「クラス代表決定戦!」 (Kurasu Daihyou Ketteisen!)
“Decisive Battle for Class Representative!”

As the title indicates, this second episode was all Ichika’s IS battle with Cecilia, yet the absolute highlight for me came from his interactions with Houki. He’s not a complete pushover and treats her like the childhood friend that she is, which leads to some interesting scenarios in the face of her tough and seemingly cold demeanor. Disregarding the “high-speed” and “battle” portions of the series’ tag line, the “romantic comedy” part of it is starting give me some good looks, and I’m already starting to think Ichika and Houki make a really cute couple. I can safely say that he wears the pants in the relationship like he does his uniform, after Houki refuses his invitation to have lunch together and he nonchalantly gets her to come along anyway. The best part is that Ichika clearly isn’t interested in Houki romantically just yet, and is merely confiding in her as the only familiar face in an all-girls school that makes him extremely uncomfortable. He’s a normal respectable guy, and understandably oblivious to Houki’s feelings due to the brash treatment he receives from her. All the while, he doesn’t try to act cool in front of her, but still manages to say and do all the right things to keep himself on her mind.

So far, their developing relationship comes off fairly natural and doesn’t feel forced nor reliant on any third-party help, and even manages to avoid falling into the trap of having Houki constantly abuse Ichika to hide her own embarrassment. In fact, she seemed to feel bad about knocking him over in this episode, and that led to her helping resharpen his kendo skills after he slacked off three years in middle school in the “Go Home Club” (i.e. no club activities). Rather than simply hitting him for no reason, Houki copes with her feelings for Ichika by being strict with him, knowing what he was capable of in kendo, so I find her unbelievably cute when those emotions are written all over the face. She constantly turns away from him too, which I perceive as her way of avoiding eye contact and potentially getting flustered because of it. She’s given almost every indication of a girl in love and that alone makes her a lot of fun to watch. They say a girl in love gives off a very different kind of aura after all, and Houki’s very perfectly-balanced tsundere personality does just that, especially when Ichika manages to push all the right buttons without even trying. I realize there isn’t much competition in the romantic comedy department this season, but even if there were, Infinite Stratos would likely be at the top of my list since it has all the makings of what I look for in one.

Taking into consideration the high-speed battle side of things really turns this series into something else altogether, and I’ve already grown fond of Cecilia’s snobby character after her battle with Ichika. Despite losing by using the double-edged sword “Yukihira” that uses shield energy to power its blade, Ichika manages to cause a lot of unrest in her by holding his own in his Byakushiki, when it hadn’t even completed a “Format Fitting” customization for him as the new pilot. That’s on top of him being an absolute rookie against a self-proclaimed elite. It would probably rub Cecilia’s ego the wrong way even more if she learned that Ichika’s new personal IS is actually an incomplete “defective” unit with various caveats. In any case, it’s nice to see one side drive the other in this mash-up of genres, with Cecilia taking an interest in Ichika now. Incidentally, I like the way his fourth-generation IS has been made out to be shoddy, since it also bears a lot of unknown potential due to its similarities to his sister’s first-generation. It makes Chifuyu’s unrelenting attitude towards Ichika’s rather interesting, seeing as she understands both her little brother (i.e. his tendencies) and the IS he’s piloting really well.

As for the battle itself, once I saw Cecilia fire off the funnel-like weapons from her Blue Tears IS and Ichika evading what is arguably the most overpowered weaponry in the Gundam franchise, plus his Yukihira beam saber and “I can see it” (mieru zo) line, I was pretty sold on the IS battle side of things. In addition to the capabilities of each of the IS, I really like the uniqueness in each of their designs, so I’m looking forward to seeing some of the other 467 units that Houki’s missing older sister Tabane (Tamura Yukari) developed the cores for. Next episode should be the precursor to another battle, as Ichika’s friend from middle school, the Chinese representative Fan Rinin (Shimoda Asami), makes her formal debut to the series. The only thing better than one childhood friend in a series is two, especially when the second one happens to be a cute foreigner.

 

ED2 Sequence

ED2: 「SUPER∞STREAM」 by 日笠陽子, ゆかな (Hikasa Youko, Yukana)
Watch the 2nd ED!: Download, Streaming ▼

It looks like I’ll be prepping a new ending video every week, as the song adds another seiyuu to the mix after an episode focuses on her character. This is probably the first time I’ve heard Hikasa Youko singing with Yukana, so it was an interesting duet for that reason alone, even with Yukana singing in character as Cecilia.

