「ゲット・レディ」 (Getto Redi)
“Get Ready”

Like me, a lot of Super Robot Wars fans are still waiting to see some real men “ride one another”, but in the meantime, Infinite Stratos provides its own take on that suggestive idea with Byakushiki mounting on top of Akatsubaki. Mecha fans can rejoice, because the IS variety also starts off with Houki discarding her pride before offering Ichika a good ride up top. I can’t vouch for how good it was for Ichika, but the other girls sure seemed impressed as they looked on in awe. What I can tell you is that it got pretty hot up there.

Houki may have failed her mission, but the instantaneous Newtype-like naked understanding she had with Ichika that caused the blunder catapulted her to top of the compatibility rankings this week. She clearly has something the other girls don’t — feelings for Ichika that developed when he stood up for her, which the ribbon she wears to this day is a testament to. You can never underestimate the power of the childhood friend in anime, even when there’s a second childhood friend who tries to steal some of the spotlight. Sorry Rin, you’ll always have a special place in my heart as the spunky twin-tails Chinese girl with a uniform that has exposed shoulders.

The sight of Houki’s ribbon getting burned up by Silvero Gospel’s attack was pretty symbolic, as her confidence in being in control of her powers went with it. Still, even in her dismal state and unable to talk to Ichika in his present condition, I could get a real sense of her earnest feelings of concern that would make any guy happy. Charlotte and Laura may be going all out to get Ichika to notice them, but Houki had the sparks flying even when Ichika was unconscious. The poor criminal-saving guy just isn’t aware of who he truly loves yet. (I’ll admit I was a bit persuaded by the flashback that showed just how cute a young girl innocently falling in love can be.)

As the precursor to the finale next time, the girls banding together to stop Houki from beating herself up seemed like an early sign of the open-ended conclusion that we’ll likely be left with. Expecting anything more would be downright foolish, though I’m still leaning towards Houki having a bit of an edge since things will have come full circle when they conclude around her. On that note, it must be nice having five cute girls getting revenge for you, but I suspect Ichika will join in before it’s all said and done just like we saw in the cold opening in episode one. Hopefully there will still be time for Houki’s birthday after that, sealing the deal that she is the main girl as far as this adaptation is concerned. It may be a different story if Chifuyu acted on her anger and put these 15-year-olds in their place, but she hasn’t shown any signs of suiting up in an IS again. That would be the sensible thing to do, but who wants that?

* Houki’s two-piece swimsuit is definitely one of the best. She looks pretty darn good in white.

 

Preview

151 Comments

    1. Charlotte ftw. Oh well, its not like Houki and Ichika will start dating after the end of the series. Im pretty sure It’ll be a generic love-romance ending where all Heroines are happy. It is a safe choice, but an annoying one.

      Alec
    2. My yuri goggles are getting a good view of the “Dover Strait” (Cecilia x Charlotte). I wouldn’t mind swimming there, if you know what I mean…

      Or, you know, all five girls (plus Yamada-sensei and Chifuyu-nee) having _their_ way with Ichika (and not Ichika having _his_ way with them, because he’s just that dense). “Nice Boat” ending optional.

      Houki, I know you don’t mind Ichika “riding” you, but wouldn’t it be better for you to be honest and tell him you want to get in his pants? *gets Houki Pouki’d for his trouble*

      And I thought I was seeing runes from Madoka Magica scrolling on the Gospel’s visor, until realizing that those are just inverted letters.

      P.S.: Show Spoiler ▼

      Incognito
  1. Awesome post to read as always!

    I don’t really get why Ichika supported the criminals though…I would’ve supported Houki in what she said any day. I mean they did order that the zone was to be blocked off, but criminal fishermen still went in, so basically the fishermen should have deserved it.

    LOL…I felt so bad for Houki when she was kneeling beside Ichika’s body…

    Anyways, I sense that the ending will be a modified “anime-only” ending as the preview for the next (last) episode features some scenes that weren’t depicted in the light novels.

    As far as this series goes, I think it was bit rushed as they tried to fit in 3 volumes of light novels in 12 episodes…which is seemingly impossible considering the amount of dialogue in the light novels. Hopefully there will be a second season with a much more well-paced story line

    1. well, I am okey with him trying to protect the fishman. But in normal circumstances that would mean finish the Gospel in one blow so that it couldn’t do any more harm rather than mucking around.

