「その境界線の上に立ち(シン・レッド・ライン)」 (Sono Kyoukaisen no Ue ni Tachi (Shin Reddo Rain))
“Standing on Top of the Boundary Line (Thin Red Line)”

It’s Tamura Yukari overload this week as she brings a spirited childish energy to Tabane like only she can. I sometimes wonder what the starring cast of younger seiyuu think when they see Yukarin come into the studio and bust out that voice when she’s a good 10-13 years older than them. Granted, she doesn’t look it since she’s a fellow “eternal 17-year-old” member, so perhaps reality’s not as funny as I imagine it to be. But… but… Ni-paa!

Anime sure seems to love making the brightest minds in their fictional worlds out to be beautiful carefree individuals, and Tabane takes it to extremes with her arrival in a giant mechanical carrot. She’s not exactly the spitting image of the mastermind behind the IS cores with her bunny ears and all. As if to mock all the people who have to work their butts off in hopes of achieving a fraction she has, everything seems to come effortlessly to her too. Damn anime, there are limits to how far genius-level talent goes! I swear some poor naive soul is going to be really disillusioned one day.

Tabane is almost too fun of a character, given how she wanted to size Houki up and latched herself to Chifuyu. While I’m all for that, Houki’s time in the spotlight with her new Akatsubaki was one of my favorite moments. She may have been receiving the most powerful weapon in the world, but she acted like a little innocent girl who finally got what she needed to fit in with all of the competition. They say good things come to those who wait, which in Houki’s case means, “Dai-yon Sedai. Uwaaa.” Or for all you English-only people, “Fourth Generation. Ooooo.”

On the romance side of things, this series never fails to leave me smirking ear-to-ear. Cecilia going on the “offense” and subsequently being shot down with everyone else by Chifuyu was absolutely priceless. That was partly because I imagined Ichika’s big sis following up her “Pssh, know your place you 15-year-old amateurs” remark with “He’s mine you fools!” Even if she didn’t outright say that, it was clear in my mind that she likes all the perks that come with Ichika. Cooking, cleaning, massages. She can’t just hand over those massages to these kids.

What was harder to take at face value was the developing plot about the unmanned experimental IS that’s gone berserk. It was pretty obvious the story’s working towards the cold opening we saw back in episode one and likely the conclusion to this adaptation, but it felt too forced sending in a bunch of inexperienced kids for the crucial part of the mission. After all, we had the White Knight who saved Japan from the missile barrage present (i.e. Chifuyu), along with the genius creator of the IS cores who probably could have pulled an IS out of nowhere and refitting it for her in a matter of minutes. Instead, the whole operation that rests on a small window of opportunity is up to Ichika and Houki. Houki ranking up, fate of Japan down.

Production-wise, the artwork was all over the place, which by the magic of selective screen capping, I’ve spared readers from except for one example. It wasn’t only on the distant shots either, as a lot of the character faces looked off more often than not. To the series’ credit, it wasn’t that obvious while watching, not when compared to swapping out Houki’s pilot suit with a white one all of sudden. Not the first inconsistency in the series, and likely not the last. Anyway, with two episodes remaining, it’s likely the next one will focus on stopping the Silverio Gospel IS and the finale will be about Houki’s birthday. The latter was completely brushed aside this episode.

 

ED6 Sequence

ED6: 「SUPER∞STREAM」 by 日笠陽子, ゆかな, 下田麻美, 花澤香菜, 井上麻里奈 (Hikasa Youko, Yukana, Shimoda Asami, Hanazawa Kana, Inoue Marina)
Watch the 6th ED!: Download, Streaming ▼

Same version as last time, but now everyone’s bigger! Houki also moves to the front of the pack and closest to Ichika, where I feel she should be.