Preview

106 Comments

    1. well I think shes about half conquered…. well have to see more… I guess they are introducing new characters every week til week four is this goes on…. and I hope there will be enough story…

      Totoro!!
      1. That’s not confirmed as far as I’m aware. If you’re pulling this info off syoboi, be aware that they’ll tentatively throw up 12 episodes if they’re not sure how long a series will be running for. The same goes for Beelzebub, which only has 12 episodes listed so far. The latter’s expected to be much longer than that. Early reports suggest that IS will be one cour though.

      2. It’s 12 episodes, confirmed by Bd/DVD registration. Same for Merry, which is 13 episodes. Idk about Beelzebub but unless the anime os filled with filler it doesn’t have enough content for anything longer than a 2-cour run. Unless they pull a Boringman anyway.

        Kioku
  1. this show has disappointed yet but were only 2 episodes in but im liking it=]
    and why are all the males in Japanese shows soo powerless to woman its the only thing that annoys me about anime its soo overused for once i wanna see a male character who a super cool mac daddy lol

    pops
      1. Well then…. if what Divine says is right than no wonder Chifuyu understands Ichika’s mecha so well, either way I’m really liking Ichika’s character. He’s not the typical weak main character of a harem series. He’s got backbone and it looks like he’s not too shabby of a pilot either. Looks like more competition arrives for Houki next week, and a pretty cute one too……

        SnipingAllTargets
      2. Actually what the episode said was that since there are only 467 Is Cores, the engine of an IS, so if a newer IS is made, they have to take a core from an older IS for the new one.

        Basically Ichika isn’t the 468th pilot, he still one of 467 IS pilots.

        MrTerrorist
  2. lol, the protagonist seems to be surrounded by Tsurendes. I wonder if the next upcoming girls are going to be Tsurendes too. Will this become the Tsurende show? Either way, i am looking forward it.

    banzemanga
  3. Nicely done on taking note of the “mieru zo” line. I think it came from the original Gundam series(Amuro Ray’s line)if my memory serves me right. Seems like funnels or anything else similar are now a staple requirement in every anime that showcases mecha(for some reason as well this show is giving me Strike Witches vibes except that IS has a man in it).

    fluidity
    1. Just realize that too. Cecilia’s unit is like the Cherudim/Zabanya with a Sniper Rifle and Bit Control System. Imagining a crossover that the Gundams became IS as well. Ichika’s unit is almost the 00 Raiser due to its wing binders.

      lester
  4. Arggg, I’m not hearing Ichika, and I’m not even hearing Roxas. Just Banagher, over and over and over again -_-

    Funny thing is, he says “mieru zo” when he’s dodging MISSILES, not…well…what the heck does IS call those? Stratos Bits? *shrug* At any rate, all four of those were already chopped to bits before Byakku Shiki First Shift.

    Vsin
  5. I’m liking the series even more, the introductions of the IS’s make it interesting due to the possible variations of combat styles they could provide, which is also based on the users personalities hmmm!

    Comito
  6. I’m glad other people are enjoying this too. I was worried that I might be totally unfit to judge whether this is good or not, as it has so many of my Very Favorite Things mashed together that I’d be liable to love it even if it was awful. It’s like a Strike Witches steak marinaded in a think Gundam sauce and lightly seasoned with Macross.

    I’m slow to reply today, so I’m surprised that nobody else has pointed out the biggest and most obvious Gundam reference: Byakushiki (白式) is even written with the almost the same kanji as the famous Hyakushiki (百式), just substituting the character for “100” with the character for “white.” Guess that explains why it lost its badass gold color.

    And if Ichika’s IS is Hyakushiki, I guess that also tells us where he gets his ladykiller skills! Watch out for him to begin wearing a mask and lamenting the mistakes of his youth soon.

    ObsidianTK
    1. Actually, he’ll probably start wearing sunglasses all the time, constantly reject his ever-present harem and be depressed about some girl who died 7 years ago.

      …oh crap, that almost sounds likely.

      Vsin
    2. Well, i am a Gaijin Anime lover. So i cant read the Kanjin. Lucky the IS AI Voice is speaking in English. I wish i could read the Kanjin IS Status feedback. But hey, not really need. Because the reaction is easy to understand.. Like the Power up of his Sword Kanji Feedback. I bet it has something to do with. Level 1 Charging complete or Level 1 Weapon Synchronization complete

      Gundam, done it right. At last the OVA used English Computer letters 🙂
      But i dont complain, it’s for Nippon market. And i am happy that IS get Subtitels

      Germanguy
  7. Finally, a strong male lead. The IS kinda reminds of that game I played Cosmic Break which has loli robots in exoskeletons.

