

So while Claire cleans herself at the lake, they talk about Hayato’s power and his experience as a Variant. He mentions when he enters into such mode, he feels his senses numb. She believes Liza must have experienced the same thing. Liza is a designer baby as Savage fluids were injected into a fertilized egg. However this is not the doing of Vitaly as she was a mere assistant. It was Linis, their mother. How could a mother do that to her own child? It was the only way she believed could beat the gods in war. Liza exhibited extremely rare and abnormal talent as a Slayer from a young age. But one day she unleashed some forbidden power to save Claire from a Savage. Ever since she has been in slumber mode and giving off enough energy to power Little Garden. Liza is Judar’s trump card and the reason Claire is the captain is to watch his actions closely. Liza isn’t a tool for ambitions but her precious little sister. She wonders if she has failed being a captain for prioritizing her personal reasons but Hayato understands those feelings. If Karen did not need treatment, he wouldn’t have become a Slayer in the first place. An emergency call startles them. Again, how the heck did Claire slip her naked body onto Hayato?! A reason to blame him and have him take responsibility. Anyway the emergency call is from another squad. They are being wiped out by those Hunters. Fritz’s group just got done in as Claire confronts them in her full body armament. She is stronger than them and warns them to cooperate and give answers. Then it starts raining, giving the Hunters the advantage.

Episode 9
The rain powers up the Hunters as they defeat Claire. Before Krovanh could finish her, Hayato and co arrive. The fierce fighting continues although Krovanh’s sisters, Nesat and Nakri are taken out. Krovanh claims this world there is only despair. That is why they are going to change the world. Man, Krovanh is hitting so hard that Hayato could even glimpse his memories! Let’s see. Child slavery. Mistreated and abuse. They escape. Along the way, Nesat lost an eye. Saved by Vitaly, she could restore it but also give them new powers that would set them free. Hayato too has his own reason to fight: To make this world a better place and protect everyone he cares. This serves to make Krovanh mad as he doesn’t care what the virus will do to him as he ramps up its power. Fortunately a Savage rises from the lake to attack. Krovanh suggests a ceasefire and will help out in taking it down in exchange they take its core. But no matter how hard and heavy (and mad) he hits, its barrier is not breaking. He is blasted away only to be saved by Hayato. Why oh why? Because he wants to make a world where no one gets hurt. So does this mean a harem ending is possible? Anyway, after the Hunters disable their communication jamming device, Claire is able to connect to Char on Little Garden. Based on LiZA’s analysis, the barrier can be shattered if all Slayers concentrate their firepower at the same time. Okay, let’s do it. Nothing happens. Not enough firepower, you say? Well, considering that many of them just got owned.

There is another way… Hayato and Claire must kiss! Ah… We can hear those concerned parties voicing out their disagreement. In doing so, Hayato will transfer his Variant virus to her. It is not known about the long term effects but for now, they have to take care of this Savage. So what are you waiting for? Yay! They kiss! “There is something warm entering my body…”. Oh, you make it sound so dirty. Claire powers up significantly and destroys its barrier, allowing Hayato to finish the job. He collapses into the lake and Emilia jumps in to save him. Guess what? She kisses him. Does it count since he is out? Yeah, nobody must have more kisses than her. In the aftermath, our Little Garden Slayers return as they have suffered damage so they leave it to other groups and countries to continue the mission. The Hunters are taken in and Claire has a feeling Judar is behind it. Emile tries to kiss Hayato recuperating in hospital but Karen and Sakura walk in just in time. Too bad Emile can’t add another kiss to the tally but at least Karen believes that didn’t happen because it would be totally weird for guys to kiss, right? Right?! So she’s never seen yaoi… Everyone is happy when Hayato wakes up. Vitaly realizes those hunters aren’t coming back but no matter because there will be no more hindrances to her plan.

Episode 10
The Hunters although are in custody, their lips remain tightly sealed. Vitaly’s secret lab has also been found but she has already fled and all important data deleted. Thus she is still at large. There is an upcoming festival that celebrates the launching of Little Garden, Garden’s Festa. Additional security is needed so they will join forces with Slayers from other nations. And this means a bad feeling for Emile because… That pesky Claudia is here!!! F*ck!!! Thank goodness they won’t be paired together this time. Hayato learns that Karen will also be singing at Sakura’s performance as a special guest. He wonders if it is possible as she has a weak body. Don’t worry. Char has tweaked her Hundred to enable her to prance around. As the Festa takes place, Hayato and Emile are walking around and stumble upon Reitia and Erica helping out a maid cafe. Erica is very embarrassed in this outfit but Emile teases her by taking photos and wanting to send them to Claire. But Erica gets her best revenge when the duo are ushered in. She makes Emile dress up as a maid! The other maids are impressed Emile looks so much like a cute girl! You don’t say… Erica starts fondling Emilia’s boobs and the rest of the maids egg Hayato to do the same. Bear in mind that everyone else believes Emilia is a guy and they are excited all about it because of the Hayato x Emile yaoi doujin. Yeah… When Hayato is pushed, he falls on top of Emilia and grabs her boobs. He thought it was just towels to bust it up but they’re the real deal! The maids cannot stop taking photos! They encourage them to kiss in which Emilia doesn’t mind and wants to! Hayato pleads for Erica to help out but her shift is over and she has gone back to work. You’re on your own. Just before the concert, Hayato sees Karen. He thinks her outfit is a bit revealing? Isn’t this how all Slayers dress in battle? For making her nervous, a peck on the forehead is all that she wants to calm her down. And for good luck charm. Hey, even Judar personally comes to see them to give his blessings. No kissing charm, though. As Sakura’s concert begins, Vitaly slips into the Festa after hypnotizing a Slayer. So much about security. It is Karen’s turn to sing and a little embarrassing blooper since she is nervous. But after Sakura calms her down, she starts singing beautifully.

Episode 11
Vitaly begins her own show. There are suspicious bee drones hovering all over. Attempts to catch them only has them self destruct. Then heck, they just start blowing up power lines and everything. There are automatic cleaning robots that turn into those bees and some even hijacking the entire system to have unpiloted planes crash into Little Garden! Woah. Well, that is Little Garden’s ex-super technician and designer for you. Claire gives commands for all available Slayers to take them out. It gets harder when there are Savages coming in. But these are not your ordinary Savages. They are artificially made by Vitaly as they have no core. And there are bigger ones outside Little Garden pounding on the shield barrier and in no time they will break in. Char believes this is Vitaly’s war declaration on Warlsarn. Claire wants to go out and fight but Chris is against it and she must stay here at the command centre to command and calm all Slayers. This is where Hayato and Emile come in to cover for her. Because LiZA said so too. What the f*ck are they doing in the command centre in the first place instead of helping other Slayers?! Claire gives them a condition to come back alive and protect everyone. Well, duh! The Hunters are glad Vitaly is here to rescue them. As she is launching an attack on Little Garden, she needs their help. But Krovanh remains sceptical. He believed their deal was not to hurt ordinary people and their fight was just against Slayers. Besides, he believes the people here are not that bad. Vitaly then uses some sound wave to mind control them under control. Meimei tries to save them but was taken out.

Episode 12
Vitaly is forcing the Hunters to obey her every command. Here comes Meimei again to save them. Vitaly abandons them and runs into LiZA’s chamber. Judar is waiting for her. Vitaly reveals her goal. This is about revenge. Revenge on him for pretending to love her, then used her and then threw her away. So this entire thing is basically a woman’s revenge on her ex-lover? No sh*t. She is going to make him suffer but destroying LiZA before his eyes. First, her Savages give out some sort of sound wave with viruses that weaken the Slayers. When Vitaly fires at the chamber, nothing happens. Surely it can’t be easily destroyed by a few bullet shots, right? Even more shocking is that LiZA has awakened. This is all part of Judar’s plan. By using Sakura’s songs, he gambled LiZA would awaken faster. In other words, he used her again. Vitaly fires more bullets into him but LiZA protects him. And then Judar shoots her. He thanks her for helping him a lot in his plans. What a tragic love story. LiZA then tells Sakura and Karen to sing for everyone. Their singing cancels out the virus and the Slayers are able to fight again. Hayato transforms to his full body armament to take down the big mother Savage but it is not enough. Krovanh unleashes his frustration on it but there is only so much anger can do. Now it is Nesat’s turn to get mad. In her bid to protect her brother, she uses her power to absorb the Savage. Now she is fused with it. This is dangerous as Char recognizes it as the same situation that happened to Liza. She will eventually go out of control and cause a huge explosion.

Meanwhile unconscious Hayato is visited by LiZA and is told he can save her. So what is his motivation? LiZA kisses him!!! OMG! He even gets a kiss from the super computer girl! You lucky bastard! Claire has decided between taking one life and sacrificing thousands. But wait. Hayato can save them all! She is going to give him one chance and if he fails, she will take Nesat out herself. So the method Hayato is going to save her is using his voice to reach her? Talking about freedom, eh? Well, I guess this is what diplomacy is supposed to be. But what happens if that doesn’t work? Well, they clash once and in this whatever alternate dimension, he talks to her once more. This time about trust and friends. Yeah. You can trust me. Thankfully he isn’t a politician ;p. And just like that, Nesat returns to normal. At night as the fireworks display on Little Garden, suddenly Emilia usurps us by kissing Hayato. Ah, she must always outdo the others, right? After saying their wish to be with each other, you mean Hayato is agreeing to kiss her a second time?! OMG! He did! And then everybody sees this and misinterprets this gay moment. Claudia is most mad as she corners Hayato and warns him about kissing the princess. Unfortunately she spilled all the details so Emilia has to come clean. She confesses she is a girl and a princess. Shocker, no? I take back Claudia is the maddest because that goes to Claire who is going to blast them with her beam! F*ck this sh*t!!!

From Hundred To Zero
Well, well. Are you mind blown yet? I couldn’t be happier it ended. And I’m even gladder that it ended on a cheesy cat fight but at the same time they should just extend it and see how Claire hunts down Hayato and Emilia’s ass for whatever jealousy reasons. I think that would have been a better plot than fighting Savages or that cheesy ex-girlfriend-revenge-plot-by-killing-thousands-of-innocents scheme. Seriously, there has got to be a better way than seeking revenge on you ex-boyfriend. And too bad for her it didn’t pay off and got used for one last time again by the sneaky bastard. Just as planned… Sheesh. Is Vitaly really dead or will Judar encased her in a capsule for his next phase of his plan? Don’t care. Don’t want to know.

Forgive me if I am saying how cliché, generic and typical the characters are for I have seen so many of such similar genres that they look so same that if I were to say it again, I would be repeating myself for the hundredth time. Maybe I should just post a link and refer them to my previous blogs but then again that will take a lot of work and I am feeling so lazy so just screw that. So you have the cliché and generic main character (check his tragic past, check his hidden powers, check his destiny to change the future or power balance, check his ideals that he will stick to, check his babe magnet, check everything else), his harem girls that include the flirty idol, the possessive cross-dresser, the little sister trope, the b*tches, the lesbian b*tches, the scheming big brother commander, the other guy, a rocket scientist, her furry android maid servant, an AI, a busty nurse, a typical antagonist who was once a member of the team gone astray and her bunch of misguided followers. Yeah, very diverse indeed.

So I’m not going to jump in and repeat again all the typical characters because I don’t want to bore myself again. I’m just going to note a few like Emile/Emilia is mind boggling and as annoying. Although the same person, sometimes I get so confused if I should refer to this cross-dresser as a guy or girl that I just gave up and just refer to him/her whatever my mind comes to. The weirdest thing about him/her is that he/she wants to be close to Hayato. And I mean close enough to hold his hand and arm like how lovers do. Because here I thought he/she was trying to keep his/her gender identity a secret but at the same time has no qualms in getting into situations in public that would cause people to misinterpret about their relationship. I’m not sure if he/she is trying to indirectly garner some sort of support for Hayato x Emile yaoi doujin. Because that would only make it worse because you know, every other girl would be squealing over them and isn’t that what Emilia doesn’t want? Other girls to get closer to Hayato? Either way, he/she is annoying as hell. And you thought revealing her as a real girl was the biggest surprise of the series, huh? Big joke… Even her secret princess identity wasn’t that much of a big deal. Okay, so it does to others. Especially Sakura. Because now a royalty ranks higher than an idol and guess where she stands now in the pecking order for Hayato’s love? Yeah…

The only other character that is amusing and interesting is Claudia because of her b*tch and lesbian admiration for Emilia. She never gives up. Anything wrong, always blames Hayato. I figure every such harem anime (or at least most of them) should have one girl who hates our female attracting main character because it would be more fun that way. Despite being annoying, at least she is funny in that sense unlike Emile/Emilia who is just plain annoying. Man, she should have appeared earlier because I never seem to tire of her baseless accusations. And the other amusing ‘character’ that I find is LiZA who seems to be the so called most intelligent thing on Little Garden. Because every damn advice it gives out must be so good that nobody questions it and just follows. Even though she only prints one English word on screen. How the f*ck did she not detect Vitaly sneaking onboard. Even the smartest AI has her limits. Especially when you encased a comatose girl in a capsule. And now that she is free, will she be moving around in her spirit form? That will be scary and making Little Garden looking a bit haunted, isn’t it?

The fanservice and factor is also generic and cliché. At least it is better for me to talk about this since I love this kind of stuffs seasons in, seasons out. Even though they are pretty much very similar. So by throwing in a lot of kisses, do they think they can make this generic series stand out? Well, this isn’t the only series in the genre to have a main character getting multiple kisses throughout the season. But you know, kisses are like declaration of war in harem genres and with almost every potential candidate having kissed Hayato in some way. I am sure Emile/Emilia is leading the kiss count. Then there are cheesy obligatory fanservice which include females with big boobs, females who end up in the nude (but short of any frontal nudity and hentai) and because what good will it do if you omit the cliché ‘main character must fall over and have his face and/or hands on her boobs’ scene. And don’t forget the bath scenes too. I know it is all generic and probably why we watch this anime and yet why do I sound like I’m complaining? Do I really sound like I’m complaining about this?

Same can be said for the harem side. To balance out everything, you have girls who love him and girls who hate him. I wish they had materialize more cat fights over Hayato (cat fight round 1 between Claire and Emilia when?) because personally I think it is better to see them fight against Savages that you will know they will triumph over in the end. But what bugged me was Reitia’s position. We have Emilia, Claire, Sakura and to a certain extent Karen who love Hayato. Then we also have Liddy and Erica having hots for Claire and Claudia for Emilia. So where does that leave Reitia? She is the first character he bumps into and it gave an impression that she would most likely end up being one of the potential candidates. Then what happened to her? Is she more like Noa and Xuemei level? Not really because it feels she is more than them. Perhaps like Char level? So in addition to girls who love and hate Hayato, we got girls who aren’t even on his radar. That is why I felt that she and her partner Fritz are like redundant characters. Characters who are there just to show that not everything revolves around Hayato or related to him. The other Slayer team with no ‘important’ connection to him. At least better than other background characters whose names we will never even know.

One of the most important aspects that were not really addressed is the origins of the Savages. I mean as much as I prefer the silly cat fights and I-will-have-more-kisses-to-Hayato-than-any-other-of-you-b*tches, sometimes I want to know what these are. What are they in the first place and why are they attacking the world. Because of the cheesy focus on the characters, these alien monsters get side-lined and being reduced to just baddies for our heroes to take them out. It feels like they are just existing for that reason. Not to say that I am not rooting for the Slayer heroes but it feels like hating something because you don’t understand the full extent of it. Like hating Mario’s Bowser just because he always kidnaps the princess and thus his reputation will always forever be known as the great villain. Have you ever thought he may be the one saving her from the delusional clutches of a psychopath Italian plumber? Or if everything was just a freaking act? Woah… Don’t want to go into that kind of conspiracy theory. Therefore having these Savages here just feels empty and I don’t really see them live up to their barbaric nickname. Even though the aliens have this Savage as their nickname to give them some sort of identity, it just isn’t enough. Heck, they could have just given them any name and it still won’t matter.

Action scenes also feel average and sometimes a side dish to whatever this anime is all about. Because of the need for the Slayers to show off their single set of skills and hence the need for a fight between humans and giant bugs. There is hardly any variety or even any unique moves that I would even remember as it is either they fire some laser beam or strike it with a sword. Other than that, I wonder how many bullets Vitaly’s gun can hold because she seems to be shooting it like nobody’s business without reloading. And then when it runs out, it is a sign for her to bite the dust and get shot by Judar who used only a single bullet and he made that bullet count. Oh boy…

Art and drawing feels rather okay, nothing to shout about. If the art feels similar, it is because Production IMS have also animated similar series in the harem and sci-fi genre like Shinmai Maou No Testament, Date A Live, Masou Gakuen HxH, Active Raid and Ore Twintail Ni Narimasu. Character designs feel pretty generic and I’m sure I have seen those body suit designs somewhere before but as usual, I’m too lazy to go think and do some back study. As for the designs of the Savages, I’m not sure if putting glowing stripes over them makes them look any menacing. I don’t know. It just seems weird.

Of all the decent voice acting, I only recognized Yui Horie as Char and Rina Satou as Souffle. The rest of the casts include Yoshiaki Hasegawa as Hayato (Yura Mikage in Mayoiga), Rumi Ookubo as Emile/Emilia (Nona in Death Parade), Mao as Claire (Kazumi in Gokukoku No Brynhildr), Yoshimasa Hosoya as Judar (Haruhiro in Hai To Gensou No Grimgar), Mayu Oshioka as Sakura (Mayu in Wake, Up Girls), Kaya Okuno as Karen (Kaya in Wake Up, Girls!), Yui Makino as Erica (Sakura in Tsubasa Chronicle), Rika Kinugawa making her debut as Liddy (Takako Chino in Orange), Yuka Ootsubo as Reitia (Kyouko in YuruYuri), Wataru Hoshino as Fritz (Gajeel in Fairy Tail), Chinatsu Akasaki as Claudia (Yasuna in Kill Me Baby), Romi Paku as Vitaly (Hitsugaya in Bleach), Yuuhei Takagai as Krovanh (Gowther in Nanatsu No Taizai), Saori Oonishi as Nesat (Emi in Jinsei) and Machico as Nakri (Nishiyama in Sansha Sanyou).

I have a hunch that they decided to break the monotony and add some spice in what was turning out to be a mediocre series. That is why for a short series with only a dozen episodes, there are multiple ending themes, each lasting only 3 episodes. Fortunately there is one which is quite attractive to listen to and it is the second ending theme, Tabooless by the student council top dogs (b*tches doesn’t sound appropriate, right?) trio of Claire, Erica and Liddy. It is a sultry and sexy dance beat (although the animation shows the trio in high class sexy slutty lingerie). This is far best my favourite song of the series. Others are rather okay like the hard rock third ending theme, Hardy Buddy by Fritz and Reitia, the anime rock first ending theme, Eyes On Me by Emilia and Sakura and the fourth ending theme which is a slow ballad by Sakura and Karen. Sakura also sings a couple of insert songs throughout the series like Itsuka Anata Wo and Sand Mirage but none of them captured my attention. Oddly, if Fritz’s seiyuu had a singing part, I don’t see why Hayato’s didn’t have one. Can’t sing? Too main character for his own song? As for the opening theme, your typical anime rock, Bloodred by D-selections. Nothing special, though.

Overall, another disappointing anime to add to my list with average and cheesiness in every department. Uh huh, calling Infinite Stratos as a better comparison is saying something… Because the girls there are cuter :p. But I can only blame myself for taking the bait as I am condemned forever to love such shows. That is why even when producers make the same similar shows in the future with just few tweaks and variations, people like me will still fall for it for the hundredth and even thousandth time. It never gets old. It’s like our seasonal fix for our addiction. Same time, same place next season? Yeah, if you have seen a hundred harem sci-fi series, you’ve seen them all. And that’s pretty savage!

Saijaku Muhai No Bahamut

4 September, 2016

Hmm… Too many generic harem animes these days, huh? Okay, why not let us add something to it and make it less generic. How about we add dragons in it? What? What do you mean they already did it in Seikoku No Dragonar?! Okay then. How about we have the characters use exo-skeleton machines as their mechas. Wait. They already did that in Infinite Stratos? Well then. How about the only boy in an academy filled with girls then? Infinite Stratos also covered that? This is going to be tough… In that case, let’s have the protagonist bearing an inferior label or tag that is known to the public. They did this already in Rakudai Kishi No Cavalry? And Kuusen Madoushi Kohousei No Kyoukan? Alright… How about the main character has a different kind of past life? They did something similar in Seiken Tsukai No World Break?! Man, I’m running out of ideas. How about something more general like an academy that teaches its students to fight monsters then? Kuusen Madoushi Kouhosei No Kyoukan already included this, you say?

Ah, I know. A setting whereby the characters are sword users and there are elite knights and noble rulers too. What did you say? Seirei Tsukai No Blade Dance already got this sh*t?! And Rakudai Kishi No Cavalry too? Alright then, what about the main character stumbling into one of his future harem girls while changing and seeing her in her undies or naked right in the first episode? THEY ALREADY DONE THIS IN GAKUSEN TOSHI ASTERISK TOO???!!! And in Juuou Mujin No Fafnir?! Seirei Tsukai No Blade Dance too?! And Rakudai Kishi No Cavalry as well???!!! Oh well. What the f*ck! Uh huh. F*ck all that! Why not we just take all of that and mash it up into Saijaku Muhai No Bahamut. I’m sure nobody can tell the difference, right? And while we’re at it, might as well steal borrow the school uniform design from Absolute Duo too. And now for the plot, you’re asking? Hahaha! After going through listing all that harem animes, you tell me you want to know the plot?! Hahaha! HAHAHAHAAHAHA!!!! Oh man, that was sure a good laugh.

Episode 1
5 years ago, a lone Drag Knight overthrow the kingdom of Arcadia after hundreds of years of tyrannical rule. His identity is not known and the people only knew him as Black Hero. Lux Arcadia had the unfortunate fate of dropping down a ceiling while chasing a cat stealing a purse into a woman’s bath. Even more unfortunate that he is over Lisesharte Atismata AKA Lisha and thinking he could calm the situation down by complimenting her, I think he sent the wrong idea about how great her boobs are. Wrong choice of words. That seals it. He is a pervert. He is imprisoned and Krulcifer Einfolk is interested in his Sword Device but Shalice Baltshift and Tillfur Lilmit take him to see the academy’s headmaster, Relie Aingram. She seems to brush off this perverted thingy since she called him here for a job. As explained, Lux is the former prince of the former Arcadia kingdom. Now this academy of the new current empire of Atismata is a school meant to train girls with potentials as Drag Knights. The reason Lux is called here because of the lack of boys since only a few males were left after the coup d’etat. Lisha will not accept him not after what he has done. Relie reminds her he is known as the weakest undefeated. Is that an oxymoron? But Lisha challenges him to a Drag Ride duel and if he loses, he will be sent back to prison. Oh, did she mention that she is the princess of the first queen of Atismasta? Former prince versus current princess. Interesting… Lux gets a reminder by his sister, Airi that they have to be careful in what they do since as former members of the Arcadia kingdom, they are treated as criminals. If he gets into such trouble again, her entire life will not be enough to work and clear his debt. His perverted notoriety even spread to her roommate, Noct Leaflet. Or is she just being sarcastic? Better safe than sorry.

The Drag Ride duel is here. Lisha looks down on his generic Wyvern because her super divine Tiamat is just well, divine. Easy win? Since Lux won’t use his Sword Device, Lisha begins his beat down and unleashes her Tiamat’s special Raiment, gravity. While her Drag Ride temporarily loses control from the power, the arena is suddenly attacked by an Abyss. Cue for mass evacuation and Lux to play the hero to fight it. Or is he just fooling about being the bait so that he could signal Lisha to take it down after creating an opening. Yup, that is it. In the aftermath, Lisha ponders about Lux’s actions. It is the first time a guy tried to protect her. That look on her face… Starting to have feelings? She goes to see how he is doing (just fine) and suddenly before you know it, they have a light chatter and laughing. She now believes in him. Like best friends now? She reveals the duel was because she didn’t want to let him get after not after what he had seen. I suppose it is a sign that he shouldn’t say more but he did. Because he apologizes that he saw everything and it was charming! WTF?! Actually Lisha is not worried about that. She shows the crest of the former empire near her pubic area and thought he had seen this. He is surprised and since she can’t tell him the reason yet (like how Lux can’t tell why he won’t use his Sword Device), he agrees to help keep it a secret. Even more surprise for Lux when she tells him tomorrow he is officially a student of this academy as requested by Relie. Oh yeah, they’re going to be classmates too.

Episode 2
Also in his class is his childhood friend, Philuffy. Ah, I see Lisha is starting to get awfully jealous… The only reason the girls are swarming around Lux is because he is tasked as a handyman who will handle their requests. But Lisha usurps them all because she requests him to be her exclusive caretaker and assistant! Before we get any showdown between Lisha and Philuffy, Krulcifer brings him away on pretence Relie wants to see him. Of course she has a request for him and that is to find the Black Hero whom she has business with. Lux dreams about his brother, Fugil telling him the empire’s cruel experiments will soon reach his childhood friend and the only way left is to kill them all. Lux was reluctant as he wanted to minimize casualties. More hijinks for Lux because he wakes up sleeping with Philuffy! This is her room? Get out before somebody sees you. Too late… And so another earful from Airi about racking up such reputation. But it turns out Philuffy is his roommate as approved by Relie. How? They’re sisters and she wants him to take care of her. Lux sees Lisha fixing his Wyvern. On pretence to get to know each other better, they head out to town. Like a date? When Lux praises Lisha to be a worthy queen, this is when things get melodrama. The mark on her belly was a result of her dad who participated in the coup d’etat. It failed and she was taken hostage. The mark is evidence that she was Arcadia’s prisoner. She wanted so much for him to come save her but he never did. She couldn’t commit suicide and decided to become part of Atismata’s royal family. As the only heir after his father’s death, she became the new kingdom’s princess while hiding this mark. More dreams from Lux when he was saddened that everybody was massacred and Fugil was delighted because had they not die, he would have. Fugil called him naive and thus the weakest and not fit to be king.

The Knight Squadron that Lisha is part of sorties because an Abyss is detected by the ruins. Unfortunately the Abyss hatches more hatchlings and the perpetrator behind it is no other Ragreed Forus, the Knight Squadron chief of Arcadia and his men. His flute enables him to control the Abyss. When Noct returns with her report, Lux feels the need to go help Lisha. Airi is worried he cannot win in his current state. Of course he can. He is the main character! Haha! Ragreed relentlessly attacks Lisha and downs her. Then he rips her lower garb to reveal the mark and humiliate her. He knows because he was the one who stamped it. Before he could finish her off, Lux arrives in time to save her. Just like all heroes do, huh? His words of motivation of wanting to see her as a worthy queen give her hope. He unleashes his Sword Device to summon Bahamut. One look and you can tell this is a super divine Drag Ride. He kicks all the traitors’ ass with super speed and power. So is it safe to say that Lux is the Black Hero? Hardly surprising. Ragreed gets mad over him for being a traitor instead of a hero. Who cares what he thinks because Lux finishes him off. As narrated by Airi, Lux isn’t a hero because he destroyed the kingdom.

Episode 3
A welcome party for Lux? I didn’t know he is that famous and beloved. This is what to expect in a harem genre, right? To make things more interesting, Relie suggests a game. She gives Lux a special form and whoever steals it from him within an hour will have Lux for herself for an entire week! I didn’t know there are so many girls trying to get him to be their slave. I know it is a dream for guys to have girls chase after him but in Lux’s case, he better start hiding. He got tricked by Lisha to hand over it but he tricks her back thanks to her naivety. Lux sure has a penchant to run into such places because he is hiding in the changing room for the Knight Squadron! Not a sound… Krulcifer spots him but doesn’t blow the whistle. Only after her teammates left, she signals him out. Since time is already over, she has him hand over the form. To his dismay, she tricked him because the clock was just slow so Krulcifer wins the game and gets him all for herself. So what will it be? Be her boyfriend! They go to see Relie who shows them the flute she retrieved from Ragreed. She wants them to confirm if it is a key to something before he Knight Squadron starts their investigation. Airi cautions Lux about Krulcifer not because she is a buracon, she feels she is hiding something. Krulcifer explains why she wants him to be her boyfriend. As she is the daughter of the Count of Ymir country, it is only logical that nobles engage and marry each other. A butler from her family will come to check over her status and she would like him to act as her boyfriend till then. Everyone is shock when Krulcifer puts her face close to his and it looks like they are kissing. Actually she is just warning him not to back out of this or she will expose his peeping incident. Got him there by the balls…

I believe Lisha is jealous so she confronts Krulcifer just to brag how close she is to Lux as they have hold hands. Big deal? Wait till she hears about Lux and Philuffy kissed a long time ago… Speaking on the topic of kissing, there Lisha goes flustering… Lux and Krulcifer are out to town on their date with Lisha and Philuffy secretly spying on them. Krulcifer dresses up to purposely stand out from the crowd so as to make everyone believe they are a real item. At the end of the day, they are surrounded by several bandits. You know they are just low level grunts when Lux is able to fend them off and give Krulcifer enough time to summon her Drag Ride, Fafnir whose Raiment is predicting the future so you can bet she owns all of them in no time. When one tries to escape, he is taken down by Altelise Mayclaire. She is Krulcifer’s family butler. At a restaurant (somehow Lisha and Philuffy coming out of their hiding to join them too), Krulcifer tries to introduce Lux as her boyfriend when this arrogant dude, Lord Barzeride Kreutzer interrupts. He claims he is here to see his future wife and guy cannot wait until tomorrow to be introduced. Barzeride tries to play down Lux and that they are both of different class but as far as Krulcifer is concerned, he is still a total stranger to her. So please stop calling her your future wife. Not pleased, Barzeride decides to challenge Lux to a Drag Ride duel. A team battle. Of course if he wins, Krulcifer cannot refuse him even if she is forced into engagement.

Episode 4
Barzeride seems to be making a deal with a shady person who suspiciously looks like Fugil. Can you see Lisha’s relief that Lux isn’t Krulcifer’s real boyfriend and totally understands she is using him just to escape an arranged marriage? Since Lux doesn’t have to go on a fake date with Krulcifer today, instead of having a good rest, that guy is being served by Tillfur, Lisha and Philuffy dressed up as maids. Wow! I don’t mind such service! Switch places with me now! Meanwhile in the royal council of Atismata, they are discussing about a powerful Abyss concealed in the ruins. They want to awaken its powers but isn’t sure if the new empire is strong enough for that. That is when Barzeride’s father suggests tasking his son to investigate the ruins. Relie and her Knight Squadron are in a meeting. She officially hands over the flute to Lux in his care. Lux is baffled Krulcifer is at the meeting as she is a transfer student and doesn’t need to attend. That’s because she will also be joining the squad to investigate the ruins. A little fanservice time when Lux soaks in the bath and to his surprise finds Philuffy there. He notices the absence of a deep scar on her back but of course that dreamy girl is not sure. On the day the Knight Squadron is supposed to go investigate the ruins, they are surprised when Barzeride volunteers to help investigate it. Although none of the ladies are impressed, he assures he will pull no punches and will do his best to defend them. Of course he also makes known that one of them here is his future wife so if she is in danger, naturally he will be there to protect her.

Everyone approaches the ruins. Krulcifer seems to be in a hurry and rushes in. With the Abyss attacking, Barzeride shows off the power of his divine Drag Ride and challenges Lux to see who can take down as many Abyss. Don’t be tempted into this silly challenge, Lux. The Abyss goes berserk and it emits some kind of wave that paralyzes the Drag Rides. Then they see the ruins shining. Lux has a dream whereby Fugil reprimanded him for doing something reckless. Its effect was devastating and that is only Lux using it at normal power. Lux wakes up inside the abyss and only Krulcifer is with him. They head to the altar in the centre as Lux asks why finding the Black Hero is important to her. There is a limit to what Drag Rides can do no matter how reckless the operators can be. However this doesn’t apply to the Black Hero and searching for him she hopes that would be true. At the altar as Lux wonders if he should use the key, it suddenly activates. He hasn’t even done anything yet. That is when Krulcifer reveals she is not a human of this world and a survivor of the ruins.

Episode 5
Inside a chamber, there are lots of capsules. Krulcifer reveals she was born in one of these a long time ago. Yes, she is adopted into the Einfolk family. Her ‘father’ was examining the ruins and found her. He kept her in hopes they would discover a clue to the lost past. Other family members ostracized her. She studied etiquette and Drag Knight in hopes of being accepted but the hate grew when she was given Fafnir. She always hoped whatever she heard was a lie but was convinced she is a survivor of the ruins when it reacted to her. She still has no clue about her past or if she has any allies. Leave it to Lux to calm her down and say soothing words. Then she says it was all just a lie because she wanted to test his reaction since he is so soft hearted. Really? All a lie? Now it is Lux’s turn to tell about his grim past. Don’t worry, they’re not lies. How he was thrown out by his own grandfather. At first he hated everyone who never helped him but soon realized he didn’t want to hate anybody. Those who are important to him and those who would become important, he wants to create a kingdom where his loved ones could live without hate. He has Philuffy to thank for saving him. Their conversation is cut short when Lisha drills them out. Airi reprimands Lux not for failing to find if the flute is the key but he messed up Wyvern again. She gives him drink herbal tea that Krulcifer made. Of course it is to make him sleep so he will not participate in tonight’s duel.

Krulcifer meets Barzeride for the duel. Altelise is sincere in helping Barzeride as per agreed but he puts her to sleep too. The fight begins with Barzeride dominating over Krulcifer. She knows everything from those attackers was set up by him. Even if she knows, Barzeride is confident she can’t change a thing because she is just a tool, a key whom he shall obtain. And yes, he will become her master. Before Krulcifer can fall into despair, here comes Lux to the rescue. I guess he didn’t drink it, huh? After a short bout, Lux can tell Barzeride’s Drag Ride’s Raiment is stealing the power of other Drag Rides that it touches. Barzeride attacks Krulcifer. This is just a decoy so when Lux protects her, he touches him to absorb his power. Needless to say he is faster and more powerful. And because Barzeride is getting cockier and Krulcifer sinking into hopeless regretting mode, this gives Lux the power of the main power to confirm that he is her lover and powers up intensely with his main character determination to defeat Barzeride once and for all. You should see the flabbergasted face on Barzeride moments before his defeat. It was like so unbelievable. Next day, Lux is left to rue what comes next. Because he has saved Krulcifer, he has already proven himself to be her fiancé and thus Altelise and the family head have approved him of so. Lux must have a short memory because he doesn’t remember about saying being her lover last night. Even if he did, it was just at the spur of the moment. Oh, how are you going to take responsibility now? Krulcifer makes a surprise move by kissing him! Thank goodness only Tillfur and Lisha are there to witness this shocking development. Maybe not. Here is another shock: Krulcifer gives Lux another kiss! They can continue with more if he marries her… Time for Lisha to bust in and play moral police.

Episode 6
Lux is cross-dressed as a girl and walking around the academy as Luno! So cute that nobody can guess he is a guy in drag? It all began when Shalice talked to him about Barzeride’s defeat. Because other than him, there is another person who can fare against the greatest Abyss, Ragnarok. That person is Celestia “Celis” Ralgris, one of the 4 great nobles and returning to the capital soon. Oh, did we mention she hates men? You’ve been warned. As there is also a pervert recently spotted on the academy grounds, thus Lux is made to dress up as bait. During his patrol, Luno spots Celis talking to a cat in the bushes! But Luno is attacked by a perpetrator and Celis comes to the rescue. Although the perpetrator gets away, Luno get injured when the culprit throws a knife meant for Celis while escaping. Celis treats Luno and thankfully ‘she’ didn’t have to strip to have her arm bandaged. Meanwhile Barzeride is in prison and thinks this hooded guy has come to rescue him. However he is killed off as he blows his flute to summon Abyss. Next day, there is a big ruckus and Lux is called to Relie’s office. It seems Celis has learnt of the only guy in the academy and for the sake of the academy’s existence, she wants him thrown out. She does not acknowledge him. So what do you do when you can’t settle the argument? You have a duel, right? So if Celis loses to him, Relie hopes she will then see his true strength and acknowledges him.

The Squadron Knights head to an island for training camp. For some reason, Lux also brought his cross-dressing clothes with him. He thinks of giving them back to Shalice but she lets him keep it. Good thing because Celis’ underling, Saniya Lemiste calls Lux as Celis wants to see him. When he enters her chambers, he is shocked to see her naked although Celis is facing away and thought this person is the massager. Good thing he has the clothes. So he slips into it and gives Celis a good massage. To show her gratefulness, Celis wants to take ‘her’ out to town tomorrow. Before Luno could leave, Celis sees the Sword Device and examines it a little although nothing much of it. As Luno exits, Saniya is suspicious of this ‘girl’ and is going to attack her. Thankfully Krulcifer is here to prevent any bloodshed. That ‘girl’ is with her. Krulcifer knows Luno is Lux as she cautions about Saniya as she is trying to create scandals in which Lux will be thrown out of the academy. So before Luno’s big day with Celis tomorrow, we have a little Lux-Philuffy time. If he loses, she will fight Celis for him. Celis and Luno head out to town. I wonder how Luno will deal with the swimsuit shop… Anyway Celis is very happy although she still has her worries about being the leader of the knights. Making Celis happier is Luno’s kind comforting words. As they picnic, Celis reveals something and hopes Luno can keep a secret. Actually… She’s not a man hater!

Episode 7
It seems Ragnarok has hatched from its egg and making its way to a certain island. Celis tells Saniya what she said to Luno about not hating men. She had great teachers who were men but her problem is dealing with younger men and considering her position, she cannot solely rely on them. We take a little detour for a beach fanservice episode. Lux gets branded a perverted for just about anything. When Celis wonders where Luno is, Shalice has already prepared a swimsuit for Lux to wear. Obviously that guy won’t take the bait so while he runs away, accidentally bumps into Celis. Instead of making a fuss, she walks away although you can see her displeasure. Lux remembers additional things Celis told Luno. She needs to apologize to Lux as she learnt her skills from Wade Roadbelt who is no other than Lux’s grandfather, she feels responsible for Wade’s death and wants to make sure his grandson is not exposed to any danger. That is why she can’t afford to lose the duel to him. As Celis and Lux’s battle begin, Shalice and Tillfur confront the perpetrator who is a spy of Heiburg Republic. It is no surprise the person behind that mask is no other than Saniya. And since they’ve exposed her, she is ‘obliged’ to expose more about her goals. It is to destroy the new empire and kill everyone here. She summons her Drag Ride and with the hooded character playing the flute, tentacles start emerging from the ground. So this is Ragnarok? I can see why it is fearsome.

Celis is shocked that Saniya is a traitor. To her dismay, Saniya reveals to Lux that Celis killed Wade. Time to come clean, I guess. Celis explains why she couldn’t tell him about Wade. When she heard about the former empire’s corruption and spoke to Wade, he advised the former empire but they threw him in prison where he died. It resulted in his family being thrown out. Wade’s last words to her were if she was right, that is why she must correct everything in his place. Celis regrets for not telling him. But they are even when Lux takes out his Sword Device and reveals he is Luno. He tells Celis he doesn’t hate her and will respect her in his grandpa’s place. With Bahamut, Lux cuts through Ragnarok till some pearl comes lose. That is when the hooded character grabs it, waiting for this moment. Even revealing herself, she is not Fugil although she looks closely like him, but Hayes. She escapes while hinting about reviving a nightmare that happened here 5 years ago. Lux and Celis reconcile. She accepts him but he makes it more awkward for her telling her to just talk normally to others like how she does to him. Because he is sure other men will find her cute. What are the chances this is the first guy who said this to her? Lux tries to remember hard the evens 5 years ago. He can’t but those unclear snippets looked like something hideous. A giant fish monster pops out from the sea. Relie gathers everyone and will tell them the real purpose of this training camp.

Episode 8
9 years ago when Lux was young, he and other young lads did something wrong. One of them decided to pin the blame on Philuffy. Lux couldn’t let that innocent retard bear their sin so he admitted the guilt instead. In present time, Lux sees Philuffy who is recovering because during Ragnarok’s attack, she collapsed. This giant fish is supposedly a ruin and emerged after they defeated Ragnarok as its gatekeeper. Their job is to investigate it. They split up into teams to investigate different floors. Only Celis is alone because well, she’s the strongest, right? But why doesn’t she look happy? See how she brightens up when Lux offers to team up when they meet halfway. Airi must be a sharp girl to notice all the girls flocking to her brother and even warns him not to do anything funny to her roommate. But Noct is even more sarcastic. She believes Lux won’t because he doesn’t even look at her as a woman! Why doesn’t Lux try to keep his mouth shut because as he tries to dismiss that, he describes some of her body parts that make her beautiful. That line from her collarbone to her chest? WTF?! A more reason for Airi to look at him suspiciously. They find an unconscious body within the ruins. When Krulcifer touches it, it starts up like a computer. Then she goes back to sleep! WTF?! I thought Philuffy was worst. However she doesn’t want to be abandoned and needs her programming fixed. She introduces herself as La Kurushe, the supervisor of these ruins. She is an automaton. She is supposed to have records of the old era. But guess what? Because she slept too much, she forgot about them! Do robots make jokes?! But seriously, due to some accident, her data is temporarily out of service. She will follow their orders in exchange to not be abandoned. She tells them to check to main body and if it is safe, when it connects to the central system, her memories might come back.

Meanwhile the royal council is discussing about the possibility of the escaped prisoner who will bring his own rebels to attack the kingdom. Because their Drag Rides won’t be enough, it is suggested to use the academy students but of course some like Celis’ dad isn’t fond of the idea seeing her daughter getting injured before his eyes. As the investigation continues, they enter a chamber filled with capsules believe to be breeding Abyss. Philuffy starts acting strange. It is a cue something bad will happen. Hayes plays the flute and all hell breaks loose. An Abyss attacks Lux’s group. According to Kurushe, the ruins release 3 Abyss when it is in state of alert. Lux wants Relie to suspend the investigation but she will not seeing that they have already gone in this deep. Philuffy then runs off herself. Lux gives chase. When they enter the central chamber, they are teleported outside. The Abyss continues to attack Lux and when he slams back on land, his memories of the place becomes clearer. Even more so when a hidden room underneath a structure is revealed. It is a place where the former empire did lots of human experiments. Mmm… Bloody… Lux remembers he was here 5 years ago but Philuffy shouldn’t be. He finds Philuffy cowering in a corner but as he goes get her, she starts strangling him. My, what evil eyes you have…

Episode 9
Time for another flashback. When Lux promised to create a country where Philuffy and her family can live freely, she kissed him as a charm. Had not Philuffy collapsed, Lux would have died. But before him now is Hayes and Lux cannot kill her or else Philuffy will also die. Hayes has planted his seed of Ragnarok inside her and her commands are to kill Lux. Because she has been fighting it, the reason why she is suffering and experiencing pains from time to time. Hayes proposes a deal. Philuffy will be spared as long as Lux can open the gate inside the ruins. And if he doesn’t do anything, Philuffy will die in a few days. In a dilemma on what to do, he sees Relie about the memories of this place. She confirms she was experimented here 5 years ago. However Philuffy died! She is alive because she became an Abyss from the experiment. The reason she wanted to enter the ruins is so that she could find its power and save Philuffy. But they’re running out of time. For the first time in years, Fugil contacts Lux. He hints a way to save Philuffy is to break the flute. Philuffy is acting up again. Lux tries to calm her down. She knows about her own status as an Abyss. Lux gets emotional blaming himself as weak and if not for her help that day, he wouldn’t be here to fight. He is sure to save her this time. Everyone gathers before the central system. Thanks to Krulcifer as the key, the gate easily opens. That is when Kurushe recovers most of her memory. And she remembers her mission is to kill them! Hayes is delighted that the fools especially Lux did what was told. With Philuffy by Hayes’ side, she orders monster girl to kill them all. There are even unmanned Drag Rides to take care of them.

Hayes senses something wrong so he tries to blow his flute again but gets destroyed when he takes it out. Seems Airi used her flute to cancel out and overwrite the commands. No matter. Because Hayes brought a spare! This one summons Ragnarok. Version 2.0. Because branches now replace tentacles. Though, still as deadly as tentacles. Plus, it gets stronger the more it gets injured. Everybody gets owned and with Lux not wanting to lose here, he gets Lisha’s ‘permission’ to use Over Limit. Let’s say it is a taxing move that drains his energy. He still gets owned and with Fugil’s words that he is useless ringing in his head, here comes Philuffy to save the day again. With words. She knows better than anyone that Lux is trying to change things even though he is in pain. Therefore she wants Lux to do it for his own sake and wishes and not others. Bahamut transforms into its ultimate version and kicks Ragnarok’s ass. Hayes is left in shock of this impossibility but Fugil tells her it is time for a tactical retreat. Because of this contradicting statement that despite Lux being the weakest, they cannot beat him with all the power ups. Huh? Basically, Bahamut on Over Limit mode = undefeatable. With the ruins crashing back into the sea, can you believe Kurushe is still being a joker because she notes of going back to sleep. Hopefully forever. Philuffy nurses Lux. She has developed some resistance to the flute. So no more falling into that trick anymore. Some nice touching moment together. Let’s not ruin it for them.

Episode 10
Everyone celebrates Lux’s recovery back at the academy. Although Relie was scolded for that incident, they let it slide after she paid a hefty fine. But now the most important event is the Founders Festival. You know what this means, right? Ah, which of the girls will be bold enough to ask Lux out for a date? Don’t take too long, Lisha… Relie ups the ante to have Lux name 3 girls to date to reward them for their efforts. Tough decision… At first it seemed like he picked the safest choice: Airi. Actually she along with Noct, Shalice and Tillfur are just his date guides. Huh? And here I was waiting to call him a siscon… Airi warns him about Assassin’s Blade, the strongest Drag Knight serving the former empire has escaped her prison and is likely targeting him. So please be careful. Lux’s first date is with Celis. The only memorable thing is how he accidentally ended up having his hands on her boobs. The date guides are watching… Next is Krulcifer. Lux gets duped in pretending to kiss her because she kisses him for real. Third kiss? Last is Philuffy. He gets a lap pillow. This time Relie joins the date guides and supporting in the shadows in hopes they’ll get a kiss. Maybe next time, huh? At the end of the day, you think it is over but I wanted to say save the last for best but it isn’t actually. Because Lux meets up with Lisha and she is bitter that she wasn’t named. But to show her maturity, she doesn’t get mad and blames herself for being egoistical. What? She did that? She has a personal request: Be her knight. After she graduates, she’ll be quite busy and needs an attendant. Besides, he is the only one who knows her secret. Don’t worry. He doesn’t need to give an answer now. But she hopes to get an answer by then.

As Lux and Airi discuss about the All Dragon Battle in which she advises Lux to limit his time on the battlefield, Yoruka Kirihime pops up before them. She is Assassin’s Blade. Don’t worry. She is not here to kill him but to serve under him. She will do anything he says. And I mean anything. All he needs to do is just give the command. Airi must have started to notice her brother is being seduced by this woman so he gives his first order to talk about this later and wait till he has time for this. Unsurprisingly she listens. He let his guard down in the bath because here is Yoruka washing his back. His scream alerted the other girls and this only compounds his misery. Guess who gets blamed? Later Lux talks to Yoruka why she is so willing to serve him. He did his research and found she signed a contract with his father and enrolled in the Imperial army. But his father is dead so the contract should be annulled. She explains the body that gave everything to the empire intends to fight until the very last of the empire is destroyed. She asks back how long he intends to deceive those girls because with his power he can easily re-establish his kingdom. She wants him to promise he will destroy this country and take back Arcadia. Of course he won’t. Lux’s harem arrives to fight Yoruka, deeming her dangerous. But of course. Any additional girl into the harem would be dangerous and tip the balance! Despite outnumbering her, Yoruka’s Drag Ride, God’s Night Sword can manipulate theirs. Yoruka doesn’t see the point in continuing this so she tells Lux if he comes along, she will tell him a secret concerning this country’s fate. Yoruka’s escape is thanks to Hayes as part of his plan to destroy this kingdom. Also with Hayes are Ragreed and Saniya.

Episode 11
Lisha reminding Lux about the knight thingy but at the same time she also doesn’t want his answer yet. WTF?! Meanwhile Hayes has successfully activated a ruin and will set her plan in motion. Lux and Airi are called before the royal council. They know a secret group of people containing survivors of the former empire are trying to overthrow their country led by Ragreed will be attacking the capital with 100 Abyss. Therefore they want Lux to be a decoy by destroying the flute that conceals the Abyss’ power before the rebel army comes to attack. Oh, he must also win the All Dragon Battle. Succeed and they will overlook the charges on that island. Much to Airi’s dismay, he accepts it. She is upset not just because he is too considerate but he didn’t tell them about the time limit he can use Bahamut. Well, somebody has got to do the job, right? When Lux sees Yoruka again and asks about her upholding a contract even though the former empire is gone, she tells him it is to keep her promise to her little brother. They are like day and night. While she could kill without hesitation, her brother was kind. He protected his country and even her. Lux resembles a lot like her brother, though he died a very long time ago. It is her loyalty to her brother to carry out the contract. A contract she made with his father that she needs to fulfil by overthrowing the new empire. Since Lux cannot agree to her, she warns him about tomorrow’s tournament. Don’t die before she kills him. So much about loyalty.

The All Dragon Battle begins. I guess it is nothing special that the matches are even summarized. And I’m just going to skip it. Although still in contention, Lux leaves for his decoy mission after his matches. But during that time something terrible happened to Lisha. Her Drag Ride went berserk and almost killed the spectators. We all know it wasn’t her fault but it is her word against the committee. She is thrown in prison until their investigations are concluded. Lux fights off hordes of Abyss as well as Saniya. His success means the Imperial army gets to take down the rebels as expected. Airi tells the other girls what happened to Lux and because of the conditions imposed on him, it makes them harder to aid Lux. They suspect Yoruka having a hand in messing with Lisha’s Drag Ride. Their plan for now is to find Yoruka first and then rescue Lisha. As Lux is resting, he thinks something is amiss from the mission. Before he knows it, the rebel army has demolished the outpost in a surprise ambush. They’re heading for the capital next. No prizes to guess that the All Dragon Battle is suspended. Lux faces off with Ragreed and he knows his rebel army does not consist of former empire survivors but enemy countries targeting Atismata. He is just being used. Ragreed doesn’t believe all that but instead brags about the tyrannical king he will become once he becomes the new emperor. Not on Lux’s watch. Compounding the problem even further is the appearance of a giant ruin called, uhm, Giant. This is the ruin that Hayes is piloting.

Episode 12
Ragreed fights Lux and thought he dismantled his Bahamut. But he senses something is wrong. That isn’t Bahamut. What is it? It is Wyvern dressed up as Bahamut. Gotcha! And with that, the tables are turned on this loser. Lux contacts Airi and finds out what happened to Lisha. Speaking of which, Saniya is going to humiliate her by having he guards strip her to expose that belly mark. Before the pervy guards can do so, Lux crashes in to the rescue. At least the baddies are wise enough to run away instead of fighting him. Lux gives Lisha a great push to help fight alongside him. Philuffy and Krulcifer are holding down Giant while Celis has her fight with Saniya (no prizes to guess who wins here). After bringing down Giant, Hayes is still not out for the count because she has her own divine Drag Ride to deal with them. As she fights, she notices she has only been taking on Lisha. Where the heck is Lux? He is trying to find an entrance into Giant but standing in his way is Yoruka. This time he has a reason to fight her: He wants to save her. I suppose she doesn’t believe it as she still believes in the contract in place of her dead brother. When he asks how her brother died, she reveals it wasn’t at the hands of the empire. When Yoruka was taken away as a subordinate of the empire on condition that his life would be spared, senior officials who abandoned the war due to difference in military power blamed her brother for their own good and decapitated him. It was a humiliating but alas it was their fate. So if he ended his fate as a monarch, then by holding on to the contract with the empire, she will sacrifice herself to this fate. Of course Lux tells her she is totally wrong. He gives an example in Lisha as she continues to fight and resist. In her case, without the conceit of the position of someone being called a princess.

After a few more clashes and Yoruka thinks she has got victory in the bag, Lux makes a comeback with… Words! Uh huh. He is saying something about her ideal which is the same as her brother. That moment of hesitation allows Lux to cut her down. Lux explains his failed attempts to change the country. He wanted to do it himself but for that to happen he had to destroy the Arcadia kingdom. Wait. What? Huh? Anyhow Yoruka realizes she has misunderstood all the while and that Lux has been fighting for Arcadia by himself all along. No kidding, right? Hayes believes she still has the final trump card because she has ordered Giant to fire a devastating blast to destroy the capital when everything has failed. But you know why it won’t happen? At least for once they didn’t let Lux do the honours and save the day as the main character (albeit he is still the main reason why the day is saved). That is because Yoruka betrays Hayes and disables Giant from within. Now it is all down to Lux to finish this b*tch once and for all. Good riddance. On the final night of the festival, Lisha address the crowd as the kingdom’s future queen. She also announces appointing Lux as her personal knight. And a few more words about moving forward for a bright future that don’t matter. During the party, Lux spots Fugil across the hall. Luckily, they just stare at each other. Some kind of psychic warning from both sides? Fugil makes his exit. Time for the series to end in a typical fashion. Because Lisha is once again too slow to ask Lux about deepening their relationship, the other harem girls usurp her. Non-harem girls either tease her or chastise him as the words (Airi, who else?). With Yoruka now joining in too, Lisha gets mad and desperate because he wants Lux to answer right now whom he loves the most. Be careful with your answer. Try not to collapse your harem kingdom, okay?

Saiyaku Mottanai No Harem
Phew. Thank goodness is over. Yup. From the way I sarcastically said that means I am downright casting this series as mediocre. I wasn’t putting up very high or even moderate expectations for it but seeing this doesn’t even get pass the hurdle, I guess it is that bad. I think there are many moments that made me want to raise a question but seeing where everything was going, I have forgotten most of them. Which is pretty a good thing because I don’t want to confuse myself with questions that will not be answered and even if they were, it is because of my own silly theories.

Plot wise, it wasn’t interesting to say the least. I am not sure if they have some sort of pacing problem but let’s start off with that Black Hero thingy which is fast forgotten once you get to know it is Lux behind that armour. And I actually guessed it was him! I wonder if because it was so predictable, they got it out of the way in the early episodes. Then you won’t really hear about it ever again. Over the next few episodes, we are introduced to Lux’s harem and their seemingly problems like Lisha an ex-POW, Krulcifer with her engagement problems (why do they always prefer the main character than some snobbish arrogant rich dude? Oh, right…), Celis with her pride as a noble especially her false reputation as a man hater (which was clearly set straight soon after because it would be awkward for a harem to have a man hater, wouldn’t it?), Philuffy being dead (so she is technically a zombie, right?) and of course with the final arc fighting off against villains who want to overthrow the new kingdom.

If it wasn’t cheesy enough, the lack of romance and harem cat fight made it worse. I know it would be cheesy to put in those but seeing how mediocre everything is, I have to admit I did enjoy no matter how cheesy the tussle over Lux was. It made me wish the series had more scenes like this even if it doesn’t make sense and even if it doesn’t contribute to the overall plot whatsoever. I know, you’re going to say that I would accuse this show of being cheesy had they spam more of this. True. But might as well be something of this sort that I like if this genre is going to be mediocre. Yeah, blame me for being the worst… So having a few seconds of Lux alone with Philuffy’s boobs proximity, Krulcifer stealing quick kisses and even that ‘speed dating’ affair didn’t quite cut it.

As generic the characters of this generic harem anime might be, it is sad to say that the characters are pretty forgettable. Nothing about them really stands out. I expected all the cliché stuffs that are expected with this series but this one just didn’t even live up to that threshold. Lux is so typical like a hero kid from a fairytale that toddlers can write better stories for him. Really. I mean, take a look at this guy. Son of a former disposed kingdom. Good kid. Will go as far as to protect the ones he loves. Has latent power. Defeats main antagonist to save the day. And most important of all, he must have beautiful and popular girls flocking to his side. Because he is the main character. Even though he is pretty dense when it comes to flirting and romance. And the only reason why he became Lisha’s personal knight at the end is to compensate for the lack of screen time with her throughout the series. Everyone else did. So why the f*ck was she left out the most? Despite being a knight, that doesn’t mean he is dating her so every other girl still has a darn chance to steal his heart. And I believe Lux has got a few flashbacks pertaining to his life during the former empire which isn’t really pieced together all that well. So I guess we’ll never know about the human experiments and Lux’s overkill/over-9000 power.

Now let us look at his harem. Typical. We’ve got the tsundere, the dreamy and ditzy childhood friend, the socially awkward and proud elite and finally the other elite who is elegant and mature and the boldest of the lot when it comes to flirting with Lux. And now that Yoruka under the guise of being loyal to her new master is part of Lux’s harem, she will be the yandere type. Haha! How do I know if Yoruka is going to be part of Lux’s harem even before the final scene? Just look at the ending credits animation. You would notice his harem girls will be added to that final montage. And if Yoruka is in it, it just proves that she is a possible candidate. Yeah, just like how Date A Live’s Kurumi is, no? And everybody is so nicely dressed up like as though they’re preparing to marry Lux who is also equally well dressed like a gentleman. At least it is safe to say Airi and Noct will not be part of his harem trope as little sister and sister’s best friend. Haha!

What about the rest of the other girls in the academy then? It feels like they are there just to make up for the numbers. Some sort of proof that Lux isn’t a perfect lady killer. Imagine the screen time that needs to be divided if everyone from supporting characters to extra background characters start hounding this guy. Therefore characters like Shalice and Tillfur are there just because they are there and sometimes play cupid and revel in watching the love hopefuls in their pathetic and funny shenanigans. Yeah, I think it is more fun that way. It is the same for Relie except that because this is a school setting, you need to have an adult as the headmaster. Airi isn’t your typical buracon little sister since there is this weariness you can hear in her voice each time she has to gently chastise or remind her brother over the ‘trouble’ he has caused. I know she cares for him but sometimes it just sounds like nagging… And Noct is her sarcastic best friend whenever the time calls for it.

The antagonists are as uninspiring and one dimensional as they are. Nothing much about their background revealed although I think it is to give some sort of mysterious feel. But seeing we know nothing about Hayes on why she decided to destroy the current kingdom and establish a new one for whatever reasons, coupled with the fact that Fugil could be the mastermind and puppet master behind everything and yet we don’t know a f*cking reason why, we just wish they are rid of as fast as possible. From the looks at the end, Fugil still roams free but I am assuming Hayes, Saniya and Ragreed have been captured. Or even better, assume they just died in the onslaught. That’ll be easier. Some like Barzeride feels like he is a much needed low level pawn so that he could be disposed of. I am wondering for certain characters like Kurushe. She often feels like a joke character especially an automaton who has a penchant for going back to sleep. Her appearance sure makes you think why she is around in the first place. Seriously, that double episodes in which she only appeared can actually be done without her. It is like they need to stretch it out a little by putting in an unimportant character.

Because of how mediocre the series already is, not even the fights could sustain my interest. Because we have evil dragon creatures and the heroes have mecha suits, it feels like a waste not to put any sort of action into it. After all, everybody seems to have only a single if not two special attacks from their Drag Ride. Hardly any variety because why spam different moves when you know you’re just going to defeat the enemy shortly. I guess it is better than lasting the entire episode. That is why I suppose they sometimes let us know there is a time limit for Bahamut so Lux won’t spend the entire episode striking down his enemy. If that ever happens, it just makes him feel like an amateur Drag Knight, right? So don’t be surprised if you see fights finishing quickly or not shown at all (All Dragon Battle, anybody interested in seeing that? No? Same here). Besides, do you see any difference between a generic and divine Drag Ride? Looks all the same to me even in performance.

Making it even worse is the paltry fanservice. Sometimes it feels they aren’t interested in putting it up but had to because the genre calls for it. For example, Philuffy’s monster tits make her feel like she just came out from some sort of hentai flick. Sometimes it makes you think if her character is being a retard and lacking the intelligence the other girls have is because if her brains went into her boobs from the human experiment. Really. Another fanservice borderline with hentai is the fact that Lisha’s mark dangerously near her crotch so that we can have some sort of pubic fanservice. You’ll be asking of all places, right? A beach episode, a girls’ changing scene, main character’s hand on boobs scene, a few bath scenes and voila! Your series’ fanservice. But no tentacle rape scenes?

Art and drawing also feel generic. That means to say it is passable as in today’s standards. But nothing that really stands out. Not even the Drag Rides. CGI are used to animate them. No problems with it because in this era of technology, such smoothness in animation is a given and anything lesser than that would earn the ire of anybody who is watching it. As for character designs, it is that time again when I have watched so many animes and the characters start to look pretty similar. I’m too lazy to list them down here because of my fading sentiments of the series but just to let you know what I mean, don’t you think Philuffy looks very much like Karuta from Inu x Boku SS? Only with monster boobs. And Celis like Infinite Stratos’ Cecilia? Did Hayate No Gotoku’s Nagi make a cameo here? As Lisha? Oh, since when did To Aru Majutsu No Index’s Accelerator become less insane and looking tamer as Lux? Wait a minute. I think Lux is Hunter x Hunter’s Killua in disguise!

Surprisingly, the only seiyuu that I recognized was Risa Taneda as Celis. The moment her character opened her mouth, I instantly knew it was her. Because she sounded so familiar like Yukina from Strike The Blood and recently Tamaki from Luck & Logic. The other seiyuu I know but didn’t recognize is Youko Hikasa as Relie. Perhaps one of the few trivial things that set this harem anime apart from its other counterparts is the use of a female seiyuu to voice the main male character. I have noticed that harem genres will usually employ male seiyuus for the role and while it might not be the first, it certainly is rare to cast a female in such a leading role. Therefore hearing Mutsumi Tamura as Lux (Sonya in Kill Me Baby) felt a little different at first in this aspect.

The rest of the casts comprise of Lynn as Lisha (Maya Sabagebu), Yukiyo Fujii as Krulcifer (Latifa in Amagi Brilliant Park), Yurika Kubo as Philuffy (Hanayo in Love Live), Ari Ozawa as Airi (titular character in Wakaba Girl), Rie Takahashi as Noct (Futaba in Sore Ga Seiyuu), Yumi Uchiyama as Shalice (Momiji in Binbougami Ga), Shiori Izawa as Tillfur (Tanpopo in Witch Craft Works), Shizuka Ishigami as Yoruka (Syr in DanMachi), Saori Oonishi as Altelise (Eriri in Saenai Heroine No Sodatekata), Hisako Kanemoto as Hayes (Ika in Shinryaku! Ika Musume – believe me, she sounds nowhere near as cute but different and menacing to the point of unrecognizable), Ryota Ohsaka as Fugil (Haruto in Valvrave The Liberator) and Mao as Saniya (Madoka in Denpa Kyoushi).

The opening is Hiryou No Kishi by True. Sounds like a typical generic rock music. Nothing that attracts my attention anyway. Every time Nano.Ripe sings an anime theme, you bet that I am going to say something about it. It is with mixed feelings when I listened to Lime Tree as the ending theme. Although her unique voice is not as bad when I first heard her many years before (at least her voice still stands out and is immediately identifiable compared to many other artists that ‘sound the same’), I am not sure whether it is that voice of hers that ruined the catchy rock beat of this song or actually enhanced it. If I hear its instrumental version or imagine the song without her voice, it is good (and perhaps better?) but it feels something lacking. That’s why I’m not sure and in a dilemma if her singing adds to the appeal of the tune.

Well, what more can I say. After watching this harem series and with the only fact that I can add it to the expanding list of harem shows I have watched. From Infinite Stratos , Rakudai Kishi No Cavalry, Kuusen Madoushi Kohousei No Kyoukan, Seiken Tsukai No World Break, Seikoku No Dragonar, Juuou Mujin No Fafnir, Absolute Duo, Date A Live and Gakusen Toshi Asterisk (which I have not watched at this point yet), oh yeah, let me name them all again. Everything feels too familiar. More or less the same thing but with a different packaging. It is hard to make something that is of exceptional standards like High School DxD (the first 2 seasons, that is). And yet idiots like me continue to watch such shows seasons in, seasons out. That is why I think there is no need for producers to improve seeing we would fall for it every season. Just like how Apple comes out with a new but generally the same product every year and everybody would still go make a beeline and buy it, no? We harem lovers attracted to harem series are like what the girls in a harem are mysteriously attracted to for that main douchebag. Strangely ironic, isn’t it?

After my successful stint in watching an OVA in Indonesian subs, I decided to test out another OVA with the same language. Kuusen Madoushi Kouhosei No Kyokan OVA is one of the many OVAs of a TV series that is most likely never ever getting an English sub. At least not for the time being. So what better way than to satiate my ‘closure’ of another TV series that released an OVA by watching subs from another language that I understand. And thus this is my second OVA with Indonesian subs. Like many other OVAs, shows from such genres don’t necessarily have the plot continuity and is all for fun and fanservice. Like I’ve said many times in my previous blogs, all to get your 2 cents worth of buying the DVDs.

Lecty’s Pet
When Lecty is out jogging, she finds a stray chick in the bushes. She even saves it from a bad cat who wants to eat it for lunch! Bad kitty! Go away! Poor Lecty has her hand scratched while protecting Piyo-chan. Meanwhile Freon is addressing her team that a Garuda was spotted near Mistgun. It is believed that it has laid its egg somewhere in the city. If the egg hatches and the offspring grows up, it will suck the magic force out of everyone. So for the safety of Mistgun, they need to find this egg first before panic erupts. At the same time, Kanata tells his E601 girls the need to take care of animals as part of their curriculum. Surely the self-proclaimed goddess is too good to do something like this and Misora is giving a lame excuse that she would rather use that time to practice. This means Lecty has to do it, right? Lecty tends to the chicken coop where we are spammed with many cute little chicks. But she notices Piyo-chan doesn’t mix with the rest and wonders if he is scared. She remembers Piyo-chan’s shyness is the same as hers and understands. Piyo-chan slowly opens up to Lecty’s kindness. You know something is strange when Piyo-chan is getting slightly and obviously bigger than other chicks. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking about this chick could possibly be… Lecty continues to frolic with her pet by introducing him to her teammates, take it swimming and even shopping! Hey, are animals allowed in shopping malls?

As the search for the Garuda’s egg drags on, the need to find it quick becomes evident. Therefore instead of keeping it quiet and looking for it in the dark, Yuri and friends start distributing flyers about the Garuda. So you can tell from Lecty’s reaction when she sees the flyer and when she acts like there is nothing wrong. She quickly runs to the coop to take Piyo-chan and run but Freon and her team have already surrounded her. Apparently Rico saw the striking similarity in the flyer and Piyo-chan and reported. So is Lecty going to give up and let Piyo-chan to his fate despite being repeatedly told how dangerous it becomes when it grows up into a full Garuda? Guess not. She’s pretty attached to it. Then cute little bird turns into a Garuda. When Freon orders her team to attack, Piyo-chan protects her. But then it starts sucking everyone’s magic. Kanata saves Lecty before he is the first to run out of magic and collapses. So it is up to Lecty to use the power of words to convince Garuda to calm down. Can she talk in chicken language? When all else fails, she is going to put him down with her own hands. Suddenly Piyo-chan disintegrates himself into a pile of ash! I guess Lecty’s feelings did reach Piyo-chan after all. He too was quite attached to her and for her sake, ends it himself. But all is not lost and you don’t want to let a cute girl being left heartbroken forever. Because here comes Piyo-chan out of the ashes as his original little chick self. Can Garudas reincarnate themselves? Who knows… Piyo-chan becomes part of the family as he frolics with the E601 girls in the pool. You f*cking lucky little bird, you!!!!!!!!!!! And before you start wondering if Piyo-chan is going to become a ferocious Garuda in the future, Kanata already made a necklace that would prevent it from absorbing magic. How convenient.

Cute Chicks, Hot Chicks… Evolution! Then Devolution
Wohoo! I still have it! I can still understand a big portion of the subs. Yes! It isn’t all that bad. So I suppose now it is going to be a trend for me to find TV series with OVAs without English subs that I can easily substitute them with Indonesian subs as well. Oh yeah. I can feel it. The expansion of my anime experience. I’m levelling up alright. Ahem…

Back to this particular OVA, I guess there is nothing much to be said considering that I have already expected it to be somewhat like this. I figure this OVA is made for Lecty fans in mind. Things are pretty predictable as shy Lecty gets her screen time focus and show us that among the loser girls of E601, she is the most caring of the lot. Anime ‘veterans’ could have easily guessed the identity of her chick from the start. Otherwise it would have rendered this OVA pretty much useless and redundant, right? It feels like Lecty is some Pokemon trainer. Although not sending Piyo-chan to fight other cute critters, the way she cares for it and loves it like part of her own family, when Piyo-chan starts to grow up, that scene just feels like a Pokemon evolution to the next stage. And then it devolved itself because of the power of love. Yeah… Not too sure if Piyo-chan will become a permanent member of the team (if they ever make another season) but you can say that he is the new hot chick in town! Oh yeah.

So as not for the little chick to steal all the limelight, this OVA still serve us little bits and pieces of fanservice. Sorry, no bare tits. From the girls having a shower discussion about the need to quickly find the Garuda’s egg (can you call this as shower thoughts?) to pool swimsuits fanservice, I suppose you can’t complain. Wait a minute. Can chicks swim? Sure, chickens can swim but not as well as ducks or geese. You know, I just find it odd that a chick loves to play water. I thought animals that are not water based don’t really like to bathe themselves in water. Like cats and dogs. So why the heck is Piyo-chan so cool in the pool? Just a freaking excuse to see Lecty in her swimsuit and at the end, the rest of the girls. Yeah… Hey, come on. You don’t want to be bored by seeing Lecty taking Piyo-chan to the video arcade, right? He might just beat you in Street Fighter V for the ultimate embarrassment…

Overall, just an okay OVA to complete the TV series. Nothing really special in particular unless you are a fan of Lecty or cute little chicks. Food for thought: If Lecty can tame the ferocious Garuda just by caring for it, is it possible to do the same for those Devil Beetles? Then they don’t have to fight all the stupid war against the bugs. Yeah… Hey, everybody come adopt 100 Devil Beetle bugs each and take good care of it. And when they grow up they won’t blast our city into smithereens and cause other unnecessary damage. Yeah… It’s so crazy it might just work. Unless it only works with Lecty’s touch… Boy, is she going to be a busy Pokemon tamer… But just remember to treat your pets well in any circumstances. They remember well if you pamper or mistreat/abuse. Better never having to have one that bites the hand that feeds than to have one that bites your head off!

Admit it. There is only one reason why you are here watching the second season, Shinmai Maou No Testament Burst. It is only because of how delicious you see the main character caressing and pleasing his harem. It gives you the motivation and makes you feel that you could please your woman this good as him too. Am I right? What about me? Uhm. Oh, I’m here for the plot since the first season in such a cliff-hanger fashion that I am dying to know what is happening. So, you don’t believe in me? Please, believe in me! Speaking of that, you’ll here lots of that too in the sequel as well as the horny pleasing fanservice that you are about to get. Yeah, I admit. I’m here for the shameless fanservice too…

Episode 1
We start off from where we left on in last season when Jin goes to face off with Leohart as payback for last season’s ruckus. As epic their battle may be, it is time for Jin to stop fighting and make his exit. After that action, it’s time for fanservice! What a way to start off with Mio dreaming of something horny about Basara! OMG. Is this what she has become? At school, Basara is introduced to fellow festival committee, Nanao Tachibana by Hasegawa. I don’t know why there are punks in the committee too because this delinquent, Donoue is showing no respect (for the budget) and wants things to go his way. When all else fails, use the fist! Luckily Basara is here to stop his punches. When Hasegawa enters, Tachibana uses some mind control on them as they ‘obediently’ follow Hasegawa for their counselling. Basara is then advised by Sakasaki that something is amiss with Hasegawa. Because she has no enemies and everyone loves her. Like as though she is using some kind of magic. Mio and Yuki bump into Takigawa who asks them a favour to help protect Basara when he is not around. Last time when his powers went berserk, he wants them to become stronger and strong enough to kill him if he ever becomes that again. So why the gloomy face? I know. Who else to take out their horniness on? No other guys would do. Basara is at the train station when somebody mind controls the crowd to attack him. He is conveniently saved by Kurumi who also brings him home. They think something is amiss when nobody answers. They are in for a surprise. WHY THE HELL ARE MIO AND YUKI DRESSED IN SEXY LINGERIE BEGGING TO BASARA LIKE SEX CRAZED DOGS???!!! AND WANTING TO LICK HIS FEET TOO???!!! Mio realizes too late that Kurumi is here and runs away in embarrassment to hide in her room.

Kurumi is explained this indecency about their master-servant bondage. Especially Yuki’s direct words of how they decide to become Basara’s b*tches and submit to him even more to become stronger. Yeah. A reason to get kinkier. And who else better to know how to be hornier than asking Maria themselves. Kurumi is not amused with this unholy act but Maria tricks her by comparing her to her sister that she is immature. As expected of Kurumi’s pride, she is forced to prove otherwise. This means getting into the kinky act too. “We’ll relieve you soon”. Oh yeah… I’m sure Maria has got great footage of that. Basara knows Maria was purposely playing the villain. Maria explains she too has an older sister but was strict as hell. Therefore at least she wants Yuki and Kurumi to remain on good terms with each other. He is so touched that he hugs Maria. Sure he is not a lolicon? I’m pretty sure this motivated him to protect his harem family so that night he goes out to look for the enemy who is targeting him. He suspects Hasegawa. Jin just rescued Zest at the end of his epic battle.

Episode 2
The sports festival begins. Basara and his girls keep a lookout because Maria told them although she never heard of normal people being granted magic power, it could be a high ranking demon or somebody with great abilities. Before that, we have some fanservice fun rivalry between Mio and Yuki when they run a 3-legged race with Basara. Each trying to cling on to him for ‘wind resistance’ and the balloon bursting event which looks so horny that mothers have to cover their child’s eyes, the old men take photos and the male classmates just screaming in jealousy. And when the balloon pops and makes the girls wet, it dissolves their clothes and make them go into horny bondage position. WTF???!!! I didn’t know this was some sort of Sex Olympics! Turns out to be Maria’s fantasy. No doubt Basara and the duo won the 3-legged race normally. When Kurumi senses something abnormal coming from Tachibana, that is when Donoue starts attacking the field with his mini tornados. Basara disables them with his Banishing Shift while the girls evacuate everyone to safety. When Kurumi confronts Donoue, she realizes he is another victim of manipulation. Then she gets kidnapped.

Meanwhile Basara faces off with Tachibana who displays his true form as a vampire. As they fight, Basara cannot help but wonder if Tachibana is the real perpetrator because his tears are real! Tachibana is accusing Basara of trying to kill him when all he wants is to live a normal quiet life. Basara defeats him and shortly cannot feel Mio and Yuki’s presence. Then he is confronted by Hasegawa and is very tempted to believe she is the culprit. She won’t let him pass and easily breaks his sword. The trap barrier placed by Sakasaki allows Basara to escape with him. Sakasaki then introduces himself as Jin’s acquaintance tasked to look after him while Jin is away. He explains he doesn’t know Hasegawa’s true form but is somebody who possesses powers on par with S-class demons and can manipulate others with her magic. Her objective is to rule this school behind the shadows. Wait a minute. Just the school? Not the world? He wants them to plan a counter attack but Basara attacks him. He believes Sakasaki is the real culprit. Because if Jin considered Hasegawa as a threat, he wouldn’t have taken some measure against her. I mean, why transfer Mio to this school if she was dangerous? Sakasaki applauds his brilliance and slams him to the wall. He transforms into his true form, a fallen god. Such gods are believed to have been kicked out of heaven and turned into the ways of the demons. And now they are invading the human world as their next step for revenge. As there are some humans bestowed powers to stop their advance, the hero clan are such humans. You think this fallen god is going to play by the rule? He uses unconscious Kurumi as his hostage so Basara is forced to lower his weapon. When that happens, he slashes off his arm!

Episode 3
When Ornis (Sakasaki’s real name) lets his guard down, Basara slashes him! How the heck did he mend his arm back? Well, you’re screwed now because Basara is in berserk mode. Yeah, the fallen god is actually shaking in fear! Luckily he is chained down by Afleia (Hasegawa’s real name). It seems Ornis was the culprit that unleashed Brynhildr’s power because he wants to protect Afleia’s pureness. At least that’s what I understand why this dude is getting so worked up for. He still cannot accept she is trying to protect Basara whom he wants to kill. Afleia seems to be a fallen god too and although her powers are sealed, there is a condition when it will be unleashed: When it is necessary to protect Basara. Now it is that time. She is going to eliminate him. But why not let Basara do the honours then? If she did, he will continue to run rampage, something she doesn’t want. Now he is begging for his life but I don’t think that cuts it. Goodbye Ornis. You won’t be remembered. Hasegawa then heals Basara via, uhm, sexual healing?! She allows him to go wild as she rips apart those delicious boobs! Oh yeah! So sex can only tame the inner wild beast? Whatever. Conveniently she slightly alters his memories as well the rest of his girls because it is too early for him to know about her true identity yet. And so the sports festival concluded well. Tachibana apologizes for attacking Basara. Because vampires were blamed and driven out of their land, some heroes find it a reason to hunt and kill them so he thought Basara was trying to kill him. Of course Basara won’t ever do that, making this dude crying in relief.

Back in his bathtub, Basara can still remember Sakasaki as the perpetrator and fought him. However he felt somebody else was there protecting him. However this is not the time to think thoroughly because here comes his harem asking him to get horny with them! Even Kurumi is now part of this harem? Leave it to Maria for everything. I’m sure Maria has other naughty ideas to make Basara please his woman but it comes to a rude halt when her sister, Rukia doesn’t like how she has been misbehaving. She is here as a messenger to invite them to the demon realm. Meanwhile Leohart and his demons have unearthed another relic and don’t like how those noble councils to fight without even analyzing it yet. His loyal men pledge their strength to help him achieve his goal and defeat the council that Wilbert couldn’t even purge. Lars informs that the moderate faction has summoned Mio back to the demon realm and this is Leohart’s greatest chance to lay claim to Mio’s inherited power. The act of summoning her can be seen as an act of aggression, a reason enough for them to act and remove that threat. Rukia cannot say the purpose of the summoning is for as she is just a messenger. She is sure that Ramsus, the leader of the moderate faction as well as Wilbert’s older brother will explain as he will be there. So our gang have some time to think things over. Basara is mad at the turn of events and Mio doesn’t have to comply. But after Maria and Basara pledge they will always be by her side, I suppose this is enough motivation for her to decide to return. Because nothing can be resolved by running away. If she is feeling guilty of dragging them into this mess, don’t worry. They reassure her again they will always protect her. So pack your bags and let’s get going.

Episode 4
The demon realm is a pretty nice place. They arrive at Wildart Castle, once belonging to Wilbert and now under Ramsus. They are surprised to see Zest working as a maid here. She is actually hired as Shella’s personal maid as that loli succubus’ mom makes her appearance to play her cheeky flirtation on Basara. Maria is summoned by Rukia and to be punished on her actions (from last season). So is this some sort of whipping S&M punishment because Maria knows she has to strip! And then of course Basara tells her to hold her horses because it’s not Maria’s fault then, blah, blah, blah. He considers Maria as his little sister. Rukia warns even if he does this, the guilt in Maria’s heart will not vanish. So will he punish her instead? Yes. I think we all prefer this, right? And so Maria gets spanked. But not just any ordinary spanking because Rukia enhances her horniness so each spank sends her into ecstasy till she faints. Yeah… It was good? Kurumi is caught eavesdropping and Rukia needs to punish her. Since she is part of his harem, he claims Kurumi is Maria’s friend and will also exact the punishment on her behalf. Whatever. So the same thing. Horny mode enhanced and it looks like some porn scene, Basara licking her armpits! WTF???!!! Is this her sensitive spot as said by Maria?! When he returns to the rest of his girls, he sees an old dude sitting with them. He is Claus and Wilbert’s ex-strategist. He brings them to the main hall as he explains the growing fiction between Leohart and Wilbert’s side till Ramsus appeared as he claimed to be a moderate. However not many loyalists under Wilbert are ready to change their loyalty so easily. At the hall, Wilbert’s loyal subjects hail the return of Mio and Basara fears this is what Claus might be after.

With Noel guiding them around town (why he heck in maid outfits? Oh hell, who cares!), Zest goes off on her own as she is still reeling from the guilt from last season of making Basara and Mio suffer. She believes she has no place to return and stumbles into trouble with some of the guards. She resigns to her fate but Basara makes a distraction to take her away and even carries her when her high heels break. And that folks, completes Basara’s good treatment of his harem girls. Just wow. When they return to Wildart, Ramsus just arrived. Claus tells Basara Ramsus has no interest in Mio and only wants to extract the Demon Lord’s power from within. This piques Basara interests because by doing so, Mio can live a normal life. However Claus cautious him of a drawback. Ramsus is being reckless with his method. As no other being other than the Demon Lord himself can do so, if Ramsus does it, it might pose a threat to Mio’s life. Yeah, time to think deep. If you’re tired on straight fanservice action, how about some girl on girl yuri action? Because Maria wants to get horny with Kurumi after learning what she did. Luckily Kurumi isn’t a lesbian and won’t let her modesty be outraged. Then we have Noel washing Mio’s boobs like, well, you can picture that yourself. Mio learns that Noel and Lars come from the same orphanage and know each other. She views him the reckless type thanks to his numerous missions to the human world and can never stop worrying about him. Basara meets with Ramsus and wants to talk. Lastly, Luka, Leohart’s top magician (despite just being a kid) finally extracts the ultimate biological weapon from the great war era. It is a heroic spirit. Since when did Fate/Stay Night have an appearance here?!

Episode 5
So, Basara is here to scold Ramsus about the way he is about to treat Mio? Who the f*ck he thinks he is?! Wise Shella tells them to stop since this fight will only bring Mio pain. So instead, why not share some fanservice fun because Shella has Zest wash his back and do all the fanservice stuffs like every maid should do. Suggesting that they should make a pact and since both do not have anything against it, the master-servant pact is soon formed and thus we are rewarded with a full-fledged fanservice scene that is on par with any hentai flick as Basara pleases Zest to calm her inner horny demons down. Welcome to the club. Oh yeah, that was good. After that everybody goes to pay respects at Wilbert’s grave. Next morning, the town is entirely rudely awakened when the relic piloted by Gald (Leohart’s trusted general) breaks in to warn about handing over Mio or else. Yeah, he just demonstrated destroying the mountain behind. So all our girls except Mio head out to battle because she is forced to stay in the room and watch the battle via TV so as not to fall into this enemy’s trip. And some political reason too. While Basara fights Gald one on one, his harem takes on the relic. Mio’s patience runs out when she sees Basara getting hurt. Although Basara did score a big damage on Gald, some alien beam took him out and threw his burnt body before Mio. Now she’s mad. Very mad. Gald is not happy that Nebra intervened and was supposed to only be an observer. However this gay dude claims Leohart shouldn’t get any more powerful than this and is going to show him how to use the relic properly. Yeah, Gald gets taken out. It saves Nebra time when Mio appears before him. She is in mad mode that she will kill him not 100, not 1000, but a million times! With the relic struck down, even Nebra is now scared sh*t of her. Though, Mio collapses after exerting too much. Nebra becomes desperate to blow up everything but Ramsus uses his gravity power to neutralize it. Even more desperate, Nebra goes down to kill Mio personally but gets stabbed by Basara. Surprised! Didn’t think he’s dead, eh? Don’t you dare touch his sister! Nebra begs for his life but before he can reveal the big boss, he explodes. The only way to keep a coward’s mouth shut. The rest are shocked to see Lars taking Gald’s body back. Basara thought he is from the moderate faction though he claims he has his own complicated circumstances. He tells Basara to settle things and to come to Leohart’s castle since he is waiting for him.

Episode 6
Mio tells Claus that he need not worry because she has decided to live the rest of her life as a human and do not intend in succeeding her father. While heading back, they meet with Jin for the first time in ages. Meanwhile Gald is still alive as he reports to Leohart about Brynhildr’s dimensional fluctuation and supersonic flash crap that enabled Basara to defeat and lose an arm. Leohart then sends a message to Ramsus about their upcoming fight in the form of a tournament. A seven against seven match of representatives and the side with the most wins will obtain authority over the demon realm. Ramsus and Jin feel suspicious about it since the highly coveted Mio is not mentioned and something sneaky must be in the works for the council to even approve this. However they have no choice but to accept this or risk an all-out war with casualties. They talk about Safia whereabouts but it seems Shella points out she isn’t in the demon world right now. We cut the chatter for a few seconds of Mio fanservice as Basara pleases her like a pro porn actor. Oh yeah, you go! Then we are cut to Basara and Jin’s training in the forest. Who the f*ck wants to see father and son train?! Give us back our horny fanservice! Break time, Jin asks about his chances with Leohart since Jin fought him. He says he himself can’t win head on but this doesn’t mean he can’t win entirely. Because Jin knows that Basara is unsure of his true strength, he wanted time to teach him this but since time is running out, he is going to speed up the training. Hell mode on! Meanwhile the girls too have their own form of training. Sexy warm-ups? I wonder how Mio could do push-ups with such big boobs. Since Mio is feeling like a burden again, Shella tells her to focus on her own powers first. Then she makes Basara’s harem feeling horny before giving them eat some pill that suppresses that horniness. But it has a drawback, the more loyal they become, it will be more difficult for them to ascertain Basara’s position.

The nearby forest suddenly become almost like an atomic explosion. Oh, this is what happened to Basara’s training? I guess he almost couldn’t make it. Daddy went a bit too far so he needs a little TLC from the girls for now. Yeah, freaking huge crater where the forest once stood! Sorry if you are expecting fanservice when Basara wakes up in his room. It is his dad instead. Time to talk about serious stuff. Like how he has to learn to control and channel that destructive berserk power into a discharged attack. The thought of this makes Basara remember the traumatic times where he almost wiped out his village. Luckily Jin snaps him out of it. He mentions about the 3 limiters he have now. A conscious one, a subconscious one and his hatred based on Brynhildr for causing that incident. As it is difficult to control that demon sword, its wielder must be fully focused or it will devour your mind. Basara’s aversion to that has him placing a limit on Brynhildr’s power. During the training, he didn’t have time to think about this and that crater was the effect. During Leohart’s fight he needs to remove at least 2 limiters or he’ll be in deep sh*t. However Jin also adds this battle isn’t necessary he needs to win. Though Basara’s reason here is to protect Mio, imagine if his side wins, the moderate faction will then rally cries to make Mio their next Demon Lord. A draw isn’t the answer too but Jin has a way and if Basara fails, daddy will be there to cover his back. How convenient. Things get even more shocking when Jin feels the need to tell Basara of his 2 mothers. Wait. What?! That night, Basara trains by unleashing his power. Don’t worry, it’s towards the sky. I hope some planet didn’t get destroyed. But Yuki gets worried jus by watching this. Next day, Basara and his harem start their journey to Leohart’s castle. I guess they will be the representatives because nobody else is f*cking good enough to be the heroes and fight for their goal.

Episode 7
The kids arrive at Leohart’s castle. They also meet Belphegor, one of the council members and the guy who took over Zolgia’s place in his demise. Yup, another baddie we love to hate. So before we get to the big battle, we need to have big fanservice. Because in order for them to get stronger, they need to submit even further to Basara. Screw the logic because I’m sure Basara is too as he orders them to strip and they engage in heavenly orgy! OH YEAH! Basara you lucky bastard!!! Belphegor too is indulging in his own orgy but he is so powerful that all the women he f*cks got their life sucked out. Next please. Later, Basara meets up secretly with Lars. No, he doesn’t want him to rig the match but to get him some perfume. Yuki wakes up from a nightmare about Basara going berserk while Mio has insecurities of Basara. So what better way than to overcome by flirting with him, kissing him and then make love in the shower. OH YEAH! Round 2! Basara you lucky bastard!!! I guess he is too busy in the shower to notice Lars sent him a message. Tournament day is here. Noticeably missing are Belphegor and Basara. Whatever happened to them, don’t lose faith. Especially Basara’s harem. You’re making them worried. The rules of the match are simple. However cannot fight or dies, loses. And this must be a surprise announcement to our girls because Mio is now the prize for winning this tournament. The first match pits Mio against Luka. What a surprise. I didn’t expect this matching. But it isn’t Luka she will be facing but the ancient heroic spirit he dug up. Looks like Mio is in a pinch when this relic starts regenerating. But when she thinks back earlier in the day when Basara told her he will be gone to attend some business and to have faith in him he will come back, this bullshit motivation serves as Mio’s turning point as she powers up and blows away the monster. Yeah, you lost kid. And the whole damn crowd is just freaking surprised seeing her demon power. Next up is Maria and she will be against Lars. Only Noel is freaking surprised to see him here.

Episode 8
Maria can’t best Lars so the only way she can stand a chance is to transform into her slut adult self. I suppose bustier and more curves mean more power? She did give him a run for his money but eventually he is still better. The crowd calls for him to kill her but Lars shuts them up saying that he kills whoever he chooses. He spares her life, leaves victorious and leaving Noel to sigh a huge relief that he is still the same guy she knew. Rukia and Mio must be so worried about Maria that they accompany her in ICU rather than give a f*cks about Kurumi’s match. Yeah, even Yuki was looking worried and Kurumi played the big sister to give encouraging words to make her cry. Kurumi will be up against Viscount Admirath, the loyal retainer to Lord Madonis of the council. Admirath passes Kurumi some token from Basara and hints that if she doesn’t lose, kiss goodbye to your man. She doesn’t believe him and knows it is a trick but her guilt is for too superior. Therefore Leohart and his men can tell something is off when Kurumi is fighting him. It is like they’re faking it. Leohart’s right hand man, Balflear decides to investigate a little. Ultimately she loses to him on his, uhm, Hollow deer? Admirath is going to kill her but Zest protects her. Although Kurumi’s loss is accepted, because Zest interrupted the match when the winner is not announced yet, the penalty will be for her to forfeit her match. So our heroes are losing 1-3. Kurumi’s life is worth it, right? Don’t worry. All they have to do is win the rest. Right?

Meanwhile Basara sneaks into Belphegor’s mansion. Using that perfume to give out Zolgia’s scent, he easily infiltrates the place and interrupts Belphegor’s sex time. Luckily Belphegor was sharp enough to cut him. Then he starts telling him how much he wants to f*ck his harem especially Mio. Wrong words. Because Basara revives! Or rather he purposely let him cut him first. Madonis praises Admirath for his fine work and if things go well, they won’t have to resort to that. Balflear overheard this and continues his investigation. Next is Yuki versus Volga. If this dude seems familiar, he is Valga’s brother. This guy talks big and even badmouths his dead brother. Cocky enough to say this match will end in one blow. Unfortunately, it his him who realizes too late he has been cut up in one strike so fast that nobody saw it coming. Yeah, this guy is even worse than his brother. The next match is supposed to be Balflear against Rukia but since that guy is missing, the match is forfeit and Rukia fans will be disappointed not to see her in action. It’s a tie now. And so the final match is supposed to be Leohart versus Basara but since the latter is nowhere to be found, everyone is getting worried. Rukia is thinking of letting Ramsus substitute (why didn’t they do this for Rukia’s match?!). Because the final stage is set at Xamdu, some super demon stage, this means even if Basara makes it back, he will have difficulties fighting there. Double worried now, eh? They should be. Because Basara seems to be lying dead in the middle of nowhere. Still keeping your faith, Mio?

Episode 9
If you kept believing, then be happy because Basara is now in Xamdu. The big epic fight begins with Basara even using the perfume to create double visions for Leohart. Well, just blow the scent away! In addition to being injured, Basara’s moves also seem sluggish like as though he is hiding something. When Leohart seemingly defeats him and Basara falls into the lava, Basara takes out a pill that Shella gave him. It is supposed to release the demon blood within him as well as his other mother’s blood. Woah. What?! He pops the pill and he comes out donning a super Demon Lord armour. This guy is fast and furious, easily taking down Leohart. But the price to pay is that his body is bleeding as the power is destroying his flesh. At this rate his body will be destroyed. Mio can’t stand this and goes to Xamdu. Wait. Is this legal? Right before Basara could kill Leohart, here Mio comes doing I don’t know what that has her whisk away to Earth. Not just Earth. A place where zombie students want a piece of her and poison air melts her clothes. Yeah… She suddenly realizes this place is inside Basara’s mind. She goes to find him only to meet her worst nightmare: Zolgia! Don’t worry. As long as you believe in Basara, you can blow away your inner demons! Oh yeah! Finally she finds him. But his instincts make him want to kill her. His other sane side is trying to prevent himself from doing so. All while Mio is just helplessly watching. Then he succumbs to the power. A blatant excuse for a rape scene!!! OMG!!! But Mio accepts it. Do whatever you want with her. Basara you lucky bastard!!! And just like that, with the power of sex they are returned to Xamdu and Basara regaining his original self. All hail the power of sex! In another great twist of development, Basara shakes hands with Leohart. So a draw? A truce? The council becomes worried when they get word Belphegor has been done in. But Madonis isn’t panicking yet and will unleash his trump card. The ultimate demon that reigns over all heroic spirits: Chaos! He can also summon his heroic spirit buddies to destroy every damn land in the demon world! Holy sh*t! The demon world is becoming one big hell. Wait, that’s quite appropriate, right? Heroic spirits are murdering innocents and Madonis believes this is their way to test such weapons and prepare for their next big attack against the gods. As long as they survive, they can rebuild the demon world whenever they want. So they’re telling me they are okay to do the manual labour in creating the kingdom brick for brick?

Episode 10
Admirath goes to settle his score with Kurumi. Yuki and Zest protect her but he has poisoned the air with miasma. For reasons unknown or why it didn’t affect the girls in ICU, Maria and Kurumi wake up stronger than ever to rip off his arms! Now he is screaming like a girl! Then Maria beats him down with some super combo to finish him off. Good riddance. We don’t want to see anymore of him. We also get to see Lars showing off his cool side to fight a heroic spirit and save Noel (just for impressions sakes) and for those fans who were disappointed not to see Zest fight, here she is taking on several heroic spirits as compensation. Ramsus uses his gravity power to hold down Chaos. Better hurry and think up of a way. Basara observes how his power could hold down Chaos. In short, they need to open a black hole and push him back there. With the power of believing, Leohart will help keep Chaos down, Mio opens the black hole and Basara unleashes all his limiters to don another super Demon Lord armour that pushes Chaos back to where he came from. It goes without saying that all the heroic spirits soon disappear. The council is shock their plan is defeated but don’t worry. Madonis still has a trump card. This guy still has tricks? In fact all of them take out a button that will detonate everything but before they could do that, Leohart’s sister, Liala kills and decapitates all of them! Woah! Good riddance. She could have killed them anytime she wants but seeing they are going to take out her beloved Leohart too, it’s time for the old geezers to die. She calls Jin out from his hiding and knows he is here to kill the council too. From their talk, she can sense Jin is one of the ancient high ranking dragons! Wait. What?! Looks like they have bad blood between them and would have started fighting if not Basara had come in. Looks like he had the same idea to eliminate the council. Her keen smell has her believe she is on good terms with Lars and she hopes he can get along with Leohart since all the old men are gone.

Liala goes to investigate with Leohart Belphegor’s mansion. She smells a familiar smell on Belphegor and knows Basara killed him. She realizes his plot to kill Belphegor would reduce the council’s influence and this would lead to the war in the demon world dying down. But she can’t understand why the need to fight Leohart then. As explained by Jin and Ramsus, eliminating the council won’t solve the problem easily. Even if they proposed peace by offering Belphegor’s head, the ones they surpassed would even be more wary of them. That is why Basara risked his life to fight Leohart so he could unveil the council’s plot and by crushing it opens up a better method to peace. With the war dwindling, lesser people will go out their way to get Mio’s power. Ramsus notes Basara changed the history of the demon world and all because for the sake of his sister. Now if you are wondering how Basara came back up when he was lying and facing death, Lars went out his way to pick him up so that he could finish what he started. Yeah, these guys are really getting along. With no further business, our heroes return to Earth. Ironically Basara wakes up from Mio’s traumatic nightmare. So how do you calm that down on a cold night? Mio wants him to warm her up and this is a big hint for him to pleasure her. Only to be interrupted if stupid Maria could just keep quiet while filming this hot porno scene. And now we are back in familiar territory because Yuki and Kurumi also want to be pleased by him as they erotically dance around him. It gets crowded now with Zest joining in the horny fest. Mio feels left out? Basara becomes a true man as he tells them all off: Quit your bitching! I’ll relieve all of you together! Oh yes! Basara you da man!

OVA
Because the TV series lacked the much needed horny steamy fanservice for Basara x Mio x Yuki, the OVA is here to save the day and our horny libido. Maria wakes up Basara and right in the early morning, she is sexily cleaning herself naked in front of him and possibly climaxing. Sorry girl. This guy isn’t into loli. So he ties her up and then goes to wake up Mio. Then he realizes this is Maria’s ploy to do so because Mio is sleeping with her pyjamas half undressed. He tries to quietly button her clothes but looks like her boobs keep unbuttoning them. Yuki spots this and this gives the horny girl an idea to undress herself. Pick her and she will show him her boobs every day! Mio wakes up from the commotion, misunderstands the situation and guess who gets the raw end of the stick? Maria must be happy her plan worked out but Basara now takes out his frustrations on her. In school during PE, Basara and Yuki are supposed to get some ball in the store. Fanservice moment when Yuki gets stuck on a hurdle and sends her climaxing. Then there is this part she climbs a ladder to reach for the ball. Her butt is in Basara’s face. But all that flustering has them lost their balance. Basara catches hold of her. One hand holding her boobs and the other holding up her pant, which is pulling on her camel toe. Another round of climaxing? Mio barges in to see their unholy act and when she tries to separate them, they all fall onto each other. Basara wakes up in the infirmary. The girls are okay but still asleep. Hasegawa wants to know how they ended up like that so he says his body moved on his own. So to understand clearer what he meant, Hasegawa now flirts with him. You can move as you please now. Boobs suffocating all over his face. One of the greatest regrets in his life…

Maria is shocked that she has forgotten Mio’s birthday tomorrow. Talking to Basara about the birthday surprise they need to give her, she suggests some of the horniest presents to give her. Of course he shoots them all down. Basara couldn’t stop thinking what to give so he decides to ask Mio herself. Uhm, doesn’t that defeat the purpose? He enters her room and when the door locks, Mio is seen acting like a slut. Noticing her hypnotized eyes, he realizes this is again Maria’s ploy. Indeed. She is recording this in another room. You can both get it going now. But since Basara is complaining how this is wrong, Maria changes the bedroom scene into a festival atmosphere. Yuki is also here so that Mio won’t hog all the fun. So we see the girls ambiguously licking and biting sausages, getting baby chicks stuck in their cleavage and the competition to grab a goldfish has them falling into the pond. As they dry themselves at the shrine, they start becoming horny. Maria notices Mio’s power is going berserk and needs to do something about it. However her horny succubus side tells her the need to record and watch this steamy affair. And so we have Basara doing full hentai foreplay like licking and caressing their body parts! OMG! This could be really hentai material!!! When the magic malfunctions, the girls come to their senses. Maria explains the hypnotic magic has some safety feature and thus it got disabled on its own. But she is glad all went according to plan. The biggest loli beat down ever… You think Maria is really sorry and learnt her lesson despite that? When Basara mentions he was doing this for Mio’s birthday, she says it is still a long way to go. Maria checks her calendar and realizes the different dates between the human and demon world. Honest mistake? Think not. She earns herself another round of beat down when she promises on her next birthday she will make it more exciting and erotic. Yup, she never learns.

How To Pleasure Your Horny Harem 100 Times
Unfortunately… I am starting to find the plot interesting! Believe me, it is a fact. With the revelation of Jin being some part of a dragon, it really makes me start believing that this show is soon following more familiar steps of High School DxD. In my previous blog, I did say that this series borrows a lot of elements from many other animes but mostly High School DxD seems to be the prominent one. Now with this revelation including the appearance of fallen gods and such, this could be the hornier version of it.

As far as this season is concerned, notwithstanding the fanservice because that itself is a category of its own, I would say that the storyline is suffice although this season could be simply summarized as our heroes making a journey to the demon world to put an end to all those pursuers intending to get their greedy hands on the power that Mio inherited from Wilbert. It opens up new possibilities and development with the introduction of a handful of new characters but we will have to wait for another season to see if where it would take us. If that ever happens. And now the fact that Basara has 2 moms, it gets even more interesting how this guy is conceived. Really.

As usual, the fanservice doesn’t disappoint and they are at the masters of showing it in a way that doesn’t amount to hentai but borders with it so closely that it is allowed to be shown on TV. You got to have great control in resisting to fap whenever you see the Mio and Zest wanting their boobs to be pleasured, Kurumi her armpit, Yuki her butt and whatever there is for Maria. The ultimate testament of horniness! Haven’t found anybody who gets stimulated by the vagina part? Yet? Yeah, if they would just get rid of the annoying damn censors! Yes. This atrocious piece of blockage is still very persistent whenever such scenes are played out. You’ll be annoyed as hell if you are really hoping to see some bare tits. Heh. That is why the producers are smart enough to censor them on TV (I think it is also required by the law) and then make you blow your cash on the DVDs so you can enjoy those delicious boobs. Otherwise you have to do what I did the last time by using my very vivid imagination to view them all. Yeah, great fapping material indeed. For all you know, there is a hentai version of it out there somewhere seeing how easily the scenes here can crossover to being in one.

I have also mentioned in my blog for last season that the character development feels weak. It still does here because with a handful of new major and minor characters introduced this season, you just don’t feel that there is any much focus on the characters. And perhaps because there are only 10 freaking TV episodes compared to a dozen last season. I wonder if you can call those fanservice pleasing moments as character development and bonding at least for where Basara and his harem are concerned but if you want real character development like insights to their past and the likes, you’d be disappointed. Only very slight hints and teasers are all you will get. So even if we have more Basara x Mio make out moments, it still doesn’t feel deep enough that would make you feel that their relationship has gone to the next level.

Even the recurring characters don’t really feel much. Especially Yuki whom I noticed has been less scheming and sly compared to last season and spends most of her time in the demon world being a worrywart. I know she is worried about Basara and his childhood trauma but sometimes it signals to me like as though she has given up on the race and knows that Mio would be the chosen one and thus her gloomy morbid melancholy. Is it because this season takes place in the demon world unlike back on Earth where you have high school setting and such? Kurumi feels even more like a side character despite being ‘officially’ inducted into Basara’s harem. Perhaps she is using an excuse to help out her sister to get close to him since when she debuted this season, she sounded a lot like a tsundere. We also see the Nonaka sisters trying to be sisterly but I suppose it didn’t leave any much impression. And Maria. Still the cheeky succubus loli but in this season we see her film antics lesser because when you’re away in the demon world and things are getting serious, do you have time to do all the filming and editing? Or did she just forget to bring her camera? Zest on the other hand as the latest induction into the harem feels like she has given slightly more screen time than the other girls but even that too isn’t really much. Get what I’m saying?

Basara is being the typical main character with all the main protagonist cliché that you have ever seen in past animes. Main character with power and ability to power up in the future, check. Unleashed power level that could be over 9000, check. Tragic past that would leave one in tears or at least sympathetic, check. Gets the girls, have the girls, check. Goes far enough to protect them, check. Fights strong enemies and if he doesn’t kill them they become his ally or friends, check. Always there when the time is right even if it is the last second, check. Check, check and double check everything else. The only difference is that he gets to do perverted stuffs to girls without looking like a desperate pervert. And he does in not only one or two but five of them! At least this is the last count up till this season. Mio isn’t exactly the damsel in distress type but I wouldn’t go so far as to label her as a very strong female character either. She spends a lot of time this season worrying about Basara and I think it is compounded because Basara ‘stressed’ her up by telling her to believe in him. It feels like it did a little more harm than good. But thankfully Basara always keeps his end of the bargain. And when it is time for her to ‘rescue’ him, it somewhat feels a little forced. Oh well, that is what you call the power of the main character bullsh*t. We love it.

Then there is Jin who is still mysterious and awesome because he nothing much about him is revealed yet. Trying to match that mystery but with complications of his own circumstances is Lars. Once Basara’s rival, now he is his best friend. Or is he just trolling? He has been a double agent for almost anything and since last season he achieved his goal by killing Zolgia after making a deal with Basara. So I wonder what his deal is this time. I thought Hasegawa would show more potential this season seeing the enigma around her behaviour with Basara in last season. Well, she did reveal some juicy stuff about her real identity but after the kids left for the demon world, she is never to be seen again for the rest of the season until the final episode’s montage of the-whereabouts-of-every-character-right-now.

Talking about the new characters, they still feel as weak as the recurring ones because, yeah, like I said, quite a handful of them. Although Leohart made his cameo in the previous season, this time around he gets to flaunt his powers and it would be dreadful if this good looking demon would be casted forever as the main antagonist so in a twist of the plot, we make the ugly council guys the baddies, kill them off and make friendship between Basara and Leohart’s side. There. Because this guy has got quite a few good men under his command like Gald, Balflear and Luka. All of which suffer from lack of screen time and not really heard of again once their ‘role’ is done. Better than Claus. What the heck happened to him?

Liala only made a couple of episodes of appearances but her powers seem to be on par with Jin and thus another interesting character but lacking enough screen time. Just for teasers? Then there is Noel whom they make us should care about (not only because she is a maid) but because of her relationship with Lars and for those tired of Basara and his harem can look forward to this one if it ever happens. Ramsus, who looks like the king of hearts on your pack of cards, feels like his role in this season was just for that last moment. Same case with Shella. I don’t know where she gets those pills but it feels like just to drive the plot and give our main characters and excuse to power up whenever necessary. I thought Rukia would be part of Basara’s harem. Didn’t. I thought I could see her fight. Didn’t. How disappointing for a maid character just to remain as a maid character.

Demon characters we couldn’t care of like Madonis, Belphegor, Admirath, Nebra, Volga (what a joke – a record for a character existing less than 3 minutes) and the rest of the useless power hungry council men make their short appearances and then killed off. Good. Because we don’t want any more new characters who continue to live and we have to worry about the next time. Like that Belphegor dude, I wonder why he is even in this anime. He could actually be done without except to give Basara a little side mission to kill him and put a little tension into the drama. After all, what else does this demon guy do anyway except f*cking his horde of slaves?

But I am baffled to what happened to some of the characters in the end. Because that final montage is supposed to calm our hearts and let us know how they are doing right now. Because the hero guys from last season who didn’t make one single appearance this season, Takashi and Shiba were even seen doing their own training. But what happened to Tachibana? Did they forget about him? If they can show Jin travelling on a journey with some woman (she did make a cameo once this season but we don’t really know who the f*ck she is), we even see Luka and Gald recuperating but what happened to Balflear? Where did he disappear too during the tournament in his investigation? Unless he was killed off in a surprise trap by the council that I wasn’t paying attention to. Isn’t that why he didn’t return?

They turn part of the action scenes into tournament style this season. Even if the tournament feels freaking short and just a stepping stone for the plot, but I guess it is better than dragging it out for so many episodes like certain long running anime series. After all, I am sure by now you would know that you watch this series not for the action but the action of the other kind. Not in the stadium or coliseum but in the bedroom. Haha! I mean, you don’t really see any varied moves from our characters, right? They can mainly condense the entire fight in 2 episodes. One episode Basara vs Leohart and the prior episode for everybody else. Otherwise seeing Basara slashing with Brynhildr, powering up with a different amour, almost getting devoured by his newly unleashed power are hardly exciting by today’s standards. It is just passable.