      Horace
    2. It isn’t ichika’s or houki’s place to kill people or even criminals. The legal system would determine how severely they should be punished. If Ichika let Houki kill or injure them, they’d probably be the ones who get into real trouble with the law.

      NexusM78
      1. if you see someone being hold up and you dont help that person, would that make you in trouble with the law and be persecuted for it?
        that being said, neither houki or ichika are the ones who will kill them, its the gospel’s fault.

        amado
      2. @amado : my bad you do have not just a point but two. I used the wrong word “they’d”
        I hereby stand corrected and shall never drop comments under the influence of severe insomnia plus jet lag

        NexusM78
  2. For some reason, this episode seemed super cheesy with me. I don’t know if it was the animators being lazy or just the plot… but it feels like they threw in random plot points pulled out of nowhere.

    Also, had Ichika not dashed right past the Gospel, he could have taken it out before it used its Danmaku… and we would have been treated to a Tatsumaki Zankantou.

    Suppa Tenko
    1. yeah.

      take note that the IS was only able to fire WHEN houki got distracted BY ichika going for the boat. if he followed what houki said, they would have destroyed it BEFORE it could have a chance to shoot.

      amado
    2. I got pissed and waived my middle finger at the screen when Ichika spouted non-sense bout Houki. No Matter how I look at it, It was Ichika who disrupted the mission. not Houki

      Alec
  3. Someone explain the part where Laura sniped the Gospel. It looked like it was caught in a barrier or something, so was it a long-range AIC, some other device, or did it just somehow lose all of its crazy mobility so that she could hit it with that railgun?

    Also, what is the point of deploying all of the Schwarzer Regen’s anchors in midair? If the recoil is large enough that it needs the anchors, it wouldn’t be stable in the air. If it’s not enough to destabilize the IS in the air, why the anchors? Or are those things more like a double-stake (which would be all kinds of awesome).

    And finally, lol at everyone’s upgrades coincidentally all coming in in time for the battle.

    Shiden
    1. And after thinking some more…

      So Byakushiki and Akatsubaki only have enough energy to engage the Gospel for a short time, while the White Knight (generation 1) had enough energy to provide ABM support for a country, and the Gospel could attack like this after flying halfway across the Pacific Ocean.

      Maybe they meant that they took enough of a beating to drain their shield energy, but that gauge is more of a plot device than anything else, especially since up to that point, they had avoided most of the Gospel’s attacks.

      Shiden
      1. It’s kind of explained how Ichika ran out of energy from previous episodes, which was because his sword uses his own shield energy to attack with the barrier piercing ability. As far as Houki goes, who knows…to me, it didn’t look like she lost all her energy but lost the will to fight after being reminded how she got corrupt with power. But I’ll take what Ichika said at the time and that she lost her energy.

        FrozenFury
      2. The other way to take it is that the whole instantaneous moment of understanding was just in Houki’s mind after Ichika screamed out for her. i.e. She understood what Ichika was thinking even though he never said it.

        That may explain why Ichika thought Houki ran out of shield energy when she suddenly stopped, regardless of whether or not she really did. Judging by his reaction, Ichika seemed more surprised than anything else.

      3. Aka tsubaki is an extremely energy consuming unit(on par with Byaku Shiki, although not as bad) because it was made with its one-off-ability as the main point(the-one-of-ability of aka-tsubaki should be explained in next episode so I won’t spoil it here), so it’s not strange that both aka-tsubaki and byaku-shiki run out of energy much faster then Silverio Gospel even if the Gospel already fly across pacific ocean(and the gospel weapon doesn’t drain shield energy like Byaku Shiki’s, so its far more efficient in energy consumption)

        aiueo123
  4. They could’ve just not flown in between the boat and the bad guy, but Ichika did just that.

    Didn’t like the episode too much as they threw in a bunch of random character traits and the boat out of nowhere at critical moments to force the end result.

    marinelzen
  5. I’m sure now some people will say the Akatsubaki is the mash up of Arche Gundam,Unicorn’s NTD shield,and the Masurao(of all things. Remember Astray Red Frame with his Gerbera Straight/Tiger Pierce?)