    Lolz everyone has funnels these days. At least 1 gundam in every series, Star Driver, and now this.

    Considering Ichika’s preference to melee combat, he may really be CHAR!

    Suppa Tenko
  8. Love the fight scene, the moment those DRAGOON-like weaponry showed up I’m sold to this series, coming fresh from that awesome Gundam Movie Zabanya’s battle performance, that kind of weaponry is now on my “favorite list” in Mecha anime 🙂

    1. Actually compared to most main characters these days, he not as much of a wuss seeing how he stands up to Britiannia and is assertive over Houki. If you are looking at a wuss, look at Natsuru and that guy from Kanonkon. I’d say he’s a more normal Takuto.

      Byakku Shiki= Gundam Exia
      Blue Tear= Gundam Cherubium

      Suppa Tenko
    2. Being assertive enough to trash Ms. Britannia and haul around the osananajimi, skilled enough to go toe-to-toe against an elite using an unconfigured IS, and to nearly defeat her (if not for that self-destructive blade) in only his second sortie…

      Nope. NOT a wuss.

      Shiden
    3. The way the word wuss is used nowadays sometimes confused me. So far all I see is that Ichika is very assertive and just acts on what he thinks he should do. I don’t see how he’s a wuss at all. The same thing about Kazuya from GoSick. He doesn’t agree with Victorique with bring so much stuff so he pretty much forced her to leave it at home. He argues with her and he even stand up to that police guy who took all the credit himself (although there might be other reasons why the police guy did that) yet some people call him a wuss.

      But yeah I definitely agree that it’s predictable but still very enjoyable.

      Silver
  9. Divine: you should have mentioned the part where he touched the IS had a flash back and said some weird things concerning the IS. I think that is a very important part. Also in the last episode did anyone think ichika not remembering his past very well a little weird?

      1. I think the ed with a new char running everytime they’re introduced (and or conquered) is kinda cute and well done. I’d certainly rather watch this ed than a certain other new series with cherry blossoms, pfft such a cop out.

        Fallenrock
    1. I actually made mention of that scene back in the season preview. He mistakenly signs up for an exam at IS Academy and comes in contact with an IS for the very first time. That’s when it was discovered that they react to him.

      1. Yeah, if you look closely to the IS in both scenes. You see some difference in the Wings. Looks like the IS Power-suit changed. And perhaps he is remembering of his first Fight, for the IS Academy. But then, where they found out. He can move an IS Power-suit as a male?

        Germanguy
  10. I feel like that Ichika is just like Touma in To Aru Majutus no Index with his speech and such. Also I agree with @starss that an ending with the characters running isn’t very original.

    Zangkin
  11. LOL. yukana and hiyocchin?? in a single song? man, that’s really good,the mere thought that is albeit i don’t like the song itself.DDX

    and gah,cecilia’s starting to take a liking to ichika! noo!!! DX anyhow,nice to see chifuyu-neesama.XD

    Houki sorta pisses me of for some reason.DX

    keiOnDaisuki
  12. i really mistook this thinking that IS was created by the same studio as Strike Witches.
    but really i feel a some strike witches part in this anime. its like adding a male lead in strike witches. Cecilia = Perrine , Lin Yin Fang = Francesca Lucchini and others i dont know. but its still early to conclude since anime/manga sometimes ends up using the same idea.
    Reactions:
    to think some representative in the world will be in love with Ichika. thats ok
    the story is somehow predictable. at least it fits
    the battle. awesome, its my first time(i think) seeing a mobile armor(not gundam) fight.

    ♕Croosboy♕
    1. watch code geass, it is so worth it Show Spoiler ▼

      and what about macross, star driver, gurren lagann or maybe super ROBOT wars? well i suppose it is a good mecha on THIS season ( hard to tell which is better star driver or this) P.s. yes it very predictable, also predicting chinese girl falling in love to hero no apparent reason other than giving a friendly helping hand, i also predict a compulsory onsen episode later on ( it not sarcasm, it is predictable. maybe you should predict too? see who can guess right!

      lkaze
      1. already finished code geass, Macross frontier, and currently watching super robot wars.
        oh yeah i forgot macross has a mobile armor but they dont used it much for battle(like shoot laser using that armor and etc.).
        well code geass still good as ever. still tops this anime
        as for star driver, im predicting the fight will be longer than the usual in the future since as you in the op the fight is good.
        as for robot wars. just finish 1/4 of it so i dunno.

