「ボーイ・ミーツ・ボーイ」 (Booi Miitsu Booi)
“Boy Meets Boy”

It’s probably safe to say Ichika’s inexplicable appeal knows no bounds, as he’s been attracting cute girls long before he landed himself in an all-girls paradise. In school, out of school, cue in Gotanda Ran (Obata Noriko) for the latter. It’s easy to feel sorry for all the girls when Ichika isn’t aware of how popular he is, and utterly impossible for Ichika for the very same reason. He’s starting to come off a little dense at this point, much like Ran’s brother Dan (Yasumura Makoto) pointed out, but I still can’t blame him when there’s absolutely no reason for him to even think he’d be this popular. He’s not some IS prodigy nor all that cool, so I’m still going on the presumption that he feels the same way. Incidentally, that’s what makes him a respectable male lead in my mind — he doesn’t think much of himself yet manages to do all the little things right by just being himself.

This episode got the remaining character introductions out of the way fairly quickly, lumping in Laura Bodewig (Inoue Marina) at the very end of a full twenty minutes about “Charles” Dunois (Hanazawa Kana). The increased pace was a welcome change, considering the unknown IS threat was brushed aside for the time being. It actually felt a bit unnatural for the school to return to its laid-back ways right away, so I saw it as a means of getting back to that aspect of the story sooner too. The IS exercise where Yamada Maya (Shitaya Noriko) put Rin and Cecilia in their place was fun to watch in a lighthearted sense, but there’s a different level of enjoyment in seeing the more suspenseful battles that have something on the line. I like how the IS are used as the basis for character interactions, but I like it even more when they drive the plot forward in a slightly more serious way.

The high school aspect was undoubtedly the focus this time around, and Charles’ inability to hide his true gender to the viewers was overshadowed by Houki’s earnest reaction to being carried like a princess. I’ve been wondering when that line about the “legendary ohime-sama dako” in the promo videos would come into play, which made Houki look even cuter when she pushed for some more time alone with Ichika shortly after. The rooftop lunch scene had all the elements that make a harem-esque series work, and even surprised me with the way Ichika pressed forward while oblivious of the implications on feeding Houki. Cecilia and Rin’s reactions were priceless. I’m looking forward to seeing how these three interact with Laura, who clearly doesn’t like Ichika. Now there’s a first for the series.

 

Preview

71 Comments

  1. oh god look at laura’s IS?
    Its clearly in the colors of Trombe, she is even German to boot.
    Charle’s IS, as shown in the first episode has a Revolving stake like the Alteisen.
    The author clearly has a thing for Gundam and Super robot wars .

    Shadowlancer
  2. I for one think it’s kind of sad that Charle’s isn’t a very good trap character considering we can all tell that… well… maybe she’s not meant to be a trap but just a girl in boys clothes? Anywho…….. This episode reaffirmed my feelings that this show is this season’s most fun series. (Well.. Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka? is funny but this is more fun to watch in my opinion)

    Solarguardian
    1. Maybe she’s doing that to get close to Ichika and spy on him? Since he’s only male in the planet to be able to pilot IS. Pretending to be a boy will get her as close as possible to Ichika.

      Serapita
  3. Like a couple??

    Didn’t like this episode much , some scenes were weirdly executed. The mecha fights is still awesome anyways plus Houki going dere again this episode is so cute.

    Can’t wait for the next episode. Laura’s personal IS looks so badass. T1 Black Catapult Massive Armored Unit :3

    Nhelraios
  4. What I didn’t understand was Houki’s sudden request to “go out” with Ichika. I certainly don’t speak fluid Japanese, but I believe that was the right term for it, and it was translated as such. Did she mean “date” or “hang out with?” (and why didn’t we see Ichika’s reaction to this statement at all?!)

    innerchihiro
  5. Cant wait to See Laura vs Ichika next week, Germany Representative Laura bodewig The most tsundere of All. Ahhh… with this role Marina Inoue sure Remind me with her previous role as Tsukiumi on Sekirei 😉

    tama
  6. 1. It’s a trap! Admiral Ackbar Award candidate spotted! Dunois family is evidently modelled on Dassault clan of RL aviation…
    2. Laura is obviously a stern, one-eyed badass. I presume she has some relation to Ichika’s sister, after all she has been trained by her, but can it be something more… yuri flavored?

    ewok40k
    1. oh man, yuri between laura and chifuyu??! XD you opened my eyes! i am with you. since i don’t like her to fall for ichika, chifuyu-laura is a very nice idea. XDDD i haven’t thought of that before actually.XDDD ah..mah favorite IS characters,together..what a pretty thought.L0L

      keiOnDaisuki
  7. It’s too bad that Ran is only an extra character, since I would love to see more of her!

    Ran should not have covered up! (https://randomc.net/image/Infinite%20Stratos/Infinite%20Stratos%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2001.jpg)

    Ichika is really really dense kinda similar to almost all harem male leads (this is why I always like Ken Sugisaki from Setokai cuz he is the only harem male lead that actually wants a harem and is too aware of it lol). So I think a more straight forward direct seduction approach by Ran will get the message across.