While the recurring casts are retained, the new ones added to the line-up are Hibiku Yamamura as Rukia (Asuramaru in Owari No Seraph), Tesshou Genda as Ramsus (Umibozu in City Hunter), Atsuki Tani as Madonis (Borka in Sanzoku No Musume Ronja), Taiten Kusunoki as Gald (Rock Bison in Tiger & Bunny), Ayumu Murase as Luka (Haruka in Joukamachi No Dandelion), Naomi Kusumi as Belphegor (Mamoru Kabe in Zetman), Keisuki Koumoto as Admirath (Shinichirou in Isuca), Mina as Noel (Sohara in Sora No Otoshimono), Asami Tano as Tachibana (Chiharu in Toaru Hikuushi E No Koiuta) and once again I couldn’t pick up it was Kikuko Inoue as Liala.

The opening theme is Over The Testament by Metamorphose. I am not aware of this rock piece but I found out that there are 4 versions of this song featuring Yoko Ishida, Kaori Oda, Aki Misato and Megumi Ogata each. They do not play any voice acting part in the series. Oddly I find all the songs to sound the same and couldn’t tell them apart. What I found out was they are a singing unit formed for this series. The ending theme is another rock outfit, Temperature by Dual Flare. Unlike last season where you have naked fanservice as the ending credits animation, they do away with all that and put up, uh, pictures, sceneries and action scenes.

Overall, just like many anime series under the ecchi genre, you won’t remember the fights or the characters in the long run except for the value of its steamy fanservice. Like how we will always remember Freezing for its tits, High School DxD for its tits, Maken-Ki for its tits, Seikon No Qwaser for its power sucking tits and even Valkyrie Drive ~Mermaid~ for its lesbian tits. We can never get enough of them. This series still has decent (oh, the irony) development for its plot and characters if they are willing to give another season a try. Because Basara will always tell his girls to believe in him and I believe we all should. Because for a man who can pleasure his harem and making them even hornier and wanting more like a repeat customer, isn’t he the ultimate peace and love making dude? Yes people. Make love and not war! Salute and respect to da man!

They say that one of the best ways to get used to something be it the system or the workings of a structure is to experience it itself. There is no better way than to learn it fast when you apply all that you have learnt by doing it hands on. Take this case in point for this anime. With its ridiculously long ass name, even by now I have practised it so much and with my ‘experience’ with other equally ridiculously long titled animes, I have come to pronounce perfectly Ore Ga Oujousama Gakkou Ni Shomin Sample Toshite Gets Sareta Ken. Or Shomin Sample for short if you find that repeating that awful line a pain in the ass to say again. When you have a school filled with girls primed and pruned to be the perfect and ideal ladies of the elite society, this means you do away with things that we commoners normally do, right? Right. Now here is the catch. For some reason, the girls graduate and as they try to integrate into society, they find it so hard to adapt to it that they have a mental breakdown! So how? To soften the shocking impact of society, why not take a commoner sample from such society and put him among the girls so they get to learn more about the outside world? Hey. That’s a great idea! But we’re worried this guy is a pervert and like every pervert’s dream to have his own paradise harem filled with high school girls and maids. Don’t worry. We got that covered too. This guy is gay! Holy sh*t! Or so he says. With the girls’ chastity secure and some commoner knowledge as soft landing cushion, their future seems bright in this foolproof plan, right? Am I right?!

Episode 1
Commoner Kimito Kagurazaka is one day whisked away by macho military men (thank goodness his virginity is still intact) to Seikain Girls School. Miyuki Kujou the head maid takes him to Sayuri Kimachi, the school’s principal as they explain how this elite school raises the country’s most ideal of girls. However recently there is a flaw in that. Girls who graduate find it hard to cope with normal society and the shock for them is unbearable. So it has decided that they take a Shomin Sample (literally, commoner sample) to stay with them so the girls will get to know more about what it is like being a commoner and reduce the shock impact. Why him? Because all his records are pretty normal! But this is the clincher. He is believed to have muscle fetish and hangs out with only guys. In other words, gay! What the heck?! I guess they couldn’t see he is a lonely guy who couldn’t get a girlfriend and it got worse when his childhood friend Eri Hanae testified to them (all lies!). Because of his gay nature, the girls’ modesty will be kept and they can still uphold the traditional values of this school. Kimito denounces all that and it surprises them. Because if he is not gay, they will have TO CASTRATE HIM! Instantly he declares his love for muscles!!! He is brought to see the school’s committee. Reiko Arisugawa is their chairman as the girls politely welcome him. They are awed by the way he talks ‘commonly’ and even his Smartphone! Never seen one before? And when they return it to him, Reiko writes a nice letter, nicely sealed, with a gift, put in a box, nicely wrapped, and hands it over to him! Too considerate? Their hands touch. The shock has her fall and he catches her. How does it feel for a commoner to touch you? Suddenly Aika Tenkubashi runs in and snatches him away.

Outside, she wants to kiss him! She thinks her wish will come true if she kisses a commoner. She even believes his lies to do all the silly acts just so her wish can be granted. When Reiko and co come, Aika runs away. Seems Aika has a reputation of not talking to them. Miyuki brings Kimito to his dorm. Heck, they transported his entire room here and it costs 100 million Yen to build it! I suppose Kimito is forced to tear down all his posters of his thigh fetish and continue claiming he is gay. Miyuki has been assigned to be his maid although she doesn’t seem to please about it. Later Aika comes in to tell him off about the lie. Whose fault was it to believe? She lets him know her wish is to get along with others and be the most popular girl in class. But if she gets along with him this well, shouldn’t she be okay with others? Aika is bad in telling lies and sometimes when you have to be discreet, she couldn’t. She is afraid of being disliked. She really wants to be friends with everyone and hates being alone. He shows her his handheld. She is impressed with everything in his room so much so she decides to form a Commoner Club right now with them in it. Later Kimito is at the assembly hall being introduced to everyone. They ask him ‘dumb’ questions and become freaking awed with his commoner answer. Is commoner technology that advanced? No girls. You’re just being naive.

Episode 2
Miyuki wakes Kimito up as part of her duty. Though, she wishes he never wakes up! Due to the commotion a mere commoner would make, he has to leave by the back door but stumbles upon Aika. Kimito would like her to show him around but she misinterprets he would rather choose her than someone suitable like Reiko. She spends the entire day sulking. Because of that, she noticeably ‘loses out’ to Reiko in their daily activities. Kimito covers an average distance during long jump but this of course impresses the girls. Then during lunch at the hall, everyone is shocked to learn about commoners eating cup noodles. Yeah, they’ve never seen this kind of food before. He has them share it and I wonder would it be enough for everyone. Despite being so common to us, they’re praising it like as though it is the food of the Gods. No, seriously. During the ball dance, Kimito dances with Reiko although his clumsy moves are misinterpreted as something awesome by the rest. When Reiko slips, he catches her and they end up in a graceful pose. Super impressive! With Aika waiting in his room, he introduces her to manga. She has to be taught how to read it! But she gets the hang of it in no time and now finds herself hooked. Yeah, she read his entire collection! She even gets influenced by it and believes she too has some sort of superpower. Kimito then helps her train to use her time stopping power. Putting it to the test, did it work? Kimito is not moving. So it must have worked! She does silly things in front of him including showing her slip. Then as she is about to kiss him, he breaks free. It was just all an act? Who could have guessed… When Kimito goes into the bath, he accidentally sees Reiko’s naked body. Like the typical noble she is, now she believes they must get married. Her mind spaces out throughout class thinking about their big day. Even misinterpreting words he said like ‘waiting’ as ‘wedding’. It gets weirder when she tears out a page from the book and makes an Eifel Tower origami. Thinking of honeymoon?

Episode 3
A new maid is being told about the special needs to serve the genius Hakua Shiodome. Like she cannot dress herself and only eat set meals. Kimito is disheartened his family has sold him out as Shomin Sample because in return their house has been fully upgraded into a luxurious one that it includes a natural hotspring! Traitors! When he is in the park, he sees a loli scribbling equations on the ground. Then she starts to undress herself. To avoid being labelled as a pervert, he brings her to his room and it seems she has no recollection she has undressed herself. After introducing herself as Hakua, her stomach grumbles. Kimito makes his special ramen for her and surprisingly she eats it. After that she is hit with an inspiration and is going to scribble again. Yeah, somehow her clothes get undone. When Aika comes in, she misinterprets seeing this scene. What the heck is her undies doing on his hand?! You pervert! When Kimito brings Hakua back to the lab, the maid wants to take pictures of her scribbles. Seems Hakua has a hand in almost every industry in the world who is awaiting her answers. Her patents are what created and funded this school. But the maid is shocked to hear Hakua ate his ramen. It’s like unbelievable to her. Even more so when Hakua wants him to stay but he promises to visit again. The maid talks to the other maids about this shocking event. They’re really excited Hakua did all those stuffs on her own. They think she might be in love because despite her loli appearance, she is 14 years old.

When Karen Jinryo passes by Kimito she got scared by a bug and starts using her sword to slash it. The other girls see it as she is trying to kill the commoner. To live up to that reputation, she starts swinging her sword at him. She uses her ultimate slash that cuts the clothes of other girls! And she blames him a pervert. His clothes ripping apart get delayed reaction. He again gets blamed. There is only one way to stop her and I’m not sure what he did but he ended up sitting on top of her. His underwear now rips. Yeah, the sight of his ‘thing’ makes her faint! Karen’s own clothes got ripped and she thinks it is his invisible move on her. Then she gets the wrong idea despite being the weakest commoner, for her technique to lose out means she must be damn weak, right? Yup. She offers herself to him to do anything he wants till she grows stronger and gets a chance to kill him. And because of that, Kimito’s awesome commoner reputation increases. Aika plans to use her handphone to become popular but since the school doesn’t supply any, Kimito gets Hakua’s advice. That loli loves sitting on his lap like a cushion and won’t budge, irking Aika. Karen visits his room and when she sees Hakua, she can’t stop cuddling her! Hakua slips out and hides behind Kimito. She’s looking like a pervert… Hakua’s maid brings a box of handphones. Everyone chooses one and Aika eagerly wants to take a selfie. As for Karen, she is dying to join in.

Episode 4
Reiko invites Kimito to her tea party after school. However Aika objects and reminds him about their club activity (the plan to make her popular) so he has to turn her down. So as Reiko and her friends talk the usual at their tea party, they discuss about rumours of Aika spending lots of her time in Kimito’s room and that they might be even have a deeper relationship. This irks Reiko as she lashes out at them to stop. She becomes embarrassed upon realizing what she has done. In class, her friends are in tears and Reiko is absent. Kimito knows something is amiss and visits Reiko at her dorm to learn what happened. So when Kimito talks to Aika about this, she decides to sacrifice the commoner party that they have come up with and use it to help Reiko. After school, Kimito introduces his class to Reiko acting and dressing up as a gyaru. It is a little elaborate party plan for Reiko to apologize and make up with her friends. Nothing like a group selfie to fix things, eh? Later Reiko thanks Kimito for this ingenuity and just before what it seems to be a confession from her, Kimito then reveals this idea was actually from Aika. It was supposed to be a secret but he believes it will be okay with her. You think she’ll be okay? You can tell from the looks on her face that she feels heartbroken and in dramatic fashion rushes down all the way to his room (need time to catch your breath?).

Reiko sees Aika hanging out in his room like she always been. Reiko fires the first salvo by exclaiming she hates her! I’m not sure what her problem is but she is blaming Aika for almost everything that happened for it to turn out this way. Aika too starts blaming her and the girls get into a girl wrestling. If you’re wondering why Kimito isn’t helping is because he is tantalized by their thighs… Oh yeah… It ends when they accidentally throw a pillow at him. Now it’s everybody’s fault. Reiko and Aika still continue to ‘hate’ each other. Next day, Hakua and Karen come in to hand in their application to join the Commoner Club. It’s more straightforward for Hakua since she wants to be him but Karen is being a total tsundere. Oh look, Reiko is here to join too. Aika would sure protest to this. You know the joke about women complimenting each other and they don’t mean it, right? Yeah, it is something like that between Aika and Reiko. Lots of sarcasm. Because if Aika doesn’t like it, she can leave the club, right? All hell breaks loose when Hakua turns naked when she begins writing her equations, Karen admiring the cute loli and the other two continue to girly fight each other. Wow. He’s got his hands full. Miyuki sees this and brings out a giant scissors! Holy crap! Better take out that gay video you love! Too bad the other girls now think he is that kind of pervert.

Episode 5
Eri might look like a nice girl on the outside. But behind everybody’s back, she’s got a nasty personality. Even more aggravating when it involves Kimito… We see how Kimito spends his morning when Hakua sleeps over. Looks pretty normal that she learns cooking with him. Then it gets out of control when her inspiration spark hits because it’s naked time. Kimito tells her riddles but she seems to be over-thinking and using the scientific approach as her answers when it is just simple ones. When he sees her off to her room, he thinks he sees a plushie that looks just like him. Meanwhile the other girls discuss the dangers of Hakua being left alone in Kimito’s hands. Imagination running wild? They need to put a stop to this so they call Hakua alone to Kimito’s room. Since that guy is not around, she just sat there reading her book. All attempts to communicate with her fail. She is not tempted with their food and even Karen went to extreme lengths to impersonate Kimito. Not working. And then it begins. Hakua’s naked inspiration. They realize Kimito must have it tough each time Hakua is like this. It doesn’t help when Karen is just being a pervert trying to take out her fantasies with Hakua. When Hakua leaves, she tells them the same riddle Kimito told her. To her shock, Aika could easily answer them. Has she become a pro as a commoner? Kimito is playing an interactive dating game. He has to say “I love you” to the character and Aika catches him in this gross act. He explains the reason he is playing this game because his friend Eri voices the character. He has her try out interacting as she becomes a bundle of nerves. It’s just polygons… I guess she got so engrossed that she didn’t realize Kimito went out and Reiko came in. Because Reiko keep commenting about Aika’s shameless position when she reads manga (like as though she is influenced by it), Aika is about to leave when Reiko says she’ll wait for Kimito to return. This changes her mind so she picks another manga to read. The duo discuss about this YuruYuri manga. Then they share a cola and because they’ve never tasted this commoner drink before, they spit it out on each other. With all their clothes wet, they strip to dry. But their difference in boobs size becomes the source of yet another girly wrestling match. They realize too late when Kimito is watching. He gets the wrong idea that they are resorting to yuri after reading YuruYuri. Carry on, girls…

Episode 6
Shominland has been completed. It is a theme park whereby the girls will get to experience everyday commoner stuffs and this is where Kimito comes into relay his advice and demonstrate his commoner abilities. And when they say it is a theme park, it is actually a giant replica of a typical Japanese city! Everything is there, just void of (ordinary) people. So we see the girls walking around and experiencing the normal life like crossing at the crosswalk and even learning how to order from a fast food restaurant! Yeah, sounds pretty daunting, right? A place where you have to queue and take the food to your seat. Why look so shock? The girls become stiff when they try to make an order. Kimito has taught Aika how to order and thought this would be her chance to shine and make friends but she too has cold feet. So Kimito has to step in and guide them how it’s done. Then I guess they have to learn from him how to eat a burger. Despite the perfect taste of it, he becomes upset this is a mockery of the fast food chain because it would have cost a bomb. The girls visit the arcade centre. Kimito has also previously trained Aika how to dance so she could score points but looks like the girls are more interested in the crane game. Aika sulks further when the girls want Kimito to help guide them to play. Kimito guides Reiko’s hands and they make their conversation sound so sexually charged. When they get to the dance game, Aika is nowhere to be seen. But when the girls have difficulty doing the dance moves, Aika pops up and shows them how natural she does it. Impressed, Aika becomes their teacher. Now in her groove, she becomes their teacher in these commoner things like how to say those ‘incantations’ while ordering coffee. In the end, Aika made lots of friends as they exchange email addresses. Meanwhile Karen is happily playing and chasing with a stray dog… Hakua tries to pack her stuffs when she learns Kimito is away on an excursion…

Episode 7
The field trip continues and Aika continues to show off her expertise on commoner culture. Because Karen continues to be a tsundere and acting up, Kimito had to remind the authority he had on her and order her around (I think he likes it too). This mean she has to suck up and dress up as she is ordered (she was pretty annoying on whether to try out the dress she likes). Kimito is stunned by her beauty, especially her thighs… He wants her to wear these clothes so she gets the wrong idea and will have him take responsibility. Aika is writing an apology text to others and lets Reiko proof read. It feels heavy and nowhere near what she wants to say so Aika has to retype everything again. Although still long but at least she nails in her point. Aika is glad that she is improving in making friends but why doesn’t Reiko seem happy about it? Does it have to do with affecting her status as the most popular girl in class? Kimito is soaking in the hotspring when Aika comes in. Because her other friends are coming in, he has to hide. I wonder how long he could hold his breath. I believe Aika’s hips and butt aren’t wide enough to cover him but thankfully those girls are dumb enough to think the steam is making them hallucinate. When Kimito accidentally gropes one of their butts, Aika knee kicks him out. After they leave, Aika panics as he has passed out. Need to do CPR. That won’t count as kissing, right? She administers it and her friends return to see this shocking revelation. It gets worse when she claims how soft his lips are. He wakes up in his room having no recollection. When he gathers with the rest to depart, the girls are keeping their distance and acting strange. He learns from Aika that rumours have spread that they are dating. Karen slaps him and calls him a liar! Back in Kimito’s room, Aika explains the misunderstanding. Hakua is so glad Kimito is back that she just couldn’t let go of him. How many days worth of Kimito has she missed? As usual, Aika and Reiko’s argument has them ‘hate’ each other again. But Kimito thinks they’re getting along pretty well. Meanwhile a lady who knows Miyuki wonders why she is doing this maid job despite she is the daughter of the family head. Miyuki doesn’t answer and takes her leave. She goes to Kimito’s room to see him sleeping. Then she steals a kiss! That’s why when he wakes up, I suppose now we understand why she always says she hopes he never wakes up.

Episode 8
Kimito shows Aika a fortune telling app that is voiced by Eri. She is taken with it and because she believes its prediction, she starts wearing all green. I guess Kimito can’t help toy with her by making her do a silly bean dance for luck. And then the rest of the girls see this… So they too are interested to have their fortunes read. Amazingly it is quite accurate in predicting their character. Of course the tsundere disagrees with all that is said and thinks it is because of Kimito’s factor that is predicting things so. Karen tries to do it herself when she stumbles upon a love compatibility app. Now the girls are interested. Each take turn to have their compatibility with Kimito read. Aika goes first and she gets 80%. She cannot contain her happiness and starts bragging about her unbeatable score. Next is Reiko and she gets 90% plus highly suited for marriage! Now it’s her turn to get on her high horse. Hakua? Only 50%? Because she is easily misunderstood, it will take longer for them to understand each other. All that is left is Karen. 0%! OMG! It even says Kimito will die with her! It’s coming true when she tries to kill him! Realizing he input her birthday wrong, the next result comes out as 100%! Now Aika and Reiko are arguing you can’t believe this fortune telling crap! They both try to find sites that say they are compatible with Kimito as well as degrade the other. So while the trio argue, Hakua is the real winner as she gets to spend more time with Kimito as they go out to get food.

Kimito thinks he must be in a loop when yet again he wakes up with Miyuki staring at him. Does he hate her? However she argues back she is no obliged to answer him as well as the head maid she is only forced to do it because she is assigned to him, etc. Unless he prefers he doing a triple axel in her ice skating boots on him, expect to be awakened in the same way. When Karen attacks and almost hits Kimito, she is actually testing out her fortune that told her to attack more aggressively. Noticing she ripped his shirt, she takes him to her room to sew. After a few nice hospitality, she has him look back and he fears she might be stripping. She puts on those cute clothes for him and sews his shirt. He is surprised she could be this nice. His comment she could be a nice bride has her fluster and almost rip his shirt again. His inner t-shirt is also ripped so she forces him to take it off. She gets close to examine his arms and body although she is worried about her strength as all she ever wielded is her sword. His words of encouragement amaze her. When things are about to get steamy, the other girls enter. Nobody around. They’re hiding in her very cramped closet. Such close proximity that it’s hard for Kimito to keep his fantasies in check. But as he struggles, they fall out. Hmm… Topless Kimito on top of sexily dressed Karen… Must be a big understanding, right? Aika picks up a video that Kimito was watching prior. Macho men wrestling! She thinks it is a new form of fortune telling so he is forced to act the part while the rest keep waiting for the fortune to be told. “You got me mad now”

Episode 9
Sakimori sees Hakua making a picture of Kimito’s face from food and believes she really likes him. She and the other maids devise a plan to bring him here so he could learn more about her. Meanwhile Kimito is explaining what a commoner expects in a maid cafe. I’m sure they are a bit confused so what better way to increase the understanding than to dress up and act as one. For the first time, these oujo-samas are going to play maid and serve Kimito? Because they do not understand about putting love in their food, he is forced to demonstrate this embarrassing and lame technique. Now we know why its magic only works on maid cafes, right? Havoc of course ensues when Hakua gets naked to write her equations and Reiko singing a horrible rendition of Ave Maria that the entire place is going to crumble! In the end, the other maids clean up the mess and they ask if he really likes commoner maids. His answer: He doesn’t dislike them. Sakimori invites Kimito to see Hakua at work. He sees her working her magic in the lab as all the maids subsequently take pictures of her work once she is done. As Hakua spends time with Kimito, coincidentally all the maids are watching them with glee claiming they are on a break. During lunch time, all of them conspire to force them to eat from the same plate sharing the same spoon. Don’t they have extras? Oh look. The clumsy maid just wrecked them all. They are even maid to drink from the same lover’s straw. I’m sure the maids are pretty excited to see the duo interact. It’s like watching porn for them, eh? The fun ends when Miyuki steps in. There were no maids in the lab when she called for an inquiry. Okay girls, back to work. Not after getting a big lecture from the head maid. As for Kimito, it is a good experience for him as he gets to see the side of Hakua’s face he normally doesn’t see. Later Sakimori and the other maids discuss about Kimito and they are grateful to Miyuki for bringing him here. They make a toast for more dramatic things to happen.

Episode 10
Kimito has serious business with Aika alone. It is making her nervous. He gives her a present that contains a yellow suit. He is serious in wanting her to become popular and this suit is worn by a famous comedian, Dandy Sakano who popularized the greeting of Gets that is getting popular among commoners. At first she has her reservations but after showing the numbers of hits he got after this, well, you can’t argue with those figures, right? So Kimito trains her to do all the pretty lame Gets move. In the end, it is supposed to be one big joke. He is prepared to reveal and get punched but Aika has already left to show it to others. He tries to go after her but bumps into Miyuki and ends up inside her skirt! Mmm… Nice thighs! Oh sh*t! He just remembers he is gay… Aika bumps into Reiko first as she shows her Gets move. Lame. But Reiko feels envious upon learning Aika got this suit from Kimito and also wants to learn Gets. By the time Kimito finds Aika, the entire class has already learnt Gets and they are ready to show off their hard work of labour to him. Ready? Gets. No comment… As Reiko is about to enter Kimito’s room, she overhears him talking to a friend that he is sick of this school since there are all girls. Why does he have to put it in an ambiguous way that he misses the way guys smell and their well built physique?! Because of that, Reiko reports to the other club members that Kimito might be leaving school as the all-girls environment is stifling him. How to keep him here? Aika’s brilliant idea: They will become his men! So they practice on doing manly stuffs including shouting their love for muscles as well as “You got me mad” line that pretty much has nothing to do with anything. They even ordered a macho muscle suit and proceed to put on other manly modifications like topknot hairstyle and moustache. But something feels missing. They do not smell like masculinity. They think putting this BBQ sauce of meaty meat makes them manlier. So when everything is set, they barge into his room. Kimito has no words to describe this absolutely weird manly cosplay. When they reveal the issue bugging them, he assures them he is staying. Just like that everybody is back to happy? Wait. What? I don’t get it. You got me mad!

Episode 11
Kimito and Reiko have a nice private time chatting together. She wants him to address her by her first name but he’ll think about it. So during the next club meeting, Reiko hints this promise to Kimito and it got the other girls curious. Reiko’s maid comes in with an urgent message that her mom, Hoko and brother, Masaomi are here to see her and waiting in the principal’s room. Oh, Kimito is also ordered to come. Seems Hoko wants to take a look for herself this Shomin Sample whereas Masaomi has been objecting from the start about having this Shomin Sample. From the looks of it, he is definitely a siscon! However Reiko holds more authority over him because if he is bad towards Kimito, she’ll not speak to him! Miyuki then assures and hints Kimito is gay. That poor guy has to play the part and hit on Masaomi! Creepy! Hoko then puts her foot down. Then she gets to the point. Reiko’s marriage into the Konoe family has been decided. She will come home now and they will go pay their respects to the family. Yeah, something to do about increasing the family’s prestige. Reiko clearly is shocked and against this but she can’t say. Kimito can tell from her eyes. When Kimito tells this to the other girls, they inform him this school was once a place for rich guys to pick their brides. Now, Kimito doesn’t want to break up their engagement but he just feels Reiko was reluctant about it. Without Reiko around, the club members aren’t sure what to do since she is always the one who suggested their programme. The girls know they need to do something so Hakua modifies their handphones and that night Aika calls Reiko. I’m sure they can talk pleasantries but Aika gets to the point that if Reiko leaves, nobody will pair up with her. She doesn’t want her to go. This has Reiko blurt out what she truly wants. She still wants to stay in this school with them and especially with Kimito. Telling this to Kimito, the only thing they can do to reverse the decision is make a direct plea. He is certain that lolicon brother is against the engagement too. Hakua has got his number somehow and as they communicate, he agrees to help out to break up this engagement. I don’t know about commoners sneaking out of the school grounds crawling like the military but they are caught by Miyuki. What are you doing? But with the loophole that this is part of their club activities, she lets it slide. She just wants to know the reason they are going. They are going to save Reiko because she is part of the Commoner Club. They are picked up in Masaomi’s car driven by macho military men! Nice seeing you again, boy.

Episode 12
There are lots of guards stationed outside the place. Hoko must have foreseen this. For once, Karen uses her sword skill to blow a hole through the wall. She uses that same skill to blow away the guards. And their clothes. If you don’t mind seeing naked macho men… Masaomi faces off in a macho punching contest with his butler to let the rest move on. Now what? Drones? Dumb drones because Aika breaks a vase and throws its broken pieces to destroy them. I can’t believe they are that fragile! I wonder the irony for a rich family if the label says made in Taiwan! Now they have to face closing doors. Thanks to those macho men, the kids manage to slide through and Hakua uses her hacking to overwrite them. Just when you think it doesn’t get any worse, they have to face off with a giant mecha. Hey, at least not a giant tentacle monster. Thanks to Karen again, her swords skills are put to another good use to disable it. This time her own clothes get ripped. Kimito has barged into the meeting room and states his disagreement over Reiko’s marriage. Why? Because she is reluctant to. However Hoko believes her daughter is not and spews all that aristocracy elite noble tradition crap about her job as the family’s daughter. If Kimito doesn’t understand and like hell he does, it’s because he is a commoner. He too relates he can’t understand those elite girls after a month at Seikain. But the important he got is that he made friends especially those in the Commoner Club.

It’s time for Aika to lend her vocal support too. Complete with tears. And that Gets pose. Mother is not convinced with their friendship play and has them taken away. That is when touched Reiko stands up and voices her stand that she will leave home. Hoko warns her this means losing her status and even her eligibility to study at Seikain and she’ll be tossed out living in the streets. Is she willing to face all that? Kimito invites her to come live in his place and will assure he will make her happy somehow. Why does he make it sound like a proposal? It is then Hoko allows. I guess it must be embarrassing for the Konoe family to sit through all this so they just cancel the deal. After that, Hoko just laughs out loud and allows Reiko to marry anyone. What do you mean Kimito and Reiko are getting married? What did I tell you his conviction sounded like a proposal? And just like any typical guy, he reflects on his words and begins to realize the deep sh*t he is in. If he can’t, then Hoko will be so glad to take him into their family and torture him as her son-in-law. He is screwed either way. The girls have their objections and definitely the lolicon brother has his. Now he is going to kill Kimito with his manly fists! Back at the clubroom, Kimito tries to clears the misunderstanding with Reiko. Then the other girls come in and interrupt them and the usual argument and lusting continue. Ah, home sweet home. Such a common occurrence these days. Later, Kimito is apologizing to Sayuri that the Gets greeting has spread and become popular among the girls. Is 5 years a long time for this trend to naturally die out?

Common Sense Gets Desu Wa
I have to blame myself for setting some sort of expectations first. You see, I thought I was hoping to see sexual innuendoes and hijinks in every episode that would land our poor chap in trouble due to the ambiguity of everything. I must be starving for such ecchi harem comedies lately. Therefore when it turns out like that… I am so sad that I had to classify it as mediocre because it falls far from what I was expecting for. Yeah, it got me mad. But otherwise had I not set such expectations, I believe this series would also be hovering around the mediocre line because there isn’t much that makes it stands out and it doesn’t seem close to a harem trope. Almost but nothing close especially if you consider Kimito’s Commoner Club harem girls who feel more like club members rather than rivals over him although there are a few times they do display that harem cat fight.

One thing I didn’t like about this series is the poor pacing. In the sense that many of the episodes generally feel like standalone or filler episodes and it just doesn’t connect. If that isn’t bad enough, some of the plots do leave you hanging with questions and hungering for more answers. For instance, Miyuki’s true background. Had it not been mentioned that she isn’t really of maid pedigree and actually from a noble family, we would have let it slide. But they teased us with this bit and now I can’t seem to get that question out of my head of who she really is and more importantly why. Maybe that is why she has that emotionless poker face to fool us all. Other stuffs may seem minor but it just irks you like when Kimito is misheard that he wants to go home. There was no explanation given of what that conversation was actually about or why he said so. Maybe it is one of his pranks because he does love to play them. But that is mostly confined to Aika who in turn blows it out of proportion. So I don’t really get about that gay talk then. It makes you wonder if he is really gay. What about Reiko’s dream of marrying Kimito as early as the second episode? Because in subsequent episodes, they act like this never happened especially Reiko who can’t get thoughts of him out of her head. Like as though she has got a short memory of something. Then they bring this back up with the final arc by turning it into a mini rescue Reiko plot. And we are still left hanging if it is definitely going to be Kimito x Reiko.

Comedy wise, I don’t think it would be considered as anything that funny that you would just drop down on the floor rolling till your tummy hurts. In fact, sometimes I caught myself smirking just because the supposed funny bits are forced. So I had to smile. It’s supposed to be funny, isn’t it? Now, at first I wanted to say that the girls in this so called elite school are just retards due to their naivety to the real world. In short, lacking common sense. But saying that would be the same as calling the kettle black. Just think about this. There was one point in life where you did not know how something works. Be it the TV, the radio or even the proper procedures to go about a conversation. Nobody told you about it and you never looked it up because simply, there was no reason to. So when the girls here display their very naive reaction to the so called commoner things that all have been taking for granted over the years, it looks funny at first and it is supposed to be one of the sources of why this series is should be funny. But after a while, it just doesn’t feel so. So remember when you see all the ‘stupid people’ posting ‘stupid questions’ on Yahoo! Answers, just think about this logic and reasoning first before you fire back your salvo of sarcasm. After all, there is always the first time in experiencing something and our reactions are based on our past bias and prejudices.

Then there is your decent fanservice of pantsu shots and naked female bodies from time to time so that it could earn itself under the ecchi category. I mean, that is partly why the reason you watch this show, right? Then there is that macho men and gay-ness that just brings all that horniness down to zero. But thankfully the macho men subtext aren’t as much, which is also a bad thing because I thought they were going to use this as a running joke seeing the reason Kimito cannot flirt easily is because of this gay setting. The other being his personality as a nice guy with the exception of sexy thighs… But I don’t really think that the other girls really think he is gay. It is just the fear that Miyuki imposed on him to keep him in check. Otherwise, the girls would be thinking that being gay is normal (which is the case in today’s world). However if you think of the irony that with only girls and their naivety of the outside world, why didn’t they turn lesbian? I know we can say the strict upbringing and all that. But not even a shred of yuri?

As for the characters, a lot is left to be desired. I feel the character development is poor thanks to the pacing of the series as said a few paragraphs before. Miyuki’s secret past life was bad enough but the worst of the lot goes to Eri. Kimito’s childhood friend seems to be a potential to be part of this ‘harem’ but her very minimal cameo appearance has mostly been relegated to a stressed out girl trying to find where the heck Kimito went. She even made this cameo in the last scene of the final episode just to remind us. Not too sure if she has a bone to pick with Kimito or she really misses him but isn’t she the one responsible for sending him away? Regretting that now? Even more puzzling is that in the ending credits animation where Kimito is climbing a flower stalk passing all the other girls, Eri is at the top of the blooming flower. Such wasted potential or just a big teaser.

At first Miyuki was really fast becoming into a spiteful character. Gosh. A maid character that I loathe?! How could it be?! It’s hard for me to believe so because even if it is Miyuki’s character to be such a b*tch, I really didn’t like the way she spews ice cold words at Kimito who didn’t do anything wrong. It was like as though if he makes a wrong move, she might kill him. I love my maids lovely and despite I know there are many maids out there who are more sh*t personality compared to Miyuki such as Roberta from Black Lagoon (it can’t be helped considering that genre that anime is in and her circumstances) and recently Lance N’ Masques’ Yoriko, if they’re going to have a maid character, at least make her a bit friendly for this harem comedy!

I knew there was something wrong about Miyuki’s character being a spiteful maid and I knew it wasn’t right just to jump to conclusions to call her a b*tch based on what I see so I kept believing and hoping that underneath all that, there would be something to more than meets the eye. And true enough, there is an explanation to her harsh treatments. Phew. Thank goodness I believed in my maids! Ahem… Anyway, if you listen again carefully to the words that Miyuki says to Kimito, they are actually more of ambiguous. You only think it sounds bad just because of the tone of her voice and her serious face. Take for example that “I wish you never wake up” line. Now, did it say for him to go die? Certainly not, right? It is because of our prejudices and judgmental thinking that made us think that it is so based on our perceptions formed over her character. So when she says she is irritated at him (for not continuing his sleep so she could kiss him) or watching over him is her job (in the literal sense) or preferring to let incidents slide instead of stamping he foot in frustration (because she would love to do it otherwise), you really have to read between the lines now that you know about her character.

I feel Karen is the dumb blonde of the series and the dumbest character of all so that it fulfils her role as a comic relief character. Despite calling herself a servant to Kimito, she must have a short memory to it as there are numerous times she threatens to kill him. Then everything she does with Kimito seems to be borderline silly and possibly worse than Aika because at least the latter looks cute doing it whereas this one comes off as more threatening and worse than a tsundere (possible a yandere). Hakua seems like the main reason she sticks around the club although there are times that Kimito is the reason. It is a good thing that Hakua never gives her a chance to hug/squeeze/cuddle or whatever her dark perverted mind desires. Intentionally or not.

Rest of the main casts aren’t that impressive. Aika looks like the closest one among the girls to be a potential commoner thanks to her naivety to fall for Kimito’s pranks but at least she learns from it. With Reiko being the oujo-sama of the group, the contrasting personalities between Aika and Reiko are set to be the group’s eternal squabbling duo. Because Karen is busy trying to get Hakua’s ass… And Kimito is just freaking lost at what to do. Speaking of Hakua, it just boggles my mind how she takes off her clothes each time she gets her inspiration. So easy to come off but so hard to put back. Like as though her body turns into a ghost and thus her clothes fall through each time this happens. Yeah, I think this is the only logic explanation. By this point they should have learnt that since Hakua is prone to get her inspirations anywhere and anytime, they should have just let her carry a backpack with a stack of papers instead of letting her deface the environment. Imagine if she is at world famous heritage sites…

So there you have it. The Commoner Club supposedly to do commoner things but filled by uniquely characterised weirdoes that at first glance passes off as a harem club and a club to pass time doing nothing. In short, a club filled with a bunch of misfits. Kimito the misunderstood gay homo mistaken for his love for biceps and triceps of the arms instead of the thighs, Aika the desperate I-wanna-be-popular-and-have-friends girl, Reiko the overly popular girl that is too popular for her own good, Karen the sword carrying girl that scares the sh*t out of others who walk past her, and Hakua the lonely loli genius who yearns for companionship. Add an unpleasant maid to it and there you have a club of misfits more than anything. Is it no wonder why no other girls join considering that they are quite interested to learn what commoners do? Or do they not know this club exists?

The drawing and art of feel rather okay. It is acceptable in today’s standards for a harem comedy. If the art style does really feel familiar to a certain anime, it is because it is animated by Silver Link who has produced lots of harem comedy animes as well like Rakudai Kishi No Cavalry, Strike The Blood and Rokujouma No Shinryakusha. So if you’re thinking why this series looks so freaking familiar to Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai Yo Ne, it’s because they’re from the same studio. Say, doesn’t Hakua look a bit like Ginbei from OniAi? Just take away the emotions and you have another ‘different’ character. Oh, plus point for this series art and animation: LOTS OF MAIDS OF COURSE!!!

The voice acting is pretty decent and none of the seiyuus that I recognized as most are newcomers to the industry. They are Atsushi Tamaru as Kimito (Mochizou in Tamako Market), Yuu Serizawa as Aika (Youko in Jitsu Wa Watashi Wa), Rika Tachibana as Reiko (Sae in The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls), Yuuki Kuwahara as hakua (Hime in Himegoto), Chitose Morinaga as Karen (Fumie in Owari No Seraph), Saori Oonishi as Miyuki (La Folia in Strike The Blood), Ayumi Fujimura as Sakimori (Misaki in Kaichou Wa Maid-sama), Kousuke Toriumi as Masaomi (Kiba in Naruto) and Yumi Hara as Eri (Marielle in Log Horizon).

The opening theme sounds almost like a typical idol song. It isn’t surprising that Ichizu Recipe sounds so because idol College is another one of those idol units ‘big’ enough to split into several teams. Now, when I said sound almost, that is because the song itself is close to being weird especially when you hear the background music instrument of what I think is an accordion that sounds close to a French tune. Aside that with the animation of girls doing weird opening dances and naked macho men at the end of it (that’s the closest and gayest thing you’ll ever find in this anime – anything to do with these group of macho guys despite their very short cameo), it might just give you a little goosebumps. The ending theme is more like anime rock, Twilight Ni Kienaide by Yumi Hara. Personally, it sounds a bit better than the opener.

Overall, this anime shows 2 possibilities. One, you can actually brainwash and condition isolated people into thinking what is good and what is not and even how they should think. High school girls or even religiously lost wretches, all they want is something to believe in. It is obvious that the girls here are like monkey-see and monkey-do when it comes to learning commoner things so much so if you wonder if their parents raised them properly or just as breeding machines. Even as nobles and elites of the world, they can’t escape in dealing with interacting with at least some layers of commoners, right? Unless they get their servants and assistants to do all that. Two, that there are indeed very stupid people in this world… Enough said! With so many harem comedy series out there, it is sad that this one doesn’t try to stand out from the rest. Not even with the numerous maids could help. In that sense, this series has got me sad now.

There are a bunch of animes out there that dabbles and mixes science and magic in between. Some giving off a great storyline and everything while others just freaking confuses the hell out of me. The fight for supremacy between magic and science is showcased here differently in Taimadou Gakuen 35 Shiken Shoutai. Magic it seems is mainly the source of all bad and evil things whereas science and technology are the only things that can keep them at bay. At an academy where students train to become the next force and keep magic users in check, we have a small little group of quirky underdogs who is at the bottom of the league where it concerns most. Just because their captain cannot use magic well and has only his ‘outdated’ sword skills to fight. I guess you can tell where this is going. Will they prove that the good of science will rule over magic or will they find a good mix between science and magic and show the world both can be used for the benefit of many when in good hands. No? That’s not what this series is really all about? Yeah. I don’t care either. Then what? Oh, I’m only here for the harem factor ;p.

Episode 1
Takeru Kusanagi has it rough. He is trying to become an inquisitor to earn big money to repay debts his late parents left him and take care of his little sister. It is bad enough others badmouth him for carrying his sword around, it goes to worse when he returns to his platoon’s room only to see fellow Usagi Saionji in a Playboy bunny suit being filmed by Ikaruga Suginami. He sees the future about his fate. So he starts crying. Guess what? Usagi felt insulted that he cried instead and beats him up! But when he compliments her body, she calls him a pervert! Ah, being a woman. Damn if you, damn if you don’t. Meanwhile Ouka Ootori is talking to Sougetsu, the academy’s chairman (she is his daughter on paper although not blood related) and for some reason she will be reassigned to the 35th Test Platoon AKA Small Fry Platoon as their backup. Of course, this platoon that Takeru is in is the worst of the lot. Takeru was in the same class with Ouka and knows her outstanding credentials. Unfortunately Ouka doesn’t remember him. Ouch. The platoon is now on an infiltrate mission to stop the trade of an illegal magic item. It goes well till Takeru enters a room full of mobs. Wasn’t Usagi supposed to take them all out? Yes she did. At the wrong building! The mobs did the wrong move by mocking his sword. He snaps when they call it scrap metal. Now they’re scared when they witness Takeru slicing their bullets in half! He is going to kill them but Takeru calms him down by imitating the voice of his sister. Ouka enters the scene to kick ass.

The last guy unleashes instant magic. A huge Dragoon mecha appears. Too bad it broke down thanks to its fragile drive mechanism and that it wasn’t fit for close combat in the first place. Things get bad to worse when Takeru trips and falls onto Ouka’s boobs. If getting beaten up wasn’t enough, Usagi flops again when she misfires and some metal part drop on Takeru’s head as he faints on Ouka’s boobs. I guess she now understands why this platoon is so f*cked up. Because of that, Ouka goes lone ranger in her missions. She is right as she points out the flaws in Usagi’s sniping as well as caving into pressure and over-modifications of the items. And what to begin with for Takeru? But they try not to lose hope and even host a welcoming part for her. Too bad Ouka doesn’t appreciate it. Takeru notices an injury on her arm so he has to put his foot down that he is her captain no matter what. On another infiltration mission, Takeru almost got into a bomb trap if not for Ouka’s quick reflexes. However they were too late because the victims have died and become sacrifices. Ouka feels guilty that she is going to kill the perpetrators. Takeru stops her that if she does, she will lose her inquisitor licence. She doesn’t care. Her family was killed by witches and she hates them and anything that is magic. It has become her life’s mission to kill witches till the day she dies. That is why she cannot work with others or they’ll get in her way for revenge. Takeru believes she can. Although he doesn’t fully understand what she has gone through, he won’t give up trying to be her comrade.

Episode 2
Takeru feels embarrassed thinking what he said to Ouka then. And Ouka continues to have reservations that she’ll accept her platoon members. Mari Nikaidou, daughter of the great witch meets up with Haunted, a necromancer-cum-alchemist-cum-summoner from Valhalla. She is to trade a magic item for him to summon an einherjar. But as it needs a weapon, looks like he killed 50 people for it. Mari doesn’t look too pleased, though. Don’t worry, they’re all criminals and he promises he won’t touch ordinary folks. After all, they view the inquisitors as the enemy and will fight them to abolish all discrimination and prejudice witches face. Ouka berates Takeru for being an unqualified captain once she learns his goal is to become an inquisitor for the money. However Ikaruga fires back as she also knows about her background. She has garnered the nickname of Calamity as she kills criminals without orders. The only reason she is back at this academy is because she got kicked out of the inquisition. Later Takeru sees Ouka paying her respects at her family grave as she relates the horror 9 years ago that made her devote to her revenge. Their small talk is ruined when Haunted begins his move to wreak havoc on the city and to destroy the academy. As usual, Ouka rushes off by herself. Although the low level ghouls are easily taken care of, it is the einherjar that is going to be a problem. Yeah, this Dragoon has got Arthur’s Excalibur. With the academy on full alert to fight back, normally Takeru’s order would be to run since he knows they are fighting a losing battle. However with Ouka in the field and her quest for revenge running high, he can’t leave his comrade alone.

Ouka summons her contracted gun, Vlad to fight the einherjar. As she does not plan to make a full contract with him, she only allows him to take her blood and heal her wounds for more power. Things are going well till some stupid time limit means time is up in using him. You’re on your own. Before she is killed, it’s Takeru’s turn to rescue her. Although he could fight the einherjar via close combat, still it wasn’t enough as he takes a serious blow. On the verge of death, he is met with this goth loli, Lapis Lazuli who wants to make a contract with him. In some alternate dimension, she asks him several questions like if he is willing to annihilate witches, abandon all that is precious to him and toss away his humanity just to achieve his goals. After answering most of them as yes, Lapis accepts him and turns him into witch hunter mode. Basically Takeru in a super cool armour. Lapis introduces herself as from the Relic Eater series which can only be used by inquisitors. She has chosen him as her owner. Takeru is super powerful as the einherjar’s magic does not leave a scratch and he can fight on par with it. Lapis could also absorb its magic into Takeru’s blade so that he could return all that magic power and destroy it for good. Takeru returns to Ouka. He won’t lecture her about revenge and stuff but wants to carry half her burden. He might not be that reliable but feel free to rely on him. Eh? What? He is her comrade after all. So I guess her sign for accepting this is allowing him to use her lap as his pillow?

Episode 3
Mari has been captured by the inquisition and she has lost most of her memories. Sougetsu explains about Lapis to Takeru and co and how as the last Relic Eater, she finds compatibility in him because he is a swordsman. As she has a habit of taking human form, he has made her a fake ID. I’m sure Takeru didn’t expect her to be his little sister! Sougetsu also introduces Mari and has her join the team. He doesn’t waste time admitting she is a witch. I wonder how Ouka would feel about this. Not good. The academy has decided to implement a new system on an experimental basis so their job is to guard and keep her identity a secret. So you can tell sparks are going to fly between Mari and Ouka and a war is just itching to start if Takeru doesn’t intervene. Their rivalry goes as far as in the classroom and on the field and their public feud is getting out of hand that when Takeru tries to stop them, he got double punched. Later he talks to Mari about her goal in wanting to become an inquisitor. She isn’t quite sure but it is probably to show the world that magic isn’t a bad thing and to change their perspective it could be a good thing to help others. Haunted is talking to his staff, Nacht during the aftermath of that failed academy attack. Mari was pissed that innocents were hurt. It was a condition that she agreed to work with him. When inquisitors arrive to arrest them, he quickly kills them. Mari falls into shock that she got captured by reinforcements. Haunted fled but not before leaving a magic spell to erase her memories. He doesn’t want to kill her yet but torture her mentally. Though, she getting captured by the inquisition wasn’t part of his plan.

Ouka and Mari continues their b*tch fight. It goes up a notch when Ouka gets irked by their first name basis and Mari sending ambiguous signals by cuddling up close to Takeru. Surprisingly, Usagi ticks them off to stop because they have to worry about the upcoming mock tournament. It is important for their team because they’ll get the much needed credit points if they win. Ouka thought Mari has seduced Takeru as she is going to live with him. Turns out the dorm has no rooms and even if they had, they couldn’t risk her identity being found out. The other girls either live with her family or have no space and since Ouka hates her, I guess Takeru is the only option left. So this excuse for Ouka to follow them is so that Mari won’t assault Takeru? Welcome to his rundown apartment… Geez, it feels like a haunted house! You scared, Ouka? But he soon leaves them alone as he needs to go off to work. Really? Leaving them together? I guess Ouka tries to chicken out but Mari clings on to her tightly! No escape! When Takeru returns, he gets the bad luck of seeing them naked. With Ouka freaking out thinking she saw a ghost, they fall over him. Double boobs in the face. Double slap in the face. During the first round tournament, Takeru’s team is in a pinch. Mari won’t help and Usagi is panicking all over. But a change from heart from Mari as she becomes the decoy so the rest could move in and win it. Everyone thanks her but since she doesn’t sound that appreciative, Ikaruga labels her as a tsundere and perhaps a flat chest variety to the rest of them. Oh, at least she has Lapis as fellow comrade. While the rest is hanging out at the stalls, Ouka goes to hand in her report when she stumbles a report on Mari. An ancient witch with amnesia accused of murder.

Episode 4
Mari talks to Takeru that she is worried she may be a bad person but in the event if she does, he’ll just brainwash her and bring her back to the right path. That is what it means to be comrades. That easy? Before their second round match, Ouka talks to Takeru about her discovery on Mari. When it begins one of the opponents bursts into a giant flower. Haunted pops up to rescue Mari. Hayato Kurogane orders his men to keep firing into him but Haunted creates a giant barrier that sucked Takeru and co in. Haunted is pleading Mari to come back to him as he declares his cheesy love for her. Takeru is not amused and transforms into his armour to fight him. However he is surprised when Haunted too has his armour and could even be a better swordsman than him. Meanwhile Ouka manages to contact Sougetsu and she tells him her findings of the crime scene Mari was in. Based on the different magic, it was not her who did the murders so Ouka is going to indict him for false arrest. So how? Want to make a deal? Haunted undoes Mari’s amnesia as she remembers the tragic of her orphanage. It was burnt down and they were kidnapped by him. She was forced to work for him if she ever wants to see them again. So if she comes back to him, he’ll let her see them. Takeru tells her he is lying because from Ouka’s report, they are all dead! To prove him wrong, Haunted shows the kids. They’re zombies! Oh, he admits he was the one who killed them.

Mari falls into great despair and Haunted relishes seeing her like this. Then Takeru lectures her about atoning her mistakes by saving more lives with magic. Otherwise, those kids won’t forgive her. If that is not enough, he is willing to carry half her burden. That line again? No wonder Haunted is laughing at his cheesy ideal. So while both of them exchange blows, Mari remembers the nun teaching her some magic. She decides to sacrifice her life to do so but missed. Because the academy put some collar on her that will explode if she uses it, it never happened. Ouka says she cut a deal with Sougetsu to disarm it because she wants her to use her magic to save Takeru. Yeah, they still hate each other and doing this for the guy. Mari then fires her magic once more. Missed again? Actually, it is for Takeru to absorb. Now he powers up and defeats Haunted. He makes his escape but not before hinting to Takeru that he knows he is from the clan of demon hunters. Mari is ever grateful to Takeru and thanks to him, she didn’t commit any more mistakes than she already has. More good news when Mari is now officially a student of the academy as Sougetsu decided to make the witch enrolment policy official. Ironically it was Ouka who lobbied for it. Her excuse is that she doesn’t like the way he does things. But still, they hate each other… Resorting to boobs shaming now, eh?

Episode 5
Usagi’s mom is not impressed with her low grades. Because of that, she will be bringing forward her marriage and this will be her last month in school. The most heart breaking thing? She tells Usagi not to call her as mom because she isn’t. Reima Tenmyouji, the executive committee chairman is going to bring back the witch hunting festival whereby a special currency will be used to gain credit points and even money. Oh look, Takeru is so motivated. Usagi is having a hard time wanting to tell her friends when Ishida the captain of the 23rd Test Platoon comes in to request their teams to form an alliance for the festival due to their small size. When Usagi is walking in the hallway, she bumps into Reima. They know each other. The sight of him starts making her have breathing difficulties! From the way he says things, looks like he is her fiancé. Naturally Takeru comes to her aid but he doesn’t understand Reima’s words about taking care of her a little longer. Ouka is brought by Shizuka Sendou of the student council secretary to see the president, Nagaru Hoshijiro. They talk about the urban legend witch named Mephistopheles that devours human minds. It seems she exists because Nagaru’s entire team was killed and she and Shizuka are the only survivors. The catch is that this happened a month ago, the same time when Reima transferred to this academy. Isn’t that strange? Ouka agrees to lend her help.

Usagi recuperates in the infirmary and since she is holding onto Takeru’s hand, I guess he has to stay with her. She feels sorry for keeping him this late so as they walk home, he can sense something is wrong. Then she asks if he is willing to marry her. What gives? Then she explains about her marriage to Reima. As she is the sole heir of her family, being a good for nothing, the only way for her family’s future is to marry into the wealthy Tenmyouji. I guess Takeru felt bad so he tells her to come stay at his place tonight. What?! So she’s here in his shower, wondering what the heck she is doing. Hard not to think thoughts of them getting married and starting a family, eh? And then maybe she’s just going to accept all that because she comes out just wearing a bath towel before him. As predicted, she trips and her towel comes off. She readies to let him do her first time. As predicted too, the other girls come in. That shock on their face? Priceless. I’m sure each has their excuse to beat him up for this indecency. Especially Ikaruga’s wrath is because he didn’t invite her to this! Like the usual shoot first, ask questions later, they eventually learn of Usagi’s predicament. Since their original plan was to discuss strategies for the festival, this meeting will also be to help Usagi improve her grades so her mom could accept her and let her remain till she graduates. That’s what comrades are for, right? Since she still views herself as dragging everyone down, time for Takeru to remind her the countless times she saved them with her sniping. Takeru and co do cosplay and demonstrate before the 23rd platoon guys. They love it! Even if Takeru is cross-dressed in a gothic outfit. Because Usagi nails it by just having band aids covered over her necessary parts!

Episode 6
Reima and Takeru confront each other. The former gloats Usagi will be his but assures she will be treated nicely. Takeru won’t allow it because Usagi belongs to no one (or is it she belongs to him?). He gets mad when he thinks Reima is bullshitting that Usagi killed her brother and that she has no true comrades. And of course, Takeru says they’ll do their best to always protect her. Ouka is investigating around the school and a bird’s eye view reveals a large magic insignia all over. When Reima confronts Usagi, bunny girl tries to be tough that she won’t listen to him anymore. However he plays mind games with her about her brother’s death. When Shizuka reports to Nagaru, she suddenly pulls out her gun to shoot her. Then she joins Ouka to apprehend Reima. When Ouka mentions Reima’s true identity as Mephistopheles, shockingly Shizuka is the one who responded. The duo corner Ouka as they place a talisman on her for Mephistopheles to possess her body. Mephistopheles wants to initiate the magic sequence earlier than expected so Reima protests since he did her bidding in exchange for the academy and inquisition to be his. She threatens this wimp she could have killed him anytime and didn’t because his family might come in handy. So STFU. Nagaru contacts Takeru about the situation. She is alive thanks to her bulletproof vest. Takeru didn’t like how she dragged Ouka into this and won’t follow her orders. He’ll be saving his comrades on his own. WTF. Isn’t that the same? Lapis detects Usagi at the chapel. She is having nightmares how her brother was playing with the rifle and while trying to stop him, she accidentally shot him in the struggle. Reima jerk popped up before her and knew she killed her brother. That is when he decided she will be his and started his brand of rabbit abuse.

So now she is going to be raped by him at the chapel. Sure she struggles, but that slap puts her back to docile mode. Remembering her friends, she won’t go down that easy and bites him! Takeru arrives to save the day and goes tell her to help Mari as she is trying to diffuse the magic. You know, the duo could save the reunion and the promise making for later. If you’re wondering why Reima didn’t attack them in this period, yeah, he is putting on his armour. Ouka worries about Mari but she laughs off her fake acting because there is no way that b*tch would care about her. Mephistopheles is going to shoot her but here comes Usagi to the rescue. How bunny girl had to run when Mephistopheles activates a spell that causes all the guys in the academy to go after her. Rabbit hunting? Creepy. Takeru defeats Reima. Yeah, I guess it’s not worth even seeing this wimp fight. He is scared out of his daylights that he soiled his pants! Now Takeru fights Mephistopheles who can use Vlad. Feeling that Ouka is coming back, she is going to test Takeru’s bonds. When Usagi returns, Ouka claims Mephistopheles has possessed Takeru. So shoot him. But Takeru says if she is unsure, shoot him then her. Mephistopheles: Believe in me. Takeru: Believe in us! I guess it’s clear. As Usagi is going to shoot her, Ouka fights back to reclaim her body, pushing Mephistopheles out. Usagi shoots her special bullets to finish off Mephistopheles for good. Great news for everyone. Ouka survives the shot and Mari finishes her task. Scary news: Takeru dressed as a maid during the festival scares off the guys! Hey, they didn’t pay the bill! Ikaruga tricks Usagi to wrap herself only in ribbons for Takeru to view. Best news of all: Usagi’s engagement is annulled. And as promised, a great pat on her head.

Episode 7
Sougetsu calls Ikaruga for her opinion on this case. A spy infiltrated the Alchemist Corporation and took a picture of a Lost Matrix cell. Inside there is a dark elf that could be used for resurrection as a weapon. Since she worked there 4 years ago, he thought she should know. Of course it is impossible to clone. Even more so, Lost Matrix had gone missing 4 years prior too. Kurogane wants to keep her lock up but Sougetsu would rather wait and see so they can have more cards to play against Alchemist. With the 35th platoon in last place and in much need of points, Ikaruga suddenly says bye-bye and hold the fort till she comes back. Of course feeling something amiss, they tail her to some slums but ultimately lost her and encounter the mafia! Haunted is seen talking to Isuka, Ikaruga’s older sister. Seems she has failed to resurrect dark elves again. He notes her actions to betray Alchemist and join Valhalla. It’s because if she continued to work under Alchemist, she’ll just be ordered to do what they are told. Haunted then gets upset that she killed her fellow scientists without emotion. It is like disrespect to them. Because he loves people and thus loves killing people so put more emotions into their deaths! WTF?! Isuka promises she will keep her end of the bargain to resurrect dark elves. She receives a report that somebody has leaked info about the stolen Lost Matrix. Haunted wonders if she can trust that source. Of course. It’s from her sister and she is on her way here. Ikaruga further tells Isuka that she is willing to trade the Lost Matrix as her interest is only resurrecting elves. Staying at Alchemist would have meant she would eventually be executed. That is why she left the place and continued her experimenting outside. However Isuka’s men find her and get rough. Just in the right time for Takeru and co to stumble on her. While the girls hold back the other forces, Takeru takes Ikaruga to safety but a near-miss missile injures him. Isuka contacts her sister for the change in plans since she didn’t realize her friends are here. She warns her if she hurts or even kills them, she can say goodbye to the Lost Matrix.

Sougetsu is seen talking to Suzaku Suginami, the boss of Alchemist. He is ‘accusing’ her for passing the buck about the recent incidents that weren’t caused by Alchemist (because they were never authorized to do elf research). So as apology for this ‘screw up’, she’ll send him the latest Dragoon models so he could go crush this rogue facility. He calls all available platoons to go to war. Ouka, Mari and Usagi are taken in by Isuka and examined from head to toe. I guess that explains why they are bare naked. Since she doesn’t believe they are Ikaruga’s friends, she tells them the kind of person her sister is. As kids, they were already genius scientists. Till Ikaruga stumbled upon a book about family and friends. She became interested in that concept although Isuka objected to it. Ikaruga’s resurrection of a wood elf fails because despite cloning it, it had no magic. Isuka became mad when she found out she purposely did so to get thrown out. Ikaruga became close with the elf, naming it Kanaria. One night, Ikaruga is going to run away and Isuka stops her saying that they need each other for research, which is their passion. Ikaruga wants her to run away with her but the alert has sounded. Somebody stole the Lost Matrix. Guess who? Ikaruga is supposed to get Kanaria but it was nowhere to be found. She had to leave before security forces come. She then came to the academy to keep the Lost Matrix away from Alchemist as they couldn’t attack an inquisition academy. Ikaruga is telling this similar story to Takeru. I don’t know, this place looks like a love hotel… Takeru doesn’t understand why she would trade the Lost Matrix now after finding out they were going to resurrect dark elf. She thinks he won’t understand try him. As she has no sense of what is right or wrong, what if it is wrong? Takeru will come and stop her. In that case, since this is goodbye, she is going to try it out with him while she still can. Try what? Sex. SEX???!!! HOLY SH*T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Episode 8
We continue where we left off abruptly the last time. Ah yes. Sex. Too bad those f*cking Alchemist guys are here so Ikaruga has to put it off next time. After confessing a hollow I-love-you, she injects a temporary paralyzing serum into him. Ikaruga then goes to meet Isuka for the deal. Ouka and co are thrown out on the streets as part of the deal. They see Sougetsu coming by with lots of Dragoons. He has them pick up some weapons so they can go fight. At this point too, Takeru is able to move and requests Lapis help to power up to go save Ikaruga. Isuka blames her sister over her betrayal and that she lost a lot of things when she decided to pursue unscientific matters. Isuka is feeling pain because of the redesigning of her body or something. She wants her to hand over the Lost Matrix so Valhalla will accept her. However Ikaruga says she is only here for 2 things. To prevent the resurrection of elves and to rescue her. This only makes Isuka mad. She considers her sister her enemy and will destroy the world to save herself. And since the world is Ikaruga’s home, that makes big sister her enemy too. Ikaruga reveals the Lost Matrix embedded right in her chest. With nanomachine technology, she is able to resequence her DNA and turn into a partial dark elf. She has enough mana to create dark matter. Isuka’s pain continues as well as her blaming everything is Ikaruga’s fault. Haunted cannot hold back himself after seeing Isuka’s face of despair. He had to kill her! And he loves that despair look on Ikaruga’s face too.

Her nanomachines are imperfect so Ikaruga returns to her human form. Isuka says Kanaria is being held at Valhalla and wants her to live. Too late for apologies now. Haunted offers Ikaruga to join him. He doesn’t need Isuka since she has shown him how to make Dragoons and resurrect elves. You know her answer. In that case, Haunted leaves her a present from big sister: A large rampaging dragon! Takeru saves Ikaruga in time before she falls to her death. Lapis says his chance of defeating the dragon alone is only 0.4%. However Ikaruga mentions that since it is purely machine, they can just destroy its core and it will crumble over its own weight. So Usagi has a few chances to nail the job but she keeps missing due to her nervousness. And when she does, it doesn’t break. Looks like it will take more hits to it. Yeah, but she’s out of bullets. Ouka’s turn to try. Didn’t work. Going to get killed. Takeru’s turn to stab it. Oh dear. Runs out of mana. Don’t worry. Mari replenishes him with her mana so he strikes it with all he’s got. Dragon down. There. Dusted and done. In the aftermath, Mari brags to Ouka and Usagi about her heroism but they’re not too amused and fire back with insults. Takeru talks to Ikaruga alone. Oh, you mean it’s not about the sex? Haha. Just kidding. He doesn’t want her to think she is useless, she is part of the time, blah, blah, blah. You know the usual drill. Uh huh. His trademark line of carrying her burdens. Or her tears as in her case. He pats her head. She doesn’t like it but allows it because it’s him.

Episode 9
Their next mission is to infiltrate and stop an illegal magic item trade that would earn them much needed points. Ikaruga thinks they won’t be up for the job but Ouka takes this as an insult and insists she can do it. Okay. You asked for it. The infiltration job turns out to be a hostess job. Damn, Ouka got played into her hands. Naturally, she freaks out whenever men touch her butt or trying to get flirty. My, what a hostile temper. Usagi and Mari are more natural even more shocking is how Takeru seems to be doing his waiter job so fine like he’s got talent for it. When Ouka thinks she has spotted the culprit with the magic item, she moves in close to him. However she screams when he swipes her butt and her impulse has her destroy the package. The rest quickly surround to arrest this guy only to find it isn’t a magic item but a handheld gaming console. The real culprit is just next table. Although he tries to run, the rest caught him. Ouka just stood there stunned… Big blunder? Back at their room, they analyze the item and it turns out to be a low ranking one. They won’t get many credits and with that fiasco, they might even have their points docked. Ikaruga suggests testing this ring magic item its authenticity before handing to authorities. When she thinks it might make one fall in love, the rest of the girls seem to have ulterior motive in grabbing the ring for themselves. In the struggle, the ring lands on Takeru’s finger. Then some magic happens. Usagi is such a kiddie flirt and Mari has high emotions, crying over her small boobs. Ouka is wildly aggressive and even Lapis is drunk. It is confirmed this magic item makes one intoxicated. Think Ikaruga is unaffected? Well, she seems flirtier. Not that she is any different than before. But I think she is the ‘best’ one because she ends up vomiting on him!

The gang are on their way to the beach since they receive complaints that summer won’t stop and the cause might be a witch. I guess your excuse to have fun at the same time as well as some swimsuit fanservice. Of all the sexy swimsuits the girls wear, why is Takeru only has his eyes on Lapis’ school swimsuit? During lunch, Takeru has bad stomach ache. Usagi and Mari prevent Lapis from following him into the toilet. When Ouka notices a guy being stretchered because he was attacked by a monster and almost drowned, they conclude this case isn’t the work of witches but a magical monster. Since it is under the sea, who can go investigate? Ouka can’t swim, Ikaruga has been ‘dead’ the entire time (she’s not an outdoor person) and Takeru is still taking a dump (oh, his screams!). This means Usagi will lead her mini platoon underwater. Somehow Mari can’t help feel insulted thinking she’s directing that to her mini boobs. As suggested by Lapis, to draw the monster out, she uses Usagi and Mari as bait. Like as in fishing bait. It did attract the monster and since it has tentacles… Yes, tentacle rape! Takeru has finished his business and runs to their rescue. Too bad his armour is too heavy. I don’t know how long they can hold their breath because it seems they can hold out while trying to communicate via sign language. As suggested by Usagi, Takeru uses Lapis as a fishing rod to fish the duo to freedom. With Mari’s magic to briefly open up the sea, they swing the monster onto land. Case closed. Ouka rewards the mini platoon with ice cream but Mari still feels insulted that she means her mini boobs.

Episode 10
Takeru visits a maximum security prison to see his sister, Kiseki. They talk about things and it’s pitiful to see her just trying to survive. Time flies when you’re having fun so Takeru has to leave when time is up. He must strictly obey all protocols or else he would have a harder time visiting her next time. After that he continues to do his missions flawlessly with his team although they notice that he hasn’t been sleeping lately. We get a little deeper glimpse into Kiseki’s confinement case. As Sougetsu and other scientists keep close monitor on her state, thanks to Takeru’s visit, it helped as she has mostly calmed down. To put how dangerous she is and the reason she is confined in such high security is because she has this uncanny ability to excrete dangerous mana. If destroys and collapses anything. So if they don’t keep that in check, it’s the end of the world. And that might come soon because she yearns so much to see Takeru that she is going into overdrive mode. Kurogane offers to fight off this beast she has created. While Takeru and co are out in the field to catch a dangerous wizard, the baddie caught win they are inquisitors in disguise and run. While Takeru chases him down the alley, unfortunately he got killed. To Takeru’s surprise, it is Kiseki as she collapses into his arms. When the other girls arrive, Takeru becomes a little hostile in keeping them away. No, he is not a siscon. But once he calms down and realizes they are not the enemy, he introduces them to her sister as they take refuge in some apartment room. Despite telling them she is the most dangerous thing in the world, he believes as long as he is with her, she’ll be fine. Kiseki has busted out of the prison. The place is in shambles. Don’t worry, Kurogane still lives. He’s one tough cookie and the best witch hunter around. Takeru perhaps is trying to explain nicely about Kiseki’s dangerous powers and how it caused her to kill many people in their village. So Ikaruga tells him to shut up as she explains bluntly about the excessive mana she produces and seeing she might have used a lot while escaping, it will take for a while to replenish. Surprisingly, Ouka suggests the siblings spend some time together so the rest tease her for breaking her character. Kiseki is scared thinking the girls are ganging up on her but they’re just going to help her put on nice clothes so she could go on a date with Takeru. It is the quality time the siblings have always dreamt of. But at the end Kiseki has a favour to ask for: Please kill her. And big brother said he’ll do anything, right?

Episode 11
What she meant is that if she is going to die, she wants to be killed by his hands. Sorry, he can’t do it. The only time he’ll do that is when he will die with her. That’s a promise. As they continue their date, Takeru is confronted by his rival, Kyouya Kirigaya. This guy now seems to hate Takeru a lot more. He also has his own Relic Eater, Nero. They both start fighting but are stopped by Kurogane. They will be facing the consequences for this public brawl. Takeru talks one last time to Kiseki before Sougetsu knocks her out with sedatives. He tells Takeru that Alchemist have signalled their interest to help them since they might have a way to solve her problem. The only catch is that she will be transferred to a different facility. He cannot reveal the location seeing that Valhalla is after her. When the transfer gets going, Valhalla launches their attack but most of them are decoys. The real Kiseki is being transported via ground, guarded by Kurogane and Kyouya. The latter asks which side he belongs to because he doesn’t want him to get in his way of revenge to kill all heretics. Their convoy is also under attacked. Kyouya relishes taking out his anger on them. Takeru dreams he was tasked to kill Kiseki. Even after seeing her monster form, he still couldn’t because there is no way he could kill his sister.

Takeru and Ouka are in solitary confinement. She blames herself for getting him into this but on the contrary he has every reason to be thankful as she allowed him to be with his sister. I guess it is her turn to borrow his line to share and carry half his burden. Because she has found the platoon a comfortable place to be. She reminds him he is not alone. Nagaru lets them out since she has some connections with the guards and explains to them Kiseki’s convoy has been attacked. Takeru is surprised his teammates are ready to move and help out with him. They in turn are surprised he is asking for their help because normally he would never let his teammates get involved. So they’re staring at Ouka for she might have changed this dude… Can we stop the petty argument and get a move on? After despatching the lower guards, Kurogane and Kyouya are faced with Orochi Kusagani, the big boss of Valhalla. Kurogane wants Kyouya to continue with his escort task because this guy will be too much for him to handle. Halfway, Kyouya decides that everything now is just damn wrong so he stops the truck and is going to kill Kiseki himself. Luckily Takeru is here. Despite Kiseki never did anything to him, Kyouya is bent on destroying everything related to heretics. Takeru believes Nero is influencing him because revenge is what she is seeking as her reward. The power fight goes on till Takeru’s team back him up. Kyouya is forced to escape but that won’t be the last they’ll hear of him. As Takeru rescues Kiseki, he could see all the pain and anguish she has gone through. She already has enough of it and wants to end it all. Time to keep your promise? Haunted had to interrupt and bag about how much he wants Kiseki as part of their world chaos plan. Kiseki then goes berserk seeing her brother impaled. Looks like the end of the world is coming sooner than you think. Hallelujah!

Episode 12
The monster blob overflows the city. Sougetsu and Suzaku are watching as the former implies that this mess was created just to satisfy her curiosity. She offers to clean it up but instead he wants to bet with her if Takeru can kill Kiseki or not. Ouka fights Haunted and this time she is willing to make a contract with Vlad. Her fight this time is not limited to her family’s vengeance but to protect those around her now. Vlad is touched by her nobleness and accepts. And for the first time, Ouka in her battle armour. She manages to dispose Haunted before the other girls pick her up. Ikaruga explains the only way to stop this monstrosity is to keep killing the blob. Kiseki’s body is immortal and will not die unless she accepts it (her body rejects death if it’s not killed by the person she wants). So they’ll have to concentrate in killing all the monsters or risk it destroying the world. Takeru is still alive because Lapis is healing him. But he is reflecting on what he should be doing. Lapis gives him some encouragement and after confirming his final answer to toss away humanity so he could achieve his desire, she further powers him up into a much darker armour. Sealed with a kiss. Ouka has to put up with the monster’s jealousy lies that because of her, Kiseki cannot spend more time with Takeru. The other girls are at their limits holding their ground when Takeru revives. It’s time for him to be the hero. Because he sucks Ouka’s power and then apologizes he can’t walk with them anymore. Just great. So he’s going to be a martyr? Too bad Haunted gets in his way again and they both continue to clash swords. This time Takeru has decided. He regretted he could not kill Kiseki. But now no matter how much he regrets that, he will stay true to his desires. This means he will have Kiseki live and will return to his girls. All with his life intact. Gee, he gets all his cake and to eat it. With time running out, Takeru uses his ultimate move to finish Haunted and then dive into the monster blob to bring Kiseki out. With those comforting words that he’ll stand up by her side till she can be saved, the monsters vanish. Orochi has to cut short his battle and communicate with his comrades to retreat. But he is confronted by Sougetsu and thinks he wants to use Takeru to make history repeat itself. Whether he likes it or not, the trigger of war will be soon at hands. Takeru returns to his platoon and says he didn’t exactly save Kiseki. As long as she is still alive, she will continue to put the world in danger with her power. Don’t worry. The girls assure her because they too want to carry half his burdens. Right back at ‘ya! Hey, don’t they mean a quarter of his burdens since there are 4 of them…

I Don’t Want To Carry Any Burden At All!
And that is how it ends? At least in the context of this anime. What more could we ask? World is saved at least for today and Kiseki in this context of ‘happy ending’ could be considered saved till the next time she goes berserk. Just like many other animes that end on this kind of note, as usual there are lots of potentials and development if it ever gets another season. Because I’m sure that nothing is really settled yet and if things do get settled (like Takeru’s platoon girls and their respective personal problems), it is an indication of bigger things to come. Then there is the case of the characters’ past which is not fully explored like Ouka’s family and quest for revenge (which seems to have died down towards the end).

If you are wondering why the storyline seems to be moving along a very fast pace, I read some comments over the internet how the anime is like literally rushing through the chapters of the light novels that the series is being adapted from. Because it felt a bit weird when we are in one scene and then all of a sudden we are ushered into another scene. I thought it was how the flow of the series works but when it happens for all the time, something felt amiss. For example, the early episodes when Ouka was just inducted into the platoon, it felt like they calm her blood thirst for revenge very quickly. Then there is that mock tournament that makes you wonder what the heck happened to it. Sure, Haunted interrupted it big time (this feels familiar just like that guy who did back in Naruto’s chuunin exam). What happened after that? So is it put off indefinitely? And I thought we were going to see Takeru’s team seriously squaring off with Kyouya’s team in the next round since the latter still hated him so much then. Heck, so abrupt that some scenes right before the opening or ending credits is abruptly cut off. They really take this rushing thing to a whole new level, eh?

Thus the controversy of rushing through arcs/stories and skipping lots of details in between can sometimes be a hot issue among fans and casual viewers or those who are not aware such series exist. It is like a double edged sword where it is both good and bad. Because while you keep it short and fast, you do not have to bore viewers and drag out the arc with too many episodes. Take for example the case of One Piece. Do you know how many damn years that series has been running with the recent Dressrosa arc?! Yeah… Fights that lasts for episodes which could turn out to be for months… So when you zoom past things like this one, at least you know it won’t last forever but at the same time, so fast it might make you feel like if you blink, you’ll miss it. Maybe the light novel has lots of chapters to cover and certainly rushing at this pace means at the expense of its materials. But I’m not too sure about this since I don’t really read it.

Being the harem anime it is, I’m not sure whether to call Takeru’s platoon girls a diverse one because like any other groups from other animes, you definitely have quirky behaviours. From the typical tsundere type of Ouka who gradually finds comfort in the team she once thought she would never give a chance to fit in, and Mari the proud magic wielder except whenever it comes to her boobs. If she is a ‘natural enemy’ to Ouka, then something similar can be said to Usagi and Ikaruga because the latter loves harassing the former like boobs groping and the likes. Not to say that Ikaruga only targets her as she does display her uncanny sexual fetish onto others but usually it is bunny girl who is often her victim. The duo are like polar opposites. Because Usagi has high displays of her emotions and prone to anxiety while Ikaruga has that emotionless don’t-give-a-f*cks face and she tends to be very blunt at times. Don’t expect much from the harem side although there will be a little tiny bit for it and mainly it is just for fanservice. Yeah, I remember Usagi’s sexy moments and Ikaruga’s sex time…

Completing Takeru’s little platoon harem is Lapis but nothing much can be said about this kuudere goth loli since she isn’t given her own mini arc unlike the rest of the other girls. I mean, don’t you quite notice how they have their own respective problems and usually Takeru has to have his hand in solving them because he is their captain as well as the main character. Speaking of that guy, he must be one heck of a strong kid to love shouldering half of other people’s burdens. It is the clincher and line that makes the girls submit and give in and at the same time allow him to meddle in their affairs. Yeah… After all, since they particularly like him, there is nothing better than their prince charming and knight in shining armour to save their day. Thank goodness it always turns out alright. Thank goodness his platoon is limited to a handful of girls. Now, if he had 100 girls in his platoon… I hope he doesn’t get crushed by its weight. Not forgetting Kiseki who obviously has brother complex. Would the cat fight take a different turn had she not have such dangerous powers and thus the rest somewhat take pity on her? Though I’m not sure if she is going to be placed in Takeru’s personal care or to be under Alchemist’s surveillance.

Haunted is quite the interesting villain and antagonist. Already with a twisted concept and his love for killing, it would be even interesting to see more to this depraved Catholic priest other than making his entrance via annoying sudden attacks. I mean, this guy has a penchant of just barging in the midst of something, claiming he can’t stand anymore of this excited feeling while watching. It happened during the mock tournament. It happened again during Ikaruga and Isuka’s face off and once more it happened when he was going in for Kiseki (twice for this, in fact). What a better way to throw a surprise attack to your enemy and catch them off guard? I’m pretty sure Sougetsu is on the good side but because of his scheming looks, it never fails to make you think that he might have some sort of ulterior motive behind that calm smiling face. It just makes you suspicious if you can trust this smooth operator. Indeed he might be because the final episode hints that he could be over 150 years old considering he knows Orochi and the fact there is some shady friendship with Suzaku despite both their organizations are enemies on the outset.

Thanks to the rushing pace of the series, the character development for some also suffers especially minor ones like Nagaru, Kurogane and Suzaku. And for those like Orochi, he appeared too late. The same case with Kanaria who seems pretty grown up and Orochi’s sidekick. I am pretty sure her past with Mari will intertwine again in future story arcs. I thought Kyouya would be just a minor character to be brushed off with no importance but seeing his return as much meaner and enraged guy showing much more hostility each time he sees Takeru’s face, it goes to show that things are clearly not over between them yet. Would this guy softened had he been under Takeru’s platoon? I mean, look at what happened to Ouka. Oh, that’s right. Maybe it works on girls but not guys.

Action stuffs are pretty okay. Enough worth for your entertainment attention. From Takeru’s different sword abilities to Ouka’s gun wielding capabilities (since she is not in contract with Vlad, thus limiting her overall power and proficiency), Mari’s use of magic (she cannot use it freely since there is a magic blocker collar she has to wear and under Ouka’s control) as well as Usagi’s long range sniping add to the variety of the team’s arsenal and offence. Even if Ikaruga has no fighting abilities, her background support as intelligence and hacker as well as weapon modifications and gadgets play as important role as the rest. Though, it is not clearly obvious her contributions in this anime since we don’t particularly see them.

The art and drawing feel pretty decent. Your typical conventional Japanese anime by today’s standard. Animated by Silver Link studio that produced a few well known anime comedy and harem series like Rakudai Kishi No Chivalry, Shomin Sample, Strike The Blood, Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankei Nai Yo Ne and Rokujouma No Shinryakusha. It is that time again when I start thinking that I have been watching too much anime when some of the characters felt like I have seen them somewhere in other animes before. Right after the first glance, I thought how Usagi looked so familiar to Gochuumon No Usagi Desu Ka’s Sharo while Ouka has that uncanny resemblance to Subaru from Mayo Chiki. I’m sure the rest do too but I’m too lazy to figure out at this point of moment. For instance, Ikaruga’s character in lab coat and long hair and Takeru’s generic heroic teen looks. Definitely seen them somewhere before… And I thought Mari looked like a kid who worked in a train station…

As for the design of the battle armour and Dragoons, since I’m not really a mecha aficionado, they look pretty average. But I have to say something about Ouka’s armour. Why the heck does it look skimpy and what on Earth does her armour need a cape for?! Don’t tell me it’s to fly. Some of the animation here employs CGI effect but I can’t help notice how poorly done it is for the monster blob. I am sure they want to make it look hideous and it really does with all the eyeballs and teeth sticking out. But I didn’t think it would be such a poor job ‘ugly’ that you could see how obvious the jarring CGI blend in with the 2D animation.

I am not sure why in this series I find some of the voices not suitable for some of the main characters but it could be just me. For example, I kept thinking how Takeru and Ouka sound too mature for their student character. Their voices seem to give an impression that they sound older than they should be and thus not fitting as things. But it is not like Yoshimasa Hosoya as Takeru (Kojou in Strike The Blood) and Reina Ueda as Ouka (Mikan in Jitsu Wa Watashi Wa) have such low sounding voices, perhaps they just did a lower one for this series. That’s why I said it could be just me for this series because if such voices do sound unsuitable for such characters, then seiyuus like Youko Hikasa and Marina Inoue who do not have cute high pitch anime-like voices would have failed in their character’s voice.

A handful of recognizable seiyuus include Kanae Itou as Mari, Shinichiro Miki as Sougetsu, Koji Yusa as Haunted, Jouji Nakata as Vlad, Sayaka Ohara as Mephistopheles, Rikiya Koyama as Orochi and Satomi Arai as Suzaku. I thought Ikaruga sounded familiar and I couldn’t figure out the voice behind her till I decided to look it up. It’s Hayate No Gotoku’s Ryoko Shiraishi. Man, it’s been a long time I have heard from her. Others that I don’t recognize are Rumi Ookubo as Usagi (Chinatsu in YuruYuri series), Iori Nomizu as Lapis (Nymph in Sora No Otoshimono), Kenjiro Tsuda as Kurogane (Inui in Prince Of Tennis), Chika Anzai as Kiseki (Chaika in Hitsugi No Chaika – initially I thought it was Kana Hanazawa who voiced her), Yuko Sanpei as Isuka (Sasha in Seikon No Qwaser), Natsumi Yamada as Nagaru (Lam in Yuushibu), Makoto Furukawa as Reima (Banri in Golden Time) and Kenji Akabane as Kyouya (Arashi in Triage X).

The opening theme is Embrace Blade by Afilia Saga. A typical generic anime-like music sung by an all-girl pop group, nothing too special although it isn’t that all bad. But the ending theme, Calling My Twilight by Kanako Itou sounds a bit different as this dance beat mixes in a bit of techno rock. The opener of this song might sound a little bit cacophony thanks to the screeching-like sound effects. The other background music isn’t that noticeable except for those with techno rock music as they are mainly used during fighting sequences.

Overall, if you are not a fan of series that rushes telling its stories, then this one is not for you because it will come and go so fast that it would leave you wonder what just happened. By the time you try to digest what is happening, they move on to the next part. So if you are like the casual me, watch everything fast, forget everything fast, and then try to remember it all again if ever there is a sequel. Yeah, a subtle reminder that life has become such a fast and sickening pace that you can’t stop to smell the flowers. Will then be anybody who would carry half my burden? Does it sound like I am trying to pass the buck here?

Jitsu Wa Watashi Wa

19 March, 2016

Sometimes it is always written on your face. No matter how hard you hide it, other people can just read it like an open book. This is particularly bad when you have a crush on someone and your friends can actually tell without having so much to guess. Heh. You should take some kind of acting class then. But that’s not the point. Our protagonist in Jitsu Wa Watashi Wa has this sort of face and character that makes him unable to keep secrets. So we know what kind of porn he watches? So sorry. Actually that didn’t happen. There is a girl in class he particularly likes. I know. You’d be guessing that the entire world knows about this. Maybe. But my theory is why nobody makes a big fuss is that they aren’t any celebrities whom people would care if they even dyed their hair. Anyway, it isn’t his crush on this girl that is the main point. He discovers that she too has a secret identity that she must keep or else she will have to quit school. So, let me guess. She’s a porn star?! So sorry to disappoint. That actually is way off the mark! In view of discovering this (perhaps the biggest discovery since Columbus discovered America?), he vows to keep her identity a secret. I know. You must be thinking. How can a guy who can never keep a single secret keep such a big secret of hers under wraps? Who cares? This is supposed to be a romantic love comedy, right?

Episode 1
Asahi Kuromine has a crush on fellow classmate, Youko Shiragami. He rushes back to class after school to confess to her but he sees the biggest secret ever about her. Asahi is known in school as a leaky basket because he has never been able to keep secrets. His face tells it all. So is it no wonder why he sucks in a poker game with his friends, Okada, Sakurada and Shimada? So when he thought having a crush on Youko has been the only secret he has been able to keep, to his surprise his buddies already knew it a long time. It was so obvious. Although they support him but Okada doesn’t feel positive the last time. Remember the humiliation he had to endure when tried to confess to Nagisa Aizawa, the class rep and was instantly shot down (she even went as far as to say she was never interested in him)? He never had a chance to say a word. However Okada gives him a push that it is better for him to confess first before getting rejected. And so this gives Asahi the motivation he needs to run back and do his confession. That is when he saw the unimaginable. Youko is stretching in class. Not just stretching her arms but her wings! Embarrassed she has been found out, it doesn’t help that Asahi is a bad liar too. Thank goodness it wasn’t panties… While his friends figure out he could have been rejected, they are approached by the vile Mikan Akemi. As the school’s newspaper club, she likes to dig up scandals and gossips and spread all those juicy stuffs in her publishing. Asahi is always her number one target. You know the reason… She suspects something is going on with Asahi and is going to make his friends spill every bean. Youko regrets that her vampire identity is discovered. Of course she isn’t like the stereotypic vampires seen on TV. She stays out of the sunlight not because she would turn into ash but rather she tans easily. She talks politely instead of her kansai dialect to hide her fangs. She also reveals that since her identity is revealed, she will be forced to leave school. This was the condition her dad gave for her to attend this school. Fearing the girl he loves will go away forever and hearing how heartbreaking it is she is having a fun time, he promises he will keep her identity a secret. Really? Can he? But for him to do that and be close to her, he asks her to become his friend. She agrees. As they walk out together, Nagisa spots them and wonders why they are still at school this late.

Episode 2
Asahi is happy to think he has become Youko’s friend before realizing he has been friend zoned instead of becoming her boyfriend. Better than nothing, right? Nagisa continues to spot them together. Nagisa remembers when she rejected Asahi, some time passed after she realized he turned his sights to Youko. She thought he must have taken her advice to look for somebody else and has gotten over her already. However thoughts that she might be wrong about his feelings since she never gave him a chance to convey his message. She becomes bothered if he was really interested in her and goes to confront him head on. Saying that out loud in public, doesn’t it make it feel like she’s confessing to him? Then she turns tsundere and rejects him again after realizing she is giving his friends the wrong idea without giving Asahi a chance to say anything. Asahi has lunch with Youko alone in the classroom. She thought he bought her cream puffs and when she bites one, it contains wasabi. Hot! Hot! HOT! As she squirms around in her vampire form, Nagisa comes in to see what the commotion is all about. Oops. Another witness. And then something ‘amazing’ happens… A mini version of Nagisa pops out from the head and seeks Youko’s true identity! Nagisa accidentally reveals she is an alien on this planet with a mission. How could she be so careless? This body is an external unit she uses to move about for her mission. Although she has caught Asahi and Youko together several times, she assures she will not reveal this secret. That’s because she is going to erase Asahi’s memories with this hammer! She has seen many TV shows to believe it works! She can’t be serious! Oh, you bet she is. She chases and corners him. But when Asahi resigns to his fate to have his memories just to protect Youko’s secret for her peace of mind, Youko stops Asahi from doing this stupid thing. She already told him he doesn’t need to go this far to protect her secret. She wants him to know she is very grateful to him. Nagisa feels bad and will let this slide. Just when everything seems to be okay, Youko had to say that she knows about Asahi’s feelings for Nagisa and will root for them. This is getting awkward… Both give her a stinging rebuke. Lastly, the cream puffs were placed by Mikan and there is a recording device in it. Just look at her devilish face. She just can’t wait…

Episode 3
Mikan ties up Asahi’s pals and threaten to publish embarrassing photos of them peeing (turning on the hose attached their crotch). But now that Asahi is here, Mikan sets her sights on him and is going to get him spill out his relationship with Youko. The device only recorded a short segment of their conversation although it was enough to give ambiguous hints that they did something after everyone was gone. I wonder how he is going to keep this a secret because Mikan is a master torturer. Fearing she might target Youko, Asahi runs back to class. Since he doesn’t see Youko in, he desperately asks the teacher what happened to her. She’s absent with a cold you idiot. He is then given the task to hand printouts to her home. Of course Mikan heard this and starts chasing him. Asahi bumps into Nagisa and tells her what is happening. She lets him go ahead while she blocks Mikan’s path. How does Asahi know where Youko live? Easy. The house with lots of bats… She invites him in and he is pretty thrilled to be inside the room of his crush. However he gets a call from Nagisa that Mikan managed to slip through. Nagisa’s mind got distracted when Mikan mentions about the curiosity of the duo doing something steamy alone. Mikan in her bid to find secrets, opens Youko’s cupboard and all her embarrassing junk crushes her. Well, at least this put her out. Next day, Mikan displays a draft of her fabricated gossip of Asahi and Youko dating although it is clearly Photoshop. Now he chases her around in her bid to get it back. He begs, gets on his knees and is willing to do whatever she wants just to let him off the hook but this only proves more tantalizing for Mikan to do it. After all, targeting him makes her feel superior. Remembering what Okada says about Mikan that she does so because he resists, he tries reverse psychology that he would be more than happy for her to publish it. Instantly Mikan loses motivation and drops her objective. She feels disappointed if he this makes him happy. Later Okada talks to Asahi that Mikan isn’t all that bad person. Because every fabricated document has a small print to say the article is fiction. Besides this character of hers feels more like an act and there seems to be a reason she is doing so. Looks like Mikan too has her own secret. She has a pair of talking glasses! Fuku is some sort of fortune god and can easily grant her wish but it seems Mikan wants things to stay the way it is now. By being the perpetrator and Asahi the victim, she can stay childhood friends with him forever. I think I know why and it makes sense now… Ironically she refuses to believe her pair of glasses can talk. Then what is she doing?

Episode 4
Nagisa is oddly missing in class although she was seen earlier on. Asahi feels something being shot at his head. Mini Nagisa is telling him to get out of class. After feigning excuse to go to the toilet, he hears her out. Apparently Nagisa blames him for this. Earlier she overheard Asahi and Youko and got the wrong idea they did ambiguous stuffs together like 5 times! She flustered so much that she forgot to recharge her unit and it is now lying in the girls’ toilet. I suppose Asahi has to go in and get it, right? Oh, that ambiguous talk? It was Asahi lending Youko is Rambo DVD. As Asahi carries her out to the infirmary, Youko spots them and thinks they’re doing pretty bold things by skipping class. After being explained and Asahi puts the body there to recharge, Nagisa checks to see if the coast is clear for them to return. However Mikan’s scream is heard. She cannot believe seeing a mini Nagisa. Of course she is trying her best to act like a figurine. But so life-like… Mikan is getting more suspicious and even lifts up her skirt. It gets worse when Shimada comes in and really wants to ‘examine’ this figurine. Asahi’s reverse psychology and lies that he made this figurine only backfired and now everyone including Nagisa thinks he is a pervert! Asahi snatches Nagisa by force. Although he can hide from the ladies in the boys’ toilet, there is Shimada to deal with. Now hiding in the storeroom, somebody who is watching them uses some power to turn Nagisa big. She would have passed off as normal if not for her antenna sticking out like a sore thumb. She can’t say it has something to do with courtship rituals. When they are cornered, Asahi is willing to sacrifice his reputation to hide hers. They feint Nagisa beats the crap out of him as punishment for the figurine. She has also destroyed it (and destroyed whatever hopes Shimada dreamt of). After the commotion, the mystery watcher reverts Nagisa back to her mini size. Asahi later clears up the misunderstanding with Youko. Nagisa cannot help feel this fuzzy feeling inside her and doesn’t feel happy Asahi mended his relationship with Youko.

Episode 5
Nagisa thinks Youko went to the beach and got tanned. She has to proof she easily tans by taking off her blazer. So why does Asahi has to get slapped for it? Thus Nagisa decides to train her to avoid being tanned easily by jumping from shadow to shadow. It took the entire day. And why does Asahi even need to be there? He was just standing and watching painfully the training. Next day, it is time to put to use what she has trained. Youko is quick and creative to remain in the hiding of the shadows. When she enters the shopping arcade, Asahi fears a man handing out garlic samples might turn Youko weak so he eats all of them. Then a hippie tries to sell a silver cross. Thinking Youko like other vampires will turn into ash, he buys it and throws it away! A stray dog brings it back. Well, isn’t it good news that Youko isn’t susceptible to such vampire myths? Now Asahi reeks of garlic. Then they hit a dead end when the path ahead has no more shade. Asahi and Nagisa suggest armour for her to wear but it just looks ridiculous and attention pulling. Then they realize that Youko has never tried sun block before and when she does, now she can mingle in outside activities underneath the scorching sun without any problem. Why hasn’t she ever thought of that?! Another day, Asahi must be a lucky guy because he is going on a date with Youko to the amusement park. Both are scared sh*t riding the roller coaster but even so, Youko seems addicted to it. Asahi finds out her parents once dated here. She is half human and half vampire. Her mom is human. It feels like history repeating itself because dad too tried to hide his identity while attending school while dating mom. In the haunted house attraction, the irony of Youko being scared at all these stuffs. But when a vampire tries to scare them, she ticks him off thinking he is a real one! But the most shocking thing Asahi learns is that Youko also had a childhood friend but he is a werewolf. He seems more worried the fact her childhood friend is male. Ah… Speaking of which, Youko’s dad seems to be giving this werewolf dude a job to check on Youko to see if she is hiding her identity well. Otherwise, he gives him permission to end her school life without mercy. If that happens, werewolf boy wants Youko to be given to him.

Episode 6
Asahi is still bothered about Youko’s male childhood friend. Oh, here he is. Shirou Shishidou waits for Youko but he gets the wrong about her and Asahi together. He leaves in tears so Asahi mentions that they are just friends. I think he just killed his chances. His chances are further reduced when Youko continues to repeat about them being friends. Shirou then confirms with Youko about Asahi being human. He senses something amiss because why isn’t he afraid of his fangs? This proves that he knows about their kind. This means he’ll be taking back Youko. Asahi panics and starts acting tough and lying through his teeth about all that although you can obviously see that he is a bad liar. The argument fest ends when Shirou looks at the moon. Oh no. You know happens to werewolves when they look at the moon, right? Shirou turns into… A woman???!!! Shiho proclaims herself as a pervert and continues to seduce him. Back in Youko’s room, Youko introduces Shiho to Asahi as her childhood friend. Shiho explains that she is always 100% aware even when Shirou takes over but it is not the same for Shirou. He is not aware when Shiho is awake since this body is primarily hers. Shiho continues to boldly seduce him. To stop her, Youko shows her a picture of a full moon. She transforms into Shirou. Hey, it works! Because Shirou is getting mad and all, Asahi shows the picture again and he reverts back. Nagisa seems to be having unholy delusions about Youko and Asahi being close together. She can’t get it out of her head. She ends up at Youko’s place. Imagine her shock when she sees Shiho on top of Asahi. At first she thought she got the wrong house but when she realizes it is indeed Asahi, she feels disappointed about him and runs away. Asahi tries to go after her but accidentally touches Shiho’s boobs. Now Youko even thinks he is a pervert. He accidentally swings the picture… Nagisa calms down and thinks she might have overreacted. She goes back to apologize but sees Shirou on top of him now! Oh sh*t! So gay!!! She can’t take this BL sh*t! When Shiho continues to seduce Asahi, she can sense Youko’s jealousy and that love triangle so she takes her leave. She may be a pervert but she knows how others feel. As souvenir, she takes Youko’s panties. Next day, Asahi and Youko clear the air with Nagisa that Shirou and Shiho are Youko’s childhood friends. Think it’s over? Why, their class has a new transfer student: Shiho! Even more shocking, she introduces herself as a pervert!

Episode 7
Shiho loves flirting with Asahi. Mikan loves taking photos of this new scandal. Only Nagisa isn’t happy. Not because of this unholy public display of affection. It’s because Asahi didn’t have any sort of nose bleed when this happened with her! What is she saying?! Asahi thought he had seen all the weirdoes in school. Then he sees a girl with horns. Oh dear… He observes she interacts with other students like normal (not minding about her horns sticking out like a sore thumb) and lots of crows gather around her. Youko can’t resist petting her since she is so cute. They learn she is Akane Koumoto. Hey, is she the little sister of their homeroom teacher, Akari? Asahi finds it hard to ask about her horns and after the few misses, she reveals they are just accessories and takes them out. As she walks away, Asahi spots her devil tail! He is going crazy. Akane notes they are fun to tease when she bumps into Akane who starts harassing about playing pranks on them. If you think learning she is a devil and making illusions are bad enough, wait till you hear this. Akane is Akari’s great-great-grandmother! FFFFUUUUUUUU!!!! Since the secret is out, might as well tell them. Akane is the principal of this school and she knows non-humans exist. Thanks to her grace, the reason why they are still enrolled here. Akari admits she is the descendents of demons but has very little of their blood in her. And yes, she knows Youko is a vampire, etc. Because Youko continues to treat Akane like a kid, this has devil girl mock her back. Now all the claws and fangs are out. They’re going to settle the competition of who is more adult. So a sexy competition? Great for us. Not so for Asahi because the one who makes him nose bleed to most wins. Unfortunately, the duo are so lame in their sexy presentation that I think Asahi would rather vomit. Shiho shows them how it is done and easily makes his nose bleeds gush out like water. And for all the rest of the subsequent competitions, vampire and devil girl are just so lame that sexy Shiho just takes the cake effortless. Man, that guy is going to die with loss of blood. Finally a battle to eat spicy cream puffs laced and not show any distress. This isn’t going to end well. Akari knows Asahi is trying to keep Youko’s secret and he hopes he would do so as she doesn’t like her students quitting school. She knows about this because Akane has some sort of clairvoyance too. The dumb competing girls cannot take the spiciness anymore that the entire gym just explodes!!! WTF???!!! The place is a crater!!! Looks like the road to taking care of this is long…

Episode 8
Asahi thinks it is his lucky day for him to join the girls in cooking. But seeing how they are all amateurs, he’s screwed. Even more so this is a setup by Akari so they can make curry. Nagisa starts off pretty confident and ends up making a chocolate cake! She is embarrassed by this failure and throws the cake out. It lands before Akane. She tastes it and loves every bite of it. Mikan who wants to get an interview of this horned lady becomes her gopher to do errands but Akane is just milking her money. Luckily Akari is there to stop it. Asahi and the girls team up to make proper curry. Just as they are an ingredient away, Nagisa and Youko suddenly get a strange motivated idea to do better and go beyond making curry. Let’s open the doors to new possibility! Nobody can stop them. As Akane comes to check their progress, she sees some sort of warzone. Nagisa trying to kill herself for this failure while Youko trying to convince her otherwise. Asahi and Shiho are ‘dead’. Ah well, I think Akane will order take-out. At night, Akari is going on a rampage! She needs to taste more of Nagisa’s chocolate cake and if she doesn’t she will destroy the world! Oh look, she destroyed Akari’s apartment already. At first the girls don’t believe her but when they see on the news that an asteroid is going to crash in 3 hours, better start scrambling. Yeah, I wonder where everybody else in the world can run to. Nagisa makes truffles and Akari really wants to taste them. Unfortunately Nagisa thinks this is failure and throws them away. Akane then ties up Akari. She notices that if Akari loses concentration, the trajectory of the asteroid that she is controlling will be off. Akari realizes that this is Akane’s setup because she is going to make grandma taste all the other chocolates that the other girls are going to make, the reason why she called them here. Getting her revenge on grandma for all the pranks she did to her over the years? So it’s like playing chicken, eh? Will the world get destroyed first or will Akane die first?! Akane die? Oh yeah, she’ll go to hell either way. Haha! Akane survives Shiho’s rotten choco banana and Youko’s curry chocolate. Don’t even ask. Mikan who has a bone to pick with her makes something even hideous! With the montage of the world in its final moments, coupled in with stupid horrific faces of Akane. In the end, I don’t know what happened, it became a miracle as the asteroid flies away from Earth. Everybody rejoices. Asahi doesn’t understand what is going on in the cooking room because we see the girls and clones of Akane, all frozen with that stupid face! Must be real bad, huh?

Episode 9
It’s already summer and Asahi hasn’t made any progress with Youko. Okada suggests he ask her out to the pool. At first Youko was reluctant because she can’t swim but Asahi also says he can’t swim. Eh? Why the pool then? Youko gets this idea they can learn swimming together and invites everybody else. So much about the date. Because of Shiho’s tendency to do perverted things, I guess Nagisa takes over as Spartan instructor, pushing Youko into the water. Because Youko teases Nagisa that she is quite close in training Asahi, she almost drowns him. Feeling guilty, she resigns as instructor so the duo have to continue teaching each other. Mikan is also at the pool with her little twin brothers. The other guys spot her and this made her very embarrassed especially when the twins make fun that one of them is her boyfriend. Not the devilish Mikan we use to know? Observing Asahi teaching Youko, they notice that it may be the first time it might not just be admiration but real love as all the girls he had a crush on always took the lead. And always he got rejected. At the end of the day, Asahi excuses himself for something important. But his friends can tell from his leaky face that he has a ‘date’ with Youko. Even Asahi himself is surprised that Youko is asking for a date. Actually what she meant was to extend their swimming lessons by sneaking into the school’s pool. While they take a break, Youko tells him how her mom would tell stories of she and her dad having fun at school. It made her hopeful. But it turned out to be different as she was always alone. Till she met Asahi and the rest. It got more fun. Although it is important to protect her secret, it won’t mean a thing if it is so she won’t have to quit school. Thanks to all that has happened, she loves school. Akane continues to love watching over them as she is interested to see what kind of romance will turn out between a human and vampire.

Episode 10
Asahi invites Youko to a cake buffet with the guys. But he has a hard time trying to hide her identity as she is getting careless. Mikan seems to be working at this place part time. She tells Youko that she has completed her ultimate cream puffs. To avoid Youko from testing, Asahi would eat them all. You mean she made this much?! Shimada doesn’t understand the implications and joins him. Let’s say they both ‘died’ on the first bite. Akane spots this and has a devilish idea. Next day, Mikan is frantic because she lost her glasses. She is really panicking over it. I’m sure Asahi wouldn’t mind it because he knows the glasses are fake and if she puts it on, she’ll turn into her usual sadistic side. But those glasses hold far more than that. It was the pair that Asahi gave it to her. Can’t say that now, can she? She looks for it (why is Shiho looking for it in her ass?!) and Nagisa confronts her after hearing about it. To her surprise, Mikan apologizes for publishing an article about Nagisa rejecting Asahi then. Then Akane pops up wearing those glasses. She finds it interesting for them to chase her. After Asahi joins in, Akane throws fake glasses but didn’t realize she is still wearing the original ones. Even when she makes clones of herself, none are wearing glasses. The prank ends when Akari picks her up to give the ultimate pain lesson. Now that Mikan has got her glasses back, Fuku starts talking and this is found out by Nagisa. Mikan admits that to her as Fuku explains her status as a fortune god trainee. She demonstrates as proof but could it be mere coincidences? When Mikan learns Fuku can inherit all her memories once in her possession, she wants to get rid of it. Too late, Fuku rants about on Mikan’s embarrassing past, including one where she said she was going to marry Asahi. Nagisa realizes she is in love with him too. So she herself is admitting she likes Asahi? Speaking of the devil, here he comes with Youko! This spectacles has been bringing misfortune, eh? Mikan still wants to throw her away but Fuku says once she puts her on, she will confess to Asahi. Because if she doesn’t like him or anything, she should be able to face him without her glasses. Because Mikan is struggling with all this, Nagisa thought of distracting the duo. As their identity is being risked of discovered, they too get the wrong idea they should distract the other. With all the distracting antics, Mikan and Asahi’s face get close enough. She is about to give in and put Fuku on when Nagisa snatches it and puts it on herself. Fuku then confesses. It made it look like Nagisa confessed to him.

Episode 11
Nagisa and Asahi meet at the festival. They know they have been set up by Youko and Shiho who are both spying close by. Mikan is also here with her twin brothers. As things are awkward, Asahi doesn’t want the night to be ruined so he treats Nagisa to play at the several stalls (some of them feel like business rip-off). Doesn’t this look like a date? When they finally spot Youko, they go after her. Nagisa trips so Asahi catches her. She falls on his body and I don’t know how her hair got stuck in his button. She gives up trying to unfasten it and just sleeps on him. After all, she has resigned to her fate that she likes him! Is it wise to conduct such romantic drama in public? Because Youko is feeling some sort of heartache. Next day in school, Mikan chides Asahi to go find Youko and explain everything properly if he has time to agonize over last night. Youko is so spaced out at Akane’s office that the principal isn’t sure what to do. When Youko reacts to Akane teasing about their love, Akane gets this devilish idea to tease her by impersonating as lovely couples Asahi and Youko getting lovey-dovey in public. No matter where Youko runs to, she sees embarrassing clones of themselves engaging in sexy time (those horns are standing out like a sore thumb). Akane’s fun is put to a stop when Akari exacts her punishment and chase her all around. When the real Asahi comes by, I guess he is too slow to explain so Akari thought this Asahi is Akane and gets rough. But Youko can’t bear to stay around with him and excuses herself she has plans with Shiho. Similarly, Nagisa continues to space out thinking about Asahi.

Episode 12
The friends can tell Asahi is down. Did Youko dump him? Actually, Youko has been avoiding him lately. Nagisa feels guilty for creating that distance and wants to apologize. Then here comes Akane to shake things up as she blackmails Nagisa to make cakes with that photo of her lying on Asahi’s chest. Thankfully Akari sets things back to normal. Unfortunately the guys see this photo when she fails to hide it. I don’t know where she got that ice creams and planted them in Asahi’s face to avoid him from looking. Because of that, he pins her against the wall. Youko happen to come by and misinterprets this. Then Asahi wakes up from this dream whereby Youko tells him she has to leave school because her identity is found out. Heading to school, Youko wants to talk to him at the rooftop later. He thinks it is a confession but his friends think otherwise. It could be that complicated relationship with Nagisa. In that case, they tell him to confess before he gets dumped. Doesn’t this sound familiar? Nagisa has been eavesdropping and she fears this confession. This is when Mikan tells her off to be honest about her feelings that she likes Asahi. As typical as a tsundere, she denies. Mikan continues to tell about Asahi who has changed over the years. He couldn’t even talk properly to the girl he likes and with Youko around, she looks like his first serious love. Try to come up with an answer before she starts regretting. So I think this is her answer. As Asahi is going to meet Youko, Nagisa stands before him. Not only she is going to stop his confession, she is going to kill him? With a shovel? As she chases him around, her thoughts of stopping this confession is that if they become a couple, he would spend less time with her. He was the first to know about her alien identity and accepted it. That is why she loves him. In fear of changing the status quo, thus this silly mission. Asahi doesn’t understand if she doesn’t explain. As a typical woman, she can’t explain it or even say it in detail what is bugging her. Yeah, guys have to guess, right? Asahi doesn’t give a damn anymore on what she is going to do. He is going to meet Youko. That is final. As he opens the door, he sees Youko being taken away by a giant bat! Then it hit him. This wasn’t some confession. It was just like this morning’s dream. She wanted to say goodbye. Turning to Nagisa, he requests her help to bring back Youko.

Episode 13
Akari drives the related party to Youko’s house. Because she is sticking to the speed limit, Akane uses her magic to fly the car there, wrecking it all the way. There goes her new car. So while Akari tries to teach grandma a lesson, it’s up to the kids to save Youko. Nagisa apologizes for everything she has done to him and that is why she earnestly wants to help him save Youko. As they sneak in, they are confronted with this huge man. Shiho introduces him as Genjirou, Youko’s dad. Really a big guy… Nervous Asahi tries to request Youko to be released when the said girl waltz into the scene. Father and daughter get into a petty argument as Nagisa throws garlic as diversion. Asahi takes Youko to run. That is when he learns Youko was just taking care of her sick mom. Disappointed? And you wonder why Youko had worded it so ambiguously then. As Genjirou is on their tail again, Youko takes Asahi to hide in her room. After both sides apologize, Youko mentions there was some other thing she wanted to say to him at the rooftop. She can’t explain it well but it is something to do with feeling awkward when she sees him. Asahi comes clean about all the misunderstood accidents with Nagisa but Youko already knows about it. Genjirou is knocking on the door getting the wrong idea. But the big guy cowers when his little wife, Touko comes in to put him in his place. Hey, doesn’t she look fine? As explained, she was indeed sick but Genjirou overreacted and panicked trying to nurse her. So that bat carrying Youko away was Genjirou panicking and wanting her to come home. I’m not sure about their plan to hole up in her room till morning just in case dad comes breathing down their neck again. But then the furniture comes crashing down on them. The ambiguous position of Asahi over Youko. Of course this is cue for Nagisa to come in and look at this indecency. Now she is going to kill him with that hammer? Or more precisely, erase his memories? That is when Asahi gets an idea.