        ♕Croosboy♕
  13. A few people have mentioned Cecilia as being Tsundere and I don’t understand why. Imho she isn’t a tsundere and comes across as the ojousama archetype.

    I’m looking forward to any future childhood friend battle for Ichika lol, can’t see either backing down. 😀

    Ninja Penguin
    1. full of clichés huh?, well i challenge you to guess how will next episode goes, see how much you can get correctly
      my version Show Spoiler ▼

      lkaze
      1. Maybe it’s because I’ve watched one too many harem series, but this one was more irritating than any other series I’ve seen. Yes, the first episode started with a slightly hopeful note, but this one managed to ruin that perfectly. The charecters all seem to be a bunch of stereotypes, none of them have an original personality. This show seems to be trying too hard to become everything (Mecha, Romance, Harem) but just seems to end up becoming annoying.

        Alvord12
    2. Well, this show is about cliche IMO. Almost all the character is just has a cliche personality(tsundere, kuudere, and the other dere) sometimes a combination of several cliche in one character. If you don’t like a cliche personality, I guess this show is not for you then?

      aiueo123
  14. For some reason, this is the first harem show where I feel like I may not mind if they keep the harem status quo at the end of the series rather than have the protagonist get together with the main heroine. Thoughts?

    Lee
    1. I think I would just feel really bad for Cecilia and Lin Yin if they officially get rejected. I think this is the first harem for me where some of the secondary heroines are as likable as the main heroine.

      Lee
  15. I loved how Houki was in a blouse then appeared in her uniform after she reminisced about the past. Props to Ichika for not being a push over too. If only his IS didn’t run out of energy!

    I couldn’t put my finger on it before, but the ending reminds me of the Strike Witches 2 ending.

    fall3nbs
  16. Nice! Despite the negative news about IS, this post was something that pointed out the best parts of this episode.

    At this point it might feel like a pity it’s only 12 episodes long, so I’m wondering if that is actually affected by the progression (i.e. how many volumes) of the novels as well.

    Owaranai
  17. Cecilia’s IS has a Dragoon system and is a sniper-type. Outstanding, but a Gundam reference; a combination of Dynames and Providence. But still, she gets owned by Ichika in IS default. Now, if he hadn’t run out of juice. And now we get to see another cute girl from (hello) China. Every powerful country has a representative, and this is much like Hetalia Axis Powers.

    My point: full of references. But it’s staying on my watchlist until the end. I’ve already started watching it though, and can’t wait to see what happens next.

    Razgriz
  18. Divine, did Chifuyu say that the “defect” is just because Ichika hasn’t fully synchronized with the IS, or is it a permanent issue that Ichika will have to adjust to? I’ve watched two subbed versions, and they don’t really translate the explanation the same way.

    Lee
  19. Finally a series that combines most genres. Ichika’s Byakushiki is mostly resembles the X10A Freedom and GN-0000/GNR-010 00 Raiser, the wings/wing binder combo and it’s beam sword like the GN-Sword III (Raiser Sword).

    Wonder what will happen in the next episode if Houki saw Fan and both of them are Ichika’s childhood friends.

    lester
  20. really starting to like this show
    it kinda gives off a different feel from other mech girls show like
    strike witches and sky girls
    looking forward to the new childhood friend of his XD

    Klown
    1. Wow I translated the Byakushiki (白式) and it means “White Expressions” and the Byakkushiki (百式) “Type 100”

      Here’s an unusual note: http://gundam.wikia.com/wiki/MSN-00100_Hyaku_Shiki

      “In Model Suit Gunpla Builders Beginning G Kenta made a customized build of the Hyaku Shiki. Kenta painted it white and changed the original kit’s “Hyaku” mark (百) to the kanji for white (白). He calls the model “Byaku Shiki” (白式).”

      And here’s the link for Byakushiki: http://gundam.wikia.com/wiki/MSN-00100_Byaku_Shiki Picture Gallery at bottom.

      lester
  21. This series is a fail.

    1 possible flaw is they told us there are currently 467 IS units, and distributed all over the world for training, right? Countries all over the world build their own IS academies to teach students how to pilot an IS unit.