Preview

103 Comments

    1. No~Char should totally be above Rin. Laura probably should also, but I don’t care as much for her. Rin seems to do the least. They need a Rin episode to balance out the heart/relationship meters, so they can end with a harem ending.

      xcswmboy
  1. Overspeced IS?! should be interesting…
    though I wonder why Houki’s unit doesn’t have some 1 off ability?
    all girls’ talk part was hilarious 🙂 fight the sister, girls.
    genius is normally close to the craziest… no doubt in this anime, but still fun 🙂

    jrj
      1. i don’t know what’s the whole fuss about. From what i’ve heard, i was expecting something extreme that would burn my tongue, period, yet it was just another type of horseradish, only green. I’m from Poland and we really eat a lot of it, no biggie

        prejsu
  2. What military on the planet wouldn’t want a teleporting missle launcher over an IS though? lol i noticed that white suit too, i noticed it in her IS mode maybe they thought it’s both for that scene instead of accounting for armour plating. they skimped out on QC for sure…hopefully that means they spent the extra time on the big scrap next episode. Interesting that the Americans and Isrealis are the naughty folks who made a bad bot. It doesn’t surprise me that the military spin got put on it even though IS were supposed to be for sport.

    Breedo
  3. Chifuyu-nee is about 10 years ahead of the haremettes…
    But genius cyberbunny stole the show in a big way!
    lol @ black lingerie gambit being discovered twice by everyone but target (Ichika)…

    ewok40k
  4. charlotte is getting lesser and lesser screen time
    she is nearly blending at the background with rin and cecil
    boo!

    my thoughts to the people of japan as well
    i hope they recover fast

    inkman
  5. Damn i hope Oda and most of the japanese people are ok.. After that crazy massive earthquake we might not be getting any manga and anime for some time..
    Obiously the anime an manga industry will take a massive backstep and many things will be on hold since this has affected the whole of japan in really bad way..

    Chrislea
    1. I was right now watching some stupid morning news show and saw that.

      That thing was even stronger than Mexico`s earthquake. I Hope Oda, his family; the voice actors and all of the people from Japan are okay. Being from a country with constant fear of earthquakes I am sure they know better than me in dealing with earthquakes.

      Lectro Volpi
  6. Yukarin with another role she’s perfect for, since Clannad’s Mei-chan :p

    Me wants Taba-nee as my Onee-chan <3

    Wonder who will earn Chifuyu-nee's SoA in the end :p

    Man, i really wants a S2 of this series 🙁

    Omega
  7. I finally see some yuri moments here, I dont see a nice yuri pair to ship though.

    what my shipping goggles have so far:
    maybe chifuyuXtabane to match with ichikaXhouki.
    or the incest route, chifuyuXichika and tabaneXhouki.

    the other characters dont give much “sizzle” for me to ship them.

    amado
      1. I mean that they havent really shown any “close” or understanding moments(I dont consider much the others between ichika since he is a typical harem guy, does the same for everyone else).
        plus im a yuri fan and shipper.

        amado
  8. I drooled at this… literally… orz

    was getting too excited while reading this that i unintentionally drooled over Houki onto my keyboard. *wipes*

    Chifuyu-nee asking the girls whether they wants him and getting their hopes up. LoL. I rewatched that scene so many times, just keep rewinding back to that. LoL. Well, Ichika’s a siscon and I think Chifuyu-nee probably knows it too.

    thenewhorde
  9. Airing schedule of anime programs are totally messed up right now in Japan. I guess a lot of programs are gonna be canceled this weekend. Frankly, they need news right now, not anime.

    U Doh
    1. yeah, that’s to be expected, since there are more important things than anime or manga. These people are experiencing their very own apocalypse, who cares about anime airing times etc. We all are Japanese today!

      prejsu
    2. We have hundreds of casualties, damn that thing!

      I was not informed about the 3 consecutive earthquakes.

      There are tsunami alerts for Mexico and Chile. Being from Sonora makes Tsunami alerts quite pointless though. Let us hope that the remaining people are okay!

      Lectro Volpi
    1. -_- This show has rather become somewhat generic to me. The only reason I started liking this show was because of Char. I’m pretty sure the next two episodes would surely dissapoint me, hence I must steel my heart for the upcoming disappointments

      Alec
    2. Alec brings up a good point. Lovers of Charlotte are surely aware of the inevitable ending.. T^T
      If they give us some more intimacy between Ichika and Char, then I’ll be overjoyed enough to welcome the disappointments.

    1. Yeah she probably knows why and she wasn’t at all surprised about Ichika so perhaps she’s the one who had an involvement in the development of Byakushiki?

