「戦王の使者篇III」 (Sen o No Shisha Hen III)
“Messenger of the War King III”

Are you, immortal vampire, feeling blue? Are you discontent at how the world’s developed over the past two thousand years? Or are you just bored and want something to do? Fear no more. Because today, we have a solution to your problems. Why don’t you get off that ship of yours, mess around with some terrorists, and use them to terrorize your former Progenitor lover and his observer? While you’re at it, you might get a chance to blow up an entire island! Sounds like jolly good fun, am I right?

Wrong. Leave the poor guy alone, Vatler. We all know you’re bored, but let’s not cause a gazillion dollars in damage just because you want to kill some time. You’re immortal after all. Time doesn’t mean anything to you. Oh, you’re going to do it anyway? Fine. Be that way. Now you know why Kaleid Blood left you in the first place.

Well, there you have it folks: Strike the Blood’s seventh episode in a nut shell. A certain vampire finds himself in need of some quality entertainment, decides to listen to a random infomercial, and we end up suffering for his selfish decision better off for it. Because when an immortal is entertained, everyone is too, and it’s just another fabulous episode filled with Kojou abuse.

What makes it different from all the previous episodes however, is that virtually everyone gets abused this week. Kojou’s abuse goes without saying—I might get pregnant breathing the same air as you!—but this time, Astarte, Motoki, and Asagi get their share too. It’s all good though, because sharing is caring—it gets you cared for in this case—but someone really needs to fix Astarte’s warning system/warm up sequence. It’s not really helpful when the enemy’s already at your location before she can finish her warning, and being shot down before she can even activate her self-defense mechanisms is just sad. That said, she at least has an excuse for her issues—unlike Motoki, who gets a firm reprimand from Vatler in regards to his excessive drug usage.

There’s just a boat load of abuse going around. The best part? A lot of it comes ends up being more comedic than anything, and it brings a vital balance to the serious elements present throughout the episode (and series overall). It’s not everyday that you find a series that can balance the two—and switch between them—so well, and Strike the Blood’s proven to be more than capable in this regard. Yamamoto Hideyo seems to know what he’s doing with the material he’s adapting—or at least, the source material seems to be as good as expected—and as I said before, we’re all better off for it. Because ultimately, it’s as Kirasaka says:

“You’re a weird vampire. I don’t think most would feel grateful of someone who’s observing them.”

The relationship between Kojou and Himeragi is clearly more than just observer and observee, and Kojou’s role in the world is much more significant than he wants to believe. There’s a certain dynamic these notions set up, and it requires the proper touch to develop properly. It’s being done right so far, and it looks like we have a lot to look forward to in this series. It might never be a masterpiece, but it sure as hell looks like we’ll get more than enough entertainment to live with that fact. At least, I know Vatler’s smiling somewhere out there because of it, and here’s hoping you guys are too. Just don’t go trying to blow up islands when you’re bored or overdosing on drugs thinking you can gain a spirit form and superpowers from it. Though, if you’re a believer in souls and an afterlife, you could probably get the spirit form. It… just won’t be the form you thought it would be.

 

Preview

38 Comments

      1. It’s just a calm observation, i never said it was a bad thing. Im just saying that for an increased amount of overpowered lolis, the lolis themselves arent getting much screen time, namely Natsuki and Astarte… those two need more screen time to show of their loli goodness.

        Ginobi47
      1. Actually Gardos deserves some respect for shooting first. Half of the villains nowadays would eengage in needless blabbering and ended up squashed by Rhododactylos. Of course his choice of target is making him twice damned, though…

        ewok40k
  1. As with all harem master protagonist, Kojou has raised Sayaka’s flags at just the right time. 😀

    What’s with Nagisa being possessed by a higher being? Perhaps it’s no coincidence that her brother is also the new 4th Progenitor.

    Poor Yase, just when we’re about to see how badass he could be with his drugs-enhanced esper skillz, Vatler had to shoot him down. 🙁

    Himeragi panty colour of the week: Blue and white stripes 😀

    echykr
    1. I’m trying to figure out if the person who spoke through Nagisa was Natsuki-chan. It seemed to have some of her speech ‘flavor.’ If it was her it raises questions of what a ‘Void Witch’ can do. If it wasn’t her, even more questions are raised.

      rh75
    1. Well, duh, OF COURSE she can easily overpower them if she chooses to, but think of the situation she’s in then: with two non-combatants Asagi and Nagisa nearby, she’s not exactly free to move without causing collateral damage, is she?

      Only when Asagi has gone to do her hacking and Nagisa remained sleeping that she made her move and escaped from her cell with no effort at all.

      echykr
    2. in the LN, because she didn’t have her spear, she couldn’t take out all the beastman at once, plus they have one gravely hurt person and Nagisa in that state, so she decided not to fight and look for other ways to escape later. (consistent with above comments)

      jrj
  2. @Zephyr: Now you know why Kaleid Blood left you in the first place. LMAO when I read that. Could not agree more with you about Astarte as well. That was just pitiful, and frankly lacking some credibility given how strong her combat skills were before.