Confronting Genjirou, he tells him about this memory erasing hammer. Asahi is willing to have all his memories of Youko erased so she can remain in school. Because Youko now has many friends. He is one of them. Don’t just say it. Prove it. He lets Nagisa do the honours but she can’t bring herself to do it. Asahi will then do it himself. Not easy, eh? Youko then stops him and tells him off for being stupid. She already told him not to do extreme stuffs just to protect her identity. If he forgets her, how can her school life be fun anymore since he was the one who helped her befriend others? She wanted to confess something but Genjirou is already knocked out. Seems when Youko stopped Asahi, the hammer accidentally flew from his hand and into his forehead! Let’s hope the memory erasing effect works or else he’ll wake up into one angry big guy. Next morning, Akari comes to pick them up after apologizing to the household. Did Akane use her magic to make another new car? No. Akari made her pay for it in full! Genjirou won’t see off Youko but when the car gets going, they see him chasing after them. Actually he is waving goodbye. Youko waves back. Asahi wants to know what Youko wanted to say to him then. But she gets embarrassed and didn’t answer. I think we all know what it was. Asahi promises never to use that memory erasing tactic again and promises to keep her secret identity. So far so good.

Love… Actually…
Status quo? Typical happy life-goes-on ending? No real confessions were made but we all pretty know much how everybody feels about each other. Even before halfway. Heck, right at the start after watching the opening credits. And yet nobody said those 3 magical words that would have a high chance of ending the harem route. Well, look on the bright side. At least Asahi still gets to be with the girl he loves and all the other girls who like him still get to be together. Youko isn’t going to quit school any time soon and what could be better than that? So pushing for them to become a couple might just be asking too much. Oh. What am I ranting about here anyway?

Having varied characters for a harem anime is a given. I mean, wouldn’t it be just freaking boring if all the girls had the same personality? Maybe the only exception would be twins but that isn’t the point. So what I am saying is that despite the series having giving the characters their varied personality, some just feel cliché because you know, I have been watching so many of such similar genres that they all seem to be looking the same and overlapping. From your typical tsundere to the naughty and cheeky brat to spice things up to the standard childhood friend, these characteristics do ring very familiar bells when you are watching a romantic love comedy and harem theme. If you don’t employ them, it would be such a waste. Damn if you do, damn if you don’t. Also in short, when you watch this kind of shows, don’t expect any sort of deep character development because you know how everyone will turn out in the end.

I don’t know if there has become an increasing trend to have a harem with girls who are non-human. Remember Rosario To Vampire? That is the furthest I can remember about a guy having monster girls as anime. Don’t forget High School DxD too. Then you have some alien girls in a harem when it comes to To Love-Ru and Date A Live. And more recently you have a harem with real monster girls, Monster Musume No Iru Nichijou. So having differing and cliché personalities is not enough these days that they have to even make the girls’ origins and race different? Thus it is getting pretty obvious here for this series as the main girls around him aren’t 100% human to begin with. Although you might argue that Mikan is human, heck, she has a talking glass! No ordinary human would have that, right? So when is Asahi going to get a cat girl, zombie, android, ghost and even an angel as part of his harem? If he ever gets them, can you say this fate of his is written in the stars?

So for the main character like Asahi, he is just like your typical guy who has a crush on a girl and very nervous in trying to confess to her. The more chances he gets, the more he screws up and it looks like he might end up in the friend zone before you know it. Well, that’s pretty normal in real life, isn’t it? Depressing, isn’t it? The only thing I’ll comment on him is his leaky basket disposition regarding keeping Youko’s identity a secret. It might seem that he has been doing a fine job. At least from his other normal friends and other humans. But my theory is that maybe it is not that it isn’t written all over Asahi’s face about this secret, but perhaps that vampires and aliens don’t exist in this world so his friends and others who never experienced encountering one before surely have not seen the ‘words written on his face’. Therefore the only reason why the secret is safe is because everybody does not believe in the existence in such creatures.

You can’t call Asahi as a 100% leaky basket because the only person who doesn’t seem to get his feelings is the very person whom he has a crush on. That’s right. To think Youko is this dense? And as expected, the more time she spends with him, the more she starts to really show it. Yes. It is all written over her body and face. It’s so obvious that it might get to an irritating point where you just want to scream out to her to just say it. Maybe she is just like him on being conscious of their friend zone. I am sure the duo have been very aware the friend zone status they have put each other many times. So that is why it is just getting harder and harder for them to set their feelings straight the more they drag this on. But the girl who ends up having Asahi as her boyfriend can be lucky he won’t cheat on her. At least, with everything so easily written on his face, you can tell right away whether he is cheating on you or not.

Nagisa feels more irritating than Youko thanks to her tsundere-cum-denial personality. But you can’t blame her after rejecting him once and if she really goes back to him, wouldn’t it feel like she has lost some face value? But I guess that is the charm of being tsundere. Well, maybe. First she acts too rash of wanting to kill him. Then after cooling down, she feels sorry. Apologizes. And then the cycle repeats again. I suppose that is why she is an alien. Not even aliens can comprehend human behaviour although she is clearly acting like a tsundere. Mikan started off as a b*tch whom everybody loves to hate. But after the revelation of her talking glasses and that she has feelings for Asahi (obviously), it seems she is pretty docile once you take away her devilish behaviour. She’s just so tame without that badass character that it made me wonder if she had some sort of split personality (even tamer when she was completely missing from the final episode). Perhaps. The only reason I can think of she always picks on Asahi is to hide her feelings for him. It is some sort of distraction so that she doesn’t have to fluster irritatingly like amateur-in-love-Nagisa. I suppose she knows she is down the pecking order of girls in line to steal Asahi’s heart so she gladly plays the tragic heroine of helping others at the expense of her own love. How sweet…

The only reason why Shiho exists is to satisfy horny boys who always dreamt there would ever be such a girl. Imagine if her character was a guy (no, I’m not talking about Shirou), what would be the impact if she goes around saying he is a pervert? Although a girl going around admitting she is a pervert is still frowned upon in society but in anime world, the impact is much less and horny guys are more inclined to forgive her behaviour. Say, I wonder what happened to Shirou? Have they forgotten all about him? I don’t know. The way things are going it seems pretty obvious that wolf boy has been totally left out. As if this guy was just to help introduce Shiho. I mean, really. There are lots of very curious things about this guy. Firstly, how did he and Shiho ended up like this in the first place? As Youko’s childhood friend, the typical cliche trope states that there must be some sort of love triangle but because he was forgotten, that never really happened. I guess with Shirou’s absence, in a way it is good too because we prefer to see more of sexy and perverted Shiho compared to this ‘ugly’ Shirou, right? Thank goodness for no full moons!

Taking over Mikan’s devilish behaviour is no other than the big devil herself, Akane. I guess when you have been living for so long, you get bored and she gets her kicks when she spies and plays pranks on her students especially Asahi and co. It is safe to say that Akane won’t be part of Asahi’s harem anytime (and because her face isn’t in the harem group shot in the opening and ending credits too). Besides, won’t it feel just odd that a great-great-grandma as a harem candidate? No way man! Not even if she looks like a cute little girl! It feels like a running joke that each time she tries to cause her own brand of havoc of fun, Akari will always be there to put her in place with her exaggerated abuse. And she never learns her lesson so the cycle is doomed to repeat itself. Another joke that Akane loves picking on Akari is teasing about her single status. Why do female teachers her age always have this stereotypical character of being single, yearning for a guy and drinks?

Although Asahi’s friends are pretty stereotypical for a typical group of guy best friends, aside the bespectacled and idiotic monkey character, I want to point out that the weirdest of them all is Sakurada. No, I’m not talking about his mature personality. The fact that this guy looks like a middle aged guy is what bugs me. I thought he was a teaching staff or even the gardener but what the heck? Asahi’s classmate?! Come on. He has got that little unshaven looks and even wears his flamboyant Hawaiian t-shirt to school. He looks more like an adult than a student. Sometimes I feel that this guy failed his exams so many times that he just stayed back in high school forever! This is the only way I could reconcile his looks assuming that I’m judging a character by its book. Yeah… But then again, when you have a school that houses a vampire, alien and even the principal herself is a devil, what is an ossan to all that?

One of the funniest segments is the random quiz variety section after the credits. It is one of those silly segments just for laughs. Usually it has some sort of twist as its punch line. For example in the guess this character game, we are presented with a very familiar shadow. Think you know the answer? Normally one would easily recognize that shadow belonging to Youko but the real answer turns out to be Shimada cross-dressing as her! Didn’t see that coming, did you? So we have the characters taking turns hosting this segment asking various silly questions or choices and usually some other character like Asahi or Nagisa would just retort everything in the end. From spot the difference to yes or no quiz to a memory test and even a Who Wants To Be A Millionaire parody, this light segment is surely to bring in some laughs.

The art and drawing seems pretty normal. The colours are bright and vivid and with the characters are distinctive enough so you won’t confuse yourself like in some animes when they look very closely to each other although unrelated. So colourful and distinctive that sometimes I feel that each of them can be a coloured Power Ranger or something. No, really. So who is going to be the red for leader? No, pink is not red! So you can’t be the leader, Akane. (FYI, Shiho is purple and Akari is dark maroon red, which isn’t that kind of red). It is both funny and silly when the characters put on that dumbstruck face of theirs, which seems to be the trademark art style. This anime is produced by TMS Entertainment who brought us Kamisama Hajimemashita, Itazura Na Kiss, D. Gray-man and Buzzer Beater. But they are more famous for their Detective Conan and Lupin III series. Hmm… Maybe that is why I find it a little familiar, the design style of the ears of the characters in this series. Well, almost.

Voice acting sounds pretty decent. It is been a long time since I have heard a main character speaking a kansai accent so I suppose with Yuu Serizawa doing so as Youko (Tenma in Mushibugyou), it reminds me that Japanese has lots more accents and isn’t just confined to the one I often hear these days. Other casts are Natsuki Hanae as Asahi (Inaho in Aldnoah.Zero), Inori Minase as Nagisa (Hestia in DanMachi), Reina Ueda as Mikan (Katai in Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyouku), Aya Uchida as Shiho (Kotori in Love Live), MAO as Akane (Suseri in Isuca), Emi Nitta as Akari (Honoka in Love Live), Rikiya Koyama as Genjirou (Kiritsugu in Fate series), Youko Hikasa as Touko (Mio in K-ON!), Kenichi Miya as Shirou (Entre in C -Control- The Money And Soul Of Possibility), Daisuke Hirakawa as Okada (Makoto in School Days), Hiro Shimono as Shimada (Keima in The World God Only Knows) and Wataru Hatano as Sakurada (Gajeel in Fairy Tail).

Surprisingly the opening theme is quite a fun song to hear, Ars Magna doing Himitsu Wo Choudai despite having that sleepy sound in his voice, the song has this playful and lively beat to it. The ending theme too isn’t bad. Ienai Ienai by Hilcrchyme resembles very much like hip hop. There is the very sultry and sexy insert song, Hologram by Minmi. Perfect for seemingly romantic moments. Actually the one played in the series as I found out is just one of the versions of it. The original one is fast paced and very techno. I think I definitely prefer the former very much and many times compared to the original song many times over.

Overall, this anime has still been enjoyable and funny (if you like this sort of genres anyway) despite it doesn’t break any new ground and seemingly using the overused formula of a romantic comedy genre. It lacks something that would make it memorable in the long run and stand out from other very similar animes in the same category. I’m pretty sure that animes like Nisekoi and High School DxD will overshadow series like this one in no time. Not to say those animes are great considering recently their sequel just… Well, let’s leave that another time. These days you don’t have to worry if something is written all over your face and trying to hide it the best you can. Whether you like it or not, everybody already knows. So just stop posting damn stupid things on social media!

To Love-Ru Darkness 2nd

5 March, 2016

The following of this series must still be going strong. Otherwise, why come up with another season a few years later, To Love-Ru Darkness 2nd? Or maybe it is because since the last time when it aired, it ended in an unsatisfying fashion and now that we have some materials to cover and animate, the time is right. Well, forgive me. I’m not really a fan of the series so I might be just speculation a lot. Seriously as over the years my interests over it seem to have gradually waned, I suppose the reason why I am picking this up is because of the nostalgia factor. You don’t believe me, right? After all, for those who watch this popular series in the first place has to be in it for the fanservice. It is a paradise and must-have for ecchi lovers. Yeah well… I’m not saying I started disliking the series but I don’t feel the enthusiast in it when I decided to pick this one up. Heck I didn’t even go back and re-read my previous blog on the season to refresh my mind. I have a very faint gist of what happened but other than that, I can’t be bothered to even wanting to remember the previous season. And yeah, I can’t even be bothered to wait for the uncensored version…

Episode 1
Fanservice from the start. Rito sexily licking Momo’s tail in his sleep. Who is to blame? Because Momo crept into his bed again. More trouble fanservice when he slips onto Lala when she just got out of the bath and has his hands at her sensitive areas. Rito you monster! At school when Mea learns of Rito’s horny perversion, it really gets her hopes up. Momo reminds Rito that Mea is still a trans weapon although for now she is harmless. Rito gets into more trouble when he bumps into Yami. I don’t know how he got his hands under her clothes. As expected, she beats him up till he has butt face. Only Lala’s mercy has Yami drop her killing intention. Hey, wasn’t she supposed to kill him? Momo reminds Rito about the harem plan and will help him as much as possible. Lala asks Haruna if she would tell Rito her feelings today. Momo then talks to Haruna about becoming Rito’s harem. Haruna feels uneasy because despite so, in the end it will turn into a competition. Momo mentions about polygamy is common in space. If Rito marries Lala and Haruna, both will live happily together. Besides, Rito is no ordinary human and will be Deviluke’s next ruler. This has Haruna in a dilemma because if that happens, then it won’t be a competition anymore. She wonders if she is being selfish thinking about her own happiness. Haruna suddenly becomes drunk since she was drinking an energy drink laced with some Deviluke herbs. Since Rito is passing, she becomes clingy to him and he has no choice but to take her home. Everyone is staring at them and bad enough, the principal sees them. Before he gets suspicious, Rito lies about Yami nearby so the pervert instantly strips and runs that direction. Back in Haruna’s room, she strips herself to her undies. This ‘shock’ has Rito spill water on her. That made it worse. Then she hugs him and they end up in a very steamy and sexy ambiguous position. She asks him about the harem thingy. Because she could confess her feelings, she sobers up and becomes embarrassed realizing her disposition. It gets even more awkward when Akiho returns, thinking they’re doing it this early. Rito leaves and Akiho feels bad for interrupting them. Momo apologizes to Rito she should have stopped Akiho earlier. Yeah, she was watching the entire thing. To steamy to pay notice to anything else? Rito thinks the harem plan is impossible because he can’t understand about Haruna wanting to make her love as her own. Momo hints a girl’s heart is complicating. Of course Rito doesn’t understand. He’s a guy!

Episode 2
This time Momo is sleeping with her boobs and crotch exposed next to Rito! You wonder how he lives every day. She reminds him to be cautious about Mea and try not to be alone with her. On the other hand, Mea wonders something is wrong because her Master Nemesis has not contacted her for a long time. At school, Tearju talks to Rito if he has noticed anything changed about Mea. She is also worried about Yami who still maintains her distance from her. She would like to get to know Mikan because she is best friends with Yami. When Lala zooms past Rito, she accidentally drops one of her quirky inventions. He picks it up and like always, it malfunctions and turns him into a little rat. Now he can see those glorious pantsu! Oh wait. Better run to avoid getting stepped on. He runs to Momo but those VMC guys didn’t like the rodent touching their princess. He hides in the girls’ changing room. Yeah. Tits galore. Saki and co kick him out. Rito’s fanservice trouble run continues. He somehow ends up squished between Haruna and Yui’s camel toe. He thought Nana could help since she can communicate with animals but the stupid principal bumped him away, excited he could read his porn. Rito flies into Yami’s tight outfit and scurries his way down her body. By the time he encounters Mea, he is tired. She takes care of him until he wakes up. That is when the curse is lifted. Big naked boy in front of her. Because Yami’s panties were stuck on his head, Yami knew he was the culprit and proceeds to beat him up, short of killing him. Mea asks Yami if she becomes uneasy sometimes. Yes she does. Nemesis never thought her about this so Yami tells her to think about it herself.

Mea is looking depressed and Nana can tell. She talks to her to cheer her up that with the support of her friends, things aren’t so bad as they used to be. Rito thought Mea is going to do something dangerous when he spots her in her assassin clothes. He questions if whatever Nemesis tells her to do is right. Mea finds this offensive and insulting and quickly takes control of Rito’s body to force him to do embarrassing pervy acts on her. I think she likes it. She thinks their emotions are in sync but he mentions about her uneasiness and loneliness like as though she is a lost child. She isn’t amused by his words. She still thinks what she does is based on Nemesis’s orders. Rito asks back if it was Nemesis’s orders when she tried to save Nana from that truck. Can’t answer. Rito knows that Nana was grateful from the bottom of her heart when Mea saved her. Suddenly several aliens start attacking Mea. They have a grudge against her for destroying whatever they had. Apparently Mea did lots of things to earn money so she can collect information on Yami. She wonders how they found out about her location. To her shock, it was Nemesis who told them. That is when Mea goes on the offensive and beats the crap out of them with her strength. She likes this feeling. Then she realizes why Nemesis did this. It is to make her remember that she is a weapon. Now the aliens are fleeing when Mea is just starting to have fun. The fight spills before Nana’s eyes. Mea sees Nana’s disappointed face.

Episode 3
Mea is absent from school. Nana tries to act find but that disturbed look on her face is hard to ignore. Based on last night’s events, Mea told her this is her true form. Even heartbreaking is how Mea is done pretending to be friends with her. Obviously Nana sinks into depression. Momo also feels bad. She thought Nana being friends with her would turn out something like Mikan and Yami but if this was going to happen in the first place, she should have separated them. Rito decides to go talk to Nana. In her digital safari, Nana pours her heart out about being foolish and naive in hoping Mea would open up her heart to her. It was sad she was earnest wanting to be friends but there was not a shred of it in Mea. Rito wants her to talk to Mea again and hugs her to calm her down. He asks if she would like to be friends with her again. Of course. Without a doubt. Nana doesn’t think Mea understand those feelings but Rito recalls when his feelings synced with his. He felt the uneasiness and loneliness. Like she was lost between a person and a weapon. She was pretending to be friends because she was hiding her true self. But now she knows, they can start over again for real. This gives Nana to go talk to Mea again. At the river bed, Mea threatens Nana not to come close but Nana inches closer. Mea strikes her blades but they all seem to unconsciously miss her. Suddenly Nana finds herself being groped by Rito! Or something that looks like him. Mea used her ability to create a strong image from her heart. More crap from Mea why she should stay away from her. I’m a weapon, you’re a human, blah, blah, blah. Nana breaks free and hugs her. She doesn’t care for all that crap. The most important thing is their feelings. She pleads to be real friends this time. I guess that heart tugging speech makes it hard for Mea to reject. Okay. Let’s be friends. Yami just beat up those aliens planning to blow up the vicinity just to get even. Yami and Mea reconcile. Mea now understands what Yami meant. Back home, Nemesis finally contacts Mea. But she is not mad and allows her to stay as long as she wishes. Thanks to recent events, Nemesis now understands better what is leading her astray. Nana can’t sleep and visits Rito’s room. She thinks of sneaking in and sleeping with him but naked Momo is already there. This must have become a nightly affair, eh? You mad? So why beat the hell out of Rito who is sleeping so soundly?

Episode 4
The festival begins. Momo had the bad luck of meeting those VMC guys there. But the moment they see Rito with her, they start warning her about the lewd beast he would become (horny fanservice delusion cue). Yeah, I think they are the ones in danger of become the lewd beasts. Thanks to that delusion, Momo manages to escape them. Rito asks Momo about her mom. She describes her as a great lady whom everyone respects. He wonders if she ever gets lonely to see her. Because of him and the rest of her friends around, she never feels lonely. Rito also asks about the harem plan. More importantly, why she is eagerly doing this for him. That’s because she loves him. She doesn’t mind being his second or third choice but as long as she wants to be loved by him. That would have been great if she said that out loud instead of in her mind. Instead, she gives the excuse that she wants everyone to be happy. Momo notes that because of this deception, Rito is playing along. The plan will succeed even before he realizes it. The only problem is Yami. Based on her recent reconciliation with Mea, seems that she still views herself as an assassin and weapon. When Mikan comes looking for them because Tearju is in trouble, they make haste but Rito bumps into Yami around the corner. He is a master in somehow getting his face in her crotch, isn’t he? Yami teaches him a lesson and reminds him that she is still after his life. Then Mikan starts to act strange. She is telling Yami just to kill Rito in that case. Mikan then transforms into Nemesis. This little girl is her true form. Rito still manages to slip and gives Nemesis her first taste of fanservice. She likes it and continues flirting with him. She mentions about the 2 types of destruction: Physical and psychological. She prefers the latter. Nemesis then proceeds to humiliate Momo by molesting her tail, only to be stopped by Yami. She backs off since her goal is to make friends and not start a fight. Hard to believe that. Nemesis has observed Yami via Mea and her surroundings and realized her true feelings. Something about Yami knows she does not belong here and she will eventually have to leave. Unconsciously she realizes it in her heart that her true nature is a weapon which can never love a person. That is called Darkness. She believes Yami will eventually awaken to it without her guidance. She’ll patiently wait till that time comes and in the meantime will just hang around and play with them. Momo asks Tearju about Darkness. But she mentions it is nothing to worry about. Even so, it will be okay as long as everyone who thinks of her is here.

Episode 5
Celine is messing with one of Lala’s inventions. What does it do this time? It is supposed to summon a friend here. And it had to summon Yui when she is in the middle of her bath right onto Rito. Oh no… Hey, at least it works! Mea meets Nemesis in person for the first time. She wonders what is Darkness but Nemesis will let her see it for herself when the time comes. When Rito is done with his errand, he is surprised to see Yui taking the same train home. Yeah, that incident still fresh in your mind? Then she brings him away to a corner. No, it’s not she allows him to get horny on her but she doesn’t want him to take out his lust on the other girls. How kind of her. At the next stop, the crowd comes in and packs the train like sardine. If Rito is wondering why Yui is glaring at him, he realized too late that his hand is groping her butt! He tries to break free but unconsciously his arm touches her breasts. Then the cat paw toy he bought for Celine activates and starts fondling her crotch. Wow. Just super. I wonder how long she can hold it in. I don’t think she can… When they’re out at the next station, Rito can’t understand why she screams at him for being shameless. Mikan spots Mea at the supermarket and invites her home for dinner. Although she doesn’t feel close to her, after learning she is Yami’s sister, she thought of putting in some effort to understand her. She lets Mea help out cutting the cabbage. She seems to like it and it flipped her chopping switch. Because Mikan knows her identity, she doesn’t hesitate to transform her blades and start her chopping fury. It’s like she is getting orgasmic doing this. So much so she accidentally cuts everyone’s clothes and Mikan had the unfortunate view of having Rito’s dick in her face! Luckily she stops (perhaps nothing left to cut) right before Lala comes in (she was ‘stalled’ in the bath when Celine was sucking her tits). The friends had a wonderful feeling especially Mea starting to feel this fuzzy feeling of closeness in her heart. Mikan sees the similarity of Mea and Yami. She is still just like how Yami used to be. Mikan feels although she won’t get along with Mea as well as she does with Yami, it is okay once in a while to invite her to dinner again.

Episode 6
After helping father at his manga workplace, Momo wants to show Rito an eroge and perhaps this will lead to something steamy and ‘unleashing of the beast’. Double click! However they bump into Nemesis who is still bent on making Rito her manservant. Momo is wary of her but Rito agrees to accompany Nemesis in hopes of learning something about her. There goes Momo’s quality time with him. Nemesis has lots of fun with her time with him but Momo isn’t looking thrilled. Since he is so good to her, Nemesis explains what Darkness is. Some sort of release of a dark power, the ultimate transformation that will bring chaos to the galaxy. Momo is not amused with that generic answer so Nemesis tries to convince Rito that Momo is a dangerous woman that is not to be trusted. However Rito doesn’t think so as she was just getting angry on his behalf. Unfortunately this pisses off Nemesis. She does not like his attitude of trusting others so easily. Fun is over. She claims it is Momo’s victory this time. Back home when Momo thinks she can seduce Rito in the bath, it seems he is tied up and being seduced by Nemesis instead! Damn this girl beat her to it. Momo tells her off that Yami is her target and Rito has nothing to do with this. On the contrary he has very much to do with everything. Yami and Mea became interested after coming into contact with him. He is the catalyst why Yami has become more human-like. Nemesis reminds her it is her goal to take the desires of others. This means Momo’s harem plans she can forget about it because Rito is hers. Nemesis imitates Rito’s voice to scream for help. Mikan rushes in to see Rito passed out in Momo’s arms. She misinterprets the situation and gives Momo an earful. Nemesis finds it fun to tease Momo but for the latter, she is definitely her, well, nemesis. Next day, to avoid what happened, this time Mikan goes to bathe with Rito. Hey, they’re siblings and once bathed together, right? Besides if there are already people in the bath, this means no more can come in, right? So be grateful for that. She sits with him in the tub (it’s gotten smaller since they’ve grown bigger) and they talk about things. She accidentally mentions some harem thingy and this gets him startled and as he runs out. Momo is seen happily peeping on them outside. Mikan is not too happy when she learns it was Momo’s plan to have them bathe together. Just as planned…

Episode 7
Tearju is now a full homeroom teacher of Momo’s class. There is concern because Mea hates her and Yami still won’t reconcile. When Tearju makes her first homeroom debut, Yami is as usual absent. Attempts by Momo to convince her to attend class only fell on deaf ears. Rito is looking for Yami after school but Mea finds him and dives into his mind. I suppose this is cue for fanservice because Mea is giving some naked bathroom fanservice to him (and us). Mea is conflicted that Nemesis takes a liking for him and if it stays this way, it will be hard for her to play with him if he belongs to her. Fun is over the moment he mentions Yami’s name. Rito believes it will be good if Yami and Tearju made up but Mea is clearly uninterested. So Rito sees Yami at the library. Yami knows that if he is here, it means Mikan must have already told him about it. So he tries convincing her but looks like she is still stubborn. There is something about her reputation that makes it harder for Yami to reconcile despite viewing Tearju as family. Mea interjects. She mentions that she has always lived according to Nemesis’ wishes but now that she has tasted living by her own will, it isn’t all that bad. Surprisingly Mea gives her the best advice. From her experience with Nana, she knows she is afraid of moving forward but if they don’t face each other, they will never make amends. Oshizu and Momo have been spying on them. Oshizu realizes too late a dog is licking on her leg. This causes her telekinesis power to go berserk, controlling Momo to ram into Rito and co. The point of it all is so we can have Rito in yet in another ambiguous threesome fanservice scene. It is such a mind boggling thing to even wonder how he can even end up in such position. Yami follows Rito back home, much to Mikan’s delight. Next day in class, Tearju thought Yami is playing truant again. Surprise! She turns up late and in her school uniform. A moment of happiness for Tearju. Yami has Mea to thank for. Since her little sister is moving forward, she can’t lose and lag behind.

Episode 8
Zastin is warning about some cursed sword when Mikan gets a call from Rin. So why is Rito the one who turned up in Saki’s mansion instead? Mikan had something to do and sent her brother instead. Seems last night when Saki hosted an appreciation dinner for her butler and maids, I guess they got food poisoning and none are able to work together. Her loyal subordinates are here to help but I guess Saki needed the extra hand. Don’t worry. Because Momo, Nana, Mea and Yami are here to help too. Even sweeter, they’re going to be in their maid outfits! WOHOO!!! Momo thinks it will be tough for Saki to be part of the harem plan since she is smitten with Zastin. But there may be a chance for Rin. Speaking of which, yet another freaking ambiguous fanservice position for Rito on her. Mea thought she saw Nemesis in the compound for a while. When Momo teases Rito about helping to get Rin’s heart, suddenly Rin comes attacking them with her sword. Momo is quick to save Rito. Yami enters to scene to fight her. She thinks Rito’s perversion made her mad until she realizes she is being possessed. Heck, even Nana thinks Rito’s perversion is the cause of this. Yeah, always blame him. Rin continues slashing, a reason for clothes to be ripped at lightning pace. As the Trans sisters explain, it is that blade, Bladix that is possessing her. But it is not a cursed sword but a parasitic life form. As it is on the same wavelength with Rin, killing it would mean killing Rin too. So how? Rito has an idea. He wants Mea to use her ability so that he can dive into her mind and separate her. He is willing to risk his life for her because Rin once saved Mikan before. Don’t worry. He believes things will turn out fine. It’s that baseless confidence we’re worry about. After all, it won’t be fun if Rin isn’t part of his harem, right? Rito enters her mind and tries to break free of her tentacle rape but he also gets caught in it. Bladix doesn’t like another to gain control of this body and that Rin’s body is hers. But Rito rebukes him about all the kind people around Rin. It gives him the strength to rip her out before Mea drops in. Bladix thought he could possess her but he is left running for his life. He is crushed by Yami. Zastin has been watching the entire episode and he wonders who Mea is because she possesses the same abilities as Yami. When Saki calls out to him, Nana chides him for hiding and not doing anything to help. Was his help ever needed?

Episode 9
Rin properly thanks Rito for saving her. Although Rito claims it was Yami but she was very sure he was the one who pulled her out of the darkness. Saki teases Rin that she is falling in love with Rito. Because Yami sees Rito getting into another ambiguous fanservice scene this time with Tearju, I don’t think she can spare his life now. Only by Lala’s mercy yet again that his life is spared. Momo seems to be irked that even Nana is showing more interest in Rito (although the tsundere disagrees) despite this is all part of her harem plan. Momo then talks to Lala who in turn is worried if there is any progress with her relationship with him. Because Peke has been bugging her that she is too kind in wanting Haruna to close the gap with Rito. Observing that Lala is still only making pure innocent love moves to Rito, Momo calls Lala to her room to teach her… Eroge! However after teaching her about the kiss, Momo cannot go further as she cannot bear corrupt her sister’s innocent heart. And so Lala joins Rito in his bath and wants to kiss. She knows he loves Haruna more but wonders if his love for her has changed. If he still loves her, please kiss her. Of course with all that nervousness, he slips and ends up in the 69 position. Lala then tells him it’s his lips that she wants to kiss! Too bad he is knocked out. Call it a night. I guess that bump on the head means Rito has this strange steamy dream about naked Haruna steamily kissing him followed by Lala. Next day, he confronts Lala to tell her he can’t kiss her. It is because they are not lovers yet. True, he still loves her but his feelings for Haruna has not changed. He can’t accept the idea of marrying both of them now so accepting the kiss with this half hearted feeling will make him feel useless. Lala is glad. Last night she talked to Nana about it and even revealing Rito’s feelings for both Lala and Haruna. Nana said that she can tell Rito didn’t want to do the kiss because if it was her, she wouldn’t too. Lala apologizes for not thinking about his feelings then. For now, she pecks him on his cheek and will wait for the day to get his special kiss. Then she hopes he will answer her feelings. Eavesdropping Momo admires her sister and perhaps why she can’t best her. That is why she is going to tell Nana about her plan.

Episode 10
Mea is calling Yui the Shameless Woman because this is her favourite line when she chastises Rito. Could it be she wants to experience the shameless thing too? Somebody stop Yui before she turns into a killing machine. Nana talks to Mea about Momo’s harem plan. Seems she knows about it because she dived into Rito’s mind. Nana seems to be against the plan but Mea mentions about its good points. She gets to have fun with Rito every day. She stimulates a fantasy whereby Nana gets licked by him. Nana is not appreciative of this and denies having feelings for him. Oshizu tries to follow Mea and sees what she is up to. But she was scared the sh*t out when Mea plays a prank. Oshizu continues to hate her but Mea doesn’t. Because she is easy to tease! Oshizu wonders why Mea doesn’t just reveal true self seeing she talks freely with her friends. Although her initial mission was to observe Yami and there is no reason to continue pretending to be an Earthling, she feels she just cannot abandon this personality. Oshizu’s scare just caused one of Lala’s inventions to malfunction. It is sucking all the lingerie of any woman it can find. Yeah, fanservice time. Oshizu feels responsible (but partly it is Mea’s fault too) and wants to stop this but Mea doesn’t feel interested in doing so. She thinks it is interesting sometimes to have such chaos. Rito tries to stop the machine but it seems it has to take him to places where girls are changing. Not only he failed to stop the machine, he gets beaten up for all the eye candy. Was it worth it? The ultimate one is where the machine sucked all the girls’ clothes at the changing room and then somehow manages to pin those naked bodies all on Rito like some Katamari Damacy ball. Rito you lucky bastard!!!!! Finally when Nana destroys it, the mini black hole which is the source of its suction goes berserk. Now it is going to suck the entire school. Who is going to save the day? Rito is a wuss. Yami doesn’t look interested. I guess Oshizu will have to use her telekinesis to suppress it. There is a danger she’ll use up too much energy and disappear but she can’t bear to have the school gone. That is when Mea reveals her true form to help out. Though the black hole is gone, everybody has seen Mea’s true form. Before they can jump to conclusions, Yami introduces her as her long lost sister. Not blood related. Everybody now loves her and applause for them. Since Tearju is part of the crowd and emotionally applauding, Yami feels embarrassed and leaves. Mea makes up with Oshizu and becomes friends. But this is just another prank to scare her. This time her disturbance causes Nana’s butt to be shoved into Rito’s face. Rito you lucky bastard!!!!!!!!!

Episode 11
Rito is like a monster ravaging Momo’s tail in his sleep. Though Rito has not accepted her harem plan, she believes he has what it takes to become harem king. Besides, the greatest hindrance to the plan who is no other than Yami is no longer a threat. With just a little push, she might even fall for him. Rito talks to Yami about her relationship with Tearju but she won’t talk more than it’s needed. Another slip up for an ambiguous position has Yami wanting to kill him again. So Momo, think she still won’t kill Rito? This time Haruna’s plea has Yami give up. During pool lessons, Mea talks to Yami. The latter feels that she is has accepted to being part of here. Suddenly something inside her activates. Yami turns Super Saiyan? Her own hair goes berserk and does perversion on herself? Seems this is all part of Nemesis’ plan. The condition to wake up Darkness has been fulfilled. Slowly, Nemesis takes over Mea’s body as she explains that the condition for Darkness is to have a peaceful heart that a weapon should not possess. This is also some sort of limiter release as Darkness contains unlimited Trans power that will become an anti-planetary weapon. When Tearju tried to suppress Yami’s awakening but treating her good, her fellow scientist did not appreciate it. So after Tearju was exiled, they planted this Darkness system into Yami’s mind. Nemesis thought it was making Yami a killer as the shortcut to awakening Darkness but after observing Mea changed, she realizes peace is the key. Nemesis appears for the first time before Nana and Tearju. If she is here, where is Mea? Nemesis says Mea never existed in the first place. She was just a quasi personality she created. After all, how can the warmth of a person’s heart reach a little sister when she does not exist in the first place? Yami falls into despair while Nana still refuses to believe Mea is non-existent. Yami’s blades start stabbing herself. The thought that peace is impossible and Mea is just an illusion puts a great strain on her heart. Yami turns into a flash of light before transforming into her true Darkness form. Uhm… Is this some sort of sexy swimsuit? Nemesis is glad to meet Darkness and asks her how she feels. She is feeling perverted. I can see why she is in that skimpy dress now.

Episode 12
Darkness wants to see that perverted guy. No, she isn’t referring to you, my perverted principal. That guy she meant is Rito and she pulls him out from his class via her portal. She lets him do all the perverted stuffs to her. And then she summons the water tentacles to tentacle rape all the other girls. Since she is going to kill him, what a better way for him to die surrounded by ultimate pleasure of boobs and butts! Nana and Momo also got tentacle raped but by Rito clones. After they break free, Nana summons all the cats to whisk Rito away. Darkness remembers she once awakened like this before. It was after she lost Tearju and became an assassin, at some dump planet, Darkness awakened and split the planet into half! However that transformation was only brief. She reverted to Yami and had no memories. Now that she has returned, the only difference is now she has this perverted feeling. All thanks to Rito and his accidental perversion over the seasons. That is why she needs to hurry up and kill him. Nana and Momo won’t allow that but they are teleported to Mea’s home. Seeing that the recent stuff Mea did, Nana refuses to believe Mea never existed and vows to bring her back. Similarly, Mea knows Nemesis lied to everyone that she never existed. Nemesis won’t be swayed in letting her go. She can’t. They are after all one mind and one body. Looks like the cats bump Rito into Haruna and Yui looking for him. Darkness finds them and Yui of course did not hesitate to reprimand her of her risqué attire. Darkness then uses her portals to fondle Haruna’s boobs and let Rito tastes Yui’s butt. But she realizes she needs to kill him and before she can split him in half, here comes Lala to the rescue. Darkness summons a giant golem in Rito’s image. Nemesis still thinks Mea is trying to struggle to break free and persuading her that she wanted Rito as her manservant. Mea is actually grateful for her that she was able to continue living. Although she can’t do anything with her own power, the difference now is that she has friends. And that friend to her rescue is Oshizu. She uses her telekinesis to separate them. Mea thanks Nemesis for everything but will choose her own path from now on.

Episode 13
With Mea getting her own body back now, first sign of gratitude for Oshizu is to scare her! Nana is glad Mea is back although Nemesis can still materialize in a separate body. They have lots of things to ask her but right now the big priority is returning Yami back to normal. Lala easily defeats the golem because she knows it is not the real Rito. Darkness plays cheat by using her portal to make Rito’s face contact with Lala’s butt. Luckily she uses some slippery measure to break free and free Rito from Darkness’ grasp. When Darkness uses some high energy output to slice her, I wonder if Lala’s tail laser beam can hold it despite it is her plan to wear her out. Somehow she manages to counter attack although Lala is now out of power and her body has shrunk to loli size. Darkness is also out of power but she can recharge. Darkness can still use her Trans weapons and before she can kill her, Zastin and his guys are here to help out. But before they too can charge, they are held back by Nana’s animals. They explain they are not here to fight Darkness but to return her back as Yami. When Mea’s persuasion to Darkness fails, Darkness becomes mad and considers her as a pest like the rest. Mea has no choice but to use her blaster on her and then they take it to the skies to fight. Eh? But I thought they weren’t going to fight? This is all part of a bigger plan. Mea has noticed that from Nemesis’ observations, Darkness’ transformation is incomplete thanks to her fixation on perversion and Rito when she should actually become a weapon. That means Rito himself is the cause of the bug and thus there is still hope for Yami to come back. Momo tell Rito this plan of theirs and it seems he has to do something unholy. Even though this is all based on speculation, they are willing to take the gamble on Yami’s heart and bet on Rito. He agrees to do it even if this is just a slight possibility for Yami to return. Darkness has caught Mea and lets her Rito clones lick her into ecstasy. Before she can die climaxing via licking, a beanstalk interrupts them. The gang is here. Rito wants to do all the wild perverted stuffs on her! Come on baby! Let’s get down and dirty!

Episode 14
Because Rito’s act of perversion has always been acts of God, for him to do it naturally is suspicious. That is what makes it irresistible for Darkness too. The problem is whether Rito can pull it off. He rushes towards her put slips and falls short. But when memories of Yami flash through his mind, he gets back up. He shows how serious he is by taking off his clothes and starts his extreme molestation! OMG! He’s a monster! This scene reminds us of the principal because he has always been trying to harass Yami like this. I guess those nightly monster acts with Momo also paid off too. Darkness tries to run away but Rito clings on tightly and continues his molestation. With memories of Rito flashing in her head, she gradually returns to Yami. Conveniently they crash in Rito’s backyard and Yami has to slap him to stop his molesting. Too good to stop? Mikan just came home and sees them in this perverted shape. Lots of explaining to do. Life returns to normal. Yami is seen profusely apologizing to everyone at school for yesterday’s trouble. She also has supplied Lala with lots of milk for her growth. As for Rito… She ignores him. Well, better than beating him up. Tearju is overcome with emotion that Yami is back and cries all over her face! Yami and Mikan still get to eat taiyaki together. A good sign, right? And of course, Yami can’t ignore Rito forever. She tries to say thank you but that word is so hard to come out. I guess she is not used to it. But it is Rito who apologizes first. I guess he is so used to this. Making it even more embarrassing is how he describes in detail about the perversion. Those old ladies in public are going to have the wrong idea. Yami tries to shut him up but this lands them in another ambiguous fanservice position. Quickly she tells him Darkness’ perversion wasn’t the real her and that she isn’t a perverted person. She doesn’t think anything of him. Oh really? Nemesis appears before Mea and laments Darkness’ failed activation means no new galactic war could start and made those weapons feel at home. Mea believes it is alright. She now understands and can get use to this. Will Nemesis leave this place? Don’t worry. She will always keep an eye on them from the shadows. It’s her way to kill time. Lastly, for those who are wondering where the principal has gone. He is frozen somewhere in South Pole and researchers think he might be a yeti! But who cares, right?

OVA
Rito is about to go to sleep when Nemesis pays him a night visit! Hey, at least it’s not Momo. She is interested in ghost stories after stumbling upon them at the book store and wants him to tell her one. Momo objects as she comes out from the closet. So that’s where she is hiding? She will do the ghost story instead. So she begins about a space traveller stranded on an uninhabited planet. After getting lost in the jungles for hours, he stumbled upon a mansion in which an old lady takes him in. In the middle of the night, he gets up thinking somebody is watching him and it turns out the old lady is staring at him. Nemesis interjects thinking it should be a young woman instead. Then she proceeds to re-enact everything again but this time taking out her flirting on Rito. Momo stops her when Nemesis is just dripping candle wax on him. Now it’s Momo’s turn to show how it’s done. Her flirting includes using a plant that squirts out suspicious sticky milky liquid. With those ambiguous hand movements to let it squirt all over her body, she proceeds to rub it all over Rito’s body with hers, claiming it is supposed to recharge your weariness. I think Rito is only getting more stressed up. Nemesis joins in for double seduction. Wasn’t this supposed to be a ghost story? Mikan is awakened by the commotion. You can imagine her shock and surprise to see Momo on top of Rito and weird liquid all over. Momo tries to blame Nemesis but she is nowhere to be seen. Curses. She has fast escaped again. Mikan reprimands the duo while Nemesis feels refreshed with that liquid.

Yami visits Mikan and the latter thinks she wants to apologize to Tearju. We think and know it is Rito since they act strangely when they see each other. Momo picks up a call from Mikado saying she needs their help at her clinic as it is overwhelmed with patients. Since Tearju lives with Mikado, Mikan gets an idea to bring Yami along to help. So we’ve got everybody in nurse outfits and even Rito is temporarily transformed into a girl just for it. Mikado can’t help fantasize all the naughty checkups she’ll do to examine his body afterwards. The gang works hard to serve the many different alien races. Even Rito gets sexually harassed but saved by Yami. When the crowd simmers down, Yami takes Rito to talk to him at the basement with pretence to go find Tearju since she has been there for quite a while. Yami is eking out her courage to thank him when they see Tearju in trouble. She is being raped by a robot! Actually, Mikado’s old mechanical assistant. She put it away as it was so much trouble. Now you know why, eh? I guess Yami and Rito are too sexy for the pervy robot to resist so it also rips their clothes and throws lots of bandages for BDSM play. It is role reversal when Yami has her hands on Rito’s boobs and he screams calling her a pervert! Tearju has not escaped since she doesn’t want to run away and leave Yami alone again. This has Yami revive and slice the robot in half. It was that easy? Rape play ends. At that time, Rito has turned back into a boy and Yami sees a full view of his ‘little buddy’. After putting clothes back on them (they don’t have any recollections what happened), she leaves very embarrassed.

The Darkness Of The Ecchi Heart
Well folks, whether or not this is really the end or not, at least it ties up the loose ends and had a closure in Yami and Mea’s case. For now. In a way, it gives a better and satisfying end compared to the previous season. Reading back my previous blog, I have to say that my findings for the plot, the characters, the fanservice and overall sentiments of the show stayed somewhat almost the same. Forgive me if I am going to repeat them here again. I know I did say in my opening paragraph that I did not go back and re-read the previous season but that was for the summary of the episodes. I did after all go back to read my opinions on it just for comparison. At least this season round, it has a bit more plot than the episodic ones in the last.

For instance, the fanservice level of this series is done in such a way that you would expect it to be spammed at least once in every 5 minutes. That is the nature of this series and probably why the fans keep coming back. As I have said, I did not bother to wait for the DVDs to come out so that I could watch some clean and uncensored boobs just like last season. I did watch a few initial episodes uncensored but after that, by then it was more or less the same. It seems that this time around I could put up with the atrocious white light and steam censors that are abound in the censored aired versions. Maybe a few years ago I would have been annoyed but is it because of my failing libido? Nah!!! I mean, I wasn’t that desperate since I could just ‘imagine’ what kind of perversion would be going on behind those censors. I guess it is more ‘fun’ trying to imagine those boobs and fanservice scenes yourself. For a series that has ran several seasons of fanservice, it isn’t hard for me to imagine the characters and perhaps their prized assets ;p. No, I’m not saying I am a closet fan of this series, but I can vividly imagine Lala and Haruna with my eyes closed. Heh. Does that make me sound like a master pervert? But not every entire scene is censored although a minimal panty shot scenes are left spared from the censoring. It feels like a little teaser and the extra motivation for horny guys to go buy the DVDs if you want to see the other more risqué scenes.

Another mind boggling thing is Rito’s ‘ability’ to get into steamy ambiguous fanservice positions with the usual girls. Every season he seems to be flawlessly doing it. I know we can blame God and this is His act, so does this mean the God of this series is a pervert? It is like He is channelling his perversion through this poor kid. Because from the way he trips, how can he actually end up in such a position that is worthy to be placed in the Kama Sutra? Near impossible sexual positions that would break your bones and muscles before you could reach climax. So that is why it has got to be acts of God, right? This series is also so good in bringing fanservice to viewers, that by this time you realize that they can make a fanservice scene out from nothing. One moment everything seems to be pretty normal and the next suddenly this Rito’s molestation and groping scene. Even during battle scenes they can even slip in some fanservice to satisfy all your ecchi perversion. And make us wish we guys are in Rito’s position. But can you withstand all the pounding and berating over the years? Rito would have been immune to such situations and it seems so because you don’t usually see him nose bleed every time. Otherwise he would have bled to death. And so it can be concluded that every girl in this series has been molested by Rito one way or another, directly or indirectly. Including Mikan too. In short, many of the girls love him. Whether it is Momo who thinks she is fine being second or third, or Yami who is obviously being tsundere, or Mea who just likes the idea of Rito licking her. Rito, you da harem king! Come to think of it, after all the fanservice troubles and accidents he got into, it seems to have prepared him for this day to take it all out on Darkness/Yami. You could say that his perversion actually saved the world! And thanks to that, we can all live another day and continue our perversion. Thanks Rito! You da man!

Obviously it was Yami, Mea and the Deviluke princess twins (and Rito of course) being the stars of this Darkness arc. We find out a little more about them, see them trying to reconcile, butt heads and then life goes back to being normal like how it used to be. Therefore many of the other characters from the series didn’t really play much of a role or impact again. Some like Lala, Haruna and Yui may have slightly more screen time and even at least half and episode focusing on them with Rito. But for others like Run and Ren (I guess there is nothing much to tell about them since they got separated with individual bodies in last season) and even the perverts Risa and Mio (as side characters, even relegating them to mere background characters although they still have a few but limited dialogues). Mikan is still there but nothing much and same with Saki and her underlings. The same can be said for Mikado and Tearju. Sometimes I feel that if they don’t appear, it won’t have a big impact on the overall series itself. But ultimately you can’t because these characters are related and it would be just odd to have them totally cut out and missing. Maybe the only exception was that Kyouko character… Still remember her? Not in this season too. What is Celine’s role here again? Having more screen time than last season is Oshizu so we could see how she becomes Mea’s friend aside Nana (another reason for me to enjoy this series since I get to hear Mamiko Noto say more lines than usual). Zastin also feels he has more screen time but he is still not being useful when it matters since he is spending an awful lot time helping Rito’s dad as a mangaka assistant.

Nemesis finally shows her face this season whereas in the last season she was just a mysterious being only known as a voice. At first I was convinced that Mea was just a figment of imagination and part of Nemesis’ personality. All because I noticed that Mea and Nemesis are never seen together in the eyes of others. It is only either one when interacting with other characters other than themselves. Even more so when they both are seemingly at the same scene, for example when Mea spots her Master and her friend starts looking where, Nemesis is no longer at that spot. It could be a big indication that Mea actually never existed in the first place and she had been Nemesis in disguise or her split personality all along. And then of course that separation happened. It disproves this theory I had. But even so, it made me wonder if the personalities were extracted out then as they were never separate entities prior to Oshizu’s action. Now that Nemesis’ plan has failed, I doubt she won’t be dumb enough to try and reactivate Darkness again. Her real form is still a mystery and I wonder if she will go somewhere else to start the galactic war she wanted. But if she is sticking around to watch the Trans sisters just to kill time, does she mean she is going to have a lot of time on her hands and doing nothing? I think Rito too might have influenced her in staying on this planet.

This season’s opening theme is Secret Arms by Ray, a bit of techno in what would have been another usual anime pop. The ending theme is Gardens by Mami Kawada. If you have heard her singing styles and also from her group, I’ve Sound or her co-member, Kotoko, you can tell that this one also sounds the same with the rest. Well, not to say that I am a big fan of her nor have I listened to many of her songs but hearing this one reminded me of such similar style like I hear from animes in the past like Onegai Twins, Onegai Teacher and Hayate No Gotoku. Side note: VMC sucks in singing at all levels!

Overall, this season is still okay and if you are a big fan of the To Love-Ru series or even an ecchi lover, this series is rightly tailored to your needs. No doubt I still had some fun and laughs watching this season but I can also feel the enthusiasm isn’t there. Even more so when I realized that over the years that the Darkness arc has been releasing quite a few OVAs over the few years between the TV seasons but I only saw half of them and was never interested to watch the rest when it came out. Still not planning to watch them. Sighs… Well, maybe if they make another season, I will still go watch it but only for nostalgia reasons. You don’t believe me, do you?

Strike The Blood OVA

19 February, 2016

Really? I never thought there would be more after the TV series ended a couple of years ago. Yeah, it feels such a long time that I can’t even remember much about it. So I thought Strike The Blood OVA was supposed to rejuvenate and revive things of the series. Maybe another season? Well, let’s not get ahead. From what I heard, this OVA is an original story not based on the manga. And by that I’m not saying the producers are the ones who came up with the story. The series’ creator is the one who created a new original story for this so you can’t blame others if the story has no relation or detract from the original, right?

OVA 1
Kojou and Yukina see on the news that the royal family of Aldegyr will be arriving at neutral Japan (but of course) to sign some peace accord with Warlord’s Dominion. So this means La Folia will be busy and no time to visit them, right? Wrong! Because suddenly she runs to Kojou for help! Seems this Viking dude is after her. Kojou and Yukina try to defend her but are surrounded by agents. Turns out this dude, Lucas is the king of Aldegyr and La Folia’s father. So talking out in the café, the big issue here is about La Folia needing to find a husband. If Lucas intends her to marry, then she will take Kojou as her husband. Lucas is not pleased because wanting her to get married doesn’t mean he will just approve any guy. Plus, he thinks Yukina is Kojou’s mistress. Even so, La Folia doesn’t mind being his mistress if Kojou chooses Yukina. Polifonia, Lucas’ wife and La Folia’s mom diffuses the tension and invites them to their party tonight. Guess who else is here at this high security party? Sayaka, Asagi Motoki, Nagisa and Astarte. As long as Kanon knows them, they’re invited. How convenient. The entire gang is here. Lucas is also not pleased that Kanon may have feelings for Kojou. That is when La Folia blurs out that this is proof that someone as great as Kojou have multiple mistresses. See all those girls react to that teeth sinking statement? Yeah, it just makes daddy’s blood boil. Screw the peace accord. He is going to find out more about this Fourth Progenitor. But good news Kojou won’t have to be interrogated by him. Because bad news the place is suddenly attacked by drones. Time for our gang to strut their stuff and kick ass. Kojou saves a woman, Trine Halden from a drone. So what is the thanks he gets? She licks his chest!!! OMFG! But it seems something starts to affect Kojou subsequently. But I’m sure his watching harem is not too pleased… Polifonia is awed with his skills and wants him to return to their country and take La Folia’s hand in marriage. Say what?! What will the other girls have to say? Sayaka comes up with some whatever law so and so but Polifonia counters that with another law. Can’t argue with that. Since it’s getting late, they’ll discuss this tomorrow and retire for the night.

Asagi can’t help worry about this so Motoki advises her to win first before they beat her to it. She’s thinking deeply about this in the bath when Kojou enters! You might have guessed something is wrong when he becomes a smooth operator in wanting to bath with her. It gets awkward when Astarte and Kanon come in. He invites them to join in. They agree. Asagi protests but Kojou says all he wants is all of them to have fun. She can’t believe he said that and starts throwing things for him to get out. He takes his leave but not before stumbling into Yukina and Sayaka on their way in. Yeah, he has seen his almost his entire harem naked in this short span of time. Sayaka talks to Yukina about the need to protect La Folia from Kojou’s inner beast. Yukina goes to talk to Kojou but he gets flirty and pushes her down on the bed. La Folia approves of this and even suggests a threesome! When Kojou hugs La Folia, some static causes her to pass out. The perpetrator is Trine. Yukina and La Folia are kidnapped and it seems Kojou is now her slave.

OVA 2
There is a demand ransom to release political prisoners who are serving life terms on Aldegyr. Polifonia trusts La Folia will be fine and Lucas stands firm with his kingdom’s policy of not negotiating with terrorists. Don’t worry. They’ll do all they can to rescue La Folia and her friends. Trine discusses with the terrorists that Aldegyr won’t be so dumb to give in to their demands. But this is just to buy them time. Yukina reacts jealously when Trine makes Kojou do her nails. Taking advantage of this, she has Kojou carry her to her room. Kojou is then ordered to beat up the guards guarding Bifrost, the royal family’s airship. Their plan is to crash and disrupt the peace signing ceremony and to activate the ship, a royal blood is need, thus the kidnapping. When La Folia hears of this plan, she tells Trine that she should have told her sooner because she would be glad to help her to kill Warlord’s Dominion’s Lord Ardeal. But doesn’t the collapse of the peace signing mean war between both nations? But isn’t this what the North Sea Empire (the terrorists) wants too? After La Folia activates Bifrost, the girls are locked in a room. Yukina wonders why La Folia is siding with them. All that was just an act. Really? How are they going to get out and save the day? Oh, La Folia has a plan of course. The ceremony is about to begin. Kanon is made to disguise as La Folia. The terrorists release several military mechas to attack. Time for Sayaka and Astarte to show what they’ve got. Meanwhile Asagi tries to hack her way inside Bifrost.

La Folia and Yukina have escaped from their room. I’m not sure about La Folia’s method of overheating the room and blowing up the lock but Yukina is all sweaty now. La Folia’s cool magic kept her cool. Although Asagi has hacked the entire ship, it is not before the terrorists managed to release a missile straight towards the ceremony. Lucas and Lord Ardeal have finished signing and are about to shake hands when the missile self destructs just outside. Asagi managed to hack it in time. Kanon mentions that was a gun salute as a symbol of peace for both kingdoms. Trine orders Kojou to kill the girls. La Folia tosses Yukina at him. He remembers her smell. Smells good? It breaks him out of his hypnosis. La Folia knows Trine is from the beastmen tribe and uses her pheromones as hypnosis. But even so, how could Kojou escape her hypnosis easily? Between the scent of a young girl drenched in sweat compared to the over-perfumed b*tch, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize which will win a man over. Trine and her terrorists will now destroy everything. Yukina gives permission to Kojou to bite her. They both power up and put evil to sleep for good. Remember Kojou, it’s not your fight. But OUR fight! Now Bifrost is going to crash! Don’t worry. It’s in the sea, right? See, what did I tell you? Everybody is fine. They’re saying their goodbye to the royal family at the airport. Polifonia hints to Kojou to consider his marriage to La Folia and she’ll reconsider writing off the loss and damage he made to Bifrost! Lucas still doesn’t approve of him and despite his mighty weaponry threats, Polifonia shuts him up. Later, Yukina isn’t pleased that Kojou remembers everything while he was under Trine’s spell. And then she blames him when she herself says about that sweat covering incident. It’s always his fault.

Strike The Playboy
First things first:
MAMIKO NOTO IS AWESOME AS POLIFONIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Phew. I’m glad I made the right choice in watching this OVA. Heck, I would have even so. Now that I have gotten that out of the way, as far as this OVA is concerned, I believe fans of the series and those who enjoyed watching the TV series would find it entertaining and interesting. Although a couple of episodes would be hardly anything to further develop anything else. But like in the TV series, I guess the mini arc serves as a good short standalone that many could enjoy. Even if you have not watched the TV series and jumped straight into this, there is not much to lose although it would be better to have done so.

When Kojou starts his short flirtatious playboy mode, it was like perhaps the moment that most harem lovers had anticipated to see. Although we know that there is something wrong and this isn’t the Kojou we know, we can’t help dream for a while that this is what it would look like if Kojou ever starts playing around with his harem. Some girls would agree and some would not and some would just remain the tsundere. Ah yes. So much potential. Can we have another original story about something like this, please? Then again, we don’t really want to dilute the value of this series by turning the powerful Fourth Progenitor into a cheesy leecher.

Other than that, I suppose this OVA is pretty decent in other areas. La Folia and Yukina hogging the spotlight the most but other characters do have their share of the spotlight albeit nothing much. You have your little action, your little fanservice (some exposed tits here!), your little drama and your little romantic harem moments. A little of everything but ultimately just enough for entertainment value. I just hope this OVA won’t start a trend of new kinky sexual fetish of smelling sweat of your loved ones. That would really stink no matter how sexy it looks.

 

High School DxD BorN OVA

12 February, 2016

After the shockingly disappointing third season, I suppose we are all here in hoping that High School DxD BorN OVA would have some sort of little redemption. I knew I don’t expect this single OVA to save the entire season but at least make this season be remembered as less awful. Heh. Like that would help either. Anyhow, I hope that the fanservice and bare tits here will help ‘nurse’ our ‘broken hearts’.

The Unresurrected Phoenix
Time to dig deep into your memories. Ravel sees Rias and Issei to talk about her brother Riser. If you remember the end of the first season when Rias’ ex-fiancé lost to Issei and had their engagement cancelled, that guy has been holing up in his room ever since. Ah, this explains why he was missing for the past couple of seasons. His defeat was so bad that he has been emotionally traumatized especially by anything dragon related. He hasn’t played any Rating Games since and only runs simulations of them all day long and on occasions only summons people to play chess with him. Yes, it is that bad. Ravel hopes for them to teach him fortitude in hopes for him to rise back up as a man again. I mean, he is after all still her brother. I’m sure Issei will agree to do so seeing he was mainly responsible for this trauma. Outside his room, Riser still doesn’t want to see anybody but upon hearing Rias’ voice, he thinks she is here to mock him. Then he starts getting traumatized once he learns Issei is with her. He tries to hide under his bed sheets! Wow. I didn’t know it was THIS bad. Riser still complains that he doesn’t need this training crap and wants to run away. Even more so when Tannin is here to help with the training. Oh sh*t. You’re screwed. You can’t run away. Ever. Man up to your fears! Good luck pal. You’re going to need it. In the mountains of the dragons, Riser will be trained under another strict dragon who is Tannin’s subordinate. He can’t let Issei handle his training from scratch since he knows Issei is too kind. While Riser begins his hellish days, we take a brief detour to the rest of Issei’s harem and watch them soak naked in a hotspring. Ah, time for boobs.

Issei and Ravel could only watch over Riser as they talk over things like thanking her for that tears potion she gave to him at the party. Ravel seems to be blushing and hinting things to him. Of course it’s time for Issei to size her up too so he takes a good look at her and realizes that if she enrols in his high school, she would be his junior. That itself is splendid if you consider she has a great physique and assets that even bests Asia! When Issei learns there is a hotspring nearby, as expected his thoughts suddenly spring to that of peeking at Rias and co. Yeah, he can’t sleep that night and feels the urgent need to go peek on them. But he needs to sneak out without Riser noticing him. Then he realizes Riser has awfully been quiet because he has already given him the slip! He thinks Riser might have overheard their conversation and his heading to the hotspring to see the boobs all by himself! Issei is hell bent on protecting those boobs. Yeah… Well, I thought Riser was running away but he actually is on his way to see Rias boobs! And so the big battle in the sky between the guys. As Rias’ ex-fiancé, Riser just wants to see her tits once. And most probably Akeno’s too. Issei says no way Jose because all those tits belong to him! Hey. Since when did he own them?! While the fighting rages on, we have another round of watching all those delicious tits. Man, how long are those girls going to soak in there? Finally Issei did a look-over-there trick but kicks Riser too hard that he passes out. Issei is glad he has safeguarded those boobs but now finds himself in the hotspring area. The girls see him. Some are thrilled. Some are not. Enjoy those free tits. Ravel gets embarrassed when Issei sees her boobs and commented how great her body is. Was that compliment necessary? Here is your obligatory power blast. In the end, the guys reconcile. Riser agrees to give up Rias forever. But on one condition: Just let him have one last peek at Rias’ tits! No way Jose! The guys are at it fighting over tits again. Nothing riles up a man more than looking at one’s woman’s tits, right? And with this, Tannin believes Riser is alright now. Yeah. Tits. Truly awesome.

Fall Of The Dragon…
It has been a little fun but overall once this OVA ended, the dreadful feeling that it didn’t really do anything to salvage the season after all. Although I didn’t feel that disappointed because mainly the third season was disappointing enough that I didn’t put my hope for any chance of revival. Even the tits fanservice feels lacking oomph. I mean, when you have seen them for the umpteenth time, things start to lose its charm even if you get to see new boobs like Rossweisse and Ravel. Especially in here when you have nothing special except for the girls standing around naked for a while with their exposed boobs. There are no accidental boobs fondling are perverted hijinks that ensued to make it funny. Heck, sad to say the funniest part was Riser’s trauma when he was reeling from that big loss. It makes him look so different than before. How great the fall of the phoenix has become. Not to say that he has risen (pun not intended) but at least he is much better off than before and not at his lowest point anymore. Well, maybe if they keep continue to argue about Rias’ boobs, that will be the main motivation to for Riser to rise (pun again not intended) once more. Calm down people! It’s only boobs! And there are more than enough boobs to go around for everyone! Haha! And so the phoenix hasn’t rise and the dragon continues to fall. Not because of the poor outing of the third season but because of boobs. Yeah. Tits. Truly fearsome.

We’ve all heard this kind of underdog story and love to root for them. Take a bunch of losers with contrasting personality, put them under the care of a fallen coach who grooms them up, teaches them about team work, trust, cooperation and any other values you can think of, lots of bonding time, training time and then face off with the final adversary who is no other than the big favourites to win whatever game they’re playing and the no hopers clinch it via making an upset. Who wouldn’t love such a good story like that? So it is somewhat familiar bells here when I started watching Kuusen Madoushi Kouhosei No Kyoukan. Only little difference is that this has a little harem genre in it. Hmm… Girls under his wing falling for their instructor? Well… Not that obvious. But you get the idea.

Episode 1
A group of Sky Wizards fighting against hordes of bug enemies. Kanata Age like the typical main protagonist hero he is, buys everyone time to escape while he destroys the enemies. Oh look. Here comes the big mother beetle now. Hey wait. You mean he isn’t going to take it down but he got owned???!!! This is a surprise. Now we move to Mistgun, the floating academy that trains Sky Wizards. We hear Chloe Sevegny reading to the Sky Wizards division leader, Freon Flamel a report from the losers of a team. Records so bad that you wonder how they made it in. We have Freon’s sister, Rico Flamel who is writing in a dramatic novel way and thinks she is some sort of reincarnated goddess whose beauty has everyone jealous. So she thinks. Then you have the shy and nervous girl, Lecty Eisenach who is probably one of those good natured kids who wants to fight to protect but you realize that a cat can even scare her. Finally, Misora Whitale is so bad that she has not registered a single win and is currently on an extreme losing streak! Amazing. Freon wants her to pick an instructor for them and turn those losers into winners. Kanata is on his way to see Freon when he bumps into Misora in the most cliché way. She is running late to school with a jam toast in her bread. He isn’t putting up that panicky reaction (despite his hands are on her boobs). Like as though he experienced it a million times. Since the bread falls on his crotch, she accuses him of being a pervert and all. So he needs to take responsibility now? Before she knows it, he is gone.

As he is washing up, he sees Rico vainly admiring herself at the glass mirror. She realizes he is watching and thinks he is fascinated by her beauty. Perasan! When she sees him only in his pants (he was washing up), she calls him a pervert as she thinks she is so hell of a beautiful that he couldn’t contain his horny lust. He mistakenly enters the female’s washroom. Lecty happen to go in when he is just about to go out. Shy girl thinks he is a pervert. What the hell is wrong with these girls?! He passes by Yuri Flostre who is still mad about him for being a traitor. Chloe cools things down. Kanata mentions he is purposely doing so because Yuri joined the team to be with him and must still be feeling hurt. As she is poor in controlling her emotions, this is the only way to vent it out. Is it? Chloe tells him she has struck a deal with him and he knows it is trouble with that kind of smile. Taken to see Freon, Kanata is told he will become an instructor for team Fireteam E601, the worse team ever. Why him? What about others? Fully booked. Besides, he is so free in helping out other divisions, so why not this? Whatever. Kanata agrees to take up the job. It seems Kanata’s traitor reputation is for real. Wherever he goes, others are afraid of him. But he just ignores them and continues his way. The losers of E601 are talking about their experience with a certain pervert today and speaking of which, here he comes in introducing himself and all. The first thing they do is take out their weapons. Sighs… Nobody listens to him…

Episode 2
As narrated, when the evil bugs known as Devil Beetles swarmed the land, humans are forced to live in the air. Kanata reads their stats and certainly it tells why they’re the lowest of the lowest. I mean, get this. The lowest grade is E and they can get assessed of F- in some areas! How is that even possible?! Misora will not be tutored by a traitor so this is a cue for us to know why he became so albeit a summarized format. When Kanata fought some Devil Beetles alone, he somehow managed to run home alive. Ever since then he became a coward in not fighting more Devil Beetles. He also refused to take part in important ranked matches and thus depriving his team to be promoted to higher ranks. However Kanata knows none of them has won a ranked match either. He lets them dream if they are trained by him, their skills will grow and defeat other higher ranked teams in no time. This sounds tempting especially Misora and Lecty starting to fantasize their ideals. However Rico will not be fooled. She believes as a goddess, she doesn’t need all this crap. Kanata has the ideal reply for that. Considering her data and how she doesn’t show her skills, it is possible she is ranked lower than Misora. A goddess, lower than human scum? No way. She’ll do it to show him.

Taking to the skies, the rule is simple. They can use their weapon and if they can manage to bring him down riding on this inefficient flying board, they win. Misora being the flustering hot headed one chases after him. She easily gets fooled by simple tactics. Kanata is impressed how Lecty approached him from behind without him sensing. However as they clash, he senses her inconsistency. Her skills are good but it is like as though she is lost and do not have faith in using them. Rico is waiting for the right moment to snipe Kanata. But he is swift to dodge her shot. It is because of trying to be accurate he managed to predict her and easily dodge it. At the end of the training, we are ‘rewarded’ with fanservice of the losers changing and in their undies. Rico continues to be cocky and pisses off Misora. And with such scenes, you must have the big boobs comparison to rile the other party. Sure, Rico is the biggest of them all but Misora can’t believe that Lecty is even bigger than hers! So are they going to kill each other in their underwear? And for some odd reason which I can only think of as silly and typical cliché, Kanata walks in to tell them about their next training. WTF. Did he do it on purpose? Did he not know this is a women’s changing room? Cue for the girls to raise their weapons and call him a pervert once more.

Episode 3
Rico refuses to join in the training. Kanata has the ideal training for the rest. Lecty is dressed as a maid and made to hand out flyers. Due to her shyness, the girls ignore her but the boys swarm over her! You can’t resist a maid! As for Misora, Kanata wants her to tail Rico and find out her weakness. As Rico passes by, Kanata hugs Misora to hide their cover. He accidentally got his hands on her boobs. Oops. Sorry. Didn’t notice it. Is he saying her boobs are so small that he didn’t notice them?! Quick, follow Rico or you’ll lose her. Misora fails in tailing since Rico can spot her from a mile. She lets her follow her for the day. This includes watching her buy boring philosophy books. There’s fun in pursuing the truth? What truth? Engineer Real Nua didn’t watch where he is going and bumps into Yuri, spilling the water over his crotch. It’s love at first sight for him. Lecty is done handing out the flyers and she’s got a little confidence now. But Kanata has another job for her. Since this cafe is short of workers, she is going to work here. Damn! Her shy personality is back and with the guys teasing her, she loses confidence and sits out. That is when she meets Misora as she hears her story. Agreeing to help her out, somehow the only other outfit is a Playboy bunny. That didn’t deter Misora as she goes on to serve the guys. Kanata’s pal, Lloyd Alwin has been watching Lecty so he advises her in using Misora as a role model. Lecty gets her confidence to be like Misora.

At the end of the day, Kanata sums up their training. Kanata knows about Lecty’s social anxiety because when they had their training battle, she couldn’t look at him in the eye. If she had done so, the fight would have been more interesting. With this maid job, she is able to help fix this problem. Kanata buys them ice cream as reward. Misora laments she has failed to find anything on Rico. She didn’t even know about Lecty’s condition until today. But as Kanata says, she has learnt she has much to learn and that itself is progress. Misora will tail Rico again but that isn’t necessary. The purpose of this training was to clarify what her weakness was. Misora is so mad that she dropped her ice cream. Wasted! Even the ice cream guy is crying! Back home, Kanata is analysing Misora’s magic reserves. It seems she has what it takes to be better than A-rankers but the magic cannon sword she wields makes it a waste of potential. Next day, he tells Misora she will be switching to another weapon to maximise her potential. However this only makes her more upset. She will never change her weapon even if it makes her stronger. She feels sad that she has mistaken him to be a decent instructor. Wait? Is she? I thought she only sees him as a pervert? She wants him to stop acting like he knows her and telling her what to do. Cue for emo girl to run away in tears.

Episode 4
Misora’s mom, Socie was one of the best Sky Wizards ever. Beautiful and popular, she took down an entire army of Devil Beetles and their big momma all by herself! And then she died. Misora has been absent from school a few days so Lecty is worried. She seeks Rico’s help but the goddess is cannot be concerned with mortal worries. So she is going to ask Kanata’s help instead. That irked you, Rico? Real is nervous in trying to give back Yuri’s handkerchief. Here she comes but she is being tsundere with Kanata who is just playing it cool. Heartbroken? Kanata goes to Misora’s house. Her dad, Gale runs a cafe and she is not pleased he is here and saw her in her maid outfit. She excuses herself. Kanata asks about Misora’s sword and it belongs to Socie. One day she went out on a mission and never came back. Ordinary people lost memories of her and photos of Socie are all that remained. Time for a flashback. Misora is such a cute adorable kid when she’s young. Mom is such a strong woman that she could toss her in the air long enough for her to have a little romantic time with Gale before catching her fall. But being the best Sky Wizard means she is a klutz around the house. She cooks steak for Misora every day (is this her way of making her strong?), floods the entire place while doing laundry and blows a hole in the wall while trying to clean the trash. Of course she is a little absent minded too because she forgot to seek permission one night when she took Misora out for a night flight and the authorities start chasing them down. Then one day when Socie didn’t come back the usual time, Misora feared the worst. It came true when nobody remembers who Socie is! Then the officers came in to relay the bad news. They gave the sword to Misora and that is when she vowed to use it and become a Sky Wizard just like her.

This frustration makes Misora fail even in her training. As Kanata has heard it all from Gale, he goes see her at her mom’s grave. He wants her to make a vow before her grave to give up wielding the sword. Not a chance. He asks her about the wishes of deceased Sky Wizards. To protect the people and even more, to protect the ones they love. Gale told Kanata that he lost all memories of Socie when she died. It still scares him if Misora dies, he will all memories of her too. Kanata is telling Misora if she remains stubborn, the risk of dying increases. She remains stubborn and wants to continue wielding this sword in hopes that it will make others remember Socie. Of course that has never happened before. This was just a test to see Misora’s resolve. Since she is that determined, Kanata will support her. The road ahead will be tough. So make a vow to her mom and that sword that she will become strong enough to protect everyone including herself. As her instructor, he will help carry her burdens. Misora goes apologize to Lecty for making her worry. Rico spying on Kanata has discovered this instructor has become quite the interesting person he is.

Episode 5
Kanata is gauging the team his girls will face next when Rico walks up to him and rubs it into his face about her godly beauty. He laughs and this brings back unwanted memories of how Rico could never catch up to her sister and was always taunted by other kids for claiming herself to be a goddess. When Misora and Lecty ask Rico to join them in training, again she refuses giving that goddess crap answer. Misora is about to get down on her knees to beg but Kanata won’t let her do that. He tells Misora he is going to teach her something that will be the key to their victory. Later, Real is being a stalker watching Yuri in action. Rico thought he was doing it to her and allows him to continue but it creep him out as he runs away! Kanata trains Misora to use Strike Blaster. She tries out after he demonstrates. Seems it takes a heavy toll on her body. She wonders why nothing happens to Kanata but when she takes a closer look, he is also reeling from the effect but is hiding it well. Kanata then trains Lecty who seems isn’t concentrating. She wonders if there is anything Kanata would give her like he did for Misora. Nil. The twin swords that were designed and perfected by her descendents have been drilled into her. All she needs to do is remember her training. As Rico watches, she wonders if she could grow under his guidance. She is shocked when he pops up behind her. He can guess that she has the ability to detect and see things from afar. Rico continues to explain why the Strike Blaster move will fail, blah, blah, blah. Kanata interjects that is Rico’s strength. Her ability to analyze and decision making are the key to victory. Wait. Wasn’t Misora the key to victory? Well, he didn’t say there was just 1 key. All of them are keys to victory. But he never forced her into training so how can he be sure she is the key to victory? Well, he was waiting for Misora and Lecty to catch up to her level. The line that seals it is when Kanata tells her if she wants to spend her life being called a loser or climb out of that zone. You decide. And so with her goddess pride still intact, Rico joins the rest in training. Now the girls are ready for their match. Of course their opponents look down on them but it will only be better for them because causing an upset will be a blast. Too bad the match is on hold when the red alert sounds. Devil Beetles are coming their way.

Episode 6
Kanata and his girls help in the evacuation. Oh look. Lecty found a lost little girl. Just great. The swarm has just arrived. Misora, fuelled by the passion of her late mom to protect everybody, manages to get a shot right. Hey, one bug down, millions more to go! But when she uses Strike Blaster, it destroys part of the city! It took out her dad’s cafe too. A bit too enthusiastic, isn’t she? After getting the little girl to safety, a higher level enemy bug is detected, Chimera Deneb. Hmm… Seems easily destroyed. What’s the catch? There are numerous of them considering the size of the Devil Beetles fleet. The only way to push back the swarm is to destroy all of them. Yuri is being negative. First she blames that traitor to run away first instead of helping to destroy the bugs. Thankfully Chloe and Lloyd continue to have faith in him. Just you wait and see. Kanata’s plan is for his girls to take down all the Chimeras. Don’t worry. All the training they have done has been for this moment to survive and protect even more people. He even guarantees it as their instructor! Well, you can’t lose if he puts it that way, no? The plan has Lecty taking on Devil Beetles with close combat, Rico doing long range business and Misora using her acceleration to approach the enemy and blast them away with Strike Blaster. Of course with the endless swarm coming in, don’t lose heart just yet. A beam almost takes out Misora but Kanata blocks the shot. Then popping up from the rubble of Devil Beetle corpses is a giant never-seen-before Chimera mother. So big and powerful that the city will be flattened if they don’t do anything soon. I guess this means a cue for Kanata to show what he’s got as he powers up and that single blast of his blasts the big mother out from Mistgun! Oh man! He collapses after using too much power. But don’t worry. He is still alive. He can’t be dying on his harem, can he? Real who is worried about Yuri continues to face unfortunate circumstances. A bug part drops before him… With Kanata believing his girls are ready to win ranked matches, our underdog team is beaming with confidence and Kanata the same when Yuri is here to check out his progress with the girls. Make sure you eat your words later. Who would have guessed… E601 lost!!! The losing streak continues… You were saying, Kanata? Lastly, Freon seems to have gotten permission to accelerate the Sky Wizards training programme with more realistic fights for their academy tournament.

Episode 7
E601 continues their training as usual. But even with simulated Devil Beetles made out of balloon, they’re having a hard time. Especially Rico is too busy admiring herself to help! Freon talks to Chloe and her team and confirms they did not destroy the new Chimera. As she heard it was Kanata, he said his girls were the one who took it down and in exchange they be let off the hook for destruction of public property. Of course she rejected this notion and is now considering disbanding E601 as punishment. This means firing Kanata. Yuri strongly supports this move as she feels a traitor is in no position to train others. There is also a Mistgun Tournament coming up whereby all teams with the exception of S-ranked are allowed to participate. Thanks to the tantalizing prizes, you can bet everybody is starting to win this tournament and bask in glory. Kanata is called to Freon’s office and is being told of his dismissal. He keeps his cool and isn’t cowed by this threat. Because everybody can think what they want about them. All he needs to prove are only to his girls. So he makes her a deal. If his team wins the tournament, everybody must acknowledge them. Of course the girls eavesdropped bits and pieces on this and it sends them into gloomy mode. Gloomy or not, they still have to continue their training. Freon brings Chloe and her team to a special building where a team of scientists and engineers experiment with Devil Beetle samples. She is doing so because Chloe is against the tournament as it only serves to agitate rivalries. Real is very pleased to meet them especially Yuri. But no time for chatter as Freon wants to show them the sample. It seems somebody picked up this Chimera part. It can regenerate infinitely. Think of the possibilities it can be used for medical science. But Freon’s concern is that with the enemy evolving, they do not have enough manpower for this and thus the need for the tournament. (Sorry Real, no time for you and Yuri to chat). Teams are picking out who they will face in the tournament bracket. Thankfully E601 got another fellow E-ranked. Kanata wonders why Yuri is here as she is S-ranked. I guess she is here to brag about her A-ranked team that she has become an instructor of. Due to the bracket, they will only face each other in the finals. Well, I guess you know what to do. Kanata makes a bet with Yuri that if she loses, she’ll join his team. Fine. She’s that confident of not losing, huh? Kanata’s girls hear for the first time about what the disbandment condition. Nothing to worry. All they have to do is win all their matches, right? They go all the way? They don’t even have that confidence.

Episode 8
Three years ago, Yuri watched Kanata’s D-ranked team that includes Chloe and Lloyd defeat an A-ranked team. She was impressed and since Kanata once helped her before and needs to repay the favour, he invited her to join them. Currently there is an assailant assaulting Sky Wizards so the S-ranked teams are to go on special patrol duty. Kanata somehow ‘ruined’ the conversation when he eavesdropped on this and starts teasing about Yuri’s personality. E601 is in training and it seems they are helter-skelter as Kanata has device a new formation. But Rico calmly analyzes the situation and then plays psychology to give out orders on how to fight the enemies effectively. Yuri’s A227 team is also here to take part in the training. Why do I feel that she just want to show off in Kanata’s face and demoralize his team? But he is nowhere near pushing the panic button. Even with this ambiguous answer that becoming a single fighting unit the answer will present itself, it is enough for Yuri to even worry. Then we have this ambiguous sex scene of Kanata and Rico. Head’s up: He’s just massaging her shoulders. What do you expect? After school, Kanata waits for Yuri and wants to have a word with her. His girls see this and Misora gets this ‘brilliant’ idea to tail him to find his weakness. Really? That’s the reason? Spying at them at the cafe, with Rico and Lecty deducing Kanata is trying to console his girlfriend who is currently in the slump with this date, this sends ringing alarm bells to Misora. Girlfriend. Date. Oh, the 2 most devastating words to her. Uh huh. How about losing her appetite for that? Kanata has read Yuri’s recent interview in a magazine that she is only interested in people who are stronger than her. In other words, the person she is interested now and the only one stronger than her is… Chloe! Without confirming or rejecting, Yuri gets straight to the point that Kanata should quit being an instructor to those losers. She hates those girls, doesn’t she? Yes she does. They don’t belong at this academy. In that case, Kanata points out he and Chloe would be the same too. Long ago, Chloe had trouble flying decently and was branded a failure. Didn’t know that, did you? Meanwhile Lloyd has discovered a pattern in the assailant’s attack. All victims are males using melee weapons. With the first victim being E-ranked, followed by D-ranked and the recent one C-ranked, guess who is next? True enough, some B-ranked dude gets beaten up and the assailant is disappointed this is all he’s got. I know we can guess who this mysterious attacker is but instead of leaving it to the future episodes to be announced, they unveil him as Real. Not surprised. He is obsessed that he will become stronger and win Yuri’s heart.

Episode 9
Lecty talks to Kanata about some of the new training methods he came up for them. It’s good to have some variety but she thinks this is not helping Misora at all. So how does Kanata solve this? Oh dear. It’s that maid job again! I guess this will always happen if she starts having low confidence. Continuing their battle training, Lecty who is now positioned as the rear guard as opposed to the vanguard position that she always played, has opened her eyes and understands why this position is as important as any other. It makes her realize what it is to be a team. Kanata passes her and pats her head. Why does Misora looked so worried? So she ‘complains’ to Mr Instructor that she is being left behind. She won’t be getting stronger at this rate. His answer for teamwork improvement? The girls have to clean this dirty room together! Oh Kanata! Meanwhile an A-ranked Sky Wizard is seen hospitalized. Now all that’s left is… Kanata sees Yuri and again teases her. We just love to see her flustering personality, no? They talk about how Kanata made her switch from using a sword to spear because of some bad habit. He notes her stubbornness has gotten her this far since there was not much he could teach her in the first place then. Although she still remembers his non-battle lesson of never giving up, there is still one last thing he needs to teach her and as long as she has that, she’ll be fine without him. Why is he doing this? Because she is his precious… Oh great. The assailant is here to ruin it all. Yuri thinks she can handle this all by herself but he is too fast and quickly falls back to her bad habits. Then he uses some advanced wind slashing move on her. This is his way of giving his love? WTF?! Aren’t you hurting her? Weren’t you going to cut off her head with that move?! Till Kanata steps in and show who’s boss. After being lectured that speed is all he’s got, the assailant calls it a day. But he leaves Yuri with a parting gift. A punch in the gut???!!! WTF???!!! This guy is really twisted in his love. Back in his room, Real is cursing that Kanata always gets in his way. He hears voices in his head to use the power to grant his wish. E601 has finished cleaning the room. And Kanata has the guts to bring back an unconscious and clothes all messed up Yuri to them. As expected, they accuse him of the beast he is. He knew this was coming anyway. Is he trying to provoke something in his harem?

Episode 10
Kanata’s reason of bringing Yuri to their room: Can’t be brining her back to his, right? You can’t blame her for screaming her head off when she finds she is totally naked. Although the girls undressed her, Kanata unfortunately saw a bit of her skin. He makes the right choice by running away. The girls chat with each other as Yuri finds out they are living together here as instructed by Kanata. They seem to be ‘getting along’ fine with their conversation till Kanata returns to hand Yuri a good luck charm he got from the creampuff vendor. Why? Because he cares for her. How can he say that with a straight face? Why not? Better than beating around the bush. Yuri thanks them for the hospitality but still fires a warning shot that the next time they meet in the tournament, it will be the end of them. We’ll see about that. The girls start their first night together by cooking and because Lecty and Rico are quite good, this makes Misora feel she is useless. When the heater machine isn’t working, Misora thought she could use some brute magic force to fix it but you know, things like that always end up making it worse. Then in the public bath, when they ‘compliment’ her brawns, Misora took it as an insult and lashes out at them like as though they don’t care about winning before realizing she overstepped her boundaries. Now it is all gloom and doom for her so leave it to Kanata to give her some words of encouragement. So when it is their turn to fight in the tournament, Misora rushes in thinking she needs to be strong to protect her team but got owned. Her teammates come to her rescue and continue fighting in her stead. Misora takes a good look at her surroundings and remembers Kanata’s words and those of her pals. What she really needs is the trust of her friends. Believe in them. She gets her confidence back and fires her Strike Blaster to take out her enemies all at once. That’s right. They win. Sorry, Freon. Looks like your hopes of disbanding this loser team and that traitor will have to wait. Oh, and Real is getting crazier as he injects himself with some enhancement serum to get his eternal love for Yuri.

Episode 11
Freon thought they just got lucky and they’ll lose in the next round. Wow. They must be pretty damn lucky to reach the finals, eh?! I think Freon puts up some insurance by announcing in the article about E601’s disbandment so Kanata won’t make up excuses to get out of it. E601 trains hard on the night before their final match, reminiscing times with Kanata (especially the first time they met the ‘pervert’). On the day of the finals, the stadium is jam packed and there are also live cameras. Nervous? Just when it looked like the entire crowd supports A227, at least there is a team that lost to them supports E601. And so the match begins but the crowd is left wondering how boring it is since E601 keeps running away. There is a clear difference between their abilities. If this was a paid match, I’m sure they’ll be shouting for their money back. I guess when you’re this confident, Yuri starts being the commentator why her team will win as well as her joy to see his schemes crushed. The tables are turned when Misora makes a feign Strike Blaster move and this irks her counterpart. Now that she feels insulted, she can’t think clearly and will overreact. Kanata who has been quiet all the time, it’s his turn to be the commentator. In the end, Misora catches the enemy by surprise and blasts them out with Strike Blaster. It should have been a happy ending for this big upset win if not for somebody hijacking the system and announcing everyone to take shelter as there is an incoming air raid. As the spectators rush out and the stadium locked down, it is deduced somebody is trying to clear the stadium. No prizes for guessing that Real is the one behind this. He is going to claim his love since he is now the strongest. So he believes. You think Yuri wants to make love to this creepy guy? Kanata gets in the way yet again. However he gets injured in the short bout. Yuri tries to attack him but her sword got broken. That kind of face, you want to make love with this girl? Look how petrified her face is! Thankfully he is yet again interrupted. This time by Misora’s Strike Blaster. Actually she wanted to fire a warning shot but overpowered it. Any normal human would have died. That’s right. Real is no ordinary human so to say.

Episode 12
Real’s skin now transforms into that of a Devil Beetle. His insanity increases as he grabs Yuri all in the name of love. When he disposes of E601, this makes Kanata mad. His dark aura is now visible. Real recognizes this aura that he has been chosen by the Devil Beetles. Kanata sympathizes that he fell victim to those whispers. Real reveals that this aura means the Devil Beetles have acknowledged his power and this is some sort of blessing from them. This is perhaps the reason why Kanata have gone rogue because imagine what will happen if the public finds out that he has been blessed by the enemy. While being distracted to kill Kanata, E601 returns to free Kanata and Yuri. However Real’s body can regenerate. He targets Yuri but Kanata uses his body to protect her and get stabbed. Now isn’t the time to be sad or get mad. E601 maintains their cool and calm thinking. They still haven’t forgotten about Kanata’s lesson to never give up. Despite throwing all they’ve got, he is still invincible. However Kanata isn’t panicking because this is all part of the plan to make him think they’re weak and he’ll let his guard down. When Real again targets Yuri, she stabs him with her spear. Not just any ordinary spear. With a few mumbo-jumbo lines, this spear has the ultimate technology to fight Chimera. His body takes some permanent damage. Yuri offers an olive branch to him to stop. But since he won’t and is going to target and kill Kanata, she knew this would happen and throws her spear at him. Thank goodness he is down for good this time. In the aftermath, it is officially stated that a student under stress was the cause of the bombing. Kanata refuses to take any credit and instead insists Yuri was the one who defeated Real. Before you start harping Freon as a b*tch for not going to honour her words of promoting E601 to C-rank, it is because this was enough just to cancel their debts of destroying the city and stuffs. What about the other cool prizes? You mean this junk? Well… It was destroyed during the mayhem. I guess the only thing they really got is the crystal prize. The girls lament their hard work was for nothing but Kanata congratulates them for working hard and winning the tournament. And if you remember, there is one more promise to make good of. Kanata introduces their new member: Yuri. She’ll be joining them in training as of today. Kanata snatches her cake she intended for celebration. He opens it and realizes too late why she wanted to celebrate alone. It has the big words “I love you” printed on it. Gee… This has Kanata remember which one of them she loves. Oh you silly. Couldn’t you guess? Now you made her run out in embarrassment.

How To Train Your Winning Harem
I wonder if calling this show mediocre would be too much. Maybe average would sound a lot better and not that offending since it isn’t that good nor it isn’t that bad in the first place. Hey. Did I not tell you? I wasn’t putting a lot of high hopes and expectations for this series so that is why when it ended, I didn’t really feel the pain of disappointment. I mean, when you have watched so many animes that are somewhat similar to this, the characters, the plot, the direction and the ending are somewhat predictable. Not to say that I predicted 100% what was going to happen in the end but my guesses were not far off the mark. So how can you not be disappointed if you put up high expectations in the first place? That is why despite this although isn’t an anime that sucks, it is still pretty decent in terms of ‘entertainment’ value. Yeah…

The characters themselves feel shallow, weak and very clichéd. Our main guy and his harem girls have some sort of troubled pasts and I am not sure whether it is a good thing or not it is not expanded and focused on too much because the most that was focused on was just Misora. We get some melodrama about why she so wanna become like her blah, blah, blah but eventually like any hero will tell you, you can’t be that person except to be yourself. Yeah, I think I get it. For the rest it was just unimportant like Lecty and her family background (maybe she has no issues with them, at least not that we know of) or the severity of Rico’s chuunibyou syndrome. Yes, people. People at her age acting and believing like as though they are really some goddess reincarnate is as good as being classified as chuunibyou in society. It’s a reason for her to be stuck up and not dirty her hands. And as predicted, E601 who started as troublemakers and do not trust their instructor eventually believe in him naturally. It’s just sad that it didn’t sort of evolve into an obvious harem. Maybe Misora has got more responsibilities to think as a team leader, Lecty because she is shy, would any goddess go so low as to claim they’ve fallen in love with a mere mortal (looking at you, Rico) and Yuri is just being a tsundere. And there you have it. Such an interesting bunch, don’t you think? Yeah… When can the harem cat fight begin?

Even Kanata’s reason of why he became a traitor in the eyes of the public, his penchant of never wanting to take any sort of credit and his habit of saying “Didn’t I tell you?” when he has never said it in the first place are all the reasons why he as a main character feels weak and shallow. Despite being briefly stated in the final scenes about why he is so and that mysterious dark aura of his, it feels like it was just so as to quickly close and cover up the case for those of you who are still thinking and remembering those ‘loose ends’. And then they just chuck it away never to be heard of again like as though everyone has forgotten about it since there is not much time life. Because all is well, ends well. I mean, the girls clearly heard about Real’s revelation about Kanata’s mysterious power. Aren’t they curious enough to badger him for answers? I believe they’re not the kind who just easily gives up, right? I mean, remember Kanata’s teaching? Never give up! Or is it that their heart is not ready to learn the truth and thus they just stalled asking that question for the time being? And like any other similar series, being status quo is always the best, no? Yeah…

A very funny thing I find is that after a few episodes, I began to see how similar the main characters here to the ones in Seiken Tsukai No World Break. At least on the general aspect. Kanata and Moroha are both male protagonists of a harem and wield sort of mysterious power. The harem girls are even more strikingly similar. Noticed how that both sides have got a red head that flusters a lot? Sometimes I want to say Misora and Satsuki are long lost sisters separated by a different anime. What about the long dark haired beauty that does not portray as much emotional outburst but cool and calm? I wouldn’t go so far as to label Rico and Shizuno as clones since there are some other differences but at first glance they look pretty similar. Then there is the petite blonde. Lecty may not be a loli like Maya but she is the smallest size among the girls so in a way they are pretty similar to each other. Then there’s the outsider tsundere in which we know as Yuri here and Angela the maid in the other. Bizarre, right? Even stranger is the fact that both animes are although created by different authors but are animated by the same studio, Diomedea. Ah, maybe that is why I can see a very familiar artwork pattern here.

Other characters… Meh. Chloe and Lloyd fall under the category of nice, cheerful and helpful friends despite not doing much in this season. Even though they back up Kanata at times but even that I feel their presence could have been unneeded because you know, Kanata will eventually handle it himself. Yeah, just believe in him. That’s what best friends are for, no? I guess the duo being the top brass of the S-rank class means not much needed screen time either. At least Lloyd doesn’t fall into the pitfall of being ‘the other loser guy’ just to make our main guy look good. Freon is working up her way as being the b*tch boss with her grudge against Kanata and E601, finding ways to bring them down. Well, it is not like she is always on scene to see Kanata and his girls do the awesomeness in saving the world. What you don’t see, you won’t know. It is even hard to think that she is related to Rico. Maybe in a way she still cares for her and perhaps with her big sisterly pride in a way, she always uses Chloe to report on Rico’s progress instead of checking it out herself.

Real fails as an antagonist despite you can see his lowly character building up to be one since his first appearance. The way he spams his love for Yuri makes it irritating maybe it is because the producers intended it so. So instead of giving her flowers or chocolates, this guy uses unholy powers to beat up other people? Is that a way to a girl’s heart? Can’t blame him entirely. Yuri’s tsundere personality and ambiguity about liking the strongest guy would make unstable douchebags like Real go crazy misinterpreting everything. Thank goodness there are no social media sites in this world setting. Otherwise who knows what this guy could have done by being a social media stalker. No, really. I wonder what happened to that bug part in his room. Was it confiscated? Even in the end, this guy was shown some sympathy. Because Yuri sent him even flowers to his hospital bed, you can see him break down with all that freaking regret.

Action bits are just okay and aren’t that exciting. Despite Kanata training E601 in various techniques, I don’t really see how different they are. Maybe it is because I’m not paying attention. Thus we always have Lecty doing the close up melee fighting with her twin daggers, Rico positioned as the sniper for long range attacks and finally Misora having enough time to power up her sword and do Strike Blaster. It is usually among this line if you expect the girls to see victory at the end of it. Although the tournament is brief and cut out all the other ‘unimportant’ teams that we couldn’t care less, at least they didn’t skip E601’s final like some shows would. At least they also let them finish and win their match unlike some shows that interrupt in the middle so there would be no clear winner. Thanks Real, for holding in your lust and at least waiting till the end before trying to show off your fail big baddie character before being whoop assed. And the fights with the Devil Beetles are so minimal and short, you might think it is just a short distraction from whatever we have going on now.

And of course, you can’t do away with the fanservice. Just a handful of scenes of E601 in their undies in the changing room and other shenanigans that women can only say or do among themselves there. They teased us with Kanata getting into ambiguous scenes when he first met his would-be trainees and thought this would set the tone of the fanservice for the rest of the series because when you become an instructor for such cute girls, is it not tempting to have fanservice bloopers? Guess not. Well, in a way good thing it did not otherwise it would have diluted this already average series. Yeah… Average… Then they should have more scenes of Lecty and Misora in maid outfit and Rico could be elevated into a higher goddess status if she joins the maid duty. Really. But I can’t help think if there is a hentai version of this series, Kanata would be training his girls for bed instead! Holy sh*t! Did I just think about that?!

Art and drawing feel pretty decent for this kind of anime genre. As mentioned earlier, Diomedea did this series so you might find a handful of similarities in their other similar themed animes like Seiken Tsukai No World Break, Campione and Juuou Mujin No Fafnir. Character designs feel average. The worst design goes to the Devil Beetles or other bugs. It feels like because they don’t make much impression and rarely appear as the whipping boy antagonist, it is as though it is okay to give them a poorly designed figure. Boring. Looking better are some of the high tech and fantasy-like weapons that the teams carry especially our E601 girls. But the artwork that is even more refreshing to see is the mid-intermission. Instead of falling back on the typical fanservice poses, what we see here are the different skies! I believe they are hand drawn and they look gorgeous and beautiful despite just the empty blue sky with some clouds and on occasion a stormy weather. Nevertheless, it is cool to see something different once in a while.

It’s that familiar voice again. Lately I’ve been hearing Yoshitsugu Matsuoka in many recent animes I have watching. Not to say it is a bad thing but it made me go, “Oh, it is this guy again”. So as Kanata, another typical male hero lead like his other past works. Godou in Campione, Arata in Trinity Seven, Kirito in Sword Art Online, Yuu in Juou Mujin No Fafnir… Need I go on? Oddly, discovering Iori Nomizu as Rico threw me off a little. Not to say that I could recognize her voice but hearing her voice squeaky pitched bratty characters like Nymph from Sora No Otoshimono and Haruna and Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka, I would never suspect her to voice a character with a lower voice. And the rest of the casts include Nozomi Yamamoto as Misora (Julie in Absolute Duo), Nao Touyama as Lecty (Chitoge in Nisekoi), Risa Taneda as Yuri (Yukina in Strike The Blood), Saeko Zougou as Freon (Shiori in Date A Live II), Yuki Yamada as Chloe (Shiena in Akuma No Riddle), Tetsuya Kakihara as Lloyd (Natsu in Fairy Tail) and Hiroki Yasumoto as Real (Sado in Bleach).

This is another one of my past stereotypes. Long ago, Iori Nomizu was one of those whom I believed couldn’t really sing. Or so I thought. At least many of the anime songs I heard her, it sounded so out of tune that it wasn’t just suitable. Maybe over the years she has gotten better. So that is why I was also surprised to find out that she sings the opening theme, D.O.B. and this rock paced outfit isn’t actually that bad. Surprise, surprise. La La Larks sings the ending theme, Hallelujah which pretty much feels like a moderate dance beat thanks to the heavy bass beat. Perhaps it is my sound system because I could feel the vibration of the bass on my floor. Really. Like in every other anime, there are a handful of BGM soundtracks. While this one like those many, does not have soundtracks that stand out, however there is one that had me raised a little smile. There is this track that sounds like a hillbilly country tune! Each time this comical banjo tune is played, I can’t help go “Yeehaw!!!!” and do an air rodeo or something. Funny indeed.

Overall, another one of those average animes that won’t become a masterpiece anywhere in time. Still a lot of materials and potential if you go ahead to read the light novel instead of waiting for another season for adaptation. They say two wrongs don’t make a right. Obviously they don’t know maths because two negatives become a positive, right? And so in the case of this anime where you take a fallen hero and a bunch of losers, they work together and train hard to usurp everybody else just because everybody looks down at them. That’s a lesson in life that we could at least learn from this anime. Always give others a chance. And maybe a second chance. After all, they are still humans just like you and me. Do we need a reminder who the real enemy is? In that case, back to more training. Can I request for a pretty maid instructor then? Pretty please?

Get ready for another romantic comedy harem anime. So typical. Your single lead male protagonist living the normal life. So typical. A group of girls who are quite interested with him and some even having perverted delusions to go as far as to make him hers and stay a step of the rest but of course that will never happen. So typical. Each girl in the harem has one of those cliché traits. The tsundere. The cool beauty. The loli. The tomboy. The brute. So typical. This kid is such a good guy that he helps out anybody in need without suspecting anything for a second. How typical. This is the daily life of their antics as they try to catch his attention. Typical enough. But wait. There’s a catch. What if all those harem girls aren’t just ordinary girls. What if they are monsters from folklores! Yikes! What kind of horror harem is this?! I know throughout the seasons of animes, it is uncommon that sometimes there is a non-human girl getting mixed up in the harem and even so ‘not that serious’. But this one has got to be the ultimate because each girl is some sort of an obvious monster.

That my friend is what this anime, Monster Musume No Iru Nichijou is all about. You take the romantic comedy harem genre and replace the ordinary human girls with monsters like Lamia, Centaur and Harpy. Oh man. What kind of sick guy would actually love being around monster babes? Is he some sort of monster freak? I mean, does it even work? Well, despite their physical monstrous outlook, they are all still girls deep down inside their hearts, right? And so we will get to see how this guy lives out his ordinary life (which isn’t anymore considering how monster girls being part of your life isn’t anything ordinary) with his monster harem and all the antics, fallacies and issues they face going about their daily lives. Yeah, I’m sure you must be curious. How do you make love with a monster anyway?

Episode 1
It’s nice to have your girlfriend warm you up in the morning. Unless your girlfriend is a Lamia! It’s that bone crushing feeling when Miia has her giant snake tail wrapped around Kimihito Kurusu. He thought her weakness is rubbing her tail end but guess who wins at the end of this ‘endurance match’? Then he got her morning bath ready and she’s still trying to flirt with him with her snake tail. Lucky this guy can control himself so nothing untoward happened. As explained, thanks to some bill passed 3 years ago, monster species can now safely experience cultural exchange in Japan. Uh huh. Japan has lots of cute monster girls running around if I should say. How did Kimihito got into this predicament? As the exchange agent, Smith explains she brought Miia here as part of the home stay programme although clearly it was the wrong house. Conveniently Smith doesn’t remember that mistake. Thankfully or not, his parents are overseas at the moment. Smith is also acting as his guardian since part of the exchange law says that these species cannot be harmed in any way. This includes having sex! This is the worst of all the crimes and could even arise to diplomatic issues! So if you horny guys ever cross the line, you will be arrested and she deported to her homeland. You wonder if Smith is being a devil teasing Kimihito about how sexy Miia is but at the same time she is like flirting with him. This irks Miia as she grabs Kimihito by his neck. With her tail. Thank God he didn’t die from the whiplash. It’s amazing how much this guy has withstood. Miia is so grateful that he is the first human who accepted her, she doesn’t mind giving him her first time. You might think Kimihito is gay since he refused her but actually his shoulder got dislocated thanks to her stranglehold. Nothing that Smith could fix back in a jiffy.

Despite it is Smith’s job, Kimihito is tasked to take Miia out on a ‘date’ in town. They had lots of fun and there is even a store to accommodate for monsters. The lingerie store. I don’t even want to know… The ironic thing is how Miia is teasing and boldly asking Kimihito things about the bra that he knows nuts of but when he accidentally gets hold of a strange triangular shaped thingy, she gets embarrassed since that is her panties and calls him a pervert! In the streets, a couple of punks start taunting this strange relationship. Miia is going to beat them up but Kimihito bears the smack. He reminds her of the law that if they hurt humans too, it will be over for them. A crowd builds up as they started taking pictures of this odd couple. Try going somewhere private. Somehow they end up in a love hotel! Oh no. Things are getting steamy. Miia strips naked to show him she is defenceless and won’t do anything if she hurts her. Before you can wonder how sex with a Lamia would look like, a unit of SWAT team barges in! Holy sh*t! Almost caught with pants down? Led by Smith, they got a tip-off from Twitter about this illegal activity. As they exit, the same punk couple sees them and starts taunting about this. Miia couldn’t contain her anger but it is Kimihito that lands his super punch on them. Oh, he’s mad alright. Back home, Miia wants to show her gratefulness by having sex with him but that is abruptly put to a stop when Smith checks on them. Kimihito is forced to cook her dinner since he helped settle that incident out of court. Yeah, this guy sure has it rough.

Episode 2
It could have been a beautiful normal morning had not a Harpy kidnaps Kimihito! It seems Papi doesn’t want to be alone and thus her reason in kidnapping him. It gets troublesome when the birdbrain gets amnesiac after taking 3 steps. He treats her to ice cream but because she cannot hold it, she drops them. He feeds her but this looks like an ambiguous sucking scene! The crowd is watching… Shamelessly, Papi bathes herself naked in the public fountain. Miia then finds them and she is furious. Actually she is jealous that she wanted to be the first one to elope with her darling. The monster girls are about to fight but nobody is watching because they are more concerned of a little girl stuck up a tree. Papi could have saved the day but her wings are wet. Miia creeps up the tree but this only freaks the little girl out. Luckily Papi catches her but since her wings are still heavy, Kimihito breaks their fall. When all is done, the policeman is suspicious of them so Kimihito announces that both are staying under him. Okay then. Show me the documents. Oops. Where is Smith when you need her? Ah, here she is. With the proper documents and all. Back home as explained, Papi is a serial runaway. Since she has trouble finding a proper host, guess who gets the job now? I have a feeling Papi won’t run away anymore. Miia thought she can relax when Papi is alone with Kimihito since she is just a kid. However Smith explains Papi is the same age with her and her small body size is because of her species to take advantage of flight. Instantly Miia extracts Kimihito away from her and from now on, she’ll keep watch on her. This includes drilling into her head not to touch her darling because he belongs to her and only her. Did birdbrain get it?

Kimihito drags his feet to do morning errands when something crashed into him! It is a Centaur, Centorea Shianus! Wait… Sh*t-anus?! WTF?! She wonders if he is destined to be her master. Calling Smith for clarification, she mentions Centaurs have a tradition of finding their own masters but since today is her day off, she wants him to take care of her. Yeah, dump things on him as always. Nearby, a snatch thief snatches a woman’s purse. Centorea wants to pursue and beat him up but thanks to the law the reason she needs a human. Kimihito thought he could ride her like a horse but she finds it embarrassing and kicks him off. Only her master can do that. So how? He has to cling on her tummy while she gallops the whole way! Because of the high speed chase, he can’t help grab on to her boobs. This makes it awkward for Centorea. Then he accidentally rips her shirt. Ironically, the exposed tits cause the thief to crash. Centorea also crashes since she is ‘frozen’ after the indecency. The thief picks up her dropped sword and is about to slash her for revenge but Kimihito takes the strike! OMG! Is he dead?! Luckily, that is just a toy sword (the law says you can’t walk around carrying real weapons). After the thief is apprehended, Smith learns that Kimihito attempted to ride Centorea. Since only masters can do that, from a Centaur’s perspective this is equivalent to rape! Immediately he goes to apologize but surprisingly Centorea is the one who starts apologizing for dragging him into this. She asks him to become her master as she swears her lifelong loyalty to him. And what do you know? Miia is not too please he got another monster girlfriend. Since when Cerea (Centorea’s nickname) becomes the master of this house?

Episode 3
The fight for Kimihito’s hand in marriage begins! Miia tries to lay down the law rules but I think what she really wants is to add her own that since she is the longest with him, Kimihito totally belongs to her. As the snake and horse argue, Papi burns out from trying to read the law. Kimihito prepares bath for her and since she has no proper hands, I guess he has to put on her swimsuit for her. I think he needs to cool down too. Before Papi can get more aggressive on him, Cerea steals him and gallops out of the house. At the park, she blushingly asks for him to hold hands. The moment is ruined when the other monster girls find them. I didn’t know there was some boobs smothering contest to prove their point. Since it has come to this, they’re going to get physical to settle the score. Smith is passing by and sees this. She shoots her tranquilizers but it hits Kimihito who somewhat came in between to stop the fight. Is this guy unlucky or what? The girls are sorry but Kimihito doesn’t blame them since this was Smith’s fault and that they’re family. This gives Smith an idea. She tells him recently there is a change in the bill where it would allow humans to marry another species. This is to test how far the interspecies relationship will go. She wants him to choose which he will marry. So I guess that sex violation thingy is done for, eh?