    Still riding the Houki bandwagon and enjoying it. Loli Houki + Hair down Houki + 2 piece swimsuit Houki = +♥

    Zweitrix
  6. Maybe I’m just in a critical mood right now, but this was definitely the most disappointing episode of this series so far to me >_> I found the Newtype moment incredibly stupid and nonsensical, Ichika’s sacrifice/injury really cliche, and the flashback pretty uninteresting as a plot/character development. The scene between Rin and Houki also seemed awkwardly forced. The preview indicates next episode is bound to be better though ^_^

    EnderTheXenocide
  7. Have to agree with you on the bikini thing. Also I agree with EnderTheXenocide that this was a disappointing episode. Nothing really happened and Ichika got on my nerves more than usual this time. It’s probably due to all his excess yelling, like cmon do you really need to scream out loud when you’re equipping something. Hopefully next weeks episode will start tying things up.

    Zangkin
  8. Meh, so the default Tsundere girl wins huh? Oh well, we know that the end of this series for at least this season will result in reset-status-quo with all of them in his harem.

    drzero7
  9. A bit of an exaggeration, but lets consider this scenario. Imagine an alien invasion happening during WWII, and there was a battle in the skies between the aliens and some soldiers. One of the soldiers moves in to stop the threat once and for all. However, he spots Hitler on the ground with a missile heading straight for him. The soldier (not part of Hitler’s regime) then goes and sacrifice himself to save Hitler and the mission fails. In other words, he sacrificed saving the world for Hitler’s life.

    Granted, the illegal fishing vessel in this episode is no where as evil as Hitler was, but think of it along the same lines. There’s this IS which could potentially destroy the world, but instead of destroying it and saving millions of lives, you decide to go and save people who are breaking the law. I can understand the concept of life is important and precious, fair enough. But I don’t see how they can turn it around and make Houki look like a heartless person when really, she is right as well. Onimura sensei said that Houki might be the one making rash decisions, but Ichika’s decision to save the fishermen was the horrible move. His then unnecessary comment to Houki was the catalyst for the downfall. Houki then thinks that what Ichika does is his stength. If that is the case, he wouldn’t be the one injured and unconcious at the moment would he?

    All in all, I don’t like how IS has come to this. These morals that Ichika have are not suited for someone leading the attack against the Gosphel. Have not felt this much rage against a single episode of any anime since Kimi ni Todoke’s episode a few weeks back when Kazehaya doesn’t know how to stop talking. Hoping like hell next week’s episode gets better and ends on a high like this series deserves.

    Taiakun
    1. I questioned his decision as well, except I gave Ichika the benefit of the doubt that he wasn’t aware they were criminals when he acted. Also, he probably thought he could save them and still have enough energy for another attempt with Houki.

      1. Very good point.

        However the part that really ticked me off was the new-type communication part when he tells Houki she’s too consumed with power and doesn’t care for the “weak”. It’s almost as if he is saying Houki is heartless and should care for the criminals over defeating the real enemy. Thus it made it seem like Houki was at fault and made to feel sorry for herself for the rest of the episode (even inducing a slap from Rin which held completely uncalled for). Also, Houki thinking things over and wondering if Ichika did what he did was what made him stronger than her was laughable at best. This whole episode after Ichika’s attempt to save the people on the boat just did not work for me.

        I was expecting Houki to actually mess up by getting too carried away attacking the unmanned IS during battle and not being careful of her surroundings (much like Mami in Madoka Magica). If she actually was the reason for the failure of the mission, I would not have minded the rest of the episode after. In my eyes, I felt that the reason behind the self blame was just plain awful…

        Taiakun
      2. Yeah, i feel the same. If they dont got sidetracked with this Ship. He would be History. Looks like they use the Drone IS as “Clifhanger” for a Anime Ending. The Insatructors, did not do a good Job. That they “oversaw” an “illigal Fishing Ship” (its Houki guessing, btw). Or. This Ship is more then it looks… You know Travlers in Cold War times, was allways suspicoius