    Man I wish Ran would play a greater like at least be one of his classmates or something, though too bad that’s not possible since she’s the sister of Ichika’s friend which means she’s probably still in middle school. Oh well at least I hope that she’ll show up once in a while cuz I definitely like her character.

    It’s too bad “Charles” appearance is greatly overshadowed by the girl’s rivalry and Houki’s amusing inner desires, but oh well it looks like next episode might be “his” time to shine.

    X
  8. all my rage .. this show is infinitely bad. I actually like easy to follow shows which often make no sense at all. But who cares about a very very dense male lead. _ALL_ girls in the show are fallen for him and he isnt interested in anybody. And the whole cast is absolutely flat .. a little bit more depth would be soo nice.

    Colorwars was Shakespear compared to Inifnite Statos.

    dropped hard..

    maxhyppla
    1. I agree with ya. All girls are fallen for him and this is the part i don’t understand. Maybe Animation always has something that won’t happen in the reality. Also, i felt the male lead character is lack of something (something like a real man should have).

      Nine
  9. When a gaijin character or 2 is required for a anime/manga, more often than it there will be an American. I’m pretty surprised that USA is nowhere to be found and all the wasterners in IS are represented by the European powers.

    Deutschland über alles! Leave it to the German to blitzkreig the classroom and face off against the male lead. Laura seems pretty cool, but she seriously needs to lose the stereotype nazi pants and jackboots imho.

    Cerudim Gundam/Klutzy teacher > Justice,quasi Strike Freedom/2 representative candidates > Psycho Gundam/drone….Hmm so drones are weak and useless badguys?

    Ninja Penguin
  10. It’s not that Ichika is dense, but he doesn’t think to highly of himself.
    But seriuosly: How many girls does his harem need? I bet we’ll see ran again soon too (what’s the point of that scene if she doesn’t get involved anyway?)
    Charles was too obvious, but still a nice addition to the series

    Danté
  11. Well that was a disappointing trap.

    Note to the director: A trap (or a reverse trap) shouldn’t be obvious at the first moment. The fetish hits best when the reveal comes. “Charles” is so blatantly obvious that the appeal is lost. They could have given “him” a lower voice and toned “his” blushing to make it less obvious. So much for the dramatic reveal next episode.

    fragb85
  12. i have to say that laura is probably just more Tsun Tsun then dere dere -now wait for it. over all their probably going to add another 2 girls to this love tetrahedron which i think is now some new undefinable abstract shape that only appears in quantum theory.

    Chaos
  13. I sure hope Laura has a more gentle side to her be it towards Ichika or someone else because her introduction really damaged her character to my eyes. I’m ok with uber serious types but not when they go slapping people just because they don’t like them

    gawrshness
  14. they change so much stuff.

    1. Charles and Laura suppose to transfer into the class together, I know it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal but the way I look at it, this kind of explain why they are so close later.
    2. Houki suppose to be the second in the legendary ohime-sama dako, should be another girl before her, and a silence agreement behind that as well.
    3. Which I think they totally mess up here is the roof top scene, when Ichika pressed forward on feeding Houki, rin actually step in and stole the meat, but heres the fun part, Ichika went ah theres no more meat left except this half eaten piece I bite into, and guess what happen next, all I can say is Houki got an indirect kiss next.

    Don’t know why they change these scene, is not like it goner cost more time and money to actually done it right, probably add another 30 sec of anime times to just add these scenes.

    arixx
  15. Can’t believe how cute Ran Gotanda is when she changed her clothes. And two transfer students, in two days in a row. Nice

    So far here’s my list of fave IS girls:
    Cecilia Alcott
    Fan Rinin
    Houki Shinonono
    Ran Gotanda (Hope she’s on any other episodes)

    On the preview Laura’s unit is a Heavy-Assault IS, I think. Thinking of Virtue or Seravee Gundam.

    lester
  16. Man, Anime producers don’t make Hanazawa Kana voice any “unpopular” character these days, really. And IS isn’t any kind of exception here either. I bet people will find the reason out soon.

    U Doh
  17. In terms of Laura, probably be a more typical thing where either…

    1.) She ends up spotting Ichika in various times of the day and observes how he is with the others and slowly, but surely changes her opinion of him when she sees what kind of person he is. Or ends up learning more through Chifuyu or someone.

    …or…

    2.) Something happens with Ichika doing some heroic deed for her and, like Cecilia, a pretty instantaneous, near 180 in attitude towards him.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
  18. doesnt any1 think ichika is a little 2 stupid. i mean how can any1 be that dense like ill have some grub from each of ma hoes. he seems like the pretty steroetypical harem idiot lead. ayumu aikawa in kore wa zombie desuka is way more awesome with all his fantasies and butt-kicking

    koizumi
  19. You know, I watch the series before reading this blog. I totally fell for the trap. :/ I thought “Charles” was gay. Then, a theory (now worthless) entered my mind. Only girls, but two men? One is oblivious to female affection and the other is not interested. Every student shown so far has shown interest, so possibly none of them are homosexual. Does piloting an IS have to do with a lack of attraction to women? Perhaps the IS cores are some sort of feminine alien life form that doesn’t like competiton from other female life forms?

    Vloxalion

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