That very night as Kimihito laments about this, Miia comes into his room worried. Since he brushes off what’s bugging him, she starts seducing him but Kimihito can tell tonight is different. Miia is serious! Papi crashes through the window, knocking out Miia. It’s her turn to get serious in mating with him. Even a birdbrain like her knows what sex is. Then Cerea crashes through the door, knocking out Papi. Thankfully she is still sane. She warns him that tonight’s full moon is the reason why they are going berserk. And then she loses the plot as she also goes sex crazy. Nightmare blows up when all monster girls tussle with their brute strength over him. At this rate it will be a funeral before a wedding! Kimihito escapes. He gets a call from Smith who forgot to tell him about the full moon effect. Too late. She asks him if he has decided on one of them. Or has he even discussed his future plans with them. Because he ran and hid in his room, it is the main reason why they’re acting like that. For the time being, he needs to cool them down. Well, I didn’t think she would mean it literally because, ice from the refrigerator? The monster girls have found him. They accidentally smack him. OMG! It’s all bloody! Did they kill him? Thank goodness. Just tomato ketchup. Then the girls lost it… The scene cuts to a calm morning. Like it is the aftermath of a hangover. They are shocked to see him covered in bandages. I can imagine the hell last night. Well, thank goodness he is one tough cookie. He asserts this happened because he was indecisive. Now he has decided. He is going to date all of them as potential marriage partners. Hooray! Happy harem ending. Typical indecisive harem guy route.

Episode 4
Something is wrong with the dinner. Some slime almost suffocates Miia! As explained by Cerea, there are many species that are still unknown to humans and slimes are one of them. The slime attacks them again and since they’re sticky, Kimihito and Cerea take a bath. A little fanservice of a guy trying to clean a horse but she isn’t your ordinary horse so you just can’t clean her anywhere as you please. Cerea thinks the slime’s attack was because it was looking for water. Don’t look up now because something is hanging on the ceiling! Cerea instinctively grabs her sword but it is Kimihito’s ‘sword’. This embarrassment causes her to slip and pass out. The slime grabs him. Is he going to be eaten? Surprisingly it turns into a humanoid female form and then starts seducing him. Kimihito recognizes the things she is doing to him are like what the rest did to him. Is she trying to mimic them? Is this her form of communication? Kimihito is in danger of drowning inside her watery boobs so he takes a gamble by diving into the bath. Thankfully it worked because water diluted her. They discuss about slime girl and Cerea has never seen one taking humanoid form. They are surprised to see her getting along well with Papi. Oh, she takes the liberty to call slime girl, Suu. She might be a little annoying as her body tends to absorb or make things sticky. Besides, she can’t run around naked so Kimihito suggests she wears a raincoat. They fear she might have come here through improper channels and might be an illegal. If so, she might be captured and imprisoned. Cerea thinks they should hand her over to Smith soon.

Soon, Papi flies away with Suu as Kimihito gives chase. Suu panics over the river as Papi drops her (on Kimihito). Seems Papi overheard their conversation and feared Suu will be arrested and ran away with her. A bunch of kids come by. They know Papi as they always play with her. Today is no different. As they play water guns, Suu observes and mimics. She absorbs some water to make her breasts big (boys, line up for some ultimate slimy boobs smothering) and then blasts them with her water. I guess they had too much fun that the play spilled across the road and a reckless driver happened to be in their path. Suu uses her body to protect the little girl. No injuries whatsoever. However the wall collapses. Suu falls down but Papi grabs her hand. She cannot hold any much longer and slips. Suu’s last words were thank you. Thankfully Kimihito drove that reckless driver’s truck underneath the bridge to catch her (how the f*ck did he do all that so fast?). He thought he is going to get an emotional hug from Papi but she went for Suu instead. Insulted? After all this time it was him she flew to and now her new best friend? Kimihito calls home to tell the rest that he is going to let Suu stay for the time being and teach her common sense. Just think of her as a little girl. All that’s left is for Smith not to find out about this but when they reach home, there she is.

Episode 5
Miia initiates an emergency meeting on how to tackle Smith when suddenly contractors barge in to tear down the place. However it seems they are making extensions and adding extra rooms. During that misunderstanding, the monster girls escape to the park where they have to further hide since they think MIBs are looking for them. Suu then starts ‘raping’ Papi since she is dehydrated. Because Cerea broke the public tap and got wet, she became the next rape victim. When Kimihito is looking for the girls, a gothic girl in a wheelchair, Meroune Lorelei AKA Mero crashes into him. I guess those boobs didn’t work as airbags. Mero knows who he is looking for since she saw those girls passed her. When they arrive at the park, they see Miia facing off with Suu. Miia is distracted when she sees Kimihito and this allows Suu to rape her. Now Suu targets Mero but Kimihito quickly ties her up in a plastic bag. When they return home, the renovations are already done. Seems Smith has had too much on her job and paid too little so she’s going to close an eye on this slime girl. So the extra rooms and pool room is not for Suu? They’re actually for Mero who is a mermaid. Yup. This guy is going to be her host family again. This means Miia has become ultimate paranoia suspecting this mermaid in trying to steal her darling. Because she accidentally breaks her wheelchair, Kimihito has to carry her around and since her body is oozing with mucus that keeps her damp, there are going to be a few nip slip incidents.

More paranoia as Miia tries to stay a step ahead by sabotaging them but it only backfires. As Mero seems to be asking if Kimihito has a girlfriend, they wonder if she is actually interested in him (which monster girl wouldn’t?). She explains of the Little Mermaid fairytale that she loves and has always adored such tragic romances. So when Miia asserts she will not let Mero take her darling away from her, oddly she suspiciously confirms she will not be doing that. Miia thinks of defeating Mero at her own game as she dresses up in her swimsuit to join them at the pool. Suddenly it looked like Mero is pushing Kimihito into the pool. Miia thinks she has shown her true colours and dives in. However the pool is deep and the temperature is dropping. Miia soon passes out. When she comes to, she is pulled out by them of the water. Actually Suu ‘attacked’ them for some moisture and knocked them into the pool. In the end, Miia apologizes to Mero for being rude the whole time and admits she was jealous. But when she declares she will be the one to marry Kimihito, Mero assures that was never her intention all along. As she loves the tragedy in Little Mermaid, she promises not to get in her way and supports Miia (and the rest) to end up with him. Mero’s wish is to offer her master a love that will never come to fruition just like in the fairytale. Hope she doesn’t mind a little infidelity from time to time.

Episode 6
Miia tries her hand at cooking as training to become Kimihito’s bride. However she’s so bad at it that she burnt herself. Thank goodness she didn’t burn the house down. As she hides gloomily in her room, there is something else she wants to hide from him. Too late. Kimihito discovers she is shedding skin and with her hands like that she cannot tear them off properly. I guess he has to help with it, huh? Whether you call this erotic or not, it is going to be seriously torture for him. Miia giving out those ambiguous moaning sounds that would make everyone think they’re doing something kinky. You thought getting the shed skin off the tip of her tail was bad enough, wait till he needs to help take off near her pubic area since it must be done correctly or else it would leave her itchy and such. Are you turned on or having goosebumps? And so the battle for him to remove it blindfolded proves to be quite a big challenge. I hope he rips it off first before he gets ripped apart. Then possible the worst move ever. He mistakenly inserts his hand into her… Ugh… I don’t want to say it… You can guess what happens to him. I’m not sure if this is the deep grudge of a woman or just gratitude as Miia claims because now that he is bandaged up and can’t move, she cooks her poison meals to feed him! Oh sh*t! He has always been so close to death! Now, the reason why you don’t see the other monster girls is because they were knocked out for being guinea pigs in testing her cooking. Let’s say Kimihito became a statistic.

When Papi says she is going to lay an egg, Kimihito gets beaten up for being prime suspect number one as the guy who fertilized it. Please don’t jump the gun. He didn’t do it. Papi did have one before but this is the first time in this world. Suddenly a suspicious creepy dude, Kasegi who claims he is a film director here to film Papi’s egg laying. Everyone has no choice but to let him in since he claims this is part of the interspecies exchange programme. So while they wait for Papi to lay, he goes around filming the other girls’ rooms. He is bold to ask perverted questions as he claims this is all part of the programme. When he sees Miia’s shed skin, he wants to take it. Although embarrassed Miia won’t allow him, he assures her of donating them to the research facility and this may help lead her to marry her darling. That sure convinced her. When it’s time for Papi to lay, Kasegi has Kimihito help her out. Kasegi notes to himself how this footage as well as the Harpy’s egg and Lamia’s skin will fetch a very high price in the black market. But his plans has been seen through or rather heard out because Suu is able to read his thoughts. Now that everyone knows his true colours, they’re not going to let him get away. However the girls can’t hurt him thanks to the law. Kimihito does this cool move. He throws this mini Harpy egg at him and while he is so engrossed in catching it, Kimihito punches him right in the face! That was just an egg from the supermarket. Time to attend Papi since it is coming out this time. We won’t see how it’s done but the graphic commentaries from the girl would provide some insight if you’re imaginative enough. In the aftermath, Smith although will not handle Papi’s egg, she will investigate further into Kasegi because from all his fake aliases, this guy looks like he is a pro and repeated offender. Wondering what Papi will do with her egg, for now she puts it in the fridge. Wait a minute… Didn’t Miia use it in her cooking???!!! One boiled egg coming up! NNOOOOO!!!!!!! Meanwhile Kasegi is cursing his luck and plotting his revenge. He takes out his frustrations on his Arachne partner but she wraps him up in her web. She finds this Kimihito guy interesting.

Episode 7
A group of Orcs takes an otaku shop hostage. Their demands are for hentai versions of Orcs f*cking various female types. Don’t even ask… Thanks to the loopholes in the new bill, the police cannot touch them. This is where Smith’s team comes in. The Orc boss sniffs out a ninja girl spying on them and shoots her to death! Then they sniff out a cute girl hiding somewhere in the store and get ready to mess her up. Such an unlucky girl to be done in by ugly pigs… Before anything untoward can happen. A sniper shot takes out their weapons. This long distance sniping is thanks to this Cyclops girl, Manako. A big armour dude (Al from Fullmetal Alchemist?) crashes in to wipe out some of them. Actually she is Tionishia the Ogre. More surprise in store. Ninja girl revives and fires her guns. One of the Orcs thought he could squeeze and crush her instead but she shoots through herself to disable him! Folks, meet Zombina the living corpse! A zombie in other words. Remember that cute girl? She is actually a shape shifting Doppelganger, Doppel. She beats up the Orc boss. These monster girls are from Smith’s special squad: Monster New Law or MON for short. Orc boss gives up believing that in doing so he cannot be harmed and the most he’ll get is deported. However he didn’t realize the law doesn’t apply when a non-human species fights another non-human species. You’re screwed.

MON receives a tip-off from Kasegi’s shady house. As they barge in, it sets off a trap. Thankfully Zombina survives (oh, the irony) but spider girl escapes. Not sure if Kasegi is already dead, suffocated in her web previously. When Smith goes to warn Kimihito’s monster girls, they realize something amiss when there is a trail of groceries outside their house. Kimihito has been kidnapped! He is in the hands of Rachnera Arachnera in some warehouse. As he is not afraid of her and acting his usual ways, she thinks he is trying to play tough. She plans to reveal the hypocrite he is before turning in. This includes lots of seducing and teasing that tests his limits. Kimihito wonders why she isn’t with her host family. They didn’t get along. Well, her host family didn’t really take a liking for hideous spiders. You should see the look on their faces when they first met. It was like total disappointment. Then some shady guy offered to take her in and so the family quickly dumped her and transferred all the host rights to him. In a way, she hates humans and is sick of them. However she can take comfort that he did get turned on as her upper torso is human enough for him. Actually Kimihito admits he has some sort of leg fetish and praises her beautiful legs! Say what?! MON surrounds the place. Because they couldn’t hear clearly what Smith is saying, Kimihito thinks she is here to arrest him for going too far in punching the fake director. He will turn himself in and he wants Rachnera to escape. But she finds it quite amusing and has now grown fond of him. In the aftermath when the misunderstanding is cleared, although Rachnera points out Smith’s blunder in choosing the wrong host family for her, she is not looking for an apology. She hints that now that she has nowhere to go, there is only a place that a guy can accept monster girls like her and is currently housing a handful of them. Yeah, that narrows down the options by quite a lot, don’t you think? Guess who is going to be the latest addition to Kimihito’s harem home stay programme?

Episode 8
Guess who is being back to paranoid when a new monster girl moves in? However Miia is no match for Rachnera. To make things worse (at least from Miia’s view), everyone else is getting along well with the spider girl. Cerea tells Miia not to judge anyone by their appearance. Late that night when Rachnera is going to get passionate with our (un)lucky guy, Cerea barges him and takes him away to town. With everyone staring at them (I think they’re staring at her boobs), she starts thinking that she too is judging others by their appearance. Those punks are back and they brought their friends this time. As usual, lots of mockery. Cerea will not stay to listen to them but when they badmouth Kimihito, she is ready to get violent only to be reminded of the law. They restrain Kimihito while trying to fondle her tits when Rachnera webs them. She is not afraid to hurt them and even if they threaten about that law, she threatens back will they even get a chance to report? Enough to scare the sh*t out of them. When Rachnera flirts with Kimihito, this causes Cerea to act jealous. She screams out not to touch her master and that he is not her plaything. She hates her. Rachnera laughs and is glad she spoke out her mind. After they both make up, Cerea would like make it up to her. What’s this? Rachnera tying her up in various S&M positions? I think she’ll still hate her for a while.

Kimihito is down with a fever! Before Miia can play pervert nurse, Smith crashes him to warn that his virus may mutate and may cause a pandemic and infect all non-humans. Therefore this place is quarantined and Smith will look after him. However it’s just an excuse to escape her desk job as she dumps it on her colleagues. 10 minutes later… She’s sound asleep. The monster girls know they can’t leave it to her and need to do something. As they can’t risk getting infected, they think only Suu is immune. Therefore they teach her how to nurse Kimihito. But that is just what she does. She just imitates all their failed delusions and poor Kimihito has to bear the brunt of it all. Heck, Suu even morphed into Kimihito for them to practice their perversion. Are they really that pent up? By the time Rachnera restrains them to avoid teaching Suu more wrong things, slime girl is already gone and started putting into practice what she learnt. When he collapses from exhaustion, Suu reads his mind and all the pain he went through. Then she remembers this incident. As it was raining and she was trapped taking shelter at a bus stop, Kimihito came looking for her. He gave his umbrella and he got soaked in the rain. This time Suu administers her own nursing method to make him feel better. More amazing, she says in her own words that this was all her fault and is sorry about it. After all, she loves him. Is that really he own words or did she mimic that off from someone? This doesn’t bode well for Miia. Getting paranoid of the emergence of another rival? I hope Smith has a good nap because now here she comes checking on things. Oh. Looks like she’s sick now. Everybody keep your distance. Yeah. Nobody wants to nurse her. You’re on your own. Even her buddies can’t help because they’re out partying. So sorry you can’t join. You reap what you sew.

Episode 9
What in blazes?! Kimihito out on a date with Smith?! Has he decided to go for a human girl after all?! So our concerned monster girls tail him to a maid cafe. As they cannot be seen, they come up with an idea to use Mero to act as a maid with Suu transformed as her legs to serve them and find out if they are really dating. Kimihito is puzzled if this maid is Mero since she looks like her but she can’t really walk. However when Mero starts sweating, this causes Suu to act up. And all the perverted guys in the cafe are watching with glee at this ero scene. Smith takes Kimihito to a video arcade. This time Papi is disguised as a cosplay girl. Again Suu disguises as her clothes and arms. When Papi has to call and report back, she slips the handphone into Suu. This erotic scene has the perverted gamers watch in glee as the handphone slowly slides down into her undies and then starts vibrating… Ultimate self pleasure? Miia and Cerea disguise as ice cream vendors. Thanks to their huge tits, some guy calls all his buddies to order ice cream. Miia sees Smith taking Kimihito towards the love hotel area. Because Suu is disguised as their uniform, when Miia breaks away, this leaves Cerea naked. The patrons must have gotten the best ice cream service ever. Miia parodies MGS to sneak into the hotel. Rachnera is also here and she wants to take pictures to blackmail them. Miia tries to stop her, believing Kimihito is doing this for a reason. The commotion has MON arrest them. With everyone gathered, it’s time for an explanation. Seems Kimihito got a threatening letter from D that he will be killed if he gets married to one of them. This date was supposed to lure them out but it didn’t work. Smith suggests the girls date him instead until they catch the culprit.

Miia is happy to be on the date but why is Mero here too? She assures she is only aiming to be his mistress and will support them. At the aquarium, Mero is some sort of staff celebrity as she has helped them numerous times. This is a chance for Miia to get close. There is this one time they’re close to kissing but Mero had to ruin it by narrating her fish trivia. So close… When they watch Mero in her dolphin performance, because Kimihito looked so captivated, this makes Miia mad as she storms off. She bumps into a Lizardman and because they’re both reptiles, they understand each other and head somewhere off. Though MON spots this, they are unsure to continue their watch on Kimihito as Smith cautions the culprit may be using Kimihito as a tool to get the girls. The Lizardman takes Miia on a boat ride. Because she praises Kimihito so much, he gets mad and claims that he wants her. Could he be the culprit? After all, he corrects her that he is not a Lizardman but Draco from the Dragonewt species, the king of all animals. Suddenly Kimihito is seen turning a swan boat into a motorboat. Don’t ask how. He’s mad. Maybe that’s where he got the power. He charges straight and crashes into them. On land, Draco is still not happy but as Kimihito is going to dry him and takes off his clothes, they are shocked to find Draco is female! All she wanted was another reptilian friend and has no idea about the letter. She escapes but is soon caught by Mon. Kimihito gives Miia a necklace. He couldn’t find the right time to give it to her. Who cares? A hug from her shows how happy she is. Hate to ruin your happy moment but as a reminder, the culprit is still at large.

Episode 10
As part of Kimihito’s protection, he is whisked away to the mountains. Papi and Suu are with him and despite Zombina is supposed to be his bodyguard, she’s happily eating all the BBQ meat. Suddenly a giant wood monster attacks them. Didn’t Zombina say something about this area being an industrial waste dump? Papi recognizes this Dryad friend, Kii who takes them as hostage. She claims she hates humans. Papi remembers meeting Kii. After Smith arrested some non-human species kidnapper, she saw Kii separated from her friends. She planted her in this forest and forgot all about her. Suu who has absorbed some hazardous materials grows big (Godzilla?) and sets up a classic giant monster fight. She believes the wastes made Kii large (Ironically growing big made Suu smart) and the only way is to extract those waste nutrients out from her. How are they going to do that? Papi suggests Kimihito suck her boobs! Papi can’t do it since she’s been tied S&M style. When he sucks on her, Kii tries to absorb the nutrients from Suu. Zombina who almost died from being trampled (the irony again) sees this very ambiguous erotic scene. What the hell just happened? I don’t know how in the end, everybody reverts to their normal size. Kimihito pleads to Smith not to charge her and blames it on the wastes. However Smith says she wasn’t going to do anything to her. Kii isn’t the culprit as she cannot properly write. As her agents will think of a way to clean up this place, Kii will continue to stay here as long as Papi and Suu visit her. Kii is bewildered that they like Kimihito as he is a nice guy. She notes that he was even gentle sucking her boobs.

Cerea seems to be the strict bodyguard. Anybody who approaches him, she shoos them away. Yeah, she’s even in a full armour gear. Is she going to war or something? A cheeky devil girl, Lilith takes out Manako who is keeping an eye on them (how aptly fitting) as she plans to play a prank on them. Cerea’s horse body means she is being clumsy around town. During picnic, her sandwiches do not have taste but Kimihito continues to be kind to her until Rachnera had to spill it out to her. This makes Cerea feel bad as she goes off to cool her head. That is when Lilith hypnotizes her. When Kimihito finds Cerea, she is acting strange. She forces herself on him and allows him to rape her! Lilith is watching with glee when a wild boar attacks. Kimihito throws his shit to cover its vision and let it crash into the tree. Cerea, free from the spell finishes it off with a pole. Although Kimihito praises her, Cerea continues to view herself as useless. He gets on her back claiming he sprained his ankle. See, she’s not useless after all. Rachnera has apprehended Lilith and is going to make her spill the beans. But Lilith isn’t afraid of her and mocks the spider girl as the one who is most afraid of humans and rejection thanks to her spider body. I hope she’s ready to face Rachnera’s punishment. And although she is not the culprit, I think Lilith is coming to enjoy this S&M punishment. More! MORE! Cerea tries to cook salad for everyone but the girls just dump them to Suu. No confidence?

Episode 11
This time Kimihito is going on a date with MON minus Doppel. Because there is another death threat letter that sounds like an ominous lover letter. But why is MON doing this on their free time? They have had it watching him date and it made them jealous. So is this some sort of pay back? First he gets to date Tionishia. A folly in the dressing room has him pull down her panties too when she gets stuck in the skirt. Next and probably the best of the lot is Zombina. After watching a zombie movie, she decides to play what is supposed to be the best zombie prank ever. As Kimihito is good in sewing back things, she purposely drops her boobs to let him sew it back! Finally it’s the very shy Manako. She is bumping into things as she lacks depth and perception (how the heck did she become a first class sniper?). She thinks he doesn’t care for her because like others, nobody looks her in the eye when they talk to her. But when he does and quite sincere about it, she starts flustering. Then they spot somebody spying on them and go into action to corner the culprit. Turns out to be Doppel. It is revealed the threat letter was planned by Smith and her because Kimihito is taking too long to pick a bride. Due to the sense of danger, he would have to get with someone. But they have to admit that all of them had fun with him as he treats them like ordinary girls. However Doppel is stumped about the second letter. What second letter? They only sent the first one. Oh no…

When Kimihito returns home, his monster girls are shocked he brought a headless woman back! The paranoia is getting to Miia but she becomes scared sh*t after seeing the cross-section of her neck. Like the kind guy he is, he wants to go out to look for this Dullahan’s head. Some of the girls volunteer to help look. Better hurry before it gets really dark. You don’t want to be accused of holding a severed head, do you? Miia is extremely scared. A mannequin’s head could freak her out as she even thinks maybe her species doesn’t even have a head. Then they find the real head. That’s it for Miia. Because the head is speaking in such high level, she is forced to bring it down so Kimihito could understand: Please take her head back to her body. Just say so… However she starts to feel funny. Because Rachnera is experimenting S&M bondage with her body. Is this why she volunteered to stay back? Thankfully Suu puts a stop to it. But this means Suu is now violating her body! After returning home and she reattaches her head, they discuss about the Dullahan folklore whereby they are like grim reapers who appear before those who are about to die, reap their souls and guide them to the underworld. And she points out that Kimihito is that person. Gasp!

Episode 12
Rachnera ties up Dullahan and lets the rest escape with him. However Papi’s night blindness means she bumps into almost everything and could have killed him if not for Suu’s absorption. Cerea takes over but because she is too deep in her delusions of this ‘elope’, she failed to see he has fallen off and has been dragged for metres. Dullahan pops up so while Cerea fights her, Mero takes him down into the river. He almost drowned. Then her tragedy addict activates. She wants him to leave a legacy when he dies. And by that she meant children so she could tell them about his heroics. She is really about to drown him when Miia pulls him out. Now it’s her turn to get delusional about performing CPR. To her surprise, Rachnera ties her up and is siding with Dullahan. After all that he has been through, you think they’re making his life easier? Might as well put him out of his misery. Miia wants to die with him. That is when Kimihito gets up and is going to end all this. If he makes it home alive, he is getting married. He steps out to the middle of the road into the path of an oncoming truck. Luckily it is just a toy truck. Who the hell plays that in the middle of the streets at night? Kimihito proves this means he is not fated to die yet. Back home, Smith chides Lala (Dullahan’s real name) for running off each time she finds her a host family. She has to stop using high level words since Smith is scarier than a grim reaper! She is the one who sent the death letter as she was curious to see that each time he is on the verge of death (thanks to you-know-who), he wouldn’t die. Lala wants to stay here to further observe him and Smith immediately gives the green light. The other girls are okay with this since she is not Kimihito’s love rival or out to kill him. Smith learns that Kimihito was never afraid of her death threats because aside from his life is always in danger, he recognizes Lala’s personality as chuunibyou. How does he know? He was once like that! Oh sh*t! He was once the dark master! Vanishment this world!

Kimihito is in a pinch. With so many monster girls in his place, the food cost is going through the roof and he is barely in the red. Oh look. The fridge is empty and the kitchen is in a mess. Well, time to head for the supermarket. Too bad it’s temporarily closed. What about the market street? Thanks to the monster girls doing good deeds for them, the market sellers give them tons of meat, vegetables, eggs and other stuffs for free! But when Suu mentions she doesn’t eat and only takes nutrients, this won’t do for Kimihito because everybody has to be eating the same thing at the table. So they go to see Kii to get some herbs. Since she won’t allow it, Suu administers the boobs sucking rape to get her permission. On the way back, Draco tries to attack him but is paralyzed by Suu’s poison. She learns her lesson to late to never touch him again when Suu violates her. After Kimihito has cooked up a feast, here comes MON joining in. Just great. The order just keeps coming. Challenge accepted. Kimihito cooks his heart out till everything is empty and everybody satisfyingly full. Now he is in despair he has no more money for food. When Smith heard about this, she tells him he can always put food costs as expense. As long as he has the receipts, they can reimburse him. All the trouble he went through…

Monster Perverts!
Okay. It was rather fun and entertaining on its own right. Call me a racist (for the human race, that is) and being discriminate because at the end of the day if I were to put myself in Kimihito’s shoes, I don’t think I could even last 10 seconds. That’s right. I don’t think I could ever get use to have a monster girl as my girlfriend even if she is the sweetest and most caring girl, better than all the human girls in the world. But that is the cruel truth about me (and probably a lot of you). Appearances do really make a difference and if you know me, although I did say I am a sucker for a pretty face, that includes the entire body. Head to toe. Therefore while watching this anime, although I do enjoy the funny comedic bits, at the end of the day, the thought that these are ultimately monsters somewhat ‘ruined’ my enjoyment. It’s like watching a monster flick. Without all the action and replaced with romance. It just feels weird.

This series tries its best to come up with something new under the romantic harem comedy trope as there is a dime a dozen of this genre out there in the market, past and present. It’s refreshing in a way and even better if you are a monster lover but for a person like me who doesn’t, it isn’t going to as much as enjoyable as you hope for seeing that the monster factor is a turn off. This is of course from my big point of view. Feel free to differ. As far as this series is concerned, it does quite a good job in diversifying the different types of monsters but I can’t help another type of monsters are missing. Notable the very popular vampire and werewolf. Yeah, with so many vampire themed animes, movies, series and everything else, I suppose it gets a little tiring. So in a way it is a good thing that vampires, supposedly the most famous ‘monster’ of them all is left out. After all, they look too humanoid to be considered anything near a monstrosity.

Character wise, I believe the varied personalities of the monster girls make them amusing and entertaining to watch. Although you can’t help feel that their personality mirrors so much of those of a human girl that you might think that those girls are just wearing monster getups. We have the paranoid Miia (you can’t blame her for she was the first and only one around when the monster population of the household suddenly increased), the kid-like and ‘retard’ Suu and Papi, the strict and honourable Cerea, tragedy addict Mero and the S&M dominatrix Rachnera. Now that we have the chuunibyou Lala adding to the mix, you can say that the household is going to be a very lively affair every day. Every single freaking day.

Kimihito might look like a normal teenager but he is more than meets the eye. Like any other male protagonist of a harem anime. He is kind to everybody. The good thing we can learn that he does not discriminate and sees and treats everyone as equal, monster or not. But the way he becomes a ragdoll, each time surviving monstrous beat downs that ordinary humans would have died, doesn’t this make him a monster?! Think about it! He could be the strongest ‘monster’ of them all! Ah yes, and here I was going to say that humans are the worst kind of monster. I am assuming he is already out in the working force because there is no mention or hint of him going to school or college – if so, I am sure there would have been an interesting mix of his human classmate girlfriend who secretly have a crush on him, getting all worked up he’d rather entertain a bunch of ‘hideous’ creatures than her. Hey wait. Didn’t Kimihito say he was going to decide whom he is going to marry? What happened to that? Don’t tell me he has decided to marry all of them! Well, I don’t recall a law that says monogamy between the species although that law of interspecies marrying was just passed.

It is precisely this helpful attitude the reason why Smith takes advantage of him and puts all the monster girls in his care. I suppose she has other host families under her care and I am guessing that the monster girls had some sort of problem with them and thus why Smith arranged to be put under him. I mean, he doesn’t mind, right? That is why with this reliable guy around, Smith slacks a lot and lets him handle the girls although the more serious stuffs behind closed doors, she’ll be there to take care of it. Heck, if she can even be a freeloader for his meals, that shows you how tolerant this guy is, right? Am I not right in saying that he is not a monster? The rest of her MON team is also cool although they lack any more screen time compared to Kimihito’s monster harem. If I had to pick the best monster girl (out of all the monsters that appeared), it would be Zombina because she is just opposite of what you’d expect of a typical zombie. Instead of being dead and craving for brains, she is quite lively and cheeky. Especially with her penchant of making quips that it could have killed her! Funny indeed.

Just a thought. They should make Kimihito (who is never referred to by his real name in the anime except for once in the beginning of the episode as introduction) the ambassador between humans and non-humans thanks to his kind and cannot-refuse nature. With all the increasing costs and expenses related overheads, I’m sure he can claim it from the agency. Because if there is a monster on home stay programme who runs away, the first person for this solution is always him. Noticed that? Not too sure if there are other families that are as kind as him but as far as this anime is concerned, many of the monster girls that bump into him take a liking for him and end up staying with him. I am sure those from MON will also be the same. Even those who don’t will eventually tolerate him. And he can tolerate all the daily beat downs as well. So is he not the best bet to take both sides of the divide to the next level instead of those lazy self-interest lawmakers?

If you notice that in many of the episodes, there is this single policeman who is on scene to check things, sometimes freaking out if there was a ghost when the monster girls go into hiding or such. It makes me think… Is this entire town he is the only policeman around?! I don’t know how big the town is or if it is just coincidence if he is just patrolling the area but to have him always looking with his flashlight, sometimes it feels they’re trying to make him a joke character with this running joke. Later in the end episodes, I somewhat noticed a furry dog/wolf girl jogging around in the background. If you are sharp enough you can catch her in this split second frames. I keep thinking that if she could be the culprit of the letter or just some sort of ‘antagonist’ in the final episode plot twist. But it turns out to be just my paranoia (influenced by Miia?). Nothing but a background character, that’s all. Another thought: Are furries considered as monsters?

It is with mixed feelings when the fanservice scenes are played. On one hand, they look erotic enough to get your delusions going but the thought that they are monsters is what stops me from fapping. No, I’m not saying that every erotic fanservice scene I will fap. Just saying that it takes away the ‘pleasure’ just watching fanservice scenes with a monster. Here’s a thought: If you really have sex with a monster, would it amount to bestiality? I mean, unless you harbour such fetish, would you actually have sex with your pet dog? Therefore with some of the scenes that really borders hentai and very ambiguous, it is this dilemma that takes out the horniness when watching such scenes. Really. Unless like I said, you love monsters. So the fanservice here is both a turn on and then a turn off. Who would have knew that monster girls show the same reaction as porn stars when their sensitive areas are being ‘tampered’ with.

So it is no joke when some of the very busty monsters have monstrous tits. The kind of tits size that you would only expect to see in hentai series. Having such humongous tits means it would be a waste not to be ‘taken advantage of’ as there are quite a number of scenes of boobs smothering and squeezing till you suffocate (at least in Kimihito’s case). Despite the number of boob scenes in every episode, I was hoping that final episode would have the ultimate one. Why? So that I can make a pun of “Save The Breast For Last”! Haha!

Art and drawing feels pretty normal with your typical conventional Japanese anime looks. Many of the monster girls do have the look of a cute Japanese anime girl. Yeah, but that is just the top part. Then the bottom torso is just freaking monstrous like Miia, Cerea and Rachnera. As an additional bonus, at the end of each episode, there is an educational illustration and short narratives of the types of monster and its subspecies. I believe the list is not exhaustive and there could be more since how much can you actually fit into a single screen? This is great if you want to know more about them. But as for me, I never read a single one of them since I fear I might be getting sleepless nights! Therefore I am not sure if the subspecies as pointed out are facts in general or just created for this anime only since they do not appear.

Voice acting wise, I only recognized Yu Kobayashi as Smith. It has been a long time since I heard her voice but she is still recognizable nevertheless despite not going into her trademark crazy screaming voice. But each time I can’t help that at any point now she might do so given the outlook of her character but she remains the calm and cool slacker agent. For the rest of the casts, they include Junji Majima as Kimihito (Tooru in Hitsugi No Chaika), Sora Amamiya as Miia (Isla in Plastic Memories), Ari Ozawa as Papi (Nozomi in The Rolling Girls), Natsuki Aikawa as Cerea (Petra in Shingeki No Kyojin), Haruka Yamazaki as Mero (Ruka in Hayate No Gotoku series), Mayuka Nomura as Suu (Konomi in Mujaki No Rakuen), Sakura Nakamura as Rachnera (Kurumi in Papa No Iukoto Wo Kikinasai), Ai Kakuma as Lala (Est in Seirei Tsukai No Blade Dance), Rei Mochizuki as Zombina (Rin in Strike The Blood), Momo Asakura as Manako (Rin in Witch Craft Works), Yurika Kubo as Tionisia (Loki in DanMachi) and Saori Oonishi as Doppel (Eriri in Saenai Heroine No Sodatekata).

The opening theme is Saikousoku Fall In Love and is sung by Kimihito’s monster girls minus Rachnera. So the spider girl is not part of his harem despite her appearance in the opening credits? Anyway when you have the animation starting off with wedding bells for Kimihito and the girls, it feels like a foreshadow of what his future is going to be like. Yeah, this guy is going to end up marrying a monster! I hope this doesn’t imply anything. I prefer the ending theme done by Smith and her MON team. Aptly named after the agent herself, Hey! Smith! is surprisingly a catchy piece despite its hard rock nature and it makes me want to play my air electric guitar and jam like all those crazy hard rock metal bands on stage. Take it from the top one more time! Hmm… For oldies sake, anybody mind doing the Monster Mash with me? :-).

Overall, this anime shouldn’t give you nightmare about monsters and still a decent watch (if you don’t mind the monstrous fanservice too). But still, if you are a monster-averse person like me, there is a high chance that you might not get to enjoy this anime to its full potential if you keep thinking the weirdness of humans mixing with non-humans. Heck, even among humans, the issue of human marriages between different races and religions are still a big sticky issue. Well, at least that itself proves that we are human deep down inside right to our genes. Speaking of nightmares, I hope this won’t arise to something about being afraid of monsters lurking underneath your bed trying to eat you. Because what is even scarier are monster girls trying to mate with you!

DNA2

12 December, 2015

Man, humans sure know how to go forth and multiply. Because back in the 1800s, the population only peaked at 1 billion. It was only 2 billion in the 1920s, 3 in the 60s, 4 in the 70s, 5 in the late 80s and touching 6 right before the millennium. Now it has already surpassed 7 billion! Is there no way to stop this explosion? Oh wait. What am I talking about that have to do with this anime? According to DNA2 (pronounced D-N-A square), the future world has been overpopulated that there is not enough of everything. This population boom can be traced back to one single guy. Yup. This guy has some super playboy power that would naturally charm women and make them want to let him f*ck them! That’s a blunt way of putting it. Not only that, all the children of the women he f*cked also has this power and they continue f*cking more women and bear more children who also bear this power. OMFG! Do you want to be this guy?! And so to solve this problem, a DNA operator is sent back in time to alter his DNA to prevent this catastrophe and set things right. Will it be as easy as it seems? Your guess is as good as mine. Especially when you realize this anime is some sort of romantic comedy sci-fi harem genre, it’s hard to take things seriously. Seriously…

Episode 1
Karin Aoi, the girl from the future thinks she is a genius as she believes she has discovered some DNA altering formula and a way to travel back in time. Meanwhile, Junta Momonari believes today is the day that will change everything. In the home of his school’s beauty, Tomoko Saeki she is willing to let this guy be her first time! No joke! You see, Junta has allergies to girls and he is trying hard to hold it in not to vomit! Too bad he just couldn’t. Tomoko takes this as a sign he finds her unattractive and tells him to leave. Poor guy. Karin wonders if this is that same Mega Playboy and decides to observe him a little more. You can’t blame Junta for feeling depressed so his childhood friend, Ami Kurimoto tries to cheer him up. Seems he is the only girl who doesn’t cause his allergies. She thought he said something romantic but it just turned out what he meant was she is the only girl that he could talk normally to. Next day at school, Junta sees Tomoko talking to her handsome boyfriend that she is secretly dating, Ryuuji Sugashita about him two timing her. He seems to be giving excuses that it is his DNA that makes him attractive and despite threats from Tomoko to break up, again he gives that DNA excuse that she is still with him because of that DNA fate. He also heard she was seen with a guy yesterday so Tomoko says that she did that to spite him and just picked a loser to lead him on. That heart breaking for you, Junta? Karin is certain this Junta is not that Mega Playboy but confronts him to talk. He is smitten by her cute looks and wonders if she is someone from the future. Gee, why look so shocked, Karin? That futuristic gear sure did give you away…

She explains she is a DNA operator from the future and specializes in altering DNA using a bullet called DCM (DNA Control Medicine). 100 years into the future, the world has become overpopulated. It all boils down to a source of a Mega Playboy person. This guy impregnated 100 women and they gave birth to 100 sons. Thing is, the sons took after their dad and become Mega Playboys and impregnate another 100 women! You do the math. This gives a whole new meaning to go forth and multiply, eh? After confirming a few facts of Junta, she shoots him with DCM in the heart! She runs back to her time capsule, happily thinking of the reward she’ll get. However she receives a call from her boss from the future, Yokomori. Seems she has used the wrong DCM. Oh dear… Junta wakes up but his mind is still hazy as he wanders around till he is near Tomoko’s house. He thinks of going to apologize to her. Tomoko gets a call from Ryuuji to apologize but upon hearing another girl flirting in the background, she slams the phone. That is when Junta rings on her door. She lets him in. What is a broken hearted and lonely girl got to do? Junta must be having a hard time trying to hold in his allergy after seeing her cute butt and she hugging him. As she apologizes and comes clean about using him yesterday, something in Junta activates. He has turned into a handsome hunk and his words are like smooth operator! “You’re not pathetic. You’re just showing me your true heart”. Wow. Feel like falling in love all over again? Feel like kissing? Meanwhile Ryuuji has arrived at Tomoko’s doorstep. He is puzzled that no girls have ever rejected him thanks to his DNA. Unless… Has she found a guy with a stronger DNA than him? Karin confirms with her computer that she has indeed used the wrong DCM. So she is the cause of turning Junta into Mega Playboy and an overpopulated future?

Episode 2
Junta continues being cool. He won’t kiss her because she still has a boyfriend. Hope to see you in school tomorrow. So cool!!! After he leaves, he reverts back to his normal self. When Ryuuji comes by, he is shocked to hear Tomoko doesn’t want him anymore. He is in love with somebody else! Junta wants to show off to Ami that he is cured from his allergy. He snatches a porn magazine but vomits upon seeing porn. WTF… Karin is further troubled that the DCM she shot him is unregistered. This is a crime, you know? Oh sh*t! Better fix this. She goes to stake out Junta but sees Tomoko waiting at the school gates. Because Junta doesn’t have enough sleep, he didn’t realize Tomoko said hi. But he still looks cool enough for her to long for him. Ryuuji’s fears come true. Could it be this loser that Tomoko loves? Karin is also shocked that look on Tomoko’s face is the face of a girl in love. Could this be the start of Mega Playboy? In class, Ami’s friend, Kotomi Takanashi tells her about Tomoko trying to say hi to Junta. Ami brushes it off so Kotomi teases her to be Junta’s perfect wife. All our related parties can’t concentrate in class as they are pretty much preoccupied with deep thoughts. Junta gets an unsigned letter to meet at the café. He is surprised to see Tomoko waiting for him. She starts apologizing for the treatment the other day. Her tears turn Junta into his Mega Playboy version. The smooth operator weaves his magic. They are about to kiss but the waiter reminds them they are in public. Junta returns to normal as he tries to control his barf. This has Karin wonder if his DNA is still unstable. Ryuuji is not happy that Junta is the one. I don’t know which Hollywood action fantasy movie he hired those goons to make a move on Junta.

Ami and Kotomi are passing by outside and see this. Tomoko wonders if Junta is just playing around with her. Prove it to her with a kiss! He is tongue tied. Why is he not that cool person now? Suddenly those goons come in to beat up Junta. He is such a weakling. Those heartless bastards even throw Tomoko! Although this activates Junta, it is only temporary as he returns to being a wuss and continues getting beaten up. One of the goons now resort to stripping and raping Tomoko! Why is nobody helping?! Are they just standing there watching?! She’s screaming and crying to Junta for help! Although this moves him, he still gets owned. Ami can’t take anymore of this and although whacking a chair on him didn’t have any effect, at least better than doing nothing. When Ami is knocked unconscious, this is when Junta really powers up. Super Saiyan! He is fast! He’s got style! He is powerful! He whisks Tomoko away and tells her to stay back. He is going to end this in 3 seconds. It takes only 1 punch to knock out those Mad Max guys. So cool! Ryuuji? This guy despite complaining that his goons were hurting Tomoko, he did nothing but sat back in his limo and just watching. WTF?! Now he escapes. So he doesn’t care for her, does he? Karin has confirmed Junta’s awakened Mega Playboy. This is all the reason she needs to eliminate him. But one tiny thing is stopping her: She’s in love with him! Oh dear!

Episode 3
Ami has a lot to think about. The Junta she saw yesterday was like a totally different person. Junta is in another predicament. He doesn’t know why Karin is sleeping next to him in her underwear! OMG! Did he do something funny to her! He swears he didn’t but she’s not convinced. However, seeing her crying face activates his Mega Playboy version. His soothing words heal her heart. Karin finds it hard to resist the temptation. They’re about to kiss when Ami comes in to check on him. Nothing out of the ordinary in his room. But Ami feels suspicious as Junta’s body reaction is giving signs that he is hiding something. As Karin is hiding under his blanket and her butt is exposed, he tries to cover it up but ends up molesting it. Busted! I guess you know who is dead right now. Junta’s mom tells her son to stop this husband-wife argument. Junta disagrees with this but mama says Ami will be the one he is destined to marry since long ago he once said he will marry her. Yeah, very long time ago. If you’re wondering why mama isn’t freaked out to see a half naked girl in his room, it is because she was the one who undressed her! It’s just hard to sleep in those clothes, right? Yesterday, Junta found her unconscious and brought her home. Because he was tired too, he quickly fell asleep. Karin feels bad for suspecting him. Her cute face makes Junta want to confess to her but his Mega Playboy didn’t activate and he puts up a lame pathetic face instead. She tells him the complications of her botched mission that will turn him into a future Mega Playboy although the DCM she injected him seems to be unstable for now. She plans on using Ami as the girl whom Junta will marry to solve this problem.

Karin wants to talk to Ami who isn’t so keen on seeing her. Karin tries to play on those jealousy feelings and lies about Junta liking her but her rough personality makes it hard for him to confess. She tells her that Junta will be waiting at the festival’s shrine tonight. Now that she’s got Ami in the bag, how about Junta? Easy. You tell that guy if he wants to go out on a date. See his big freaking smile? So when Junta and Ami meet at the designated place, a long awkward silence. Karin is watching and anticipating with glee that once both of them hooks up, her mission is completed. However it must be frustrating for her to wait till Junta says those magic words. Romance veterans will understand the pain and suffering waiting for that moment… However when Junta sees Ami’s cute face, his pheromones start working. Here comes Mega Playboy. Just when the mood seems to be heading into a romantic direction, Ami suddenly punches his face! WTF?! She scolds him with this playboy attitude of his. She thinks he called her out here just to make fun of her. Karin is left in despair that Ami isn’t interested in that Mega Playboy at all. Looks like her mission will continue…

Episode 4
Karin tries to hide her screw up from Yokomori. Otherwise no pay, no future. Junta can’t get his mind off Karin. He really loves her and thinks a present will change her mind. But what to give her? So this guy got the guts to ask Ami for advice! And she even answers him. Go get a necklace. The more expensive, the better. But can a high school kid even afford a necklace with this kind of allowance? Way out of his league. Then he spots one just within his budget and buys it. It gets complicated when Tomoko enters the scene and thinks he is buying it for her. Hey wait a minute. Who gave her the right to put it on without permission?! Because she looks so pretty and this activates his Mega Playboy version, I don’t know what the heck spying Karin is thinking because she thinks of breaking them up by driving a cart into them? Anyway it failed. Junta needs to quickly get the necklace back and confess Karin is the one he loves. Easier said than done. He becomes Tomoko’s mule in carrying her shopping bags. Then as she is in the changing room, he thought this is his chance to tell her but he sees a little of her slip and tries to hold in his puke. It gets worse when she pulls him in and allows him to touch her anywhere! Red alert! Can’t hold in puke any longer… The saleswoman feels something is wrong when Tomoko is silent and taking too long in the changing room. She opens… Nothing out of the ordinary. Tomoko says she has trouble putting on the clothes. Junta is hiding behind her butt. I think he can’t take it anymore. Here comes the puke! It must be horror-like for the saleswoman to see this.

As Tomoko washes up, Karin believes she will hate Junta and everything will be over soon. Junta knows Tomoko will be mad at him. But does it make it easier for him to tell the truth? Oddly, Tomoko says he has no right to refuse where she wants to go. So where will he be taking her? To his room! When she asks if he hates her, Junta starts going back and forth between his Mega Playboy version. Is it going out of control? Karin fears Tomoko’s presence may be permanently activating it. She goes to get Ami (right in the middle of changing) since she is the only one who isn’t affected by his Mega Playboy. They eavesdrop outside Junta’s room how Tomoko is explaining to Junta that her body is telling her to fall in love with him. Putting it the way Ryuuji says it to her, it is like her DNA which is ordering her to do this. He has this strange charm and she is something caught between loving and hating him. But this only serves Junta to remember about Karin’s words about altering his DNA. For the first time without changing into his other version, he tells her off that this DNA thing is crap. He believes falling in love isn’t from the body but from the heart! Then he comes clean. He is in love with somebody else and bought that necklace for her. He is sorry for dragging it out this misunderstanding and letting it get too far. Tomoko agrees to give the necklace back. Right outside the room, she gives it to Ami whom she believes Junta is in love with. She realizes during the fight with the goons, Junta didn’t really fight back till Ami came into the scene. However Tomoko won’t give up on Junta yet. She’ll try harder till he falls for her. Karin is supposed to feel relieved that everything should be over soon. However she can’t understand this pain in her heart!

Episode 5
Nothing like running through your old album to think about your old days with Junta, right Ami? Still thinking you can’t be Junta’s lover? Karin continues to remind Junta that he must date Ami. As she isn’t affected by his Mega Playboy, it will keep him in check. But I don’t think he is listening, so much so he transforms to his hot version and almost takes Karin’s heart if not for his unstable DNA reverting him back shortly. However Kotomi was on scene and you can tell she has obviously fallen for him. Junta tries to tell Karin that she is the one he loves and the necklace was bought for her but she will listen no further. When Ami and Kotomi are changing, the latter hints that she has fallen in love with a guy. Who? She only indicates the seat location in a class that supposedly Junta is in. Gasp! So Ami goes to peek who this guy is… This seat number… She fears the worst… But thank goodness it isn’t Junta! So relieved that she is crying. But… Could it be she counted wrongly? Later Junta calls Ami to talk that he saw her peeping from the window. She dismisses it. When he is about to ask for the necklace, Karin quickly rushes to the scene to whisk him away. And then lecture him about the insensitivity of how Ami would feel if he asked the necklace back. Then she forces him to go confess to Ami. Her future is riding on this. Yeah. Her future. Ami and Kotomi are at the fast food joint. Kotomi is having doubts about confessing her love but Ami supports her and gives her encouragement. Ami also admits there is a guy she loves and wants to confess to him. They promise that they’ll both confess to their love. Karin then throws Junta there for the confession. Ami is about to confess to Junta when Kotomi starts to fear the worse. Her heart is aching. And then… She farts! WTF?! Is this a joke?! She says she farts when she is nervous (really? A girl farting?) but blames it on Ami. She tried not to hate her but couldn’t believe she would do this to her. Ami and Karin realize Kotomi is really in love with Junta. And that guy couldn’t understand what’s happening. Karin wonders why he was sitting in the wrong seat but he says they got their seats rearranged today. Oh my God indeed. More despair for Karin. Ami chases after Kotomi but loses her.

Episode 6
Once more, Karin is reminding him her future hinges on Junta hooking up with Ami. Yeah, we get it. But I don’t think he is interested about it. She throws him down to fix this mess. Ami sees Kotomi entering a beauty salon. So why don’t go in and look for her instead of waiting outside? With Junta entering the picture, she tells him about Ami’s fart complex whenever she gets nervous. Just like Junta’s barfing. It must be real embarrassing for a girl to fart in front of the boy she likes. She needs to tell him fast that he needs to go out with Kotomi. But Junta assures he won’t go out with Kotomi because he doesn’t like her. There is somebody else he likes. Before we can find out who (oh come on, we all know who she is already), here comes Kotomi. She’s got a total makeover that makes her sexier! She wanted an image change to cast her old self and hopes Junta would go out on a date with her. His Mega Playboy activates and he willingly does so. Hey wait. What did he say earlier? So he’s dumping old childhood friend for new sexy girl? Karin rushed into the scene too late and I guess she is desperate enough to tell Ami about this Mega Playboy and future thingy. However she stops halfway after remembering Junta’s words that he loves her. Karin remains stubborn that Ami is the one Junta loves. But Ami already has this resigned looked that she has lost. No matter how hard she tries, he doesn’t care about her. As for the necklace, it’s just a misunderstanding.

Junta and Kotomi end up in the love hotel area. She is serious doing it with him but that cool guy says they don’t need places like that. In the alley as they are about to kiss, Kotomi’s nervousness has her fart acting up. She tries hard to hold it in. Junta reverts back and it is his turn to hold in his barf. Kotomi thought he stopped because he was worried about her condition. Yeah, let’s go with that. So happy that she hugs him. Can he hold it any longer? Later she tells him about her condition that made her resigned to the fact she’ll never fall in love with a boy. This makes him realize they are the same. He vows to help her cure her condition and Kotomi thinks this date was him being considerate to help cure it. Meanwhile Karin is following her guts, opening every room in the love hotel to find Junta! All misses! Sorry to interrupt your sex. So when she finds him at school the next day, the usual chiding and reminding. But he plays cool and even gets to her that she is jealous. Then when he gets close to her face, it makes her heart pound. Actually it is just to steal her receiver as he knows she has been planting tracers on them (that’s how she knows where everyone is – but don’t worry, she has tons of replacement). He assures he isn’t dating Kotomi and is just to help cure her condition. Karin relays this ‘good news’ to Ami but she is still stubborn that Junta doesn’t like her. Junta receives a letter from Kotomi to meet at the gym. To his shock, she is in a leotard trying to seduce him. Sure, he might want to help cure her condition but Kotomi believes she can’t give up on him. Not when she has finally been this close to him, she’s going to make him hers.

Episode 7
I guess this reason is also a convenient excuse to seduce Junta. As Kotomi plans to participate in a rhythmic gymnastics tournament in 2 weeks, she wants him to watch her train as training to hold in her fart. That sentence sounded so wrong… But Junta couldn’t hold in much longer and vomits. This is when he reveals his embarrassing condition so it is suggested he watches her train so he himself can overcome his condition. Like killing 2 birds with a stone, right? Kotomi dances, Junta watches. Both trying to hold it in till the end. Ami can’t help space out watching them and starts worrying but when Junta casually talks to her, she ignores him. What is it that you want? Karin is bored watching them and although it is safe for now, who knows when his Mega Playboy will awake. As usual, she bugs Ami to take action but when a girl is already feeling so down like that, she doesn’t even care what this Mega Playboy thingy has got to do with her. On the day before the tournament, Kotomi manages to go all the way without farting and the same for Junta without vomiting. Don’t surprise him with a big hug… But the big shocker comes when Kotomi says if she can go the entire duration without mistakes again, she wants Junta to date her. You hear that Ami? You hear that Karin? Be very afraid… But Ami doesn’t care. It’s not her problem. Oh really? Are you sure? But it’s a big problem for Karin. As Kotomi starts her routine again, things are going fine and like usual she tries to hold it in. Then she trips. All the gas came out. Karin is counting her chickens because she thinks now Junta will not go out with her. She’s that confident, huh? Kotomi is crying she screwed up her chance to be with him. But after she cleans up herself, she returns only clad in her shirt. Yikes! What promise is she talking about he must keep? Oh. The promise of curing her condition before the tournament. As she gets emotional about her condition and thus her future of never falling in love, the Mega Playboy activates. Nice words, great atmosphere. One thing left to do. Karin, whose little flying machine crashed midway, starts having a bad feeling and rushes back. She is really praying to God that nothing has happened between them. Now for the moment of truth… They’re kissing!!! Oh, I take it as a sign that it’s game over. She thinks his Mega Playboy has become permanent. She’s sad. Why do I have a feeling that is not the reason she is heartbroken?

Episode 8
So why is Karin sulking like her future is a big failure? Why doesn’t she do something to stop them instead of wallowing in tears?! As it gets steamier, Kotomi can’t hold any longer and farts but she puts up the most beautiful smile. That is when Junta tells her she doesn’t need to change, she needs to be herself as it she is right now. Therefore she doesn’t need to be cured. Kotomi realizes that this was all part of his ‘training’ for the ‘cure’. So Karin, have faith in the Mega Playboy, will you? When Kotomi returns home, she finds a letter left behind from Ami. Who the hell leaves a letter on the ground outside the house???!!! When Junta meets Ami, the latter tells him not to be so close to her but obviously that guy is so dense and continues bugging her. Next day, Ami and Junta go watch Kotomi in action. She got third place. Later Junta is shocked to learn Karin was watching the entire thing last night. She praises him for not doing anything funny but couldn’t help wonder if he was in his Mega Playboy mode, how come he resisted a willing girl? Maybe he is a nice guy? Karin dismisses it and even threatens if he ever becomes Mega Playboy, he can forget about her! Soon Junta gets a call from Kotomi to meet at the playground. Seems Ami is also called. She thanks him for his encouragement but it also made her a little sad. She realizes in the end that all he cared was just to cure her condition. She was really happy about it but it also meant that he was never serious about her. It is a shame because she was really serious about him. Kotomi then slaps Junta! Feeling much better? She returns the letter to Ami. She has not read it but has a feeling what it is about. Especially from a person who is so good in hiding her feelings. I guess this is a sign to say that Kotomi has dumped Junta so that Ami can be with him. No need to hold back whatsoever. Best friends know best. So Junta must be one confused kid. Because he can’t understand why the entire world is trying to conspire them to be together. They’re just childhood friends after all. Yeah, he said it. And he still doesn’t get it. Ami is just thinking back about their childhood days. And although she just continues to say that they’re childhood friends, at least she’s smiling. At least in front of him. And Junta continues to ponder. Think and think… He just doesn’t get it… Of course back home, it is that typical doom and gloom face on Ami. She notes she can’t be Junta’s girl yet. Because Karin has been spending more time hanging out in Junta’s room lately, she didn’t realize Yokomori has sent her the real DCM bullet from the future.

Episode 9
Karin is being told by Yokomori about the real DCM bullet. She only has one chance to make it right because they have already run out of budget. Should she screw up and if they find out the cause is her fault, not only she will not get paid, she will be arrested on felony charges and executed! Tomoko’s ignores Ryuuji’s pleas. She tells him off using his DNA theory that her DNA now wants to merge with Junta. See you, loser! Junta gets a letter from Karin to meet on the school rooftop. This is her plan snipe him when he comes through the door. And here he is. So why is she hesitating? Why the hell are you talking about your future and his normal life now?! Why don’t you just shoot?! Ah, she remembers Junta saying he loves her… Yeah, a big excuse for you to hesitate. Ryuuji and Tomoko happen to be arguing at the rooftop too. The moment Tomoko sees Junta, she goes to hug him. Ryuuji devastated. Ami who is looking for Junta also sees this. Mega Playboy version activates. Then the unthinkable happens. They kiss!!! It’s now or never for Karin. Yeah, tears in her eyes. Can she do it? She takes the shot. Ryuuji is so mad that he is going to punch them but he gets hit by the bullet! Oh sh*! You screwed up, Karin! Your future’s over. Junta recognizes this wound and spots Karin across. Don’t worry, Ryuuji is still alive. I guess Karin is wallowing in depression that it gave Junta enough time to catch up with her. Yeah, you failed. So? It’s your fault, right? While Tomoko goes to get help, can you believe Ami is just staring at the ‘corpse’? Then Ryuuji wakes up! Surprise! Talking with Ami, he is trying to get her to understand that Junta is trying to steal his girlfriend. She saw that with her own eyes, did she? Well, Ami not saying anything. When Ryuuji starts to act strangely and in pain, only now Ami goes to look for help. Something inside Ryuuji is activating. He is transforming. The Hulk? No. A GIRL!!!!!!!!!! Hey. Did he turn into Tomoko?

Episode 10
While Karin continues to cry, Ryuuji continues to be shocked that he now looks like Tomoko. Of course the first thing he did is to examine the very body. But he’ll be in for a big surprise and disappointment because his body is still the same! Only his face and head changed! Tomoko and Ami rush back by bringing the nurse. When Tomoko opens the door, she is freaking shocked to see herself! When the nurse takes a look, she only sees Ryuuji. He walks away coolly like as though nothing happened. You can now see the big devilish smile on Ryuuji’s face. He believes he can change his looks just by thinking of that person hard enough. Time to plot a revenge. First thing, disguised as Junta, he calls Ami to meet at the storeroom and is going to rape her! Ami is sad and allows him to do whatever he wants so long she never sees him again. Just before he can start his rape, Ryuuji experiences another transformation. This time, not only looking like Ami but her body too. He escapes but no matter. There are other ways to get his revenge. I can’t believe was just ‘sleeping’ there and really waited long enough till everything is over. She didn’t even know what happen. Junta consoles Karin that he is still not Mega Playboy so her mission isn’t a total failure. All he needs to do is eliminate that personality, right? But when Karin tests every possibility with her computer, it always turns out Junta will turn into one. 120%!!! Face it. How can you easily change your personality when it is already in your DNA? Ever positive Junta argues he needs to control himself and as proven in Kotomi’s case, he didn’t do it, right? Just concentrate hard enough and he won’t turn into him. Easier said than done…

Meanwhile Tomoko is happy to see Junta at her doorstep. That evil look definitely isn’t the real Junta… Although he gets his way with her, he gets riled up hearing Junta’s name. Even more when she says she is willing to let him do anything to her just because he is Junta. Ryuuji is so mad that he hits her face and runs out! WTF?! Next day, Ryuuji calls Junta to talk in the alley. He tells him he impersonated him yesterday and had his way with Ami. She is a mad girl who hates him by now. Of course Junta doesn’t believe and starts laughing. Till Ryuuji demonstrates and transforms into Junta and Ami. Now you believe? He realizes he was hit by Karin’s DCM. Junta tries to beat him up but Ryuuji is clearly better. Ryuuji leaves it for today as he plans to finish defeating him before Tomoko. Junta tries t look for Ami but she didn’t come to school. When he returns home, he is surprised to see her sitting in his room! Silence. Not a good sign if it comes from a woman. Then his heart sinks when he heard her say, “Why did you do it…”. Holy sh*t. He can’t say about Ryuuji’s transformation because there is no way she would believe him. Then Ami beats him up with a… Pillow???!!! He continues to stay silent while getting whacked. Ami is not amused. She wanted him to at least say an excuse! Now you know why men can never understand women, eh? Late that night, Junta visits Karin and wants her to turn him into a Mega Playboy. Oh God! Look at that horrendous look on her face! Look at his serious face. He means it. She’s so dead.

Episode 11
After being told what the DCM bullet did to Ryuuji, Karin is trying to reason that it’s not her fault who messed up although she shot it. It’s the bullet maker’s fault! You think so? Though she disagrees with him turning into Mega Playboy to fight Ryuuji, after he says Ryuuji disguised as him and hurt Ami, Karin has this forlorn look on her face. Yeah, so he still cares about Ami so why the heartbreak?! Ami talks to Kotomi about what happened. The latter tells her to believe in him because Junta loves her like how she once loved him. Karin reports to Yokomori. He tells her to come back. No, she is not going to be executed but rather there is no way she can continue her mission. They have run out of budget to continue. What about Ryuuji? It is not her job to deal with him. As for Mega Playboy, it just means they have failed and history will repeat itself. But Karin can’t allow this to happen so she goes off to settle it herself. She wants to talk to Ryuuji at his mansion but looks like he has assimilated all the DNAs from the thugs. And he’s got a super villain costume to go with his new power. They both fight but with all the powers Ryuuji absorbed, he has become superhuman with super strength and super speed. In the end, Karin loses and got her DNA assimilated too. Ami sees Junta leaving his home that night and follows him to Karin’s capsule. Wasn’t she mad at him? She decided to believe in him. As Karin is not around, Yokomori communicates to check on her and sees them. Since it concerns them, he explains everything. Ami and Junta now rush to Ryuuji’s mansion. You can’t miss it. It’s that freaking huge mansion occupying the entire hilltop! By the time they arrive, Karin has lost and Ryuuji is waiting for them. Junta gets riled up seeing Karin’s condition and charges. Ryuuji throws her at him. He misses catching her! Was this supposed to be funny? Don’t worry. She’s still alright. Now Junta is mad. Very mad. So mad that he is starting to transform…

Episode 12
Karin warns Junta not to transform. Think of the consequences. What will happen to Ami if you do? I don’t know. But this distraction allows Ryuuji to punch him. Junta becomes chicken and starts running. Ami kindly explains that Junta always hated fighting and thus always ran. That’s one way of putting it. So while Junta cries and runs, Ryuuji is seething with anger thinking how in the world Tomoko chose a guy like him. Karin wants to take responsibility but what can she do but get beat up again? Ryuuji continues to pound Junta. Now Tomoko enters and sees this. Just the right timing. Ryuuji wants to witness him finishing off the wuss. The beat down continues. Ami cannot take this anymore. She says she will love Junta no matter what he becomes so just do whatever it takes to take down that bastard! Here comes the transformation. Mega Playboy is also a mega fighter. Ryuuji is no match. But he isn’t down for the count. He is so mad that his body turns into a monster. Looks like all the DNA he absorbed, his body cannot handle it. But even with that, all Junta need is a punch in his gut! He vomited green blood! Ryuuji reverts to normal. At least he still has concerned Tomoko by his side. How does Mega Playboy calm down Ami? With a kiss! But he reverts to normal shortly and Ami punches him! Was that for the kiss? Karin concludes her report that as long Ami stays by Junta’s side, his Mega Playboy will be kept in check. Now that her mission is over, she is going back to the future. Sad news for Junta because he really loves her. Karin won’t let him say that and leaves in her capsule. But behind the door, she cries her heart out. She’s gone. Junta’s sad. He leaves but Ami is waiting for him. She knows he loves Karin (why does he look so shock?) but also adds she too loves him. Then they give out a good laugh. Yeah, everything that has happened has been a big funny affair, no? Suddenly Karin returns! What happened? Seems her higher ups want her to continue monitoring him a little longer so her mission is extended. Junta couldn’t be happier. But not Ami. Here’s a kick to the shin for ruining the mood. Welcome back, Karin.

OVA 1
Continuing where the TV series left off, now that Karin is staying, does this mean she can have karaoke sessions in Junta’s room every night?! Even Junta’s friends and his mom are looking forward to it! I wonder if it is affecting Ami’s studies… Yup. Junta didn’t like this but Karin finds this hurtful. On the verge of crying that she’s lonely and bored, she suddenly gets violent. Ah, blame the liquor and getting drunk. No wonder Ami can’t have peaceful and quiet nights straight. Meanwhile a new time machine pops up in the middle of the city as they note the coordinates are a little off. The police are wondering how to deal with this ‘UFO’ but they don’t have to because it shortly disappears. Seems the future people have sent it back to the future. How will they get back? There’s a time machine here, remember? Although Karin’s computer shortly detected the presence of another time machine, she was too drunk and soundly sleeping. When she’s sober, she continues testing and analyzing Junta’s DNA. Seems it has stabilized and at this rate Mega Playboy will be gone. It’s a shame because Junta is starting to miss that guy. He’d better be joking. Ryuuji is recuperating in hospital and his condition stabilized. His relationship with Tomoko could be back on track if not for this grandpa, Mori making his move to test and see what Ryuuji has got. When Junta and Ami arrive at the hospital to visit him (how kind of them), Ryuuji is running rampage beating up the doctors (hey, they’re not fighters). Tomoko is slightly injured too as she pleads to Junta to save Ryuuji. Her voice has Ryuuji go berserk as he jumps out of the window. Don’t worry. With that super power, he can survive that fall. Meanwhile Yokomori is about to disclose something about the DCM bullet to Karin when communications are cut off. Looks like Mori has jammed the signal and he doesn’t want her to contact the future. She is surprised that he is the person who assigned her this job but is also breaking some law by bringing back a battle robot. Of course Karin didn’t hear anything about this since he is here ‘without leave’. He then introduces his faithful servant: Ryuuji! Junta and Ami tried to follow Ryuuji but before them is this girl, Lulara Kawasaki who calls Junta as her great grandfather!

OVA 2
Lulara is going to shoot Junta with her DCM bullet. Ami jumps to his defence. Then they have to run because Lulara is wearing a power suit. But they can’t get far. She’s fast too. Mori reveals his nefarious plans: To get Junta’s descendents under his absolute control. He has the data on DCM bullet because he is the one who synthesized it. The bullet Karin shot Ryuuji with contained that control factor. But instead that rich pretty boy is under his control instead of that Mega Playboy. When the future population boomed thanks to Mega Playboy, each of his descendents also carries that Mega Playboy power. What better way than to have an army of them under his control. So when he learnt about the plan to modify Junta’s DNA, that is where he cooked up this scheme. However Karin was so incompetent that his plains were foiled. First she screwed up shooting the wrong bullet. Then she shot the wrong person with the right bullet. It is no wonder Mori had to come back to see it through himself. Karin tries to escape but with Ryuuji, battle robot and bombs laced around the place, it’s going to be hard. Ami continues to protect that wuss. Lulara knocks her out and this makes Junta mad. As he transforms into Mega Playboy, this is where she wants him. She fires in the bullet. Game over. Karin is using her wits to hide and run around the maze-like area from the ‘hunters’. She manages to outsmart and take out the battle robot (I can’t believe it is easily destroyed after a few shots) and just when she thought she has Mori cornered, she forgot that the odds are still against her because Lulara returns from her mission to assist Ryuuji to corner her. Karin thought Junta is here to help her but that evil look on his face. Not good. Mind controlled. Game over. Mori orders Junta to kill her. How heartbreaking to be killed by the one you love?

OVA 3
Ami searches for Junta. Of course she can’t find him. He is busy beating up Karin who is reduced to calling out his name. What are the chances of him snapping out hearing her voice? As Junta’s DNA is still unstable, Mori orders Lulara to finish off Karin. Surprisingly, Junta protects her. He is back to normal although he has no memories of what happened or what he is doing. But he is back under Mori’s control when he activates his device. To his surprise, Junta is trying to resist the change but eventually succumbs to Mori’s control once more. Karin manages to escape by shooting the steam pipe. Mori orders his ‘underlings’ to find and kill her. Ami bumps into Karin as she is told what happened to Junta. The only way to return Junta back to normal is the real DCM bullet that she left 100 years in the future. Because she noticed the instability in Junta, the others too aren’t under Mori’s total control. Karin knows of a way and wants Ami’s help. Karin lures Lulara and Ryuuji into some high speed rail ride (I don’t know, this thing just feels out of place). Because this capsule has some jamming signal, Ryuuji and Lulara are freed from Mori’s control. But Lulara who has been Mori’s slave since birth is controlled by him in another way. The ladies wrestle till the ride comes to a crashing halt and knocks Lulara and Ryuuji out. Mori praises Karin for a fine plan but that’s as far as she can go as Junta has got Ami. With Ryuuji ordered to strangle Karin, she calls him a liar for saying he won’t let Mega Playboy control him. Now look what he is doing. I guess those tears are enough for him to snap out. You surprised, Mori? He maxes the control device but it overheats as Junta successfully fights off the mind control.

Karin thought it is game over for Mori but Lulara shoots her in the thigh. Before she can finish her off, Junta protects her. Karin then tries to wake up Lulara that she is not a bad person because she has Junta’s genes inside her. And just like that, Lulara breaks free as she hugs her great grandpa! That easy?! Mori is trying to get back to the future but he is confronted by Yokomori. Heck, he brought the entire police back! Hey! I thought it was expensive to send even a little bullet back?! I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. I’m just wondering who is footing the bill at the end. Anyway, Yokomori is here to arrest him after his scheme has come to light. But Mori won’t be taken it. He shoots himself! Well, less one problem. In the aftermath, Yokomori has brought the real DCM bullet and wants Karin to complete her mission. No more blunders this time. But why does she look so sad? I know why… With a sad look, she tells Junta she’ll never come back and then fires the bullet into his chest. Ami wonders if she is okay with this. Is she really going to leave Junta? Doesn’t she love him? Why is she opening up a can of worms? As emotional Karin can get, she admits she does love Junta but she is from the future and that this is the only way. It can’t be help. That’s it? That’s your reason? Oh well. In that case, Ami will stay by Junta’s side forever. After Karin leaves for the future, Junta wakes up not remembering what happened. Ami says for a while, he was the greatest playboy in history.

It’s All In The Genes…
It was fun while it lasted. As usual because this is an old series coming out back in 1994, there are many things that I let slide from the silliness of the drama and the storyline to everything. But I have to admit that I pretty much enjoyed the nearly harem and comedy when Junta was trying hard to keep his Mega Playboy version in check until the future people came. Uh huh. Somehow when his great granddaughter and the old fart arrived, it took out all the fun stuffs so gone were the comedy and little fanservice and replaced with some sort of drama and little unconvincing action (something that could have been done in 1 episode but instead dragged it out to 3). Especially when Junta went under Mori’s spell for the entire final episode and didn’t know a single thing when he returns to normal. That’s like being the main guy but a big blur case on what just happened. Heck, isn’t that what most main male leads in harem shows are? And that kind of ‘abrupt’ ending that Karin leaves for the future and leaving blur Junta like that. It just doesn’t feel that satisfying. But overall, the series is still a fun watch especially if you need something retro and a bit ‘naughty’.

The characters are fun but sometimes they can be silly. Like Junta who is a big wuss and coward at most times and needs to usually rely on his other side to get out of his predicament. It is both a blessing and curse that every other guy would love to have. I mean, which guy wouldn’t want to have the kind of charm that will allow you to flirt and f*ck with any girl you want? And as usual, Junta the main guy tries to be the typical male lead by trying to keep his Mega Playboy suppressed or control it at his own will. Good luck in that. And as typical he is, he only sees Ami as a childhood friend and next door neighbour because the way he says or does things blatantly before her eyes are signs that tells us so. Actions that are deemed insensitive and worthy of being called a dick these days. I don’t know if the latest DCM bullet he is being shot with would cure his condition.

Best flop character goes to Karin because as seen she somehow manages to just screw up everything she does. And then when she fails big time, you can see her going depressed about it like she has failed big time. Yes she did. That’s what you get for counting your chickens. So do something about it instead of sitting there and cry! The person sent back in time to correct the future becomes the source of the problem. How can she even screw up the simple task of bringing the right bullet or shooting the right person? In a way, that klutz saved her from Mori’s plans. But that’s the only thing good about it. Otherwise, she’s just pretty annoying because she tends to bug Junta to get together with Ami while watching from afar and she has this irritating tendency to remind us about her dream once she finished her mission. Her wonderful husband, a cute pet and a sweet home. Yeah, yeah. We get it. Now if you could just do your mission competently and that would all have been yours. And she even got the cheek to sometimes say she has yet to find a husband. Well… Right before your eyes… At least it goes to show that Karin wasn’t totally influenced by the Mega Playboy effect about her love for Junta. Still bad enough, though. And finally she goes back to the future after shedding a few tears. Wow. Easily let him go, huh? What does she mean that it can’t be helped? I don’t get it. Oh, I want to mention that Karin’s computer is a fun personality. Whenever she talks, she is like grooving and hip hopping. It’s just fun to hear her ‘talk’. She should ditch Karin and start a new music album.

The rest of the girls in Junta’s so called harem are okay but I somewhat feel that Kotomi makes a greater impact among the girls. I feel that only because they had to ‘eliminate’ her from the harem race and thus a big focus on her. Tomoko also had her share but not as big. I thought she was going to make a comeback when she threw down the gauntlet to Ami that she won’t give up. But look what happened? She went back to Ryuuji. That jerk who tried to kill Junta (although it is not entirely his fault) and she goes back to him? The guy whose role is severely reduced to being an old fart’s mindless servant? Well, it shows that she already lost out and knows when to back out. Sadly, Ami and Karin who are the front runners in the harem race feel insignificant in this aspect because Ami is just being negative and worrying too much. Because with Junta really liking Karin, is there even a place in her heart for her to get close? Karin is the same. Just that she is just masking her feelings using this mission as an excuse. These girls are just being tsundere. Ironically with the storyline about a guy who f*cks 100 girls, we do not get to see him flirting around with other girls and creating a big harem mess. Hmm… I don’t think I would like that kind of shallow romance either. It would be so freaking weird if Lulara were to end up in a romantic relationship with her great grandpa! It’s just freaking bizarre, believe me. She returned to a time where she is the same age as him and would it be called an incest if they make out? Definitely.

Fanservice is nothing to shout about although there are a few scenes of it. Well, thanks to the art style and drawing from that era, I guess you can’t complain. But I suppose I noticed that some of the better quality are here for example when Kotomi is feeling flirty and wants to get down and dirty with Junta, you could see all the sexy curves, her boobs her butt curves. Yum. 90’s fanservice. What do you expect? I don’t know if this is intentional or not but I thought Lulara’s outfit is a little disturbing. Because her middle portion of her tight body suit is like skin colour, sometimes I thought she is running around with her parts exposed between her boobs and thighs! Even more so, there are no designs/patterns for that section. Just plain straight colour. It just really makes you think so.

If I want to start nitpicking, there will be a lot of things to do so especially when this series involves time travelling and trying to change the future via the past. But since this is just fun fantasy I’ll accept it. But for the sake of argument, I would like to bring them out and get it off my chest. We all know that time paradox thingy, right? So if Karin actually successfully went back in time and neutralized Mega Playboy, the human population would not have boomed and would Karin even exist in the first place? Well, this is assuming that she isn’t in no way related to Junta’s descendents and she must really be one really fortunate girl not to disappear if Junta didn’t go forth and reproduce. If it doesn’t affect her, what about the other people she knows? What are the chances they are not related to Junta and if he is gone, they’ll be gone too, right?

Another thing is how Yokomori communicates with Karin via ‘real time’. If you think about it, how the f*ck is this possible? Doesn’t it feel that Yokomori is just transmitting from some other location instead of time? Because the checks and communication come in periodic schedules. They gave us the reason that it is expensive to send things back or to even communicate back in the past so the infrequency. You see, if Yokomori wanted to check if Karin is successful, shouldn’t he just connect to her at the end of her designated mission timeline? Instead, you see him contacting her to update her from time to time. Besides, the best way to realize Karin has succeed or not is for him to look out the window and check if the population has significantly gone down or not. Simple as that! But the time paradox thing is at least true when you realize that Karin who is the one who is supposed to stop the population growth is actually the source of it.

Another point to ponder is Karin actually ended up with Junta. Say for the sake of argument she stays back and continues to live her normal life with him. They start dating and get married and have children. This is assuming his Mega Playboy is cured. So if you think about it, for the first time in history that there is a gap of 100 years of a married couple? How do you classify their child then? Dad is from the present and mom is from the future. Of course we follow the present’s calculation but don’t you think it is odd that when your mom tells her birthday which is almost 100 years into the future and that technically she is younger than you? Are you confused? Has your mind exploded? And then, this child would not have been possible had not Karin came from the future back to the past. Yeah, something like that time paradox in Terminator. So your kid is from the future technically. Getting a big headache now?

As said, this is a very old production worth over 2 decades ago so the art and drawing standard are not that as of today’s standard. At least from that era it is already considered good enough. But sometimes I can’t help feel that sometimes at certain angles, the characters do look odd and in certain scenes, the lack of quality is visible. Hmm… Maybe I wasn’t watching the DVD or re-mastered version. If there was any to begin with. So sometimes I feel odd when I see the girls’ face at certain points. With Ami already the plainest of the plainest, staring at her face for too long might just make you feel something off.

But the biggest ‘surprise’ came in the form of Junta’s appearance. No, not that in certain angles he look chubby (yes he does but that I feel is because of his baggy clothes), but the fact that he reminds me so much of Yugi from Yugioh!!! OMG! OMFG!!! I am seeing a very f*cking close resemblance! See those towering hair spikes? See those dual shades in his hair which are suspiciously the same colour as Yugi? Even when Junta transforms to his Mega Playboy version, this somewhat mirrors the true lanky form of the dark Yugi. Both their transformed counterparts’ personality is a total opposite of their current self too. So did Yugioh take after this Junta character? I have a feeling it is all coincidence but don’t you think this is too much of a coincidence? Karin also reminds me a little bit of Evangelion’s Rei thanks to her blue short hair and futuristic body suit but it is not as bad as Junta’s case. I thought Mori looked like an owl thanks to his long bushy eyebrows…

I think I have an affinity for songs from that era. Because the opening and ending themes somewhat appeal to me although they won’t end up in my all-time top 10 anime songs. L’Arc~en~ciel sings the opener, Blurry Eyes. Quite catchy for an anime rock song. Sharam Q sings Single Bed, the ending theme. A slow rock ballad. Not bad either. On a trivial and personal note, maybe back then anime themes weren’t given that much prominence like these days. So hearing the TV versions of the themes when they ‘suddenly end’, I don’t know, it just felt a little strange. Because today’s songs are tailored to near perfection to fit the theme and pace of just about everything in the series.

So remember people, to multiply responsibly. Sometimes things happen to fast in the heat of the passion, in the name of love, or whatever you want to call it. It is those strange emotions and pheromones that make us start thinking with the wrong head, especially guys. Only natural? Yeah, well… You can’t argue that love always comes first. And if something goes wrong along the way and you can’t help fix that personality, you can always blame the bad genes. Maybe that is why I always end up picking such anime series and watch questionable animes that would only prove how depraved I am instead of the ‘recommended’ ‘greatest animes ever produced’. Maybe that is why I consider such ‘deplorable’ animes to be some sort of enjoying entertainment and an amusing watch instead of watching ‘intellectual masterpieces’ or popular mainstream hits. I can’t help it. Really. It’s all in my genes. My chromosomes. My DNA.

High School DxD BorN

21 November, 2015

It is here! The much anticipated third season of the series, High School DxD BorN! This is one of the few series whereby the great storyline and characters are not being overshadowed by the ecchi fanservice although the latter factor is also a great reason why this series is doing great. A series that doesn’t necessarily rely solely on fanservice or use it to dilute the worth of everything. It’s just different, that’s why we come back for a third time. With a lot going on and building up in the past 2 seasons (short summary of what it’s about: A high school kid who wants his own harem just got turned into a demon servant and gets involved in some war that involves a great deal of factions and species and at the same time wants to grope boobs), it is without doubt that expectations for the third season are going to be high but given the series’ track record, I doubt that there would be anything that could derail all this. Unless…

Episode 1
OMG! Bare tits of Issei’s harem as the opener! Supreme bliss! Till this Yuuma girl laments at Issei for forgetting about her. Yeah. Still remember the demon girl who tried to kill him in the first season? He wakes up from this dream but it is still blissful because his harem is sleeping by him naked! Great morning! Because Akeno is too bold flirting with him, Rias warns her not to touch her belonging. This leads to a standoff and then throwing of pillows. Imbued with magic. Oh dear. Not looking good… Issei’s house has been remodelled into a huge mansion overnight. Even scarier is how his parents accept this and go with the flow. When life gives you lemons… Rias will be returning to her estate for the summer vacation and this means the rest of her servants and slaves will come too. The train journey to the underworld is long. Once they reach the destination, the train comes to a complete halt. Seems some big shot is passing and they’re just giving way. Suddenly the train disappears and everyone falls down to the ground below. Rias and Azazel are missing. A hostile dragon attacks so Akeno assumes authority to convey orders to her team to take it down. But the dragon is too powerful and their attack is just like scratching. Azazel then stops this fight. Seems this is just a test to gauge their strength (as instructed by Sirzechs). He now knows the extent of it and has set a training regimen. But Azazel is more worried about Rias whom he feels is the one lacking growth due to her indecisiveness and kindness towards her subordinates. This dragon is Tannin and was once the dragon king of yore. He reincarnated into a demon in exchange for something. Ddraig knows Tannin but didn’t say anything because this whole setup was a farce. Because Tannin didn’t even use a thousandth of his power! The gang cleans themselves up in the hotspring. Gasper is sending mixed signals he can’t go in the male’s section… He’s a guy, right?! Azazel teaches Issei the finer points of boobs and that pressing nipples is just like pressing a doorbell. Only, they give out weird noises! Teach me more! Rias is deeply disturbed by Azazel’s words and can’t help ponder what he meant. Yuuto is worried about Koneko because she disobeyed Akeno’s orders in the fight and got injured. Something must be wrong. Meanwhile Bikou talks to Kuroka about their next job. But all she cares is bringing back her little sister, Shirone. Koneko?

Episode 2
Arriving at the freaking huge Gremory mansion, they are being treated by the hospitality of Rias’ father. They also meet Millicas (Sirzechs’ son and Rias’ nephew) and Venelana (Rias’ mom who is so hot that Issei can’t take his eyes off and needs some warning from Rias). Issei can’t sleep because his room and bed are so big. So is that why Xenovia and Asia come to sleep with him? Because they can’t sleep when there is such a big space? Or just some lame excuse to go cuddle with him? But if space is the problem, how is Gasper holding out? Don’t worry. He found a box to hide inside… Next day, everyone has their own personal trainer for their customized training like Akeno being trained by her father, Barachiel whom she refuses to acknowledge. Issei gets Tannin. He’s screwed. Thankfully he lasted for 3 full days without being killed although he failed to find his Balance Breaker. Sairaorg was watching Issei’s training and advises him that despite his stamina improved, it isn’t enough to become the best. Koneko has overworked herself during training and is being put to rest. Rias tells Issei the story behind Koneko’s past. As she is a cat youkai, she had an older sister who was picked up and turned into a demon by her master. However her latent power went berserk and killed him. She went missing shortly. Fearing the same would happen to Koneko, the demons wanted to kill her to prevent the same thing but Sirzechs took her in and put her under Rias’ care. Koneko is a survivor of the strongest cat demon group, the Nekoshou clan. Thus she is a descendent from a lineage of high level youkais. Rias and her subordinates are at a party that gathers all young demons to prevent any untoward incident. But you can’t help it when young hot headed demons with differing views start to fight. Sairaorg easily puts them out of commission when they don’t listen. Rias explains Sairaorg is the heir to the Bael family and the strongest of the young demons around. Oh, he is also Rias’ cousin. Ravel sees Issei and gives him some gift to mark their acquaintance. She claims she is no longer under Riser and traded to become a servant under her mom. Even more confusing for Issei is how Ravel tells him she is into baking. Get the hint? I guess not. Issei and Rias see Koneko leaving the party in a rush and go to find her. Koneko has detected a familiar presence. Indeed. She is reunited with her older sister, Kuroka.

Episode 3
Koneko told Rias that she wanted to be strong but is afraid of the latent powers and didn’t want to resort to that. Otherwise she might end up just like Kuroka. Odin has arrived at the party as per Sirzechs’ request. He comments on Serafall’s clothing so she transforms herself into a magical girl outfit. His assistant, Rossweisse doesn’t want him to fool around as he represents Valhalla. And when he comments on her serious attitude that has her no luck with guys, she breaks down crying in public! WTF?! Rias and Issei could have continued spying on Koneko’s chat with Kuroka only had not Bikou lured them out. He plans to fight them just to buy time. But Tannin comes forth to take care of Bikou and wants Issei to show him to fruits of his training by defeating Kuroka who is bent on taking Koneko away by force. Odin is here to sign some treaty but before he could do that, Loki interrupts as he is against this. He summons his demon wolf, Fenrir to attack. Akeno becomes his target but her father saves her. She still refuses to acknowledge him. It ends when Ajuka teleports Loki away. Koneko is close to break down as she reminds us about that power she doesn’t want to awaken. She is willing to go with Kuroka so as to let Rias and Issei go. Rias’ warmth and assurance makes Koneko want to stay by her side even more. Kuroka then surrounds the area with poison gas to stop them from running away. Issei is not affected because of his dragon bond. But he gets pounded while protecting them. Now he beats himself up by saying he is a useless dragon. Why does everybody have to start feeling useless? And as usual, Koneko boosts his morale that he is the first Red Dragon Emperor who is kind and not being consumed by its power. The problem now as Ddraig says, he needs some sort of catalyst to use his Balance Breaker. It just hit him what they are. He wants Rias to let him poke her boobs! She allows him but here’s the bigger problem: Which side to poke first? Left or right? To Issei they are not the same and it’s not trivial! Rias just tells him to do both! Tannin just feels disappointed his training might have all gone to waste. After Issei pokes them both, you see how much he powers up and leaves Kuroka shocked where she is standing (the surroundings are decimated). He warns her not to touch his family or else. Bikou takes Kuroka to escape because they sense Loki’s presence is no longer around. Rias reports to Sirzechs that Kuroka and Bikou are part of Chaos Brigade and Sirzechs is glad to have left Koneko in her care.

Episode 4
Azazel explains Ajuka has teleported and seal Loki in a faraway place but that will only last for another day. This means it will not be enough time for Odin who has returned to retrieve his hammer, Mjolnir to stop Ragnarok, a big scale war that would destroy the world. This is what Loki and Chaos Brigade want. Rias suggests stalling Loki in the mean time. Ajuka can only teleport about 10 people there for now so those who are going include Rias’ household (minus Asia and Gasper), Souna’s household, Irina and Rossweisse. Before they leave, they are given Phoenix Tears as they would lack the healings of Bishop during the battle. Saji tells Issei about Souna’s dream to open a school for low level devils so they can play Rating Game. Because many Demons laughed at her dream, the reason why she volunteered for this mission to change their perspective. Saji’s dream is to be a teacher in her school. Loki has broken free from his seal. He summons Fenrir, its offspring and the Midgard Serpent for our young ones to fight. Among those power up we see include Irina being able to transform into her angel version, Koneko accepting and using her nekomata power (because as long as if it is with Issei, it is okay) and Saji facing off with Loki with his very much powerfully tweaked Vitra’s Sacred Gear. Loki won’t admit defeat and uses all his power to destroy the planes. Since it is hastening Ragnarok, he is fine with it. All the Phoenix Tears are used to revive and heal some of the wounded. When Mjolnir appears, Rossweisse tells Issei that by orders of Odin, he is to wield it. Time for the big hero’s part? I supposed he got too confident in getting it and didn’t expect a surprise attack from Fenrir. Issei dies!!! OMFG! ISSEI IS DEAD!!! Sad girls, mad girls… See the power of anger? They power up so much to destroy the mythical beasts. The most upset one is of course Rias. She doesn’t care if the world is destroyed. She won’t forgive Loki. Does this mean either way the world is screwed?

Episode 5
I don’t know what power up Rias was going to do but she sees Ravel’s gift dropping out. Loki orders Fenrir to destroy Mjolnir but it becomes restrained by Kuroka’s binds. Arthur Pendragon tells Loki that Fenrir is Vali’s real target because he wants the fangs that can kill gods. Blame yourself for being fooled by this partnership. After they escape, Loki is shocked to see Issei revived. Ravel’s gift contains a Phoenix Tears. Issei uses the hammer to pound him but before Loki gets sealed, he curses them. Sairaorg destroys the serpent and is impressed with Issei’s growth. He hopes to play a Rating Game with Rias one day to determine who the best is. Rias and her subordinates say goodbye to her family as they leave for Earth. With Millicas calling Venelana his mom, the gang realize who Sirzechs’ wife is… On the train, Koneko hogs Issei’s lap and sleeps on it. I guess she deserves it. Akeno also wants to borrow Issei for a day and since Rias realizes she is going to tell him something, she agrees. Back on Earth, the gang have to deal with reality: Homework! Damn. Fighting baddies were better, right? And because Issei is thinking too much about boobs, he can’t concentrate. Then here comes Akeno. Is it sexy time? She has a request of him: Be her boyfriend for a day. You’re not hearing things, Issei. While on the date, they can guess who those ‘cosplay stalkers’ are. Rias is most concerned because she never realized Akeno would be this close to Issei and hold his arms like that. Issei and Akeno run to lose them. But they ran into the love hotel area. However they also ran into Odin and Barachiel. Father is suspicious of Akeno’s meeting with Issei. She blames him for letting her mom die. He doesn’t need him but Issei. So leave! When Akeno composes herself, she tells Issei of her past. Her mom, Shuri Himejima met Barachiel, an injured Fallen Angel and fell in love with him. Because of that she was banished from her family. But Akeno’s black wings have caused more hatred to grow and one day they decided to kill the family. Shuri died protecting her. Akeno ran away until she was stumbled upon by Rias. Akeno wants Issei to make her forget all that and allows him to rape her. I don’t think that guy is in the mood after hearing her story. Suddenly Issei could read her true feelings. She didn’t really hate her father and placed the blame on him so that she could cope with the stress. She really wants to meet him. Akeno reconciles with Barachiel by giving him her cooked food on his trip back. Mmm… Tastes just like Shuri’s cooking.

Episode 6
Issei’s class gets a new transfer student: Irina! Due to Chaos Brigade running wild, Michael thought it would be better to send extra help and heaven’s representative to protect the school. Just with Demons having ranks based on chess, Angels have ranks based on cards so Irina’s position is Ace. While Irina is a happy girl meeting Rias and co, why is Rossweisse crying? Seems Odin left for home and he forgot to take her! So what’s her ranting of being single has got to do with it? In the streets, Asia bumps into Diodora Astaroth. He claims they know each other from a long time. She doesn’t remember at first but after seeing his deep scar, she remembers he was the Demon she helped healed and led to her expulsion from the church. Diodora wants to repay that thanks. He is in love with her and wants to marry her! Oh dear. Will Issei allow this for his harem? To compound his problem, Azazel mentions Issei is quite famous in the Underworld. Not because of his heroics in defeating Loki, though. There is a documentary edited about him screaming for boobs. It is a hit with kids and he has been nicknamed Breast Dragon Emperor! There is even a song for this! It is no wonder Ddraig is crying in despair that his fearsome name has been reduced to something pathetic. Issei gets tricked to be paired up with Asia for the 3-legged-race. I bet you there’s going to be lots of accidents and tripping. More woes for Issei as he dreams of Diodora taking Asia’s hand in marriage. He won’t allow it! Asia assures she won’t marry soon. Good, because he’d die of loneliness if that happens. Issei you liar! How can you die from loneliness when you have a harem???!!! Diodora’s harassment continues as he sends Asia letters, gifts, etc. Rias will get rid of them but she is worried as she sees Issei’s concerned face. Doesn’t he put up that face for all the girls when they’re in trouble? Xenovia brings more trouble for Issei. More of her misunderstanding about wanting to have an affair with him (I think she’s making a pun about this and winning the race) and allows Asia to have this secret affair with him. Issei is in such a dilemma. His hands are moving on its own groping those delicious boobs. It only ends when Irina barges in to put a stop to their unholy act. Her concern is that this place is unsanitary and they should do it on a bed! Rias informs her subordinates of the Rating Game. It was supposed to be held during summer break but Loki interfered. Good news: They avoid Sairaorg for the first round. Bad news? Diodora is their first opponent.

Episode 7
Rias and co watch Sairaorg’s Rating Game. Let’s say he is just too freaking powerful. Diodora pays them a visit and wants to exchange Bishops. Of course Rias will not allow that as Asia is an important family member. Because Diodora badmouths Issei, Asia slaps him. Diodora throws down a challenge to Issei and if he beats him in the Rating Game, Asia will accept his love. While Issei and Koneko are out doing their demon duty, they bump into Kuroka who wants to have Issei’s baby! More accurately, she wants a dragon baby. Of course Issei refuses her. To his surprise, Vali is here to see him as he is here to warn him about something because Rias won’t listen to him. When they go home, the other girls are dressed in sexy outfits in their bid to make Issei happy. This is for everything he has done for them? Then it becomes a heated competition between Rias and Akeno over him. This might turn ugly if they resort to letting him touch their boobs… After Issei lends his sword to Xenovia as practice, she pecks his cheek as thanks. Is his day getting better or what? Meanwhile, Sirzechs and Azazel discuss about Rias’ report regarding Vali’s warning. There might be a connection with Diodora’s sudden increase in power and the mysterious death of Glasya Labolas’ supposed heir. When Rias and co head to the battlefield for their Rating Game, what greets them isn’t Diodora’s family but an entire army of Satan’s old faction who is now under Chaos Brigade. Worse, Diodora is part of Chaos Brigade and takes Asia hostage. He will have the rest killed while he takes Asia to the temple. Odin makes his surprise appearance. He explains that Azazel planned this by using them as bait to lure them out so that Odin could destroy them in one fell swoop. Sorry for keeping them in the dark, though. The rest head to the temple to save Asia while Odin and Azazel’s troops begin their big assault.

Episode 8
At the temple, Diodora suggests playing their own Rating Game. He has a group of Pawns and Rooks and another group with a Queen and Bishops. Rias assigns Issei, Gasper, Koneko and Xenovia to fight the first group. Rias gives Issei permission to use his Dress Break. However the opponents can still fight back despite being naked. Now Issei can’t concentrate and gets beaten up! Because they attack in absolute precision, Issei uses his power to read their hearts and find out who is being targeted. More like heart of the boobs because it feels like the boobs are talking… They defeat the Pawns and shortly Xenovia is done with the Rooks. But it is not so rosy on the other side so Koneko suggests Issei tell Akeno that he will date her if she wins. See the motivation? And because this jealousy makes Rias powers up too, they defeat the Queen and Bishops in no time. Making their way in, they are shocked to see Freed. He claims Vali picked him up and restored him. Is he Diodora’s Knight now? Actually he ate them both and has turned into some powerful monster. He reveals Diodora’s household that they just fought were supposed to be some sort of holy maidens. It is Diodora’s passion to lure and bait them to his hell. One day he stumbled upon Asia but seeing how she was protected by the church and cannot easily kidnap her, he devised a plan to become a wounded demon so that the church would expel her. His plan was to ravish her when she is at the bottom of despair but Issei and Rias showed up to save her. Issei is visibly mad but Yuuto tells him to save that anger for Diodora. Yuuto easily cuts up Freed and kills him! No match! Before Diodora, he explains he cannot feed on Asia yet as hope is still in her. He further reveals that the Fallen Angel Issei first disposed off, Reinare was supposed to be killed by Diodora and then give Asia an Evil Piece but made the mistake of waiting and let Issei finished her off. But thanks to this, he is now able to give Asia more despair. Imagine how fun it will be to rape her while she screams out his name! I guess this is enough to make Issei’s blood boil and summon up all his power to beat Diodora to a pulp. I suppose that is why he said all those spiteful words so we could hate him and feel no mercy because Diodora is so weak getting his ass handed over it is just painful to watch. Still cannot believe you’re losing? Issei cannot free Asia because thanks to some Longinus bind, it will only free her if Diodora wins but in the even if he loses, it will absorb her. If he cannot have Asia, nobody can! Issei doesn’t give a damn about all that and uses his ultimate power to break Asia free! Who is the weakling now? After all that emotional reunion, Asia makes a prayer to the Lord to protect Issei and the rest and to live happily with them. Instantly she vanishes.

Episode 9
Who is the villain standing before them now? Shalba Beelzebub claims he is the true successor to Satan. The one responsible for Glasya Labolas’ heir’s death kills off Diodora when the weakling seeks his help. Meanwhile, Creusery Asmodeus appears before Azazel and Sirzechs. He is against Sirzechs for teaming up with Angels and Fallen Angels but is he the one to say for joining a ragtag team of Chaos Brigade? Sirzechs easily kills this guy. So much for his 10 seconds debut. Then here comes Ophis, the leader of Chaos Brigade. She mentions her goal of a world of silence. She wishes to return to the Dimensional Gap where her home is and reclaim that silence. Issei is so broken that it is just heart-wrenching to see him look for Asia whom he thinks is hiding. When Shalba says he has tossed Asia into some Dimensional Gap faraway and is as good as dead, Issei becomes so mad that he powers up (or gets absorbed rather) into his fearsome dragon form, Red Dragon of Domination. Freaking powerful enough to blow Shalba away. His power keeps increasing that Rias and co have to fly away for safety while Shalba gets blown to pieces. So much for his 10 minutes debut. Vali and his team make a surprise entry. They have Asia in their hands. They coincidentally found her floating inside the Dimensional Gap. Vali sees Issei’s form and notes it is incomplete. Because of that, there is still hope of turning him back but his life will be in danger. Rias believes she is good enough to bring Issei back to normal and just needs to tell him Asia is still alive. Vali helps out by using his Juggernaut Drive to knock down a notch Issei’s growing power. Issei is going berserk. All he could see is Asia’s kindness and Reinare mocking him. He unconsciously attacks Rias. But you know, her heartfelt speech that she can’t live without him and rather die would eventually reach his heart. Especially when her tear drops onto him and breaks him free of his armour. Time for your emotional reunion with everybody. You thought Issei is most emotional to see Asia live? Wrong! It’s Xenovia! A huge red dragon appears in the sky. Vali explains that is the Dragon of Dragons or also known as DxD. This is the true Red Dragon God Emperor, the Great Red who chose to live in the Dimensional Gap and flies there for all eternity. He is Ophis’ objective and it is Vali’s goal to defeat him to become the true White Dragon God Emperor. Ophis is the Infinity Dragon also known as the Ouroboros Dragon. After renewing his rivalry with Vali, you thought everybody can go home happy. Not quite yet because now it’s Issei turn to turn up the drama by collapsing.

Episode 10
Issei is unconscious. Oh Asia… Don’t start the blame game… Anyway Azazel thinks Asia’s Sacred Gear might heal Issei although he is not sure of the risk. Only one way to find out. Indeed, Issei wakes up again. I guess it’s now or never so Asia kisses him and confesses she loves him. Everybody else is watching but they’re not going to bother with the details. Issei is back up and all that is what matters. Azazel discusses with Sirzechs that the recent skirmish has wiped out the old Satan faction. Vali had never intended to be allies with them in the first place. Currently there is world balance because Great Red is ruling in the Dimensional Gap but that balance is fragile and they know Loki will intervene again because Ophis did something troublesome again. With Issei back, you’d think it is happy ending for everyone? Not quite. Yet again, Rossweisse is in tears because Odin left her behind again! What’s this about being single again? Rias is also spacing out more often because she felt she couldn’t do anything to save Issei and that recent one where Asia healed him just nailed it in her heart. Later Azazel tells Issei a secret that he knew what to do because Ddraig told him. He talked to Ddraig about the power Issei unleashed and it seemed he invoked Juggernaut Drive and broke some seal that caused all the power in his Sacred Treasure to let loose. It is the kind of power that even surpasses the gods but in exchange on will pay for his life or his lifespan reduced drastically. The thing is, something activated that and Ddraig sensed Issei’s despair and anger surpassing its limit that caused it. However he also sensed something else controlling Issei and is not sure. Issei is seen walking into Rias’ room and then assuring her everything is alright. But then we see Issei and Koneko returning from practice and find Gasper collapsed outside. He is relieved to see the real Issei. Seems the fake Issei has got Rias under his control. Thanks to Gasper’s time freeze, he is able to save them before the explosion engulfs the place. Rias is subsequently missing. Azazel explains that Valhalla has sent a warning to Rossweisse but apparently it was too late. This is all part of Loki’s doing. In his bid for Ragnarok, he placed a cursed on Issei and Rias before being sealed. Before Odin could interrogate him further, Loki crystallizes himself to make that old guy regret for having Issei use Mjolnir. It might be Issei’s subconscious, his fear of what the girls think about him that activated whatever and the same can be said for Rias. They believe Rias is lost in Dimensional Gap. Going there is like going to a certain death if you stay there for too long. Chaos Brigade is made up of various individuals and they might be using unknown methods to use it as their base. Issei wants Koneko to contact Kuroka. He wants to have a word with Vali.

Episode 11
Sirzechs warns that many lives were lost in the recent battle. Contacting Vali may be seen as associating with Chaos Brigade and spread discontent again. You know, all Issei cares about is Rias, not the world. Azazel suggests he gives up being a Demon. He can turn all of them into Fallen Angels to avoid any potential fallouts among the Demons but this will only be a last resort. If they get Rias back successfully, then there is no need for this. With everyone pleading how dear Rias is to them, I guess Sirzechs has no choice but to relent and tell them to save his sister. Issei and Koneko see Kuroka. She agrees to let them meet Vali but in exchange Koneko must come back to her. Issei won’t agree to that. Negotiation is over then? Because they become annoyingly persistent, Vali makes his appearance. What if he refuses to let them go to the Dimensional Gap? Yeah, Issei you gonna fight him? He will if he must. Because Vali views him as still weak and would rob him of his pleasure to defeat him, he has Arthur guide them there using his holy royal sword, Collbrande that could cut through dimensions. Arthur tells them the barrier they are in prevents them from being eaten by Dimensional Gap. But they only have 1 hour to do so before they are forced back to their realm. He hints that Dimensional Gap is influenced by their strong emotions. They figure out in no time that all they need to do is wish to meet Rias from the bottom of their heart. True enough they see her. However she attacks them! They sense this is the real Rias but why is she not recognizing them? It must be Loki’s curse. Everyone tries to let their heartfelt words reach her heart. It always works, right? Not this time. Because you thought everything might be back to normal when you see tears in her eyes but that is just a troll and switch for her to transform into a Red Dragon armour similar to Issei’s Balance Breaker. Just with a few parts expose for sexiness. The attack continues and Akeno believes Issei has no choice but to fight her. At first he doesn’t want to do this, not to his beloved buchou. Then I guess he realizes what needs to be done. The promise of bringing her back even if the world gets destroyed. Yeah, screw the world. All he wants is her (and her boobs). He transforms into his Balance Breaker version and the great impact of their fight weakens the Dimensional Gap.

Episode 12
Yes, Issei. We know that you’re going to protect Rias not because of the contract but your love for her. We are spammed montage of their times together as he struggles to free her. After all that, her armour finally shatters and the Rias we know comes returning back into Issei’s arms. But now Issei is to face off with his fake imposter who turns into Dragon of Supremacy. The rest are blown back into reality as Azazel deduces Loki hijacked a fragment of Dragon of Supremacy from Issei and made a copy out of it. What they can do now is pray and believe in Issei. Yeah, you do that. And of course, Issei’s strong feelings mean he defeats the imposter. They are blown into the Dimensional Whirlpool when Great Red happens to pass by. It seems to be guiding them out of here. But they end up in some dimensional beach so I guess it is time for Issei and Rias to spend some quality time together, talking about the feelings of the heart and yes, a nice kiss before going back to reality. Although their memories are fuzzy on their return, everyone else is so glad to see them back in one piece. Later, Issei knows he is in a dream when he sees Ddraig in his true form. He is here to tell him that another power aside Dragon of Supremacy lies dormant inside him although Ddraig himself isn’t sure what it is. When Issei wakes up, it is like waking up in his dream because his harem girls are sleeping naked around him! Don’t want to lose him after all they’ve been through, eh? Yeah. I’m sure Issei loves this too. What a win-win situation. And of course the best boobs reward goes to Rias. Issei’s parents return from their trip. They treat Asia more like their daughter than Issei their son. Too cute to pass up, eh? Rias surprises them by introducing Rossweisse who is a teacher at their school and plans to stay here. Say what?! We see how Rias showed Rossweisse the benefits of some insurance plan from her side as compared to Valhalla. She then offered Rossweisse to be her Rook under her household as she needs mobile magical artillery. Tempted by everything, Rossweisse agrees and turns into a Demon. Partly this is to get back at Odin too. Now Rias’ household is complete (remember, Issei is powerful as 8 Pawns so she doesn’t need extras). Azazel mentions about Issei’s TV debut in the Underworld. Turns out to be a children’s programme with a children’s song. All about boobs!!! And he is already a hit there! Later Azazel talks to Issei about the incoming threat from Chaos Brigade and more fighting will be expected. But once the war is over, what will he do? Simple. He’ll pursue his own dreams of becoming harem king. Oh Issei, don’t you know that you are already one?

Dragon-boobs & Poke-boobs!
Before I started watching this season and while it was still being aired over the airwaves, I have been reading a lot of comments regarding this season. From what I gather, there have been a lot of differing opinions and heated discussions about the direction of the third season. Yes, this season deviated from the original light novel works. Thus there are so many clashes of opinions from purists of the light novels who disregard this deviation as pure blasphemy of the series and those who are so called ‘open minded’ and viewing this season as ‘just anime only’. The former hated the third season’s adaptation with varying degrees (depending on how ‘loyal’ they are to the light novels) while the latter tried viewing this from an anime-only perspective. Thus some feel that the producers have gone to make the first 2 seasons great and with that established track record in the minds of fans and viewers, decided to betray that trust by tricking everyone into watching this atrocious season and milk more money from them. Those are some of the sentiments lingering even after the season has ended.

Therefore with this in mind as I watched the third season, I am wondering if this is the reason why I do not find the third season as charming as the first 2 seasons. Could this have also clouded my opinions and thoughts for this season? Would I have reached a slightly different and better conclusion had I not read the many dissatisfied and arguing comments over the internet? Although I have never touched the light novels myself, personally I could say that this season lacks the excitement that I felt watching the previous seasons. Everything feels lacking. The characters, the storyline and even the fanservice just feel so much less. By itself, this season doesn’t suck so badly and like those in the latter category have said, if it is judged based solely as an anime without any relation to the light novels, it is fine. Though, not that great either. This is also my thoughts about this season. It isn’t bad but there is nothing that would make me sing praises that the third season is great. In fact it just passes.

I don’t know, personally I think putting in the final arc of saving Rias somewhat killed it. I know it is to show how much everybody cares for her and she cares for everybody but somehow it just feels forced. Something about it just doesn’t feel right. Because with so many other potential good stuffs and storyline (from the light novel works), they ended the season with this ‘weak’ story of rescuing their club president. If poor sentiments were already building up halfway, then it would be sure to increase by the time it reaches the end. I think they’re trying to build some drama, showcasing the close relationship the Occult Club members have with each other and especially with Issei, seeking to tug some heartstrings whenever you see the characters getting worried or worked up over the other when something doesn’t augur well. You get the point. I felt too much of that isn’t necessarily good for the direction of this series.

Another downfall to this season is the characters. Both old and new. This series itself already boasts a lot of characters. And I mean really, really, really, really, really lots of them. Just rechecking the character list since the last time, I am not sure if I has been expanded or not but it feels a lot longer now that I have relooked at it again. Because it isn’t just your typical Demons, Angels and Fallen Angels or even gods from other mythologies but historical characters (fictional or non-fictional) as well! I mean, when you have characters from King Arthur’s times and even the Chinese’s Three Kingdoms, you’d start wondering if they will be putting in Greek philosophers, world conquerors (like Genghis Khan or Alexander the Great) or even… Presidents of the United States! Oh yeah! One big hell of mish-mash of everything! While it is great and unique to see this kind of mix-up of everything in one big fairytale story (or just one big nonsensical crap), the problem lies with having too many of these characters but not making a good impact or leaving any sort of lasting impression. That is what I feel the problem for the character development for this season.