        Btw, not read the Manga so far (only until 6)

        GermanGuy
    2. The whole thing of its being a world-scale threat of that single “IS” is doubtful. Do you imagine how much time would it take you just to visit most of the major world cities even when traveling in a supersonic airplane (and in the anime it is assumed that IS is travelling at not so great speeds), how much fuel you will have to burn ? Not to mention the whole kinetic energy thing – acceleration doesn’t happen in instant, and to change direction so quickly, there must be a tremendous amount of energy put into that, to decelerate in one direction and accelerate in another one. But well, the kinetic energy thingy is not so surprising, it happens in anime so much …
      Another doubtful moment is where the IS is going to get enough energy for that. Fighting, flying at high speeds without a single thought about energy conservation. Definitely a great waste of energy, it has to be replenished in huge quantities, isn’t it ?

      SpoilerMaker
    3. Ichika’s 15 years old and have a harem of hot chicks across different countries going gaga over him
      He probably thinks he can do anything and everything, save the world and protect the weak!
      He’s the one who’s in over his head!

      Houki-chan
    4. You can’t compare these two scenarios. Perhaps the people illegally fishing are only doing so because it’s the only way for them to feed their families? Maybe they only catch what they need instead of destroying the environment. Morality isn’t just black and white.

      AquaBlue
  10. random bystanding ship in danger while teammate has enemy stopped so you can disable it, and of course the sensible thing is to go out of your way to go in front of the ship. i’ve given this show a lot of leeway, but i really could not stick with the plot after that terrible cheesy moment. just give me my character interaction instead of this lame plot, that was main driving force to this show anyway.

    a42
  11. Why is the unmanned Gospel IS so overpowered? Do IS get weaker when piloted? Tabane’s work is such a let down if her 4th gen suit still gets out-juked by some stupid American made product. She needs to tune up all the main character’s suits so the power levels can seem more even.

    xcswmboy
    1. I’m not sure whether or not it’s more powerful, but without even knowing anything scientific about ISes, it’s easy to see the advantages an unmanned craft has — firstly, an unmanned IS doesn’t have to bother worrying about g-force pulping the pilot; and if it’s piloted by some sort of supercomputer, it likely has superhuman reflexes to go with that freedom of movement.

    2. Well, American-Israeli. And the Israelis make some pretty advanced equipment. But as ObsidianTK points out, computers have much better aim and response time than humans. Ichika had a hard time hitting the mark at 50 feet in training; my cell phone could have plotted that trajectory without any problems AND shot faster. And removing the pilot gives more space for other equipment.

      the_one092001
    3. A fast, long-range danmaku IS, versus two melee (though why Houki wasn’t blasting off her sword beams, I have no idea) units. As long as it keeps its distance, they’d never beat it.

      …which is such an obvious flaw in the plan that I’d question the decision not to send everyone in from the beginning, but it’s a character development plot device, so whatever.

      Shiden
      1. ^ Unless the subs got it wrong, during the operation planning:

        “the Gospel will cross airspace two kilometers from here…50 minutes from now”. That’s not that far, and even if we assume that they moved the intercept point somewhere further away from the inn, there’s plenty of time to get everyone into a position where they can intercept and attack.

        In order to go from Hawaii to Japan in ~3 hours, the Gosepel would need to be going at roughly Mach 1.6 (~6000km, =>~2000km/hr, ~Mach 1.6). Even if we allow that the Akatsubaki and Byakushiki (both 4th gen machines) are the only ones that fast, both Blue Tears and Schwarzer Regen have dedicated sniping gear (beam cannon/bits and railgun), while Shenlong and the Raphael Revive Kai have more of a mix of weaponry.

        Prep the 4th gen units for pursuit, station Blue Tears and Schwarzer Regen to execute a long-range bombardment the instant it’s in range, and have Shenlong and the Raphael Revive doing midrange AA support (between the Ryuhou’s rapid shot and the RRK’s variable loadout, they should be able to do something).

        Or heck, use Akatsubaki to transport the Schwarzer Regen, lock the Gospel down with the AIC/wires, blast it in the face with its railgun, stab it in the face with its energy blades, and have the Akatsubaki use all of its remaining energy and its nature as the “evolved version of the Yukihira Type-2” to rip it to shreds.