      Also, 3 earthquake in 3 days? Wow and my friend did not say anything about it. Hopefully everything is okay then.

      Silver
  10. First and foremost condolence to Japan. Watching that broadcast was just too surreal. You just couldn’t believe the destruction it brought. Not to mention the fact that they’ve been hit by 3 consecutive earthquakes in a span of 3 days IIRC. Watching it while seeing moving vehicles get swept by deadly waves was just painful. May those people find their rightful place with God.

    Moving on… I have finally I have caught up with this series. Not too shabby.. It’s surprisingly entertaining. I’m rooting for Charlotte and with that, I’m still thinking that she should’ve pretended to be a boy for a little more longer. Their antics over the 2(?) episodes were just heart-stoppingly sweet and cute. Second pairing I’d probably be ok is with Houki but that’s a given.

    Production-wise, the artwork was all over the place, which by the magic of selective screen capping, I’ve spared readers from except for one example.

    Well at least though it wasn’t THAT bad. They still maintained a proper quality on foreground subjects.

    megalith
  11. Its nice to see Houki getting some spotlight again, especially in her awesome new Akatsubaki!
    I still have a soft spot for Laura and Char, but I’m hoping Ichika will do something nice for Houki’s Birthday (besides the present he bought).
    When Chifuyu nee sat down and drank her beer, she reminded me of Misato from Evangelion lol.
    Looking forward to some intense fighting next week >:)

    P0NCH
    1. Seriously, i was thinking is it just me or it’s a coincidence that Yukarin is the seiyuu for her. I mean if she’s can carry that missile launcher with her, she can bring all the arsenals with her. Imagine she is a walking WMD like the infamous white devil-chan.

      Omega
  12. Every girl except Chifuyu, Yamada, and Char is annoying to me.I was hoping Laura would get away with murder, but meh.I’ll add Tabane to that list^.I don’t like chicks that have to mimic other chicks in order to have their own style coughhoukicough.

    anishuma
  13. About the Earthquake: At first I gave my respect and condolences, and then I saw some videos of what happened. I think there’s a big red mark on my head from all the facepalming. Yeesh, you country is sitting next to a fault line yet it seems none of you know what earthquake saftey is? My town is next to a fault and we haven’t had a quake in years (more than 20 I think), yet I’m damn sure everyone knows what to do when it hits.

    /insensitive off

    Anyways, Akatsubaki is definitely 3x faster than a 3rd Gen IS. Nice Tabane, just hand your sister the fastest unit with insane firepower and even a Barrier Void Attack. If it also has a solid power supply to use all that stuff I’ll crap my pants.

    Vsin
    1. There is a difference between knowing what to do and actually doing it when the time comes. At least most of the buildings stayed up, so at least the engineers did their job right.

      Ayle
    2. You can’t be serious. From what I know and saw the people and infrastructure have been coping quite well when the actual quakes (and several large aftershocks which total up to more than fifty) took place which accounted for very little of the total casualties and damage to infrastructure. It’s the tsunamis and fires that are devastating the Tohoku region.

      I don’t even want to know what will happen if an earthquake of the same severity will strike the coast around Cali. A magnitude four quake is enough to be considered breaking news and send people panicking.

      sigmasox
      1. Thing is, I wouldn’t call anything that I found “panic” per say, more like “durr”. A panic reaction would be to dive under the nearby tables or something, yet mid-quake you see things like shopkeepers trying to keep products on the shelves or some guy leaning over a desk checking/doing paperwork. I mean, I have faith in their engineers but you’d think people would react more than…well…*not reacting*.

        Having said that, the after-effects are wrecking stuff bad, and no duck-and-cover is going to help you there.

        Vsin
      2. Um, by panic I meant in context to a hypothetical situation in California.
        And FYI, those shopkeepers and paperwork guys were located IN TOKYO, which underwent a seismic intensity of 5 at the very worst and was considerably far off from the epicenter. Japan goes through magnitude fours and fives numerous times every year, FYI.

        Why are you even comparing an earthquake-prone Japan to your town anyway? There’s a big difference between a town that hasn’t experienced a quake in twenty years vs. an area that experiences every few weeks.

