Summary:

After a combat training session in their tank, the girls are visited by Claus who brings orders from headquarters as well as the mail. Filicia then announces that they’re taking an excursion, and Rio explains that they have to check up on some old observation equipment near the border to no man’s land. The two of them assign Kureha, Noel, and Kanata to do the job while carrying heavy packs, and the weight is almost too much for the girls can bear. Nevertheless, the three make their way to the first location and are able to confirm that the equipment is still working. When they then take a break at a stream though, Rio secretly complicates things for them by stealing their compass and food. The girls thus abandon their packs and proceed using only a map, and they’re eventually able to find the second location. Just as they’re getting frustrated at each other while trying to find the final location, they come across it and discover that it offers a great view of no man’s land. Filicia meets them there and shows them how all the fortress maidens that came before them have carved their names on this observation outpost. She also shows them a hot springs nearby, and Rio greets them there with a helmet full of berries from a tree she had to fight a boar to get to. They all thus enjoy the hot springs, the berries, and Kureha, Noel, and Kanata carve their names into the outpost.

Preview

Even though it was pretty clearly a fake-out, the “combat” beginning of this episode was fun to watch. I have my suspicions that that’ll be the closest we’ll ever see them operating that tank in battle conditions. Actually, I still have no idea what direction the series is ultimately going to go in, and this episode continues the trend of having both serious/military stuff and more lighthearted slice-of-life stuff. I assume all the serious stuff, like the view of no man’s land this episode, is important, and I also wonder if the fact that there have been so many previous fortress maidens (who have all signed that observation outpost) means that maybe there’s some sort of cycle that they have to fulfill where the older girls have to sacrifice themselves or go off to fight, and the younger girls carries on to train the next generation. The writers don’t seem to be in any rush though, and next episode looks like it could be more fun material.

19 Comments

  1. I’m guessing its either of the 2 leaders that will end up dying by the end of this series (if someone has to die).

    The packs they had to carry were seriously too heavy. If they were so heavy that you couldn’t get up with them on they would have destroyed the girls shoulders/backs and they would never have been able to hike a great distance uphill carrying them. Still is a good series and has lots of possibilities. Looking forward to next episode.

    Splash
  2. I like that Noel has gotten a lot more dialogue after last episode’s events. She’s more talkative without her personality changing. Also laughed at her short temper, ready to snap behavior as soon as they had to do the heavy lifting.

    AuroraFlame
  3. The only strange thing was Rio’s teaching of “how to lift a heavy pack”. Seeing her in all fours was a sad/happy moment. Mr. fessor, Pro alias Professor coming from Noel crack me up. I hope no one dies; more like a rite of passage when Filicia and Rio hand over the fort to the girls. There are still many ways this show can go; can’t wait to see next ep. my bet is that no war/battle should happen because the goal was to join the military to learn to play; so here’s wishing for a happy ending….

    Island Esper
  4. three cheers for fun material, yet the story hasn’t made me get angry yet…

    the fortress kinda cool, touch got so much characters come out, reminds me of…

    I was worried of the training they had on the tank, but I rather hope that’s the furthest in combat of a tank they would take. If they got involved in some war, it wouldn’t be any interesting. I wonder why Kureha’s plaits are THAT important next episode…

    kaineng
  5. “The packs they had to carry were seriously too heavy. If they were so heavy that you couldn’t get up with them on they would have destroyed the girls shoulders/backs and they would never have been able to hike a great distance uphill carrying them.”

    Comedy. You’re doing it wrong.

    Silly
  6. The best episode to date XD Best scene was when the girls were trying to lift the heavy packs and then when Rio told them to march out. Funny stuff.

    Wow, Kureha has a thing for Claus. I would never have guessed that. I’m really loving this series, they’re really making use of each and every episode with character development, storyline progression and comedy with a moe icing. If only K-ON! was like this…hopefully they make it right with the second season.

    Horus
  7. @dreamist: Maybe she can only write her name, but cannot read “pictograms”. Still, I can’t see any difference, so yeah.

    And what’s with the signature stamp of Kanata? I’m getting very confused with the mix-up of cultures in this show…

    nobody
  8. “wouldn’t it be disadvantageous if you need to pop out of the tank just to sound the trumpet to give a report?”

    I imagine that when the war started they had radios but these all broke down or there’s too much interference now. From the hints it started out as a high-tech war between two countries that destroyed their tech base and sent them back almost to the 19th century. “No-Man’s-Land” looks like it used to be a city. If the bomb was nuclear it must have been destroyed centuries ago else they wouldn’t be able to get that close to the ruins. I hope to learn more about what happened as the series continues.

    Orion

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