    Appreciate the blend of comedy and action, but I was also glad to see that we’re moving forward in terms of this arc’s plot. Finally, this level’s boss shows up to reveal his evil plan. Maybe not the best one, but at least he’s got a goal other than to relieve his boredom. Seriously Vatler, get a Netflix subscription or something. Anyway, Not only is the action (battles) picking up, but also seems that Kojou is on his way to opening the harem route. Himeragi might find herself with more competition than she expected.

    Whether AOTY or not, this is a entertaining show IMO, and one of the more consistent on my watch list. Something to be said for that.

    daikama
    1. >>Whether AOTY or not, this is a entertaining show IMO, and one of the more consistent on my watch list. Something to be said for that.<<

      Agreed. I'm only actively following four series this season, and StB is far and away at the top of that list.

      Altherion
  3. I’m seeing that in these 2 current arcs, the antagonists only came to Itogami because of some kind of illegal shenanigans Itogami’s corporate bodies have been doing.

    1)Itogami Island admin illegally holds onto a stolen Christian relic for structural stability, prompting the Combat Deacon to retake it by force.

    2)Kanou Alchemicals smuggles the Nalakuvera to Itogami for their own private research. An insider(the demon-morph researcher from ep 5) leaks details to the Black Death, prompting its members to come to claim it, and Vatler to sponsor them so he can fight it.

    zztop
  4. The new familiar that went out of control is interesting, at first I though that it involved wind manipulation but after Yaze almost got deaf I think it might have a relation with sound waves. Either way, I´m eager to know what form this familiar takes and what exactly are its powers, in the regard of whose blood Kojou is going to take to unleashed it, we all know the answer. XD

    haseo0408
  5. I’m very interested in how the series will develop Yaze and Nagisa, specifically in relation to the background behind Yaze’s soundwave powers and drug enhancements, and to what is possessing Nagisa.

    Coincidentally I think Nagisa was also possessed by the same entity,which observed Kojou awakening the Lion familiar back in ep 4.

    zztop
    1. Motoki’s backstory won’t appear till vol.8, so it is hard for the anime to get it in…
      as to Nagisa, since it is one of the more important plot piece, small portion of her story will be revealed as we get deeper in the story. you are right that it is the same entity that appeared back in episode 4 🙂

      jrj
      1. of course, it is the same person (host body), but different entity (based on the way she talked), the only way to distinguish them is looking at the hair style. When the entity is speaking, the hair is always untied (source from the LN)

        jrj
  6. Another solid episode, and you summarized it all really nicely. It was just a fun episode all the way around 🙂 the one and only minor complaint I have is the anime never revealed Asagi’s nickname, “the cyber empress”, which is truly awesome name haha… Asagi FTW!!!

    jrj
  7. Good episode. I’m happy to see Astarte and Natsuki-chan again.

    I don’t know if Asagi or Sayaka will be next episode but Its probably be the Sayaka. I’m hoping Natsuki-chan will be Kojou’s partner in the future. I wonder what what familiar will awaken with her.

    Vaan
  8. Not a fan of Sayaka. She brings all the worst anime stereotypes with her and I don’t enjoy it. She literally tried to kill Kojou for no reason, he still didn’t fight back, she slashed his chest open, and then Himeragi has the nerve to tell BOTH of them to think about what they did?

    That’s crazy. And not in the good way. I like every other character in this show, but Sayaka is stupid and stereotypical and needs to go.

    KaleRylan
    1. I find frustrating as to why Kojou has to reflect on his actions even though its really Sayaka’s fault to begin with.

      I don’t like how Yukina is acting a bit bossy and overly serious. She goes about being haughty and confident enough to take down Gardos all by her lonesome, even thought she got nearly killed by a Lotharingan priest thanks to Kojou’s help by and got him decapitated. Sigh. I may be taking this anime too seriously.

      Vaan
  9. One thing is sure for me. I will flip out if there is another girl that will supply blood for kojou other than himeragi hohohoho

    Strike the Blood, is one of the anime I’ve been looking forward every week. So far the character development is going smooth. Overall, as of now, it may not be one of the best but it will keep you entertained. Especially for someone who is stressed from work.:)

    waterxeno
  10. Welp, its pretty obvious that next episode Sayaka will probably get her blood sucked by Kojou to awake another familiar in order to defeat that robot thing. Looks like the harem plan is in motion already~!

    YanDaMan
  11. Oh well, as certain someone said, explosions fix everything! Even an immortal vampire’s boredom. Melancholy of Vatler Suzumiya?
    Other than that, nice dynamic between Sayaka and Kojou. For all her declared love for Himeragi, Sayaka immediately blushes for any compliment from him. Dere quickly follows the Tsun!
    My fave girl though is Asagi, without any supernatural powers per se but best hacker around and smart girl overall. She was quick to ask Himeragi directly what exactly is going on between her and Kujou, and caught easily to innuendos of both Gardos and mysterious entity possessing her classmate. My bet is she will search the instructions for the self-destruction code!

    ewok40k

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