        WHATEVER.

        sigmasox
  14. O_O…when Chi-sama grab Ceci’s butt and lifted her yukata to examine her “preparation” – I swear I had nosebleeds after nosebleed while rewinding it over and over…ah, imagination. Then came more: Chi-sama goading the girls and to say…”In your dreams…” and Tabana-san’s “love” attacks…Damn. I did notice that Houki’s suit kept changing colors which got to me to the point of annoyance.

    bakanekokun
  15. Well, it’s not so much that Akatsubaki is overpowered, since it’s what would be expected from a machine that’s a full generation ahead of everything else. Byakushiki is just in desperate need of a buff, as a 4th gen unit that’s barely at par with 3rd or late 2nd gen units.

    Insane speed, powerful ranged attack, energy blades all over the place (that probably don’t drain the unit’s shields to use)… Poor Byakushiki really is a “flawed prototype”.

    Shiden
    1. Also, what the hell are the animators doing?

      https://randomc.net/image/Infinite%20Stratos/Infinite%20Stratos%20-%2010%20-%2032.jpg
      Those would be ICBMs, designed with large-scale destruction in mind. They’re given coordinates for something on the ground and annihilate it.

      https://randomc.net/image/Infinite%20Stratos/Infinite%20Stratos%20-%2010%20-%2033.jpg
      Those are standard missiles (more or less). They wouldn’t have the depicted range, or the ability to retarget something in the air.

      Of course, the idea of a single unit being able to provide ABM support for an entire country is bad enough, so whatever.

      Shiden
      1. By this point, they could claim all those missiles were nukes, and I still wouldn’t give a damn. Logical lapses have riddled this series, and now I’m just taking everything in stride. Because, you know… trying to make sense out of all this is officially killing me on the inside…

        Zero
  16. The 8D faces to the ~_~ faces was the comedy highlight this episode, lol.

    Build up their hopes and dreams, then crush them beneath her feet; good ol Chifuyu, lol. XD

    HalfDemonInuyasha
  17. All our prayers are with Japan right now, may all that has passed on encounter confort in the mercy God. This is a terrible tragedy, I hope all countrys do whatever is necesary to bring humanitary help.

    haseo0408
  18. I’ve just watched the whole story of Japan’s heavy crisis. Tsunami’s I’ve seen bad ones in other countries but jesus ffffing christ – radation is a bad recipy for the mix. I can accept that theres not going to be any manga scans or anime coming for awhile (zombie-desu – IS) but the more I won’t see updates the more I fear about Japan’s well being.

    Rob
  19. I thought Tabane was pretty cute with how she acted. Can’t imagine how Houki and her grew up to be so different. I also agree with how far the genius thing can go. She’s smart but to say that she’s smarter than all the scientist from every country with her ready-to-be-used 4th generation IS was a bit much. Anyways, can’t wait to see Akatsubaki in action.

    Zangkin
  20. Man like an Earthquake wasn’t enough, it gets a Tsunami with it BECAUSE of the Earthquake…joy. Man that really pisses me off because I like Japan and they don’t deserve it, no one does =_=

    Jason Isenberg
  21. It’s curious how Cecilia is getting renewed attention after being reduced to the ‘comic relief stalker’ for so long. Prior to episode 10 I was predicting the series to end with England and China in a ‘les yay!’ pairing. Now, I wonder if she’ll be killed off. It’s too late for her to bounce back as a viable haremette, but nevertheless the writers are giving her extra screen time and emphasizing her role in the upcoming battle via a new weapon (Striker Gunner). Is England’s renewed importance to the plot meant to endear her to the audience in preparation for a tragic farewell?

    Also, is giving your older sister a moan-inducing massage any -less- inappropriate than … you know …?

    CypherDS
  22. Tabane is childish in attitude and has a thing for rabbits since she has a carrot-shape rocket “almost” kill Ichika. And Houki is super-pissed at her so much, funny to see an awkward sisterly-bond.

    lester
  23. Another question, maybe for someone who’s familiar with the LN. What the hell is Reiraku Byakuya?

    They way they talk, it almost sounds like it’s what allows the shield-nullification attack, but that was stated earlier to be a feature of the Yukihira Mk.II. Is that basic beam blade the thing that drains energy and nulls the enemy’s shield, or is Reiraku Byakua that does that?