    Here’s my question, why would they implement IS schools if they have limited stocks of the units? Each countries choose their representatives for the competitions. What about the other students who isn’t choosen or wealthy enough to buy their own IS?

    Wat the hell is the author thinking?!

    I might this series because of the fight scenes and lovey-lovey shit. But for the story, not so much…

    pata
    1. It’s set up for competition, not domination. I liken it to professional sports: there are only so many athletes a team can hire, and only so many than can be in the league. The schools are there to find new professional pilots. It’s just that Ichika’s situation is leading/forcing him to be a professional pilot.

      kylone
    2. Actually, IS Academy is the only school where girls can get trained to pilot an IS as far as I’m aware. That’s why representatives from all over the world come to Japan. They pick their best candidate and send them there.

      Of the 467 IS units, a good portion of them are distributed across the world and held by large corporations and important figureheads, as explained in this episode. I presume IS Academy has the rest for training purposes, but due to their limited numbers, that’s why it’s a big deal when Ichika and Cecilia have personal-use ones.

  22. Sticking with this show until the second episode at least showed that the mecha combat could be interesting, but I’m kind of at a loss when it comes to the characterization. I’m used to seeing harem shows where the male lead really *is* a moron or a total pervert. In IS, right from the beginning, everyone treats the male lead like shit and calls him a moron/prevert, but based on the events so far in the show, it’s completely unjustified. On the other hand, almost all the female characters we’ve seen so far are morons with few redeeming characteristics.

    Maybe I’m just expecting too much from a harem show, but it seems like the characterization in this show is awful even by harem anime standards – I’ve watched Sekirei, Fate Stay Night, Kampfer, etc. and while I found the characterization kind of bad in those shows, IS blows them out of the water so far when it comes to bad characters. Am I just looking at this show the right way? Someone I was discussing it with suggested that perhaps it’s a sort of reverse misogyny designed to set the show apart from other shows, and it seems like that explanation sort of fits.

    Can someone familiar with the manga (or just more familiar with the genre) clue me in here – am I just not getting it?

    Kael
  23. “So far, their developing relationship comes off fairly natural and doesn’t feel forced nor reliant on any third-party help…”

    not exactly, I would think of the ENTIRE STUDENT BODY as the third party, nudging Houki; all the while Ichika’s only motive of continuing this “relationship” was only to keep his only familiar face in the same year within helping distance.
    Either way, it works for now (until his other childhood friend comes into the picture).

    oh, the battle heavily reminds me of macross… (those spins…GERWALK like ground movement)

    info600
    1. I wouldn’t really consider that third-party “help”, since the other girls are interested in Ichika themselves. If you mean they’re catalysts for sparking some development between him and Houki, then I can see where you’re coming from. The third-year girl was a prime example.

  24. Can we please have a strong, confident (but not high-class or privileged) male protagonist instead of the usual klutzy, wimpy one? Ichika had about 30 seconds of “normalcy” while he was actually suited up with Byakushiki fighting Cecilia. Ichika’s weakness is work, particularly reading manuals. But he’s evidently let Chifuyu his older sister do all the hard work in the family for years, from what I’ve seen. He’s a slacker – what did he intend to do with his life before an IS reacted to him?

    Show Spoiler ▼

    There are so many unanswered questions. Is Ichika able to pilot IS because of his kendo upbringing or Chifuyu? Can Ichika learn an attack that doesn’t drain 600 points of shield energy in less than 30 seconds? Is the harem of IS girls going to help him, or hinder him until he starts defeating several in battle for their respect? Are we going to see the battle-of-the-week for the next 6 episodes until the actual plot is revealed that was part of the first few minutes of the first episode?

    The technobabble for the Infinite Statos mecha was explained nicely, along with an actual “black box” definition. At least it’s not bio-organic mecha 80 meters tall with cybernetic armor to control them along with an umbilical cord (Evangelion).

    It gets me how the male protagonist in these anime chooses the first girl to come along, when the harem rules give him quite the opportunity to pick and choose a potentially better person as a partner (Sekirei, To Love-Ru, Isekai No Seikishi Monogatari). Most high school experiences have several broken hearts. The “childhood sweetheart” is blatantly overdone in anime now.

    jhpace1
  25. Wonder will the story go out of the school.
    Or maybe if this does well there can be a sequel to show international games like what Chifuyu probably participated in before.

    International games, reminds me of Gigantic Formula and G Gundam.

    iron2000

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