It is not like they have introduced a whole bunch of new characters but even those that had newly appeared in this season feels a lot lacking. The biggest casualty is Rossweisse herself. My guts told me she would become part of Issei’s harem. As she is of Norse source, I wonder how can a Valkyrie turn into a demon just like that? But just in case, I guess that is why they make it last minute that Rossweisse completes Rias’ household. Just in time? Feels so rushed. (In the light novel as I read from a summary somewhere, she is one of those female characters who initially isn’t sure if she is in love with Issei or not till some sort of event occurs that made it confirm it is so). Well, it isn’t necessary to be part of Rias’ household if you want to fall in love with Issei, right? The way Rossweisse is lacking in presence and role impact in this season. The way her character played makes it feel like she is an anime-only character. The only thing that I would remember about her is her penchant for being too emo (whenever there isn’t any serious fighting or stuffs) and ranting about being single. That might not be a bad thing entirely but the way they executed her character this season is just feels sorry. It feels like she has been side-lined in a way to give some prominence to the relationship development between Issei and some of his Occult Club girls.

The rest of the other new characters also doesn’t fare that well. Either they lack impact or they get killed off quickly with a high chance of never ever returning in the future storyline ever again (looking at you, Shalba and Diodora. I’m wondering if Freed is killed off for good this time too). I suppose everything is still too early so Chaos Brigade isn’t much of an antagonist yet. I don’t know what Sairaorg’s role is for in this season because does it really matter? But I am sure he is one of those guys (like Vali) who are up to challenge Issei in a fight when the time is right to see who is strongest (no prizes in guessing who will come up tops at the end). Even if Barachiel had a little screen time to make amends with his estranged daughter, it just feels disconnected and doesn’t fit into the pace of everything this season. Perhaps Odin is the only one among the new characters that feel it made some sort of impact although this also felt minimal. Why do old and powerful guys always have to be perverts? Know that old turtle guy from Dragonball? Know that old little guy from Ranma 1/2? Know that old sage in Naruto? Yeah… See the pattern? I hope Odin doesn’t frequent Japan now that he has got to know about boobs bars… Boobs bars… They have that in Japan? Oh, do you still remember Rias’ family? Milli-what’s-his-name or Vene-what’s-her-name already?

If new characters didn’t leave much of an impact, does this mean the old ones do, especially the Occult Club members? Not quite either. Issei on one hand is a perverted kid who wants his own harem but unknowingly has already amassed one. The reason he doesn’t really touch them unless when given permission is because he respects them so it is like he is in an eternal dilemma to become harem king or not. Because from where I see his character (as well as others from many other animes), he is the kind of main protagonist and hero who doesn’t really care about the world and would even go as far as to let it be destroyed at the expense of the safety of his girls. Don’t you agree with me? So technically if you want the world to be safe from Ragnarok or Armageddon, if you are a girl, be part of his harem, if you are a guy, become his friend. That way with the ‘extended’ family theoretically he would go all out to save you if some sort of world threatening befalls. So like when Rias was endangered, he will go all out and dig deep into his feelings just to get her back. At the same time spamming his calling out to her. “Buchou! Buchou! BUCHOU!!!!!!”.

The rest of the Occult Club members also do not have decent development thanks to the short duration of the series and the way they force cram a few of them. We get to know a little about Koneko and her sister, Akeno and her dissatisfaction with her father and some precious moments for Asia. And then it ends with Rias’ growing insecurity of Issei’s love for her that led to the inevitable. Because it seems the other girls in the harem are making ground and headway in their personal relationship with Issei so Rias has all the right to be worried. Despite she is the president of the Occult Club and the head of her household team, she is at the same level when it comes to being a woman and wanting Issei’s affections. This undermines her exclusivity and privilege that she has with Issei now that everyone seems to be catching up especially Akeno who is more daring than ever. To the point that she is even confrontational. I believe Yuuto’s story and past was done in previous season so it feels like this time he feels like ‘neglected’. Xenovia feels like she’s being reduced to ‘cultivating a good friendship with Asia’. Gasper’s fear of wide public spaces is still funny but you realize that when the going gets tough, his phobia doesn’t kick in. All in the mind?

Let’s see about the other recurring characters… Mmm… Rather okay or so-so. Sirzechs is trying to do his best as the current Satan while Azazel seems to be playing the know-it-all sensei part. Irina isn’t part of Rias’ household so she doesn’t have much screen time and only hangs out with her ex fellow church member Xenovia whenever she gets the chance. Serafall and Ravel could have been forgotten had they not made their short little cameo which doesn’t really amount to anything. At least Saji this season put up a decent badass power up fight despite his limited screen time too. I thought they were going to bring back Yuuma/Reinare, the way they tease us by making Issei remember this nightmare from time to time. Guess not. Thank goodness.

Although this season still has its trademark fanservice of uncensored naked tits and boobs galore, somehow it feels less. I don’t know. Maybe it is because that feeling of mediocrity that is undermining this department too. In a way it is good and bad because you don’t want too much fanservice to dilute the worth of this series but then again, boobs fanservice is the reason why this series is popular in the first place. Yeah, lots of pervy guys out there. So in addition to groping boobs, now you have poking boobs? You learn something new every day… Fanservice quality for the mid-intermission remains the same. First half shows the girls in sexy poses and then in the second half, all the clothes come off and it feels like a must to show and expose their tits to us.

Action bits also feel less. I remember in the previous seasons we had lots of terms and power ups whenever we see Issei and the team fight. I don’t think this season added any much of those new moves and the power fights also seem to lack that oomph thanks to all that drama going on. And there is always some sort of hidden power inside Issei that we don’t know of. How many more times can he power up till he reaches the ultimate of the ultimate? Is it me or is the quality towards the end of the series getting a little bad? Like as though the animators really want to get their chest off this bad season and end it all quickly.

This season’s opening and ending theme didn’t appeal to me again. Bless Your Name by ChouCho as the opener sounds like a generic anime rock outfit while the Stylips sings the ending theme, Give Me Secret. Lively, exuberant and resembling like a dance song but still I didn’t find it quite to my liking although I would prefer this than the opening theme. Hmm… I think this season’s ending credits animation also contributed to the overall unexciting feel of this season. In the first season, we were treated to sexy pole dancing fanservice. Then in the second season, there was this weird but erotic dance and it was still sexy enough despite Gasper being part of the dancing troupe and in bikini. In this third season, there are none of those or anything similar and despite spamming Issei’s naked harem, it just doesn’t feel the same as before.

Overall, this season is not that bad and it only is when you have read the light novels and start expecting the adaptation to follow very closely. Then expect to be very disappointed. The third season as an anime itself is okay but it is not nearly as great as its past 2 seasons. It is still pretty much decent (oh, the irony). Therefore like any other animes that follow this sort of precedent (great start but faltering sequels), the only way to pick itself up is to make another fourth season. Maybe this is all part and parcel of the bigger plan and cycle. Happy, happier, disappointment and then happy again. Maybe that is what life is all about. When you have a series of choices, it isn’t necessary that you need to pick one over the other. Like if you don’t know which boobs to poke, just poke ‘em both! Double the fun, double the satisfaction!

Everybody has big dreams in life. Sometimes it might be too big that you might not be able to achieve it all by yourself. How are you going to make this happen then? Recruit a few people who share the same dream? That is one way. So as in the case of Saenai Heroine No Sodatekata. Our main character is a complete otaku. His dream is to create the world’s best dating simulation game ever. But he can’t do it himself. He needs to gather a group of people who can do the story, scenes and character designs. More importantly, he needs a heroine that would leave an impression in the hearts of everyone. An iconic heroine that will be remembered for generations to come. Well, the easy part is finding one (or accidentally stumbling into one in his case), but the hard part as he found out that for the rest of her character and behaviour, she is completely different than what even a basic heroine should be. And is that why he needs to guide and raise her up from a boring heroine to a respectable heroine? Well, there are no guide books for that as far I can see. Oh, did I mention the rest of his circle members are girls…

Episode 0
This serves as a prologue of the series and what to expect from it. Sort of. The opener already sees our usual girls giving us hotspring fanservice as they ‘debate’ about their perceptions of anime. And our lucky guy, Tomoya Aki is eavesdropping partly because he is a pervert but more disheartening to him is that the girls are discussing anime stuffs without him around. Yup, that’s his biggest concern. As narrated by him, Tomoya is a big otaku and his dream is to create the perfect dating simulation ever. Therefore he and his harem circle are taking this trip to scout locations for the game. We are also ‘introduced’ to his harem circle that includes Utaha Kasumigaoka the scenario writer, Eriri Spencer Sawamura the illustrator, Michiru Hyoudou in charge of music and finally Megumi Katou who is the face and role of the heroine in Tomoya’s game. While taking scenic pictures, Eriri relates her ‘trauma’ as Tomoya’s childhood friend only to see him being ‘snatched away by another woman’. That sums up this tsundere’s position. Then there is this steamy seduction scene by Utaha on Tomoya with an excuse to let him have an idea of the scenario. Is she acting? Is she for real? We won’t know since Eriri comes rushing in to stop their indecency but only to tumble down. And while the girls are arguing, they didn’t realize Tomoya has been snatched by Michiru. She brings him to the lake, a spot she wanted so much to show him. Playful and cheeky as she is, she flirts around with him, splashing water, pushing him into it, on top of him… Only to be interrupted when Megumi makes a sound. She was watching all along but perhaps enjoying it too much to say anything.

After that ping pong game, they retire to their rooms. Before Tomoya could work on his materials, he is kidnapped! The next thing he knows, he is tied up in the girls’ room as they start seducing him. Tomoya could guess they have gotten drunk from the whiskey chocolates. Something points to Megumi because she is the only one still in her usual calm demeanour and as though she didn’t put in ‘enough effort’ to prevent it. Maybe she gets her kicks by watching this folly despite her facial expression doesn’t show it a single bit. I don’t know how it leads to this but Utaha gets the right to ‘rape’ Tomoya. In the end, we won’t know what happened but it sounded like Megumi ‘rescued’ him. I suppose it is time for Megumi to have some decent screen time alone with Tomoya. He is talking about her negative attitude which consigns her to a background character. However he still feels she is more than just plain as she is their game’s heroine. Since she has no clue on how to act like a heroine, he explains what is typically expected of one. Yeah, whatever. She’ll try her best. Tomoya notices her hair has grown longer. It has been 6 months since they’ve met (or rather as she puts it, noticed her existence) and this is what happens when you spend most of your time with an otaku. But they can’t give up now since their game is almost finished. They hope to release it at Winter Comiket. She also hopes their circle won’t crash and burn… Is she trying to jinx it?

Episode 1
On a spring day morning, Tomoya describes it as the beginning of his destiny when he spots a girl in white dress and her white hat blown away by the breeze. Such epic life changing scene he will never forget. It is the start of a new school term and Tomoya who is trying to be the super otaku is ‘busy’ with his otaku stuffs rather than being interested in who is in whose class. You know he is one when he prefers 2D girls instead of listening to his friend rant about the beauty and elegance of Eriri. But Tomoya skips the opening entrance ceremony just to go speak to Eriri and catches her in the act taking out a limited edition anime from her locker. Anyway, Tomoya wants her to join his circle as an illustrator because she is a very good one. Unknown to many, she is the author of a hit erotic manga under the pen name Eri Kashiwagi. She takes a look at his project proposal and doesn’t hesitate to criticize this piece of trash! To the max! Because he cannot express what he imagines, the big reason why he needs her. She continues to shoot him down about his dreams but he remains passionate about it. He tries to remind her of their childhood promise that he would come hire her when he becomes the president of the game company but she’s not very amused remembering that (twintail lashing abuse?). She doesn’t want any more to do with this so he pleads for another chance to hear him out after school at the AV room. But she notes it is too late for him to be saying that.

When Tomoya finally joins the opening ceremony, Utaha has been called up to stage to receive her award as top of her grade. Again he hears his friend waxing lyrical about Utaha’s beauty that could only be rivalled by Eriri. Why bother telling this to Tomoya when he isn’t interested in 3D? But you know, after the ceremony, Tomoya goes to see Utaha at the rooftop. Silent treatment? After treating her to lunch, he gives her review his project proposal. Without holding back, she fires all the harsh criticisms on this piece of trash. She doesn’t want to be involved with him as she is busy but Tomoya knows about Utaha’s other identity. Aside from being the smartest student in school, she is also the writer of a bestselling series under the pen name of Utako Kasumi. He pleads for another chance to listen to him and to wait for him at the AV room after school. But she can’t understand of all times, why now. So this guy works hard to complete his proposal and as he is about to go to the AV room, Megumi passes by him and thanks him for picking up her hat during spring break. Tomoya didn’t really care too much about it since he is in a hurry. But then it hit him. Oh sh*t! Isn’t that his destiny girl?! Wait! Come back! Meanwhile, Eriri thought she could make her dramatic entrance as a tsundere but to her dismay Utaha is the one waiting in the room. We can tell both hates each other’s guts the way they insult each other with Utaha being more subtle in her sarcasm but Eriri and her emotions blowing up like fireworks. Anyhow, it looks like Utaha is the better one in this ‘conversation’. The standoff continues… When Tomoya finally catches up to Megumi, he didn’t even realize she was in the same class with him. Since last year! Meanwhile, the waiting ladies realize they have been stood up when a certain otaku didn’t show up…

Episode 2
Tomoya is talking to Megumi at the diner. He never noticed her but now that he does, he really finds her cute and all the physical qualities that a heroine needs to have. However she notes that she has a lack of presence, that is why people do not notice her unlike Tomoya who is considered a celebrity in school because of the otaku activities her organized. He doesn’t even know that? Tomoya becomes passionate in arguing that Megumi is not as plain as she think she is. He wants her to bring all that heroine qualities out. Since when is she already in his circle? Ah well, he sounds so determined, might as well consider her in. Because Eriri and Utaha are spotted outside the window with those cold stabbing stares, the tension is further tense with them joining at the table. I mean, this guy got the guts to stand them up and date another girl? Tomoya wastes no time in introducing everyone in his circle. Since when did they join? Eriri and Utaha are still at odds with each other, having that feet battle underneath the table. The girls try to convince Tomoya to give up his dream but he has decided. He will rewrite it as many times to get their approval. And for that moment the duo thought he has decided no which of them he would choose? See their disappointed reaction. Little do they realize that Megumi is gone. She is queuing at the drinks counter. Wow. She definitely lacks presence, eh?

So to train her to be the perfect heroine, Tomoya calls Megumi to meet. She doesn’t remember the street where she lost her hat as the first place they met simply because it wasn’t. It was last year’s opening ceremony. Oh, he can’t remember that, can’t he? Megumi is in Tomoya’s otaku room but she doesn’t display the kind of reaction he expected her as a heroine. Why so mad, bro? The best way to learn about a heroine is to play a dating game. As usual, Megumi is pretty clueless about everything and I don’t know how frustrated Tomoya feels. Hey, cut her some slack. She is an amateur, isn’t she? So they play the best dating game from start to finish. Megumi does have good comments on it as Tomoya departs more cliché advices. But does she understand it all? You guessed it. It took him to remember Eriri’s words to realize that he was the one who didn’t understand everything. What? I don’t understand what’s going on. Megumi thought she could leave for the night but wait! There’s more. The game has a sequel and true ending. Don’t tell me they’re going to play it through? Well, his parents are out of town for an overnight trip and tomorrow has no school. Oh sh*t… For the sake of his, uhm, their dream, stay for the night! You don’t know how ambiguous that sounds. I’m sure that he assuring he only likes 2D girls doesn’t sound that assuring. But when she agrees to stay, he panics that she should be suspicious and not to be so carefree. So what does he wants?! This guy is worse than a woman! The game finally ends in the morning. Megumi is so deprived of sleep that she would do anything just to get some. Even if it means joining his circle. So can she sleep now?

Episode 3
Seems Tomoya hasn’t even started on his proposal. Trouble getting ideas? I’m sure he is calling Megumi for another sleepover session but she can’t. She’s away for a family trip at Hokkaido. By the time she gets back, that’ll be his deadline. So Tomoya tries to make a resolution not to get distracted by his otaku stuffs to start his work. Well, maybe just one manga before he begins… And he wasted half a day on it… Before he knows it, Eriri is already at his place working on her porn manga. Her dad is holding a garden party and she doesn’t want to be around to show her face to the guests. So his place is the ideal place to work on her erotic manga? Anyway she wants him to give up seeing he sounded like giving excuses not to complete his game. To their surprise, Utaha is at his doorstep so I guess Eriri has to go into hiding and hide all her stuffs. Utaha enters his very clean room and starts teasing him with a little flirt. She also thinks he should give up at this rate but goes on ranting and getting worked up about deadlines and bad comments that put down her work. Tomoya’s conviction manages to convince her that he will come up with a satisfying proposal that will guarantee to make her agree to join his circle. She advises him that if he is serious in that, he should involve all members otherwise he won’t put out a quality product no matter how hard he tries or keep himself motivated. Oh, one more thing. He should have also tried hiding the bicycle. I guess she already knows… So how long is Eriri going to hide in the closet? That night, Tomoya calls Megumi to not worry about him. He’ll do something about himself. She asks what was it about her that appealed to him. Well, everything with her was fun. Was there any room for improvement? If she could be a little more overbearing. And so the next day he starts getting serious on his project. Each time he hits a dead end (which is very soon always), he takes a break doing something else. Before he knows it, he wasted another day! Nothing started! Blank sheet! The thought of giving up seems tempting than ever.

He returns to that hill he first saw Megumi and thought would get inspiration. Nothing. He is about to cry when he sees a white cap floating down. It’s Megumi! I guess he was so pitiful that she threw it for him. Her acting is a little different as she wonders if this is the ideal heroine he wanted. Is this the way he wanted her to act, speak and fall in love? Seems Megumi came back a few days ago after telling her parents she needed to help meet a deadline. She didn’t meet up with him because she didn’t think she would be useful contributing anything. But she wasn’t doing nothing during that time. She got the help of Eriri and Utaha. Eriri designed her dress while Utaha became the strict director teaching her how to act. She might not know what kind of game he is doing but she understands he is very serious about it so hang in there and make her into a heroine that everyone will envy of. Now that he is motivated, he brings her back to his place where they’ll begin their work till tomorrow 7am!!! Hope there would be enough time to get to school. Utaha and Eriri are watching them from afar. They note Tomoya has not started yet. Because Eriri is being contradicting herself by not caring about him and yet helping him, Utaha warns her to fix that attitude of hers or she’ll regret it later. Though Eriri can’t believe she’ll be in the same circle with her, on the contrary Utaha looks forward to working with her. And so when Tomoya hands over his proposal for the girls to read, it is as bad as ever! And he poured his heart and soul into it… Megumi isn’t saying anything because she is sleeping… Lack of sleep or boring?

Episode 4
Megumi read the entire manga volume Tomoya lent her. She is impressed she didn’t think it would be this good. Yeah, he lets her keep it. Utaha is not impressed that her editor hired Tomoya to interview her for her new upcoming series. Well, no ordinary interviewer is going to get anything out from a shy, uncooperative and foul tempered lady. So she thought somehow whom she is familiar with would do the trick. 30 seconds into the interview, she’s already dozing off… I’m not sure if Tomoya is asking boring questions. Anyway the interview didn’t go anywhere even with all those energy drinks. It doesn’t help when the editor even reveals shady details of how they do things behind the scenes. Finally he asks the last question of what she hopes to accomplish with her next series. In addition to the pretty good answer, a very good news for Tomoya because she agrees to join his circle and his project! He couldn’t be much happier. Eriri is preparing herself and comes into the meeting in her typical tsundere fashion but déjà vu strikes as Utaha tells her to cut that tsundere crap and join them already. So they’re here to discuss the development schedule. But the girls dismiss it being unrealistic as they will have to devote 100% of their time to it. So they try to outdo each other by rewriting the schedule and they end up drawing on each other’s face.

With their task determined, what shall Tomoya be? He could be the errand boy who buys them snacks or he can take over character designs, plot development or something else. Buying snacks has never been the easiest job for the director, eh? But Utaha brings up the next problem: Fundraising. You know how expensive it can get when it comes to printing and publishing, right? Yeah, Tomoya didn’t know. Feeling defeated already? Before Utaha can fully seduce him, Eriri separates them (and whips him with her twintail combo). And before another war can start, he just tells them to concentrate on what they do best. Agreed. So what will Megumi do then? Nobody noticed her the entire time, eh? And so Tomoya works hard and wears many hats to raise that million yen target! But to his shock he sees Megumi bringing a hot guy to the restaurant he works at! Keiichi is actually her cousin. This really bothers Tomoya. A lot. Since when did Tomoya become her father and after that long lecture about what it takes to be a standout heroine that moves the hearts of others, he wants her never to see him again???!!! At least until after the game is completed. Is he unreasonable? Is he obnoxious? Is he stupid? Yes to all! And it’s all over when she says she is meeting him this weekend at the mall. It’s like the end of the world for him. That’s like a date, right? At least to him. If that is how it’s going to be, he wants to be the one who accompanies her to the mall then. Hmm… Okay. She’ll just tell Keiichi it is off. Now… Tomoya suddenly has doubts. Doesn’t this look like a date? Shouldn’t she think more about it? I tell you, this guy is worse than a woman!

Episode 5
Eriri is having a hard time trying to sketch a decent heroine out of Megumi. She’s just not into that 2D thingy. On the other hand, it may look like Utaha is having writer’s block when she’s typing nonsense. But could it be a ploy to get Tomoya to feed her? But Eriri ‘broke’ her pencil so errand boy has to get new ones. Eriri is already tired trying to cast Megumi and she doesn’t need a shock to hear Tomoya asking her if she has gone out on a date before! No, he is not asking her out. So he is hypothetically getting her advice on what to do till she realizes he is going on a date with Megumi. So shock that Utaha suddenly starts writing a yandere route! Tomoya sounds like the victim… Utaha is done with her scenario as Tomoya narrates it. It goes something like this. A chance meeting of a guy and a girl at the hill slope. Pretty familiar, right? Coincidentally they are classmates. Slowly they pursue a relationship with each other. Then she starts acting strange. She remembers something about their past lives. They were not only siblings but were lovers too. Now they go off to fight… Monsters?! Despite Tomoya liking this awesome development, he feels something is missing. So for 3 days he has been cracking his head on it so Eriri tells him off his uselessness is hindering the progress of everything. If he has something better, then write it himself. Utaha warns her there are things she should not say and what she said did not help a bit. Since Tomoya isn’t giving any answer, Utaha notes that it is happening again. Megumi thinks to call off tomorrows date at the mall and postpone it to another time but Tomoya won’t run away and try it out. But he is at the brink of defeat after seeing so many people lining up to get in. Just tiring, eh? He can’t take it anymore but when Megumi misinterprets about the otaku and Comiket, this gives Tomoya an idea to consider the crowd as his fellow otakus. Then he has Megumi lay out all the stores she wants to visit. He devises his plan on how to visit them all like as though this is a Comiket convention. Such a pro. Thanks to that, she manages to get everything she wants for the day. Although she is grateful, Tomoya can’t accompany her home because there is somewhere he needs to go now. Utaha is seen waiting.

Episode 6
It’s time for Utaha to get her own episode. Utaha fans scream with joy! Utaha’s manager is teasing her that she is thinking about Tomoya although she denies this. Oh, just stop being stubborn and go after him already! We see some flashbacks of Utaha recognizing Tomoya at a book signing ceremony because he was ranting away and waxing lyrical about her characters. She used to call him out for opinions of her characters. I think she just enjoyed him talking instead of listening to what his passionate ranting is all about. I don’t think she fell asleep because it was boring. Then there was one time she wanted him to read her manuscript for her final volume so that she could make the necessary changes but he refuses because he will not take responsibility for her work. He wants her to decide on the ending and doesn’t want it to become an ending that reflects his opinions. She was desperate but he still would not because he is her fan. It shocked her. It has been 6 months then. Tomoya wonders if she would forgive him. After countless near misses, Tomoya finally meets up with Utaha while taking shelter from the rain. Since it is late and the last train has already departed, her manager sets them up to stay in the same room at a nearby hotel! After shower… She getting flirty… Then Tomoya’s passion blows up. He wants her to make him a man. No, a creator! She feels disappointed for this false lead up. For the rest of the night, he discusses about his ‘date’ with Megumi which is to gather materials but I’m sure any girl wouldn’t like to hear about a guy talking a lot about another girl. Then they talk about the plot which he thinks needs to focus more on the heroine’s current life and happiness instead of her past life. She thinks of cutting off the past life plot but he wants it included since it has its charm. Utaha turns into a yandere as she starts typing the revised plot. Like as though she’s hinting that he chose a plain character other than her to be his main heroine. Is it not right for an author to feel love and not go all out for a fan? Tomoya won’t fall for this since she is speaking as herself and not in character. Next morning, Utaha leaves early to continue her work with her manager. She is saying very ambiguous lines about their very passionate time last night (albeit it was just rewriting the plot). She leaves satisfied and thanking him for drawing out her determination, etc. And then we hear him scream because Utaha took a selfie of them in bed on the morning after!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Meanwhile Eriri happened to bump Megumi at the mall and is sketching her. Seems there is a subtle implication that she is not happy with that date. Eriri sketches a sulking expression of Megumi in which she denies ever putting on that face. Hey, didn’t she just do that?

Episode 7
Time for Eriri’s turn to have the spotlight? She calls Tomoya to her home, blaming him for pushing back the schedule, blah, blah, blah. So take responsibility! Is there a meaning behind this? Long story short, she wants him to help act out as a main character for her ero work. So they flip flop between acting and real stuff so you wonder if it’s just a ploy from Eriri to flirt with him. I don’t think so. Tsunderes aren’t like that… Don’t worry. They won’t be having sex unlike the character in her story. On the last day at school, Tomoya is fuming at Megumi. Why? She has changed her hairstyle! Imagine the shock she will bring to viewers! Well, only he noticed, right? So as he is lecturing her about overall characters (a certain tsundere and sharp tongue girl is out), he speaks greatly of having a little sister/junior character that always looks up to you in admiration. Well, it is about to turn true now because Izumi Hashima claims she has found him and hugs him! OMG! Shamelessly in front of his harem? OMFG. Seems she is his old childhood friend and 2 years his junior who moved away (Utaha seems to love teasing Eriri about her having a more middle school girl body than Izumi). Izumi praises Tomoya for everything he has done for her. Especially about teaching her about the pleasures of being girl! Alarm bells ringing! Wait a minute. If this happened when they were younger… Hold your horses! It’s not like that. Then Izumi hands him a letter. Big red alert! Actually it is an invitation ticket to her doujin circle at summer Comiket. This is her way of repaying him. If he had never shown her that game, Little Rhapsody he gave her as a gift, she wouldn’t be here today living a happy otaku life. Oh, I see there was another fine girl he corrupted. As she leaves, she tells Tomoya that her brother, Iori would be glad to see him again.

Well, that happens soon after. However Tomoya and Eriri ignore this handsome dude (he waited here for more than half an hour!) and continue arguing about the game gift Tomoya gave to Izumi. So when they cannot ignore him no more, the guys start their petty argument (WTF is this Nagoya food they’re talking about?). Tomoya remembers severing ties with him. Long ago they once agreed to rise up to the otaku world together. Their dynamic friendship back then sent all those fujoshi girls crazy. However Tomoya soon discovered his goals were completely different than his. Iori didn’t become an otaku to spread its joys. What he did was trying to get close to popular works and creators to make himself look important. Tomoya believes he should rise up from the bottom instead of just feeding on creators. Uhm, shouldn’t Tomoya do that himself too? Iori then hands him his name card. To their surprise, he is under Akane Kousaka’s Rouge En Rouge circle. This is a very famous superstar circle. Thanks to Iori’s ways, he has now risen this high and the circle cannot turn him down for he has helped them out with many things. Eriri won’t accept him but he informs his circle is interested in her. As he knows Tomoya is making a game with these famous girls, is he trying to stir something in the otaku world? So happen they too are making a game and are looking for an illustrator. Looks like it is a contest now. Does Eriri deserve to be on Tomoya’s side or will she shine further with them?

Episode 8
Megumi is here to discuss character designs, etc. But it seems Tomoya and Eriri are busy in completing the latter’s work before summer Comiket which starts tomorrow. Eriri thinks they’re fine since she will only be there on the third and final day. So Megumi passes time by playing Little Rhapsody. Tomoya is happy she has grown this much as an otaku. Shouldn’t he get back to helping Eriri? However since Eriri also likes this game, she can’t help get distracted in watching Megumi play. She manages to complete it without a drop in quality so Tomoya asks her about Iori’s offer. It is tempting and success is guaranteed. But what about her future? Is she going to keep drawing as a hobby? As Eriri plays Little Rhapsody, she assures him that she is part of his circle for now and won’t be taking on any guest artist jobs till winter Comiket. Tomoya and Megumi visit and help Izumi set up her booth on the first day of Comiket. Izumi is so happy to see he came that she hugs him. With tears! And she got the guts to call Megumi his girlfriend. Does she know the implication? When Tomoya looks at her work and finds out she has only been drawing for a year, he is impressed and takes a sample to go do something about it. He returns after copying an enlarged page and sticking it on a sign to attract people as a massive poster. But Izumi is embarrassed he chose that page because it wasn’t finished in time so it is a rushed job. Megumi agrees with Tomoya because she has read her work and she found it interesting all the way that it made her hard to catch her breath. A guy shows up and surprisingly buys it although her work isn’t aimed for guys. Then a long line of girls queue up to buy them till it is sold out. Izumi becomes emotional thanking everyone for supporting her. At the end of the day, Tomoya catches up with Eriri whom he realizes disguised herself to come buy Izumi’s works. She doesn’t seem happy. She asks him for his opinion on Izumi’s work. It’s totally awesome. Yeah. He was so hyped to help sell them too. That’s when she snapped back that he never reacted like that to her works. He never felt anything at all. He never went all out to help sell her works. Tomoya argues that they are both different and in different leagues. So does this mean Eriri’s works are better than Izumi’s? If so, why won’t he help to sell them? Her works sell fine without his help. That’s not even an answer. Eriri runs away crying, leaving Tomoya at the intersection. Cliché scene?

Episode 9
Suddenly Tomoya wakes up with Utaha lying next to him in bed! Is this some sort of revenge for not getting any screen time last episode? Eventually Tomoya reveals what happened with Eriri so Utaha thinks it is his fault for waxing lyrical the works of another girl in front of her. Tomoya believes he could not stay quiet when someone’s works stands out. Though it might not dent her reputation overall, but it sure dent her heart. This might jeopardize their circle as she might be too traumatized to even work. So Eriri doesn’t even get out of bed to go for the Comiket. She’s just lazing around in her bed. On the other hand, Utaha is lying around on Tomoya’s bed, smelling his blanket… Don’t worry. He is away at Comiket. He sees Iori and needs his help to drag Eriri back into his circle. That night as Eriri’s parents are holding a house party, it is part of Utaha’s plan to have Tomoya dress up as a prince to whisk Eriri away from her balcony. This scene resembles very closely to one in Little Rhapsody and will evoke that nostalgia factor. Away, the reconciliation isn’t going to be easy because it is Tomoya who is the one getting upset and wanting her to apologize for betraying him first. There is a short flashback of their days in elementary school 8 years ago. Eriri introduced Little Rhapsody to him and he got hooked to the otaku world. However she had to ‘abandon’ him to make new friends. That might look petty to Eriri but to him this was a big deal. It meant a lot to him. He had to make enemies out of every guy just to protect what they had. He won’t forgive her for the bad treatment. Eriri won’t apologize, instead she brings up that recent incident of praising another author’s work in front of her. She worked so hard and yet he praised Izumi. He admits Izumi’s work is much better than her. Eriri starts crying that she put in so much effort and that this is the limit of her talent. She put on a mask outside and worked hard at home to get back at those who broke them up. She wants to go back to how it was. He tells her to do it. He doesn’t know how but just do it. It’s her work. And so she finally decides to do it and make her be his number one. Next day, Eriri has completed the illustration of the circle’s banner. Looks very close to Megumi and she’s not pretty happy about it (because the illustration has her wear nothing!). Tomoya puts the finishing touches by calling their circle Blessing Software. Utaha points out that roughly translates to Megumi’s Software. Oh dear. Tempers are going to flare again… Lastly, Iori hands Izumi a drawing from Eriri for her. She is very happy about it although she didn’t know Eriri was at her stand. Iori starts laughing since the drawing also contains a note that Eriri won’t lose to her.

Episode 10
Tomoya and the girls are making progress with the game. It is getting late so he is going to take a bath and sleep. To his surprise, Michiru is using the place like her own home. Finally! After 3/4 of the series of no-show, finally she pops up! Tomoya screams not because she came out of the bath, but rather she didn’t have the typical girly screaming reaction she should have when she sees a semi-naked guy. Seems she had an argument with her family and ran away from home. She tells him about the new band she formed but he isn’t convinced since she never stayed for more than 6 months. Michiru is pretty bold and physical in flirting with him. You wonder if his neck is going to be okay with that kind of submission move. Next day as he tries to work on the scripting, Utaha and Eriri are more interested in flirting and getting his attention. Then they discover the other girl… Oh dear. Tomoya is tied up and interrogated. Who the heck is this Michiru girl? Tomoya explains she is his cousin who happened to be born on the same day and same hospital as him. Utaha becomes a smooth operation in creating a scenario the closeness of their relationship. The kind of childhood friend relationship that trumps all over others and make it look like cheap knock offs. Eriri can’t handle the heat and already passes out. Tomoya returns home only to see Michiru making herself at home. Yeah, she’s really turning his room into his. Throwing away all his otaku stuffs and replacing it with her music. She tries to convince him to leave the otaku life and will introduce real girls to him to hang out. Thankfully (or not), his otaku passion is strong and he won’t be so easily converted. Imagine, a girl who have family problems telling a guy in his own home to be concerned about his future. Despite warning Michiru not to plug her electric guitar to the amp, she does so after he has gone to take a bath. At first he is going to chew her out but after a while, the music isn’t that bad. In fact, it perfectly fits the scenes of his story. He wants her to join his circle. His towel then came off. Is that some sort of threat or intimidation? She isn’t, by the way.

Episode 11
Michiru is introduced to the rest. I wonder how Eriri is going to handle this. I don’t think she can’t. Especially seeing Michiru getting physical with Tomoya like as though it’s that norm. Of course Michiru has never agreed to write music for his game. She claims she has her hands full writing songs for her band. Utaha reminds Tomoya not to force her to join or she’ll be unhappy. Funny, wasn’t Utaha the same at first? Because Michiru looks down on otaku, Utaha retorts all that about the otaku world and how their works of entertainment make them nobles. When Michiru starts bringing up the past that she was always better than him in everything, there were times he was a reliable guy. Eriri seems to be interested in hearing ancient history. I don’t know how Tomoya can get out of this one with both girls suffocating him. Later when all the girls have gone home, Tomoya expresses he really needs Michiru but she is still not convinced. Somehow her band is on the verge of breaking up thanks to her so she has no time to help him out. Tomoya takes it that she has not received her father’s blessings yet. She reveals he will approve of it if they get a manager. Tomoya will help find one for her but Michiru says it is him. Well, they’re not going to have a complete stranger as their manager, right? So now it is his turn to claim being busy with his circle. What experience has he got as a band manager? Michiru tells him that his circle is broken and that he is the only one who is genuinely interested in making the game. The other girls seem to hang around for other reasons… However it is different in her case. Everyone in her band is seriously trying to make their dream come true.

Tomoya’s friend thinks he is spending more time with Megumi recently and Tomoya is happy to note that she has grown as a heroine since other guys are starting to take notice of her. Megumi is at Eriri’s home helping to work on the game’s scripting. She has her own ideas and views for certain scenes that make it work better. Early next morning, Tomoya calls her. Seems he is in a dilemma. He asks her if the circle is not working so she invites him out for breakfast. She shows him the scripting she has been working to help him out. Surprised? Megumi views herself as no talent like the rest but she wants to help out whenever she can because she really wants to finish this game. Just as Tomoya’s faith in completing the game and making her the heroine that everyone can envy renewed, he sees on the scripting demo something about Megumi hinting about his cousin when he was opposed to her own cousin. Remember that incident? Yeah… Immediately he prostrates himself to apologize. Tomoya then lets her hear Michiru’s music that he secretly recorded. Sounds good. This has Megumi ask if Michiru has really nothing to do with the otaku culture. Michiru gets a pleasant surprise when Tomoya agrees to become her band manager. There is a live gig for her band to perform. Apparently a band pulled out last minute and he managed to slot theirs in. He already contacted her band members to commit. All that is left is for her to say okay. Instantly she hugs him and starts apologizing for being selfish, sorry his dream might collapse, blah, blah, blah. Typical female character when the guy gets you what you want?

Episode 12
Tomoya is talking to Michiru’s Icy Tail band. They will be going out first since they have no past credentials. Time to do this thing. Meanwhile, Tomoya’s circle girls are supposed to attend to but Eriri has run away to a maid café. Megumi and Utaha are forced to drag her out. Utaha can’t believe Megumi and Eriri got close together while at the same time poking fun insulting Eriri’s trauma about losing her position as Tomoya’s oldest childhood friend. I wonder if Megumi is tired in rebuking the infighting. Finally when they arrive at the backstage, they see this very ‘horror’ scene. Michiru despite angry at Tomoya for the cat maid outfit that the band is supposed to go out and perform in, she is in a cowgirl position and that ambiguous humping just makes your imagination go wild. Tomoya reveals the biggest secret. Michiru thought she was singing pop songs but in actual fact all of them are anime songs. That is why the songs she writes are so anime-like. Apparently her bandmates are somewhat otaku themselves and have made a deal with Tomoya that with him managing them as an anime cover band, they will allow her to work for his Blessing Software. It is a win-win situation for everyone. She can quit if she wants but is she going to betray her friends? Even if she is not an otaku, he believes she will become a fine one someday. Icy Tail head off to stage and the crowd goes wild when they begin their gig. It ends with Michiru playing an original song she wrote. When Michiru says I love you to Tomoya, Utaha and Eriri beat him up. He had to explain she was saying Icy Tail (as in “Aishiteru yo!”). At the backstage, Tomoya continues his smooth operator talk with Michiru. Her dream has come true. Now it’s her turn to make his. Those otaku out there cheering for her today, they will soon be moved to tears when she writes music for his game. Michiru agrees to join him and decides to make it formal with a pact. It looks like she’s going to kiss him but in fact she gets back at him by doing a submission move. We see the circle working hard to complete the game as well as a glimpse of part of the game’s ending. Everyone is glad that they have completed it. Well, at least one route. Now to start again for the other routes. Eriri starts right away, Utaha takes a quick nap and Michiru going to cheer them up with her song. Everything is working so fine. Well, 2 months to go to Winter Comiket. Tomoya is going to make some narrative that their fight has just begun but Eriri smacks him so as not to jinx it.

How To Satisfy A Perverted Otaku
If I have to be honest, I am having a hard time determining if this series is interesting or, erm, boring. Maybe it is somewhat both. The interesting parts see how a nobody and high school kid Tomoya trying to create an ideal game with all the obstacles he is facing as well as managing the fickle relationship between his female members. But other than that, the drama of it all can be a bit draggy as I sometimes find it hard myself to keep focus for the duration of the episode. Personally, I have no idea about the direction or what they are planning about when discussing in making the game because it seems I only sit up whenever there is some sort of cat fight happening between Utaha and Eriri since with the former’s acid tongue and sarcasm, it is always fun to hear what comes out of her mouth and the reaction the tsundere puts on. I’m not saying that this is a bad anime overall but maybe I just got my priorities wrong. I thought I would see them making the game (like what you see in Bakuman or even Shirobako) and even though this is what their circle goal is all about, they do it behind the scenes and it is more of Tomoya trying to make his circle work despite everything looks like it is going to fall apart any moment. Good thing it didn’t, right? Could it be the power of (one-sided secret crush) love?

The clashing and contrasting characters in the circle make them interesting despite you can see certain clichés in them like a certain tsundere (why must they always be twintail blondes?) and sharp tongue yandere. The biggest irony is that the 2 of the biggest names in the otaku world are working for a complete nobody. It becomes obvious that they are willing to bring themselves down to his level thanks to the shared past and feelings for him. The show does have its pace to bring out Utaha and Eriri’s past with Tomoya and how they are somewhat connected to him, the reason they are going this far to help him make his ideal game. At the same time, Megumi is not going to be the running joke of the series whereby nobody notices her so it is not going to be the case for her character development to be ignored. Instead, we see her taking an interest and learning more about the otaku culture. Although that ‘boring’ nature of hers depends very much on the views and perception of others. Boring at first in the eyes of Tomoya because of his set stereotypes of what a heroine should be. But I think Megumi could be the ‘coolest’ character of them all in the entire series since she rarely burst into any fits of emotion. Even so, they look so emotionless. Even when she makes come back lines. Quite funny when she rebukes. Quite the irony. I know her sleepy voice makes her like a dreamy girl but I think it gives her character. Overall, the character development is satisfactory but not quite enough since you can’t do justice to them all with just a dozen or so episodes.

Tomoya looks like another typical and ordinary otaku character with big dreams. Yeah, what another irony considering Megumi is supposed to be the most ‘normal’ one. His passion in the otaku life is genuine. Sometimes I feel he just needs to have better communication skills to tell the girls what he want especially to Megumi who is a noob in the otaku world. With the girls having different sets of personalities, Tomoya feels like the punching bag for the big two and to a point plays the role of retorting them when they put words in his mouth or twisting the meaning of the entire thing. And sometimes I feel he is worse than a woman because based on my observations especially with Megumi, he expects something like this or that and when she agrees to it, he starts having second thoughts whether it is a good thing or not for her to agree so easily with it. So what does he really want anyway?

So I suppose with the characters interacting with each other in such a way, this is where mainly the funny parts of the series are. Yeah well, at least they aren’t that boring despite the cliché personalities. And I suppose they try to make it a little interesting because sometimes the characters do speak in a way that breaks the fourth wall. Like as though they are addressing to us viewers who are watching them. Some of them are cleverly played out.

Another one of the biggest ironies for this series is the romance part. I said irony because Tomoya who has proclaimed he only loves 2D girls (although he did say he does not hate 3D girls) to be working with real girls in the flesh. If that is the case, could it be that he only sees his colleagues as nothing as that? Perhaps. But I don’t think it is the same case for the girls. We all know very well that he is the reason why they are staying in his circle that may or may not be successful. So there’s the irony of beautiful and successful girls in their own right having feelings for a 2D lover guy. Unrequited love? Utaha and Eriri look like the front runners in this game but Michiru is threatening to usurp all that thanks to her bold physical moves. And she like only made her appearance so late in the series proper.

You thought Utaha was pretty bold in her up close flirting with Tomoya? Well, it was till Michiru smashed all that and took it to a whole new level. Don’t forget about Megumi. She might look like the one with the least potential but you know what they say about still waters running deep. I may be reading too much but I take it as a sign that she wants to help him and finish this game as an indication that she harbours some feelings for him. She might be the one who usurp it all because you know, Tomoya views her as his heroine. I don’t know what happened to Izumi but I thought the more the merrier with a cliché character playing the little sister trope (since she does appear along with the other girls in the ending credits animation). Well it seems childhood friend seems to be an important ‘ingredient’ in whatever romance factor the girls are pinning on. In that case, everybody would have lost out to Michiru flat, right?

There are also a few fanservice scenes but they are considered light and the ‘heaviest’ one would be in episode 0 itself (and possibly almost every scene that involve Michiru on Tomoya). With Utaha’s sexy seduction and after-bath scene, a scene with Eriri only in her lingerie and Michiru whose skimpy dressing like as though she is getting ready for a porn shoot and her extreme physical skinship on Tomoya might make it too tantalizing for us to handle. Even all that is pales in comparison to even call this an ecchi themed anime. Okay, maybe you can call it ecchi as long as we get more than 2 scenes of boobs and pantsu shots. Also, there are some anime trivia to spot but mostly they are the posters, mangas and figurines in Tomoya’s room like OreImo, Date A Live and Sword Art Online respectively among the many others. For the rest that are seen elsewhere like during the Comiket, I am not sure if they are real, made up or actual doujin work.

Although the art and drawing are rather okay being your standard Japanese anime style like you see these days, I can’t help notice if it is going to be a trend. Like in Grisaia No Kajitsu, I noticed that there is a red strip of line on the top outline of the girls’ eyes. I am not sure about the guys but I noticed that in some scenes, Tomoya also have this feature albeit it is very faint compared to the girls. Then there are certain scenes in which the colouring and the hue just become, how should I put it, single hue. For example, sometimes the scene will be in just tones and shades or red. Sometimes purple. Sometimes blue. Like as though they ran out of other colours for that scene and just dumped all that single colour just for the sake to get that scene coloured. This does not happen very often but enough to make you notice and wonder if there is some sort of implication or anything. Or it could be just to mess with your head and amount to nothing much. Oddly, there are also a few scenes using CG. But those scenes are also rare although it tries to blend in with the 2D hand drawing, it still stands out.

Voice acting is pretty okay. Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Tomoya somehow I feel is going to be stereotyped in playing such characters. Whether it is Aito from Mangaka-san To Assistant-san To or Sora from No Game No Life. Kiyono Yasuno (Koneko in Hamatora) playing Megumi might sound like she has the easiest job since her character sounds like she is devoid of emotions and just put on that single monotonous voice. But to speak like that for the entire duration of the series is not easy and can be tiring. Believe me, I tried doing that for a few minutes and it was already hard on me despite I myself am a boring person ;p. The rest of the other casts include Ai Kayano as Utaha (Inori in Guilty Crown), Saori Oonishi as Eriri (La Folia in Strike The Blood), Sayuri Yahagi as Michiru (Haruna in To Love-Ru), Chinatsu Akasaki as Izumi (Yasuna in Kill Me Baby) and Tatsuya Kakihara as Iori (Natsu in Fairy Tail). The opening and ending themes sound generic anime pop. Sounds okay but doesn’t appeal to me. Kimiiro Signal by Luna Haruna is the opener while Colorful by Miku Sawai serves as the ending theme. There are also a handful of insert songs that are sung by the heroines in the series but I didn’t find them appealing either.

Till the second season arrives (oh yes, there is definitely going to be a second season to satisfy us otaku perverts who love to see the eternal rivalry and cat fight between the tsundere and yandere as well as the deadpan rebuke from the most normal girl ever in the history of anime, not forgetting an extremely physical budding musician), I guess we’ll have to be satisfied this season to see how a guy manages his girls. Oh wait. Did it even come close to that? How do I describe this anime in a nutshell? It’s like a management sim but it doesn’t feel like it. It’s like your harem anime but it’s not. It’s like your romantic comedy anime but it really isn’t. It’s almost like your fanservice shots but not enough to classify so. Mainly everything feels mild and not serious enough to warrant to anything substantial but sufficient to keep your attention till the end. At least there are lots of positive comments about this show (I bet they are mostly either Utaha or Megumi camp).

So you think running a country or even a big multi-national conglomerate is a big tough headache job? Try managing a small group of only girls all of which whom have some sort of secret crush or admiration for you. It is like a dream come true for us otaku guys to have so many beauty and brains clamouring for us but at the same time a big hell of a mess when all hell breaks loose. Besides, don’t they have such management classes anywhere? Yeah, they don’t. You don’t try and manage girls as a guy! Never! Oh, how do you satisfy a perverted otaku anyway? Simple. Just give him lots of ero stuffs. What? You expecting something more complicated than that? I assure you, it is not that complicated to please a pervert even if he has the strangest fetish in the world. Really.

I read the reason for producing Hyakka Ryouran Samurai After was to introduce a new character to the series and give her some screen time. Well, nothing wrong with that but I thought it was just an excuse not to make another season and introduce her somewhere along the way or at the start instead of condemning her debut to a couple of OVAs. Heh. That’s just my opinion after all. And of course if you know about this series, you would know better about its brand of fanservice offered and thus all the more reason why we buy the DVDs to see samurai boobs and more samurai boobs. Oh yeah, samurai boobs save Japan!

Episode 1
WOW! Samurai girls making out right at the start!!! Keiji and Kagekatsu Uesgi making love, kissing and caressing!!! Kagekatsu has Keiji’s hand put on her stomach and it starts glowing! Wait a minute. Is she going to give birth to some super samurai?! Keiji notes her great qi thanks to all the training but there is still room for improvement. Meanwhile, the tussle for Muneakira continues. They’re arguing there is a big difference being a Samurai Bride and a wife. Yeah… Big difference… Even Gisen gets into the fray although she’s more into being his mistress thingy. Kanetsugu… What the heck is she talking about changing wives every 3 months?! Before things get ugly, they’re being attacked by Kagekatsu’s power arrow. Kanetsugu recognizes her friend. Seems she respects her for being kind to her. Yeah, unlike some girls who loves to subject this retard to abuse, right? Seems Keiji is here too and to see Muneakira. This shocks everyone especially Kagekatsu. Maybe except Juubei who is more than delighted thinking she might want to be Muneakira’s bride too. Since everyone starts arguing they are the best to be his wife, Keiji proposes a match to determine who will be his wife. However it will be decided via third parties. Yup, something like a reality TV. All of them will try to act and please him as much while raking votes from online viewers. The one with the highest votes wins. Matabei and Hanzou are in a dilemma to enter or support their masters so Gisen suggests they should refrain so as not to embarrass their master. Because Juubei thinks the more the merrier, Keiji agrees to join in. This causes Kagekatsu to be jealous and she also wants in. But shortly Keiji withdraws because somebody needs to take care of the notes. Did Kagekatsu get tricked into this? Thanks to some technology, viewers will have a first person view via lens that Muneakira is wearing. What he sees, everybody sees.

And so on day 1, we see Sen ordering her servants to clean about as she acts like the dominant master. I guess some guys dig this sadistic side. Yukimura shows her great finance management skills by saving more power during hot summer by wearing swimsuits. That sure brings in the votes. But it couldn’t be more insulting to them because Juubei is just fooling around with Muneakira and she scores the most points! Kanetsugu and Kagekatsu do the naked apron gig. The latter’s clumsiness causes the ingredients that like some ambiguous liquid splash over her face and chest. And with clumsy Kanetsugu slipping and accidentally pulling down her pantsu, wow, the ratings are going up. This infuriates Sen and Yukimura. Two can play that game! So they try more lewd stuffs by getting wet or skimpier swimsuits (saves 70% more energy!). Juubei continues to fool around her usual way and gets Muneakira into a compromising position. Kanetsugu thinks she can show her the better way so she transforms into her magical girl outfit. Only 1 problem: She’s totally naked! OMG! Ratings shoot through the roof! And this was unintentional for her side. Everybody got free fanservice. Meanwhile Kagekatsu is feeling down and the one lagging behind. Keiji talks to her and hopes she would actively participate. But Kagekatsu is in a dilemma. If she wins, she will no longer be Keiji’s bride anymore. Keiji says the problem is not becoming somebody’s wife. She hints she wants to have a size of a football team for children! At least half of them if Kagekatsu can’t ‘produce’ that much.

For the next few days, the intense competition continues with all the competitors being neck to neck in ratings. The weirder the attempt, the higher the votes. I think the one getting the most kick out of this is Keiji. Look at her laughing… On the last day, things get desperate. The girls are competing to wash his back. Kagekatsu’s accident with her boobs has the rest start using their boobs on him. The ultimate one whereby Muneakira slips and has his face planted in Juubei’s crotch! Matabei and Hanzou are helpless in seeing this fight as they too want to help their masters. But Gisen tells them they must win this battle by their own terms. And the servants just relegate to taking a bath while listening to Gisen’s ‘wisdom’. Since the tug of war might tear apart Muneakira’s limbs, I guess the girls are getting serious now to beat the crap out of each other. That is when Muneakira has had it and tells them to stop. He believes this is not the right way to choose and become his bride. He has them remember when they all turned into their Samurai Bride form, their hearts were in unison. So why make this disappear now? Choosing a bride is something that requires reflection and time. The girls couldn’t be more ashamed of themselves. Keiji lauds Muneakira’s words. Hey wait. Isn’t she the one who suggested this game? Of course. All just to see Kagekatsu’s worried face. Don’t worry. She had a great time. Yeah, everybody just felt they are the biggest loser. The participants, the viewers… Scammed… The only real winners are perhaps Gisen, Matabei and Hanzou who were right in staying behind. Keiji asks Kagekatsu’s opinion on Muneakira. Truly, he is an interesting man.

Episode 2
Unheeding Nia’ word, Sen breaks into a sealed tomb and opens a sealed box. Oh no. Looks like Pandora’s Box from the way things look. Muneakira thought Gisen crept up into his bed again but surprise! It’s Sen! Oh, Gisen is on his other side. So she did creep into his bed. As usual, the morning jinx with the girls around, Muneakira rushes to the toilet to clean himself up but bumps into naked Kanetsugu and sees her entirety. The rest of the day must be tiring for Muneakira because he has to escape from Sen’s seduction attempts. While Kanetsugu is complaining in her kennel about Muneakira, suddenly Sen kisses her and turns her into her minion. Muneakira can tell something is wrong when Juubei and Gisen start wanting to do bold things with him. Looks like they are under Sen’s spell too. This is all part of Sen’s plan to force Muneakira to marry her since he is taking too long over her proposal. She transforms into the legendary wedding dress that she got from Toyotomi’s hidden treasure. Hmm… This black revealing jester outfit is the legendary wedding dress? Luckily Yukimura and Matabei are here to stop their shenanigans. They have noticed Sen acting weird lately and have been observing her. They have also done their research that she is not wearing the legendary wedding dress which is supposed to be white. This dress is supposed to be worn after the wedding ceremony. Based on records, those who wear the legendary dress will be married for sure. To counter other powers, the black version was created to please men by gathering concubines. In other words, a harem. Sen is not convinced since she did her research based from Yoshihiko’s documents. But if so, how come Muneakira is not charmed by her? Before Sen and her underlings could give him the ultimate pleasure, Yukimura’s light bomb comes in handy for their escape.

Yukimura explains about both dresses being kept in the same place to balance out each other’s power. Separating the dress would mean unbalanced power and Sen will slowly go berserk if she is left alone. The only way is to take off the dress and put it back in the seal. Sen interrogates Nia about the dress but her lips are tightly sealed. Sen does some nipple torture but why is Hanzou the one feeling ‘good’ about it? Muneakira and Yukimura barge into surprise attack and capture Sen. There is some sort of ritual to take off the dress by fondling and squeezing the boobs in certain directions 3 times? Finally, press the nipples! Did it work? When Muneakira goes to free Nia, Sen wakes up and kisses Yukimura followed by Matabei. Game over. Juubei is still her usual self as she continues to flirt and then kiss Muneakira. She transforms into her Master Samurai form. Seems she wasn’t under Sen’s spell. Was she playing along? Don’t know. She’s too airhead as always to tell. As they make a run, Nia explains that Yoshihiko sent her to stop Sen from this mess when she learnt about the treasure. Although she failed, why didn’t she fall into Sen’s spell? Yoshihiko gave her a charm to protect her against that. In order to defeat the black dress, they need the white dress’ power. To activate it, Juubei will have to wear it and kiss Muneakira. Why is he flustering? Hasn’t he done this many times? No time to think or even be hesitant (because Juubei can’t help wonder about the implications of putting on a wedding dress) since Nia is at her limit stalling Sen and co. Juubei puts on the dress. Looks magnificent. Now for the kiss. Sen tries to intercept them. Muneakira freaks out so Juubei forces kiss him. The superb power frees all the girls and a special warmth feeling as bonus. But now another battle will take place… Juubei back to her airhead self is claiming she is his official wife since she is wearing this. Not so fast! The other girls claim this dress belongs to their family’s property and start fighting over it. Don’t rip the dress apart please!

Special 1
A short special lasting 5 minutes, a first person view, through the eyes of the protagonist, although no dialogue from the him but I am guessing it is supposedly Muneakira (those manly hands) or the viewer. Kagekatsu is the featured girl as we see her waking you up and you getting naughty with her while she makes breakfast. Then you both go for a walk and you fell asleep on her lap in which by the time you wake up, you see her sleeping face. Back home, you join her in the shower (I thought this borders like porn logic since which girl would be more than happy to let you in and when you surprise her while she takes a bath). And yeah… Washing those delicious parts… And the moment you’ve been waiting for. After shower sex… And then suddenly Kagekatsu wakes up from this dream… What a letdown…

Special 2
It is Sen’s t turn but this time the view is from a video camera. Here we are at the beautiful beach but Sen tells us to stop recording the beautiful blue sea, skies and sandy beach and record her instead! Okay. And when you’re too focused on her ‘prized assets’ she tells you not to just record her all the time! Women! Make up your mind! Now it’s time to put sunscreen. Man, I think you’re good in filming with one hand while putting lotion on her back with the other. Can’t help resist poking her? Now it’s her turn to do the same. With her boobs. Damn. Why did the recording stop! Hands can’t be still? Anyway the filming continues as we see Sen in various beach activities. But during the watermelon breaking one, she accidentally smashes your head! Thank goodness the camera is still okay! Finally as she basks in the sunset glow, you have the cheek to record up close her boobs and fondle them! Then I guess she has really had it. Drop the camera and screw with her! Oh yeah! Sorry, folks. No footage for this one :).

Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Bride Specials

Prior to Samurai After, there were short specials lasting around 3 minutes for Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Bride if you get your hands on the DVD releases. What else? Fanservce! Even samurai girls need to take a break from their rigorous training and missions to relax and let their boobs out. Oops, I mean let their hair down. But really… They let their boobs out literally.

Special 1
Sasuke and Musashi are about to enter the public bath. Only one problem: No pets allowed! Juubei has got this ‘brilliant’ idea and turns Sasuke into her human form. Yay! Next problem: No money! I suppose Musashi has to pay for them otherwise we won’t have our fanservice fix of seeing their tits, rubbing, molesting and even licking them! I think it got too intense to Sasuke reverts back to a monkey. A staff heard an animal sound and comes in to check. What is this monkey fooling around in the bath? Erm… That’s not a monkey. That’s a towel! Gee, ‘brilliant’ cover there, ladies. And to prove it, she uses Sasuke to scrub Musashi’s back. Monkey abuse!

Special 2
Kojirou believes this maid outfit is the one corrupting her beloved Musashi. She puts it on and tries to act one to see for herself. Gisen catches her in the act and despite how embarrassed Kojirou is, Gisen is going to teach her the finer points of being a maid so she can snag the heart of that special someone. First, she rips the chest area and the skirt to make those delicious parts more exposed. Then she teachers her how to pose in very sexy poses and greetings. Is she teaching her how to do maid porn? Later when Matabei realizes that one of the maid outfits is missing and from her smell realizes the missing outfit belongs to Kanetsugu, Gisen lies that it could have been blown away by the wind. In actual fact, Kojirou has taken it back with her, fantasizing Musashi will be all hers…

Special 3
Mataemon is trying different swimsuit outfits and the more she tries, the more risqué and super sexy it becomes. And she loves it! Then she hears Sen is also trying out in the next cubicle. Can’t believe that she has chosen a boring outfit, she forces it off her and force dresses a sexy one on her. Wow. This looks good on her. Your unique charm is really shining. Kanetsugu in the next cubicle heard this and also wants her opinion. As usual, Mataemon is appalled at this boring fashion sense and proceeds to strip and dress another sexy swimsuit for her. Flawless victory! But it cannot be more insulting for Mataemon as the ladies leave satisfied after their purchase thinking how this store clerk looks so much like Mataemon.

Special 4
One of the most taboo things for Yukimura: Talking about her small boobs! But Keiji asks her if she is really content with them right now. Of course not. Don’t worry. She has a method that will help increase it up to D-cup in no time by using qi. I suppose Yukimura must be desperate enough to follow the silly rules of pinching her nipples and then rotate her hips both ways (so as to evenly grow both sides) round and round. So this method is supposed to bring out your female hormones and accelerate your boob growth? Well, do it a few more times and she’ll get that bust she has always wanted. It seems Inshun is also eavesdropping on them and trying out this embarrassing method. Once done and Yukimura leaves, Keiji tells Inshun to stop following it because it was just a trick! Yeah, she had her fill of making fun of small tits for today.

Special 5
Nia sounds tired as she comes home, completed her secret report. There are hidden videos she has recorded of Matabei and Hanzou doing intensive training. Nia is not sure what the points of these training are for but tries them out and thus that weary and unfortunate soul you see her now. Whether it is sitting on an exercise ball, soaking for a long time in hot water or standing under the waterfall to detect and avoid falling logs, she is not sure if these training methods are somewhat related to them transforming into Master Samurai. Then she receives mail about her credit card that she lost a little while ago. It is the bill. Why do all the charges come from the maid cafe???!!! OMG! Musashi and co you sneaky charges!!! Wow. You can say Nia is completely drained out physically, spiritually, emotionally and financially!

Special 6
Juubei and Musashi are soaking together in the hot bath. The rest of their group are sleeping because it was indeed a fun filled day for them playing at the beach. They reminisce at all the fun things they did together from building sand castles to beach volleyball to eating shaved ice cream and sunbathing. Coincidentally they also checked into the same inn and took a bath at the same time. Yeah, fun and crazy indeed. Juubei hopes everyone should come back here again.

Samurai Bachelor & Samurai Harem
Well… To be honest, it was rather okay. Just like any other OVA that does not contribute to the main plot of the series. If you remember them, that is. But personally the funny thing is I thought Kagekatsu would be appearing for both OVAs and instead only appeared for the first one. Doesn’t it feel wasted? Because the second seems to be focused on Sen like as though Sen fans have written a complaint about their favourite samurai girl not getting her due screen time but eventually it has to be Juubei who steals the limelight, eh? And so having Kagekatsu appear for just an episode like I said feels wasted because although she isn’t interested in Muneakira (for now) why bother getting her mixed up in the cat fight over him? If Sasuke’s role was just pathetic in the second season, then in the OVAs she is even more so and reduced to only appearing as a mascot during scene changers. At least better than Musashi and co who are non-existent, which make the OVAs feel like all this happened before them. But if Keiji is around then they should be. Or could it be after, like the second title suggests?

Seeing the other recurring characters does bring back the nostalgia for the series in me. Like Juubei’s airhead and completely in a world of her own, Sen and Yukimura continue to butt heads and lead the harem cat fight over the main man, Kanetsugu continues to be the resident idiot and bully victim of the pack (you always need somebody to be a punching bag and to be treated like a pet dog), Matabei still looking dangerous as she is still wearing a skimpy loincloth as her underwear, Hanzou still having that masochist fantasies for her master, Gisen being deceptively playful and sly although it is still hard to read her intentions if she is really gunning for Muneakira or if there is an ulterior motive underneath it, Nia the very loyalist to Yoshihiko and Keiji love screwing around with others and have fun watching their reactions. Well, I suppose it is the right thing for Muneakira to bring some sense to the samurai girls about their desperation to pick one of them to be his wife (and the rest his concubines) because it is true to what he said. Outwitting each other to be his wife isn’t a competition. Nor is it for the amusement for others to watch. Being his wife means responsibility and respecting the sacredness of marriage. And now that he has ‘delayed’ choosing his bride, looks like the harem cat fight will continue… Yeah, the very basic cliché problem of every undecided harem shows. I think it is worth the run for a few seasons material of reality TV…

Shinmai Maou No Testament

6 September, 2015

One day, you suddenly find out that you will be getting a little sister. How would you feel? I don’t know, I never had one before or at least one that I could treat as one. This is the case for our protagonist in Shinmai Maou No Testament. As an only child, his dad suddenly introduces him not one but two lovely little sisters. And they aren’t your ordinary sisters so to speak. Because one of them is the future Demon Lord! Holy hell! If you think you can dominate all over your little sister just because of your newfound big brother status, then better think again. Well, this series isn’t about a perverted big brother who always needs to be shown his place when his perverted side gets the better of him as the demonic little sister rains demonic punishment down in this slapstick ecchi comedy. It is nothing of that sort. Instead, you have got a very responsible big brother who is determined to protect his little sisters from malicious forces who want a piece of that inherited power inside her. Because, you know, they’re family. Yawn… Boring… That’s why they throw in lots of ecchi fanservice to keep us entertained and occupied… Hey, isn’t this why we watch this show in the first place?

Episode 1
When your father suddenly asks you if you want little sisters, something is wrong. The case for Basara Toujou. It might be a long forgotten dream he wanted as a kid but he isn’t too keen on it. No, daddy is not going to f*ck mommy tonight if you’re wondering. Basara is shocked of this news and I suppose he got impatient in waiting for them so he goes to the toilet. You know it’s his fault by walking in without reading the sign to knock first. Because there is a cute chick changing her panties! She tries to scream but he holds her mouth and tries to calm her down. Calm her down?! I thought this looked like a rape scene! And when she finally does, she slaps him! So Basara, meet your new pair of sisters, Mio and Maria Naruse. Their mother is currently overseas for a while so they’re letting them stay. Actually both sides are moving to a new house. Basara didn’t expect Mio to be on top of him when he wakes up. Is she trying to seduce him? Something feels hard down there… Oh, it’s a box of an erotic stepsister game! It’s not his! More confusion, more slipups. He lands on her. Rape scene? Well, another slap. More fanservice when Maria is cooking in a naked apron. Actually, she’s wearing clothes underneath. The apron is just too big and gives us that impression. She starts teasing him about getting horny and was the one who planted that game. Mio thinks he is trying to attack her now. What does daddy Jin have to say for all this? Please don’t commit too many crimes… While Basara and Mio are out for errands, several jerks try to hit on her. They act tough before Basara but he beats them up and throws pepper as distraction for their escape. Mio seems shaken up so he tries to be considerate to her. They’re family now. Though, Mio felt he was a little cool like a big brother then. Although she still won’t be forgiving for that toilet and bedroom folly.

And now Jin has to leave for Dubai as a freelance cameraman. Yeah. All alone with the sisters, huh? Whoever said it is the eldest son’s duty to protect them anyway? Right after Jin leaves, Basara thinks the sisters are scared of him because they shut the lights and remains silent. Seriously, he isn’t going to rape them. But nothing could be more surprise in store for him because Mio tells him to leave this house as they need it as their new base. Maria slams him to the wall with her magic as warning. She turns into her demon form and says there are many other types of clans like Gods and heroes. So Mio is a demon too, eh? Not just any demon. She is the FUTURE DEMON LORD! Seems they have altered his Jin’s memories and everything was a lie. They will alter his too. However it seems Maria’s magic doesn’t work and they get a shocking surprise when Basara moves faster than them and then materializes a badass gauntlet and sword to give a warning attack. Well what do you know? He is from the hero clan. Now he tells them to get out! Later Basara seems to be having trauma about the power he just used. He calls Jin to tell him what happened and he actually knew it all along. He pretended to be duped. Why? Mio is the daughter of Demon Lord Wilbert. He is a peace loving demon who stopped the conflicts with the hero clan. Those demons who love war target his throne. To shield his daughter from this, she was sent to the human world and raised by human surrogates. A year ago, Wilbert died and the demon who succeeded him is trying to extinguish Mio’s inherited power. Luckily she was saved by Wilbert’s faction but imagine yourself in her shoes and suddenly finding out you’re a Demon Lord’s daughter. Her powers aren’t fully awakened yet and since Jin was keeping a watch on that village for a year and decided to take her in. So this means Basara has to go find them now, eh? Better be quick because demon creatures are attacking them. Mio can only hold out for so long and good thing Basara was there to save her in this reckless leaping-off-bicycle move you should never ever try. His hero gear easily destroys the creatures. What changed his mind to come get them? Because they’re family.

Episode 2
Basara tells Maria of what he knows. Although the hero clan is watching them, it is not like Jin and Basara were working for them and are just ordinary humans. Really, what was that gear for? He then goes to apologize to Mio. I guess they are even because despite they tried to dupe him, he too hid his hero identity as a secret. Maria admires his strong power to negate her magic but he insists that it is just fluke. Mio is still reeling from watching her human parents burn and die so Maria gives her a new photo of their new family to move forward. She then knows a way to handle Basara. She creates a magic circle for a master-servant pact. This way, they will know where each other are. Can’t they use GPS instead? That malfunctioning technology? Unreliable! When the circle forms on the back of Basara’s hands, Mio is not amused because she has to kiss it and this will signify she is the servant. Because she waited too long, the circle is gone and she starts feeling horny! Maria explains about the loyalty enforcement in this pact. Each time a servant tries to defy the master, the curse will initiate. So why the horniness? Maria is a succubus and used it as ground work for this pact. The only way to solve this is to keep touching her till she submits. Be quick or Mio will ascend to heaven in more than one way! Can demons go to heaven? And so Basara starts caressing and this might all be Maria’s plan because we see her eager beaver face to watch this. By the time it is over, it is time for some payback because Mio drags her away for an explanation. Hope her skull won’t be crushed… Next day, Basara transfers to his new school. He remembers Maria telling him that as long as Mio acts accordingly and not try to be insubordinate (acts with intent to betray the master), the curse won’t activate. There must be mutual trust.

Right after he introduces himself in class, the class rep, Yuki Nonaka hugs him. What the?! Remember her, his childhood friend? Oh, now he does. Mio is not happy of this close proximity and separates them. Why is she jealous? What does this have to do with her? Oh, it does because now they’re living in the same house. Oh sh*t! So much about keeping that a secret. Thanks to that, new guy in school becomes public enemy number one among the guys. Maybe except for this guy, Yahiro Takigawa. Kind enough to buy him lunch (because Mio couldn’t care less about it), he tells him that Mio and Yuki are school idols and have their fan groups. Thankfully, both sides keep each other at bay. Basara notes more importantly with everyone watching them so intensely, no demons should infiltrate the school and harm Mio easily. So what’s the catch for Takigawa to hang out with him? Besides being a transfer student himself, it is interesting to hang out with a guy with the kind of luck of attracting princess idols or whatever other unseen power. Is he hinting something? On the way back, it is no surprise Mio is still in foul mood. Maria got the wrong idea that ‘a lot happened’ between them. Remember to use protection? That’s not it! It’s going to get worse when Yuki wants to talk to him. He has to. Because it won’t be nice turning down a childhood friend whom he has not seen for 5 years. So what is this hugging thing she reminds him that he used to do just to fondle her butt? Don’t remember, eh? Anyway she gets serious and tells him not to involve himself with Mio anymore.

Episode 3
Instantly Basara knows Yuki is from the hero clan sent to observe Mio. He decided to protect her because she is innocent and just a normal girl. If the hero clan won’t protect her, he will do it. Mio feels bad that she should have seen something like this coming when Yuki hugged him. Oh, what can she do to ever repay the favour? Maria has an idea… Yuki continues that at this rate, Basara won’t be enough to defeat all the low level demons that are starting to be drawn to her ever growing powers. If this gets to the point where she endangers others, she will become a target of elimination. She will show no mercy even if it makes him hate her. Well, she cut a demon as proof. Back home, I guess for Basara to make up with that tryst and Mio’s repayment, Maria has Mio scrub Basara’s back in the bath. If that is not enough, she has to use her boobs! More added fanservice when Maria brings in cake, drops it on him so she can lick him! And it’s like his inner horniness activates as he turns into a demon and is going to start raping them!!! But could it be just a dream? Oh well, he’s in bed with Maria (she snuck in) and somehow he got his hands on her butt. I guess this will do. She used her power to peek into his horny dream. At school, I guess Mio is worried enough of Basara to activate the curse. So Basara rather ditch organizing summer break assignments by his pals and teacher just to stay by Mio’s side at the infirmary. I think this is a better choice.

So Takigawa goes talks to him while he takes a breather when suddenly demons start attacking. Basara knocks him out to take care of them and then rush to Mio’s side. She’s gone. That’s because Yuki took her to the rooftop to talk. She tells her as long she is around Basara, he will suffer. So leave him. Not a chance. Not after he said he would protect her despite learning everything. Because they’re family. I suppose they have to resort to fighting now. Yuki doesn’t like how she talks as though she knows Basara well enough. She reveals he has lost most of his power. Five years ago in order to save her, he had to erase his comrades. This is the reason why Basara and Jin left the village. Until today, his past haunts him. Basara pops up to tell the girls to stop fighting till this demon dude in a mask (sounds familiar… I know that voice…) discloses to Mio how Basara and Maria had been fighting demons every night till dawn to keep her safe. As her inherited power grows, low level demons get attracted and it would begin harming humans, the hero clan will deem her as a threat and change the status from observation to elimination. When that happens, she can’t live here anymore even if it is with a former hero. That is why Yuki told her to leave. So why didn’t Basara say a word? Because she would blame herself. Well, it’s no different now. She’s in guilt-ridden mode. A demon is about to kill her from behind. Basara can’t summon his gear because that dude reminds him about the erasure. So he goes in bare handed to protect Mio with his body. Basara, NOOOOO!!! Ah well, at least he gets to die on her boobs.

Episode 4
Mio is being told everything is her fault and thus to make the right decisions. Basara is recuperating back home and he is literally fine thanks to his past hero training. There’s this flashback too whereby one of the heroes, Seito stole the sealed demon sword, Brynhildr and started killing everyone in the village. Before Yuki was about to be killed, Basara unleashed some super power. But now they have another problem. Mio is missing and Basara knows that idiot went to settle things herself. She meets up with the masked demon to attack him believing this fight should be only hers. However she is clearly not that strong and with his threats to hurt everyone, she agrees to follow him back to the demon realm. But before he can do that, it is Yuki to the rescue. Even if she could break his barrier by striking the same spot repetitively, she is still no match for him. And thus, it is Basara to the rescue. He plans to use this Banishing Shift move of his. It is some super move that nullifies everything. He used that move against Seito and there was this huge crater in the village. To stop something like this ever from happening again, Basara and Brynhildr were confined. With Basara tag team with Maria, he lands continuous combo strikes on the masked demon and defeat him. Before they can rejoice over their victory, a demon sneaks up on Basara and stabs him! OMG! Can you believe it was that same demon who killed him?!

Mio gets so upset that her ultimate power starts unleashing and blowing everything away. Despite Basara being okay, she cannot control this overwhelming power and wants him to kill her. However he won’t. Because she is his family and being his little sister is more important than the world. Heh. Some logic. This means she should just shut up and let big brother rescue her. Oh yeah, tasukete onii-chan, no? He uses Banishing Shift to return things to normal. Next day, Yuki visits his home to hand him some medicine. She wonders if that was the same Banishing Shift he did before. It isn’t since he was able to control it this time. Once Basara returns to school, he confronts Takigawa. He knows he is that masked demon (I knew it!). However Basara isn’t here to fight him and wants to make a deal. He knows it is Takigawa’s mission to awaken her power while monitoring her. But since he has failed, this means somebody more powerful will be sent to replace him. Basara has not recovered strong enough for that. So Takigawa could pretend nothing happened and continue monitoring Mio or Basara will make it known that he screwed up and he gets replaced. But they’re enemies, right? He is willing to trust him. Because something tells him when he was stabbed, his vital organs were purposely missed. Also, there were numerous chances he had to kill Maria during the hunt. Takigawa agrees to play along with his plan for now since he will be in a mess if this gets out. Basara wants to know who killed Mio’s human parents. It was Zolgia, the one monitoring Mio before him. He warns he is not as patient as he is and will make his move soon.

Episode 5
Time for some much needed fanservice. Basara wakes up to find naked Maria on top of him. It might be ungentlemanly of him to hit her but he claims she did worse! ARE YOU GAY???!!! And here’s a déjà vu scene whereby he walks into the toilet while Mio is clad in a towel. Trying to shut her up? And then they slip and he got her butt in his face! DAMN MIO CENSORS!!! Nothing like 500,000 volts of lightning to make it even, huh? Basara’s problem continues because suddenly Yuki is here to wash his back! She gets really jealous that he did it with Maria and Mio and yet he doesn’t want to do it with her! Seriously, what logic is this? But we guys don’t want to argue about it. She threatens to do bolder things if he doesn’t let her. And then there is Mio at the door trying to apologize but she finds a girl’s uniform outside. Guess what? Basara says it is his because he likes cross-dressing! WTF?! Can you lie better than that? So Mio opens the door and sees the unholy act. Want another round of zapping? But then her curse activates and eager beaver Maria wants to record this on camera but is locked away in the toilet. Later Basara treats Takigawa to some BBQ as repayment. He is told reinforcements will be sent to observe Mio because the higher ups think Mio’s power is awakening. It will be hard for him to cooperate now. He mentions about the pact Basara formed with Mio. It is not only a curse but can also make them stronger. When their faith and loyalty grows, it improves their combat potential. But since the greatest act of betrayal is being captured by the enemy, the curse will be activated at the fullest and will eventually die. Their busty teacher, Chisato Hasegawa comes to join them (I can see why men want to hit on her). Hasegawa walks with Basara and hints that she knows what she is going on. He seems confused so she tells him he should give more thought on what he truly wants to protect. Then she pecks his forehead and chants a protective charm from her village.

Takigawa meets up with Valga, the supposed reinforcement. He knows Valga isn’t just going to be content with just observing although he warns the hero clan has made their move. Then there is Zest, Zolgia’s right hand woman. She has orders from the top demon himself and Takigawa would gladly work with her. Basara talks to Maria about this curse she put on them was actually so that Wilbert’s power won’t fall into enemy hands. I guess she had to choose the risk of letting him protect her or let her fall into enemy hands. Of course she didn’t tell Mio because of that self guilt thing. So the best way he could learn to master this pact is to play an eroge! Proof of Basara not knowing a girl’s heart because he ends up with a bad ending. Maria guides the way and he is shocked to be led to some ecchi stuffs. So he needs to forcefully strip her shell away? This is how he should properly train his little step sister? Mio is not too amused to hear all this and takes Maria away for a ‘good lesson’. Well, Basara won’t be coming to save you this time. Meanwhile a group of heroes (Takashi Hayase, Kurumi Nonaka and Kyouichi Shiba) are on the move as they slash lowly demons in the vicinity and it seems they are on orders to kill Mio whose status has been switched from observation to termination. Basara gets into trouble with Mio and Yuki fan club boys. The teacher breaks them up before anything untoward could happen. It was Yuki who called the teacher. She has a favour to ask of him. Please go on a date with her next weekend.

Episode 6
My, what a lovely couple they are. But what is Mio doing here too? I suppose she got jealous and started tailing them, eh? But during the shopping, Yuki’s sister, Kurumi tells her play time is over. Yuki is missing ever since as the rest wait for her. Suddenly they are attacked by Valga. He is a tough guy and Basara-Maria combo doesn’t work. But he is frozen and then destroyed. Thank Takashi for that. Basara is not happy to learn the village has changed Mio’s status. But Kurumi cannot be more upset about a hero protecting the Demon Lord’s daughter. Shiba suggests a 3-on-3 fight in a week’s time since they don’t want to wreck the city. Shiba will only be refereeing and will inform the place and time. That night Basara calls Jin about the situation. He is in lots of dilemma especially about Yuki not wanting to fight Mio. If he fights too, he’ll make enemies out of all the heroes in the world. But Jin doesn’t have any obligations to those heroes anymore especially when the assigned him to keep an eye on Basara when they were exiled from the village. Basara trains with the girls as he reveals his former allies’ tricks like Takashi’s Byakko that could only attack from the west and Kurumi’s magic that would be limited to only wind spirits since Byakko is in force. If they keep their orientation and distance right, they’ll have a chance. Kurumi is giving Yuki a dressing down that she has taken a soft spot for the enemy (going shopping and all that?) because she used to work hard to become strong but now she is like living so carefree and forgetting about the mission. Takashi also has a grudge against Basara. Because his Banishing Shift erased everything, not even corpses of the dead were left behind, they couldn’t properly send off the deceased.

Maria gives Basara more fanservice in the name of growing the master-servant bond. She starts arousing him with the explanation succubus absorb such lust to turn it into their strength. HOLY SH*T! SHE STARTS LICKING HIS BODY! Then Mio sees this… But she doesn’t get mad. All part of Maria’s plan to make her take over? I guess some bonding is needed. This could have been a steamy tantalizing sexy scene if not for those DAMN LIGHT CENSORS!!!!!! Anyway, it ended well. Next day in school, Takigawa talks to Basara that since Valga was killed, he and his people might have to interfere in their battle. This means he will exterminate by force his enemies and this includes Yuki. So if he doesn’t want them to act, be sure to win. Yuki who has been missing for a week suddenly pops up before Basara to tell him to withdraw from the match. You know he can’t do that, right? Even if it means more than getting exiled and making enemies out of every hero in the world. Because Mio is his sister. That enough convincing for you? Then he gives her his spare key to his house! So, I take it that he is going to win the battle and give free access to Yuki to his house to be part of his harem. That must be it! And so where is the place they picked? On some overhead bridge over a busy road? WTF?! I thought they’d pick some forest or abandoned building or something.

Episode 7
The barrier is activated and they can fight all they want within the vicinity. I wonder if things get damaged here, will it affect the real world too? While Mio and Maria handle Takashi, Basara lures Kurumi away. Then he uses his Banishing Shift to seal her spirits. Not only he defeated her, he also saved her from the fall! And when she remembers their happy childhood times, suddenly her character changes into a blushing little girl? And now they have to deal with Yuki who seems not amused. What’s this? Kurumi now siding Basara? Yuki knocks him out with the hilt of her sword and then make him drink a sleeping potion to knock him out for half a day. Then Yuki goes to face off with Takashi (who is probably tired of playing cat and mouse with the duo). Yuki does not want to experience that tragedy ever again. That is why she became stronger. She will protect what Basara is trying to protect. Basara was also a victim of this. In fact he wasn’t the traitor. It was them who betrayed him by exiling him from the village. Maria tells Mio to go to Basara’s side. She tries to shake and wake him up. Basara must be regretting about his past in his dream. Then he sees Mio who tells him to protect her. I guess with her smothering her boobs in his face, it gives him enough power to break out from the sleeping spell. Now it is his turn to protect Yuki and fight Takashi. At first Basara is doing defensive moves before using his speed to counter attack. Byakko turns defensive and reverts into its original form, a white tiger. As it is a defensive weapon, it will do all it can to protect the wielder. Although it will do nothing if they don’t attack but half of the barrier is built by Byakko’s power. The plan is to draw out its attack and break through its wind barrier at the same time. Yuki will help him out with that and with her trust in him, they defeat Byakko. Takashi wants Basara to kill him but he won’t. Because they’re childhood friends. Just like the other childhood friends he killed? He starts badmouthing him about siding with Mio but she slaps him and tells him off he isn’t the only one having a hard time. Do you think Basara has forgotten all that? She wants to give him a few more punches but Maria holds her back. Basara says he will continue to bear his past and hatred for the rest of his life. Shiba announces it is over and that their mission is temporarily withdrawn. Because they had to clean up after Byakko went out of control, they will be morally tainted if they continue with Mio’s elimination. That would in turn affect their pact with gods and spirits. So suck it up Takashi. It’s over. All the heroes are to return home and this includes Yuki and Kurumi. Well, don’t want the situation to worsen, right? Have your harem another time.

Episode 8
It’s such a gloomy atmosphere with Yuki not around. But when Basara gets home, there she is making dinner for him! She explains the village decided to revert Mio’s status back to observation and Jin must have done something to negotiate for that. He is so happy that he hugs her! Now that he has led her on, she wants a kiss! And my, do Mio look unhappy about it. It gets even worse (or better) as Yuki declares she is now staying with him as this will be the best way for Mio’s observation. Something tells me it isn’t Mio that she wants. Maria then shows her those juicy footage of Mio and Basara’s bonding. Now this has led her on, she strips and wants Basara to fondle her too! I think Maria died a few times today… After learning about the master-servant pact, Maria suggests Yuki to make one with Basara too tomorrow. For combat abilities or for harem purpose? I know which want I am looking forward to. Yuki can’t wait for it, eh? So it becomes a challenge for Mio and Yuki in just about anything because horny Yuki is determined to beat her and let Basara fondle her a lot! When Basara sees Maria in their school grounds, he knows that sneaky succubus is up to no good and goes to stop her. She is here to check on Mio’s safety and wants him to accompany her to check spots that Mio would visit. Like the toilet cubicle. Or the rooftop (a couple is making out!). Then there is the locker room whereby cheeky Maria puts Mio’s panties over his head. But they have to hide as the girls are coming back. Of all times. Maria afraid to get spanked by Mio again but since they’re eventually going to be found out, might as well seduce the hell out of him now!!! This is what you really call a tight spot! So when Mio opens her locker to see this steamy scene, she just closes it back to give them a chance to come out more decently or else… A slap for Basara and several beatings for Maria. They’re lucky to escape with that. Because of that, her curse starts activating so it’s time for Basara to put in what he has learnt. Make her into submission! I don’t know about this shower scene and sticking the shower head into her swimsuit but it worked somehow. Damn censors… As it is time to go home, Basara notices Maria missing and goes to find her. To his surprise, he sees her meeting up with Takigawa. Something smells fishy. But later as Maria explains, she was lost and he gave directions (or is it?). Then she requests to hold hands and walk home. I guess she has got to pamper herself once in a while instead of always doing it for Mio. Oh wait, hasn’t she always? Meanwhile Zest shows footage to Zolgia about Basara’s power. Since Lars (Takigawa’s real name) is the only one to know of this power, Zolgia doesn’t feel the need to care about him and will move forward with his plans.

Episode 9
The moment we’ve all been waiting for! Yuki making a pact with Basara! Why is he complaining she is dressed so sexy?! If she wants to seduce you, let her seduce you lah! She even threatens to start stripping if he doesn’t look! Yuki wants to same kind of dominating treatment that Basara has on Mio. So when the curse is in effect, Basara has to make good of what he learnt to please her. Oh yeah. OH YEAH! Got it all recorded good on camera, Maria? It would have been sweet if not for that darn CENSOOOOOOOOOOOORS!!!!!!! Mio can’t believe this is how she looks like when she is in the same predicament. Yeah, believe it. So steamy the seduction that it even made Zest jealous just by watching. Next day during PE right after Basara sees Hasegawa (yet another usual of her enigmatic lines of not forgetting what he is supposed to protect), his classmate Sakaki suddenly comes in and wants him to do the same erotic things on Mio!!! WOAH! WAIT A SECOND! Suddenly another potential to his harem?! Yuki attacks her but she could evade her sword. She realizes Sakaki is being possessed. The same can be said for their fellow classmate, Aikawa. Yuki will deal with the duo while Basara goes after Mio since her curse is activated. Jealous, isn’t she? However she is caught by Mio and Zest. Before Basara could get her, they disappear. He becomes worried as he could no longer sense her whereabouts. Mio has this flashback how Zolgia popped into her life one day, violently slew her dad and burnt her mom. Terrifying. Then Maria appeared before her and revealed the truth and her true self as opposed to the cousin relationship Mio had always known. Mio is still mad at Zolgia for killing her parents. More shocking is that Mio is working under him. He is about to have fun with Mio when there is an important call from the current Demon Lord, Leohart. Seems some ruins have been discovered that dates back to the Diavola Era war between demons and gods. He wants Zolgia on the expedition team due this his magic expertise. Looks like fun time with Mio will have to wait. Basara calls out Takigawa and wants to know the entire truth. Takigawa knew Basara had seen him meeting with Maria and that itself should have made him suspicious. He reveals Zolgia never gave up on Mio and because Maria ran away with her the last minute, Zolgia went after Maria’s family and captured her mother. He can’t get rid of Maria too because she is holding some trump card. She was also the one who reversed the curse because Mio would have died had anyone beside her master steals her chastity. Takigawa won’t reveal more so Basara will fight him to the end just to save his sister. But I guess he lost. Because Takigawa goes to meet Zest and wants to make a deal. He will hand Basara over to her in exchange for Mio.

Episode 10
Takigawa threatens to tell Leohart that Zolgia kidnapped Mio. Zest has no choice… But to kill him! He didn’t see this one coming, didn’t he? Basara wakes up inside Zolgia’s castle and the first thing he gets is Maria’s seductive fanservice. So what is he complaining about? He knows of her captured mom and wants to help but all Maria can do now is follow Zolgia’s orders to subjugate his mind. She uses her trump card. Turning herself into a sexy busty curvaceous succubus? Basara might be under her spell but he eventually uses his will to break out. So he rather save her than taint her. I suppose so because it’s not right to taint somebody while she’s having tears in her eyes seducing you. She fights him but he just stood there and taking her punches after using Banishing Shift. This is part of the plan to nullify the magic from within so that Yuki can find the location of the castle. She frees Mio and they both fight Zest. Zest knows she can’t win so she tries to play a little psychology that Basara is now saving Maria, the one who betrayed Mio. By now if Mio falls for that, she’s a useless b*tch. Of course she realizes Basara has forgiven them both and promised they will be protected. She believes in him. Maria cannot believe Basara is still standing back up after all that pounding. But this guy has some smooth words too. He is saying about the times they spent together and how he doesn’t want to lose things and how he is going to save everyone. Wow. Really a hero. Yeah, it made Maria’s last punch so weak and right after he hugs her, she starts crying out so loud that the windows might shatter. So we skip the boring fight with Zest and just fast forward to see her defeated and tied up by the duo. As they’re about to leave, they are paralyzed by Zolgia’s magic. This pervert demon relishes having a new toy. Now he’s got a hero specimen, time to get horny with her too? But first he berates Zest for being a useless guard dog and chides her that he knows she envied those girls and wanted Basara as her master. For this betrayal, she shall die. And as expected, she can’t die yet because Basara interrupted with his Banishing Shift to nullify everything. But this old demon still has some magic up on his sleeve. He hypnotizes Basara to take a peek at what kind of power he possesses.

Episode 11
Well, what do you know? Takigawa looks like he is still alive. Basara manages to break free but whatever tricks he throws, Zolgia is always superior. Then he uses another mind control to have him dreaming about his harem girls seducing him! Woah! Such fun! Even Hasegawa is in! Even Kurumi! How can he not resist them all?! Unless he is gay… We interrupt this steamy fantasy with Maria barging in to fight Zolgia. He gives her 2 choices: Become his alongside the other girls or let her mother die while they escape. She declines them both. He expects this and shows the true footage of her mom already dead. NOOOO!!! YOU HEARTLESS BASTARD! Maria is such a sad succubus that she reverts into her loli form. But this awakens Mio’s innate powers. Zolgia is interested to take a look at it but as he touches her, his entire arm is destroyed! Holy sh*t! Now he looks freaking scared! Shivering in his own pants! Mio wants to kill him for revenge but Basara doesn’t want her to taint her hands or live with the rest of her life suffering by bearing his death. Then order her via the pact to stop seeking revenge. He won’t do that her and they’ll no longer be siblings if he does that. They’d never be family again. He promised his dad he would protect her. As he hugs her, this distraction gives Zolgia the chance to escape but outside he is met with Takigawa. Seems he is a puppeteer and Zest only killed one his dummies. This means, Maria’s mom, Shella also lives. Oh, I thought she is Maria’s twin sister! After Takigawa rescued Shella, he used another dummy to make Zolgia think he killed her. This is part of his deal with Basara. During that fight, he wanted to know what Takigawa wants and will see to it he will get it. No matter what! No, he will not sell him out to Leohart. Remember Mio’s human parents? They are actually demons. Kind hearted ones. They helped took in lots of orphan demons and Takigawa was one of them. He admired them a lot. His goal is to kill Zolgia by his own hands. With Zolgia’s magic undone, his castle turns into some dangerous beast. To fool Leohart and keep his location a secret, he hid it here but now the sleeping effect is wearing off, the beast is going to wake up and multiply infinitely and devour the entire world. I guess this is his ‘insurance’ that if he is going down, everyone will perish with him! Basara learns that this creature has vital organs but from what Zest explains you can’t destroy it with any magical or physical attacks. He is going to use Banishing Shift to the max. He knows it is dangerous but he did say he swore to protect his family even if it costs him his life. So why is he so against Mio and Yuki who want to go with him and play hero too? No time to argue. Let’s do this. Zest leads them to the core.

Episode 12
Running inside this creature feels like going through a little horror house with aliens just springing up to attack you. Even the ‘stairs’ can turn into aliens with sharp teeth! Yuki wants to play hero and keep these aliens at bay and all she needs to say is that believe-in-me magic word and voila! Basara will let her. Don’t look too long at those doll clones resembling Zest because they spring out and attack you! Then before the core, aliens attack whoever is on the offensive so Zest makes it sound like she’s going to sacrifice herself being the bait while Basara ends it. While Mio is against it (because she has a heart, blah, blah, blah), Basara surprisingly gives the green light. In no time, the beast’s core is destroyed and it’s like it is having a big stomach ache because its ‘vomit’ destroyed a mountain before it dies!!! Zest is still alive because Basara push her out of harm’s way at the very last second before he used Banishing Shift. Meanwhile Takigawa is slowly torturing Zolgia because he is waiting for someone to turn up. Zolgia thought he could use that someone to mind control and escape but that someone turns out to be Basara. He is here to watch his death. Say what? This is another part of the agreement. As Mio and Yuki will become aware of Takigawa’s real identity, he made a deal with Basara to vouch for him and in turn will see Zolgia die. Quite the sadist, is he? Zolgia tries to make a deal with Basara that he can provide more information about Mio if he is concerned about her safety but I guess he isn’t a cute busty female so it’s no deal. See that no remorse in Basara’s eyes? You’re screwed. Time to die. Oh yeah. His head just exploded…

Back home, Zest is given time to think what she wants to do but for the time being will consider Basara her master since her original master is dead. Basara goes to talk to Mio alone and he is worried if she was ‘tainted’. Fortunately, no. But the thought of this might happen to her riles him up so he pushes her down and starts raping her!!!! WTF????!!!! DID YOU SEE THIS COMING???!!!! IS HE TURNING INTO A REAL DEMON???!!!! OMFG!!!!!!!!! It is too late when he realizes it because Mio (with that smirk on her face) tells her the only way she could forgive him is to kiss her! Don’t tell me she’s addicted to it? Because they’re taking too long, Yuki usurps her and gives Basara her steamy kiss!!! Oh yeah! Let the real cat fight begin!!! Sad Maria thought she had no part in this but Basara pulls her in and seeks her help in diffusing the tension between the ladies. They’re trying to bring her to their side. I understand Mio is arguing she is her sister but what does Yuki have to offer? Side her and she’ll help her do lewd things to Mio! What is her answer? She quickly gives Basara a long steamy kiss because he is her brother! That’s your answer! Oh boy, the cat fight is going to get real intense in a 3 way battle! We take some time off the steamy bits as we see the moderate demon faction picking up Zest and Shella. So they’re not staying to be part of Basara’s harem? What a shame. And of course life returns to normal for them. One big happy harem family with the occasional tussle for that guy. Okay, make that frequent tussle. Lastly, Leohart is puzzled of Zolgia’s disappearance and wants his status to be investigated because from Takigawa’s report, he seemed to be plotting something. But waiting for him in his throne room is no other than Jin who has taken out all his guards. This is payback for laying his hands on his kids. Those mean vengeful eyes… Who is the real demon here?

Episode 13 (OVA)
Maria sees Mio still sleeping and dreaming. This is her chance to see what she is dreaming as she whips out a special camera to peek into her mind. Hoping for something erotic? Because in Mio’s dream she sees Maria as Basara, the succubus did not waste time to take on that role and play out her horny desires with her. OMG! Yuri action! That includes fondling her boobs, sucking her boobs and then using a banana for… OMG! Is she really going to use it?! Till Basara beats her up for trying to do something horny in the morning. Maria is then relegated to cooking breakfast and has him test taste her new dish. But what is this hard stuff she put in? Tastes okay but he can really bite it that well. She claims it is his favourite food: Mio’s panties! OMG! That guy just swallowed a pair! OMFG! This guy is going to kill her right now! Yuki saw the entire thing. Now she takes off her panties and wants him to eat it! What? He ate Mio’s and hers is not good enough? Unhappy with this, Yuki takes off her bra and bares her boobs. Call it lucky or unlucky because whatever Yuki begs Basara to do to her won’t happen as Mio is pretty pissed in seeing them engaged in this unholy act. She fries Basara and the horny loli succubus.

Because Hasegawa didn’t get much decent screen time, the second half is dedicated to her. After all, it would be a waste not to ‘make use’ of those boobs, right? As Basara seeks treatment at the infirmary after a minor sporting accident, he sees Hasegawa in a swimsuit. She was trying it and thanks to her big boobs, the zip is stuck. Need help? He tries but it just wouldn’t unzip. Using any more force will rip it. So he puts some foam and then unzips it but he uses a bit too much force and it exposes her boobs. She then invites him to her home for food. Don’t worry, he won’t be eating her. I think. So as she washes the dishes, she wants him to hug her from the back. I know it’s getting sexy with her teasing him like that. Then he has her hug from the front. When he is bathing, he is shocked she is joining him. This is to be expected. This is what we are waiting for! She starts washing his back using his boobs and then has him give advice on how to improve on this! When she steals a kiss, I suppose that is the breaking point because Basara now turns into a monster, returning her with a hot steamy passionate kiss! Rape scene?! OMG! Since when did this turn into hentai!!!!!!!!! He starts fondling her boobs, sucking it, playing with her butt!!! OMFG!!!! Short of just showing a certain anatomy to fully call it hentai!!!!! I don’t know if it was all a dream because when Basara wakes up, he is lying on Hasegawa’s lap. He somewhat passed out. Was it because of the heat or Hasegawa’s lesson of letting him experience the pleasure of an older woman is too much to handle? It is not clear if this was just a dream or it really happened and passion was too hot that it made it all look like a dream. Basara grabs his clothes and then heads off. Basara… YOU LUCKY BASTARD!!!

I’ll Pleasure You 100 Times!
Hey wait a minute! Oh, come on! Don’t end it like this when the best parts are starting to get interesting! The parts that sees the girls fighting over Basara! NOOOO!!!! Can’t they just extend this bit a little longer! We want more of such scenes! Why does it always have to end when it gets interesting? So is that why the need of the announcement of the second season right at the end of the TV series? Oh well, you might have guessed that this is perhaps the reason why we watch this series in the first place… The fanservice and of course the cat fight in the harem. Not the story, not the plot, not the development and not the plot. Don’t you agree with me?

I am not sure if this series is trying to be a rip-off from a handful of other animes of the same genre. You know, high school with super powers and ecchi harem theme. I can see some overlapping similarities with this one and High School DxD and others such as Seirei Tsukai No Blade Dance, Seiken Tsukai No World Break, Yuushibu and even Hagure Yuusha No Estetica (trivia: they are both created from the same author). All of which are adapted from their original light novel series. So I guess with more and more of such similar adaptations and our craving/lust for anime porn that needs to be satiated every season, that is why it feels so similar. But it feels more like High School DxD clone because the main characters and the demon setting feel too awfully familiar. Just add the little sister link and you call it a new show.

So let’s get down to the points of the series that we aren’t interested in the first place. Get them out of the way right. Like the plot and development. Yeah sure, high school girl has some demon powers that everybody wants. Only some guy with an equally devastating power stands in the way. Hardly anything exciting. Maybe they’ll expand it in the next season but for now this plot just feels introductory to the setting and doesn’t move anywhere or make any great impact.

Character development also feels weak. At least for this season is concerned. Besides the main characters, many of some of the lesser characters feel fleeting and although it feels they definitely hold something more important but yet to be revealed. Like Hasegawa, this busty chick isn’t just your typical ordinary school nurse from her enigmatic speech and all. We all know there is more to her but looks like this season she won’t be making any moves yet. Then there is Jin who isn’t just some sleazy dad who decides to screw up his son’s life by leaving him with a bevy of babes. Seeing him taking on the interim Demon Lord shows that he is more than meets the eye. Heck, despite from the hero clan (as we believe), he could actually be God! Then there is Takigawa who feels like strange bedfellows with Basara and although they might have a seemingly common goal, his true intentions are yet to be seen. After all, he is still a demon and you can’t truly trust one, right? What about those heroes like Takashi, Kurumi and Shiba? Something tells me it isn’t the end of them yet and there’ll be more encounters in the future.

The main characters aren’t anything new or exciting. Just feels typical. Like Basara, you can compare him with so many archetype main characters that are just like him. This guy wants to be a hero who gets all his cake and eat it. Sure, he puts his family first before the world. That’s good, right? Which girl doesn’t want to have this guy as her big brother-cum-boyfriend-cum-future-husband? We get it already. You love your family. Don’t have to tell us all the time. Maybe he has to since Mio keeps having stray thoughts about everything else so he has to from time to time remind her about being family, blah, blah, blah. And the world can go to hell for all he cares if he is ever forced to choose between what is most important. Ironically, isn’t his little step-sister the future Demon Lord of hell? So if you want to do any heroic stuffs on join him on the offensive, you need to say those magic words that include trust, believe or have faith in me and he’ll automatically let you face danger but don’t get yourself in too deep because that will make him come back and save your ass. Which isn’t a bad thing but it’ll be embarrassing that you’ve already assured that you can do it but not live up to it.

I don’t know if Mio is trying to start a new catchphrase or something because she loves to say “I’ll kill you a hundred times!”. No, we don’t find that cute but rather annoying. We only find her cute (and sexy) when she is moaning like an amateur porn star ;p. I wonder if she is trying to rival that tsundere from Mayoi Neko Overrun, Fumino Serizawa because her favourite catchphrase is “Go die twice!”. Maybe there is a difference in getting killed and killing yourself. Otherwise she is pretty much a useless character. Her powers are still under-developed and has the tendency to go into guilt-ridden mode while being a tsundere. This is the future Demon Lord? Hell is screwed. Yuki feels like one of those expressionless characters, the kind that do not show much emotion but when it comes to dealing with the things she wants most, her actions speak louder than what you would guess from her facial expression. Still waters run deep.

I guess the reason why Maria has been given the succubus class is so that we do not complain whenever this loli gets horny ideas. Because she loves seeing Mio in such uncomfortable fanservice positions and that she is always ready to whip out her camera to record every racy second like as though she want to create and edit a porn collection of Mio and upload it to PornHub. Heh. She doesn’t even have to do that. There are a lot of sick people who would pay to watch that! For the record, I am not one of those people. When Maria oversteps her boundary, she becomes Mio’s punching bag to let loose some steam and remind her of her place but I don’t think it’s working given Maria’s succubus background. Seduction and flirting always comes first. Like pleasure before pain, huh?

And therefore the romance parts although it feels like Basara leaning more to Mio, but if you consider the lewd stuffs that they are doing, wouldn’t it be constitute as incest? I know they’re not related by blood and even if they are step-siblings, doesn’t this sound like incest? Oh, who cares about the laws of the world? It doesn’t apply when your love for your sister/brother is too great! Nobody understands our love! There might be a handful of scenes to see Basara and Mio ‘bonding’ but I just don’t feel it. Sure, they grow closer after each danger but I just don’t feel the bonding is there. So for now we just have to contend with Mio, Yuki and Maria in the harem because I really thought with Zolgia dead, Zest would join the harem with her new master. Heck, maybe Shella too. She could fit under the legal loli or MILF trope, right? Oh heck, I almost forgot about Kurumi. When is she coming back? Something tells me not to discount Hasegawa too because during Basara’s hypnosis from Zolgia, in fact all the main girls were there in his fantasy harem. Well, at least it is a good thing to know he isn’t gay. Because it would just scream hints of yaoi if Takigawa was part of it. I mean, really. This guy would do anything for him just to safeguard his sisters? What is he? Part of his harem? Thank God, no.

And thus the only reason why this anime was ever adapted was because of the fanservice. Who needs anything else when you can have horny girls being submitted by their onii-chan? This is how producers make their loads of money without needing to think much of the story and characters. Just fill it with fanservice and watch all the gullible perverts fall for this trick over and over again. Always works. Like yours truly. I can tell because of experience ;). However the biggest ‘disappointment’ in this area are the DAMN CENSORS!!! It is like the TV version is just teasing us and that they are telling us if you want to really see what is behind those blinding lights or chibi character censors, you better buy the BDs to get your 2 cents worth of fapping material (just like how it is all free and clear in the OVA). And that, my friend, is how you milk even more money from otaku perverts. Or else with those censors, it is like telling us to use our ‘vivid’ imagination to fantasize what is going on behind those juicy scenes. Oh sure, if I really wanted to fantasize and imagine such scenes, I might as well read the book. Read the light novel. But that isn’t the reason why we watch the TV series so in a way having censored fanservice scenes feels like ‘cheating’ us and ‘depriving’ us of what we really want to see most. You know what? I’m not going to waste my money on those BDs just to prove that I have a vivid imagination. OH YES! I CAN SEE IT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!

But not every fanservice scenes get those censors. Those considered to be ‘dangerous’ enough like Basara raping molesting trying to calm the curse down in Mio are definitely certain for such censors. Yeah, if it is a close up scene, I guess the censors will take up more than half the screen so you’ll be wondering if your TV monitor just burnt out from the blistering fanservice. I suppose such scenes are lewd and indecent enough to be borderline hentai and feels like any moment it could just cross over there. That is why they ‘leave it to your imagination’ for those censors in the TV series. Because girls only moan like that, yearn more of that and want to be raped like that… All that is only possible in porn, right? Therefore those small fanservice scenes like a scene of random girls changing in the locker room in their undies go uncensored simply because after all that we have seen and experienced, this is nothing compared to that.

The action bits just feel like a distraction to the fanservice moments. Because they cannot spam us with fanservice scenes for the entire duration of the episode, that is why they put in the sword and magic fights. The fight scenes are okay but nothing extravagant. Perhaps I wasn’t paying attention because I feel everyone has just 1 set of skills and there are no other variations. Especially with Basara’s Banishing Shift feels like the ultimate move cheat code because it just nullifies the hell out of everything in a single strike. How convenient. Sure, he has got it all under control now. But he makes it look so easy that he should just use this in every fight and every enemy he faces off. Oh wait, doesn’t he? And I thought he had some sort of trauma using it? I guess we forgot all about it in between because he has been using it like nobody’s business only for the final episode’s scene before Mio’s rape we see his hands shaking again just to remind us. There is a bit of gore and blood but sometimes they look more light red paint. Especially that scene where Zolgia’s head exploded… So unreal…

Basara sound familiar. Oh yeah. It’s Yuuichi Nakamura behind it at his usual angsty voice. Well, almost. Am I starting to see similarities in his anime characters? Like Kyousuke from OreImo, Yuuki from Koi To Senkyo To Chocolate and Tomoya from Clannad. Tomokazu Sugita was also recognizable despite not sounding so much like Gintama’s Gintoki. Feels a bit meek in this role but nevertheless still recognizable and thus the reason his character revelation wasn’t a surprise to me. I thought characters like Mio would be voiced by Ayana Taketatsu but it is Ayaka Asai instead (Hazuki Katou in Hibike! Euphonium). The rest of the casts are so-so. They include Kaori Fukuhara as Maria (Tsukasa in Lucky Star), Sarah Emi Bridcutt as Yuki (Yuzuru in Date A Live II), Keiji Fujiwara as Jin (Sven in Black Cat), Hiroto Kazuki as Zolgia, Go Inoue as Takashi (Kaisar in Shingeki No Bahamut: Genesis), Daisuke Hirakawa as Shiba (Muneakira in Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls), Iori Nomizu as Kurumi (Nymph in Sora No Otoshimono), Seiko Yoshida as Zest (Kyousuke in Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica) and Yuu Asakawa as Hasegawa (Leone in Akame Ga Kill).

The opening theme is Blade Of Hope by Sweet ARMS while the ending theme is Still Sis by Kaori Sadohara. Both sound like generic anime pop. Nothing that is appealing to me. Just rather okay. Amidst the action packed opening credits animation (and certain versions of the ending credits animation), also lots of naked fanservice. Including Basara himself. I guess if they don’t show the genitals, it is okay.