    Shiden
  24. Chifuyu was awesome in this episode.

    I love that scene where-
    Chifuyu: He sux, but he cooks, cleans, massages. Want him?
    Harem: You’ll give him to us?!
    Chifuyu: Nope. Idiots.

    xcswmboy
    1. She’s probably thinking:
      “Heh, Ichika is a rare guy I brought up. He’s secretly crazy about me and will follow everyting I say. Why the hell would I give him away to a bunch of 15-year-old brats?”

      Moondogg
  25. The japananese are really cool. This big disaster and theyre calm and try their best. Not like some whiny western nations, who cry at hard times and make a fuss. Japan seem to be rather strong.

    I habe no god to pray to, but my heart is with the people of the east.

  26. A lot of amusement this episode, gotta agree that massage scene and comment of Chifuyu is the best. What kinda hard to agree with is why would they send Ichika and Houki in a mission that dangerous. What’s hilarious is, the teachers will be doing support role only, I mean even Maya (Chifuyu’s assistant) is many times better than probably the combined skill of all the younger bunch with personalized IS.

  27. They kinda dragged the beach/hot spring thing out a bit too much in this episode. We get it, there a at a resort…and the usual cliche things happen on said trip.

    Anyway despite that, the plot progressed a bit and started the build up for the next couple of episodes. though i don’t see why there only sending the rag-tag crew of continental misfits, who’ve only have a handful of battles under their belt. It would make more sense to have then as back up or to work along side the more experienced teachers. But that’s not the case, because THEY HAVE CUSTOM MECHS. Which i guess makes them more capable then team of veterans. Team the MC up with any supporting one and BAM, everything is going to be ok.

    -Also on a side note, despite all the screen time and development, Houki got this week. She still came off as a unlikeable b****. I know it’s part of her character. But c’mon seriously? Every other that got an episode to themselves either mad us like them or hate them. Houki gets one and well nothings changed in her character…other then getting an shiny new IS.

    Snicket
  28. Even if she can make a fucking mini-rocket launcher random appear or make complete suits that can change into an accessory faster than countries like America. It is _impossible_ to hack two thousand something ICBM’s and make them launch at the same time. Or are you telling me she can ignite thousands of ICBM’s at will and make them go any where in the world?

    And fuck I hate Tabane, I’m surprised she hasn’t been killed yet. A genius? fine. Eccentric? Fine. But Tabane? Not fine, that is just beyond Eccentric.

    anon
  29. Had to go back and watch Chifuyu taking on the 5 girls over and over. If she was in the ending she’d pretty much be on top of Ichika.

    Casual Chifuyu is also pretty awesome.

    To be honest Tabane is pretty annoying, to me her only saving grace is her interactions with Chifuyu.

    Chifuyu facepalm is pretty special.

    Azuma
  30. Chifuu is definitly SMH-ing in the last linked screencap in your description. Probably like “WTF happened to Laura? Did the animator’s 3 year old son get in the studio?”

    MMBinNC
  31. Houki may be a tsundere but I don’t think Ichika deserves her. She doesn’t actually even show any signs of affection to him. Only Char shows alot of effort and I think they would do nice, only if Ichika wasn’t so stupid and realized that.
    Just my opinion

    Kroyer
  32. I want a Ichika x Char pair, but seeing this a harem anime and the fact that Houki is mysteriously brushed aside in the all important beach episode and with her birthday coming up, I can see an ending dedicated to Houki, ahhhh! the best moments is the scenes with Char!

    An ending dedicated for Houki isn’t to shabby either, being my favorite character prior to Char’s introduction.

  33. I think someone on MAL describes this show very nicely.
    I paraphrase.

    You should watch IS after Madoka. After all the sadness and awesomeness of Madoka, you need some relaxation and something to turn your brain off. IS is a very fitting show for this purpose. No plot: check. Females in heat: check. Sexual innuendo: check. No plot: check. Indecisive male lead: check. Charlotte: check. No plot: check.

    awesomeness
  34. In your review you said that “Houki’s pilot suit with a white one all of sudden. ” was an inconsistency, i think it was meant to symbolise that she now owns a personal IS like the others.

    AkAtsUbAkI

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