Overall, this show still has its potential if you are willing to give it a chance. I know, the fanservice. The redeeming factor that also partially killed it due to its horrendous censors. Try harder next time. I think I’ll form more conclusive opinions after watching the second season but that could be quite some time even by the time this blog is published. But for now if you want to satisfy your desire for little sister themed animes, there are many out there to choose from like OreImo, NakaImo and the atrocious ImoCho. But how many will have your little sister as a little devil and future Demon Lord? You know, that kind of feeling that you as an ordinary guy but your sister is a world famous top model. If you are really that desperate to get a little sister and hear those magical call words of “Onii-chan!”, I think the fastest and best way is to play a dating simulation of one. Maybe even better than watching this series.

Absolute Duo

15 August, 2015

Just how long till you find your soul mate? Your lifetime partner? Your Absolute Duo? Apparently in this series, you are paired with a person that you are going to be working, playing, eating, sleeping and doing whatever things with as young as in high school already. Geez, it is like they are starting young on this matchmaking thing. You know what they say about two heads being better than one, right? Despite the pairing is meant for a security agency, what happens when a guy and a girl gets paired together? And I am not talking about forced pairing but teaming up on their own will. Yeah, that sums up pretty much what to expect from this series. Yes, don’t make me repeat myself again. This is what you should expect from this kind of anime.

Episode 1
Tooru Kokonoe and Imari Nagakura are freshmen heading to the opening ceremony of Kouryou Academy. It’s like a dream school. No tuition fees, 3 meals a day, all expenses paid for and what they do is train you to fight. But everyone is going to be in for a shock because this goth loli, Sakuya Tsukumo who is also the chair of the school board, tells them they need to take a qualifying test. They will fight the person seated next to them now! The winner will be accepted and the loser will have his/her Luciful taken back and kicked out. Everyone protests as they never heard about this (should they?) but this is how it works. If no winner is decided within 10 minutes, both are kicked out. Tooru requests to switch partners. Sorry, no can’t do. And they’ve just become friends… And so the place becomes a battlefield. Imari has something to accomplish so she has to defeat Tooru. He too has something to achieve and won’t give up (something about him being too weak that led to someone’s death). Tooru materializes his shield weapon and blocks her attacks. He powers up a punch to knock her away. A move that is unblockable. It is Imari’s lost. How convenient, it is also the end of regulation time. Imari is impressed nobody was physically hurt. Because when people summon Blaze, it is from their soul and the only thing it can wound is just that. Tooru wasn’t all out serious with her because his weapon isn’t Blaze and would have wounded her. She admits defeat and wishes him the best. Tooru sees his old friend Aoi Torasaki AKA Tora in the same class. The latter mentions this means they are both lab rats for Sakuya because they were administered Luciful to harness their Blaze powers. In class, there is this silver haired girl, Julie Sigtuna, beautiful enough for everyone to turn their heads and stare. She sits next to Tooru and starts staring at him. Whenever he tries to talk, she turns her head away. Rinse and repeat… Annoying?

This spunky lively bunny maid is their teacher, Rito Tsukimi. As childish as she looks… She explains the school system like their ID doubles as a credit card and how they will form pairs and live/eat/train together with that partner. Because once they graduate they will be assigned to the Dawn Agency Security Force so they’re starting the partnership early. This is what you call the Duo system. The official pairs will be decided this weekend but for now the temporary Duo pair will be the one sitting next to you. Tooru couldn’t be more troubled than this. Yeah. He has to live with Julie? Can he switch, pretty please? You mean he wants his bespectacled friend than this cutie?! What is he? Gay? Anyway, Tsukimi won’t allow him and thus making us viewers with the prospect of fanservice hijinks. And true enough, Tooru gets a shocker seeing Julie in her pyjamas which is only a shirt itself. She remembers his name because it reminds her of that Thor God in her northern European language, Gimle. Don’t be disappointed that Julie’s ambiguous actions that she is interested in him are actually in fact she is interested in the technique he used in the qualifying exam. She wants him to teach her that but he warns it puts a great strain on one’s body. Maybe next time. Because she starts feeling sleepy and he puts her to bed. Next morning, they look forward to working with each other till their official Duo is decided.

Episode 2
This was to be expected. Tooru is freaking surprised to find Julie sleeping next to him. With rumours about them going about, Tomoe Tachibana and Miyabi Hotaka talk to them to ask if there is anything indecent going on between them because it bothers them. Really? It bothers them? It doesn’t sound so convincing when Miyabi who is shy of men starts hiding behind Tomoe. Julie chooses the wrong words. She says Tooru was holding her in his arms and this is enough for Tomoe to get the wrong idea that he is a pervert. In class, Tsukimi teaches us about the basics of everything. Those compatible with Luciful and can use Blaze are called Exceeds. Only through more practice and training using Luciful can your body become exponentially stronger. Therefore this curriculum contains a lot of battle practices and if they don’t level up at least one level by the end of the year, they’ll get expelled! After Julie explains the misunderstanding to Tomoe, she goes to apologize to Tooru on her knees. That bad, huh? I don’t know what forces suddenly push them to each other and had each their face in the other’s crotch. Oh heck, enjoy the fanservice. Tooru must be gay since he is talking to Tora and wanting to team up with him for the official Duo. Only on a condition that if he is strong. What better way to find out than a battle practice. For a week, we see the gang train and practice with each other and Tooru even teaching Julie the finer points of Japanese (her mom was a translator so she learnt the basics).

Julie talks to Tooru that she plans to form a Duo with Tomoe. She notices they are watching the sakura petals just like on the opening ceremony. He realizes she was watching him then too. But she is glad they could watch it together this second time. Tooru is surprised that Julie crawled into his bed once again but this time he hears her calling her dad in her sleep. Knowing she is lonely, he holds her hand to soothe her. On the day of the official registration, Tooru and Tora head to the counter to get things done. They see Tomoe and Miyabi coming by. Tooru asks about Julie and Tomoe replies she asked her about it too but turned her down because she always had Miyabi in mind. Then Tooru starts to get worried… I suppose this is proof that he is not gay because he rather ditch registering with Tora to go find Julie. Specky guy expected this and lets him go. He searches everywhere and finds her at the clock tower. What is she doing here? Trying to see if she could see Gimle from here? I guess she’s sad enough not to think straight. So she got rejected. She didn’t want to tell him as not to bother him. Besides, there is nothing he could do. As expected, he suggests they officially become a Duo. Whatever issues are bugging her, Tooru has the right assuring answer. Because he wants to protect her. After saying all that, no girl would turn that down, would she? And so Tooru and Julie are now official Duo pairs. He should have expected Julie would continue to sleep with him. Because she used to sleep with her mom. He is not her mom! But Tooru is special. He gives off that father-like feeling… This is going to be a long night. Make that long nights.

Episode 3
With the new pairs decided, it is time for the awaited Blaze mock battle, New Blade Battle. To put it simply, it is a team battle royale. Tooru and Julie do more training and Julie took the liberty to name Tooru’s move. Tooru spots Miyabi running till she collapses. He carries her back as she explains the uselessness she is compared to everybody. She thought by increasing her physical stamina by running till she dropped. Well, keep trying. During the New Blade Battle, Tooru-Julie team own every other Duo that we don’t care about. Finally they have to face off with Tomoe-Miyabi pair. Tooru stops Miyabi’s thrust and although the girl laments her uselessness again, Tooru is in fact impressed that she could push him back that far. Keep up the good work. Julie sees through Tomoe’s attack from behind to seal the victory. I thought I heard some chicken scream but it turned out to be Tora! So this dude teamed up with that macho guy, Tatsu? So he decided to go gay? Hey wait a minute. Dragon and tiger combo?! Anyway the duo are out and the culprit is no other than Tsukimi who reveals it is her job to take out new recruits. She attacks Tooru and Julie but Tooru suddenly starts bleeding. Time for a couple of lessons for them. First of all, Blaze indeed can harm you if you have an intent to kill. Yup, it can kill. Secondly, what happens when you destroy the Blaze? As demonstrated on Tora, the excruciating pain proves that his spirit is damaged to the extent he’ll be incapacitated for an entire day. End of lesson. Now to kill them both. The duo cannot best Tsukimi as she is fast and powerful. Not even when she said the taboo word about weaklings dying, Tooru powered up to punch through the classroom and that still wasn’t enough. In the end, with the desire to protect each other and nice cooperation, all that training paid off as Tooru tricks Tsukimi and shatters her weapon. What a painful scream… The duo might have won but at the cost with lots of injuries. Tora and Tatsu are rescued while Tsukimi has been arrested. They are concerned what her job is. When Tomoe and Miyabi come to check on them, they see Julie on top of Tooru (she accidentally tripped and fell on him). I know what they’re thinking… Tooru still wakes up in the middle of the night from that horrifying nightmare. Julie overheard him talk in his sleep. Who is Otoha? Who is he going to kill someday? Is that why he needed Luciful and Blaze? He is reluctant to talk about it so Julie takes off her shirt and shows a horrendous scar across her back. She is the same like him. An avenger.

Episode 4
Beautiful naked blonde babe taking a bath in the river! DAMN YOU BRIGHT LIGHTS COVERING HER BOOBS! Looks like it is time for her to go meet that special someone. I can guess who that person is… In class, Tora and Tatsu are grateful to Tomoe and Miyabi who helped administer first aid to them. Tooru is shocked that Tora can actually bow down! They are concerned of Tsukimi’s goals but can be assured she won’t be around anymore. Suddenly, Tsukimi walks into her class and conducts her lesson like normal! WTF?! They confront her after class but were brought to Sakuya’s office for explanation. She reinstated Tsukimi as the school’s instructor because she managed to train well several students in a short period of time. But she tried to kill them! Well, they’re standing here alive, right? Sakuya admits that she only cares about the results and doesn’t care whatever method or curriculum is used because she wants to find the Absolute Duo. She will have the 6 of them take the Ritual of Sublimation to advance to Level 2. Back in class, this blonde babe, Lilith Bristol, a new transfer student from England walks right in and wants Tooru to come with her. But they’re right in the middle of class. Don’t make her repeat herself. She is special. She wants a nice quiet place to talk with him. So at some luxurious garden, she explains that she is an Exception. When she heard there was an irregular at Japan, she came all the way here just to be his partner. That’s right. Don’t make her repeat herself. She wants him to be her Duo. But he already has a partner. Doesn’t matter. She is special. She gets what she wants! So what will it be? Tooru has the best answer for her. There is no need to think about it. He declines her offer. WHAT?! Lilith looked so shocked. Don’t make him repeat himself. The answer is no. N-O. Right back at you b*tch! And if you are wondering why he is running 4km laps at night, it is Tsukimi’s punishment to him for skipping class. She can’t touch that English b*tch but she can sure hell take it out on him! Curses!

To avoid Julie’s question of sleeping with him tonight again, he manages to switch the topic to bring her out shopping next time. Tooru did ask Miyabi for places to go (although she thought he was asking her out). He invites her and Tomoe to come but she declines, citing they have something ‘busy’ to do. And so the duo are in town. So pretty Julie is that everyone can’t keep their eyes off her. So cute that the clothes store saleswoman purposely wants to let her try a few more clothes. Heck, she even gets swept away by kindergarten kids. And as expected, Tomoe and Miyabi are being stalkers watching from afar… Waiting for any indecent movements… Julie amazingly got drunk on a rum raisin ice cream. That is when several punks try to hit on Tomoe and Miyabi. They are not interested but they get physical. They want to teach those girls a lesson but Tooru comes to their aid and says they are with him. They are not convinced. Suddenly, Lilith shoots her rifle Blaze at them! What was that for?! Tooru thinks this is what she means of being an Exception. Later as Julie tries out bras with Tomoe and Miyabi, as expected, Tooru had to be the unfortunate soul who sees them in it. Guess what he is being branded as? No, Tooru! How can you say you are an unfortunate kid after seeing such lovely figures?! I don’t care about your reputation! You just saw ‘men’s paradise’!

Episode 5
The friends are discussing Lilith’s rifle Blaze because it is a complex weaponry to materialize. During swimming lessons, everyone thought they’re about to see some Julie grace as she dives in. Turns out she can’t swim and sank like a hammer! Because Lilith has never attended class, our concerned Tooru goes to look for her at the garden. She has already finished her education and this place is just for her to kill time. Does she look like the type to make friends? Then she asks to go out on a date. You heard that right. Don’t make her repeat twice. And so skipping yet another class, it seems the date is an outing to a horror theme park. Lilith is so happy that she’s acting like a kid. Really. It must be tiring hanging out with her through all the rides… Then there’s the right mood, the right atmosphere, the right moment for Lilith to ask that very question after she replies him she showed him her Blaze in public was because it was only natural to show it to her partner. She’ll let this slip for once and say it again: Become her partner. We can’t hear what he said but we know it broke her heart. Ah well, at least the fireworks in the background of this fake horror Disneyland was worth it. So back in his room, he reveals to Julie about Lilith’s goal to make him her Duo but turned her down. Julie is alright since he had his reasons. I thought it was more of because he didn’t agree to it. Now we hear exactly what he said to Lilith. He already has a partner who is dear to him and swore to protect her. Those feelings never changed and thus he can’t team up with her. Since that already ruined everything, Lilith slapped him and won’t forget this humiliation of being rejected twice. And all the more reason why Julie is grateful and should start hugging him because he chose her, right? Soon, our first years will be having another inter-class battle with the second years, Dragon Bite Battle. Don’t underestimate the latter because despite only a handful of them will be selected for the battle against the entire first years, they are a few levels above and much stronger. Look at this as a big team battle. Suddenly Lilith waltzes into the arena and wants to take on all the second years herself. Is she joking? Don’t make her repeat twice. She’s special. She can do whatever she wants, right? She demonstrates by shooting them all out! No chance! Sakuya finds it bothersome that despite she is the best, she disrupted something she worked hard to put together. Don’t worry. Lilith will pay it back with a ‘dance party’. In short, a survival battle with her classmates. I guess she’s on a roll now that she wants to take on everybody herself. This is one pissed rejected woman…

Episode 6
The lowly classmates get owned. Hardly any challenge. Now Tooru is before her. Surprise, he apologizes for turning her down. Not that he changed his mind. He wants to fight her with full strength so that they can understand each other. Is this some sort of shonen ritual? The ambush tactic of letting Tatsu be the decoy to slice her so Lilith will jump and let Julie slice her didn’t work since she is faster. Shortly, Lilith then camouflages as a fallen classmate to take out Tatsu. Before Julie gets owned, Tomoe saves her but the duo sustain damage that render them unable to fight at their full ability. Tooru may have guessed something on Lilith’s Blaze when Julie talks to him as she is worried about him. He looks more worked up than usual. Nothing like a few nice words to assure and sooth her. It is interrupted when Lilith wants to let the game going. Tooru has got her where she wanted as he slams the ground. The floor collapses. She jumps. In midair, Tora and Julie attack but surprise, she is fast enough to shoot them without reloading her Blaze. Suddenly Julie gets back up and slashes the rifle off her hand. They have predicted Lilith always shoots at the heart so Julie was wearing a metal plate there (a reason why her movements were sluggish). But it’s not over yet. Before the fight can resume, Tooru is shot with real bullets. Several armoured troops come in and want Lilith to come with them. Lilith refuses as they were rude to intrude on her ‘dance party’. Till his blonde guy, K takes Tomoe hostage so Lilith agrees to go with them. So for the rest, now it is a mission to rescue her. I don’t know how Tooru was fast enough to be before them. He then takes in so many shots while powering up his ground slamming move. As everyone falls, Tora and Julie take out the soldiers while Tooru guiding Lilith’s hand shoot her rifle at K. Double whammy when a slab slams on him! With Lilith back, what else to do? Finish the match! They’re both injured so they’re even. In the aftermath, K reports his failure to his master but he is okay since what is important is the data that was gathered. Their true aim is the Blaze Witch, Blaze Diabolica. One of the injured soldiers pleads for help. He was shot. I’m not sure who won the battle but Tooru is in hospital all wrapped up in bandages. Lilith only with an arm cast comes in to visit. They’re friends, right? She apologizes for slapping him and also looking down on his friends. As for being her Duo, he turns her down but if he changes his mind, let her know. Oh, there is one more thing she wants to say. Listen closely because she won’t say it again. She kisses Tooru on the cheek and declares him her future husband! OMG! What will Tooru be branded now? She will definitely get him to return her feelings.

Episode 7
Miyabi is thinking about her uselessness during that hostage situation. More importantly, her mind is pretty occupied about Tooru. Wonder why… The class is taking a ship to an island. Julie is feeling a little queasy so she’s lying on Tooru’s lap. Miyabi thought of sitting next to Tooru but the ship shakes and she got a little too close to him. If you think this is going to be a first class cruise, think again. Tsukimi announces everyone must swim to the island in their uniform. Yeah, Sakuya must really want to test her guinea pigs, right? Lilith the cheater comes by helicopter but I suppose she wants to have some fun as she changes into her swimsuit to dive down to Tooru. If it’s bad enough he is already carrying Julie, now he’s got to carry her. So he is tired out once reaching shore and he could use less of Lilith’s tease kissing and Julie losing her panties to the wind and into the ocean. As everyone make their way to the training camp in the middle of the island, they are attacked by ninjas. More precisely, ninjas with Blaze. Julie and Lilith team up and you can see how formidable they are when they do that. Why, Julie’s sword spin is enough to cut down all the trees in the vicinity! Tomoe and Miyabi are also having a tough time but with Miyabi remembering how useless she is and Tooru’s words, she gets the strength to break out and fight to help her partner. When Tooru unmasks one of the ninjas, he is surprised to see Imari! Turns out this is a branch of Kouryou Academy and this is their way of welcoming them. Don’t be surprised. Remember the qualifying test during the entrance ceremony? As explained, those who failed were given a chance to study at this seaside branch and Imari didn’t waste time taking up that offer. So we see the gang having BBQ party. Julie eating Tooru’s sausage that is big and hot… Lilith wanting Tooru to feed her since her hands are full but Julie is the one doing it. Tooru goes to apologize to Sakuya as he thought she was a heartless person. Thanks for taking in Imari and the rest. She doesn’t want him to get the wrong idea. She was just gathering personnel for Dawn Agency and thus her goal of achieving Absolute Duo. Miyabi feels weird for being praised. But after talking to Tooru and remembering how he always gave her words of encouragement, she finally connects the dots of this feeling of love for him. Yeah, took you long enough to notice. Meanwhile, K talks to Equipment Smith about some mission he is being entrusted, Competitive Exhibition: Selection. He is sure not to report to the top brass and believes they too want results. After setting up the tents, Julie has learnt an important lesson. To keep her panties safe, she hands it to Tooru for safekeeping… I don’t know what to say…

Episode 8
Heaven: When you are dreaming of 2 naked girls sleeping by your side. Hell: When you wake up to really find 2 naked girls sleeping by your side. Tooru is in hell courtesy of Lilith and Julie… Guess who is jumping the gun to call him pervert again? And it is no surprise that Tomoe once again grovels and buries her head in the sand just to apologize to him after they explained what really happened. Tooru is invited to hang out with Miyabi and her friends at the beach. You don’t say… Is there anywhere else to hang out on this island? As expected, swimsuit fanservice in which our main character has to honestly comment on each of them but he blatantly ignores Tsukimi despite she threatening to beat up his ass. What else to expect? Miyabi huge boobs, some bikini tops coming off, Miyabi’s huge boobs, Julie and Lilith fighting over Tooru’s attention and oh, before I forget, Miyabi’s huge boobs. So much so it is the highlight during the hotspring scene with Tsukimi turning into a serial boob molester with Julie her accomplice. Because Miyabi has been acting weird (spacing out, that longing look), Imari can tell and even gets admittance from her that she likes Tooru. Well, if only Imari had been accepted into the main school, maybe things would have progressed differently but seeing things turned out like that, the reason why she wants to support Miyabi. What? Really? So you don’t want Tooru for yourself? When Miyabi sprains her foot, Tooru the man is no other than to carry her. Imari then signals to the other girls that they need to head back to cook (even if it’s not their turn tonight). Tsukimi wonders if Lilith is okay with this. Yes, everybody deserves a fair chance and it is not like she is going to lose. Highly confident, isn’t she? So we’ve got Tooru carrying Miyabi on their slow walk back. Talking about things. The right setting sun mood. The right atmosphere. The right time for Miyabi to confess she loves him. She wants to go out with him. Will that be okay? What is his reply? Then that stupid trauma of his had to influence his answer. He can’t. Because he is weak. Stupid Tooru. You just made Miyabi heartbroken. Look at her heartbroken face! No, it’s not okay! Lilith talks to Sakuya whose other identity is Blaze Diabolica. She is being targeted by Rein and suspects they will strike tonight. Thus the reason why she is on this island. But she is just a decoy and has been prepared a sacrifice just like the branch school students. That night, armoured troops skydiving down and start shooting at all the students!!! MASSACRE!!! As K says, they’re from God Slaying Corps, Libers and Exceed.

Episode 9
Everybody fights back but the toll is still no match. Just utter chaos. There are no casualties because this might be that old man’s way of Selection. Believing their target is the underground facility, Sakuya allows Tsukimi to release her limiter and display her full power without restraint. And there she goes, wild and berserk with another Blaze lesson for the kids. When you pass Level 4, you’ve got a secret Blaze power! I’m not sure what this hula hoop thingy she has but it’s dangerous and kills! K then enters the office to get Sakuya. The commotion outside was just a diversion to lure her out. Lilith protects Sakuya but K says she is not invited this time. After the explosion from the office, Tooru and Julie head to check out while the rest go find Miyabi who is missing ever since (she never came back from the beach). Tooru sees defeated Lilith who asks a favour of him to go rescue Sakuya. Well, they got on his ship just in time. Since they won’t take up his offer to jump into the ocean for their lives to be spared (Julie can’t swim anyway), I guess it’s time to fight. Despite taking the full force of Tooru’s punch, K is unscathed thanks to his new prototype armour. He beats them up and is about to kill Julie when Tooru comes to protect her. This seems to irk K. Especially like this protect thing is like a taboo word for him. He takes it all out on Tooru. Julie wakes up thanks to her trauma of remembering her dad being killed. She powers up and turns into some demon, so fast that K couldn’t see the slash across his chest. He gets slashed left and right. Julie probably can’t tell friend from foe and is about to attack Tooru when she collapses. K continues to mock Tooru he can’t protect Julie like that. Oh, it’s that taboo word again. He is weak. K gets a call from Smith that they have acquired what is necessary and that Sakuya is no longer needed. Seriously?! Plans must be made for the next ‘banquet’. All troops retreat now. K vows to Tooru that the next time they meet, he’ll kill him. Abandon ship! I don’t know if Tooru had to steer it all the way back but anyway they made it back to the island. When Lilith gets a call, her shock expression has Sakuya know that she has been invited to Rein Conference. Julie tells Tooru how her dad went to battle and got killed. He was kind to her till his last breath. The man who killed him also put that scar on her back. That is why she enrolled in this school to become stronger to kill him. Meanwhile Miyabi is seen with Smith and is being assured she can get stronger with this new prototype suit. Let me guess her logic. Stronger = Tooru will love her more? What are the odds?

Episode 10
The main branch leaves the island. There’s nothing they could do if they stayed back, right? So what if a student is missing? When Sakuya says return, you return. Tomoe may not show her emotions but deep down she is deeply hurt that her friend is missing. Though, to prevent the rest from worrying, they are thought to believe Miyabi is in hospital and recuperating from the attack instead of been missing for a few days now. And now Miyabi and K has become part of Tooru’s damn nightmare trauma. Give this kid a break, will you? Sakuya summons Tooru and wants to reward him for saving her from Libers. She gives him permission to take Ritual of Sublimation to Level 4. Tooru believes everyone else should have the same chance as it wasn’t just him saving the day. Sakuya doesn’t understand why this bothers him. Doesn’t he seek power? The power to become stronger to protect others? Can’t argue with that. He is also told about the conference that will be held in this academy. Smith who founded Libers will also be attending. The place is under heavy security as Tooru and Julie go talk to Lilith to ask something. No, it’s not her love for you. It is about Rein Conference and Smith. Oh. How disappointing? Listen closely. She’ll not repeat herself. Smith is a high ranking member of an underground military who established Libers for one goal: To attain Absolute Duo. It is the final domain when your soul’s power reaches its ultimate capacity. The conference is where a group of individuals gathered because of Absolute Duo. Sakuya is part of that group and with names like Grave Phantom, Tempest Judge, Dark Ray Disaster and Silent Diva, you guess what kind of characters they are. Be awed or laugh. Tooru realizes the travesty of why this school was formed, to find individuals with Luciful and to awaken that hidden power within their souls to create Exceed. You mean he never suspected it even when Tsukimi tried to kill him or all the guinea pig tests he went through? Smith suggests Sakuya join forces with him but she declines because they have very different desires and that means what lies for them at the end will be in different places as well. She continues to mock him like how he lost to her grandpa and was once kicked out of the agency. Smith doesn’t take that insult likely and suggests settling this via game. As the name suggests, Killing Game is about his Libers fighting her Exceeds at this academy. The winner is when one side eliminates the other. Challenge accepted. And right away those Libers guys skydive down to the academy grounds. Ready for battle? The friends thought Miyabi came back to them but that happiness turns to shock when they see her siding Libers and in that power suit. So, is she strong enough for you Tooru?

Episode 11
So Miyabi wants to show off the new power she got. More worrying, she looks like she has turned into yandere mode and love Tooru enough to kill him! So being strong gives her the right to badmouth her friends as weak? Everyone thought she has been brainwashed but Miyabi insists this is what she asked and wanted. What is worst is that the entire island was under surveillance. This means that confession drama was seen by those guys and that is how they recruited Miyabi into this. And you thought reality TV was bad enough. Even more proof of her yandere when she is mad Tooru looks at everyone else except her! K lets Miyabi to handle her friends while she goes to pay Sakuya a visit. Tomoe wants to handle Miyabi alone because this is her responsibility as her partner. The rest head along and put her trust in Tomoe. Tora and Lilith form a temporary alliance to take out the Libers guards to let Tooru and Julie advance. But K is waiting before them. His true goal is to avenge what happened that last time and knew Tooru would come after him if he said Sakuya’s name. Tomoe is going to have to do a lot more convincing than that to bring back Miyabi. She laments she doesn’t know much about her friend and even more heartbreaking that she hears Miyabi’s aspiration was only to want Tooru, the boy she likes to acknowledge her. After confirming she did confess and got rejected because he said she was weak, Tomoe makes a comeback. It is all the more reason why she doesn’t need this fake power. She is already strong enough. Something inside Miyabi resonates. Tomoe continues she is in fact stronger than she is and that she wants to support her all the way as her partner. Now, the only thing left to snap her out of it is a good face slap! That was even enough to break her suit! Woah! So this is how you welcome your friend back? K relishes in seeing Tooru’s distress face by over-killing Julie. Tooru uses his body to protect all the bullets from the Libers soldiers. When Julie wakes up, although she is horrified, but she keeps her emotions in check. Tooru’s iron will pisses off K that he is the one to show us his frustrated face. Bloodshot devil eyes? With Tora and Lilith providing backup, Tooru materializes summon super shield to block K’s attack (why didn’t he do this earlier?) and knock that guy out with his super punch. Victory for Sakuya’s team! Smith cannot believe he has lost. I cannot believe he hasn’t died from heart attack of this humiliating loss. Yeah, he lost to a little girl. Only gave her more ammo to mock him. So I guess the only thing guys like him can do is beat up K and insult his very existence to let loose steam. And probably that is what made K snapped and killed the crazy old fart before he could detonate and destroy the school. K summons his ultimate armament and now he has that crazy look to kill Tooru.

Episode 12
Our friends thought it is over. Till K pops up before them. For some reason, this made Tora’s blood boil. He charges angrily but gets his Blaze destroyed. I guess they want to put him out from the final fight. K is also faster than Lilith’s bullet and takes her out. I guess it’s the same for her. So it’s up to Tooru and Julie to take him down but with K being cocky that he is powerful, he feels like he has been given the right to destroy everything with his power. Uh huh. Don’t get hit by his blasts. It’s freaking devastating! Then he wants to destroy the entire school but luckily Tsukimi was there to slice the beams apart although this causes her to bleed everywhere but no cause for worries that she is dying or anything. I guess you have to make this bunny sensei look cool once in a while. This is probably the umpteenth time because when Tooru tries to protect Julie again, he gets stabbed. No sh*t. Happy now K? You get to see Julie’s anguished face. In turn, she goes out of control like before, turning into a killing demon. K must be sweating in his pants that Julie is stronger than him. The only thing he can do is take a beating. Now it is up to Tooru (this dude is still alive of course) to bring Julie to her senses. First he lets Julie slash him so he can get up close to hug her. She struggles. He whispers for her to come back. That heartfelt plea makes her come back to her senses. He now understands why his Blaze is a shield: To protect. Uh, I figured that out a long time ago too. Apparently K doesn’t like this scene. Because he too had something traumatic. Something about his brother. But we don’t care because he tried to destroy Tooru’s harem so he can die for all we care. The duo combine their strengths and will to form an impenetrable shield. K is in more shock of such awesome power they have. For the finishing blow, Tooru takes Julie’s sword and strikes him down. Game over.

In the aftermath as Tooru recuperates in hospital, Miyabi comes to apologize for causing this mess. You know he is not the one to hold grudges so he notes everyone has gone stronger. Something bizarre just happened. A group of mad fan girls are chasing after Tsukimi because she protected their dorm during K’s madness. Tsukimi hates it and is running for her life. At least this proves she isn’t into lesbianism. After Tooru is discharged, Lilith hands him the data on K. His real name is Kevin Wayfair. After shortly losing his brother and family, he strayed underworld where Smith brought him in and raised him as a soldier who used nothing but power to obtain results. This data is actually from Sakuya because she believes if Tooru understands the enemy’s feelings better, it might help him grow and in turn achieve her goal of Absolute Duo. Tooru meets up with Julie. She mentions she is more El Awake than Exceed because she wished for strength to exact revenge. The only difference with Exceed is that Exceed has their soul’s power awakened naturally. Julie reveals that she was unable to control that power and Dawn Agency rescued her. She had been lying to him because she feared if she knew about it, he would leave her. Seriously, she should know better by now. Above all, she feared this power would hurt him. And as always, Tooru’s statement of wanting to protect her, blah, blah, blah. You know they’re going to be together forever and ever. If it helps alleviates your anxiety, they renew their partnership vow again. Till death do us part. Doesn’t this sound like getting married?

Absolute Fanservice/Harem
This is actually a harem series. Don’t make me repeat myself. Yes, this is absolutely a harem genre being masked under whatever other genres you may find here. All you need is a decent main character guy and a bevy of babes around him. How they love him varies from being oblivious to obvious to not so obvious. After all, there is a reason why this bunch of girls would stick and hang out with him compared to the rest of the other girls in the academy. It would be a very bad thing if every chick in this academy starts falling for this guy because you’ll have a hard time remembering all their names, there will be great injustice for some of them to have very limited screen time or even put them all in one same screen, and Tooru’s reputation of being a total faggot will rise so steep that you will be knocked out unconscious by the g-force.

With a string of fanservice elements to keep you satisfied, you don’t need anything else to remember this show because I am sure the rest of the other factors are not so important nor as memorable as the fanservice (which isn’t that great either). Starting with Miyabi whose F-cup boobs (as admitted by her) are already the ‘big’ fanservice factor because it looks like they put in more effort to animate her bouncing and wobbling boobs more than anything else. At least they make it too obvious to divert our eyes to focus on that pair. Yeah, definitely the Absolute Duo for us! Haha! Then you have Julie’s penchant for sleeping naked, her wrong choice of words that makes it ambiguous to other girls when they hear it (and it proves they are dirty minded to jump to such conclusion) and certain scenes that has to do with her panties or something. Don’t forget Lilith’s bold flirting and Tomoe herself who also has a nice endowed body that sometimes becomes an indirect contribution for fanservice.

Which brings us to the romance department. Disappointing? Well, with guys like Tooru upfront, you can expect the kind of outcome we’ll get. Safe to say that everybody likes him. Lilith and Miyabi are more direct while Julie might be masking her love under this partnership thingy which is yet to be seen since she hardly shows any emotions. Don’t write off Tomoe and Imari too because girls who stay in the friend zone are very much likely to change and turn those feelings into such romance. Especially Imari who has been away for so long only to reappear halfway, bringing back old feelings when this guy showed up. Scenes like that messes with your feelings. No conclusive studies were done to find this but call it a gut feeling based evidence. Yup. Guts. Don’t be surprised that Tora too might be in the running for Tooru’s love! Hey, love comes in all forms. Despite he has got this mean look, there are very few subtle hints that might indicate Tora likes this Tooru guy. After all, they’ve been best friends for so long, right? Long enough for that friendship to turn into romance. Yeah, guts again. So would Tooru have accepted Miyabi’s confession had he not perceived himself to be weak? Will a cat fight then occur because Miyabi is the weakest and down the pecking order considering Lilith and Julie are the top contenders for Tooru’s attention.

Characters feel weak and pretty much like stereotypes you’d find in any other similar shows. Tooru the main character, nice guy with a traumatic past he needs to overcome. Has an unusual power that makes him different from the rest of the generic characters. Makes friends (although a majority of them are girls) and will not hesitate to help them if they’re in trouble. What else is there to be said? Then you have an emotionless girl, a foreigner-cum-transfer student, a slow girl, her friend whose role seems to be memorable as one to accuse Tooru of being a pervert, and a returning ‘old’ friend. Julie’s tragic past for revenge was briefly mentioned but it didn’t make much of an impact for this season. Like it didn’t really matter overall. The same about Tooru’s trauma or the past/expects of other characters. It wasn’t really explored further which frustrates us who are looking something deeper to connect the characters with the plot and storyline. Because like for the final episode, everyone else is casted aside so we could see Tooru and Julie work and bond closely together. And you wonder why those strange people of Rein Conference even bother to be introduced when they didn’t do anything in particular. What a waste.

The plot seems to be building up towards making Miyabi a ‘temporary antagonist’. Because you thought that a slow weak girl won’t have pretty much to do with the plot whatsoever and maybe something of Julie’s past or Lilith’s circumstances are the ones that are going to take this season somewhere. Who knows it was this girl that got things rolling leading up to where we are now. Ironically for a shy girl who is always scared of men, Tooru is the first guy she falls in love and confesses to. Pretty much powered up in that sense, right? She is only weak because she herself believes she is so. Otherwise, Miyabi has the most brute strength compared to any of the other characters in this series (even more than that Tatsu guy). Thanks to friends like them especially Tomoe, she gets back on the right track. So now you know each other better? I thought it was rather odd that they ‘killed off’ Imari after the first episode. Like as though they want to surprise us by making her look good enough to be a supporting main character. Then she went away and reappeared halfway through the series. Who knows when she’ll be back again? Will there be a chance for Imari to transfer to the main branch to conveniently let this friendship/harem/romance thingy take off?

Lilith suddenly comes barging into the scene and automatically becomes part of Tooru’s harem with a flimsy excuse that he is an irregular like her. To say that English chicks will gladly become your bride if you are different from the rest? I don’t know, I feel that Lilith’s penchant to say “Don’t make me repeat myself again” seems annoying infectious and could turn into some internet meme if people ever wish to pursue it. I am sure they can make lots of jokes out of it. On the same topic, Julie too has this penchant to say “Ja” (yes) and “Nei” (no) a lot that it might sound annoying. Okay, it might sound unfair to say that since she is a foreigner and this stands way out compared to your typical “Hai” and “Iya/Chigau”. Ever since Lilith has decided Tooru to become her future husband, she seems to constantly remind us about this. Think that guy will forget? Guess what? That guy didn’t promise you anything! It’s already so obvious that he already chose Julie when he made that pact vow twice. Twice! Oh, one more minor thing seems to bug me. I wonder why her butler, Sarah is dressed as a butler instead of a maid! Does Lilith have a thing for butlers? Too bad, she too doesn’t make any great impact in the series save for loyally serving her master.

Tsukimi and Sakuya are the shadiest and mysterious characters of the series. Because of that I think they are much more interesting than the main ones. Because like for Tsukimi, you keep wondering what side she is on. One second, she puts on her cute energetic bunny display enough to melt our hearts (for those who love such moe types anyway) and suddenly the next second, she dramatically changes and has got this evil look and grin enough to scare the sh*t out of you. Then there is Sakuya who doesn’t show a shred of emotion like Julie (so much so I think they could be sisters separated at birth) and might just be playing the villain with her seemingly cold hearted approach. I thought Smith was a cool old geezer till he lost it when he failed to get the better of Sakuya. He looks so pathetic then. I don’t know what is Tatsu’s actual role in this anime besides being just a side character to distract you while he flexes his muscles and macho style. Where was he in the final attack on the school? Other than that, it is to give us a yaoi possibility so that the Tora guy won’t feel lonely and left out after his best friend ‘dumped’ him for a cutie. So to oddly have this ‘dragon’ and ‘tiger’ combo not making a big majestic impact, it feels pretty weak their roles just thinking about it.

Action wise, somehow it feels mediocre. Personally I feel that they are just a distraction for the harem and fanservice drama that we are all here for. We are here for that, aren’t we? Because when they fight, it doesn’t feel convincing enough that they are fighting for real. Plus, with the characters armed with only a single type of Blaze, their move set has hardly any variation so you’ll see more or less the same thing. Especially Tooru who only has a shield to block attack and a non-Blaze move punch that is set to blow you away upon contact with all that energy packed in it. Lilith is just shooting her rifle which is hardly anything exciting while Tomoe swings her chain-sickle weapon and Miyabi just thrusting her lance with all her might. Heck, even holding up and thrusting it is already a challenge to her.

Therefore the Duo system, the Blaze and Luciful terms may sound interesting and although they are briefly explained, it hardly makes any difference or impact of where this season is going as far as viewers are concerned. It is just like they are being used as a reason for the setting of this series and then if you don’t remember them or what it is about, it is okay. There is so much about it that we don’t know or fully understand. Like how Julie suddenly throws us a new term of El Awake in the final scenes that make us go, “What the heck. Since when did this northern European chick turned Latin?”. Because certainly like I have said, this anime is more about harem and fanservice. Oh shucks. I just repeated myself there again. I don’t know about this Absolute Duo thingy because from where I stand, it looks like the characters are fighting solo when they reached that higher level. Like Miyabi who may just be some prototype but if she succeeds, wouldn’t that make her alone as Absolute Solo? Why need a partner when you are already this strong?

Also, we often see Duo pairs fighting alongside each other but this is hardly the case. Because we are conveniently shown so since they are close to each other. Because I am sure that everyone can fight as well as they are when they are alone as when they are with their partner. For example, the Libers’ attack on the island branch. When Tooru was away with Miyabi when the attack happened, Julie is holding her ground just fine. Remember Sakuya wanting to level up just Tooru alone to Level 4? Didn’t say the same for his partner Julie, right? Besides, you don’t need to be officially a Duo with somebody else because teamwork with others also works as in the case of Tora and Lilith. So you see the official Duo pairs fighting together only because, well, they are close to each other in the vicinity. So do you really need a partner for this Duo system? Having groom a student individually instead as a pair also works. I don’t know. It’s because I am not sure of how the system works, that’s why I’m saying this.

Nothing to shout about in the drawing and art department because it is your typical conventional Japanese anime style. Though, I noticed that during certain scenes the quality drops especially during the fight sequences. Like as though they thought if they could save on this part and nobody would notice it all during that fast action pace. Unfortunately I did. As for character designs, some of the characters remind me of other anime characters like Sakuya’s goth loli outfit, when I first looked at her I thought if Kuroneko from OreImo has found a new anime to continue her existence. Then there is Tsukimi who suspiciously reminds me of Infinite Stratos’ Tabane. I know, the bunny ears and the childish personality. Even more suspicious is how they are both voiced by the same seiyuu. Oh, and that Smith old dude, I thought Colonel Sanders gave up making KFC and turned into making highly powered suits now! I am sure that I have seen the other characters from somewhere else but I am just too lazy to remember them.

CGI is also employed and mainly when the Blaze weapon is materialized or that army of Libers soldiers. Anyhow, I can’t say that it is good. That includes the special effects whatsoever. On a trivial note, the next episode preview has the characters in chibi form. When you have the art this way, it means funny and comical moments, right? Alas that is not the case in some of them as they are grim and serious. Thus it gives off this mixed feeling while watching this segment. It’s supposed to be light hearted but it’s not. Like when Tooru is doing his monologue about discovering the truth of the academy’s establishment or when Miyabi lamenting about how strong she would love to become. So, is it supposed to be funny or not?

In the voice acting department, I suppose only a couple of veterans stand out. Yukari Tamura is delightful as Tsukimi as she goes back and forth between her cute squeaky trademark voice as well as her darker and lower one. Yui Horie on the other hand as Sakuya reminds me of her Miss Monochrome character. Only take away that computerized voice effect. I am starting to think Yoshitsugu Matsuoka is beginning to voice very similar male characters recently. As Tooru, it feels similar to Yuu in Juuou Mujin No Fafnir, Arata in Trinity Seven and Godou in Campione. The other casts include Nozomi Yamamoto as Julie (Yukimura in Boku Wa Tomodachi Ga Sukunai), Haruka Yamazaki as Lilith (Ruka in Hayate No Gotoku series), Ayaka Suwa as Tomoe (Tokaku in Akuma No Riddle), Ayaka Imamura as Miyabi (debut role as a main/supporting character), Haruka Tomatsu as Imari (Asuna in Sword Art Online), Natsuki Hanae as Tora (Inaho in Aldnoah.Zero), Takahiro Sakurai as K (Suzaku in Code Geass) and Tomomichi Nishimura as Smith (Anzai in Slam Dunk). The person who voiced Tatsu must have the easiest lines ever. Heck, no lines even! This guy doesn’t have a proper dialogue and the most you’ll ever hear from him are his grunts and groans. Oh, he is voiced by Yoshihisa Kawahara (Yasu in NANA).

The rock based opening theme is Absolute Soul by Konomi Suzuki. The ‘amusing’ thing about the opening credits animation is this dance sequence between Tooru and Julie. It looks pretty neat the way they spin, twist and turn. I am not sure what type of dancing this is (although it does seem to incorporate figure skating in certain parts) but it could have been cool to watch had not been for the horrendous animation quality. Eye cancer. Did they think that nobody actually watches the opening animation? Well, one reason why I won’t now (at least for this series only). The ending themes feel like character songs because they are tailored to a particular girl. Therefore you have Julie singing BelievexBelieve as the first ending theme. Then you have Julie doing a duet with Lilith for the second ending theme, Apple Tea No Aji and finally 2/2, another duet but by Tomoe and Miyabi as the third ending theme. No Imari ending theme? I guess that sums it up about her prospects in this harem ;p.

Overall, this series is absolutely mediocre. Please don’t let me repeat that line again. Because with weak characters and the plot that hardly goes anywhere (sad to say Julie didn’t even start anywhere on her revenge nor Tooru settling or getting over about his traumatic past), constant reminders from the main character to always protect, might as well just tune in for the fanservice (which is in a way disappointing too if you think about it). That itself at least gives some motivation to the soul to sit through and watch through a dozen episodes of nothingness. Maybe if they put in some more ‘meat’ inside the next time, I’ll come back for more. Geez, sounds ambiguous and embarrassing enough. Don’t make me say that again!

Juuou Mujin No Fafnir

2 August, 2015

Am I seeing some sort of trend recently? Or has my mind gone numb after seeing too much of the same thing every season? Because somehow in a certain way, some animes have the same ‘feel’. The theme of ecchi fanservice, harem (including a typical single male protagonist), magic and dragons/monsters/beasts or a combination of them. That is why when I started watching Juuou Mujin No Fafnir (Unlimited Fafnir), immediately my thoughts are how similar this anime is to Seiken Tsukai No World Break in an overall sense. Heck, both shows are aired during the same season back in early 2015. Then there are Seikoku No Dragonar, Seiken Tsukai No Blade Dance, Cross Ange and Dragon Crisis to name a few… Have they run out of ideas lately?

Reading the synopsis itself is amusing. Try and make a guess from it. The world changes with the appearances of dragons… People (and by that they mean only girls) with dragon powers are then born… Suddenly there is a single boy in the whole wide world known to only possess this power… Gets “forcefully thrown into the school where such girls are gathered”… “…Where he saw the naked body of one of the students”… “Meeting his long lost sister…”… He said this to one of the girls, “When there is no choice, I will – kill you”… She says, “Can I really… Believe you?”… And finally, “The curtains open as the ‘one and only story’ about the boy who is supposed to become the strongest assassin and the incompetent girls unfolds – Ultimate School Battle Action!” Woah! I don’t know what to make out of this. Lines like that in the summary are mostly pretty ambiguous and sometimes misleading. Is this a whole lot of drama, harem, action and comedy mixed into the fray? Well, it better live up to its synopsis…

Episode 1
As narrated, dragons appeared in the world 25 years ago and destroyed a big part of it. Since then, there are people born with the same powers as those dragons. They are called Type D. Just like Yuu Mononobe who sets his first foot on Midgar only to find naked Iris Freya bathing in the sea (she lost her swimsuit to the waves if you must know). She tries to beat him up but screws up. After quelling the misunderstanding, Yuu’s sister whom he has not seen for 3 years, Mitsuki comes to pick him up. Starting today, he will be a transfer student on this island and the first male student in this academy. Colonel Haruka Shinomiya isn’t just the high commander on this island but also a teacher in the Brynhildr Class. We have a brief history of how Midgar came to be. From breaking away from the military NIFL (that Yuu is from) and being internationally recognized as having human rights, they have joined Asgard under UN to become an autonomous educational facility to help promote the use of D’s powers for society. Mitsuki who is also the student council president introduces Yuu during the assembly. But in class, some of the girls, Lisa Highwalker in particular isn’t convinced so Yuu has to demonstrate that he is D material by materializing some dark matter. But they question his decision to materialize it into a gun since it will be useless against the Red Basilisk dragon that they are trying to fight. Hey, didn’t they say just to show proof? Iris tries to stand up for Yuu but screws up in her line about this morning’s accident. That’s a quick way to be known as a pervert.

Yuu is brought to the underground training facility whereby the girls demonstrate in their practice how they fight a dragon. Shinomiya explains to us the use of vivid imagination and dark matter allows the girls to use elemental powers and magic in their fight. Wow. The power of imagination! The rest of the girls, Firill Crest, Ren Miyazawa and Ariella Lu also strut their stuffs. Shinomiya reveals the reason why dragons appear in this world: To find a mate. Those with the Dragon Crest mark are their target and Ds who come into contact will turn into a dragon. This was confirmed when they fought with the Purple Kraken. Therefore Midgar is also serving as a fortress to protect Ds and intercept dragons deprived of their mates. When it is Iris’ turn, she screws up no matter how many retries. Later Yuu talks to her but I don’t think being realistic is helping to cheer her up. She mentions her parents were killed by a White Leviathan. She survived and that’s when her D powers awakened. She says it isn’t for revenge that she joined Midgar as she doesn’t have hatred but just feels like she needed to fight. Oh sure, can you say that when it is a harem, can you? Yuu notes Iris reminds him a lot like Mitsuki during her younger days when she is full of strive. That’s why he can’t leave her alone. She wants to get to know him better too. Their friendship is about to hit off when a Level C emergency is sounded.

Episode 2
Wow. 47 hours till Leviathan is here. So much time… Major Loki Jotunheim contacts Yuu and tells him to kill the D when the time comes because he is NIFL’s strongest Fafnir. Otherwise they are forced to use other ‘inefficient’ methods. As Mitsuki addresses the crowd, she is seeking those whose Dragon Crest is resonating. Yuu remembers Iris’ acting weird and may be it. He goes to find her and she is at the rooftop. Trying to jump down? Thankfully she doesn’t have the guts. It’s not that he is a pervert and wants her to show her Dragon Crest. It’s just to make sure. Well, it’s resonating. Iris is sad that she doesn’t want to hurt everyone. Leave it to Yuu to assure her that won’t happen and everyone will protect her. How cock sure is he? Well, if it really comes down to it, he’ll kill her. Oh, that’s reassuring alright. Iris is sheltered in a safe room as Yuu tells Mitsuki about this. She isn’t pleased and wants to kill Iris when it happens. WTF. Fighting over the right to kill her? Yuu then contacts Loki to accept the job so please don’t interfere. Yuu bumps into Lisa who is still putting up that b*tch mode with him. She also lets him know about the 2 Krakens they killed a couple of years ago. One of them was Shinomiya’s little sister, Miyako and her friend. Lisa won’t forgive Mitsuki for killing her.

Yuu goes to guard Iris in her room but it feels more like some flirting fanservice if you ask me. Because she has screens that can view the camera outside, I don’t know what on Earth was the camera focusing and it gave them a glimpse of one of the girls’ pantsu! Suddenly I can have a million devilish thoughts about this! This causes Iris to worry if he likes to see panties and is willing to show it to him. YES! I WANT TO SEE YOUR PANTSU! Oh… Don’t tell me you’re gay, Yuu???!!! And don’t tell me I have to buy the BDs just to see this?! And then… I suppose Iris let Yuu take a bath first so she can sneak in to wash his back but got freaked out seeing his ‘little dragon’. WTF?! Therefore it is right for him not to be sleeping in the same room. She thanks him for being kind. I don’t know what the heck they’re talking about future possibilities because he really believes there is a future he doesn’t need to kill her. Why the complication? Anyway, let’s just believe in everybody that they’ll protect her. Simple. Yuu falls asleep and dreams of his childhood with Mitsuki. Lively little girl wants to be with him forever and since mom says kids can’t get married, she agrees to wait till they’re adults to do so. And here’s an engagement kiss as promise. Eh, what? Yuu wakes up after some sinister voice tells him the price of something is his memories. Well, Yuu isn’t too late in missing the show because Leviathan is here and it easily breaks through the first defence. So much about that.

Episode 3
I guess you’re screwed when Leviathan has the power to deflect ANYTHING! Now it’s up to the girls but they too can’t stand its might. Shinomiya then calls Yuu but he already knows she has already called for NIFL’s help since she can’t let what happened 2 years ago happen again. It’s better than letting those girls shoulder the burden. But you sent them out, right? All Yuu wants is their infiltration route. Since Iris entrusted her life to him, he won’t let anyone have it. Can he do it alone? As long as his opponent is human… So we see why Yuu live up to his name as the best Fafnir because he singlehandedly take out all those NIFL soldiers who are equipped with real guns! A soldier almost shoots Yuu from the back but Iris’ reflex blasts him away. How did she do that? Then they go to the cliff to wait for Leviathan to fight it. But Mitsuki is back and injured. She wants to kill Iris. Yuu understands the pain she went through when she killed Miyako but he won’t let her kill Iris. So they’re going to fight just to see who get the right to kill her? The oldest trick in the book: Yuu tricks Mitsuki he can see her panties and she lets her guard down enough for him to defeat her. Fighting over the right to kill her won’t do any good so he suggests fighting Leviathan till their last breath. When they reunite with the other girls, they aren’t too please Iris is brought here. It’s like a big signal to tell the giant narwhale that she’s here.

Since it is Iris’ call, she decides to fight it and calls forth her wand, Kerykeion to let loose some blast at Leviathan. It did some good in slowing it down as the rest of the girls provide support. But this only makes Leviathan angry and its anger scream is enough to blast and destroy the rest of the barriers! You’re so screwed. Seeing Iris trying so hard reminds Yuu the same of Mitsuki then. He felt so bad she wanted to protect their home and that he lacked the power. Suddenly the voice of Gaia’s oldest dragon, Tohue, a green dragon also known as Yggdrasil wants to confirm his contract with Yuu. Who the hell called this dude? As Yggdrasil seeks the annihilation of other dragons, in exchange for power to Yuu, the price to pay are his memories. Moments before Mitsuki is going to shoot Iris, Yuu calls forth Yggdrasil to make another contract. This time he materializes a freaking huge cannon gun! This is more like it! Unlike those pee shooters from those girls… With Iris, they repel Leviathan away and Mitsuki delivers the final blow, shooting it into half with her arrow. They did it. Iris’ mark is gone. They’ve won. Later Iris talks to Yuu and wants to be his friend but she is surprised that he has already considered her his friend. Since when? Does it matter? To show her gratitude, Iris kisses him.

Episode 4
I think Lisa must be hinting something when she tells Yuu she is promoting him to apprentice classmate, tsundere style. Whatever. Iris must be having a bad day because it is obvious she has forgotten to wear her pantsu and today’s schedule is physical examination. Of course Yuu won’t be any part of it as he is made to go see the headmistress, Charlotte B. Lord (a little girl as the school head?) and her personal secretary-cum-maid, Mica Stuart. She claims all the girls in Midgar are her harem and thus an excuse she will examine Yuu herself. How can she say she hates men when she starts licking his hand?! She reveals that today’s physical examination is just to check the Dragon Crest as the Red Basilisk has begun to move from its nest. Then she suggests to go peep at girls as she is finding an accomplice! Thankfully Mica puts a stop to her craziness. During the assembly, Mitsuki introduces a couple of girls who were found by NIFL to have Dragon Crest resonating with Basilisk. One of them being Tear Lightning and although she has horns, Mitsuki says she is human. However this loli asserts she is a dragon and so angry she is that her dark matter starts zapping everything. When everything calms down, Tear recognizes Yuu and is happy to see him. She quickly hugs him and says she was born to be a dragon’s bride and thus Yuu is her husband. Eh? What? Yuu explains that he was once in a rescue operation to save Tear kidnapped by the mafia and forced to make gems.

Shinomiya assigns Yuu to guide Tear and Mitsuki to help him since the other girls have become scared of her. So with the loli hogging Yuu (including sitting on his lap as her seat in class), this doesn’t sit well with a certain little sister and friend. Yeah, she’s sticking to him like a leech. No fair! It’s always Tear, Tear and Tear. Iris joins the siblings and Tear in a study session but we know it’s going to be hard to concentrate, right? However Tear shows she isn’t just an annoying loli because she answers all her questions correctly! But we don’t care about that because since Iris wants to bath with him as a reward, the rest of the girls go in just to keep watch. They’re in their swimsuits of course. The bathtub is freaking cramped… Yuu tries to teach Mitsuki about friendship and thus to make friends with the other classmates. She is reluctant thinking there are some bad people. But after a little nudging, the first step is always the hardest. Once she greets everyone and they greet back, it is all easy flow from here. Yeah, it is like as though they’ve been best friends forever. And when Iris thought she got the chance to ask Yuu to sit on his lap, instant rejection! Sad girl… Now that Tear has warmed up to the girls, Lisa even says Yuu is too incompetent to handle her and will take over from now on. Yeah sure. Thanks. A burden just got offloaded from his shoulders. Lisa teaches Tear how to materialize weapons via dark matter. It starts out great till Tear remembers this trauma that some hooded lady keeps telling her she is a dragon. Her power becomes stormy and goes berserk.

Episode 5
Tear turns into a dragon and starts zapping everything. Yuu saves Lisa from being toasted so that we could have a little cheap fanservice thrill of his hand over her boob. Once Lisa fires back at Tear, she reverts back to normal and faints. Later at the infirmary, Yuu meets the other girl, Honoka Tachikawa and helps put anti-septic on her back. A few chat and my harem senses start tingling that she definitely likes this guy. Then Yuu gets a call from Loki about the dragon worshipping cult. They have begun their move to retrieve Tear. Midgar’s defence is impenetrable and thus no doubt that woman will make her move, Kili Surt Muspelheim, the D who opposes NIFL. When Tear is awake, she is devastated to learn the trouble she has caused. Yuu understand she didn’t do on purpose. He wants her to promise never to think herself as a dragon again but she still insists as she has this strange power. So do the rest. But they live as humans. If she chooses to live as a dragon, he can’t be with her. He wants her to live as a human. Asking about her parents, she mentions they are all fake. She was living a nice life till all that deception was revealed and that was when she met Kili. After Tear apologizes to everyone, Lisa imposes a quick punishment (a light bump on the head). What better way to forget all about that and to go out to the beach and have fun. I know. Your obligatory fanservice scene with girls in swimsuits. Tear recognizes Iris as her rival and they challenge each other to some sand hill digging game. Tear won. And of course, Lisa being tsundere as usual. Perhaps Mitsuki is being hypocrite when she warns Yuu about his comments on girls’ swimsuit that borderlines sexual harassment. So what if he comments on hers? Go ahead. I am not sure what Yuu did wrong. Because all he said was she looks good in it and it’s like she’s not happy and pulls his ear. What?! Not enough compliment? Said too much?! Women, can’t understand them! Charlotte also joins in the fun since her harem is here. She brought lots of BBQ stuffs and when it is time to party and dance, Mica takes her away. When Yuu returns to his room, he receives information on Kili in his laptop. Hmm… Involved in over 300 terrorist attacks! Can burn people or things upon touching! Chose to live as a dragon. Yuu won’t let Tear turn out into someone like her. It couldn’t be worse timing as a dragon appears right smack in the middle of the academy.

Episode 6
Good thing or bad thing, Blue Hecatoncheir is just standing there doing nothing. Even so, Shinomiya says it is immortal! Past records show any damages are instantly healed. Their job now is to reduce possible damage. Lisa is assigned to protect Tear while the rest go on standby. Of course Yuu can summon Yggdrasil’s power to drive it away but if he does so, Midgar will suffer enormous damage. Well, he argues if he can’t use it now, then when? I guess this is what happens when you leave just a guard to protect Tear. Kili blasts her way in with no resistance. So will Tear quietly go with her? Didn’t think so. I have a feeling she can end everything with the snap of her finger but something tells me she is just toying with them. I mean, you see Lisa and Tear trying to run and escape but Kili is always there. Finally she gets tired of the game and a super blast that is big enough to make Yuu’s sense tingle. Yup. He rushes back to realize his worst fear has come true. Lisa is down and Tear is in Kili’s hands. Yuu fires a bullet at Kili but it was melted by his barrier. Then she melts his gun. Kili says she is going to take Tear to Basilisk and marry them. She starts brainwashing Tear that because she refused to come, a lot of people are going to get hurt, including this boy. But don’t worry, everything here is fake. She is going to listen to this woman instead of Yuu? When Kili starts giving Yuu a real taste of pain, Tear agrees to come along with Kili and is convinced she is a dragon. Yuu reminds her of the promise she won’t disappear and how everyone here right now is real. Kili must have said the wrong word about happiness because Tear starts thinking about the happy times with her friends here. She wants to be here. She rejects Kili and claims she is human. When Kili is going to make her regret saying that and also to see to it she can’t live as a human anymore, Yuu becomes desperate to save her that he somehow could use Leviathan’s repelling force to push Kili back. Play time is over. They’ll regret not handing Tear over. Kili has Hecatoncheir start moving. Let the rampage begin.

Episode 7
Mitsuki’s idea is to push Hecatoncheir out of the academy by generating lots of wind. But nobody ate burrito last night? Just kidding! So as all the girls generate their wind power including Tear using her dragon or angel wings, Yuu again makes a contract with Yggdrasil to ‘download’ anti-gravity ability from Leviathan. In this tiny bullet he fires, Hecatoncheir is levitated into the air as all the girls push the limit of their wind powers and finally Yuu blasting it away with his cannon. Heck, I thought he should have levitated it into space, if not blasted it there. So it’s gone and their academy is safe? Where did they blast it anyway? Remember, it is immortal! Oh, who the hell cares since our harem is safe. Charlotte is still alive, coming out of the rubble and this loli talks big because she really wants to teach Hecatoncheir a lesson the next time for ruining her room and ‘collection’. Mica tells her off about building her room in high places and should have been more practical like Shinomiya because she built and underground shelter where all the other girls emerge unscathed. Lisa is fine although in lots of bandages as Tear goes on an emotional apology spree. As Mitsuki’s room is destroyed, Shinomiya gives her stay at the lodging house temporarily. Then there is this argument between Tear and Iris of wanting Yuu to stay in their room. Tear the ever I’m-your-bride loli kisses Yuu to signify their engagement, something Iris is not happy with. She starts revealing she kissed Yuu first much to Tear’s surprise. Mitsuki tells the girls off for being too noisy. Yuu will be staying in the room next to hers. Oh, she blames Yuu as the one being at fault the most! WTF?! He is the quietest one and she blames him???!!! Now you see why it’s hard to understand women???!!!

And Yuu knows Mitsuki is mad. She talks about Hecatoncheir who suddenly vanished from its Siberia base where it was contained and appearing here. It is not known to have teleporting abilities. Also, she is concerned about his anti-gravity skill. Where did he get it? She feels he is keeping secrets from her. It is fine that he doesn’t want to tell her because the most important thing she needs to know is whether he really kissed Iris. He did. And something must be wrong for her to remain cool and not blow her top. Uh huh. She tells him to be sincere of his actions or it will be deemed as an act of indecency. That’s because she notes his first kiss was with her when they were kids. Oh sh*t. You know what? He can’t remember! And great news. She wants him to pretend not to remember that kiss and that promise. How convenient. How can he when he doesn’t remember? Heck, he even thinks she is making up this joke! But it’s not when you see her crying and say she doesn’t need such childhood wishes anymore to atone for her sins. She’ll keep on fighting. And Yuu had to be the ever happy ending hero because if the only way she’ll forgive herself is via fighting, then he’ll end that battle. Because he isn’t going to let her give up on her happiness. How touching.

Episode 8
Mitsuki is still reeling from nightmares over the death of Miyako. Tear and Iris are yet again in another WTF competition to put more cube sugars in Yuu’s coffee… And for some reason when Lisa thanks Tear for her help, Yuu had to compliment Lisa’s beauty. Was that called for? Is he hinting something? Shinomiya calls the gang as Basilisk is reported to be heading towards Midgar. Its beam turns anything into rock, ash or salt so Midgar will be done for if it is in the vicinity. Their plan is to take a boat out to some volcanic island and destroy it with the island. Charlotte laments she can’t go with her harem and had to stay back to fix the academy. Pay attention and don’t daydream to avoid accidents! Safety first! As Lisa is injured, Shinomiya has drafted Honoka temporarily into the team. Later Yuu overheard Lisa and Mitsuki arguing. It’s something to do about Miyako’s death and Lisa won’t forgive her about it. Because Mitsuki confiscated Firill’s book (since she was so engrossed in it that she got seasick. Don’t ask), she comes to his room to get it back. She really wants to read it so he teases he is going to reveal the spoilers. She immediately jumps on him! Bad joke backfired? Then she starts ‘experimenting’ by touching her body with an excuse she wants to be a writer someday and needs to know a lot of things. Is this part of what she wants to know? His nonchalant comments that she’s pretty too but she doesn’t want him to fall for her. Instead, she wants him to hit on Lisa more. In that case, Yuu also has a request of Firill. He wants to know more about Lisa. No, you don’t start off with her 3 sizes. He is concerned that they do not get along but Firill points out he is already wrong because they don’t resent each other in the first place.

That night, Yuu talks to Mitsuki to ask about Miyako. She doesn’t want to talk about it but wants a hug. I suppose that gives her the strength to talk about Miyako. When they first met, they instantly became good friends. They were so attached to each other that you could say they’d be a great potential for a lesbian couple. Heck, they even share the same bed! One day, a Kraken attacked Midgar and Miyako felt it was resonating with her. She willingly got devoured by it and turned into a Kraken. Just great. Two dragons to deal with now. Mitsuki was so sad that she activated her dark matter and destroyed the original Kraken. But she can’t for the second one because that is Miyako. Shinomiya tells her to do it and will take full responsibility for it. She even hears Miyako’s voice to do so. And the rest is history. Yuu suggests Mitsuki give Lisa an opportunity to forgive her because it is tiring being angry and bitter for very long. Next day, Lisa confronts Yuu and she knows he said something to Mitsuki because she asked for forgiveness. Yuu just told Mitsuki to consider how she feels and that it is not like Lisa hated her too. In that instant, Lisa realizes Firill also had a hand in it. If it lessens Mitsuki’s guilt, Lisa will continue to be her punishment.

Episode 9
Loki sees Major General Dylan. Seems their experiment on a weapon to destroy Basilisk is complete. After a great loss of lives to obtain this data, it better hell work, whatever this UFO looking thing is. Since Basilisk is still very far off, you can’t just sit around and do nothing. Honoka has taken the liberty to come up with a hotspring programme. I have a feeling what this is about… Of course Yuu can’t go as he is the only guy. But Firill gives him a coupon that has the hotspring all to himself. This is thanks for resolving the issue between Lisa and Mitsuki. But that smirk… Something is up… True enough, when Yuu thinks he is going to have a nice time by himself, the other girls come in. Deep sh*t alright. Fanservice galore… As expected. More surprising for Yuu is how Firill is next to him (how did she creep up to him?) and wants his opinion if he is happy? Why not? If he isn’t, he is definitely gay. She wants to add more to his happiness as she gets closer to him… Closer… This causes him to raise his voice and the other girls think they might have heard him. Thanks to Mitsuki’s handphone ringing, they forget all about it. Mitsuki informs that NIFL has decided to carry out an operation tomorrow. In the briefing room, Dylan explains further that NIFL wants them to let them handle this one. Research shows that Basilisk’s beam is a weathering effect as it breaks down components via accelerating time. So a second is like 2000 years?! They have found some material that is resistant to aging and that is mithril, earth’s strongest alloy. They have constructed a huge bomb, Mistelteinn packed with mithril and will drop it on Basilisk. The operation begins the next day and once the aircrafts are directly over Basilisk, Mistelteinn is dropped. Basilisk blasts it with its beam and at first it seems the plan is going to work as there is no effect on it. But then it uses its hidden third eye to shoot an even bigger blast! OMFG! No sign of Mistelteinn! I wonder if that blast could reach the moon. As I expected. It failed. Or else how do you give our girls a chance to shine? So much for those who were sacrificed. All in vain. Suddenly Tear weakens and her Dragon Crest starts resonating.

Episode 10
And so now it is up to our girls to do the job. Shinomiya briefs the girls on their mission. They’ll attack when Basilisk is 6 kilometres away from the island. Thanks to the world’s circumference, it is not like Basilisk will shoot straight into them. Sure, they’ll be hiding behind the volcano and safe from Basilisk’s vision but its shot’s trajectory will be upwards, leaving a small safe zone for them. Tear will be on a boat heading away from the island to distract Basilisk. That is when the rest will use all they’ve got to fire through the island and hit it. Shinomiya splits the team into pairs. As Yuu practises his anti-gravity move, he remembers Charlotte telling him that he isn’t the first to gain such ability after fighting a dragon. Mitsuki was the same. Therefore his ability to make such dark matter is triggered during such battles. She also had this interesting theory that because this is like stealing the dragon’s ability, could it be that the dragons are just wanting to get it back. Then Yuu and Iris have a little chat (because their screen time together is getting lesser recently) especially about the time they said they wanted to know each other. He asks about that gratitude kiss and her reply is that this is how her family greets although it is on the cheek. He is the first on the lips. I know what this means… Everyone sees Tear who is still in pain to give her some confidence. Don’t worry. Put your trust in them. The operation begins as everyone begins powering up their dark matter and Yuu too also summons his giant cannon. They blast through the island but Basilisk counters it with its third eye. Heck, the blast is so freaking big that it makes the one from our heroes like a pee shooter! And it goes right through the island! Holy sh*t! Can’t blame them for looking this surprised. A look that also says, “Holy f*ck, we’re really screwed this time!”.

Episode 11
Honoka sinks the ground so the beam misses them. Yuu shoots a bullet into it to dispel it. After Shinomiya gives the retreat orders, Basilisk fires another shot to destroy the island. It’s a good thing everyone is still alive but they’re sad the mission is a failure. It’s like they’ve failed Tear who is already in coma. Later Yuu talks to Mitsuki who once again blames herself for the failure. He doesn’t want her to give up yet. Simple words, enough to cheer her up. As they watch footage of Basilisk (it boggles me how they get such high quality close-up footage when everything around it should have been turned to stone), Yuu notices something amiss. How come it didn’t use its third eye when it was pursuing them? It could have easily blasted them away. Yuu then contacts Loki and wants NIFL to hand over a prototype of Mistelteinn. He doesn’t believe its concept is flawed. Yuu has a briefing with the girls and from what he mentions, Basilisk didn’t continue to use its third eye because there is a limit on how much it can discharge. Something like a cooling point too. Theoretically it would be weakened after using it up and this is where they’ll use Mistelteinn to attack. Everyone agrees with this except for Honoka who has doubts. Because if they screw up, this will be the end of Tear. Yuu believes the help of Ds can control Mistelteinn’s descent but Honoka believes Basilisk has another ability. Since it blows away time, it might be able to see what’s at the end of time. Their chat is cut short when Lisa and Mitsuki are in a heated argument. Mitsuki’s plan is that she’ll descend down with Mistelteinn to adjust its trajectory. Trying to be a hero? Lisa slaps her for even thinking the worst (asking them to take care of Tear if she fails). When Firill volunteers to be the one, suddenly everyone else wants to do it. Including Yuu. Lisa adds a condition to forgive her is that everyone participates and they all come back alive. Boy, that’s going to be tough. Later Yuu talks to her to cheer her up again but he feels perplexed when he can’t remember a childhood promise that Mitsuki mentions. Yuu goes to check on Tear but is devastated to see the place torn apart and she is missing. Thinking Loki may have made his move, he goes to search for her but finds her in the hands of Honoka. She believes Tear would be happier becoming a dragon than a corpse. She snaps her finger to send some warning explosives to him. Yuu recognizes this familiar move. Honoka adds that the easiest way to find Tear was to disguise herself and infiltrate Midgar. And the biggest revelation ever in the series… Don’t hold your breath… HONOKA IS KILI!!! Surprised?

Episode 12
Kili is trying to argue that Tear’s future might be better as a dragon. Of course Yuu disagrees seeing Tear has already decided to live as a human. In the fight, Yuu defeats Kili simply because he remembers Loki’s words that he can defeat anybody as long as they’re human. So why didn’t he win then? He stops short of killing her. Because he also thinks of her as human despite she keeps saying she is a dragon. Well, if it looks like a human, talks like a human, acts like a human… Kili decides to let Yuu have Tear. She wants Yuu to show her that he is a lot better than Basilisk. And a goodbye kiss! Wow. This Yuu guy is so cool that he even got a kiss from the antagonist?! After Tear is brought back to the ICU, he reveals the truth about Honoka and Kili’s hint that Basilisk can see the future. Iris is most distraught especially about Honoka as they’ve been close. You know what they say about keeping your friends and enemies close… No time to be depressed because Mitsuki soon briefs everyone about their plan to drop Mistelteinn on Basilisk. They have a few backup plans in case a certain scenario shows up. So once they drop the bomb over Basilisk, it uses its third eye to attack. As predicted, it uses its shot too early to buy time for itself to recharge and attacking using its normal eyes. That’s when the girls leap off Mistelteinn and start attacking. Basilisk sees its future of being pierced and tries to escape. But how fast can a turtle go? Dragon abuse till it is completely destroyed! You can’t kill it without Yuu’s cannon, right? Proof of that is the mark on Tear disappears. Lisa keeps her promise and forgives Mitsuki. Then it is time for everybody to celebrate with a big group hug. Yuu was forced into it… And everybody else are impressed that those kids defeated Basilisk. Including Kili who has to be satisfied with just kissing a picture of Yuu. Maybe next time you want to make him yours? Mitsuki talks to Yuu that she won’t give up on him (typical harem declaration?). Her feelings back then when they made the promise have not changed. A time when they become siblings. So they’re not blood related? Yuu, don’t bother cracking your head. You can’t remember. Right? Luckily she doesn’t force him to remember and just wanted to let him know. Gee, thanks. Later Yuu talks to Iris about his memories exchange thingy with Yggdrasil each time he uses his weapon. But good news is that he still remembers meeting Iris. She assures that even if he forgets, she’ll be there to remember them. Yuu goes to school and all the girls happily greet him in class.

Limited Fapping…
So when will the next dragon come and ruin their life and lovely harem? We will know. Because a certain mark will flash somewhere over their body that makes the girls feel so uncomfortable. And so all is well ends well but with nothing much to shout about. I guess it is better than killing off everybody or ending in a cliff-hanger that leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. So despite Yuu didn’t choose which girl he wants to be (heck, he wants to be with all of them), but it doesn’t really matter because we never placed any hopes around it anyway. He is already a winner when he has got a bunch of them by his side. Ultimate soldier, a hit with the chicks, has super weapon that kills dragons. Wow. No wonder everybody loves or has high hopes for this guy. And I feel cheated and misled that they call this an Ultimate School Battle Action. I just don’t feel it in any way.

I am not very sure if this show is about the romance/fanservice and the fights against the dragons are a distraction or the other way round that this series is about fighting those dragons and the romance/fanservice is just a diversion. Because either way they both feel disappointing and the drama feels draggy. There are a handful of fanservice scenes from naked bodies (censored of course) and the obligatory beach swimsuit and hotspring scenes. Feels pretty generic if you’re a veteran ecchi watcher and even to casual viewers, it feels limited. That is why your fapping is also limited. Haha! Unless of course you are completely a newbie in the anime world. Welcome to your first big step in being corrupted! Haha!

Even the plot of how dragons appear, vanish and constantly attack humans seems loose. It may sound like adding to the mystery at first but eventually you’ll come to think of it as lazy writing because there aren’t conclusive answers to anything. I mean, dragons descended on our world and cause havoc. Why? Don’t know. Don’t care. Let’s just leave it unexplained. Or how Yggdrasil came into contact with Yuu (or is it the other way round?) or whatever contract they made. Because if Yggdrasil really wanted to annihilate all the dragons, why use Yuu? Can’t he do it himself? If he can’t, again why Yuu? Strongest Fafnir? What? Aren’t those cute chicks good enough? Apparently not. Does Yggdrasil really like taking his memories so much? Don’t know. Don’t care. And how Yuu becomes and is the only D male person in the whole wide world is still a freaking mystery. Because sometimes when you think about it, it also feels like lazy writing to give some sort of harem setting to the show. And his lapses in certain memories are also a convenience not to cover certain loopholes and at the same time add some mystery effect to it.

You can guess that many of the girls and perhaps all of them in Brynhildr Class will start falling for Yuu. Some are so very obvious (Iris and Tear) while there are others that are not so obvious (Mitsuki, Lisa Firill). But you can make a guess from their body reaction. When you even have antagonist chicks falling for you, well, you’re definitely one guy that others would really envy over. If you are expecting something to develop in at least the romance department, eventually it didn’t go anywhere. The feeling of this Yuu guy he wants to protect the girls’ happiness and the way he can nonchalantly tell a girl straight in her face she is cute and beautiful sounds like he doesn’t know the implication of what he is saying. I know it’s good to be honest but can’t he take a hint or ever consider the consequences of such things he said? Does this have to do with his military training? Oh right, his memories thingy he paid… He might have forgotten his love etiquette.

And thus this brings to the next topic of lacklustre characters. Because they just feel stagnant. Especially about the big loophole about Yuu’s memories. It feels like he hasn’t forgotten a big part of his past yet so it makes me wonder what kind of memories Yggdrasil took in exchange for his awesome power. And I was pretty convinced to borrow that kind of firepower will require a lot of memories and heck, maybe his entire memories up till now. But nooooo, Yuu is still here as he is, remembering what he did with the girls ever since he came to Midgar. So if that first kiss and small promise with Mitsuki was one of the price, it is relatively small and unimportant compared to the magnitude of what is contracted, isn’t it? Unfortunately too, we don’t get to really see how much why he is the best Fafnir because his enemies aren’t human and that short interception of NIFL’s soldiers wasn’t actually shown. Too awesome to see, huh?

The girls themselves are disappointing. Some of them don’t have enough screen time like Ariella and Ren so I wonder if they will ever be part of Yuu’s harem. I’m sure they would because like for Ren, it is hinted that she is afraid of grown up men but Yuu is okay since he isn’t. WTF. So what happens when Yuu grows up 10 years down the road? Lisa and Firill don’t get lots of screen time too but at least they’re ‘more prominent’ compared to Ariella and Ren. But they’re still being the typical stereotypic archetype of girls that you would expect in a harem. A tsundere and kuudere respectively. I wonder if Lisa’s surname is some sort of tribute or in any relation to that Skywalker from Star Wars… Nah! Then you’ve got the little sister who is trying to shoulder the entire burden and responsibility of her past sin (if she isn’t doing this, she’d probably be blaming Yuu about something during harem moments- like everything is his fault), an energetic loli who has no qualms in claiming her husband and a friend who wants to be more than just a friend.

Charlotte has the potential to be an amusing character but too bad, limited screen time. Same case with Mica. She’s just relegated to being a maid and someone to put Charlotte in line when she steps out. And Shinomiya… Just always watching over the girls. I wonder why she doesn’t help out with the girls during their missions. Because when she was a student, she too entered the battlefield. Sure, somebody needs to be in the command centre. Too old to fight dragons? I thought you can only be too old to be a magical girl. Loki sounds like he is an antagonist from the way he interacts with Yuu because the latter just doesn’t trust that guy like as though there is always something sneaky going on whenever dealing with him. I guess so. He does have that sneaky look. When you have a military unit with initials that sound very close like one of the greatest and favourite sports in America, everything sounds sneaky alright. And sometimes I think might be in love with Loki because of the tone he sounds every time he calls Yuu his Fafnir. So gay…

The action part doesn’t seem so exciting despite not being many of them. Despite each of the girls having their own unique dark matter weapon they materialize, eventually it doesn’t impact much because at the end of the day, it is Yuu and his freaking big cannon that does the job while the girls are just reduced to being assisting and supporting roles. Therefore it is odd to see some of the girls’ weapons like a magical girl wand (Iris) and a book (Firill) to even just a glove (Ariella) as oppose to your typical bow (Mitsuki), spear (Lisa) or hammer (Ren). The dragons themselves are pretty badass because they rank from extremely tough to immortal that you would just sh*t in your pants that even super abnormal methods can’t bring them down. It is like fighting the last boss on an eternal cheat code. If those D girls can’t do the job, who else can? Maybe a D guy… Ah well, I guess that is what makes them formidable.

The art and drawing style of the main characters may be very freaking similar to Seiken Tsukai No World Break especially the main guy. So much so you may think that this is an alternate parallel universe of the other anime. This is because both series are animated by the same studio, Diomedea (whose other works include Shinryaku! Ika Musume, Nogizaka Haruka No Himitsu, Akuma No Riddle and Noukome). CGI is used to animate the dragons that I feel they resemble more like monsters that are worthy to appear on your weekly Ultraman series. In fact they should be called just monsters instead of ‘tainting’ the dragon name. I know, dragons sound more majestic. Like they give a damn anyway. At the end of each episode, an end card by different illustrators provides a little eye candy.

Voice acting wise, nothing special with a handful of recognizable seiyuus. Most notably Ayane Sakura as Tear because she is in her typical trademark bratty voice which she always voiced so perfectly like Suzuka in Tokyo Ravens and Eno from Love Lab. Also recognizable are Kana Hanazawa as Firill, Saori Hayami as Honoka and Marina Inoue as Kili. Nobuyuki Hiyama (Madarame in Bleach) sounds weary and lacks the enthusiasm like his other characters such as Sanageyama in Kill La Kill, Madarame in Bleach and Kankuro in Muteki Kanban Musume. I thought it was only confined to his character but apparently the higher ups in NIFL also have this sort of weariness in their voice because Dylan also sounds like the part very much. He is voiced by Atsushi Ono who did Marcus from Aoi Sekai No Chuushin De. Who wouldn’t after fighting against ‘undefeatable’ dragons for years. Heck, not only them, some of the girls too like Mitsuki and Firill have this weariness in their voice.

The rest of the other casts include Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Yuu (Kirito in Sword Art Online), Manami Numakura as Mitsuki (Riko in Love Lab), Rina Hidaka as Iris (Airi in Ro-Kyu-Bu), Hisako Kanemoto as Lisa (Ika in Shinryaku! Ika Musume), Rikako Yamaguchi as Shinomiya (Charles in Freezing Vibration), Fumiko Uchimura as Ren (Haruki in Akuma No Riddle), Sora Tokui as Ariella (Nero in Tantei Opera Milky Holmes), Risae Matsuda as Charlotte (this is her debut and her only voice acting role so far) and Mariko Higashiuchi as Mica (Kanegami in Nourin). Surprisingly the opening and ending themes aren’t that bad. Flying Fafnir by Trustrick as the opener somehow evokes memories of Air and Clannad’s theme. Maybe it is the similar feel of the song’s tune. The ending theme is Ray Of Bullet sung by the duet of the voices behind Iris and Mitsuki but the final episode’s version places the entire girls of Brynhildr Class singing this piece.

Overall, this isn’t exactly one of the greatest harem masterpieces. Nowhere close. You thought putting in dragons might help a bit but it really doesn’t. They could have put in aliens and monsters as the creatures of the day and it still won’t work. Action and character development are mediocre with lots of unexplained stuffs (like they expect us to just accept things as they are without questioning). If you want to watch this show, do it only because you have so much spare time (like yours truly), a fanatic harem lover that you must watch all harem genres whether they suck or not, and to further appreciate ‘better’ harem shows that you are planning to see in the future. Because what better way than to do so by watching a mediocre one first and then be awed by a superior one later. Unfortunately, we all do not have Basilisk future seeing ability. Otherwise we might have simply avoided this and save for one which has better fapping material.

I thought there was some sort of sequel or spin-off to Seirei Tsukai No Blade Dance thanks to the suspiciously similar title. Ah heck, there are a few similarities in Seiken Tsukai No World Blade with that said series including Infinite Stratos. Are they running out of ideas for harem animes these days? Using magic and multinational characters seem all too familiar. They just add past lives reincarnation to the mix and call it something new. Can’t they come up with something more creative these days? It is because otakus like me continue to keep watching the same ol’ stuffs seasons in and season out, why change the formula when it is working so well? Yeah, people like me are dumb enough to come back and watch the same stuffs every time. So long they have fanservice and cat fights, they could keep simpletons like me happy. Just saying…

Episode 1
It begins with an epic magic fight. Saviours fighting some epic dragon and an epic hero writing a freaking long air spell that vanquishes it. Truly epic (read sarcasm, please). We go back 6 months in time and we see new kids enrol into this special magic school, Akane Academy. Moroha Haimura falls asleep during the entrance ceremony and dreams as himself the knight with his princess. Enemies came, burn down everything. But do you believe how he slashed through the entire formation like a hot knife through butter?! He is awakened by Satsuki Ranjou who heads butt him. Hey, she looks like his princess, Sarasha. She starts crying tears of joy and hugs this brother whom she believes is Flaga. He dismisses he is that person as he has no recollection of his past life. Maybe another head butt to jog his memory? It is cut shot when Shizuno Urushibara kisses him! Heck, she even asks for his feedback on it. Cat fight! Wow. So many things already happening in the first half of the first episode. And now you have Satsuki turning into a typical jealous little sister. In class, Satsuki becomes enthusiastic in introducing herself but the class ticks her off for trying to be an eager beaver. What the f*ck is wrong with these people?! Satsuki is harbouring high hopes in impressing Moroha so that he could praise her. As the teacher teaches them to use Plana (magic), Satsuki impresses everyone on how easily she could use and control them. One delinquent, Gen Isurugi seems to be badmouthing the Saviours so Satsuki goes to tell her off. He challenges her to a fight. She lost. As he lets her go pick up her sword, he slashes the back of her clothes. You fiend! Ooh… Sexy back. He continues mocking her and goes on a laughing streak. Yeah, that wuss teacher couldn’t even do anything.

Moroha tries to cheer her up at the fast food joint. She explains how her town was often attacked by Metaphysicals and had to move and thus she couldn’t make many friends. She had dreams of Sarasha and Flaga and went to take the test. Upon finding out she is a Saviour, she enrolled here and thought she might meet her brother. Saving the world and all that justice crap is just secondary. She starts crying and wants to scold him but I guess all that turns into anger when Shizuno starts eating her fries and smothering Moroha in her boobs. What is this about teasing Satsuki about her un-womanly body? When Satsuki has the chance to plant Moroha’s face into her boobs, I am sure Moroha is suffocating and in pain rather than not anything. Okay, she does have smaller boobs compared to Shizuno, right? Moroha wants Gen to apologize to Satsuki so the latter challenges him to a match and will only do so if he can hit him once. You know what they say about being cocky, right? Well, Moroha is not doing so well. Even raging after Gen mocks Satsuki broke his sword. At least we know this method isn’t working. But still he fights back albeit with his broken sword. Hmm… Not doing too well either. So this is the power of words especially from a little sister that gets you powered up. If telling him he is the powerful guardian of a holy sword isn’t enough, she’ll kiss him if he wins! Wow! That desperate? But it works! Because Moroha suddenly remembers his memories, powers up and moves faster than a speeding bullet for that slow ass jerk to see. Upon contact of their weapons, Gen collapses. This means Moroha wins, right? What did he do? Dunno. He also collapses. As explained by the principal, Mari Shimon, that might be the Ancient Dragon who is supposed to be a war dead spirit from long ago.

Episode 2
Moroha you lucky bastard! You get a wake up kiss from this loli, Maya! So this is a way to replenish his energy as explained by Mari? Yeah, and I’m sure not interested about her explanation about reincarnations, Saviours, Ancient Dragon and the double reincarnation that he is. Because let me see more cat fight between Satsuki and Shizuno! Horny Satsuki wants to kiss but is too shy to go about it so Shizuno shows it how it is done! Two kisses already before 5 minutes into this episode?! Suddenly this hot guy that every girl would love to die for pops up to seek Moroha and Shizuno’s attention. He is Jin Isurugi and the elder brother of that jerk. He apologizes on behalf and since he has observed Moroha’s fighting skills, he is no doubt Rank C and can join his Strikers group that fights Metaphysicals. Of course this means his scholarship is subsidized but on the downside, he has to go on missions that would put his life at risk. The temptation of money is too great for him to resist. Shizuno will be on reserve. Eavesdropping Satsuki wants to join too but Jin is unsure about her. Sorry, girl. It’s too soon to say. Sad… Moroha and Shizuno sit in and are introduced to the rest of Strikers. Apart from that embarrassing line they have to say, “We are the Saviours!”, everything else is okay. After practice, Satsuki is glad to be with Moroha again but Shizuno tells her they’re tired and this will be the routine for the rest of the days. Satsuki the sad girl again. Moroha didn’t like how Shizuno treats her although he knows she too pretty much is looking out for her. He also notes that if she wants to make him happy, try smiling herself. Moroha joins up with Satsuki who is now a happy girl.

Next day, Satsuki calls Shizuno to accompany her out. This isn’t a date. Rather, Satsuki wants to get something for Moroha as congratulatory present for joining Strikers but doesn’t know what to get. So as they look around, suddenly some snake Metaphysical attacks. Of all days… Satsuki is scared sh*t but summons her courage to fight it after thinking Moroha wouldn’t want a cowardly sister like her. Shizuno supports her and they go all out once the entire area is evacuated. Shizuno saves Satsuki and in return gets semi-petrified. Getting scared goes up another notch because this Metaphysical is some sort of Hydra with multiple heads! You’re so screwed! Meanwhile Moroha couldn’t believe Jin and his Strikers are sitting around doing nothing. Jin says this is an extraordinary Metaphysical that needs an entire army or else they will die. So? You’re going to let 2 cuties die? What is the point of being Japan’s greatest Saviours if you can’t rescue 2 girls?! Oh, screw it! Moroha is going to do it himself. Better hurry. Because this Metaphysical seems to have tentacle rape fetish and Satsuki is seconds before being tainted. Thankfully, heroes always enter the right time. As he fights, Shizuno reminds him to use his other power. Conveniently he remembers and starts air writing those spells to kill it. So powerful that the entire complex is destroyed and it is raining Metaphysical heads! In the aftermath, Satsuki gets a shocking surprise that Jin invites him to join Strikers because he is impressed with her bravery. They need more people like her. You don’t say… She is so happy that Shizuno’ sarcasm couldn’t get through.

Episode 3
Satsuki is no pleased that the report puts the 3 of them as the heroes of the incident because she believes Moroha should take all the credit. Then, this English guy, Edward Lampard starts waltzing in and ordering his whatever English tea like a boss and this doesn’t sit well with Satsuki too. So what’s her problem? She lets him try some natto flavour tea but he doesn’t really quite like it. A blasphemy! Moroha could suddenly feel time stopped. Or rather Edward is moving too fast. Edward lets loose a punch but stops short of hitting his face. This was just a test. He feels disappointed and then leaves. Shizuno explains he is the head for England’s headquarters. Like the other powerhouse countries, he is probably here to check out Moroha in person. Satsuki may not like that guy but is happy this will increase Moroha’s reputation to S Rank but Shizuno says once he becomes that rank, he will no longer have freedom. Example: You even need permission to take a walk! Later they bump into Maya and the girls are not impressed this loli stole a kiss from their beloved Moroha. Shizuno knows Maya as Mari’s little sister because her brother is the director of this school. In a practice class, Moroha is put to a test to battle this joker, Kamekichi Mannendo. Kamekichi’s fire power has no effect on him and Moroha returns the favour many times fold. Too late to plead for forgiveness! Later, Maya talks to Moroha alone about Shizuno’s brother who is using her sister as a tool. The reason he has been training and pushing her to become an executive is so he can become even greater. But she is glad ever since Shizuno met Moroha, she is happier.

Shizuno doesn’t fancy being in this ‘boring’ meeting between her brother and Edward. She would prefer much to watch Moroha sleeping. Then some flashback of their past lives. She is some witch in the icy castle of her master, Shu Saura (Moroha?). He wakes up groping her boobs by accident and so she dares him to kiss her. It’s like Satsuki has this somebody-is-going-to-kiss-my-onii-san sensor and pops up to tick her off. Later Moroha is being invited by Shizuno’s brother to have dinner. He starts mentioning about the condition to become S Rank (defeating a super Metaphysical on his own) and despite Moroha insists the 3 of them defeated it, big brother believes he can still attain that rank if the other 2 certify to it. He can be the second highest rank in Japan and what better way to repay his uncle and aunt. Shizuno is not pleased he is trying to force this on Shizuno but he tells her this is family’s decision. Isn’t she family? And a little later, we have a little romantic screen time between Moroha and Shizuno as well as snippets of flashbacks that are too early to say anything. After Moroha is dropped off on his way back, he knows somebody is tailing him and calls out. Mysterious biker lady quickly attacks him. I guess what is more upsetting and making him power up and fight back is how she destroyed his bag full of high quality food. Wasted! He figures out the attacker is a woman from those soft boobs. Now you know why big boobs are always in the way in such fights? Moroha’s power was enough to rip certain parts of her suit and thus the end of the match. Can’t fight with her underboobs and tummy exposed? Maybe next time.

Episode 4
Edward calls Shizuno’s brother to inform him that he was the one who sent his maid, Angela Johnson to attack Moroha as a test. He is disappointed of the outcome although there is this huge wound blemish on Angela’s thigh. Damn it is damn right. Shizuno is shocked that big bother says she is have to study abroad in England. She really doesn’t want to but guess what? Family’s decision. Maya becomes Moroha’s roommate and starts living with him as instructed by Mari. Is this even legal?! I wonder what Satsuki has to say about it. Nothing good of course. She even tried to apply to live with him but was turned down. So she is giving him permission to cheat on her for now? WTF. Shizuno has been absent from school today. Maya rushes in to give in the bad news. Shizuno’s family is having dinner with Edward in talks about her transfer to England. Moroha calls Shizuno (under the guise it is a call from Mari) and wants to hear it from herself if she really wants to go. Of course not. He can tell she is reluctant but does not have the power to voice her stand. So this guy breaks into the mansion (poor expensive window got destroyed), says the taboo word that he defeated the Metaphysical himself to claim he is S Rank material and then whisk Shizuno away (she’s literally crying and getting freaking emotional. It’s a sign she wants to be free, right?). Isn’t this kidnapping? Oh hell yeah, Maya is driving the getaway sports car. THIS LOLI CAN DRIVE???!!! Since Big brother is desperate he gives Edward all the necessary permission to bring them back. And so Edward and Angela caught up. Moroha suggests if he defeats him, Shizuno will remain here. A challenge? Challenge accepted.

While Satsuki and Shizuno handle Angela, the guys duke it out in a power battle that literally changes the shape of the environment! Holy sh*t! Did they just destroy a mountain with that move?! At first Moroha is on a losing streak but when Maya puts some field barrier, Moroha has the confidence to go all out. So he wasn’t serious? He starts chanting his spell that even breaks Edward’s sword but he has got a backup. This time he summons some badass sword and armour. Conveniently, Moroha was thinking about Shizuno and then he starts to remember everything about that past life with her. It makes him able to chant some forbidden spell that causes everything to freeze over! Holy sh*t! Plants and wildlife turned into ice! Did he just kill everything?! And Edward is so freaking impressed with this sh*t that he literally takes it all! In the aftermath, Moroha reveals he didn’t win but just merely freeze Edward. Speaking of him, he personally comes to see Moroha to admit his defeat and also cancel arrangements for Shizuno’s overseas study. Yup, she’s staying. He wants to know why Moroha didn’t dodge his punch then. It is because he didn’t feel his killing intent. Can he? You’re supposed to if you’re looking at your opponent’s Plana. Edward finds that unbelievable. Later Moroha talks to Shizuno to confirm her past life was that witch of the Netherworld. She wants him to remember her properly. Flashback shows he freed her from her chains and in return, she followed him and told him he has the responsibility to chain her down. Since he is doing that in the past and present, this is his atonement for her.

Episode 5
Summer vacation is here and Strikers are going to have a small camp on a small island. Suddenly! Strikers’ vice captain, Tokiko Kanzaki starts squeezing Moroha’s balls!!! WTF?????!!!!!!!! She wants him to come along to buy a sexy swimsuit for her! I didn’t know there was another love rival in the harem. This means our girls are also in the action of getting their swimsuit. Shizuno’s brother has hired all the best designers and stylists for her sister to get a swimsuit that will seduce Moroha. Moroha happened to be at the swimsuit shop and even suggests a bikini on fellow Strikers, Haruka “Momo” Momochi. Since when did she ask for his opinion? Might as well. After being transported to the island, Satsuki is already losing her top and shamelessly flaunting her mini boobs. The girls get suspicious when Moroha seems to know what bikini brand Momo bought. Spill the details! Then suddenly! Moroha’s got his balls squeezed again by Kanzaki as frustration for being banned wearing her sexy swimsuit. Satsuki challenges Momo and thinks she is confident in beating her just because her boobs are slightly bigger than hers. Obviously no matter how many times, Satsuki cannot outrun Momo. Edward calls Moroha to update him that he wanted to nominate him as an S Rank candidate but some Russian dude is strongly against it. Maya warns about this guy because he is a scary person.

Satsuki is desperate to beat Momo so she asks for Moroha to personally train her. They talk about their past lives and he wants her to give up her challenge on Momo since speed is her forte. Satsuki had to bring up details that we guys don’t care because Moroha is always partnered with Momo in practice. Well, nobody else could match her speed. Duh. Because she still wants to be with him, blah, blah, blah, he agrees to train her. There, happy? For the rest of the days, Strikers practice hard and have fun hard. I think highlights that are interesting are all about Kanzaki. Like how she tried to sneak into Moroha’s room every night (only Jin can put her in her place) and during BBQ, she stuck a corn and a stick in his ass!!!!!!!!! OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is not ashamed to be lewd with him and even talk dirty about meaty asses and all that. Satsuki continues to train under Moroha’s supervision and let’s say she’s got a lot of catching up to do. A lot. Satsuki thought she felt something ominous over the sea. Maybe it’s just a cold breeze. Everyone plays fireworks. Maya explains how she was confused when she first saw her past life and was unsure which was to real her. Mari assured her she is still the same person then and now because they’re the same soul. And lastly, don’t try this at home kids. Satsuki firing fireworks into Kamekichi’s beautiful (as he claims) ass! Shizuno fans will be pleased that after being sidelined for this episode, here she pops up before Moroha in a gorgeous yukata. Yeah, some romantic moments. Enjoy while it lasts because something nasty is approaching via the sea.

Episode 6
Edward and the rest of the powerhouse country heads are discussing about Moroha’s ascension to S Rank. Some are not in favour. Suddenly a Metaphysical pops out on the coast of a particular island in Japan. Those not in favour of seeing Moroha as S Rank are giving excuse to use this as proof if he can take this one out by himself. As the island’s people are being evacuated, Strikers are also ordered to leave with the people. Guess what? Moroha and his girls want to play hero. In fact, the rest of Strikers also want to play hero. So they’re staying to slay the beast, huh? Jin lays out the plan and of course Moroha as the strongest hero is their trump card. I don’t know if this is part of the plan or not but that joker Kamekichi is using his fireworks to attack it! WTF?! It doesn’t work of course. Nothing how freaking huge and scary this Metaphysical is, some of them get scared, balls shrink and want to escape. Guess what? Kanzaki won’t allow them and squeeze their balls! Yeah, better to die facing that thing than get your nuts squished. This Metaphysical is going to be a handful since it can unleash lots of equally ugly bugs residing in it. Since the big monster is attracted to noise, they start blasting rock music and get into the action (and excuse to hear this generic hard rock music in the background). The monster pops up lots of creepy faces on its back and those faces start howling ultra sonic waves that give our heroes a big headache and thus weakening them. Satsuki goes berserk thinking she can play hero by protecting everyone. I guess all that running stamina training paid off. So far so good… Oh shoot, that’s far as she can go. Ah well, good job then. I’m not sure about Moroha’s plan because this time I don’t know what past he remembers now as he cuts some long line across the Metaphysical’s back and then sticking his sword in it with some whatever power to explode it and save the day. So you think he is qualified to be S Rank now? Russian babe and French dictator not happy… Now that this battle is over and the wounded are being healed, it is time for another battle for Moroha: A harem battle! He is caught in between the boobs of squabbling Satsuki and Shizuno. Kanzaki also butts in. So she’s trying boobs smothering on him instead of balls squeezing this time? The Russian head, Vasilisa Yuryevna Mostvaya sends her subordinate to take out Moroha. Do whatever it takes. Got it?

Episode 7
It’s no joke! Moroha got a love letter from Elena “Lesya” Arshavina to meet and she has fallen in love with him at first sight! For real?! Yes indeed. He rejects her. She falls into depression and wants to die! Oh sh*t! Can’t have cute girls die. So how? How about starting off as friends? Unsurprisingly she gets transferred into Moroha’s class and Shizuno wastes no time to ask her if she is here to abduct or assassinate. Here’s your answer: Lesya’s goal is to be in a relationship with Moroha. Right out from her mouth. Guess who is going to object to this. Satsuki should keep her mouth shut since she is easily flattered by Lesya’s flattery. So our girls are in a tense showdown. It puts Moroha in a pinch. The class is amazed. The teacher can’t start the class… We take a little detour seeing fellow Strikers Uisuke Taketsuru and Sophie Mertesacker in practice. Highlights of the match include how she could deflect his sword with her boobs (WTF?!) and some trap he put that ends up all her clothes being shredded to pieces. Kanzaki… No balls to squeeze? Don’t worry. Grope boobs! Somebody send her to the mental facility! Lesya waits for Moroha outside the school girls. His harem girls go into defensive mode that obviously reads “I-won’t-let-you-have-him”. Lesya doesn’t give a sh*t and boldly requests Moroha to go on a date with her! And so she turns up in a maid cat girl outfit. She got embarrassed when he pointed out the weirdness and felt like dying! Don’t do it! This normal guy with a pretty silver haired babe? Really turning heads… Lesya is surprised that he is not suspicious of her being an assassin. Not the slightest bit. This makes her note he resembles someone she met long ago: Edward! That cringing feeling in his stomach…

Shizuno calls Angela (I didn’t know they were such “good friends”) to get more information about Lesya. Seems she once tried to assassinate Edward and thus is known as a man eater. Moroha has to stave off Lesya’s weird actions. Misinterpretation of the Japanese culture is always the best excuse to do such things, right? Like wanting a kiss while taking photos and sitting on his lap while watching a movie in the cinema. A little bit of serious drama when they start talking about family. Moroha reveals his parents died when he was young but has his uncle and aunt as family. Lesya’s only family is her little brother. They hope they could meet each other’s family. If you have been suspecting Lesya putting up a play all along, then your suspicions are now true because back home, she is reporting to this crow familiar, Condrat that it is part of Lesya’s mission to seduce him to let his guard down. They will take advantage of his weakness which is family. If she is done with her mission, she will get to see her little brother. Lesya then gets a love letter… Not. More like a challenge letter from Shizuno. She knows who she is. From being the trump card of the Lightning Emperor and a Saviour who kills Saviours. Anyhow, she won’t allow her to be near Moroha. Shizuno is more powerful than her so Lesya is forced to use her secret move that seals her victory. Lesya warns not to get in between her and Moroha but what if she refuses? She’ll scar her face so deep that she can’t show herself to him. Shizuno dares her. Because Moroha isn’t one who would hate her just because she has a scar. Shocking? But true if you think about it. Lesya runs away when the teacher arrives to break up the fight.

Episode 8
It is learnt that Shizuno is having a home curfew so Moroha pays her a visit. He didn’t like how she injured herself to find out Lesya is a man eater. That wouldn’t be good for his harem, right? Condrat (now in cat form) warns Lesya about her mission failure. Moroha lives, her brother dies. Shortly, Moroha and Satsuki pay her a visit and that guy is freaking kind enough to say he’ll take responsibility to look after her! Though, Satsuki won’t let him feed her. Heck, this guy even sleeps by her side holding her hand! Is he that desperate to add her to his harem? Because Maya also cheekily hints about it. Uh huh. Maya considers herself his future harem personnel! With everyone so kind to her, Lesya notes her mission is going to fail so she requests Moroha to take her out on a date next time. At the park, she transforms into her assassin version and starts attacking. Shizuno tells Satsuki about Lesya’s true identity and they want to go stop her but Sophie gets in the way. Under orders from her American branch, they want Moroha to defeat the Russian assassin. Satsuki fights Sophie to let Shizuno through. All that training paid off with Satsuki besting her despite Sophie’s overflowing Plana. Her reward? Face boobs! Moroha might be struggling against Lesya’s demon sword at first, but the more he remembers about his past, he gets into the groove and easily turns the tables. He knows about her predicament and even wants to help save her brother so she can be free. He understands what she is going through just like him. So this guy is going to play hero so he can add her to his harem? When Shizuno arrives, she reveals she information she got that Lesya never had a biological brother. She was abandoned all alone. Proof? Can she remember his name, face or age? Can’t right? WTF?! She never thought of it all this while?! Can’t blame her. Condrat introduces himself and admits that is true. Those memories were just fake illusions he planted. This causes Lesya to break down and be easily mind controlled by Condrat to fight Moroha. Can’t kill her, right? Of course as the hero, he powers up and cuts off Condrat’s control to free her. Now I believe he is desperate to add her to his harem because he tells her he will be her reason to live. He will be her family. Even the toughest and coldest of girls would give in to that. Next day, Moroha anticipates she is going to leave so he casts a sleeping spell on her. I swear he wants her part of his harem… Guess what? He purposely calls Edward to inform he is declaring war on Russia and going to fight them alone! WOAH!!!! It’s like saying, you mess with his girl, you pay!!!! Don’t play-play man!!! This guy is a lady killer!

Episode 9
Moroha faces off with Bernard, the head of the Vladivostok’s branch and defeats him. As he interrogates, he knows he won’t let him know Vasilisa’s location and lets him live so he can inform others. This will have Vasilisa make her move, right? Moroha says he doesn’t want to kill on this war but he didn’t say about hurting others because he stabs his sword into Bernard’s guts! He’s serious. Moroha is not alone in this journey but Angela is travelling with him as well. Her fake passport and visa allowed him to enter Russia and she was ordered by Edward to accompany him, something she isn’t very happy about. Bernard reports her lost to Vasilisa and she wants him dead for failure. But after saying Moroha can’t kill him with his sword, she gives him an honourable death by striking him with her lightning. Yeah. Look at his happy face. But does she need to burn down his entire mansion too? Oh heck, nobody cares. Despite knowing Moroha is on a fighting spree, Vasilisa wants her closest aides to reinforce defences around her base in Krasnoyarsk as she knows the other heads won’t be enough to defeat him. Meanwhile we take a side distraction back to Akane Academy where Moroha’s left-behind-harem-girls are arguing over something. I think we all know who by know. Yeah. Lesya wants to be Moroha’s little sister but Satsuki won’t allow that. She doesn’t even want to be his elder sister! Shizuno tells them to cut this crap since Moroha is fighting the war alone and imagine his foul mood if he comes back to see them like this. But they just won’t listen. And so we see snippets of Moroha going from branch to branch defeating their heads. It feels like a video game mode. Arrive at a place, defeat everybody plus boss, go to next down via train, rinse and repeat. So finally he is at Krasnoyarsk and he doesn’t waste time into fighting the 8 pursuers. One of them, Kirsan Romanovich Pavlyuchenko wants him to go back to Japan peacefully because all those who fight him will end up dead (Moroha being framed?). He doesn’t want to fight him but her empress’ words are absolute. Unfortunately he needs to slay him as long as he is here. Bring it on. We see Moroha such a gentleman even fighting his foes. Uh huh. He saves a couple of twins even from friendly fire and one by one knocks the rest out. He notices Katya Eskevna Honda not giving her all and knows she doesn’t want to fight him. Let me guess. Want to add her to the harem list too? Yeah, a light flick on the head just to pretend she got defeated. WTF. After defeating the magnificent seven, Moroha finds Angela losing her battle with the eighth warrior. Can’t stand being his bellboy? He saves her from a Vasilisa’s trap (chanting via mirror on his back) and gets struck by her lightning. Painful…

Episode 10
Suddenly! Moroha naked in bed with equally naked Angela???!!! What happened?! Apparently she saved him after that strike and the only way to heal his badly burnt body was through sexual healing. I know it’s not but there’s no other better way to put it. But doesn’t Angela hate this guy? Don’t tell me she is so Edward starved that she’s using him as substitute. But then again, I would like to think that she’s being tsundere. They are in Katya’s home and she has a request of him: Save her best friend Yuli Olegovich Jilkov from Vasilisa. Because he doesn’t kill his enemies, she figured he is the best person to grant her wish. She explains Saviours of Vasilisa have no family as no one will complain if they are poorly treated. She makes kids fight each other and the winner becomes her bodyguard. After Vasilisa disposes another henchman for failure, she senses Moroha quite a distance before her palace. She sets off lightning lions and Pterodactyls to fight him. When he is able to fight them all, this is her bodyguard’s logic: This isn’t sorcery but military art. Oh yeah. Somebody moving faster than lightning. That is really science alright. Vasilisa summons her Saviours to fight him and since they too are being taken down by the lightning beasts, Moroha has double job in saving them. She is taking advantage of his principle not to kill.

Before he is minced meat, Angela pops up. She also brought reinforcements in the form of his harem girls. Praise the convenient portal transportation. I guess after sitting out in the last episode, it’s time to give his harem some action. Katya is sad Yuli doesn’t recognize her. But after Lesya explains how she is no longer a man eater due to her loss to Moroha, she cuts a pendant controlling Katya and her mind is now free. She remembers Katya. Big joke. I suppose the rest aren’t wearing any pendants, they agree to fight with our heroes against Vasilisa. Biggest joke. So what is that big bad queen going to do? Call the government! Even bigger joke! WTF?! However she starts singing and summons some big badass demon. So big you can only see his legs. So powerful that it could destroy the mountain range! Even during this dangerous scenario, Katya and Yuli can be so happily yuri to reunite. WTF. As usual, the demon is unbeatable till Moroha remembers something. God damn it. Stop conveniently remember things to power up! And guess what? He activates some super high level forbidden curse spell to flood the entire place! Don’t you get it?! WATER AND ELECTRICITY???!!!! HOW IS EVERYONE STILL FREAKING ALIVE???!!! Even funnier how Moroha summons water dicks sprouts to seemingly tentacle rape the demon to destroy the giant golden Pikachu! If you’re not laughing by now, you should after this scene. Because as Vasilisa couldn’t believe her defeat, her bodyguards run away! So much about loyalty. They even say they are more afraid of Moroha than her!!! USELESS!!! After her final trump card surprise attack fails on him, she becomes a coward begging her life. Please don’t kill me. Don’t want to die. Don’t want to lose her empire. Freaking b*tch. You killed people mercilessly for failure and now you have got the balls guts to ask him to spare his life and will even serve under him???!!! NO FACE! He doesn’t want b*tches like you in his harem. I know Moroha is mad but I can’t stop laughing myself. He tells her off if she doesn’t want to lose important things, STOP TAKING THEM!!! With her totally defeated, everybody gets to go home happy. And Moroha won big because he added a couple of girls into his harem. See, the good guys always get the girls in the end!

Episode 11
It’s time for some fanservice flirting with Moroha and the girls in Finnish style sauna. I don’t know why Angela is blaming Moroha for changing Russia’s landscape but the girls are interested to hear how Moroha ended up in bed with Angela but it soon descends into a fight between Satsuki and Lesya to be Moroha’s little sister. So this isn’t settled yet? Looks like after all that mini challenges, Satsuki beats her in arm wrestling. So she has the right? Shizuno cools them down with her ice magic and now they’re just freezing. Later Moroha talks to Shizuno and something about their past life he can’t remember some unfamiliar enemy he is fighting. Don’t worry, he’ll do when the time calls for it. As everyone returns home via Mari’s portal, Maya is so happy and ready to hug Moroha but only the girls came through. Why? A Metaphysical was spotted so he stayed back with the Russian girls to fight it. NOOO!!! Maya anxiously waited for him to come back and now she couldn’t even get to hug him and must wait longer?! YOU JUST MADE A SAD LOLI! MAYA IS CRYING!!! Oh well, the best Satsuki can do is console her. Edward is by the side of Japan’s head, Ando Suruga and his condition is worsening. Normally when a Metaphysical shows up, he has chest pains but now he is in coma. He has a bad feeling something ominous could turn up this time. True enough, when Ando wakes up, he warns not an ordinary Metaphysical is coming but an Ancient Dragon! To help cheer Maya up, all the girls visit her room. Pyjamas party? It wouldn’t be complete without snacks and of course, PILLOW FIGHT! When the cat is away, the mouse is out to play. Seems the Ancient Dragon picked a nice time to attack the academy and its surrounding when Moroha is not around. So our Strikers go into action to protect the place but you can guess that without Moroha as the hero, they’re just not winning this fight. It has got to be him, huh? Even worse how he is able to dispel all their spells in high speed and can even use them! You’re so screwed. Where’s Moroha when you need him?! He is still in Russia and after seeing clips of it on video, he becomes frustrated. Yeah, he now remembers. That Ancient Dragon has always been the one appearing in his past lives and destroying and taking things he holds dear away. Now it’s back again. Yeah, it’s about high time to screw up his life when he is settling to his harem life.

Episode 12
Lots of people got injured in the chaos. This includes Mari. Because she took damn long to finish her chanting. And because of that, she has to pass this duty on too Maya. WTF?! You’re making a loli finish what you couldn’t?! Maya does her best and thanks to Edward protecting her, she can chant in peace. Everyone notices the dragon toying with them because it has so much powers, it can actually finish them off at one go but it’s like stalling and waiting for somebody. Ah, Moroha. The dragon wants to screw with him. Ultimate despair comes when it turns Satsuki and Shizuno into stone. Moroha goes berserk and starts slashing the dragon. Edward says this Pandora Box is dangerous because at this rate he’ll also destroy the world. Oh yeah. To hell with the world if his harem is no more. This is how dangerous being in rage is. While he is at it, Satsuki and Shizuno are being confronted by the voices of their former lives. They’re telling them how pathetic they are and why they need to stand back up. For Moroha of course. Uh huh. Now they remember. So when they reappear back in the real world again, this calms Moroha down. Yeah, it’s his turn to remember. But this time he becomes a hybrid of both his past lives. Wow. What kind of fusion is this?! I suppose it gives him more kickass power. This gives the rest of Strikers and whoever is attacking confidence to provide attacking support. We know their attacks won’t do much damage to the dragon but it’s just like appetizer before the main course and dessert. Because after Moroha has chant his super lines, with Satsuki and Shizuno’s support, he strikes his freaking big sword to destroy the dragon once and for all. Oh sh*t! I thought the atomic style explosion would have killed everybody! In the aftermath as they see Edward off at the airport, he warns Moroha about that French dude. Next antagonist? Satsuki thought she could steal a kiss from Moroha but apparently Shizuno’s insults were enough to annoy her. And then later Shizuno tries to do one on him too but Satsuki came running back and they both kiss him simultaneously on his cheek. Guess what? The shock made him tumble a few feet back!!!!!!! WTF????!!!! Is this Jack tumbling down the hill???!!! Despite the school destroyed, as long as the students are safe, they can hold an outdoor party. Oh f*ck, Kanzaki wants a drunken orgy!!! With Lesya as a maid trying to greet Moroha, the battle to hug him intensifies but Maya beats them all and hugs him first. There’s your loli reward.

Aria Of Curse For A Holy Harem And Balls Grab!
Okay, so the laughing has ended. Even if the series wasn’t intended to be one, but the way it was executed felt like it was heading in that direction. I don’t know where to begin but I guess I have to start somewhere. It was a good thing I never placed high hopes for this anime otherwise I would have become disappointed and fall into despair that I may actually destroy the world with my anguish. Really.

A lot of things (in fact it could be everything) about this series feels mediocre and sometimes it goes as far as being a big joke. The plot, the characters, the fights and just about everything else feels mediocre (and in a way funny). The Russian adventure was the last straw that made me view this show as a joke. Because we see Moroha pulling off some kind of Die Hard or Taken quest in systematically taking out the sector heads, inching closer to the bad guy’s base. Even if Vasilisa is expecting this, it feels like the rest are just sitting there waiting for their turn to get owned. The final big fight with Vasilisa became biggest joke ever even if it wasn’t meant to be. It was so unbelievable the fighting and the ‘ending’ that I actually caught myself laughing out so loud. And this merciless Russian head got owned by a high school kid. Just WTF.

Bringing in past reincarnations to the storyline might seem interesting at first. But all that wanes when you don’t actually see a point to it all. I mean, so what? Sure, they can pull off super magical chant lines and the likes. But this becomes more like a convenient tool for Moroha to do some finishing move to save the day. Yeah, doesn’t it feel funny that Moroha powers up each time he remembers? Uh huh. Whenever he goes “I remember!”, you get that dreaded feeling that oh God, not again, what the heck does he remember this time to make him power up. I mean, it feels like he is some sort of computer trying to read files of his past and then he retrieves the file in his deep latent memory and executes it. I wish I had a past life that was this convenient too.

Perhaps the certain flashbacks of their past is to add some drama but I don’t think it is working either. Because I don’t really see how it will impact the present except for Moroha to unleash his super move or a reason for his harem to flirt and stay with him. Here is something to think about. If Moroha and his girls reincarnate a few million times in the future and the same Ancient Dragon thing keeps threatening them in every era (because history repeats itself), wouldn’t it be awesome to see the million hybrids fused into him when he starts to remember them all? Maybe his brains would overload and body explode. Haha!

Then there is these lines narrated by Maya at the end of each episode that sounds poetic-cum-dramatic but I thought it sounded too complicated for a loli to narrate them so I don’t really quite understand. So what about the wind blowing westward and taking their wishes with it? What about it? And the more we remember, the stronger we get. So? And you pray in your heart that you wearied warriors may sleep and rest well for today? Okay, you go do that. And what prayer was it that sparked Moroha to fight? Uh huh. Good for him. Okay, okay. We get it (not really). Stop trying to sound so sophisticated even if you don’t get as much screen time as the other girls. Please be a loli and make others happy by acting like one even we know you’re a genius (because she must be so as she is in the same class with Moroha and the girls, right?).

So the action parts also feel mediocre. Because it already feels funny seeing those who can air write their spells so fast and chant long ass spells that probably you’d be wondering if they should have shortened the damn lines to be more effective. Okay, maybe for such a high level magic to activate, long lines are necessary but it feels those lines are taken out from some fantasy adventure novel. Nothing special about the words chosen of what they say. As long as you can make it sound long, it may sound cool. Not that you would want to remember them, right? Even funnier is how they chant and wave their index finger so fast that it feels like they’re doing some sort of mini orchestra conductor thingy. Other than that, the melee fights only involves them swinging their swords or whatever handheld weapons they are using. It just feels unexciting.

Character wise, they feel generic, clichéd and borrowed from other genres but really, when you have a harem series, how far can you deviate with the various girls in the line-up? But for Moroha, he feels like your typical normal guy who isn’t actually that normal at all, a hidden super power, a hero of justice with his own ideals that makes others look like the villains and of course that mysterious factor that keeps attracting girls to his side. He calls it family. I call it harem. That’s the difference. I have a feeling if he doesn’t need to try so hard and he’ll still end up winning. Because you know, he is the hero. Strikers also feel redundant as a group because they can’t mobilize without orders from higher ups and when the going gets tough, they nearly get going. And these are A Rank people but don’t have the justice instilled in them to move by themselves to get things done instead of waiting for orders? No wonder they feel irrelevant. Like Jin is just because he is the head and Kamekichi the joker, comic relief and monkey of the pack (so that Moroha looks good, what else?). Oh, I just want to note that Angela’s favourite catchphrase is “Damn it”. Just like this show ;p.

There is nothing else left to talk about except the harem part. Easily, this was expected when you see the poster and even read the synopsis (of course looking at the cast of characters too). I don’t know if I should start worrying because Moroha seems to be accumulating his harem at a steady rate. Almost every girl you see here is part of his harem. ‘Proof’ of this is in the end credits animation. Unless he is gay, don’t mind the guys in it. Each time a new girl is part of his ‘harem’, her face appears there. That is why, in addition to your annoying tsundere little sister wannabe Satsuki, seductive emotionless Shizuno, depression prone Lesya and the obligatory loli Maya, the rest should not also be discounted like how Angela could possibly be the series’ other tsundere, the extremely lewd Kanzaki who is lusting after him (and his balls!), the shy senior Momo (her body actions are freaking obvious), nice girl Katya (and her yuri Yuli friend), the voluptuous Sophie and even witch coplasying headmaster Mari. No girls are never not good enough for him! Heh, Moroha even made that Vasilisa b*tch submit to him! Though, I am pretty sure it is safe she isn’t the kind who will end up in his harem.

Therefore seeing the catfight and so called romantic spats are much more amusing and funny. You can get some laughs here. Especially with eager beaver Satsuki who always ends up getting frustrated trying to outdo and brag everything but just fails. As long as she is like that, Shizuno will always have the upper hand and enjoy making fun out of her. When is it she is going to learn that as long as you are yourself, Moroha will still accept and love you? Going the extra length for extra points? Forced romantic clichés like near kissing scenes are always the greatest troll to make us get a little ‘excited’. And with Lesya in the fray fighting as the position of the little sister, things are heating up, aren’t they? And don’t forget Kanzaki’s ball grabbing move! So funny yet so painful. Did you watch these scenes with your legs clutched tightly? I doubt this is dis-service to the abundant fanservice we have got in terms of big bouncy boobs, sexy lingerie, and near naked shots that are the norm of this series. Oh yeah. Are we starting to like it?

Art and drawing feels pretty standard and generic. If you have seen Seiken Tsukai No World Blade, you can see how pretty similar the type of art and the character designs are. However there are many parts were I feel the quality is poor like as though they are making a rush job. Especially during the fight scenes when the drop in quality becomes obvious to the point you could feel it is just lame. Sometimes they used recycled scenes too especially that turtle-crab Metaphysical unleashing its bug minions. I wonder how many times they reused that. This minor thing seems to be bugging me. I noticed that the characters have pink colour pupils! I know this may be nothing but it feels really odd once you stare at it and realize that they are this colour. Like as though they have some sort of little pink seed stuck in their eye or something.

Also the other thing that bugged me was how Plana is shown. You can see an outline covering the character like as though they are in some sort of colour bubble or something. Or they could even be covered by some giant amoeba. I don’t know, I thought this looks pretty lame. Even lamer is the fact that sometimes when you see the magic aura they are emitting, it feels like bad pixels. At first I thought it was my computer with bad video resolution or the video itself was corrupted. Then I start to realize it wasn’t so and it is part of their aura! But some of the Metaphysical’s design are rather creepy and scary. It did give me goosebumps, though.

Ayana Taketatsu has been pretty identifiable from the start as her Satsuki role. Just like her other similar roles, Kirino in OreImo and Mio in MM, she turns up the annoyance of her character to the max. Surprisingly for me, I didn’t realize Aoi Yuuki was behind the voice of Shizuno until much later. Even so, I still couldn’t believe it is her despite hearing her lines over and over again. It is like she sounded like a totally different person. Like an old lady ;p. She’s making that very low and emotionless voice as opposed to her high pitched cheerful one that I am used to. However this isn’t the first time she is voicing such a different low voice character. She did it to as Tooru in A Channel and Jin Varrel in Blade & Soul. Other recognizable casts include Yui Ogura as Maya, Yu Kobayashi as Kanzaki, Chiaki Omigawa as Angela, Yuichi Nakamura as Jin, Akira Ishida as Ando and a pleasant surprise from Rie Kugimiya making a cameo as Arlene Highbury (the American head who only makes her appearance via some cute pixel animal in a laptop). Other casts include Kaito Ishikawa as Moroha (Harutora in Tokyo Ravens), Reina Ueda as Lesya (Naru in Hanayamata), Wataru Hatano as Edward (Murasaki in Hamatora), Maaya Uchida as Momo (Hiyori in Noragami), Ayane Sakura as Katya (Levi in Trinity Seven), Fumi Morisawa as Vasilisa (Umi in Kono Aozora Ni Yakusoku Wo) and Yuko Minaguchi as Mari (Akiko in Clannad).

When you have Ayana Taketatsu and Aoi Yuuki combo in any anime, it is very likely this means the duo of Petit Milady is ever present (duh!). Because it would be a waste not to show off their singing prowess as they sing the opening theme, Hi No Ito Rinne No Gemini. What is interesting about this song is the naughty gothic style and although it is tamer compared to Ali Project, I supposed this piece is quite entertaining to hear. Though, this couldn’t save the anime overall. Fortuna sings the ending theme, Magna Idea. It sounds bland, unexciting and generic. My theory is that perhaps to take your attention away from the song, the credits start rolling on the screen as the episode continues to play while the song is being played in the background. When the song nears its end, you only get to see the supposedly ending credits animation which is just a still group picture of our heroes. And perhaps everything else was mediocre in this anime, I also start to notice how the background music doesn’t fit into the scenes especially the action scenes. Maybe this is just me and my stereotypes but I don’t find them appealing either.

Overall, despite its mediocrity, if you really want some laughs (but keep your mind open about it), this show can tickle a few bones even if it makes no sense and the plot and direction seems more like for convenience more than anything else. You won’t lose much by watching the dozen episodes except a few brain cells but that will be replaced by newer and ‘smarter’ ones. I hope. Don’t worry. That is what reincarnation is for, right? That is why I am always doomed to fail and repeat watching the same mediocre ecchi harem animes throughout the rest of my life. Everyone would be just so disappointed with me. I just hope they won’t catch me by my balls!

Trinity Seven

27 June, 2015

Now, isn’t this the oxymoron? It is listed in the synopsis of Trinity Seven that this series is a “romantic comedy but sometimes serious magic school story”. How can you have something serious in a comedy? I don’t know. But I need to check it out. Because if it goes back and forth between laughter and serious melodrama, it’s got to be funny, right? Yeah, it’s funny how they toy with our emotions. Oh, did I mention about the harem factor? I suspect this is the main reason that lured me into watch this… Okay, it is. If you really care about the plot (which I suppose many won’t), let me just summarized it in a few sentences. A weird magical phenomenon occurs. Everybody disappears. Including a previous family member of our guy. Need to be strong to rescue her. Enrols in magic school. Meets 7 lovely strongest babes. Wow! Seven cuties?! I can see why he wants to enrol here.

Episode 1
Arata Kasuga is dreaming about trying to catch someone’s hand. Turns out he caught the boobs of his cousin and childhood friend, Hijiri instead. And he dares ask what’s for breakfast. You mean that wasn’t it? You know Hijiri is the kind of girl who didn’t grow up to fawn over Arata or want him as his bride. Therefore Arata always finds it fun teasing her especially that happy kiddie drawing of hers. Along the way to school, he notices the sun is black. Has it always been that way? A girl passes him, telling him to wake up now or she will have to kill him. At the school’s rooftop, he continues to ponder the black sun. Hijiri says it has always been that way before he was born. Something feels odd about her. She adds this is the world he wished for and as long as she is here, he can do anything he wants to her. Gee, that’s a big turnaround from this morning’s reaction. He wonders if she is the true Hijiri and asks a series of simple questions. Finally, the colour of the sun. Black. Then how come in this kiddie drawing, the sun is of a different colour? The cat’s out of the bag. Where is the true Hijiri? A shot is fired at her. That girl who is a mage, Lilith Asami claims Cracker has appeared. The world is returned back to its original state. Desolated and doomed. Void of people. Seems it happened 3 days ago when the sun turned black and its rays absorbed people. That is when Arata starts to remember. Hijiri gave him a little grimoire and doesn’t want him to forget about her. Nothing like a goodbye kiss before you vanish, eh? Because he cannot take this reality, he made a wish on the grimoire to create this fake world. Because that is a dangerous grimoire (normal grimoires cannot do this), Lilith gives Arata 2 choices: 1) Dispose of the grimoire which includes erasing his memoires of Hijiri and others so he could live; or 2) Die now. Not much of a choice, eh? Arata confirms with Cracker that Hijiri is alive in some space-time rift (a reason why she could take on her appearance). So that guy is going to make and take his third choice: 3) He’ll be keeping the grimoire and his life. Also, he wants to study and become a mage like her.

He is brought to Royal Biblia Academy. As Lilith (she is a teacher) introduces the new transfer student in class, Selina Sherlock spams him a bunch of questions that he doesn’t hesitate to answer. This includes the world he created. With that, the entire class is abuzz that he is a demon lord candidate because you only have to be that to make such crazy magic. Lilith then takes him to see the headmaster who explains about their secret organization funded by the government to investigate unsolved and potentially magic related cases. He warns Arata this school has got 7 ‘bosses’ known as Trinity Seven. They are mages excelling in their own fields. Lilith is one of them. If he manages to make some of them his pawn, he’ll figure out what mages are quickly. Outside, he sees Levi Kazama hiding on the ceiling (I thought the disguise was poorly done). She is also one of Trinity Seven and specializes in ninja magic arts (including arts of the bedroom!). Passing outside are a couple of Trinity Seven so Levi briefly explains to him about Mira Yamana and Akio Fudou. Then they continue teasing Lilith because she blushes so easily. Back in his room and as he takes a bath, he notices Hijiri before him. Naked. No reaction. It’s like she’s giving him a free show. Damn those steam censors. So much so he has to play the straight guy and get embarrassed by her nakedness. He runs out when he can no longer take the fanservice. Lilith was passing by and heard. She clarifies that girl is Arin Kannazuki and one of the Trinity Seven. She looks very close to Hijiri (just take away her emotions and you have Arin). He feels Arin is connected to Hijiri and thus Trinity Seven is going to be important to him. But first, he needs to put on some pants or Lilith will continue to blow her top!

Episode 2
Arin is staring and following Arata all day. Creepy. She notes it is the demon lord candidate she is watching and will always be doing so because one day she will become his wife. He returns to his room only to see Lilith, Levi and Selina waiting. Selina wants to interview him. After a few rounds of teasing that sounds like making fun of Lilith, Arata wants to know about this grimoire. According to the headmaster, Astil Codex is a powerful that is believed to house knowledge from another world. Nothing much is known about it. Lilith points out a mage needs a research theme called Thema. It is based on the seven deadly sins. Suddenly they find themselves trapped in a barrier. The space was tight enough to give Arata some fanservice of the girls before Codex dispels a little of the spell to make some room for them. It seems they are in some barrier and being cut off from the space they were in. It is suggested to take this as an escape game and find a way out. He has an idea who is behind this. As they look around, they realize that there is no bathroom here. Because Lilith really needs to go to one. Shortly, Levi too. So as not to be left out, Levi hypnotizes Selina! Now you have the girls with that wanna-go-toilet feeling. Arata seeks Codex’s help to find the exit but since she won’t, he tricks her saying that they have figured it out and don’t need her help. Codex falls for it and wonders if they have found the exit underneath the bed. Wait a minute, this small room and they couldn’t find it? Where were they searching? Anyway once they blasted the barrier, they’re back into the original world and the girls dash to the toilet.

As he is about to ask about Thema, Arin comes in to explain about Thema, something a mage spends their whole life researching. By executing what they learn through research, they can use magic as spells. Arata lets her check Codex and they get a little acquainted (badmouthing Arata as a pervert anyway). Arin explains she did this barrier trap to test him since he is the demon lord candidate. This means he is a bad guy, right? At least that is what the headmaster told her. Before the headmaster could join them with his silly antics, they ignore him and walk away to go somewhere to talk. With Lilith around (otherwise Arata cannot tolerate Arin’s jokes and have to become the straight guy. With Lilith here, she plays the straight guy for him), she further explains a demon lord candidate can cause a breakdown phenomenon. She demonstrates by having Arata put his palm on hers. It calls for Ira Archive as Arin explains her Thema is Ruina AKA destruction. Arin has destroyed the grimoire’s control over magic so it can no longer hold him. Arata is in pain as the entire school is about to be turned into elementary particles. Arin won’t stop even if she is going to destroy the entire world since this is part of her research. She wants to know what is beyond this destruction and as his wife, she will not allow even Lilith to stop this. But it all calms down when Mira and Akio return to neutralizes it. Mira is using her Thema of Iustita (justice) from the archive of Superbia AKA pride for this as she won’t allow impurities before her. She orders Akio to kill Arata who is the source of the breakdown phenomenon.

Episode 3
Suddenly… Arata and co are working at a beach house as punishment for destroying the school which is in the midst of being repaired by the headmaster. And of course this means you can’t leave out fanservice especially with everyone loving to tease Lilith in her bikini. Now we go into flashback mode to see what happened. After Akio supposedly killed Arata, the breakdown phenomenon continues. It means he is still alive. Yes, he is. Right now he is in another dimension and is lured by the violin play of Yui Kurata. He is explained what is going on as the breakdown phenomenon is absorbing weaker people. Lilith and co are holding up with their barrier but that won’t last long. Of course Arata needs to do something about it so Yui explains more about Thema and the deadly sins in those archives. Thinking about Mira’s archive, he gets an idea what to do. Back into reality, he tells Codex his Thema that he wants control over other magic. Codex makes a contract with him and as Arata turns into Magus Mode, he makes all the magic here disappear. It vanishes in an instant. This includes all the girls’ clothes! Only Mira is fully clothed because she reflected his magic back at him. That means he is now naked. And so back at the beach house, Arata is bragging about his new technique. Levi continues to taunt and fondle Lilith’s boobs till she threatens to fire her gun. Later, Selina wants Arata to demonstrate his power. This is so she can test out her magic to seal his. However Arata could break free and destroy her magic with ease. And her clothes too.

Levi and Selina think they hear something steamy coming from Lilith’s room. Has Arata finally done it? Sorry to disappoint you girls but actually since Arata is happy he has his own magic, he wants to go save Hijiri. But first, time to deepen their bond and hang out at the mixed hotspring. Sure, it mixes both genders but of course Arata would have come to expect that nothing is free so the girls are in their swimsuits instead of being naked. Arata wonders the remaining Trinity Seven. He was told one of them is Yui whom is hard to meet since you can only talk to her in dreams. Then there is the last one whom they didn’t say but went missing before Arata enrolled here. I can guess who that last one is related to. Selina and that reaction… The girls discuss about Arata trying to control his magic so as not to turn people around him naked. Maybe pinpoint it and make it a gun or sword. Arata wants Lilith to lend her gun but she won’t since it uses her magic to materialize. Besides, magic isn’t about showing off. Since he is sincerely bowing his head, she gives him and shows him. Arata then asks Codex if she can copy that. She successfully materializes a revolver for him. What she did was copied Lilith’s magic and rewrote it for Arata. The girls are in shock as they realize Arata is able to use magic of other mages.

Episode 4
When Arata enters class, he sees everyone sleeping. No, they’re not boycotting lessons. As the headmaster says, it is breakdown phenomenon and all those with weak magic enter sleep mode. Since the magic is coming from the academy’s dungeon underground, they figure it belongs to Yui. On the way, the girls explain to her how powerful her magic is and thus the need to seal it. Otherwise it is the end of the world. It is possible she was influenced by the demon lord candidate and it could mean Arata is partially responsible for this. They have to get to her first before Mira and Akio because those b*tches only know how to kill. They encounter shadow demons from another dimension who want to eat them. Arin puts up her barrier as Arata can’t materialize his gun. Codex doesn’t remember. Even if she did finally, she turned into some space gun that doesn’t work but only ripped Lilith and Arin’s clothes. When the demons get too close, Levi cuts them all up with her ninja skills. Shouldn’t she have done this in the first place? Going deeper, Lilith thought Arata was molesting her but it turns out to be little demons. Arin destroys them so Arata wants Codex to copy that. However she says he didn’t achieve some process first so it’s impossible. Looks like there is some prerequisite if he wants to copy something. Hmm… What was it? No, it’s not staring at boobs! Although those demons are easy for Levi to take on, the real fight begins when she has to face Mira and Akio. Levi’s wind magic causes Mira’s skirt to flip up. Arata saw her bunny print panties and this ‘incapacitates’ her as they move on while letting Levi to handle Akio. When they open the door to Yui’s room, lots of poison aura flow out and a nasty dragon is guarding her. Arata notices Yui looks different and as told, the one he saw in the dream is her ideal form.

Arata starts to feel pain and it is believed his magic is resonating with the dragon’s. He is after all the demon lord candidate. Lilith’s gun didn’t do any damage. Mira and Akio join in. Levi didn’t get defeated. They form a truce to take down the dragon first. Levi pulls Arata aside and gives him directions to soothe his pain. Though Levi will fight the dragon, she wants Arata to join in. As someone who can erase breakdown phenomenon, he will be facing more fights like this if he intends to save Hijiri. Arata wants her to teach him how to fight. I don’t understand what this expectation Thema Levi has as well as magic is the needs to think of something that is furthest from what he considers rational. Lilith takes over the lecture and wants him to decide on a spell first. And then something about alchemy and its material exchange, blah, blah, blah… However Arata must be cautious not to overuse his magic because it will go out of control and devour him. Like those shadow demons. He is more prone to it since he is a demon lord candidate. When that happens, he’ll be a more difficult enemy to handle than this dragon who is already the strongest of the Phantasms. Levi ends the lecture by telling him to imagine his hand like a gun. Then she licks it for fanservice as well as to put her magic on it. Codex is able to process whatever it was and materializes a gun powerful enough to kill the dragon in one freaking powerful shot! When Yui wakes up, she is so happy thinking Arata came to rescue her that she starts hugging and loving him. Hmm… Only Lilith is the one reacting jealous and saying something.

Episode 5
Arata is in a dilemma. He wakes up to find 2 babes sleeping by his side: Yui and Arin. So when Lilith comes in, he figures it out. She should join in! During PE, Yui continues to cling and flirt with him and likewise to same for Arin who doesn’t want to lose out. But here comes Mira to ruin the mood. She claims they were lucky last time but if anything similar happens the next time, she will take care of them in the name of Grimoire Security. I don’t know how, it then descends into a fight over Arata. Isn’t this what we want to see? But when Yui executes her Thema, Arata finds himself in Yui’s dream. Everyone else is asleep. Except Mira. There’s this talk about friendship that I couldn’t care less but Arata wants Yui to be his friend (because who would want to pass up a chance to be friends with a cutie?) and this makes her happy. She allows him to do anything lewd to her and he is about to take the chance but Lilith stops him. Even in unconscious mode she can do this?! Before they return to reality, Yui pecks his cheek. Now they look like a lovely couple cuddling together on the infirmary’s bed. Mira is worried not about Arata being the impure one or in a dilemma having feelings for him (we hope she would), but the recent events of more and more people losing magic and becoming demons. She thinks it may have something to do with him and thus the need to destroy the strongest and most impure being. Naturally, it always goes back to him, huh? That night, a strange phenomenon occurred as all the school’s windows are broken. Of course Arata and Yui are the main suspects as they have very strong magic power but Mira detects it is not from them. This magic feels like what they experienced at that library.

As some Trinity Seven girls explain to him, it might be a ghost. It was raining heavily on that day but a pair of twins stayed back at the library. The windows suddenly broke and the books keep falling down. When it is over, the elder twin was missing. It is rumoured that till this day, you can see the ghost of that twin! This happened 6 months ago before Arata came. With Arata trying to help out the investigation at the library, suddenly the entire space is teleported to another dimension. Somebody forcefully transported them to this Eternal Library. Even at such times, Arata can be a real pervert. I don’t know how his hands got over Selina’s boobs. She pushes him down not because she wants to get steamy but to save him from an attack. Before Arata’s eyes is someone looking like Selina but a lot sexier and badass. If you couldn’t guess who she is by now, then don’t worry because Selina explains that is her elder twin sister, Lieselotte Sherlock. The one who went missing and became the rumoured ghost. This ex-Grimoire Security girl was trying to connect Eternal Library, an act that was forbidden. She tries to take everyone’s magic but Selina can use Logos Art to predict her moves. Arata, can you please stop trying to flirt at this moment or admire Lieselotte’s legs? It’s getting serious. She explains about magic being inhuman and thus calling it taboo in the first place is nonsense. Thus getting the demon lord’s power would also mean committing taboo. She bites Selina’s neck to steal her magic. There was a demon lord element sealed in Eternal Library. Not that she has got it, she is now a demon lord candidate.

Episode 6
Selina has fallen ill and a demon lord seal on her neck. Lieselotte claims she doesn’t want to do all the study and research before turning into a demon lord. She wants to take the easy way. Just like Arata. He also agrees with her but not to the point of stealing his friend’s magic. He summons his gun to show off but Lieselotte has analyzed his strong magic. She knows about him because she has Selina’s research. Unlike him who copies from others, she steals from those whose magic she takes. She invites him to join her side. She also hints she knows about Hijiri and if he wants more, join her. As he is stunned, she kisses him. Poison kiss. But it was the stimulating kind to her. The kind of scene that is right after some sex porn. After absorbing his magic, her power grows powerful enough to rip some of the girls’ clothes (except Levi and Mira). It always has to come down to this, huh? While Mira tries to scan her magic, Levi buys her time and fights her. When it’s time to give Lieselotte a taste of her medicine, thanks to Arata’s absorbed magic, she managed to get away from that devastating blast. Selina’s condition is getting worse and if they don’t get her magic back, she’ll die. Arata is okay thanks to Codex protecting him. As Levi continues to fight Lieselotte, the latter is surprised the former could keep up with her movements. She realized that because she has not mastered this new technique yet, no matter how powerful she is, she is still like an amateur. So it’s a draw for the time being. She’ll be back once she masters it. Everyone is returned to the school’s library.

Mira hates to admit it but she views Arata’s power necessary to help defeat Lieselotte. So it’s not about a confession? You wish. She and Akio are going to train him. Akio relentlessly pound him while he is reduced to just evading. He needs to figure it all out by himself or die. Better hurry. I don’t know how but after all that blasting, Arata somehow got his hands over Mira’s boobs. He knows what is going to (bloody) happen to him so he is giving his thanks. On a serious note, they hint that he doesn’t need to be like one of them to fight as he is also unique and possess some moves of his own like that clothes ripping and gun materializing move. Selina’s condition has stabled thanks to Yui’s violin. Levi is injured and the rest are not powerful enough to fight. Thus it is bad timing for Lieselotte to return and attack the school now. She has shadow demons descend on the school and probably to make us viewers happy as some of the girls’ clothes get ripped and almost tentacle raped in some yuri position. The headmaster will have to help deal with this since most of the Trinity Seven are in no condition to protect the school while Mira and Akio are away obsessed with training Arata. Lieselotte thinks she can fight the headmaster but she is awfully mistaken as he is more powerful than her. He even lectures her a few tips on how to fight powerful mages like him as he demonstrates how easily he could break out from her magic. No sweat at all. Lieselotte is impressed of how cool he is, not making any moves and just smiling as usual like he always does. She sees true fear when a horde of demons appear behind him. That smile just turned demonic.

Episode 7
That is his grimoire, Solomon’s Gate and is told not to look too long or else she’ll go crazy. How do you defeat a high level mage like him? Lieselotte shows her boobs and this got that guy going crazy! Instant defeat! So easy. Of course this is no cause for alarm since he is going to let the rest handle it and based on history, evil mages that obtain power always lose. Arata continues to take a beating from Akio. Codex mentions about finishing copying her magic. Once done the processing, Codex materializes into a loli version named Sora. Lieselotte easily walks into a direct and simple trap set by Levi at the infirmary. After all, it has no magic. Cutting herself loose, she goes to Selina’s side mentioning she wanted to bring her along to the dark side. It won’t be possible now. Selina suggests a bet. If Arata beats her, she must give up being an evil mage and return here. But sentimental time is over since Lieselotte is going to eat all their magic and defeat the headmaster. Before she could, she is stopped by a dragon from Arata. Flashback shows that she used his fist to place a mantra from Akio. She told him that will is important in using her magic otherwise it will hurt him. She also passes him some spell called Conception to teach that naughty girl a lesson. Arata saw her past before she collapsed. Lieselotte’s top accidentally comes undone and it descends into some farce about Arata’s dream of looking at Trinity Seven naked. While they’re at that, Lieselotte’s magic replenishes and is going to take his. Sora wants Arata to touch Lieselotte’s chest with his mantra to eat her demon lord power. However she is too fast for him. Thanks to Arata reinforcing the mantra to harden his body, her attacks cannot pierce through him. She gets series and freezes time. Only she, Arata and Sora can move. However those frozen cannot be hurt because matters of different time flow cannot affect each other. This means Arata can’t strip their clothes…

Lieselotte will kiss and steal his magic like the last time but he is not panicking. He’ll take on the challenge. As he tries to get her, he is too slow as Lieselotte freezes him. Then a hot kiss. However she feels pain and weakens. The mantra on his fist is fake. The real one is in his tongue. The will he put in it was Akio’s past. Looks like she was a nun and constantly praying. He hugs her to eat the rest of her demon lord powers. Just like the other girls, he wants her to come back and not seclude herself in this lonely monochrome world. However she cannot do that. It is a price to pay for using this magic. All for the sake of her research. A genuine kiss to him for caring. She says goodbye as she gets sealed away in another time. If they meet, she’ll let him touch her boobs naked. Hope next time comes fast? When time resumes, Lilith cannot believe Arata is touching her boobs. He knows he is done for so he gives his thanks for the delicious meal. When the girls learn what has happened, Mira asks Sora about the Logos Art process that Arata has completed. Since he is almost there, Mira wants Selina to train Arata to master it quickly so that they can retrieve Lieselotte as soon as possible. They call her a tsundere although Mira asserts she wants her punished. The headmaster notes that everything has worked out. But he receives a report that the school to the west has been completely annihilated. Looks like the evil mages are on the move.

Episode 8
Arata seems to be going around asking for the girls’ help to study and some in return do not hesitate to get flirty with him as reward. Lilith is surprised about his diligence and thought he was a different person. He is trying to study hard to master the remaining Logos Art to quickly save Lieselotte. The headmaster calls for them. Time for a little fanservice when he bumps into Mira and sees her panties. No more bunny prints? I know what’s going to happen to him next. Since when can Arata fly? The headmaster wants to make Arata as part of the security but Mira is against this perverted joining. He believes he has the grades for it and also he is worried the next mission will be tough. During Lieselotte’s attack, the magic school to the west, Royal Liber Academy was completely destroyed. They are to investigate and destroy any breakdown phenomenon they find. Lilith will also join this team since she is in charge of Arata and wants her to teach him all about it before they leave. So the rest of the Trinity Seven find out as Arata learns the deadly sins that each of them specialize and belong too. Lilith is embarrassed to say her lust of Luxuria Archive because true enough, the rest start teasing her that she is going to give Arata hot private lessons with her hot body. However as their Thema is the furthest thing from them, they don’t actually take on the traits of those sins and are complete opposite. Lilith becomes his private tutor to teach him what he needs to know. It must be hard work since she falls asleep.

Mira and Akio come to check on them only to see Sora over Arata. They know Mira always flusters seeing this kind of stuffs and it doesn’t help that they act nonchalantly about it. Serious talk about their mission turns into one about Mira perhaps trying to seduce Arata with this night visits. And what was it about her nipples? A cockroach crawls nearby so this freaks her out. This wakes up Lilith as she sees Mira on top of Arata. It’s not his fault and yet he gets blasted by her bazooka. Everyone takes a deserved break at the hotspring. Lilith takes Arata to view a scenic view of the city. It’s the best way to help his mind and body relax. This is also a reward for doing a good job with his studies as well as with Yui and Lieselotte’s case. They start splashing water at each other and the other girls could only watch in envy. But Sora had to ruin the fun as she cuts the strap off Lilith’s bikini top. I suppose this wasn’t part of the reward. Oh dear. He’s going to get a taste of that bazooka again. Whether he is fully rested or not, it’s time to depart. At the warp station, the headmaster is going to beam them directly there when a disturbance occurs. Somebody is trying to interrupt the teleportation and if that happens, they’ll be stuck in some space-time rift. The headmaster shows why he is one of the best mages around and successfully teleports them although only Arata, Sora and Mira are before Liber. But they are shocked that the building is still standing. Wasn’t it destroyed? They sense that they might be in another space. More surprise for Arata when Hijiri is there. Is she the real deal? Mira senses her magic isn’t human and tries to reveal her true form. Hijiri feels she isn’t ready to take on this power yet and leaves.

Episode 9
Sora explains that is Iliad Fragment AKA Ilia and is a grimoire like her. She is the one who copied Hijiri’s form and memories and played her part while Arata created his own world. As for why Liber is still standing, it seems it has been transported and trapped in another dimension. Now they are floating in a rift in the sea of parallel dimensions. They are confronted with shadow demons. When Mira tries to attack them, her clothes automatically got ripped! Finally, the nakedness got to her. Seems there is a spell that Magus Mode is sealed here so fighting them with magic is not a wise idea. Since Sora is purely a magical entity, she’ll do what she can while Arata take Mira out of here. Soon Sora faces off with Ilia. Although Sora uses a powerful move, this renders her open and thus she fell into Ilia’s trap and got sealed inside a mini black box. Meanwhile we are so annoyed at Mira being so suspicious and flustering over Arata that he might give in to his perverted side. For example, they need to check the clock tower for the barrier’s core and are about to climb a ladder. She doesn’t want him to look up to see her naked butt but how can he do so if she’s going first? If he goes first, he might not be able to stop any traps. So how? Arata compromises by carrying her on her back. He wonders about her justice Thema because you know, Thema is supposed to be furthest from your character. Was she a delinquent? Mira explains her powerful magic caused her to be isolated and thus she had no friends. Till Akio became the first one and they did many things together. Mira failed a magic experiment she tried to do by herself so Akio told her to just use it boldly instead of trying to keep it a secret from others. Those words rooted deeply within her as Mira vowed to become someone who could take responsibility for the powers they had and be an agent of justice. Besides Mira spamming Arata an impure man as always, he is happy he gets to see her as herself. This talk was so that she could get her mind off things.

When they reach the top, they see Sora trapped in the mini black box. Before them is Ilia who claims that she has sealed everything and will wait till Hijiri destroys everything. Only they will be together forever in this dimension. Sora telepathically communicates to Arata that she is being held in a core barrier which is also the space of this school. She wants him to buy her time so that she can try to destroy it and collapse the school. Arata negotiates with Ilia to let Mira go since she doesn’t need her. Mira doesn’t appreciate this self sacrifice but Arata plays it cool she needs to figure a way to rescue him after she escapes. Arata goes up to Ilia and wants to know if Hijiri really wants to destroy this world. Indeed she does. For whatever reasons, it is best to ask her personally. Ilia prepares to kill Mira (she didn’t say about letting her go scot free, right?) since there is no way to let her out of here. She also guessed that Sora tried to telepathically communicate with him. Do not underestimate the thinking of a girl in love with him. Arata is horrified to see the girls start screaming. And then he looks back at Ilia with death stares. It makes her scared. All he wanted was for the girls he likes to keep smiling. If he is going to be trapped in her magic, he can’t ‘control’ anything anymore and this sucks. Sora tells Ilia to stop Arata right now. But too late. Arata transforms into his demon lord form, the entity hidden within him, Astral Trinity.

Episode 10
You want to know how powerful this Astral Trinity is? Why, he turns Ilia naked and tells her this is what true control is about! Now that he has taken control of this space, Mira could feel her energy coming back. But when she and Sora charge at him, he instantly rips their clothes! Wow! All girls naked now! He views Mira as a potential to be his wife and is about to kiss her but she slaps him and claims he is not Arata and thus have nothing to give him. This tsundere attitude causes the demon lord to waver so Sora quickly seals his magic and turns Arata back to normal. They discuss the quickest way to get out of here is to defeat Ilia but since he doesn’t want to do that, he’ll just have her tell them a way out. Though, he doesn’t mind spending eternity with her here, he wants to see Hijiri personally. Also, he won’t get to thank her for thanking care of him in her stead. Ilia couldn’t believe that they’re still fooling around in this grave situation. Well, the girls believe in Arata’s luck and that with cooperation, they are sure to get out. Ilia decides to support and give him her magic. This calms and stabilizes Arata’s magic. Then everyone fires all they’ve got at the black sun which is the source of this problem. Back in the real world, Arata collapses onto Lilith’s boobs since he has completely run out of power. Akio could tell something good has happened since Mira is calling Arata by his name. As usual, the tsundere has excuses… Lilith notices Arata has another grimoire in possession and also feels someone is watching them. Sure it is. Hijiri in the flesh. She notes Arata is going to be her enemy. As Arata is resting, Mira explains the danger when Arata turned into the demon lord. Akio suggests killing him off. Mira is the first to show he concern. Of course Akio won’t since the rest of the girls would be mad at her. Besides, she is fond of him too. Talking about Ilia, they believe Hijiri was her former owner and the culprit who destroyed Liber. Since she is a high level mage and Arata a demon lord, it could be more than just coincidence.

When Arata wakes up, the real Hijiri is by his side and she is happy he could recognize her. She is also glad he turned into a mage to save her although he apologized that he couldn’t save her back then. Since he is a powerful demon lord candidate, he is going to make sure he saves her this time. It is also the reason why Hijiri is going to kill him now. Lilith’s shot disrupts the moment. She senses Hijiri has demon lord element and a candidate too. She got it when she was sent to that ruined world. She manifests clothes from the Ira Archives to become Satan. There are 3 Thema that she has mastered and thus qualified to be called Trinity. Lilith quickly goes to protect Arata because he will die if he gets hit by her powers as he has none. Hijiri will kill him and take his powers and grimoire so she might recreate him someday. Well, he prefers if she didn’t kill him. She fires a blast but is deflected by Arin. Seems she heard her husband calling (did he?) and was able to use whatever magic that was to teleport herself here. With Mira and Akio coming in as reinforcements, Hijiri wants to play with them since most of them are here instead of sealing them in darkness. They, Iscariot will head to their school and destroy it. Better hurry back fast if they don’t want their beloved school to be flattened. Even as they speak, Biblia is under attack. They can’t get back fast enough with Arata in this condition. But that guy insists they make a move now since Levi and Yui are the only ones back there protecting the school.

Episode 11
Levi faces off with Iscariot’s Lugh outside the school. When Yui and Selina have safely evacuated the other students, the ninja girls go all out. Both have their tricks but in the end, Lugh is better and Levi is wounded. Levi is going to do a desperate self sacrificing move like what Lieselotte did. She connects to Invidia Archive to attack her from all sides in this destructive move. Lugh feels disappointed that this is all she’s got and thought victory was in her hands. However Levi pulled the biggest bluff on her as she used her Last Crest to escape and seek shelter inside the school. Arata and co are going to have a hard time coming back since the warp system is destroyed by Hijiri. It will take some time to repair and the nearest one is a day away. There is another way, though. I’m not sure what Lilith is going to do but she needs everyone to lend their power. Lugh searches for Levi and gets trapped by her wires. The headmaster healed her during that time and she’s back in action. However Lugh is able to cut through them by summoning her mythical armaments and eventually Levi takes the biggest cut. Yui is horrified and on the verge of losing her concentration in keeping the rest safe in her dream world. She is desperate to go save Levi so Selina suggests she goes in her stead.

Once Selina pops back into the real world, she temporarily binds Lugh with her camera flash to heal Levi. But Lugh breaks free and blasts them. Did she get them? Well, as cliché as it would get, our heroines are saved because Lieselotte is back. Seems she switched places with Selina (there’s a whole lot of explanation for this but I’m not interested. Rather, I just don’t get it). Then there is something about their magic not compatible so Lugh had to destroy one of her armaments to increase her mobility. Lugh attacks and when she thought she is going to get Lieselotte, it is yet another feint because Levi this time cuts her remaining armaments. Lieselotte’s goal was to heal Levi and not seal Lugh or something. Knowing her chances of winning is slim, Lugh summons Hijiri’s help. Hijiri is disappointed that Lieselotte has decided to side with the good mages. She did lose to Arata after all. Hijiri views this world as no hope but Lieselotte after facing off with Arata realizes that there are people who want her back. She prefers it this way. Besides, betraying is part of being an evil mage, right? Before Hijiri could kill them, Arata and co comes crashing down via wormhole. I guess Lugh cannot be left out of the fanservice since Arata lands on her and got his hand on her boob. I’m sure he enjoys it. Is this the way she is going to get defeated? With everyone happy Arata the man is back, Lieselotte thanks Hijiri for the advices and wants to stay with her Trinity Seven friends. Time for their fight back.

Episode 12
While Arata is pondering about Lieselotte (because Selina’s boobs aren’t that big), it turns into a conversation that Arata is some lucky pervert of that sort since Lugh is concerned the demon lord candidate was trying to make her his mistress. Trivialities out of the way, it’s time to get serious and power up for their final fight. The hooded girl with a powerful aura from Iscariot finally reveals herself. She is Liber’s headmaster and technically she is supposed to fight with the headmaster but they don’t want to destroy the world and just be content with watching the rest fight. So we see our Trinity Seven girls cooperate to take them out. Lugh defends Hijiri from the attacks but there is only so much one girl can take. Defeated. I’m not sure about Hijiri’s God-like power but Arin says only she can destroy its protection. With Lieselotte and Levi buying time for her to do so, eventually it gives enough time for Lilith and her Arata-powered gun to fire back. The ultimate blow that not even Hijiri could defend herself. On the bright side, she is fine (and more importantly, or not, her clothes are intact). Hijiri admits her loss as she underestimated him. As it goes in the unwritten law, losers must reveal everything, right? When Hijiri was sucked into that ruined world, it had nothing but emptiness. She saw Arata living his peaceful life in his fake world and was satisfied with that. But she also saw the future of the world. Arata’s demon lord had awakened and with his Trinity Seven harem, they destroyed the world to recreate a new one. Then in this new world, they reunite once more to destroy it again. The cycle repeats. Therefore Hijiri cannot forgive a world whereby it uses him as nothing but a tool for reincarnation. Iscariot was established to destroy and recreate the world in that stead. That is why she wants to collapse this world and create one whereby he can live happy. Arata is grateful that she is having him in mind but reminds her his Thema is control and thus even when he becomes the demon lord, he will control it. Easy talk now? Unfortunately Hijiri can’t stay in this world for long. Her body disappears and turns into some crystal. Liber’s headmaster takes it as she won’t lose their only chance to defeat Arata. He hopes she will take care of her till he comes to her rescue. Liber’s headmaster is amused that he is coming to save the girl that will kill him. She will make her the ultimate anti-demon lord weapon. I don’t know how or even if this scene is necessary because Arata is the only one who has his clothes ripped in the end. For goodness sake, at least rip the girls’ clothes in that case too! So disappointing…

In the aftermath, Lilith invites Arata to town as gratitude. Instead, Arata wants to thank her for taking care of him since. He treats her to a cafe coincidentally where Mira and Akio are working as maids. Thanks for the food. Thanks for the maids. And the rest of our jealous Trinity Seven could only tail and spy the ‘couple’ for the rest of the day. They wish they were her, right? At the end of the day, Arata feels grateful that Lilith is being kind to him because she thinks he is down after his encounter with Hijiri. She claims despite he is the most powerful and dangerous demon lord candidate, he treats everyone as friends instead like mages. Therefore she can say on behalf for every Trinity Seven member that they like him (although some may not agree to his perverted ways). Arata wants her to close her eyes and give something. She panics but prepares herself for a kiss. It’s an anti-magic amulet for protection. Phew. Relief or disappointed? He doesn’t know if this fitting but he wouldn’t like to see her get hurt by the enemy’s magic. He wants her to keep being his teacher. She’s happy and will treasure it. At this point, the rest of the jealous stalkers can’t take it and pop out of their hiding. I guess spying all day made them hungry so Arata agrees to treat them all. Yahoo! Arata’s closing statement is that he is happy now. That is why he vows not to make any of the girls sad (doesn’t his perversion make some so?). He hopes Hijiri can wait for the day he’ll come rescue her and she can laugh alongside them. So sit tight and watch out because he is going to make it happen.

Episode 13 (OVA)
Arata is in danger of getting expelled due to his low grades!!! How can this be?! So he is made to have a special lesson with each of the Trinity Seven as they represent the seven deadly sins archive (because he didn’t understand what it is in the first place and his power is vital in dominating the archives of other mages) and must hand it in by tomorrow morning. Oh, look at the time. Better get going now. Who to start first? Levi might be but since she wants to prepare some sort of sweet dessert, she tells him to make her the last one. So the first one will be Lieselotte and she’ll teach him sloth via Selina’s body. Just like back and chill as she undresses and seduces him! Oh yeah. Me like this lesson! Then dumb Lilith had to barge in and warn them about doing lewd things. Next is Yui. She brings him into her room and strips herself naked. Take out all your horny greed on her! Isn’t that supposed to be lust? And Arata won’t do it does it mean he prefers the loli version? Anyway he tells her to remember about her other friends and not just him. This reminds her that she just had another greed: To live happily with them. When Arata is taking a bath, Akio joins him. Despite she is representing gluttony, she doesn’t act the part because she practises strict abstinence. By the way, the bath next door is more interesting because the girls are molesting Lilith’s voluptuous body all over. Care to join them? Next up is Arin in her room and with her emotionless face, it’s hard to believe she is wrath. She tries to make him mad but I don’t think it is working. But when she suggests making babies, suddenly Lilith barges in and gets mad. Oh, isn’t she the perfect one to be wrath? They got lectured by her but they’re more preoccupied talking to each other than listening.

Arata may have not heard of knocking because he opens Mira’s door and sees her changing! Beat down! She agrees to help him with his assignment. However she starts getting technical about her pride area. No fanservice! Boring! Not interested! Then she gives him heaps of books to read. See? So boring that she herself fell asleep! Only one thing for Arata to do. He puts her to bed and Mira who is half awake fears that he will rape her but all he did is pat her on her head and thanks her for always keeping him in line. Lilith who is spying from outside starts to feel pain in her chest. Mira on the other hand feels regret that she expected him to rape her and now she is disappointed???!!! WTF?! Arata thinks of calling it a day when Lilith visits his room and hugs him. Lust lesson? Yeah, they should sleep with each other just for tonight. But Arata decides to be a gentleman and not devour her because he knows she is doing this for something else. She tells him about that Mira scene so he offers to be with her if she feels lonely. Enough to make her cry! Suddenly the entire dorm is lit up and Levi makes her entrance. This is her way of teaching him envy. Well, she made Lilith felt that. Seems she is the one who planted the sleeping drug in Mira’s and then secretly open the door to let Lilith peek. She is disappointed that nothing erotic happened. But now they have to face the wrath of Lilith and Mira. Well Arata, did you learn a good lesson from all the seven deadly sins? At least the headmaster knows he has passed at this rate. The final scenes show Lugh being brought before the headmaster as he notes all the pieces have gathered. And a few other scenes of other potential characters…

Trinity Harem
All is well, ends well. For now. Till the next time. So okay. There goes another anime with mediocre storyline, filled with extra fanservice to make up for it. It does little to explain about stuffs like the black sun and what the heck is happening to this world because it is just mysterious that it kills normal people but not mages. Even so, weak ones still fall to its affects. But I’m guessing it is somehow Arata’s fault, because it is ALWAYS his fault, right? It feels like mere convenient setting for this anime and as you get into the flow of it, you’ll forget it since it doesn’t bear any significant or important impact on the overall story. At least for where this season is concerned.

The biggest downfall of the series is the direction of the plot and the magic terms and system. Story wise, we get the general idea of it but if you follow closely episode by episode, it makes you wonder where we are going. You start thinking if this is just going to be some harem fanservice show (which it is) because it feels like Arata and the girls fooling around for most of it. It is a bit confusing too because it doesn’t feel like Arata is getting stronger and when he does, it was like instant, crushing our belief that you take donkey years to get to that super master level and he just pulled that off in a blink of an eye. And he doesn’t even know how it is done for half the time. Genius or sheer luck? He is supposed to save Hijiri but it turns out she turned into a bad girl. So does he still want to save her or fight her? Generally, you don’t see the plot moving anywhere.

Even as bad as the plot is the confusing magic system. Thema and deadly sins… Yeah sure, whatever. The names of whatever spells they chant may not be tongue twisting and confusing but the system itself is already complicated enough for casual viewers like me. I don’t deal well with scientific or other special terms especially animes that rely heavy on such so it wasn’t enjoyable mainly when I’m trying to piece together about how their Thema and deadly sins are connected to whatever archive. I mean, besides the big 7 deadly sins Thema, there are many other smaller subdivisions branching out. Is there a Thema for easy understanding for all this crap? Is there a book in the library called Thema For Dummies? I think it is explained but they’re just touching the surface and like I’ve said, it will be a big frustration for casual viewers and those who are not familiar with the series.

Although the action parts are not bad and quite okay with some big explosions and magic effects thingy to keep you glued, imbuing it with the terms that don’t make sense or cannot remember takes away the fun in watching the action scenes. In the end, you just couldn’t care what it is and like me, you’re going to go, “Whatever…” and accept this whole Thema activating thingy and go with the flow. It’s easier that way on my brains. After all, you’re not supposed to use a lot of brain power when you watch this kind of series which is mainly of the harem and ecchi genre.

In view of that, although I feel the character development is weak, nevertheless the characters are the strongest point of the series since they are likeable and amusing no matter how annoyingly cute or annoyingly annoying they are. They might be typical stereotype tropes but at least they are likeable. At least for this kind of genre. It feels like Lilith and Mira are getting a lot of screen time because the duo are the ones who would react the opposite when dealing with perverted and fanservice situations. Because it is more fun to see girls like that get totally embarrassed compared to the rest who are more sporting and seemingly consenting to such impure thoughts or actions. Is it no wonder why Arata and the rest of the Trinity Seven love teasing them?

So like Arata as the main character, he is no wuss and as seen, he can pull off pretty amazing and powerful moves if he puts his mind to it. Even better, if his harem is in danger. I mean, when you have something strong hidden inside you, you can’t be just a disappointing weakling, can’t you? Unfortunately (or not, depending how you view it), he is quite open and does not have any qualms in refuting his perverted behaviour so this riles some up and to a certain extent excites some up (unless done to another girl instead, then the excited becomes the riled). This guy is also casual and easygoing since he isn’t a genius in the magic department but gets by when necessary. I don’t think he even cares about all that formality about being a mage and just wants a normal life, to laugh with his friends who are coincidentally all females for now. And no, I don’t think the headmaster can be called his friend or anybody’s, mind you.

The rest of the Trinity Seven girls have their unique personality and it makes them interesting since they are not weak or being a damsel in distress that needs rescuing. Individually they are strong although at times cooperation and combination of their powers are key to their victory. As mentioned earlier, Lilith and Mira gets more screen time so obviously we see lots of their personality thanks to them being objects of perverted teasing. But you might get annoyed initially with Mira because apart from being tsundere (or turning into one), she’s the kind that take action first and asks questions later and the method she always employs is to destroy something for good. Being a strict person, she keeps reminding us how impure Arata is like as though she is some pure goddess or something. Thankfully, Arata ‘converted’ her so she is no different from the rest now. The other girls are also amusing themselves although they feel like stereotypic tropes such as Levi’s cheeky and mischievous personality, Yui’s energetic and liveliness, Arin the complete opposite with her emotionless and the carefree Akio. I am sure each of them have their past especially Akio’s one being the most curious but it is sad that with such limited episodes, they are not properly fleshed out and so we are just content to believe that they are just members of Arata’s harem. I mean with so many of them, screen time is limited and even during battle scenes they had to take turns.

I can’t make head or tail about Hijiri whether she is the good girl playing the villain part or vice versa. She doesn’t harbour any strong killing intent to kill him although she gets real serious to kick ass in her Satan mode. When I said killing intent, I mean that kind of aura you emit with so much hatred and detestation that you would want to kill that person because you cannot stand his existence. I don’t feel that in Hijiri and it’s like she’s smiling at the end each time they fight. So is she like serious or not? Maybe like I said, she’s just playing the villain or she is just hoping to be proven wrong that one day Arata will come to rescue-cum-defeat her. Last and not least, the headmaster of both schools. They may not look the part especially with Biblia’s headmaster acting more like a joker but at times he proves why he is one of the strongest mages around because having a peek of his little magic already warns us not to mess with this dude. Just like Arata, better for him to stay the dumb pervert. Because sh*t hits the fan when their true powers come forth especially with Arata not only destroying the world as demon lord but getting the girls in the end as well. And you thought only good guys get the girl in the end, eh?

Highlighting the harem factor, it is safe to say that eventually all the girls we see will like Arata one way or another. Because as far as I can see, he already has got others even outside Trinity Seven. Some are more obvious in showing their affections in public like Yui who can’t stop clinging or consenting to whatever impure actions and Arin the self-proclaimed emotionless wife of the demon lord candidate. Every harem group needs a tsundere and those seemingly outright and against it but deep down you can just feel it’s the opposite otherwise. We’re looking at you Mira and Lilith! Then there are Levi and Akio who are cool about their feelings for him as they like him in their own way. Even bad girls like Lieselotte who took a beating from him even turned to the good side, as well as Ilia. I’m not discounting Selina too since despite not a Trinity Seven member, she hangs around them often and that ability to switch back and forth with Lieselotte feels convenient to have her around as a twin. I’m not sure if I can classify Hijiri as being yandere since she sounded like she loves him enough to kill him but I am guessing if the Iscariot girls ever lose to him, they might just follow the pattern and be part of his harem, which I believe will be the case. So if you’re looking for some solid romance, don’t bother.

Initially before I started watching this series and when I first read its synopsis, I don’t know how I get the idea that this show will be one that has Arata going around fighting the Trinity Seven and after defeating them, they join him and thus become part of his harem. I mean, the line of him meeting the school’s strongest seven seemed to have me thought so. How else do you get strong girls like them under your thumb and command as your ally? That’s how you do a harem in this show, right? It’s like today’s enemy becomes tomorrow’s friend, right? And so Arata went around conquering the strongest babes of the school and eventually earn them under his harem in this action packed-cum-fanservice heavy anime! Oh God. How did I even ever hope to even see this as the plot of the series?! Before you know it, that guy already amassed his harem, some as early as when they are shortly introduced.

Fanservice is aplenty with the girls’ clothes getting ripped seems to be the staple fanservice of the series although not constantly spammed throughout. Every main and supporting girl of Arata’s harem has got her clothes ripped at least once, whether by accident or by intention. I thought grimoires like Sora won’t get into this predicament but they surprised me with her fanservice too. Even background female characters are not immune or excluded as there was one scene (that almost yuri tentacle rape scene). Except for Iscariot, so maybe once Hijiri and Lugh become part of the harem, then they’ll get their clothes ripped too? Hey, to be fair, even Arata himself got it once. The only person left is the headmaster… But I don’t think you would want to see that.

The art and drawing feels pretty okay and standard. I don’t know, I think it is just me because I feel that most of the characters’ face have this, how do you put it, uhm, bratty look. Maybe it is their eyes and the way their mouth line curves to give that bratty smirk. From Sora to Mira and even Arata himself, I can’t help think the bratty look they have when I see them for the first few times. Maybe it has something to do with the smiles because like Akio’s, her eternal grin makes her look she has got a silly face. CGI is also used but this is mainly for the school corridors. Sure, they look smooth and pretty but it could be sometimes be a little jarring when combined with the 2D characters. Especially there was that fight scene of Lugh versus Lieselotte in which they pulled a quarter of that Matrix camera effect. Looks cool but also a bit odd at the same time.

Once more, for a guy like me to have watched so many animes, the characters start looking pretty familiar, like I have seen some of them from somewhere before. For instance, I didn’t know Fairy Tail’s Mirajane made a cameo here. Who? Doesn’t Yui look so much like her? Must be the way she ties her front portion of her hair that resembles a brush. That is her ideal version. What about her actual and busty loli version? Well, I thought she switched places with Inou Battle Wa Nichijou-kei No Naka De’s Hatoko. Then there is Hijiri who has this striking resemblance to Akuma No Riddle’s Suzu Shuutou. I’m also seeing shades of Chitose from D-Frag! in Akio as well as Lilith looking pretty close to High School DxD’s Rias. Lieselotte and Selina have that typical look to many other twintail blondes like Ekaterina from Seikon No Qwaser, Himegami from Maken-Ki, Erina from Ore Ni Twintails Ni Narimasu, Chisa from Gift ~Eternal Rainbow~, Anri from Happiness and Ayu from Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien to name a few. I keep wondering if Lugh is a cross between Strike Witches’ Mio Sakamoto, Infinite Stratos’ Laura and Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls’ Gisen. This might be a long shot but at certain angles, Levi reminds me of the child version of Shingeki No Kyojin’s Mikasa minus the grin. Really.

At first I was pretty convinced that Youko Hikasa was the voice behind Lilith. How unfortunately for me to guess wrong because it was instead Yumi Hara (Marielle in Log Horizon, Yuuko in Tasogare Otome x Amnesia). Maybe it is the character that resembles almost closely to some that she has voiced like Houki of Inifinite Stratos, Stephanie from No Game No Life and Hana of Seikon No Qwaser. Or maybe I’m just having hearing problems. Youko Hikasa does have a role here but as Mira. I never would have guessed if I had not double checked. Hearing Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Arata kind of reminds me of suspiciously other similar anime characters like Aito from Mangaka-san To Assistant-san To, Director from Denki-gai No Honya-san and Sora from No Game No Life. They are all little perverts, aren’t they?

It is quite welcoming to hear old familiar voices like Rie Kugimiya as Sora. At first I doubted it was her because recently with so many new seiyuus coming out, some sound very close to others and it throws off your recognizing factor (at least for me). Thankfully, the more Sora speaks, the more convinced that it was that loli tsundere specialist behind the character (although her loli character here isn’t a tsundere). Also recognizable are Shinichiro Miki as the headmaster, Ayane Sakura as Levi (she loves spamming every sentence with ~su’, doesn’t she ~su?) and Nao Touyama as Lieselotte. The rest of the casts include Aya Uchida as Arin (a departure from her lively girl roles like Kotori of Love Live, Ascoeur of Kiddy Girl -and), Rie Murakawa as Yui (Aoi in Vividred Operation), Ryoka Yuzuki as Akio (Ino in Naruto), Aya Suzaki as Selina (Mako in Kill La Kill), Ayaka Suwa as Hijiri (Tokaku in Akuma No Riddle), Chinatsu Akasaki as Ilia (Yasuna in Kill Me Baby) and Ayaka Fukuhara as Lugh (Myoukou in Aoki Hagane No Arpeggio). Hmm… Am I seeing something here because there are 5 seiyuus starting with the name Aya…

The opening theme is a generic anime rock outfit, Seven Doors by ZAQ. For a short series, they inserted 4 different ending themes. Most probably for personalisation of Arata’s harem girls I suppose. They are all sung in duets and have techno as their base. But I have this feeling that in many of these ending songs, they have the penchant to repeat certain lines like as though they have become a broken recorder. Like for the first ending theme, Beautiful Sentence by Magus Two (sung by the ones behind the voices of Lilith and Arin), it starts off and continues to be spammed the lines, “You can choose the destination, you can start the revolution”. So much so I thought this was going to be pretty much the only lines of the rest of the song. Personally, although not my kind of song, this is the better one compared to the rest although it has a little rap in it which I find a little funny for them to be singing the lines quite fast.

Taking a lighter and much playful feel is the second ending theme, Shavadava In Amazing by Yui Levi (you guessed it, Yui and Levi’s seiyuus singing this). Some of her lines also feel like scatting since they are singing cute and meaningless words like ‘shavadava’ or ‘pappa yappa paya payappa”. Back to the repetitious spamming for the third ending theme, Restart The World by Twinkle magic (Lieselotte and Selina) although it isn’t as bad as the first ending theme. The way they keep repeating the song title as part of the chorus made me thought that the clip was broken and on the verge of repeating itself forever. Really. Restart the song, literally? Finally, the fourth ending theme, Trinity Seventh Heaven by Security Politti (Mira and Akio) has got to be the worst of the lot. Not only is the music bland and flat, but even the words and the singing seem not to match. There is an obvious cacophony and it makes you wonder if they had run out of songs and just mash together tasteless sounds to get this. Therefore it sounded more like noises instead of a song. Hey, no Sora and Ilia duet? Aren’t they part of the harem too or there is some rule that subjects grimoires to not sing?

Overall, watch this anime if you are into fanservice and harem stuffs with magic as its side dish. I don’t know if this anime could do better if it had another season but I am pretty sure that it won’t be as good if they keep it clean and straight by cutting out the fanservice stuffs. This is after all what you get and can expect from animes like this. Not many animes that rely on ecchi and fanservice can be epic and great. Even like High School DxD comes to mind, it still has its downfall. Because as long as there are people in this world against perversion, it will never be perfect or generally accepted. That’s why sometimes we guys dream to become the demon lord to destroy and recreate a new world where acts of perversion are acceptable by every standard. Where else can you find a harem by your side till the end when the very world is destroyed anyway?

If you are a bookworm and an avid reader, there is a chance that you might view life as one big storybook. Every page written is filled with the things that have happened so far in your life and with many blank pages ahead yet to be filled. Or those pages may have been filled and thus your fate of the future already written and predetermined (yes, in the book and not in the stars). So what if you have the ability to read such ‘books’ and see someone’s future? Do you change it? I don’t know. I never liked reading. Not even manga. It’s a very bad habit of mine since young up till today. Anyway, Daitoshokan No Hitsujikai has our lead protagonist as a bookworm. He loves to read and his dream is only that. And by that I mean really holding a real hard and solid cover in his hands. It’s a good thing because nowadays people prefer to affix their eyes on their iPhones, Smartphones and the likes. One day he receives a foretelling message about the change of his fate and he got it rolling when he saves a fellow student from a fatal accident. Something tells me he should have read between the lines… Or I may just be over reading it…

Episode 1
A man sees a young boy reading and tells him the existence of a magic book only found in a magic library. But not anybody can get there. First you must be selfless and help others. Since he wants to go there, he is given a ticket to the place. He must not lose it. Kyoutarou Kakei is now a high school and a big bookworm geek. He is using the ticket as his precious bookmark. He sees a girl, Tsugumi Shirasaki trying to hand out flyers to get people to join her activity, Shiomi Happy Project but is snubbed. Suddenly Kakei gets a vision that a train will derail and slam into her. He quickly goes to warn her (since his bad premonitions are always right) but as he takes her hand, she trips and they fall. His hand over her boobs. What does this look like? She becomes embarrassed and picks her stuffs up and leaves. The train derails but thankfully nobody is hurt. In class, his friend, Ikkei Takamine shows a picture of him holding onto Tsugumi’s boobs (eyes censored out). It is going around. Kakei is sure since this school is so big, chances are he’ll never meet her again. Think again. Because she is just a few seats away from him! The teacher calls her but since she is so shy and soft spoken, her friend Tamamo Sakuraba answers on her behalf. At the cafeteria, Takamine is smitten with the new cutie staff, Kana Suzuki. The student council president Maho Mochizuki talks to Kakei and just like the last time hopes he could join the student council because of his good grades. However like always, he declined because this would mean less reading time. Kakei narrates Shiomi Academy being the biggest and best place for students to study. There is also a rumour of the Shepherd who is always on the school grounds but unseen. It is said to appear only in front of those who are earnestly hard working. Tamamo confronts Kakei because the picture of it now is uncensored. He tries to explain his ability to see the future but she doesn’t buy it and just a lousy excuse. As the picture makes its round, everyone starts to believe he is a molester and he is forced into hiding. This is the thanks he get for saving a girl? Surprisingly Tsugumi pulls him over just to apologize that it is her fault he got into trouble. But in this narrow alley and their bodies are squeezing together so tightly? What are the chances of another misunderstanding? Too late, Tamamo spots them.

Thankfully Tsugumi is able to explain as Tamamo apologizes for being in the wrong. Just when it seems to be over, they are surrounded by karate guys who want to teach Kakei a lesson. Yeah. They don’t believe it either. Too bad Kakei is all talk and can’t fight back. Thank Takamine coming to his aid as he used to be in that club. With Tsugumi stammering to explain, Takamine whispers the words she should say. Everyone is in disbelief to hear that Tsugumi allows it. Things calm down when they think that was just an idiotic couple’s exhibitionism. Kakei brings his friends to the library club where he is the sole member. And there is this fat cat Gaizaemon AKA Giza… Tsugumi tells the guys about her activity to make school fun. She is doing this because as she is an introvert, she thought of changing herself. However Mochizuki disagrees and hopes Kakei will make the right choice. As the girls argue, Kakei notes he wants to join neither as he only wants to read. But after hearing Tsugumi say she experienced a lot of things today because of him and the reason she can start anew with him, he believes she is acting on something other than emotions or words. He wants to know this something he doesn’t understand and decides to go with Tsugumi. This leaves Mochizuki disappointed but as show of goodwill, she will make an announcement to clear his name. Suddenly all of them get the same mail from Shepherd who congratulates them for making a decent start. They wonder if it is spam when a girl chides them for being too loud. As they leave, Nagi Kodachi is seen talking to that man. Kakei is a Shepherd candidate just like her. She is to watch over him and there will be a day when the truth will be revealed and he will take the test. Only then one of them will become the true Shepherd. She is sad Kakei didn’t remember at all.

Episode 2
As Senri Misono sings, she remembers her friend chiding her. Because Kakei is so engrossed in his reading, Tsugumi lets him eat a sweet just to make him notice her! Now that she has got his attention, she talks to him about Shiomi Happy Project. Their first activity will be… Picking up garbage? Where’s the fun in that? Well, it’s not surprising that nobody else is volunteering for it. Kana may be the first one and she knows Kakei because of the webpage from Mochizuki clearing his name. He is now a hero. Tsugumi hands her a poster and it seems she is interested in this kind of things. Kakei sees Senri trying to reach under the vending machine to get her 500 yen. He helps her out and to show her gratitude, she buys him a drink. Later Tamamo shows the research she has done on Shepherd and it seems there are various rumours of how it manifests and if one does its bidding, your wish will come true. Kana relates that she got a similar email last night. On the way back, they find a lost tuning fork. Seems this is planted by Nagi. They try to send to the broadcast club to make a lost and found announcement but she straightaway knows it belongs to Senri, the music prodigy with an angelic voice. Yeah, only Kakei doesn’t know because he has been stuffing his face with books. Ironically, he reads so much and yet he doesn’t know. Tsugumi wants to return it to her at her home and Kakei decides to come along. Takamine leaves it to them to do it since it is rare for Kakei to do such volunteer work.

The duo return the tuning fork to a very grateful Senri because she was searching high and low for it. However Senri feels sad when she thinks they returned it just because she is the famous Song Princess. Cheeky Kakei lightens the mood and irks her that it may be because she showed them ‘something great’. Nice ass… Tsugumi gives the poster and hopes if she has something on her mind, feel free to contact them. Kakei on his way back sees Kana staring longingly outside the window of a handphone shop. She has him help her choose one to buy. As sign of trust and since Tsugumi is always waiting outside his personal room of the library club, he hands a key to her. She can duplicate and give it to the rest. Kana shows everyone her new handphone and they are very excited and happy for her. So loud that Nagi once more had to tell them to keep it down. She is surprised Kakei got another new member to join the club. She is forced to back out when Giza stares at her. She has some sort of phobia not only for cats but animals. Suddenly the quintet receive a similar email from Shepherd that Senri will teach them something important. Something is strange because Kana just bought her handphone and she gave nobody her email except them. Could it be somebody is watching them? Somebody who is good at computers? Kana thinks there is somebody. A genius who is the pride of the school’s cafeteria: Sayumi Ureshino When a student cheekily wants this loli’s smile to go with his purchase, she charges him additional 10,000 yen! Holy cow! What an expensive buy! But was it worth it? The smile that melts your heart?

Episode 3
Tamamo suggests they split into groups for this. Kakei and Kana go talk to Ureshino and she can try help them if they in exchange help her out to hand posters for her food fair. The rest see Senri to ask her about Shepherd’s mail but the teacher calls her for some special lesson. Back in the clubroom, everyone discusses about the poster handing job and Kakei is disheartened to know that he must cosplay as well. Since they only have 1 outfit, Tsugumi can make one for him and wants to take his measurements. Take off your shirt! Nagi is going to chide them for being noisy again when she hears ambiguous noises… My first time… Did I touch some weird place… She thinks this is pretty cliché and barges only to see topless Kakei and Tsugumi the same height as his waist (taking his measurements). She gets really embarrassed and convinced they were doing something lewd and runs away. When Kakei returns home, he is surprised to see Nagi here. Well, what do you know? She lives next door!!! And they didn’t even know they were neighbours. After she enters her room, she feels disappointed he doesn’t remember her.

The library club members sew a particular animal on their cushion. Because Tamamo is a fox, Takamine and Kana tease her to get her to say what does the fox say! She eventually gives in. Tsugumi gets a mail from Senri requesting to make porridge. The girls head over to her place only to see her sprawled all over the floor. Her fever is very high. Everybody did what they could to nurse her and put her to bed. Senri has been clutching Tsugumi’s hand since and won’t let go. She is sleep talking and doesn’t want her mom to go. Tsugumi pretends to play her mom and promises she won’t go anywhere. At least it made her feel better. Next morning, Nagi comes to Kakei’s place because her TV broke down and there is this show she really wants to watch. Yeah, she is making his place like her home. She asks if he and Tsugumi are dating. He thinks she is referring to yesterday’s incident. Nagi flusters as she wasn’t trying to say it directly. Kakei corrects her about the measurements for his cosplay but Nagi further misinterprets and won’t hear anymore from this pervert. Once Senri’s fever goes down, she reveals that she also got a mail from Shepherd 3 days ago, around the same time when they got theirs. Kana returns with Ureshino’s results and she is able to hack and reveal the position of where Shepherd is sending the mails. Looks like a very slum area. Inside this dilapidated apartment, to everyone’s surprise, it is empty. Completely deserted. It’s like nobody has been here for ages, eh?

Episode 4
When Kakei was young, the teachers weren’t enthusiastic in throwing a birthday party. Kakei on the other hand wanted to get it over with so he could read. Because Ureshino has lived up to the part of her deal (only to find the location and that’s it), it is time for them to live up to theirs. So everyone dresses up to hand out flyers. Mochizuki can’t find Kakei. Well, that’s because he is cross-dressed as a maid! OMG! I wonder if those guys really know who this maid is?! Yeah. I don’t even know how Tsugumi screwed up in making his outfit but we sure know that Kana and Tamamo had a hand in it. Senri comes by to thank Tsugumi for caring for her. However, Song Princess must be such a taboo word because the mere mention of it, the mood suddenly changes. She thinks Tsugumi is doing all that just because she is Song Princess. Upset, she runs away. Kakei goes after her and tells her to believe in Tsugumi’s good intentions. He points out he was once sceptical too but Tsugumi is different from others. Once Senri returns, Tsugumi goes into apologetic mode for being insensitive. Likewise, Senri too apologizes. Then somehow she joins the gang handing out flyers and attracts the crowd. I mean, who doesn’t love a maid with cat ears, no? Senri is invited to their club and she is amused by Giza despite this fat cat might be sexually harassing by showing its butt! With everybody rejoicing for Senri, once more Nagi comes in to warn them about being noisy and to her dismay, looks like this club got another member. Kana then invites everyone to go to the public bath together. Time for them to get close and know each other? More like her heater spoiled. Your usual folly of Kana fooling around and being pissed off with those with bigger boobs.

Nagi knows everyone has some sort of interest in Kakei by their reaction at just the mere mention of his name. She becomes cheeky and makes them sweat by telling them she has already been in his room, lives next door and can come over anytime. Well, they aren’t lies, right? And so some of our girls are sighing over this fact. Kana hooks up with Takamine either because she knows she has no chance with him or just to spite him. Either way it is not working. Tsugumi wants to speak to Kakei. Is she getting serious now? Actually the reason why she wants to change herself is because she has a younger sister, Sayori who is in hospital. She painted Shiomi Academy as a great school and this made her really want to come here. So as the lies kept piling on, she fears she will know the disappointing truth one day. Isn’t she the horrible girl? But Kakei sees her as a good girl because she is trying to make all those lies come true by the time Sayori is discharged. Everyone wants to help out because she is working hard. Next day when Kakei enters his clubroom, everyone pops a surprise birthday party. He has this feeling in his heart and then a vision of the library club enjoying happy times with him. He wants to know what this feeling is and hopes to look forward being with everyone for Golden Week. Tsugumi is so happy that she hugs him. Kakei never thought a day like this would come since this is the first time anybody celebrated his birthday from the bottom of their hearts. Kakei texts back to Shepherd about wanting to meet. Surprisingly a reply mail saying “When you figure out who I am, please come talk to me”.

Episode 5
The library club members are doing lots of odd jobs. Takamine can’t help but feel tired. Heck, they even become some sort of consultation group and students with all sorts of weird problems flock to them to seek an answer. Yeah. This school is full of problems, eh? When Nagi comes in, the girls didn’t remember who she is at first and took them a while. Nagi tells them the head librarian wants them to move out to another place because they’ve been using the room inappropriately. Kakei pleads for a chance and she gives them a grace period. So they try to clean up their reputation by picking litter? Mochizuki once more tries to tempt Kakei to join the student council noting that he has changed a lot. Did his members change him? Tamamo stays late to complete some administrative work. Kakei returns and sees her trying to answer weird personality questions about what kind of fish she is. She landed on non-fish types as she tries and tries again. She is happy when she gets an eel. Okay, so that technically counts. She is surprised that Kakei had been watching (I guess she was that engrossed in the questionnaire) that she slipped but Kakei catches her. Their face… Too close… Nothing happens… And it’s like they would satiate our disappointment by replacing it with Kakei sharing an umbrella with Tamamo (who is also putting on a disappointed face) as they walk home. Nagi meets a butler and he considers Kakei passing the preliminary exam. He tells her to stop playing around with the emails as her job is just to observe him. Although this does not disqualify her, at this rate she will not advance past being a Shepherd candidate. She must figure out what she lacks herself.

Nagi then goes over to hang out at Kakei’s room and asks him about his premonition ability. He explains ever since young, he would see a vision of a strange library. There is a magic book filled with letters he cannot read. This vision is what precedes when he sees someone’s future. Nagi teases to see hers. He thinks it won’t be that easy but suddenly he finds himself in a blank space and blocked by an invisible wall. Nagi calls it lame and leaves but in her heart, she laments he is able to see it. Kakei, Kana and Senri go round asking students about Shepherd. Surprisingly, these students are the ones who claimed to have seen Shepherd but now they don’t really remember it. When Kakei spots Nagi, he goes after her as he wants to clear up about last night. But he loses her and only a porn magazine is on the floor. WTF. This has the girls misinterpret. And when they tell the rest, you can see how much Tsugumi is shaking and spilling her tea. Something fishy and scandalous may be going on… Tamamo calls Kakei not for a date (how she’d wish) but to help her out on something. Kakei then hears Nagi speaking to somewhere at this late hour. He rushes over and forces his way in. A dark empty room with no furniture. He realizes she lies about living here. Based on his observations, with his friends and other students don’t remember her, he connects the dots that she is Shepherd. Now that the cat is out of the bag, Nagi admits she is the one who has been sending those emails. The butler congratulates Kakei for passing the preliminary exam and is here to take him to the magic library.

Episode 6
The butler is the one whom he gave the ticket. He is Nagi’s supervisor and Shepherd #771. People call him Nanai. He would like Kakei to be one of them. As Kakei is being taken to the magic library, Nanai explains how this ‘library’ is drifting in the realms of people’s unconscious and exists in everyone’s hearts. Only Shepherds can enter it. The magic library contains books of all the living people on Earth, their past and future. They read and support your future but somehow they end up focusing on those with greater influence on mankind. Naturally, Kakei still cannot read a single book so Nagi teases she is reading an exciting one. Till he teases her back and catches her off guard. He catches that book she drops and somehow could read it. Because it is of his own past. Nanai continues his explanation that his premonitions are the same thing. He has the power to fly into this library with his consciousness and probably peeked inside other people’s books without knowing. If he desires, he can be a resident of this magic library. However Kakei’s wish is just to come here. It’s not like he wants to help anybody. Nanai points out about his club and Happy Project. Didn’t he chance? Even if that is just doing odd jobs, Shepherds are no different and they do it for mankind. He points out he is already doing it as he saved Tsugumi from a mishap. Nanai introduces Nagi as a Shepherd trainee and has a learner’s permit. Once you have passed the second test, you will become a trainee and be able to read other books. Kakei wants some time to think this over. They return to his room. Nagi reminds him he can’t play favourites and has a natural aptitude for that. Ever since others joined the library club, he has neither gotten close to anyone of them. That level is just about right. That night Kakei thinks through. He didn’t help others because he wanted to. He just wanted to find out about this feeling and a peaceful world of his own where he can be alone. Nagi is frustrated that things are turning out like this. She starts thinking that if he dated someone, his chance of becoming a Shepherd candidate will reduced. Giza wanted to comfort her but he scared the sh*t out of her with his gentlemanly ways.

Kakei and Senri are in some gecko finding job (somebody lost their pet). A bug scares Senri as she hugs him. Senri’s friend, Miyu Serizawa is not thrilled to see this because it seems true that she skipped special classes just to fool around. Might as well leave school. Senri is hurt and runs away with Kakei closely following behind. I guess Senri wants to lose some steam so she flirts with Kakei and tries to seduce him to hang out somewhere. Unfortunately here comes Nagi and she puts it in an ambiguous way that Kakei is hers for the day. Senri tells the rest and they start panicking of their new level in relationship. Nagi shows Ureshino’s book. Seems her future is heading to where she would get hurt and she is forced to quit her job and do something she hates. An unhappy life. Their job is to prevent her from getting hurt. Nagi tells him to watch and learn as she counts the right tables and chairs to mess up one. As they hide, they see Ureshino picking it and then walking away. However Kakei sees a vision of her getting killed on her way back. Nagi panics as she thinks she might have miscalculated. Kakei quickly rushes to her and says some embarrassing magical girl line! “I’m gonna take a shot at your heart”???!!! OMFG! So lame that everyone just ‘froze’!!! Though it saves Ureshino, now that girl is upset and embarrassed as she takes out a machine gun and starts shooting him! Wait a minute. That is allowed?! Nagi is down that she messed up. If not for him, she would have failed. Kakei doesn’t view it as a big deal but Nagi is worried at this rate she won’t become a Shepherd. Kakei remembers Nanai telling another reason he chose him. It was written in his book although it is one of infinite number of futures. Kakei wonders if this is the path he must take after all since his entire life is nothing but loneliness and despair. Maybe it is so that he could become a Shepherd. Tsugumi is glad that nothing was going on with Kakei and Nagi. She mentions a heart shaped cookie she made, hinting about if 2 people eat with their eyes closed at the same time… Unfortunately Kakei already chows it down. Tsugumi falls into shock. But she is back up when Nagi throws in the good news that she has talked to the head librarian and they are allowed to stay thanks to the hard work they put in. Also, this is a favour to repay Kakei. Mochizuki is glad the library club gets to stay. Kakei better work hard at this after turning down her invitation. However the vice president, Aoi Takigawa is assessing Kakei’s activities and notes the library crush cannot be crushed yet.

Episode 7
The girls are trying to guess what kind of girl Kakei likes… No progress… Till Takamine steps on a landmine saying Kakei may be dating Nagi… Looks like they’ll have to ask him themselves. Kakei just came in at that moment so the girls are in a little panic. This has Tsugumi going up to him to go on a date with all of them this Sunday. EEEEEEHHHHH???!!! And come Sunday, he thought Nagi was playing his doorbell. Actually the library club girls are here. Disappointed they are not the Nagi you’re hoping for? Anyway he overslept thanks to late night reading and the girls aren’t too happy. They hang out in his room till they finally decide to go shopping. To their dismay, Nagi also joins in. Despite this looking like a harem date, there’ll be instances that Kakei will be left with a girl and the rest will be observing and commenting on their actions. Like Tamamo who has a very well planned out schedule on things to do but when it hits a snag, Kakei is flexible enough to accommodate. Then there is the dancing video game challenge between Senri and Nagi. Senri sprained her ankle so Kakei helps bandage it up. They take a photo in a booth and she teases him about couples kissing here to make him put up that shock face just before the camera snaps. Also, Kana enjoys talking and shopping books with him. But the date is cut short when Nagi says it is time for some Shepherd work. Tsugumi’s fate will change thanks to some otaku guy passing by. No, he didn’t turn into a stalker but he was captivated by Tsugumi’s beauty and created a perfect love doll model that becomes famous internationally. Do you want that to happen to her? Yeah, Nagi doesn’t even know what a love doll is till Kakei explained… Now you know, do you?

The plan to stave off this otaku is for Kakei to call Tsugumi and then hug her like a lover! Shocking! The otaku gets scared and walks away. This doesn’t sit well with the other girls. But let’s bring back Tsugumi to the ground before we continue, shall we? Nagi admits that they set this up because it feels like they’re hiding something so they do this to test their reaction. Busted. Guilty reaction. Especially Tsugumi who is the worst liar. They show to him an anonymous email about a girl who likes Kakei but doesn’t know the girl type he likes and thus the quartet tried dating him to find out. Of course Takamine is the one upset from it all because he wasn’t invited… Kakei is shocked that nobody remembers Shepherd, the reason why they are doing this in the first place. But after checking their emails, they come to remember. Later Kakei confronts Nagi about this. She admits she was the one who sent the email but his point is if he becomes a Shepherd, everyone will forget about him. Looks like he caught on. Everyone has a book in the magic library but Shepherds do not. Once a human becomes a Shepherd, their book will be erased. That is why Shepherds don’t remain in human memories or have life spans. She lectures him about the fairytale idea of helping out mankind without any sort of repercussion. Of course when you have great powers… Let’s just say such great powers aren’t for free. Kakei is in a dilemma as he can’t stop thinking about the girls. But Nagi says he better withdraw as a candidate if he wants to continue being with them. Is Nagi okay with this? Yes. She has prepared to throw away everything since she wants to make the world a better place. He is sad he will forget about her too. This struck her heart as she tries to hold back her tears. She turns back and kisses him. He’ll forget about this too. So sad…

Episode 8
Kakei helps Kana recite lines for a beach play. But when he mentions it is not like her to be uncertain, this brings back some traumatic memories. All goes well in this beach play which is some twisted version of the Emperor’s Clothing. It gets even twisted when Kana slips and crashes into Kakei and co. This means Tamamo’s top is off and they beat him up for it, causing the stage background to be destroyed. Kana feels down for the play being a failure. She tries to return to her cheery self but ends up slipping. If not for Kakei there catching her… When Senri gives her a back massage, she asks if Kana likes Kakei. She mentions she doesn’t have the right to have someone like her back but is glad the library club accepted her for who she is. Senri whispers she likes Kana too so Kana teases her back and wants to go yuri. That’s a joke, right? Some small club seeks the library club’s help about some main stage appearance for the school’s festival. Kakei goes to talk to the student council. Aoi is unaccommodating but Mochizuki is kinder and will see what she can do. It is suggested that instead of waiting for the student council to move, they should do something about it. However Kana is sceptical and worries it will fail. When Takamine points out she isn’t being herself, she tries to act her cheery self that she forgot she was holding Giza (she is allergic to cats). When Kakei goes to check on her, he knows she is trying too hard because the Kana he knows is better at hiding it. He thinks she is still bothered by that event. But Kana says it back to him that he too isn’t acting like himself. I mean, up till now he was pretending not to notice, right? And thus Kakei is once again in a dilemma. If he becomes a Shepherd, he could read Kana’s book but then again, what will be of their memories? When Kana didn’t show up at the clubroom, they think she is still reeling from it. Tsugumi suggests writing another play for her.

Tamamo has been hiding in the bushes just so that she can ‘coincidentally’ pop up to show Kakei some email from Shepherd about the elimination of the library club. He talks to Nagi about it but it seems she wasn’t the one who sent it. Because Kakei’s mind is still undecided on being a Shepherd, she mocks him to worry all he wants. Like Kana. Knowing he will easily panic, she continues teasing him of giving that kiss again. Nope. She bites his nose! Then she tells him if he wants to talk to Kana, try it at some hill before daybreak. Kakei meets Kana as she explains her past in a hypothetical way. She and her friend were in some group of friends. She was the clown at the whims of the ‘queen’. When her friend is tossed away, Kana went to help her but was kicked out. Sadly her friend chose to return to that group and took her spot as a clown. She felt sad and decided to go alone till she met a place with wonderful friends. But she remained scared and didn’t want to make waves and just wanted to have fun. As they accepted her for who she is, she is afraid of not knowing her true self anymore and because she doesn’t want to lose that place, she continues this little charade of hers. And so Kakei with lots of words of encouragement, don’t give up, his feelings will never change, always be by your side, etc. This brings Kana to tears as they hug. Kana returns to normal as she hopes for her friends to write another script. Senri ‘lectures’ her about worrying too much about what others think and just do what she wants. No one here will hate her. She hints if she continues tricking herself, she will take Kakei for herself. Ah, can’t hide that little panic there, can’t she? But the happiness doesn’t last long as Senri’s teacher barges in after looking for her. She chides her for running away from her lessons and since the summer competition is almost here, there is no time to waste. Quit fooling around and quit this damn club.

Episode 9
However Senri won’t quit the club and brings her teacher out of the room. She apologizes for the disturbances but Tamamo lashes out at her. Despite Senri claiming she is practising enough, but when a teacher comes in like that, there is a problem. She doesn’t want Senri to waste such good opportunity. Senri is not pleased and runs away. As usual, Kakei goes after her but Nagi picks him up. She points out Senri’s life is at the crossroads now. At this rate she might quit singing forever and the question is how long she is going to drag this. She wants him to leave Senri’s case to her. Kakei sees Senri singing alone beautifully at a closed bar. But she stops and coughs. He gently strokes her back and says she doesn’t have to keep singing. She explains she comes here to practice but doesn’t know why she is singing anymore. When she was young, she used to love singing. She and Serizawa were friends and they entered the same competition. However Senri was told if Serizawa loses this time, she will quit singing forever. Thus Senri didn’t sing her best but still ended up the winner. Her distraught friend wasn’t happy she didn’t give her best. After losing her friend, she got the title Song Princess. She was alone. She thought coming to Shiomi would change something but it’s the same. Now it feels painful to sing. Kakei tells her to stop in that case. What is the point if she is forcing herself and painful? The library club doesn’t care about stuffs like that. Kakei tells the rest that Senri’s decision to quit singing but assures them to leave this to him. Nagi confronts him about this so he tells her to leave it to him and she should just do what she wants. Like she could. Kakei is in an outing with Mochizuki. I don’t know how this is arranged but she is enjoying feeding him ice cream. Unknown to them, pictures of them are being taken. In fact, this stalker has lots of pictures of Mochizuki. She is no other than Aoi. She edits and replaces Kakei’s face with hers!!! OMFG! She gets an email from Shepherd as she promises to make Shiomi the best school ever.

Sayori teases Tsugumi on which guy she likes an inadvertently helps her out in naming their activity for the school’s festival, Minafes. Kana talks to Senri and says those same words right back at her that nobody will hate her. Just do what you want. Tamamo talks to Kakei and feels sorry for lashing out at Senri. She reveals her dream was to become an artist but she gave it up because her parents strongly opposed it. That’s why she wanted Senri to work hard as she is different from her and wants to support her. Tamamo gets another email from Shepherd saying the Shepherd will not allow people like them all. When Senri asks Kakei if it is okay to have this much fun, he reveals he can read books of people’s future and hers is a bright one. She thinks it’s a bad joke and has him close his eyes so she can stamp a seal on his forehead. What were you hoping? Serizawa confronts Kakei because there are rumours that Senri has quit singing. Is this true? He hints to her about the canary who forgot how to sing. And now Nagi confronts him because at this rate Senri will become an ordinary student and her rare talent would be a waste. He suggests giving her more time and wonders why she is in such a hurry. But she is not happy and scolds him like he knows everything. Nanai appears before him and congratulates him of passing the second test. Now it is up to him if he wants to become a Shepherd. As he is brought to the magic library, Kakei asks about the anonymous mails from Shepherd. There are many other Shepherds. As for Nagi being in a hurry, he notes at this rate she won’t become a Shepherd. Although she is competent, it is the matter of her feelings. If she doesn’t figure it out, she won’t pass. He shows him Nagi’s book where it is sealed. If it is returned, she will live a normal life, even if that isn’t the path she would choose herself. When Kakei looks into it, he sees young Nagi calling him her big brother! Nagi takes away the book, not liking him peeking into it. But what can be seen cannot be unseen. Because now that Kakei has realized it, Nagi is his little sister.

Episode 10
With a cutesy little sister act, Nagi moves into Kakei’s room. Siblings need to stay together, right? As for why Kakei couldn’t remember her as his sister, it is because she was only his sister for 3 months. Confused? Before his dad disappeared and the ‘family’ crumbled, Nagi is actually his step sister from one of dad’s many wives. So many that Kakei couldn’t remember which one! Nagi was always playing alone and this made the house servants pick on her. Of course Kakei couldn’t watch it and somehow protected her. While Nagi is in the bath, Tsugumi makes a surprise visit. After all that stammering, she blurts it out. She wants him to be her boyfriend! Turns out it is because she told Sayori so and thus Kakei comes to the hospital with Tsugumi to meet her. Sayori is very polite and hopes he would take care of her sister. This causes Tsugumi to fluster so much that she accidentally pressed the nurse button. While she gets scolded, Sayori reveals to Kakei that she knows they’re just pretending. In fact, she knows everything she says about Shiomi was just to make her feel better. She also thanks him because of him, her sister is less of an introvert now. As they leave, Tsugumi wants to visit his home. Immediately he grabs all of Nagi’s stuffs and puts her outside the balcony! Just a stray cat… Tsugumi is here to cook for him and since not all of Nagi’s stuffs were ‘cleaned out’, he has a hard time hiding them but thankfully Tsugumi is a blur case. Blur enough that she doesn’t realize it is Nagi who is sending her another Shepherd email prank about her cooking. As the library club members discuss the Minafes, Tsugumi gets a good news call that Sayori can be discharged early.

So that day when another ring at Kakei’s door, Nagi doesn’t want to be left out and decides to spice things up by greeting those at the door. It is Tsugumi and Sayori. Hmm… Kakei with another girl. Care to explain? Ironically it is Sayori that is putting her foot down since Tsugumi is too shy. As he explains Nagi is his sister, Sayori feels it is the poorest excuse. Even Tsugumi is breaking down. Because if she is his little sister, why is she the same grade? It doesn’t add up, buster. This causes Sayori to get strict in telling Tsugumi that she knows the couple thingy is a lie but her feelings for Kakei isn’t. So worked up that it causes her body to go into meltdown. Collapsed. Oh sh*t. This is real. Tsugumi panics. Kakei begs to Nagi to use her powers to take Sayori to the hospital. Nagi and Sayori vanish before their eyes. Sayori is fine at the hospital although her mind is still a bit hazy. This has Kakei confess to Tsugumi that he and Nagi are Shepherds among other stuffs. Once his identity is revealed, there is some awkwardness between them. She wonders if he is going away. He says he isn’t except that everyone will forget about him. But to Tsugumi, that is the same as going away and she wants him to stay because she likes him… In a human being kind of sense. Oh, really? But their awkwardness has to be put aside for now since Kana and Senri come running to them with a crisis. Their club has been ‘taken over’. Seems this bunch of boys claim they are from the library club and have joined last year. Kakei remembers them only as ghost members. Now they’re showing up to do proper activities? Besides, they just elected a president among themselves and tell Kakei and his harem to leave (remember, they aren’t official club members). All this might be the doing of Aoi since she has an email that says Shepherd will not allow his existence.

Episode 11
Our library club members have to grit their teeth and get out. There is nothing they can do. It seems Aoi is indeed behind this. Kakei believes that she isn’t just helping those guys get back their club but rather must have enticed them with something. Aoi shows an email from Shepherd that she will reach greater heights by facing off with them. She wants to make this school a better place and believes this will lead her to it. Of course everyone is sad and mad that their plans are derailed. But as Kakei puts it, they still have each other. They only lost a clubroom. This has everyone motivated to do their best. But it is going to be uphill because the student council advertises on their webpage about some great symposium and has invited famous alums to the talk. It clashes with their Minafes so there are some calling wanting a refund to attend this. Suddenly Kakei receives a horrible vision that Tsugumi will die at Minafes. This has him think that he wants to become a Shepherd since Tsugumi’s life is at stake. Nagi reveals that only one of them can become a Shepherd, the reason why she was trying to get in his way. She thought if she hooks up with one of them, he wouldn’t have to be one. So they head to see Nanai about Kakei’s decision. Kakei says he doesn’t want to be like his father who didn’t do anything when he needed him most. If there is a way to save someone, that is what he will choose. Nanai takes out Kakei’s book and erases it. When Tsugumi is talking to Tamamo, suddenly she cannot remember moments with Kakei. Heck, because it is like she senses her special memories of him missing, she panics that she is going to forget him. But then it shows she didn’t forget him, right? She runs over to his place worried he is gone but thankfully he isn’t. Surprised she can sense this, he lies that she is over-thinking but she isn’t convinced. She really doesn’t want to forget those precious memories with him and wants him to tell the truth. How do you get a guy to come clean? You kiss him! And what a long kiss it is… What happens next is best left to our imagination. We think…

Tsugumi wants him to take her along to be a Shepherd. But is she willing to have others forget her? Of course not. What about him? He wants to check something. If he can make someone happy, it is prove all that loneliness and despair was for nothing. But Tsugumi rationalizes that if he can’t be happy without becoming a Shepherd, then he didn’t believe in Happy Project. She hates Shepherds. She hates him for becoming one. And Kakei thinks it is for the best because eventually she will forget him so the pain will be less. Kakei gets an emergency call from Kana about Senri. He rushes over to her place only to see it decorated like a love hotel?! What’s this?! Senri dressed up as a nurse seducing him?! You lucky bastard! If one isn’t enough, here is Kana the Playboy bunny to add to the fun! Good thing Kakei is able to resist the temptation and wants to know what’s going on. Seems based on Kana’s lazy research on the internet, feminine seduction is a way to prevent him from leaving. And then a call from Tamamo screaming off her head to get his ass down here right now. There is an article of that picture whereby Mochizuki is feeding Kakei. It states he has agreed to join the student council for Minafes to be recognized. Everybody calms down once Kakei explains this is a ruse by Aoi. As Kakei still has no luck in finding a change in Tsugumi’s future, Senri comes to see him and wants to sing for Minafes. She has him close his eyes as she pecks his forehead. With Nagi releasing rumours to the journalism club about Senri’s singing, it soon everyone is excited to hear this news. Serizawa even interviews her for it as Senri requests her to be the emcee for Minafes. Aoi isn’t fazed with their comeback because the more they struggle, the more it proves she is right. More despair for Kakei because no matter what he tries, Tsugumi’s future still remains bleak…

Episode 12
As Minafes begins, it is packed to the brim whereas the symposium is just barely filling up the seats. Kana and Senri beg Kakei to give them a reward after everything but Tamamo puts her foot down that there is no time to be fooling around. But this is just for her so that she could hint about giving him a reward after this. What is this double standard? Later Kakei catches Aoi in the act of trying to rig and sabotage the stage equipment. He and Nagi pin her down as he tells her what she is doing will have her end up as a murderer. But all the screws are loose as the equipment starts to fall. Tsugumi is below. Her fate is sealed? Kakei uses his power to teleport the equipment away. Aoi starts lashing out in frustration about her goal and thus the need to eliminate useless people or else the school will be ruined. She is also upset that Mochizuki likes a guy like him. When she realizes, she has blurted this entire thing right on stage in front of everyone at the symposium. Sh*t hits the fan. Mochizuki has no choice but to tell her off especially her way of doing things. She has been watching her but never done anything in hopes she would realize it herself. Nagi realizes all this is part of Shepherd’s plan for her to lose. Sometimes it is not just winning but one can learn from the battle itself. Later Nanai talks to Kakei and Nagi. He is not pleased Kakei used his power in public when he is supposed to help them from the shadows. Kakei believes this is the only way to save Tsugumi’s life. He also takes responsibility for it all and dragged Nagi into this. Nagi also agrees with Kakei’s way because this is what she would have done too. Nanai will make both of them Shepherds or else he can’t erase them from the memories of other people. Nagi thought their qualifications as Shepherd have been revoked but there is no need for that when one has decided to make people happy. Nanai reminds Kakei that they have their rules on doing things but since he won’t change the way he thinks, Nanai views he is not qualified to be a Shepherd. Since his book is erased, he is simply an existence people forget. Kakei has no regrets.

By the time it is library club’s turn to go on stage, Kakei is missing so Takamine is made to take his role. Tsugumi is grateful for Kakei becoming a Shepherd for had he not, she would have died. She feels sorry for saying she hates him and hopes he returns. Before the finale, Tsugumi goes out to give her speech. Nervous as usual, but once she gets into her groove, it is the usual speech of encouragement, cooperation and moving on. You know, they started out as a small group to make this school a happy place, they’re weak and have experienced tough times but when they put their strength together, they overcome the obstacles and move forward. She hopes everyone could walk together with them. The crowd gives her a standing ovation and unwavering support. Mochizuki has Aoi hear all this and hopes she learns something. It is time for the final performance with Senri taking the stage. At the backstage, Kakei returns to Tsugumi and mentions he is fired as a Shepherd. He wasn’t cut out for the job anyway. But for Tsugumi, it doesn’t matter what happen to the book because what is important is that she won’t forget him. Emotionally clinging on to him, she hopes he could walk forward with them. His magic bookmark disappears. All is not lost since Kakei’s book reappears in Nanai’s hands. Aoi repents and apologizes to the library with all her heart. Kakei is surprised to see Nagi moving in next door with real stuffs. She has been appointed as the Shepherd in charge of Shiomi. That’s a good thing, right? But why does Kakei looked so surprised? And with his library club members coming by, Nagi is going to play a little prank on them…

Special 1
In this picture drama that lasts almost 10 minutes, we see Tamamo having Tsugumi as a model. As she sketches her, we hear Tamamo describing all the good body parts and we too have a glimpse of those good parts but short of anything that would be considered ecchi. As they take a break, Tsugumi sees the drawing and is shocked to see a sketch of her naked body! Tamamo tries to explain herself like how she wanted to sketch her body but the clothes got in the way, etc. However Tsugumi knows she isn’t that kind of girl and allows her to do it if she wants to. So in the next round, Tsugumi is stripped completely naked as Tamamo continues admiring her great body and skin. All that embarrassment soon turns into love that turns into lust… OMFG! Tamamo can’t hold it anymore! She is going to yuri rape Tsugumi! YURI RAPE HER!!! So what she confesses she always liked her all the while, because all I see his RAAAAAAAAAAAPE!!!!!!!! Turns out it was a just a dream from Tsugumi as she fell asleep while Tamamo was sketching her. I knew it… But when she looks at her sketch and sees the naked body, isn’t this exactly like her dream? Which means, reality may turn out the same as well? Holy sh*t!

Your Heart An Open Book: A Baa-d Thing?
So uhm… That’s it? Kakei gets fired and isn’t going to be a Shepherd anymore? How will he continue to save lives then? Does this mean he cannot see the future anymore and thus not be able to change it? Well, let us look on the bright side. At least we have Nagi around. Plus, with everybody in the library club loving Kakei so much, it would be just tad sad to erase him from everybody’s memories. I mean, nobody thinks about Nagi that much, right? :(. So yeah. All is well, ends well.

Although the concept of Shepherds and the magic library is interesting (including the part where a book of a person’s life and fate are represented by infinite tree-like branches), there are some things that I just don’t get. I mean, the concept of Shepherd itself seems to be widely known by almost everyone. Whether or not they truly understand the role or what a Shepherd is, but it seems that you know, it is like something similar to everyone knowing about Santa Claus. In the final episode we hear Mochizuki asking Kakei and Nagi if they were Shepherds although she stops short of interrogating them this instant. As well as Sayori who knows very much about Shepherd and what they do because she wants to be like them too. So, isn’t this Shepherd thing not really a big secret after all?

Plus, the concept of them not existing from people’s memories feels inconsistent. Take for Nagi’s case as an example. Although people don’t really remember her, after a while and a few constant reminders by the one who did, then they start to recall who she is and the memories come flooding back. In the long run based on this concept (I think), they should at least forget earlier interactions with her. But it seems they remember her right from the start when they first met as that annoying librarian who constantly comes barging in to remind them to keep it down. And oddly too, when Kakei temporarily became a Shepherd, shouldn’t he be erased from everyone’s mind? Because from the way I see it, his club members still remember him like as though he was there all the while and the mind boggling part is how Tsugumi actually could sense she is going to forget him! Talk about being dramatic and ironic. So really, I don’t quite understand how this memory erasing thing works. But I have a vague feeling of how it works because there are times myself when I felt that something was done by someone but couldn’t put my finger on it. I’m sure we all have experienced such moments. So Shepherds are like mythical beings like Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy and the Sandman? Who knows? Not like we can remember them anyway.

I thought they were going to do some sort of ‘harem elimination’ when they start it late. Harem elimination? You know, the case whereby they focus an episode on a girl with our male lead to resolve whatever issues they have. It is like to satiate fans of that particular girl and have a mini route for her before they hit the guy off with the so called main girl. That is why I thought this was happening when they started off with Kana followed by Senri. I am not sure if Nagi after that is considered but by the time the revelation and confession of things, we don’t have time for Tamamo! So she doesn’t get an episode for herself? Well, maybe that is why throughout the duration of the series, we see short clips of her giving us the big hint that she likes Kakei. Therefore perhaps if you sum up all those suspiciously small parts, it may add up as good as if she had an episode herself.

Thus romance wise, it is just hinting and not very deep. We know every girl likes him from their reactions and thinking. Even more obvious when Nagi teases them about her relationship with Kakei vaguely. It gets them really worried-cum-worked-up. It tells a lot even if they don’t say it. They wouldn’t even pass the qualifying rounds of a love poker game. If that ever exists. While I noticed Senri is the most daring of the lot as she is bold to get up real close to Kakei, I feel Nagi’s actions are just of the teasing type and leaning more towards tsundere. Tamamo also feels a bit tsundere although she tends to get jealous easily. It goes without saying that introvert Tsugumi is the most obvious one when it comes down to it. She becomes stiff, nervous and ‘broken’ if you bring up this topic. Easily written all over her. But ever since Kana and Senri’s issues were ‘resolved’, they have become even closer friends to a point where you think yuri is possible. It just might happen. More likely in the event if Kakei chooses some other girl…

Not forgetting Mochizuki whom I feel also has feelings for Kakei. Otherwise, why be persistent in bugging him to join the student council? She also does certain things within her power for his sake. So is she an unofficial member of the ‘harem’? Because if she likes him that much, she would have just quit the student council and joined the library club. Then again, that would be irresponsible and besides, the newer members of the library club are unofficial. Can’t do something against the rules, right? It would be great if Mochizuki could be ‘admitted into the harem’ but I guess you need a girl or two who is neither in nor out of the harem for ambiguity sakes.

I am not sure if Kakei also realizes if the girls do have feelings of him because as we know, he has shown his observation skills. He might be just pretending not to notice and that goal of finding this feeling is just an excuse to cover it up. Or maybe it is because he is just like any other guy when it comes to love because guys are just oblivious in this department. Hey, not everybody is perfect. He might be the best observer in the world but that doesn’t mean he is perfect in observing everything in detail.

The characters themselves feel a bit bland and nothing extraordinary. Because you have Kakei like your typical male lead, despite claiming he is just doing stuffs for himself and seemingly aloof, he helps the girls out whenever he can. It is like he is contradicting himself and being hypocrite. The ‘varied’ girls in the harem consists of a shy introvert, a serious and strict hard worker, a popular singer, an energetic and lively ‘entertainer’, as well as the girl-next-door who often teases-cum-tsundere. Not forgetting other side characters filling the shoes of other tropes like the other best buddy guy, student council president, the real little sister who is also the eternally sick girl, the mysterious cute loli and the zealous misguided b*tch (looking at you, Aoi). As usual, most of them have their dark past and issues but as far as I can see in this anime, they’re just scratching the surface. So it is hardly any deep development except that the library club members gradually grow closer to each other to the point that they see each other as vital and necessary in their activities. It is hard to say if Tsugumi has made great progress over her introvert as we don’t know how shy she is in the first place and over the course of the series she still stammers and hesitates from time to time. But it’s safe to say that it is better than before. Heck, now she can go on stage and do public speaking.

Something tells me that Takamine is just like all supporting buddies in such genres. His role is reduced to something minor that it is like a running joke. Comic relief character? Not even his final scene of taking over Kakei’s main role elevates this ‘status’ because it feels it doesn’t make a difference. Yeah, the play isn’t so important, right? Also, when the girls discuss among themselves, it is like they ignore he ever existed in the same space with them. His only solace is Giza whom I am not sure if that fat cat shares the same sentiments. Speaking of Giza, I suppose he is the anime’s mascot but at the same time he is some sort like a comic relief character. Every time he gets a few seconds of screen time, you tend to hear him say short sentences in an old grandpa’s voice and sometimes putting on that troll face looks like as though he is trolling us all or something. I thought he might be just more than a lazy fat cat bumming around and could be related to the Shepherd or something but I might be just reading too much…

And yes, personally I think Ureshino is the best character in the series because of not only her cheerful appearance and mysterious background (I mean, a genius loli hacker?) but some of her punch lines like that smile really costing a bomb if you really want it to go as extra with your food (I guess there really is no such thing as a free lunch in this sense) and the ‘winning moment’ when she took out a machine gun to shoot at Kakei for doing the most embarrassing thing ever in public. I think I would do that too if I were her.

Just like any other adult visual novel games adapted into anime, the art and drawing feels pretty generic. So much so I thought I have seen certain characters from somewhere. For instance, I thought Kana and Tamamo were Infinite Stratos’ Cecilia and Houki respectively. Mochizuki looks a bit like Princess Feena from Yoake Mae Yori Ruriiro Na and strangely Senri has the uncanny resemblance to Nagato of Suzumiya Haruhi No Yuutsu’s fame as well as Serizawa looking like Saki’s Nodoka. Ureshino’s hat always reminds me of Da Capo or President Aria from Aria The Animation. Guys like Kakei look typically like your lead male guy and Takamine stereotypically like the buddy for the male protagonist. Yeah, blame me for watching too many animes. For some unknown reasons, I do not know why at first when I looked at the characters, their design reminds me of those in Hidamari Sketch. This anime is produced not by SHAFT but Hoods Entertainment whose many works are of the ecchi genre like Seikon No Qwaser, Manyuu Hikenchou, Vanquished Queens, Aki Sora and Kagaku No Yatsura. Since they also did Kanojo Ga Flag Wo Oraretara and Fantasista Doll, maybe that is why the cuteness of the girls is reflected in this anime.

The opening is On My Sheep by Mitsuki Nakae and the ending theme is Aozora To Green Belt by Hagumi Nishizawa. They sound like generic anime pop and nothing special that attracts me. The next episode preview is my favourite segment because it consists of short funny clips from the characters talking to each other. For example when Tsugumi asks Kakei on what he will be doing for Golden Week. He’ll be reading. And then read. Followed by more reading. And more reading and reading and reading and reading! Or when Kana coaxes Tamamo to make that fox sound and get jiggy with it only to her embarrassment to find Kakei is around. Then there is Senri playing with Giza with a cattail S&M style (?!), Takamine ranting of his unkind and ignored treatment in the library club (don’t worry, at least you’re still useful as the club’s gopher) and Mochizuki lamenting about Kakei not joining the student council maybe because there are more cute girls and fun in the library club. But the thought that he might just be pretending to be a good guy and date multiple girls at once gives ‘hope’ to her that she may have a chance. May…

On a trivial note, I am tempted to make a few sheep, lamb and shepherd puns because I feel there is a play on words between hitsuji (sheep) and shitsuji (butler). Do you see the vague connection of Shepherds in this anime? Combine them and they could be called baa-tler! Hah! If Kakei becomes the Shepherd and his harem girls are his little lambs, can this association be called a RELATION-SHEEP?! Kakei is adamant in wanting to help others to the point that he doesn’t mind being forgotten. That’s really SHEAR determination. No? Tsugumi’s shy and introvert nature… Doesn’t that make her SHEEPISH? Remember, a library is a quiet place to read books so keep silent and stay SHHHHHHeep! And finally with that ending, is that all’s wool, ends wool? Sorry if you find some of the jokes lame and baa-d. But is it worth to contin-ewe? HAHA! XD! Okay, I stop right now. Let’s get moo-ving on… ;p.

Overall, this anime is just one of the many okay types in my books (ironically, I don’t read any books!). Nothing too fancy, nothing too deep. Just enough to keep you company for this sort of genre for the time being till the next one. So it goes to show that reading despite is still a very good habit, but not all of life’s experiences can be found in books. There needs to be a fair share of that as well as interaction from other people to help learn, grow and move forward. You know, all that basic stuffs. Because if you noticed, Kakei didn’t learn all that from his books, right? There are no books or classes that will provide you the greatest lesson in life unlike firsthand experience. Therefore books aren’t everything. Hah. A new excuse for me to not take up one.

I’m wondering why it took so long to come out but I think there is no other better way than to remind us of an upcoming sequel by releasing an OVA weeks before it. Yes, people. And so you might have heard it a long time ago that with High School DxD getting a third season, we get High School DxD New OVA (which is also the 13th episode of the second season) as a big bonus to welcome the new season (which is in the midst of running by the time of this blog). Ah yes. Delicious fanservice. Delicious boobs. I know this is one of the few ecchi animes that has a good storyline despite the ecchi theme but I am sure they are the reason why we come back for more. That is why we get a third season… :).

I’m Enveloped In Boobs!
Right off the bat, Asia is being attacked by a perverted monster stealing her undies. And those are her favourite. Our usual heroes come to her rescue but the obligatory tentacle rape scene is a must for the girls. Before Issei could do anything (because that pervert is enjoy watching it all), Irina cuts them down and destroys the monster. As she explains, she is investigating the person controlling the monster. The church believes the Legendary Sage is behind this and wants him arrested. Rias is baffled that someone of such status is being pursued by the church. Isn’t this case is just like catching a panty thief? The gang head deep into a building where this Sage is believed to be. They see him collecting a range of lingerie and picks out those with the finest quality! They confront him and he isn’t worried. He even got the cheek to ask them to donate their lingerie for his experiment. Then he starts narrating his story how he was a man of God and served the Lord, blah, blah, blah. Then one day he accidentally touched the boobs of a nun and that is when his life started to change. He became distraught something so beautiful was forbidden but some angel who called himself the Ero God gave his blessings that it is alright for him to steal female lingerie. And so that is when he began his experimenting. Issei is touched with his story and understands. He reveals his great ability to rip girls’ clothes with just a mere touch. But Sage calls it pathetic. He demonstrates he can rip it apart without touching and even see through clothes with his x-ray vision. Issei is defeated and feels there is much to learn! Azazel drops in and won’t let them disrupt Sage’s experiment. Because this guy is the closest in creating the Philosopher’s Stone, he wants to observe until the end.

After aligning all the lingerie, he starts chanting and with the ‘boost aid’ of a porn magazine, he tries to merge with the lingerie. Yeah, no wonder the church wants him arrested. It is embarrassing to have a man of God doing this. However the process falls apart and Sage notes he needs more boost. How about the girls show him their panties? How about using his x-ray vision? He can’t as he is in intense concentration. Issei pleads for the girls to show him! Koneko shows Gasper’s and Sage becomes shocked seeing the trap. The process goes out of control and he turns into a giant bundle of lingerie. He’s got the power to rip their clothes and make their bras like magnet. This means the chicks are drawn to each other and start rubbing each other’s bodies. Sexy fanservice! Yuuto and Gasper could have done something had not lingerie cover their eyes. Issei is busy enjoying this scene. Irina tries to cut him down but got her clothes ripped. She is not wearing any underwear beneath because Sage previously stole hers. He notes her lingerie was the finest and was used as the base of his magic. Irina won’t forgive this humiliation (the reason whys she volunteered on this mission). Sage uses the bra as handcuffs so Rias tells Issei to do something instead of staring. I don’t he is giving much effort in thinking to solve this. Rias suggests showing male underwear as Sage doesn’t like it. Issei unzips himself but Sage won’t let him and has all the girls glomp him in their breasts. This is what heaven must feels like.

Sage soon gets jealous that Issei is the one getting his face drowned in so many boobs instead of him. Issei then stands back up to tell him if this is just what he wants? To become lingerie? Because what is more important lies beneath it. Yeah, he is waxing lyrical about boobs and all the goodness about it. Somebody arrest this nut too. Sage feels he has been wrong all the time. So now his eyes are opened? Azazel feels disappointed that this has got nothing to do with the Philosopher’s Stone and hints to Issei to end this. Before him are lingerie and the girls trapped in it are as good as wearing them. It’s time to use his special skill. With a single punch, he frees the ladies as well as Sage. He is arrested and has final words for Issei. He doesn’t want him to deviate from his chosen path and will someday conquer that path himself. Wanting Issei to inherit his legacy, he gives him his lingerie collection. Shouldn’t those be given back to their rightful owners? Rias lets him keep them temporarily as reward for working hard. She phrases it as a huge inconvenience returning them and needs a volunteer to handle them. Seriously?! Lingerie party!

Boobs All Around!
Fanservice doesn’t disappoint… Lingerie don’t disappoint… Boobs don’t disappoint… Tits don’t disappoint… Character development and storyline progression… Don’t care! As long as they got those holy trinity covered, everything is fine in this OVA! Haha! It is already indecent so might as well go all the way. That should sum it up for this OVA. So are you ready now for the third season now that this little OVA has whetted your appetite? I’m sure those who are looking forward to would. Fan of this series would welcome this OVA a lot, ecchi haters should stay clear from it and for beginners, it is much advised to start right at the top (from the first season to its OVA and specials). If you are going to be ‘corrupted’ by the show’s fanservice, might as well do it properly instead of being half-assed. Don’t worry, you can still go to heaven even if you harbour dirty thoughts ;p. Despite how this OVA is telling us that it is okay to do this to boobs and underwear, as long those fantasies are confined in your head, it is just fine. Because remember people, stealing lingerie is still a crime no matter what the excuse!

The nameless assassin is back… Wait a minute! WAIT A MINUTE! I thought we were done with this chuunibyou thing?! Why the heck is it brought back up? Well actually, it is not that Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai got a third season or anything. Because the main character of this show, Inou Battle Wa Nichijou-kei No Naka De also ‘suffers’ from this chuunibyou syndrome, I guess it brought back those unwanted-cum-embarrassing memories. And I thought I would be done with it once that second season of that anime ends but they had to make me remember it again. Oh dear… Oh my… Some things will never leave your past. Ever.

So we have an abundance of high school romance comedy harem animes throughout the years. Each trying to stand out on its own. Some making it, some pretty memorable, some just decent while others fail so badly that they never had another season and faded into obscurity and into the back of our memories. Heh. So what else is there to make this genre stand out? Why not make your chicks have a unique super power each? That’s it! A super power high school romance comedy harem. No people, it’s not going to be as epic as you think like an alternate world of Superman owning Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Raven and Hawkgirl. It’s about a group of high school students of a club one day suddenly for unknown reasons developing super powers and thus their normal days are now filled with super power battles and other activities. Super power is now the norm and part of their everyday lives. Wow. This is sure going to take the catfight to the next super power level.

Episode 1
When Tomoyo Kanzaki enters the literature club, she is not thrilled that Jurai Andou is acting out one of his chuunibyou about his right hand (I hope there isn’t any sexual innuendo thing here). They make a bet and when Hatoko Kushikawa enters, she takes it seriously and tries to call an ambulance for his pain. Not funny anymore. Andou is forced to apologize. He tries to make it even real next time (with blood?) but turns out loli Chifuyu Himeki walks in and almost scares the sh*t out of her to a point where she is going to cry! Nothing is worse than a crime of making a loli cry. Once club president Sayumi Takanashi is here, Andou continues with his chuunibyou charade. Suddenly light is emitted from his hands. Cool special effects. Wait. This is for real. What the heck is happening? It is getting brighter… Six months later, Andou doesn’t change. The same chuunibyou act. The same unconvinced face by Tomoyo. The same gullible mode by Hatoko. Once the 5 of them are here, they are to initiate their monthly super power check up. In an alternate dimension, we see Chifuyu and Hatoko engaging in a super power battle. They are so focused that neither side is giving up. Andou explains to us of Chifuyu’s power to create anything that comes to mind and Hatoko’s absolute control over all elements. As this match is making no headway, it is Tomoyo’s turn to stop them. The duo find themselves back in the clubroom. Again as Andou explains, Tomoyo’s power is to manipulate time although she can only stop or hasten it. While time was stopped, she carried the duo back. As for Sayumi, her power is to restore anything she touches back to normal, although what constitutes normal is unsure. Andou can’t wait to show his power but the girls are not thrilled. In fact, they don’t even want to see it. I guess this says a lot.

They are put a stop to their activities when student council president, Mirei Kudou walks in to inform them about the complaints of them being noisy. Andou tries to worm his way out by giving his chuunibyou act. The girls thought Kudou won’t buy it but surprisingly she panics upon thinking her identity has been revealed (because Andou lied through his teeth about knowing who she is)! Kudou explains about how she saw their super powers awakening that day and kept a constant watch on them. She challenges to defeat her and if so, she will tell them about her objective. Andou goes first and as usually, some may call it lying through his teeth despite in his eyes he is acting out his chuunibyou stuff (his blazer acts as a seal? Lies!). Once Andou materializes a flame on his right hand, Kudou smiles in victory. Her power is to steal power of others and that is what she did to Andou. He is left in despair thinking of all the good (pathetic) times he had with the flame. Kudou couldn’t be more disappointed. Because this is just the extent of his flame power. That’s all. Yup. Useless. The other girls confirm this. Will the others be fighting her? Tomoyo is smart. She has deduced her power only works when it is shown. Therefore they won’t use their super powers. It will be a physical fight. And Sayumi is black belt in judo and karate… Oh sh*t… Kudou is easily defeated into submission. She reveals all that her super power awakened about a month ago. She was confused and scared. Then she received an anonymous message that the literature club had people with super powers too. She was scared of them as they were a group of 5. She thought they were going to target her and tried to finish them first by starting a fight. Didn’t go to well, huh? In the end, she returned Andou’s power. The quintet discuss the underlying problem of the anonymous sender. Were their powers awakened by somebody else? If they’d only knew someone is watching them right now…

Episode 2
Andou has everyone come up with their own cool nicknames. So we have Hatoko with her colour series, Sayumi with her princess-like names and Chifuyu with her fruit or family relation nicknames. They just don’t sound right, eh? Well, Tomoyo may be the closest in terms of what Andou is expecting. Endless Paradox. Kudou had to interrupt them again but this time she has business with Andou. She is here to reply his love letter and instantly she admits she loves him and would love to go out with him. WTF?! What just happened?! Tomoko is obviously acting jealous that Kudou has to point it out to her. So she would rather go yuri instead of liking this guy? Then outsiders should stay out of it! She shows the letter that was left in her shoebox. Indeed it is written by Andou although it was a letter of gratitude of her power. She over analyzed every line and thus concluded it was a love letter. Therefore it is no surprise she misinterpreted the word Grateful Robber as Grateful Lover. Kudou is ready to call Andou her darling. The loli won’t allow her to take her Andou away. Tomoyo tries to intervene but was told off about her breast size. She becomes mad that she is going to stop time. The moment she does that, Kudou steals her power. Only with Andou’s plea that this love stricken girl returns her power. So we see Kudou acting like his girlfriend. Waiting for him after class, exchanging emails (wow. It has their name in it!) and of course the yandere warning of never to cheat on her with other girls!

It is no surprise that his literature club girls are acting strange when Andou is around. Tomoyo and her jealousy fit, Hatoko giving him the silent treatment and Chifuyu also giving the same and talking through her squirrel stuffed doll. He gets sarcasm and death from Sayumi although she hints that the girls don’t like it when he is showing off his lovey-dovey mood even if Kudou is the one who is misinterpreting all this. They need to do something about this. Andou says that won’t be necessary. Since he started this, he will settle this himself. He goes to apologize and bows his head to Kudou that all this was a misunderstanding. Although Kudou sounds like she is being cool with it, you can see her body reaction. She’s breaking up. Well, you got to give it to her for trying to hold it in this long. She’s handling it pretty well instead of turning yandere or bursting into tears. Andou gets some consoling talk from Tomoyo. She asks about his decision to choose a word like robber. Andou explains about the character count to match theirs. What he wanted was a strong sense of unity. They are a group of 5 as opposed to Kudou who is alone. They overcame hurdles together but she had to conquer them by herself. Therefore this was to show she was one of them, as their friend. But unfortunately it seemed to have an opposite effect. It may look like he is acting his chuunibyou again but he notes even if the world changes, he won’t. Back home, receives an apology message from Kudou and to remain friends. He notices her email address has taken out their name. I guess it’s over for them, huh?

Episode 3
Andou is summoned by his teacher, Shiharu Satomi who is also Chifuyu’s aunt. It’s about his test. Actually his answers are somewhat ambiguous as he wrote using difficult kanji words. But since they aren’t technically wrong, he scores quite high in his test. His friend Shizumu Sagami is also here to retrieve his ‘lover’. His console game. He did have a real girlfriend but Andou is surprised to hear he was dumped. Something about him buying a galge. No wonder. Since the chuunibyou loser and anime freak are arguing, Satomi throws them out of her room. How can she sleep with all that noise? Andou joins his club girls in tennis. Tomoyo thought she could stop time and return the serve but it hits the net and bounces back into her face. Then we have a flaming fireball match between Hatoko and Andou but the former’s fire is hotter so it’s going to hurt. Later Andou shows the girls his record book called Bloody Bible. Tomoyo points out he spelled Bible wrongly as Vivre. Andou realized too late that Sayumi (trying hard to hold her laughter) tricked him into how to spell it. On the way home, Andou realizes his precious Bible isn’t with him and goes back to look for it. Hatoko explains to the other girls how she was often teased with the nickname of Yakitori-chan since her surname can be read like that. She hated it. Till Andou came along and wouldn’t stand for such ‘lame’ nickname and gave her a cooler one: Fire Phoenix. Everyone thought it was lamer than before and stopped calling her that. Hatoko believed he saved her. Sayumi agrees he is a reliable guy despite being an idiot. Because he once told her about her powers never to resurrect the dead or think about it. Chifuyu was told the same thing. Such powers should not exist in their world. He is considerate enough to think about their powers and the effects it could have.

Andou returns to the clubroom only to see this suspicious guy reading his Bible. Kiryuu Heldkaiser Luci First (or Hajime Kiryuu if you prefer his real name) is impressed with Andou’s nickname of Guiltia Sin Jurai. He shows him a similar record book he has called Reverse Crux Record. These guys instantly click. At the cafe where Andou is impressed reading the meaning of his nickname and such, he finds out Hajime is an alumnus of the literature club. A call interrupts them as Andou hears Hajime talking to his ‘comrade’ about some ‘war’ thingy going on. Continuing on the topic of chuunibyou, Hajime has Andou describe what it means to him. Hajime also adds it is a wish for someone to accept you just as you strongly wish to become that someone else. This unresolved paradox of self denial and self affirmation is something like an endless paradox. Sound familiar? Tomoyo comes in surprised to see them. Hajime and Tomoyo know each other. He is her older brother. She hopes he would come back as father isn’t mad anymore but he isn’t going to do so. He leaves and feels their fate will meet again. He tells his other alias: Lucifer’s Strike. Tomoyo talks to Andou that the Endless Paradox nickname was derived from him. They have different surnames because although they share the same father, they have different mothers. Kiryuu is Hajime’s mother’s maiden name and has always gone by it despite living with them since young. She views him as a smart and good person in all aspects from studies and athletics. The kind of person you’d really look to as a role model. But about a year ago, he suddenly felt something is wrong with the world, quit college and left home. Andou hasn’t told him about his real super power yet but is even more amazed with this guy because he casually left him the entire bill… Way to go… Next day, Andou sees Chifuyu waiting outside his school gates. Doesn’t she have her own elementary school to go to? That won’t be necessary. Because she has quit school.

Episode 4
Andou carries Chifuyu to school and she loves being carried on his back. Upon arrival, Chifuyu’s friend, Madoka Kuki is worried but happy to see her. She heard a lot about Andou. Later Andou gets this great idea to use Chifuyu’s power to cosplay. Everyone writes an idea into a suggestion box and randomly picks up a cosplay outfit to wear. So we have Andou the maid (Sayumi can’t stop taking pictures and the only thing missing to go with this is Sagami…), Sayumi in bloomers, Hatoko the sun, bondage gear Chifuyu and Tomoyo in a bikini armour. After taking a group picture, they had to quickly revert back since Satomi is coming in. Well, they’re not wearing other clothes underneath, right? Thank goodness for Tomoyo’s time stopping power… Anyway Satomi is here to see Chifuyu. She heard she left school early due to stomach pains. Chifuyu seems uncomfortable talking about this. Did she lie? Back in Andou’s home, Chifuyu suddenly pops up to tell him that she got into an argument with Kuki because she was told to stay away from Andou. He wants to talk about this in detail tomorrow and she head home for now but it seems Kuki is at her home this instant. It makes things even awkward. She takes up his advice literally that he will come with her and teleports him back. Imagine Kuki’s surprise to see Andou just in his boxers. Definitely looking like a pervert. Kuki wants Chifuyu to stop hanging out with him but she won’t. She can’t tell her the reason either and this upsets Kuki as she leaves. And that scorning look at Andou. This isn’t good.

Next day, Chifuyu tells Andou she wasn’t able to make up with Kuki. I mean, she wouldn’t let her copy her homework, eat her vegetables, got lost along the way… Wow. She relies on her too much. Time to get a replacement?! I didn’t know that was a joke. But she is sad they can’t be friends again. Noticing her melancholy, Andou offers to be her knight and help her make up with Kuki. While Chifuyu talks to Hatoko and gets her squirrel doll fixed, Andou goes to speak to Kuki (who thinks he might be stalking her). He will tell her a greatest secret in exchange she doesn’t tell anyone. He is a lolicon! Oh sh*t! The way he is waxing lyrical this way of life is scaring the hell out of her! It’s doing more trauma than good! What he is trying to say is that Chifuyu accepts him for who he is and just being able to play with her satisfies him. Okay, that sounds creepy too. Chifuyu comes by to hand a bear stuffed doll to her she won at a crane game to make up with her. The girls emotionally reconcile and they’re back to being best friends. This reminds Andou how Satomi first introduced Chifuyu to the club members and they had to babysit her while she attended some meeting. With Andou’s reputation known as the lolicon knight to the girls, Andou asks why Chifuyu wanted to quit school. It was so she could enter high school. She was skipping class to study so she could skip grades. Although it may be hard to keep her powers a secret, she is fine since they are here. She is glad to know in 4 years’ time, she’ll catch up to him. The girls quickly understand what she means so they spell it out to him that she will be the same chuunibyou age with Andou. Oh yes. He will always be there waiting for her no matter how many months or years have passed.

Episode 5
Andou brings a guitar case to the clubroom. Trying to get some attention even though if he can’t play? He calls his guitar Infinity Maria and shows it to the girls. Chifuyu is impressed and wants him to give it to her. Not a chance. She then clones it and has him choose which is the real one. He keeps the one he chooses. A test of his true love for Maria, eh? This is what he has decided. He smashes both of them! He believes this is just a trick by Chifuyu but she mentions it wasn’t. She already told him it was pretty straightforward, right? And so he is left crying that he destroyed his true Maria. Oh my MARIAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!! Don’t worry. Sayumi’s power can restore it back, right? After school, Andou realizes he forgot his bag and ditches walking home with Hatoko to return to the clubroom to get it. He witnesses Tomoyo acting out a chuunibyou line! OMFG! Who would’ve guessed?! She’s going to die with embarrassment now that he knows her secret. Even more so when he catches glimpse of a light novel she is writing. Hey, at least Andou makes it clear he isn’t making fun of her (even if it seems like it) but instead is jumping with joy. She is surprised he is quite calm and not laughing at what she is doing. I mean, if he finds people writing light novels funny, then what does that make of him with his chuunibyou? Although Andou won’t exactly support or root for what she is doing, he thinks it is alright as long as she is having fun writing them. Besides, he doesn’t know how deep she is into this and thus the reason he can’t root for her irresponsibly. Tomoyo is touched for him saying such serious things as she reveals how she has failed a couple of times trying to enter contests. She laments her power doesn’t have anything to do that makes her writing better. Well, if it helps her feel better, Andou acts out his usual chuunibyou lines for her.

For the next few scenes, Tomoyo seems to be pretty obsessed with her handphone even during classes. Andou finds out that she is one of the many first round winners for a light novel contest she submitted (under the pen name of Hizumi Yugami). To celebrate this great achievement, he would like to treat her. It will only be them. Can’t pass up this chance, right? Probably this is the first time Tomoyo had a big headache trying to figure what to wear but I think she’ll learn the downside of ‘dating’ a guy like him because when they meet, he didn’t even compliment her ‘normal’ clothes. Nothing. Disappointed? But I think she can’t stop blushing since he even suggested they pretend to be a couple even though it is just to order some couple cake set. Tomoyo wants to ask Andou to accompany her to go buy a book coming out next week but the damn clock had to interrupt and he couldn’t hear what she said. It took a lot of courage for her to say that, you know? Can’t say it again? But she can agree that today was a lot of fun. On the way back, Hatoko is shocked to see them together.

Episode 6
What’s this? Andou and his harem are demons and in some sort of disagreement? He is forced to fight and defeats all of them. Turns out to be a game the girls made for him. Even more surprising is a happy birthday wish at the end of it. All this just for that? Cool! So cool that he is going to cry… A short flashback reveals that 10 months ago, Sayumi suggested eliminating their powers using hers and return to their normal lives. However Andou was against it thinking it would be a waste to do so since they have them. Sayumi falls ill since she worked the hardest on the game. Andou visits her and sees her quite different in glasses. Her sister, Maiya is cheeky enough to tease them as Sayumi is forced to say they aren’t dating and never will (really?). Once she is gone, he looks through the photo album and sees Sayumi was a student council president during middle school. He wonders why she didn’t become one in high school. It seems he might have stepped on a land mine because Sayumi claims she doesn’t feel well and wants him to leave. The flashback continues whereby Sayumi and Andou are in a showdown over their ideals. After setting down the rules, they fight to determine the winner and whether their powers stay or not. Obviously Sayumi overwhelms Andou at every point (faking it or not), giving him no chance. However he doesn’t give up. In present time, Andou gets a message from Sayumi that she won’t be coming to the club due to personal business. She is already well from her cold. He gets a call from Maiya checking things out. Andou tells her he might have said something to upset Sayumi and asks about her stint as student council president at middle school. She was one who sought for perfection and this led to arguments with her fellow body. So the ones who couldn’t keep up drifted away. Andou also remembers Sayumi wanted to become the same in high school but why didn’t she? She talks to Kudou this time but she can only guess it is because she prioritized her bond with her fellow members after discovering her super power. After Andou realizes the student council campaign and election period and process, he realizes it was his fault. Flashback continues and we see Andou doesn’t give up despite all that pain. Even if she gives him time to chant finish his line and use his power, it’s not like it is going to change anything, right? She overpowers him and is going to erase his power. The fun is over.

Once Andou meets Sayumi, he quickly apologizes that had he not been persistent about erasing their powers, she would have become student council president. She clears up the misunderstanding that she doesn’t hate him. When she told him to leave, she really felt drowsy and wanted to rest. As for why she didn’t turn up in the clubroom today is because she went to buy contacts and not because she didn’t want to see him anymore. She even has receipt as proof. This guy was really this worried? Although he may be partly responsible that she couldn’t become student council president, she doesn’t hate him for it and is in fact grateful. The flashback concludes as we see Sayumi couldn’t erase his power. Andou suspected she couldn’t recognize his powerlessness as his natural state. This led him to think about some paradox state that if she said they were not meant to have powers but she had to use them means it would be an unnatural state for her. Can she accept it with all her heart that they weren’t meant to have them? Therefore a person using a power to erase power is like some sort of paradox. He never said it because he wanted to leave hope and the possibility alive that using her powers would return them back to normal. Sayumi admitted she is scared of her powers and can’t trust herself or anyone. She is worried it might be misused or go out of control. Andou suggests using it for fun and will teach her. Sayumi knows despite his assuring talk, he knows better than anyone else how frightening their powers could be. Even if it sounds ridiculous and impossible that he hopes his true power can awaken if ever such incident occurs. Sayumi admitted defeat. And now, she reveals she sought perfection when she was student council president. She valued efficiency and results so much that she forgot to look at her friends. She thought of becoming one in high school to clear away that trauma but realized it was just self satisfaction. She isn’t fit to be one in that case. Andou believes there is no such thing as a perfect person and she is charming the way she is now. With more heartfelt words from her, Andou is impressed and even admits he would even fall for her. Sayumi didn’t like his lack of delicacy and despite teaching her a lot of things, there are some things he needs to be taught. One of them, the heart of a woman.

Episode 7
A flashback shows Hatoko accidentally pressed the emergency button and sends the school into evacuation mode. She is hiding out of fear when Andou finds her. Knowing that she is afraid to get scolded, he will accompany her to apologize so she doesn’t need to look sorry. Another flashback from her during middles school is when Andou lent her some novel to read. From the way she puts her roundabout words, Andou realized she doesn’t understand its contents. Andou’s sister, Machi gives him a rude awakening and wants him to call Hatoko over later to cook for them since their mother will be at an association meeting tonight. In the clubroom, Tomoyo somehow agreed to do some chuunibyou combo move with Andou. Embarrassing. I don’t know what gave him the idea that a new power will awaken if they combine theirs. Anyway, Tomoyo is having a writer’s block and can’t come up with anything so Andou offers to help out. Once he reaches home, Hatoko is already cooking as Tomoyo WhatsApp him for some ideas. Hatoko could tell it is Tomoyo he is communicating with and pesters for details. Andou won’t because she won’t understand. And it is like he said the wrong word because suddenly Hatoko snapped! This is the beginning of a long frustrating yelling at him that she doesn’t understand him. Especially his chuunibyou thing. She doesn’t understand why he likes all those undesirable stuffs like chaos, blood and darkness. Ironically despite not understanding a single term he said, she could list down all the mythological, sci-fi, foreign names, Biblical names he used in his chuunibyou! She doesn’t get all of them! She doesn’t understand why he finds them cool. Don’t act like he knows and understand a lot after doing a little research on the internet. Please talk to her in his own words. She can’t understand it all! She runs out from the house. Shocking. It took a while for Andou to regain his composure and go find her.

He stumbles upon Sagami who saw where she went a while. He could figure this would happen one day because he has always watched how uncomfortable she was with him. They were like a poor fit that it seemed funny. They’ve only been getting along thanks to Hatoko but looks like she paid the price and felt the stress. Andou doesn’t believe she is the type to have stress or concern but Sagami points out the truth that everyone in this world does. This isn’t manga or anime. Andou calls Tomoyo and learns Hatoko isn’t there. He hangs up after telling her she disappeared. He looks for her but couldn’t find her. Tomoyo and Sayumi come to his aid. He explains what happened and that his chuunibyou may have made it worse. He thought it was fun and wanted her to share it but perhaps it was a bother and just forcing herself. Tomoyo slaps him that there is no way it would be that because it would mean her smiles were fake. Was her happiness around her fake too? So get it together. Because he is Guiltia Sin Jurai. Hatoko wanders aimlessly, feeling guilty that she snapped. That’s where she chances upon Hajime. He can tell she is ashamed and guilty for not understanding her childhood friend. The answer to understand those with chuunibyou is simple: Don’t understand them. It might be contradicting and a paradox because those with chuunibyou seek understanding from others but don’t want to be understood just as much. Yes. An endless paradox. Sounds familiar? Therefore someone who can’t understand chuunibyou is important and necessary for a guy like him to live as himself. He asks what happiness is for people. She says love but he has a simpler answer: To be chosen. When his pals arrive, Hatoko starts to feel drowsy and when she looks into his eyes, she passes out. Andou and the duo get ready to continue searching for Hatoko. But looking blindly won’t help so Sayumi is going to use her next stage power.

Episode 8
Taking place a few weeks back, Hajime is in a power fight with some guy. Of course he never gave him a chance and crushes him by sucking him into some portal. Seems that guy loses his memory of what happened and as explained, there is some Fairy War going on and this little fairy, Reatier is making humans fight as part of the fairy’s entertainment. One of the rules of this war is that if you are one of the final 8 from the thousand of participants, your wish will be granted. However that guy Hajime just fought wasn’t registered and they think this guy called F is trying to overproduce power users for reasons unknown. Reatier soon calls the rest of Hajime’s members with plans to infiltrate and crush F’s base because it is rumoured F has a trump card, somebody with God-like powers that nobody could beat. They believe if this is the case, somebody is trying to end the war. However the committee hasn’t decided yet. Hajime can smell something is wrong. Because why would Reatier tell them something in which the committee hasn’t decided yet? Because after learning this, it would be highly likely that Hajime would go crush F. He theorize that F’s ringleader is part of the original committee but betrayed them and trying to end the war. Therefore if Reatier’s plan is to crush F, it would work well in her favour. Hajime doesn’t mind doing it but he doesn’t like how he is being manipulated. Later, Reatier sees one of Hajime’s members, Hitomi Saitou (because she has a crush on Hajime although she flat out denies it) about the committee’s decision to crush F. The rest are summoned to get the job done. This is when Reatier called Hajime who was with Andou at the cafe telling him about the committee and war. Hajime will show them who is boss. Hitomi and co barge into F’s base and make steady headway. When they reach to the trump card known as System, Aki Natsu can read her God-like powers as she falls into despair thinking there is now way to beat this loli. System is about to crush Hitomi when Hajime saves the day. Everyone is shocked to learn System is now part of their group. Hajime fought her at first but couldn’t get serious after seeing how cute she is. He offered her to be part of the team for some candy. Really. That’s it. He gives the orders to crush ever last member of F. He goes home to rest and Hitomi could tell his gut injury but he won’t make her say it to the rest.

A few weeks later, Hajime contracted some eye disease for sleeping with his coloured contacts. He remembers a girl from Andou’s group who can revert things back to normal. Hitomi thought he didn’t want them to get involved but he points out that is where her memory scrambling comes in handy. So this is the scene where Hatoko got knocked out. Unfortunately of course, they got the wrong girl and they start pointing fingers. Of course the biggest one to blame is Hajime… The literature club members initiate their usual meeting and take attendance. Since Hatoko is not here, this is not their usual or regular club so she uses her power to revert this situation back to normal! In that instant, Hatoko vanishes from Hitomi’s room and is appears in the clubroom. She wakes up still in a daze, not remembering clearly but generally she still remembers seeing Hajime’s pals. Then Andou and Hatoko incessantly start apologizing to each other but Tomoyo breaks this apologizing spree by announcing she is trying to become a light novel author. She thought of keeping it a secret till she produced some results. She explains Andou found out earlier and was just trying to give her some ideas. Andou is grateful and happy for Hatoko. He begins acting his chuunibyou ways and hopes Hatoko could walk with him as he needs companions. Okay. She touches his hand and finds it warm. Not because of his flame or anything. They’re naturally warm. Chifuyu makes sure he puts his hand to good use by making him open a bag of chips. Can’t he just use a scissors? He tries too hard and suddenly feels his true power has awakened. He tries to show off something cool but it backfires. Sounds painful…

Episode 9
Tomoyo hands her work to Andou for his opinion. This makes Andou remember there was a time he wanted to quit this chuunibyou thing but a certain someone whom he couldn’t remember made him go on. From that vague description of a girl in silver wig and sunglasses, this causes Tomoyo to fluster and run away. Could it be? OMG. Don’t tell me it’s her! Yanagi Akutagawa is looking through the videos and saw an F member escaped. Hajime may get mad about this. So how? Delete the video! Don’t let him know! While Andou is in one of his usual antics, he jokes about keeping himself awake with his new power but this causes the girls to be seriously worried and force him never to use it. Then they talk about their test results. Chifuyu’s mood determines her score because it is either she gets a perfect 100 or a complete 0. Hatoko may rank higher than Andou but Tomoyo is dumbfounded Andou ranks way much higher than her! She couldn’t accept Andou is better than her and continues studying in hopes to beat him for the finals. Hatoko helps her with it. By the way, Kudou ranks first followed by Sayumi. After the tests (something hinting that Tomoyo still couldn’t beat Andou), Sayumi stumbles upon some old application file of Andou. Tomoyo couldn’t help laugh her ass off because it states his weak point is having no emotions. This has Chifuyu ask him if he has so because in that case does he like her? Of course. She points out he is a liar because it means he has emotions then. Later Chifuyu asks Andou some question about curry, rice and liquid but what she is getting at is that she hopes he will take her to the pool for the summer vacation. They make a promise for it.

In class, Chifuyu talks to Kuki that she has a problem. Her chest hurts and feels tight. Her face gets warm and she spaces out. All this only happens with Andou around. Based on the symptoms she describes, Kuki suddenly realize the illness she has. Yeah. She’s pretty much in love instead of having arrhythmia. So don’t worry, you’re not going to die of some illness. Sayumi is in the toilet cleaning her glasses when Sagami doesn’t think she should wear them. What the hell is this guy doing in a girl’s toilet?! Get out! Sagami points out that Sayumi is in love with Andou. He knows she suggested making a game for him so that no one could get the jump in confessing to him. However he is here to help her. He wants to see her get hooked up with Andou and not anybody else. Viewing himself as a reader, because it would be interesting to see the least popular heroine win his heart in this twisted love comedy. So take up his offer and he will turn her into a main heroine. Hatoko asks Tomoyo if she likes anybody. Nobody of course. Really? Hatoko then says she loves Andou. She really, really, really loves him. She wants to date him, hold his hand, etc. She is telling her all this because Tomoyo is the person who understands him the most while herself the least. For this reason she needed to tell her while she had the chance. She wants to be Andou’s chosen one. Therefore she will ask again. Is there anybody Tomoyo likes?

Episode 10
Compounding Tomoyo’s problem is her failure to enter the next round of the light novel contest. Andou meets Chifuyu and Kuki to head to the pool. Kuki vows not to let that lolicon stay closer to her best friend and plans to destroy his image. First she tries to make him look like a miser but she ends up eating all the stuffs he bought. How deep is his pocket anyway? Next, she tries to paint him a loser by playing a prank on a macho man (so that Andou will be scared sh*t to save her). However she starts feeling scared and intimidated by his size. That is when Andou comes to her rescue. Finally there is this poolside quiz. She is going to make Andou look dumb. At first things are going as planned as Chifuyu is the one answering the questions. When it comes to the last question, it is some tough science question that everybody knows the host doesn’t want the contestant to win the grand car prize. However Andou shows his intelligence by putting up the correct answer! The host won’t give up and continues with a series of super tough questions. He got it all correct! He’s doomed. Andou then takes the whale doll prize instead because this is what Chifuyu wants. So play fair next time, okay? Besides, Andou doesn’t need the car. He already won the grand prize: Their smiles. Holy cow! Did Kuki just start to think how cool he is?! Could it be that she is starting to fall for him?! No way man! She thinks Andou is targeting her since she is a loli too. She thought he was serious about her but turns out it was to ask her to continue to be Chifuyu’s friend. Andou knows that once they graduate, everyone will go their own ways. He doesn’t think he can be by Chifuyu’s side forever but would like Kuki to be to one. Of course. She is her best friend.

Andou meets up with Sayumi this time for their outing. Guess where? Not the pool again?! Of course this is a setup by Sagami that Sayumi agreed to go along. Although she wanted to do things her way, she is forced to abide his rules because he switched her swimsuit and must be careful not to get it wet or else it will turn invisible. So we see Sayumi trying so hard to avoid water. She’s faster than the speed of light in avoiding all the splashes. When she eventually couldn’t avoid, she starts getting embarrassed and doesn’t want him to look. She realizes she has been had when her swimsuit didn’t change. She confronts Sagami (who is laughing like mad) and punches him! She is through being his puppet for today. He warns she will finish last in love and forever lose but Sayumi would rather play fair and not devalue herself to win. Realizing he has failed, he decides to check on some super power battle and makes call to a former F member. Sayumi returns to Andou and he is relieved that she is back to her normal self as he could tell she was acting strange earlier on. She too notes she likes him to way he is now. Later that night, Tomoyo plans to ask Andou out. Guess where? That same pool again? Yeah. She has the tickets. She calls him and learns he will be away on a family trip for a day. However this is as far as she could go. No invitation to the pool? Not even telling him about her contest result?

Episode 11
The girl in silver wig and sunglasses has a problem fixing her bicycle. Andou happened to pass by and help fix it. Since she is acting her chuunibyou ways, Andou tells her to stop it or she’ll regret one day with embarrassment. This makes her ram him with her bicycle as they argue about the existence of fiction. He finally gives in when she proves it exists: In your heart. And of course you know, this girl is confirmed as Tomoyo in disguise. Andou is on a family vacation with Hatoko. She is trying to do all the things listed in the magazine to get Andou to like her. At least that is what it says. From smiling to acting clumsy to putting lotion on her back and chasing her on the shore lines. Well, so far so good. Finally she must find an isolated end of the beach and gently cuddly up to him and confess. Can she do it? Maybe not. She got dizzy and passes out. That night she talks to Andou about things and feels she has been mean to Tomoyo. She is also worried that once they graduate, they’ll go their different ways and won’t be able to talk as often like now. Will they still be friends? He reminds her there was a time during middle school where he stood outside her house all day. It was raining. He is very grateful to have her by his side. She saved him. Therefore she isn’t just an ordinary friend. She is always someone special. Even if they’re adults, this fact will not change. Meanwhile Tomoyo is alone at the pool. Feels pathetic. No fun.

Back home, Tomoyo must be sleeping trying to write her novel when she gets a wakeup call from Andou to meet at the festivals. He compliments her yukata and they go play at the shooting gallery in which she won hands down. Then he leads her to some isolated place. Gulp. Something going to happen? He asks if she has anything to say to him because he heard from Hatoko things and was wondering if anything happened between them. If it is his fault he will apologize. Tomoyo tells him her failure to reach the next round of the light novel competition. He thanks her instead but won’t console or encourage her because she is the one who worked hardest on this so he doesn’t want to give half hearted consolation. That hard work and frustration belongs to her alone. You start feeling something in your heart, girl? The fireworks interrupts their pace and as Tomoyo thinks back of the times being with him, she is now certain that she is in love with him. Meanwhile somebody is at Kudou’s house. The moment she opens the door, she got owned. Next day, all the literature club members seemed to be called to the clubroom by her. Kudou suddenly barges in citing the pain in her hand. But the moment Hatoko unleashes her power, it seems it is all a feign by Kudou to just steal her power. Is Hatoko going to be done in by her own flames?

Episode 12
Chifuyu projects a barrier but Kudou steals it. Luckily Tomoyo stops time and brings her friends away. I know it is tough carrying all 4 of them but from where she brings them it looks like a very far place. Couldn’t she have brought them safe somewhere nearer? So for now they discuss their next move at the karaoke joint (there’s no other place, believe me). They think Kudou is possessed or her mind manipulated since she looks the same and has her abilities. The best way as Andou suggests is to ask her directly. He calls but Kudou will not comment. He suggests meeting up at the literature club in an hour. Kudou seems to be talking with Sagami. She is appalled that people with super powers are unaware of the Fairy War. But as part of the deal if she defeats Andou and his girls alone, she gets to join their team since she is an ex-member of F. The girls are against Andou’s strategy of using that move. They know it is risky but what else choice do they have? Andou goes to see Kudou alone and she beats him up and threatens to kill him if he doesn’t call the girls here. However Andou knows she won’t kill him. As he has told the girls to hide, killing him means she will lose her only lead to find them and not fulfil her objective. He has more value alive. She shoots an arrow to his leg and snaps a picture to send to Sayumi. Andou says it won’t work because he told her not to come if such happens. But will that truly happen? Will she abandon him? Since the time is about right, Andou goes into his chuunibyou mode and unleashes his next level of flame on his right hand. He makes it sound that it has evolved into something good so Kudou steals it only to find it burns like hell and cannot be put out! Flashback reveals when Andou first materialized it, nothing can put it out. Not even Hatoko’s freezing elements. To save him, Sayumi brought a guillotine and with Chifuyu’s portal power suggests that it cut off that flaming arm and sending it to another dimension before restoring his arm back to its normal state. Sayumi made him promise never to use this power again. Kudou is beginning to panic as the flames won’t go away. Andou slaps her and wants her to believe in him. At the right moment, the same guillotine and portal move is done on them. Their hands are healed and the girls are crying out of fear and relief. The former F member is furious this has happened and vows to win the next time. However Hajime isn’t impressed in this and sends her into a portal. He warns Sagami never to do this again. Because it is best to save the fun for the last.

Sayumi talks to Kudou who was really under the manipulation of that former F member. She wonders why Andou went so far to risk his life to save her. Simple. He considers all those with super power as his friend and he would never abandon a friend. Sayumi knows his plan is reckless and might not work the second time. However if a similar situation is forced upon them, she will still support Andou’s decision. Hatoko and Tomoyo talk. The latter mentioning going to a bookstore with Andou. Hatoko notes she saw them once together and thought they were a perfect fit. Even though they fight, that is the reason why they get along well. It is a reason why she panicked when she saw them. She thought he was going to leave her. Although Tomoyo is special to Andou, Hatoko still loves him and wants him to choose her. Tomoyo who couldn’t her question before now could. She loves Andou. So both won’t lose to him? Wow. They’re saying that with a smile. Andou hangs out with Chifuyu. He is in a dilemma if she should stay with them because of the dangers they faced but at the same time he would like her to be with them as much as possible. She will stay with him to protect him. Andou has her promise even if it is to protect someone, never use super powers to hurt others. He believes super powers are not meant for that or even bring happiness. It is just meant to be cool and that is all they need to be. His chuunibyou act earns the wrath of Tomoyo because it’s embarrassing looking at him doing such stuffs in public. The pot calling the kettle black?

My Super Power Harem
Well, it was rather okay considering there were some funny moments, romantic moments (if you can call those) and super power battle moments. Not the perfect in the genre but at least it didn’t suck. Of course the biggest thing left hanging is about the Fairy War and from the looks of it, isn’t going to be over by a long shot and from the way Andou and his girls are painted, they possess the best super powers ever. Even better than unleashing cheat codes. It may answer to the several mysteries surrounding their super powers and how they were chosen to wield it but I guess that is reserved for another time. I have this thought that this Fairy War thingy was a very big elaborated and sophisticated imagination of the chuunibyou of all those involved. But it looks real. Because if it was, I think I’ll be disappointed. A big slap in the face. This entire conflict is just some delusion? No way. With the existence of pint size fairies like Reatier, it is a reason why this super power and secret war is all the more real instead of just imaginations in one’s head.

Ironically the super powers are not highlighted or shown very frequently. At least not for the middle part of the series. Just sparingly. So much so you might think that this is an ordinary high school romance comedy harem series. It’s like as though the initial episodes are to introduce us the setting and then the final episode to remind us that this setting is still on. So if you are hoping to see super power battles or the use of it in their daily lives, you would be disappointed. In the end, the super powers are just like ‘accessories’ and whether they have it or not, personally I feel that they do not make too much of an impact in the overall storyline because like I said, it feels like an ordinary high school romance comedy harem. Because something tells me if you are to see them spamming the use of super powers in every episode, that will be just boring and overdoing it. What else can you use super power effects for? Comedy purpose? How much exaggerated and over the top can that get you? And super powers are meant only to look cool? Then I guess Superman and the likes are just big show-offs, huh?

Of course this is because we are unfamiliar with the Fairy War so it isn’t fair to say that their super powers were just trolling and luring us to watch this show with some sort of super twist and revelation. As far as we have seen, Andou and the girls do not have the slightest clue about the Fairy War which I have mentioned may be pivotal to the entire story and setting of this series. Definitely it would be interesting to see if they ever get involved (which I have a feeling they eventually would). But even if this war was not featured and taken out of this anime, I think the story for this season will still get by. We’re here for Andou and his girls, right?

Character wise, although not very deep (at least for the main characters), there are enough obvious screen time dedicated for Andou and the girls. Even one on one focus just to satisfy fans of certain pairings and somehow making it look like a dating simulation. Haha. You learn a bit of their past and their family but that is about it. Therefore the romance and harem factor feels a bit lacking. Maybe it is just me having some sort of expectations but at the end of the day, despite we all know the literature club girls do have a crush on Andou, the group doesn’t feel like a harem and more like friends hanging out in an extra curriculum activity. Feels like a distraction to the Fairy War that is going on behind the scenes.

Andou as the main character is a very flawed one thanks to his chuunibyou. In fact, you could say that this is what defines him. However at times he could pull off some of the most amazing quotes and lines that are neither supporting nor mocking you, it just makes you feel like you want to nod your head and agree to what he says. He might act like a kid but beneath all that silly exterior is a guy who treasures friendship more than anything else in this world. Is it no surprise that why the girls love him. Even Kudou the ‘outsider’ also once fell in love with him and I think she still is. So it was quite surprising when suddenly Kudou becomes the first character to become his (temporary) girlfriend as early as the second episode! I thought she would be part of the main group (since she also appears in the ending credits animation along with the other girls) but I guess 4 is already more than enough to handle. Because I figure it is wise of him to stay as friends with all of them now. Imagine if they break up and it turns ugly… Remember that Hollywood show My Super Ex-Girlfriend? Yeah. Imagine that happening. All hell breaks loose.

Hatoko’s shocking rage barrage is the highlight and perhaps the most ‘memorable’ scene of the entire series. Everyone who has watched this anime will definitely remember this scene and talk about it. Never would it cross in your mind that this gentle and nice girl would actually snap like that. It was like as if it was a wakeup call and a turning point of the series. And then all that craziness died down in the next episode and things return to normal. It just feels anti-climaxing. Because normally when somebody snaps at you like that, it would be awkward to be with that person for some time. But here they return to their normal friendship so fast like as though it never happened. Like as though it was all a figment of one’s imagination. A bit unrealistic. But this is definitely the scene of the series. All she wanted was to understand him but eventually even she couldn’t, the most important thing is that she accepts him for who he is. And that itself is already a step closer in understanding him. Doesn’t that sound like a paradox?

The rest of the girls in the literature club are okay too. They have varied personalities like Tomoyo’s slightly brash nature, Sayumi’s cool beauty and level-headed ways and Chifuyu the expressionless loli. There is more than meets the eye to Hajime and Sagami. They are the most mysterious characters as far as this season is concerned. Hajime is a cool character and powerful. You don’t mess with this guy. He knows what he is doing although his approach to it may be unconventional. His team feels insignificant in this season and are just touched on since the Fairy War isn’t anything major. It just feels like for introduction purposes. Sagami on the other hand isn’t just some silly anime freak and his presence is all the more mysterious. He has this sinister and scheming looks and from what we can see his plan with Sayumi, he just wants to find something interesting to watch. I don’t know if it is a distraction from the Fairy War or something that has to do with it but yet again, this war I feel is an event that would connect the dots. You can’t tell if he is friend or foe but my guts tell me he is the kind that can cross over to the other side if the terms favour him. So not to be discounted out and I am sure his path and Andou’s will clash.

Unlike that other chuunibyou series, this one at least has a little decent explanation about the chuunibyou syndrome of why someone acts so. Even if some of Hajime’s clarification is a bit hard for me to understand the first time, nevertheless it is not something to be taken lightly off. People who want attention to be understood just enough instead of being fully understood. Because there is some sort of coolness and attraction in being a dark and mysterious type, no? Therefore should chuunibyou be the new trend and normality of today’s society or a growing case of disturbed and disillusioned people never wanting to accept reality. But what is reality by the way? How do you define what is reality and what isn’t? Therefore the nameless assassin… STOP! STOP! STOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!

Art and drawing feels pretty standard and nothing to shout about, which is pretty okay for an anime genre like this. As long as the girls look cute enough, there is nothing you should complain. Or is there? The special effects when the super powers are released are nothing flashy. Especially with Andou’s dark flame thingy, looks cool at first but after a while, you realize that it might be one of the most boring looking dark flames materializing on one’s hand ever. Note that this anime is produced by Trigger whose other very notable work is the insane and crazy Kill La Kill.

Saori Hayami I suppose is making her presence felt currently in the anime world since I have been hearing her a lot lately in many animes that I have watched. So as Hatoko, she fits her character well and I thought it was going to be the usual Saori Hayami until she started that shocking snapping holler. She was so perfect, yet so scary. I don’t think I can ever snap this long even if I am so mad. So kudos to her for that very amazing screamer. Other casts include Nobuhiko Okamoto as Andou (Accelerator in To Aru Majutsu No Index), Haruka Yamazaki as Tomoyo (Ruka in Hayate No Gotoku), Nanami Yamashita as Chifuyu (Nanami in Wake Up, Girls!), Risa Taneda as Sayumi (Mirai in Kyoukai No Kanata), Kaori Fukuhara as Kudou (Tsukasa in Lucky Star), Takuma Terashima as Hajime (Shiroe in Log Horizon), Yoshimasa Hosoya as Sagami (Kiryuu in Isshuukan Friends), Kaori Nazuka as Satomi (Nunnally in Code Geass), Emiri Katou as Kuki (Kyuubey in Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica), Ayumi Fujiwara as Hitomi (Misaki in Kaichou Wa Maid-sama) and Sayumi Hara as Reatier (Rhythm in Pretty Rhythm Aurora Dream).

The opening theme is Overlappers by Qverktett, a fancy group name (how the heck do you pronounce it anyway?) for the quartet girls of the literature club. Sounds okay. Sounds generic. Sounds like a girl group anime pop. Read: Not that appealing enough to catch my attention. Because honestly I thought some parts of the song sounded a little weird even though that is how it is supposed to sound. The ending theme is You Gotta Love Me by Kato*Fuku sounds more like rock pop. Personally it sounds better than the opening theme although still not appealing enough for me to start humming in my head. The Game of Life that they are playing in the ending credits animation, I have a feeling it symbolizes how their life is going. As narrated by Tomoyo in the final scenes: Living life to the fullest as their usual days.

Overall, this anime has its strengths and weaknesses but still worth the entertainment value. A harem with super powers doesn’t sound like a bad idea but you might feel ‘cheated’ realizing that the romance part doesn’t employ the super power element. And with a certain war tugging in the background to make some of us scratch our heads of its relevancy in this series, you might wonder if this is going to turn out into a super power battle or super power romance anime. But if you want to watch this, just stay for the comedy and little romance stuffs. I mean, even if you have super powers, that doesn’t mean you cannot fall in love anymore, right? You are still a human being underneath regardless of all that power. Unless you’re an idol, then there is nothing more to be said.

Something that can only be used by females. Never in the history has a male ever been able to use it and suddenly there is this guy infringing this law and is now known to be the only guy in school and possibly the entire world to be able to use this thing that was supposedly exclusive to ladies. Oh, not forgetting a handful of girls being attracted to this dude. Doesn’t that sound a lot like the setting of Infinite Stratos? Yeah well, that is what I thought too how similar Seirei Tsukai No Blade Dance is. Only difference is that in Infinite Stratos, you have the characters don some powered exoskeleton. I am tempted to mention Kampfer too but I decided not to open another can of worms…

In this anime, the mecha factor is casted aside in favour of magic and elemental powers. Yes people, as far as this world is concerned, only females are able to summon and make contract with spirits and use their elemental powers in battles. Unlike the tournament excuse in Infinite Stratos for fights, we have this Blade Dance tournament whereby teams representing countries converge to fight and the winner gets a wish granted. Come to think of it, those spirit gods must be some sort of sadists-cum-perverts to have only females fight-cum-perform for them in some whatever offering ritual grandly known as Blade Dance. Yeah well, you don’t really care about all that except to see our guy and his harem, right? No, really? You’re here for the possible plot and whatever? Okay, whatever. I’ve already resigned myself to the harem factor of this magic version of Infinite Stratos. Let me see some cat fight!

Episode 1
Kamito Kazehaya accidentally stumbles upon Claire Rouge bathing in the woods. He assures he is not into the naked body of a child. She feels insulted because she is actually 16 years old and is going to kill him. I have a feeling he was going to get it either way… Noticing her fire whip and powers, he realizes she is an Elementalist. She realized her nudity and loses her focus. As usual, our hero saves her before the tree crushes her. As usual, she takes it as the pervert is going to strike her at such a close proximity. The only reason he is still alive is because he saved her so she restrained herself. He shows her a letter with a royal seal. He is summoned by Greyworth Ciel Mais, the headmistress of the Areishia Spirit Academy that Claire is a student of. He doesn’t know her intentions either. Claire is stumped because only Princess Maidens can become Spirit Knights. She brings him to a shrine dedicated to the Demon Slayer, the legendary holy sword. The one that defeated the demon lord, Sulaiman. She was purifying herself before coming here to make a contract. She needs power. She pulls the sword out of the stone and is about to make a contract with it but it turns wild and attacks her. She summons her fire spirit, Scarlet (in her primary form of a cat) to tame it but unfortunately she gets stabbed. Before Claire can meet the same fate, Kamito steps in and chants the lines that would make the sword become his spirit. Claire is of course surprised because not only has he stolen the sword she wants to contract with, only females can form a contract with a spirit. My theory: Kamito is a girl! HAHA! Just kidding. Of course Kamito knows that there is one man ever in history to have ever done that: Sulaiman. To take responsibility for what he did, Claire wants him to become her contracted spirit. She ties him up with her whip and drags him all the way back to the academy. However his teasing makes her off guard as he slips away. Smooth operator…

Outside Greyworth’s office, he heard a protest from Sylphid Knights captain, Ellis Fahrengart that she is against admitting a man to this place. And then Ellis attacks him first and accuses him of being a pervert. WTF. Ellis is forced to restrain herself because Greyworth says so. Greyworth is going to have Kamito transfer to this academy. He wants to know where Restia Ashdoll is but she is not going to easily answer him. Ellis is tasked to show him around. Including this rundown shed her familiars made in 3 hours for him. Yeah. He has to share the toilet with the horses. He will be in Raven Class, the class where troubled and gifted students are put in. Speaking of which, here comes the person we know. Claire whips him up for ditching her to go flirt with Ellis. He makes her cry when he teases her panties too much. Since Claire is adamant to make him her contracted spirit, he’ll do it but they have to kiss, right? So now why is she flustering? Why is she scared? Why is she chickening out? Good thing or not, teacher Freya Grandol breaks them up and introduces Kamito to the rest of the class. Some girls are thinking how cute this normal guy is. They also know about him taming a sealed sword thanks to Claire’s blabbermouth. Because she also told them she had tamed him. He doesn’t want to sit with her but she insists. He is her slave. Rinslet Laurenfrost ‘saves’ him and insists he wants to sit with her. And then she asks him to be her servant. Oh God. First cat fight and tussle over this guy. Rinslet’s clumsy maid, Carol Nastassja tries to stop them but trips and her boobs all over his face. The class is in uproar. It’s going to be a long day. Back in his shed, Kamito remembers Greyworth wants him to participate and win in the Blade Dance competition. A competition he swore never to enter again. However she mentioned the strongest Blade Dancer, Ren Ashbell is going to be there with her dark female spirit. Can’t back out now. Besides, only 2 more months to endure this crap.

Episode 2
Kamito is being told about the essence of this Blade Dance competition. Five Elementalists are chosen to represent a country and the winning team will be afforded protection for years by the spirit lords. This academy is established to tutor Princess Maidens from noble families for that purpose. Kamito knows Freya forgot to say one thing and that is the winner of this competition gets to have a wish granted. Rinslet comes to offer some food to him in exchange he becomes her slave. No thank you. He has his pride. Claire happened to have the same idea and sees this. They start insulting each other. Cat fight #2. Rinslet summons her ice wolf spirit, Fenrir. During the fight, Kamito’s shed gets burnt. Rinslet douses the fire but overdid it and destroys it. Ellis and her underlings are not happy to see this and even badmouth their family background. Especially Claire’s traitorous sister. Claire does not take that lightly and challenges them to a duel. Kamito is brought back to Claire’s dorm. A messy room. He learns she has no roommate as nobody wants to room with her. She doesn’t even have a partner for the Blade Dance and as long as she has a powerful spirit, she’ll be fine. As she takes the bath, water spirits attack her. Kamito saves her again and believes the Spirit Authority screwed up as she mentions this never happened to her before. He gives her a handkerchief to wipe herself but accidentally gives her panties. Are you keeping a score card on how many times he will die like this? Thankfully he didn’t turn into ash.

So over dinner he asks why she wants a strong spirit so badly. There is someone she wants to see. She shows her crest of a lion of fire that belongs to the Duchy of Elstein. They are a famous noble family. Were famous. Till an incident 4 years ago by Rubia Elstein brought about their downfall. She is Claire’s sister whom she wants to see so that she could ask her herself what really happened as she was believed to have caused the Ordesia Empire to undergo an unparalleled disaster. Kamito remembers he is also trying to search for someone important for the last 3 years. It makes them very similar. Claire and Kamito enter some gate to the duel arena and meet up with Rinslet. Ellis and her girls are also there. Ellis summons her eagle spirit, Simorgh. Don’t get hit by its wind. You’ll be done for. Kamito summons his elemental waffe but the sword turns out to be a little dagger. So okay, his summoning skills has been rusty but he was surprised himself too when he tamed that holy sword. Kamito takes on Ellis while the rest backs him up. Ellis shows her elemental waffe, Ray Hawk and Kamito notes how beautiful she is. No, not the lance, Ellis herself. WTF?! So she doesn’t like that compliment? Girls, can’t understand them. Claire and Rinslet want to help but got in each other’s way. The match is interrupted when a demon spirit descends. Restia misses Kamito but thinks he is not his true self. She will make him remember.

Episode 3
The fight is put on hold as Ellis will hold it off. No, Kamito wants to be the hero. No, Claire wants to do it. She ticks him off for being weak and that he stole her contracted spirit. She will tame this one. Obviously desperate Claire fights it but to no avail as Scarlet gets devoured by it. Time for Kamito to move in. He uses up all his strength to summon his spirit and remember the time that he was Ren. Wait a minute. This guy is Ren?! The demon spirit is easily destroyed as Claire is reduced into a confused weeping girl. If he was this strong, why didn’t he summon it earlier. And he’s late in helping her. Girls. Can’t understand them. Kamito collapses as his spirit uses too much of his energy. He dreams whereby he was one of the many abducted kids trained to throw away their emotions and learnt to kill. He was chosen to contract Restia and then I suppose turned himself into a drag queen under the guise of Ren to become the best Blade Dancer in the competition. He wakes up and finds himself in bed. And a naked silver haired girl underneath the blanket. Oh God. Est Terminus views Kamito as her master. I’m sure he would love to be called onii-chan (because papa would just be so wrong) but settles to be called his name. And as expected, somebody is going to come in. She had to hide underneath the blanket again. Anyway Kamito is in the care of Rinslet who brought him and Claire back to her place to nurse them. Noticing something suspicious under the sheets, Rinslet takes it away. Gasp! Naked girl revealed! Est clings on to Kamito. I wonder how he’ll explain this. Don’t bother. Rinslet will kill him. This is the thanks she gets for nursing him? He is going to become wolf meat when Est easily subdues it. She is the holy sword that killed the demon lord and thus Kamito’s contracted spirit. So this is her true form?

Kamito can’t seem to get a good connection with Astral Zero as he can’t get her back even though he summoned her. She doesn’t mind as she was bored stuck as that sword. She wants to enjoy this world. The reason he is unable to make a connection is because his left hand is unconsciously refusing to make a contract with her. He hopes she doesn’t take it the wrong way that he doesn’t want to contract her. She thinks she is starting to like him. When she was a sword, she rejected 53 Elementalists (I wonder if Claire is part of that statistic). However she accepted him based on her intuition that they are similar. I’m not sure if it is that like part that made her so. And as usual, rumours spread that Kamito is a player that Ellis nearly cuts him down only to have her sword easily bent by Est. Once the misunderstanding clears, Ellis apologizes for hating him just because he is a guy and gives him credit for fighting back then. He was cool. I know this route… As Claire wasn’t in her room, Ellis thinks she is trying to head to the contracting ceremony for military spirits. In exchange for Ordesia Knights providing the spirits, the academy supply volunteer students. There is a powerful spirit called Glasya Labolas that you can contract with. Of course the contractors are determined by Blade Dance. Kamito knows what Claire is thinking and heads down there in hopes she hasn’t done anything reckless yet as she is without a contracted spirit and entering Blade Dance is equivalent to being suicidal. I guess he is too late because Claire is approached by a hooded girl (Restia) and since Claire wants power so badly, she lets her take this mad spirit that will draw out her true potential, Gespenst.

Episode 4
Rubia was believed to have betrayed the fire spirit king 4 years ago, took Laevateinn the strongest flame spirit and disappeared. The furious fire spirit king burnt the lands of Ordesia Empire starting with the Duchy of Elstein. The citizens cursed her and nicknamed her the Calamity Queen. Claire is fighting alone among other Blade Dancers. No prizes for guessing she is weak. When her opponents badmouth about Rubia, she unleashes her mad spirit. This is the mad form of Scarlet and as Est explains such a high ranking spirit won’t die easily as it just lose its ability to manifest itself temporarily. Although the mad spirit possessing it is low ranking, it is possessing other spirits and making them lose their reasoning ability. They are causing destruction as the crowd evacuates the arena. Kamito has Est become his sword as he goes to snap Claire out. Is this the power she wants? She chides him like he would understand and whips him. And then she feels sorry about it because he was supposed to dodge it. WTF. He explains about Scarlet’s case. She is relieved Scarlet is still alive so the first thing to get her back is to burn her spirit seal before Kamito defeats Scarlet with his advanced moves (since moves of mad spirits are simple). Then Restia pops up and Kamito is just so flabbergasted to see her. Is that you Restia? In the flesh. She’s not really in hugging reunion mood since she warns him that their spirit is awakening. Why is she doing this? Because this is what he wanted. Goodbye for now. No, wait. Oh, she has indeed waited for 3 long years.

As she disappears, Kamito believes she is trying to grant his wish then. Something no one would ever desire. Could it be his punishment? The golem spirit runs havoc and now it’s Kamito’s turn to space out. Now it’s Claire’s turn to bring him back. So she asks some details about Restia. She was his contracted spirit and it is his fault that this mess came about. Claire couldn’t care about all that because a minute ago he was like promising the heavens that he will be her contracted spirit. To really snap him out, she kisses him! That should really wake him up. Kamito easily defeats the golem with his signature moves as Ren and why he is worthy of the title as the best Blade Dancer. Claire sees the familiarity in his moves. Of course history repeats itself as he passes out. This also means he wakes up in bed and Est naked under the blankets. Uh huh. More déjà vu as this time Claire comes in to check on him and sees this. However it is triple trouble when Rinslet and Ellis come in. They won’t be explaining to Claire because Kamito is the one who needs to explain! He is going to die 3 times today. Although Est is going to protect him, her simple mind believes Claire when she claims Kamito is her slave, which means Est is also her contracted spirit. Okay. Does Kamito have his last words? Man, what did he do to deserve this? I think it could be related to Restia’s punishment…

Episode 5
Three years ago, Fianna was in trouble fighting off tree spirits. Of course Kamito became the hero and saved her. However she recognizes his elemental waffe (which was Restia) the same as Ren. She felt her world crashing down because she always thought Ren was a girl and for a guy to cross-dress as one it’s like a disgrace to Blade Dance. As thanks for saving her, she promises to keep it a secret. Before they part, she learns his real name and hopes they can meet again. He says they will but after the Blade Dance is over. And now in present time, Fianna has just transferred to Areishia, happy to have found Ren. Another case of déjà vu. Kamito wakes up in bed. Naked Est. As he is not focusing, she steals kisses from him! What is with her in kissy-kissy mode?! Oh. Here comes Claire. He just got healed and now he is going to die again? Anyway the duo are to participate in a mock team battle. How is it going to be fair, 2 against 5? Freya doesn’t care about that. That’s why they should hurry up and find their team members. Claire is cocky and confidence that they are enough to win but you know what they say about a pride and fall. So it is no surprise she is ruing how they actually lost. Yeah well, thanks to the lack of team members, they lack teamwork as seen in the other team as they fight to buy time for their important member to summon up her spell and ultimately defeat them. After the match, Freya noted that Kamito’s fighting is somewhat lonely. Rinslet heard about their defeat and since she is not honest as usual, Carol blurts out she wants to join them for lunch. Of course dense Kamito invites them to join in and thus earning him a kick in the foot from Rinslet. Stupid Kamito… There goes their private time. Carol informs of a new busty transfer student and this of course has the other girls really ‘worried’.

Seems Rinslet doesn’t have a team herself. She did but thanks to her pride and expectations, her teammates left. Now she’s alone. So Claire and Rinslet are at their usual of not being honest to themselves. Uh huh. Can’t find anyone who is the same level as them? Kamito can tell Rinslet wants to join them and whispers to Claire about this. However Claire doesn’t want her in the team citing that bad teamwork thingy when they were fighting Ellis. However we know that’s not the problem, right? It has something to do with Kamito. Get what I’m saying? But no harm trying. Claire asks if she would like to join her team. Oh no, why don’t Claire join her team? And so this silly argument of my team begins. Ellis interrupts and since she is like flustering asking him something, they heard other girls how she has fallen from grace with this lewd beast. There goes her reputation. She wants him to join her team and Kamito is tempted since she is quite high ranking (only the top 3 teams get to enter Blade Dance and Kamito’s team ranking just plunged further after that loss). However Claire will not allow it! I’m sure she did a good job reminding us he is her contracted spirit. Yeah. It’s like he is her possession. We get the hint. Kind hearted Kamito knows her trauma of being betrayed and turns Ellis down. Greyworth calls for Kamito and after exchanging ‘pleasantries’, she introduces a new transfer student that will study along him in Raven Class. Fianna Ray Ordesia is the second crown princess of the Ordesia Empire and from Kamito’s reaction, looks like he doesn’t recognize her. Kamito’s team is given a special mission to become her bodyguard.

Episode 6
Restia meets Jio Inzagi and needs his help to awaken something. He doesn’t care less what she does as long as he can prove to be the demon lord’s true successor. Kamito bows before Fianna but she explains she isn’t officially a princess anymore. Four years after that incident by Rubia, Fianna is one of the candidates nominated to be her successor to quell the fire spirit king. However she turned it down and her existence was erased from the royal family. Thus she is known as the Lost Queen. The mission Kamito and his team will also have to do is investigate an abandoned mining town of Gad. It seems there aren’t mere earthquakes happening in it but believed to be mass weapons of destructions. If the seals on it are fading then this is where Fianna’s expertise in using the ritual dance to reseal it back comes in handy. Of course this dangerous mission means Kamito’s team will get a chance to raise their ranking. He can’t decide this on his own and needs to consult Claire. Fianna is a little stirred hearing that name. Freya talks to Greyworth about Fianna cheating to gain entry. However Greyworth thinks she is worth the trouble and will be good for them. It’s the reason why she paired him with Kamito. Outside, rumours spread that Kamito has started hitting on the new transfer student (what the hell is this Demon of the Bedroom nickname?!). Fianna hits back by flirting with him in front of their eyes! Fianna hints to Kamito about his Ren identity. Although this guy is shocked, he still doesn’t remember who she is. I believe he didn’t tell anybody else about his secret identity so… And then Claire comes by… Another lesson to be taught? So back in Claire’s room, Fianna must be purposely pissing her off commenting how small it is. Kamito will gladly leave but Claire sounds desperate in preventing him. All that excuses about cooking and cleaning and the worrying part of the other girls approaching him, etc. You know. Get the hint. He is hers. Observed something Fianna? Learning that Claire has done that kissing ritual with him, Kamito knows Fianna has become upset. Fianna challenges her to a duel. Not Blade Dance but a cooking duel. So is Claire’s charcoal edible? I’ll take her word it’s not in the looks. Too bad it tastes bitter… Fianna believes she has got this in the bag. But what the heck is this lava stew? The moment Claire tastes, it she collapses! Fianna believes she has won! Eh? You mean this is how the cooking game is supposed to be played?

So while Claire is out sick, Fianna takes this opportunity to wash Kamito’s back in the bathroom. Don’t worry, she is in her swimsuit. I don’t know if Claire has super sensitive ears that she could hear what is going on because she barges in and is appalled at their activity. She won’t lose out and joins in. I guess she wasn’t that sick after all. So the battle to scrub his back begins? Claire notices his many back scars but he brushes it off. When she uses her spirit seal, this irks Fianna. Est then reports a commotion outside. Seems Jio has infiltrated the library and stole some sealed documents. The Sylphid Knights are defeated and Ellis is about to meet the same fate but is saved by Kamito and Claire arriving just in time. Jio wants to be left off tonight since they are so weak that they aren’t even worth killing. Ellis warns he has contracted double spirits and also another male Elementalist. As they chase after him, Kamito clashes swords with him and to his surprise, Jio can summon many other spirits. Jio says that Sulaiman has contracted 72 spirits so it shouldn’t be any surprise. So? Because Jio is the demon lord’s successor. Kamito loses but thanks to Fianna’s distracting attack, Jio now targets her. However she is so scared that she cannot move. It feels like that day. Kamito moves into protect her and gets a little wounded. Jio can’t believe he protected that trash. Fianna is not trash. She is his friend. Jio escapes as reinforcements arrive but Fianna passes out.

Episode 7
Fianna wakes up fine in bed. She flusters just about thinking Kamito. He wants to talk to her privately. Noticing Claire is outside, she purposely mentions if it is something he doesn’t want Claire to know. And this has that flat chest girl barging in to vent her punishment. Time for escape plan. Kamito takes Fianna and runs. Rinslet sees Kamito and Fianna together and we all know why she is starting to feel angry. Then she sees gloomy Claire. She is bothered that Kamito likes big breasts so much. Desperate enough for her to suck in her pride and asks Rinslet why her breasts are so small! You kidding me?! That just opened up a can of worms. She is willing to tell her a way to make her breasts grow bigger in exchange for something. In the forest, Kamito asks how Fianna knows his identity (no, he is not interested in what coloured panties you’re wearing – disappointed?). She gives him a few hints but he still doesn’t get it! You mad, sister? Finally after the third big hint, he remembers. Finally! She continues teasing him that he is her first love. She transferred to this school after hearing the name of someone familiar stopping a golem spirit. She wanted to use him and planned to threaten to reveal his secret and forcing him to form a team with her. She wants to win Blade Dance to restore her position and honour, especially those who laughed at her. Kamito isn’t mad at her for trying to use him. In fact lots of girls want a piece of him. Greyworth has been trying to use him for her means while Claire and Rinslet are trying to make him their slave. Then here comes Ellis. She is appalled to see them and Ellis fans the fire by continue to flirt. Although there are no school regulations on this (obviously all Elementalists are females, right?), but why is Ellis so bothered and will not allow it? Her underlings had to calm her down instead as she always acts like this whenever she is with him. Guess that says a lot.

They are here as they are on their way to Gad to regain their honour. The stolen documents were about Jormungandr, a sealed spirit in that town. Kamito suggests working together since they’re having the same goal. This causes Ellis to fluster. Observed something, Fianna? Meanwhile Claire is in her room turning into a deviant. I mean, she’s already fantasizing about Kamito using some magnificent technique to increase her breast size (as claimed by Rinslet to have the one you love to fondle them). She thinks of trying it herself but doesn’t it look like she is masturbating?! Then Kamito walks in… Amazingly she didn’t kill him. Rinslet tags along with Claire to join Kamito to Gad since this was the deal in exchange for that information. Rinslet meets Fianna for the first time and you can tell that sparks are going to fly over Kamito. But I’ll spare you the details over this since scheming Fianna is using every opportunity to cling closely to him. Inside the mining town, they hear fighting nearby. Ellis is engaging in a battle with Jio. Ellis is willing to sacrifice her life to defeat him and although it makes him sweat a little, Kamito won’t have it. Because how else would his harem be complete. HAHA! As the guys clash swords again, this time each sword Jio summons, Kamito easily breaks it. Remember, Est is the sword that slew the demon lord. Jio doesn’t care about Jormungandr or whatever. His only goal is to prove he is the demon lord’s successor and he is going to do that by defeating Kamito. Even though the other girls provide backup, Jio is ahead of them. Jio mocks Kamito has gone weaker not because he hasn’t been in the game for years. This is the reason. Jio targets the girls.

Episode 8
Of course Kamito gets in the way to protect them. Fianna can’t stand all this and is going to pass judgment on Jio. Using a Blood Stone, a pillar of light engulfs him although he is still alive and escapes. Claire then notices something. Fianna’s boobs are much smaller! She padded them?! It was to hide Blood Stone that she hopes to use as her trump card in Blade Dance. She is carrying her family heirloom around because after becoming Lost Queen, she lost her contracted spirit. This was what she used to cheat and enter the academy. She thought they would accept her as part of the team but looks like she’s no good. Of course you know Kamito would accept her because she put her life on the line. She is more than good enough to be their teammate. The cave is slowly rumbling and it is a sign that Jormungandr is awakening although Jio has not found the true shrine yet. As Ellis and Rinslet are still injured, the rest make haste there. Est guides the way as she has been here before. Meanwhile Jio is back with Restia and he blames her that her spirit didn’t help. Jio will make him regret for this but Restia knows he cannot defeat Kamito for he is the true successor of the demon lord. Outside the shrine, there is a diagram and engraving of elemental lords. One of them is cancelled out and Est comments that is Ren whose existence was erased from history. So Claire and Fianna dip into the pool not because they want to have fun or it is time to feed us fanservice (partly it is) but to cleanse themselves. Kamito senses Jio is here and engages him. Kamito senses some of Jio’s moves the same as taught from the school. It seems Jio is the first successful human experiment to revive the demon lord. However Kamito claims he is not a success because all his spirits are sealed spirits just like Fianna’s. Therefore he is a fake and not even en Elementalist. Jio just wants to kill him and prove it. He then stabs him in the guts (no big damage, though). He also has something similar to Fianna’s Blood Stone. Nebuchadnezzar’s power allows him to control many spirits but still to Kamito he is a fake.

If you’re wondering why Kamito has been so talkative, it is because to buy time for the girls. Now they are ready as Fianna unleashes her dance ritual to bind and choke Jio. Because his body houses a lot of spirits, they are going berserk now reacting to her dance. Before they can interrogate him about Jormungandr, Restia appears. She admits she is trying to revive Jormungandr because of her wish. Kamito will eventually meet her but not now because he has not awakened yet. Jio still wants to fight but Restia calls him a failure who cannot stand up to the real demon lord’s successor. However she is willing to try if it has a chance of awakening him. She becomes a sword in Jio’s hands as he does his dirty tactic of aiming for Fianna. Again Kamito uses his body to absorb the darkness. Fianna becomes desperate to protect him and orders the holy knight spirit, Georgios. They defeat Jio with their teamwork. Next time Kamito opens his eyes, he is back in bed. He expects Est to be under the blanket again but surprise, it is Fianna! I don’t know what ritual she needs to do on him that needs to be touching one another but it sounded like some excuse. Now that Jio is handed over to the military and Jormungandr resealed, is Fianna going back? Nope, she is staying. I guess the reason is so obvious. For those who don’t get it, the little peck on his cheek proves it. Oh, Claire had to see this. Fianna continues to flirt with him and a whole new war begins. This guy can’t even take a break…

Episode 9
When Ellis was young, she witnessed a match between her sister and Ren. Her sister lost and she was so awed with Ren. Didn’t she care about her sister? It must be a ritual for Kamito by now to check if Est is under his blanket. Today so far so good. He hears Claire and Fianna making something in the kitchen. What the hell is this aphrodisiac Fianna is making and this charcoal from Claire? They’re chocolates?! I wouldn’t have guessed. Anyway this Valentia festival is very much similar to the Valentine’s Day in our world. But Kamito is being such a douche to wonder why the girls are making it and for whom since the academy only consists of girls. Doh! Probably the best one goes to Est because she writes in chocolate over her body and wants him to lick her before it melts! Then Ellis had to walk in and sees this. She almost killed him. And the dorm damaged too. Meanwhile Freya reports to Greyworth that Murders are making a return since Blade Dance is near and will try to sell students cursed armament seals. Also, Velsaria Eva will be returning and she is the strongest Elementalist in the academy. Team Scarlet (consisting of Kamito, Claire and Fianna for now), faces off another team and wins with their teamwork. They discuss the next team they would be facing. It should be the third ranked Ellis team but since her mates are injured they may face the second ranked team or worst, the best team that belongs to Velsaria.

They stumble upon the team they just beat as they try to provoke Claire and badmouth her sister. Rinslet tells them off about acting like a noble and was faster than them in pointing her arrow before they could move. Scram. Rinslet wants to treat them to their victory but the girls refuse to let her pay for it. Till Carol reveals she just wants to eat with them. However they will have to do this later as Kamito has got extra classes. At class, he sees Ellis taking it too and he nearly got killed again when he seemingly sneak up her back. Then she apologizes for this morning after she learnt the truth. Yeah. She almost killed him on impulse, right? Ellis starts flustering when he gets close to her to tutor some important points. I guess she likes it so she makes a date appointment to have him tutor her at a later time. Later as Kamito and the rest go to meet up with Claire, Est happily holds on to Kamito’s hand, making the girls jealous. Carol mentions his other hand is not taken yet but the girls have their pride and do not take it. In that case, Carol usurps them and holds his other hand! Yes! Best move. Hope this teaches the girls a big lesson. Kamito sees Claire longingly looking outside a window shop. Rinslet tells him it is her birthday tomorrow. It is the same days as the Valentia festival. At the parfait shop, Est orders a very jumbo size parfait because Kamito promised her she could order anything. A promise is a promise. Kamito sees Ellis walking by outside and this causes Claire to get jealous he cares about her too while reminding him she is on a rival team, he is her slave servant, blah, blah, blah. You know the drill. The waitress who served them, Vivian Melosa notices they are an interesting bunch and sets her eyes on Claire.

Episode 10
I guess Ellis needs some love too. So as Kamito meets her, they’re not heading to the library to study. She requests him to come to her room! OMFG! Ellis said that?! And why the heck is she dressed as a maid?! Because her friends tricked her that men love maids (damn right!). This is to repay him. However Kamito says he isn’t really into maids (what blasphemy!!!!) and Ellis thinks he prefers a more lewd outfit. Okay, so he takes back what he said about maids. Love them! She wants him to order her around. She’s saying that to him while pointing a sword at his neck?! She needs to learn what being a maid is all about. Kamito commends her fine cooking and then she feeds him. She won’t take no for an answer or else. Once that is over, she reveals this might be the last time she brought him to her room as her roommate is coming back and won’t let him live if she saw this. She is Velsaria who is also her elder sister (although not blood related – as usual). She once adored her and wanted to be like her but now she feels cold and distant. Ellis invites him to join Sylphid Knights and will be compensated since they’re short of (wo)manpower after that last incident. Kamito can see Ellis trembling as she speaks to him because she is afraid. The reputation of Sylphid Knights has taken a dive since they failed to capture the assailant and people don’t trust them anymore. And because of that kind ol’ Kamito agrees to help out. So when Kamito returns, he thinks he can just tell Claire the truth and everything. Bad move. Because you can clearly see from Claire’s reaction that she is NOT happy he just spent time with Ellis. Even worse, he tells her he joined Sylphid Knights and became their dog (okay, the last bit was exaggerated but you get the idea from Claire’s point of view). She tells him to get out and hates him (really?). She thought he came back but oh, it’s Fianna. Nothing like a little girl to girl talk would help, would it?

Ellis addresses her Sylphid Knights and Kamito could hear some of them talking behind her back and not paying attention. Clearly her reputation has taken a dive. Before Ellis could introduce him, Velsaria waltzes in and badmouths Ellis’ failure. She didn’t even bat an eyelid to call Sylphid Knight members as pawns. Of course Kamito didn’t like that and Velsaria wants to test him. I don’t know, she just flicked her wrist and suddenly some awesome wind power just blew everything away!!! HOLY SH*T! It even causes a crater! Then she just picks a handful of them to be on her team. Why, those girls would gladly serve her. In town, Sylphid Knights make their patrol during the Valentia festival. As they break for lunch, some Sylphid Knights hang out with them. Trying to catch some romance? Since feeding Est feels like feeding a cute animal, the girls can’t help do so. Is Ellis hinting she wants some too? She’s looking a little fidgety. But she gets cut off from her Astral Zero and turns into a sword. Kamito sees Scarlet and follows her to Claire. As usual, tsundere lines. And that turns into jealous emo when she learns he is helping Ellis patrol the town. She becomes mad. And Sad. Even more when Ellis comes into the picture. The dense guy doesn’t get it. Because those are genuine tears streaming from her eyes, dude! She has had it. Go have your fun with Ellis whatever. I hate you! I think this feels real. She throws the chocolates at him. Meanwhile those sore loser girls still want to get back at Claire and this is their chance since she is alone. Vivian offers to sell them something powerful. Meanwhile each time Velsaria thinks about Ren, her heart aches. Not of the love type. Real pain. She has a big time grudge on that drag queen.

Episode 11
Ellis is conscious that her patrol with Kamito looks more like a date. The way she says it out loud may give everyone the wrong impression. Especially how they’re holding hands. On second thought, she changes her mind. Let’s continue holding hands. More on the serious stuff, Ellis continues her explanation of how she once admired Velsaria. However after that lost to Ren, she changed and started chasing for power. That is why Ellis wants to enter Blade Dance to show her what true strength is and what it means to be a real knight. Kamito wonders if she hates Ren. At first she does but as she watched her throughout the tournament, she became drawn to her. Kamito thinks Ren is like any other Elementalist wanting their wish to be granted but Ellis begs to differ. Her Blade Dance was nobler than others. It was like she was wielding her sword for others. Kamito feels relieved and thanks her. Meanwhile Claire is captured by Vivian but she is strong enough to break out from her binds because she is not naive anymore to want such fake powers. Unfortunately she is set upon by those girls who have been under control by the cursed seals. As Ellis is about to give Kamito her chocolates, several mad spirits cause a rampage. Kamito the hero again gets a little injured to save a little girl from harm’s way. Claire is also here to help out but before they can do anything, a big Gundam spirit, Silent Fortress, the spirit that belongs the Velsaria blows the mad spirits away and all those unfortunate innocent people in its way. She did not regret it as she neutralized the threat. She even insults Ellis’ view of knightly ideas which are just mere empty words with no powers to back them. She has no right to call herself a knight. Of course Kamito doesn’t like it but he stood no chance against her and got blasted away.

Waking up in bed again, he finds Claire’s chocolate in his pockets and tastes it. When Claire comes in, he gives her birthday present and explains he took up the Sylphid Knights job to get money to buy her this. Now that her heart is melted so much, it’s time to say sorry. Sorry for jumping to conclusions. Sorry for getting mad. Sorry for kicking him out. Just sorry. Fianna had to break this sorry state (pun intended) to flirt with Kamito. Okay, she is here to tell them their next opponent for tomorrow’s match is Velsaria’s team. Yeah. What a great time to open her eyes. Although injured, Kamito still wants to fight but he figures he needs a long range fighter for this match. Cue for Rinslet to come in and offer her help. Carol’s translation: She wants to be on the team. Kamito then begs her to join them and since it’s like that, can’t pass up this chance, right? Later Claire goes to see Ellis in her room as she is still affected by Velsaria’s words. She chides her for being down and if so, what Velsaria said is true. Mentioning about Velsaria, she might be strong but not invincible as she lost to Ren. Their goal is to defeat Ren and they will defeat all those in their way and get their wish. So is Ellis going to enter Blade Dance with such a weak resolve? She won’t. Good. Now join Team Scarlet. But Ellis has her team. Cue for her friends to come in and tell her that they will not be in good health in time. And whatever promise they made, blah, blah, blah, friendship thingy, blah, blah, blah, it is set then. Ellis will break up this team and join Team Scarlet. Welcome aboard. The harem team is now complete! Meanwhile Vivian approaches Velsaria. The latter has no intention of becoming her guinea pig experiment. There is some cursed seal placed on her heart and she will die in a few years but Velsaria doesn’t care as long as she can participate in the upcoming Blade Dance. However Vivian can’t have her favourite specimen die yet… Ellis tells Kamito the good news that she has joined his team. And finally she gives him her chocolates. This is as recognition as one of the knights. Oh really?

Episode 12
In the face off with Velsaria, seems Kamito has the sense to sit out and trust his girls to do the fight. Oddly for Velsaria, she lets her newly chosen teammates sit out as she believes she herself is good enough to take them all. Cocky, isn’t she? Then why the heck choose them in the first place?! Unless it is just in name to register as a team. Velsaria may rue her cockiness because our Team Scarlet girls are getting better at teamwork with Claire providing to be a good commander, Rinslet freezing her Gundam and bringing it down to the ground and Ellis’ wind shattering it after Claire’s hot temperature melts its structural integrity. Even so, Velsaria can still run her mouth. At the verge of defeat, she will not give up and this causes the cursed seal to activate. Why do they always happen at this time? As usual, Velsaria is no longer in control over herself and her spirit as they go out of control. Surprisingly not berserk enough for everyone to evacuate because they’re just sitting there watching. Although Freya wants to call the match off, Greyworth wants it to continue and see what happens. Velsaria’s dark aura is absorbing the girls’ energy and Ellis is pretty sad she had stoop this low to get a cursed seal. And when all the girls get caught in her dark aura, here comes our hero in good timing to free them. It wouldn’t be much of a harem if his girls are dead, right? Of course Claire scolds him for trying to be reckless despite his injuries. Even so, he won’t let Velsaria hurt his harem teammates. Kamito employs his Ren moves and but he cannot be in such a state for long as the pain is getting to him. Fianna uses what is left of her power to heal Kamito in expense of her own energy. I guess you can’t put that to waste so Kamito and the rest cooperate to take Velsaria down. Up close with her, Kamito stabs her heart and vows to save her. With his face this close, Velsaria realizes he looks like Ren. Heck, it is him.

Velsaria regains her control but rues another loss. Of course it’s chivalry time. He didn’t do it on his own. He had friends and a power the strongest Blade Dancer didn’t have 3 years ago. Although Vivian can’t use her favourite specimen for now, she is interested in Kamito and plans to use him. Unfortunately for her, Greyworth has found her and Vivian looks like she is in panic. She was once a student of this academy and failed. Greyworth could tell it was her because her cursed seals were identical when she worked on as a student. I guess she never improved. Now for some punishment. I don’t know about Greyworth but that dark aura was scary enough to scare the sh*t out of Vivian! She became a bloody mess in the end. No kidding. Greyworth could sense this is Restia’s doing and the latter won’t let her do as she wish with Kamito. Why do girls always want a piece of him one way or another? Back home, Kamito and the girls have to finish what is left of the chocolates from the festival. They’re going to finish all of them? They should have called me the chocolate lover to help… The usual antics of Fianna trying to flirt with him, Claire wanting to burn him out of her jealousy and Ellis once more getting trick by her friends to don a lovely gown as she thought this was a party. Flashback reveals Velsaria has opened her eyes after that defeat and apologizes to her sister for everything. Wow. Like sorry solves everything. Okay, good enough. She hopes they will win Blade Dance. Although the cursed seal in her heart is removed, some circuit in her is destroyed and can’t summon spirits anymore. But a big thank you from Ellis to Kamito for saving her sister. Kamito disagrees. She saved her. Whatever. Team Scarlet becomes one of the top 3 teams as they begin their journey to the Blade Dance competition. Claire is glad to have met Kamito (who doesn’t?) while Restia continues to watch over Kamito.

Specials

3 over minutes of you-know-what. Need I spell that out for you? FANSERVICE! Isn’t that the reason why you watch the TV series? Now head over the specials for more delicious desserts…

Special 1
Set during the time when Kamito was a boy before participating in the Blade Dance tournament. Restia is his partner as they walk around town undercover siblings. He wants her to team up for the tournament. She’s cool, he’s anxious. Anyway we hear Kamito talking about his plan to steal the seal spirit when the royal guards are in disarray. However Restia thinks it is still too early for the mission and wants to enjoy the festival more. Young Claire and Rinslet make short cameos here. Hey, wait a minute. WHERE’S THE FANSERVICE???!!! Unless you call Restia feeding Kamito parfait amounts to one.

Special 2
Okay, after the first special’s false start, true fanservice starts here. Kamito is having a fever and Est is going to nurse him. She insists on feeding Kamito burning hot porridge. But you know what is hotter than that? Est stripping down naked and only clad in knee socks! Her logic is that this way is the fastest to cool down his fever. Cool down? I can sense the temperatures rising! Don’t worry, spirits don’t catch a cold. Now she wants to insert leeks into his butt! Show me you ass! Holy sh*t! She won’t let him leave! I am guessing if his top gets healed, his bottom is going to be really sore…

Special 3
Fianna and Claire put on their waitress outfit for their part time job. Yeah well… Kamito too… So does Est… Fianna takes the opportunity to fix better Kamito’s outfit, causing the tsundere to be jealous. But play time is over because in this café where Carol works, our waitresses have to get serious in working because Carol demands only the best! Never thought this maid could be such a strict person, eh? Ellis spots Rinslet spying from outside. Curious about their ‘indecent uniform’, they go in to investigate. Wait a minute. It just ends like this? How anti-climax!

Special 4
Claire and Rinslet dip into some special lake believed to house some busty boob spirit. I guess they’re that desperate. So are we ;p. Claire is thankful to Rinslet for this as she owes her one. Something that she might have forgotten. Flashback reveals Claire was bullied by other girls but Rinslet told them off for bullying the weak. Something must be wrong with Rinslet’s eyes to think Claire’s boobs have gotten bigger. I don’t know. Maybe it is my 2D screen monitor ;p. She thinks it is that book she lent her. Because they’re desperate enough that if they can’t find that spirit, they’ll have to resort to that technique. Yup. Rubbing them. Kamito senses the presence of a spirit and rushes over only to see the naked girls. They’re not too pleased, though. You can guess his fate. Hmm… No spirit. Could it be just the wind and Kamito overthinking? I bet it is.

Special 5
Call it dumb or desperate but Kamito and the girls are some sort of ritual to make a dark nabe to see if the rumours are true that you can summon spirits via this method. And since nobody knows much about it, they think what Est says is true (I think she herself doesn’t know much about it). Because she’s saying it is such a big deal that Blade Dancers stake their lives to do this summon thingy. Aren’t you scared? Oh, I’m scared alright. Kamito’s guts say that he wants to ‘run away’ was probably right but he can’t let his harem get into trouble, right? Fianna then casts her magic before it turns into some nasty colour in which they believe it has become dark nabe. And I don’t know who made up this rule about taking turns to eat whatever they take and the last person who doesn’t pass out will be able to make contact. It’s like playing Russian roulette, huh? Rinslet pride has her go first but whatever this thing is, it tastes like chocolate! Not so bad, I guess. Then Claire pulls up some ugly lobster and this scares the sh*t out of Ellis. Already scared from this entire experience, she starts clinging to Kamito. Then it descends into some jealousy argument that they want to do this too. Hey wait a minute. That’s just it? WTF?! So this whole spirit summoning thing is just a prelude for this unexciting hug thing that we don’t even get to see?!

Elementary Of Harem Dance
Okay, I expected something like this would happen and as usual, a potential for another season because at least this series has some potential from development from the characters and plot. The back stories of the characters and the future path that they will be taking seem interesting on its own right. Each of them have some sort of troubled past and honour they want to regain, the reason they want to win Blade Dance so badly. Therefore to say it is not really up to standard just because it only has the storyline restricted to a dozen standards isn’t quite fair. But then again as far as this season is concerned, it could have been better. I don’t know. How do you make better a harem anime like this one? So my overall opinion is thus that it might not be outstanding but at least it doesn’t suck either. Either this anime is really so or my expectations of such genres have really fallen so low without me noticing to actually not criticise it so bad.

The characters feel okay although they seem like typical archetypes in a harem anime that has been done to death. You know, we got the typical tsundere in Claire, tsundere of the other kind in Ellis, the rich company-seeking Rinslet, the flirtatious Fianna and of course the carefree and blur head Est who seems to be in a world of her own. It’s hard to say if Restia would be part of his harem since she feels leaning more towards as an antagonist. Perhaps she is the coolest girl in the series because she is just watching over them all, smiling, creepily, doesn’t break into a sweat or anything. She’s just cool. Just bidding her time for something. I hope whatever Kamito’s wish he made as Ren wasn’t about world destruction because my guts tell me that is what it seems. Now it feels like he is regretting so.

I don’t know, Claire feels like a mix between Zero No Tsukaima’s Louise and Shana of Shakugan No Shana. All characters are flat chest tsundere and their personalities are pretty much familiar. Just put Louise whip and equip it with Shana’s flame and voila! You get Claire! Oh yeah. I’m seeing a pattern here. Plus, her little violent tendency to whip and burn Kamito just the slightest jealousy (she calls it punishment for being lewd) feels a bit like what Louise would do to Saito. Kamito feels like the generic guy and hero. Good guy. Helps the girls in trouble. Has some kind of secret and latent power. Not perfect. Need I go on? But definitely not a wimp. You don’t want to mess with him when he is serious especially now he is wielding the legendary holy sword. One thing odd about Ellis is that despite her captaincy as Sylphid Knights, how come she is quick to punish Kamito for acts that are deceptively lewd even though they are not? I know she has been living a life with some strict discipline but how does she know what constitutes lewd or not? It’s like the way she acts, she is telling us she has experience to tell what is being perverted or not. I know, I know. She’s in love with Kamito and that’s why she’s acting like that but really, no boys ever in the school and I believe she doesn’t need to patrol disciplinary in such matters before. Strange, isn’t it?

So the romance isn’t much and left to be desired more. More so because Kamito is such a derp and douche to notice it just like you typical male protagonist in many harem shows. It feels like all of the major and supporting girls want him for whatever reasons. His harem girls of course they want his attention and others like Greyworth and Restia have their own hidden agenda in using him which at this point isn’t really known yet. Even Vivian could be added to the list but too bad from the looks of it she has been done for although I won’t discount that isn’t really the end of her yet. The best part is that at one point Kamito even admits that he knows girls want a piece of him. That ‘hot’, huh? Speaking of which, unlike Infinite Stratos whereby all the other non-important extra backgrounds girls (all other girls rather than the harem or supporting, to put it simply) love this guy and want to make him theirs, in here Kamito doesn’t have that attraction to the other girls. Heck, I think they don’t really bother about him either. Although I don’t see any yuri happenings, at least it proves that they aren’t guy crazy since like in Infinite Stratos’ case where their hormones start to work up and go wild after seeing the only guy in history enrolling in their academy. Prior to Velsaria opening her eyes, you could say she too wants a piece of him. For revenge. So once she is defeated, she isn’t really such a bad girl. She just got lost along the way after being disillusioned by her humiliating and easy defeat to Ren in the first round 3 years ago. So you see people? Hunger for power corrupts.

There are a handful of so called romantic scenes between Kamito and the girls (thus what you call a harem). Most of them get a decent share of the spotlight with him. Like Claire who is using this spirit slave excuse thingy and her tsundere personality to be close to him or ring him in. Fianna is the most daring of the girls and sometimes you can hear her hint sexual subtexts to him. Kamito treats Est ‘better’ than everyone else just because she is his sword and the act of patting her head could even send the girls seething their teeth and pouting in jealousy. Even Ellis got her own spotlight towards the end of the series just to justify why this chivalrous knight needs to fall in love with this dude. Heck, even without all that you can already sense it because of the way she gets worked up near him, her emotions fluster greatly whenever he is around, accusing him whenever she thinks he is doing something indecent. Just like Claire. So with Kamito helping to save her sister, doesn’t this justify for her to be part of his harem?

As I said that most of his harem girls get the spotlight because the only who doesn’t is Rinslet. Therefore as far as this season is concerned, she is made to look like a rich bimbo. I wouldn’t want to discount Carol too because, which guy doesn’t love maids? Okay, so that is just me but seriously. I believe Carol too has a liking for Kamito but not really of the romantic kind. She is quite the honest girl in the sense she is Rinslet feelings translator. If you can’t guess what roundabout way Rinslet is saying, Carol will put it simply what she wants in simple tense instead. So most probably Carol is around just to give her master a push but with Rinslet having her pride, it seems it is going to take a while. Unless the girls need that usurp lesson again. That was a really good one.

Fanservice wise, I have a feeling they are catering to those with knee socks fetish. Because they seem to show us a lot of Est’s butt naked but only clad in knee socks scenes. She is a serial offender in this department. I don’t even know how she came to this conclusion that Kamito may like this. Heck, I think Est provides the most fanservice compared to the other girls. Sure you have Fianna’s daring flirtation rubbing her boobs on Kamito (which also serves as a double edge sword to smite Claire – how else do you make good use of those boobs?), some bathing scenes but it isn’t anything alarming or even provoking. Unless you consider Est’s naked knee socks fanservice as threading on dangerous grounds. I don’t know if it is a running joke of the series that Est is the main offender to hide under Kamito’s blanket because she assumes he likes it. I don’t even know how she came up with such assumption. For better or worse, it always leads to that cliché situation of another girl (Claire especially) coming in. Saw that one coming.

Faring slightly worse than the service is the action parts. It feels like a little side distraction to everything. Sure, Kamito swings his holy sword while the rest of the girls assist or back him up with their weapon-cum-elemental power. Fire, ice, wind and, erm, earth dance? Sometimes I feel that the fights by the Elementalists using their spirits are just a gigantic version of Pokemon and infused with lots of magic. But despite all of that everything feels weak and really nothing to shout about. The final fight with Velsaria feels just okay but Kamito’s fight with Jio feels paltry. Eventually despite all the sealed spirits Jio have, he still loses to Kamito. So it proves that if you’re not a hero of the show, fake demon lord or not, you will never win even though you have seemingly godly powers. And yeah, the power of the harem to go with it too ;p. In a way, sometimes I have this feeling that I have been short-changed because when Kamito is supposed to do his Ren moves, we don’t actually see them but snippets of, I don’t know, his still motion poses or something. Maybe it’s so great that we don’t deserve seeing, huh? It’s like they’re telling us to use your imagination! Personally I think I prefer the cat fights when they start fighting over Kamito but that usually don’t last very long. Why are you looking at me with those eyes?!

The art and drawing are also your typical conventional Japanese anime style. If you’re pretty familiar of how animes like Seikoku No Dragonar, Mashiro-Iro Symphony and Hoshizora E Kakaru Hashi are, you’d be feeling at home with this one. Besides, the studio that animated this series, TNK also employed such styles in some of their productions like Lovedol, Kyoshiro To Towa No Sora and Akane-iro Ni Somaru Saka. On a side note, personally I feel the contracted spirits’ design seem dull. Sure, Scarlet is cute enough to be the series mascot but Fenrir and Simorgh look pretty ordinary. And oh, this means other contracted spirits by other non-important characters feel like oversized Pokemon creatures. Yeah, gotta catch ‘em all?

Voice acting wise seems decent, nothing spectacular and nothing for me to complain. Ibuki Kido takes on the role of Claire and I suppose she did a decent job in voicing a typical tsundere although I thought Rie Kugimiya would have been icing on the cake. She was also the voice of Nanami in Kanojo Ga Flag Wo Oraretara who is also a tsundere character but not as emo as Claire. Seems veteran seiyuus like Youko Hikasa as Restia (Mio in K-ON!), Mai Nakahara as Greyworth (Mai in Mai-HiME), Yumi Kakazu as Freya (Mikaze in Stratos 4) and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Jio (Kirito in Sword Art Online) playing secondary characters, the main supporting casts are voiced by lesser known seiyuus. They are Makoto Furukawa as Kamito (Banri in Golden Time), Ai Kakuma as Est (Hakua in Kanojo Ga Flag Wo Oraretara), Kana Yuuki as Rinslet (Hachiko in Ai Tenchi Muyo), Shizuka Ishigami as Ellis (Inoue in Majimoji Rurumo), Saori Oonishi as Fianna (La Folia in Strike The Blood)and Manami Tanaka as Carol (Alice in Kiniro Mosaic). Not forgetting Ayane Sakura as Velsaria (Suzuka in Tokyo Ravens) and Harumi Sakurai as Vivian (Lisanna in Fairy Tail) as well.

The opening theme is Kyoumei No True Force. At first I thought it was an effeminate male singer singing this rock piece but turns out Hitomi Harada was the one doing the vocals. This song doesn’t sound too bad too as I believe it mixes in a bit of some funk. The ending theme is Blade Dance by Knee Socks. Having a band name like that proves the kind of fetish this anime is trying to show us. Even more so, this group is made out of Kamito’s 5 harem girls singing it. I think that just nails it. Although this piece is interesting because it has some Celtic tune, I find some of the singing lines odd because it’s like as though they’re rapping and saying their words too fast because there isn’t enough time to fit all what they have to say in it. At least that is what I feel. Or you can say that somebody slightly fast forward those lines to make it as sound though the girls are singing those lines fast and in short bursts. Just plain weird if you ask me.

Overall, this series just like the abundant harem genres out there isn’t the best and definitely isn’t the worst. Yeah. It is that middle ground answer from me again. You watch this show just for the plain fun and entertainment value especially if you are into fantasy + harem. Note again, fantasy + harem, not fantasy harem, if you get what I mean. If it gets another season, so be it and I’ll still put this anime on my to-watch list and see if the cat fight and the harem intensifies. Oops! I mean to see how far Team Scarlet can go and get their honour and pride restored. Okay, who am I kidding? I already said I was here for the harem romance thingy. I’d be lying if I watch it without this as my main motivating excuse. So Team Scarlet, please win Blade Dance and let us have a second season.