        Even if the other units are too slow to catch the Gospel in a straight chase, there’s no reason to not have them in the area and ready to act in case the first two slow it down and/or fail to take it down in the first moments of battle.

        Shiden
      2. Houki IS’ weapon is not a short range weapon. although they’re shaped as katana due to Houki’s skill in kendou, both katanas can be used as long range weapon, one for one-on-one duel, the other for on-against-many duel.

        aiueo123
      3. @aiueo123:
        If they actually had her use them in the battle, I would not have said “two melee units”. As it was, after testing out the long range attacks last episode, she seems to have completely forgotten that they exist.

        Shiden
  12. I was a bit disappointed how the Newtype stuff came out of nowhere. We don’t see anything that hints about the “Houki doesn’t like weak people” character trait before this, but it somehow becomes a major plot point that Houki regrets for the rest of the episode.

    A large part of it is simply due to the compressed scale inherent in a twelve-episode series. In a longer-run series, it would have been better to draw things out, and have Houki sit it out for at least an episode to ram things home. But instead, as quickly as she decides to no longer pilot an IS, she changes her mind. And Ichika doesn’t spend that long in recovery.

    Basically, the plot came out of nowhere, then aside from the fact that Ichika is still injured, disappeared just as quickly with Houki deciding to pilot an IS again.

    the_one092001
    1. Actually the whole Houki and weak person thing was somewhat touched upon in the beach episode and earlier, where she recalls her former self completely overpowering weaker opponents in Kendo and showing no mercy.

      Apart from that, I completely agree with you. In fact, I don’t see how talking about not saving criminals = not caring for the weak. Houki never said anything about them being weak, nor was there any indication she even thought so. All she was thinking about was the mission at present, which is what a real soldier should do when carrying out a mission, especially one which might save the world.

      Taiakun
  13. After using too much libido, Ichika has fallen deep sleep… wait, wrong series XD
    it is nice that they throw in these flashbacks, as they do deepen the characters a bit more.
    it would be hard for a harem show to end with a single girl, but I guess Houki should still be the main girl as you mentioned.
    Can’t wait to see all the girls kick ass along with revived Ichika!

    jrj
  14. at least houki didnt become overconfident like what the other characters feared that would happen, it would be quite cliche.

    btw, if you notice closely, the rogue IS shots only strayed towards the ship WHEN ichika decided not to take it down. if ichika, instead, attacked it when houki was stopping it, it would have been defeated before it could fire.

    and I hope madoka magica airs next week. I wanna see it!

    amado
    1. It is clearly a different ribbon. What she’s been wearing for past 11 episodes, is green with black lines ribbon. The preview one, is white with purple lines ribbon which is matching with her swimsuit. That or unless it’s another inconsistency >_>.

      Omega
      1. Can’t they just make something with not so predictable from the very first episode plot ? So far for this season (and probably including some last seasons as well) Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Level E shows unexpectedly turned out to be quite interesting plot-wise and in terms of character personalities quality.
        Infinite Stratos characters, on other side, are not empty and can take decisions and actions of their own even without much reliance on their IS, but still each episode depicts some kind of standard scene with only a few characters in lead, while the others are left in background, without any ability to show their own will and strengths to take some unexpected actions.

        SpoilerMaker
  15. So, you decide saving some illegal fishermen who are too stupid to stay out of the way of a mech fight > comeplteting the mission and saving thousands?
    I get that all life is precious but some pragmatism would be nice. It just felt like a forced way to get all the girls together (which was admittedly awesome).

    Bio D
  16. Glad that IS is back on schedule but sadly next week is the last episode for season 1. I’m dying for season 2 right now. The new series will replace it will be Hidan no Aria, still gonna watch it.

    This episode shows Ichika did the unthinkable, protect his childhood friend from certain doom. One of the best emotional episode ever saw. What’ll happen to episode 12 that’s now differ from the prologue of episode 1.

    lester
  17. Houki’s my fave, but we all know that this series is going to end without resolving anything. Not really enough episodes to finish it I guess.

    How exactly is this Houki’s failure? I blame Ichika for not finishing his mission. Saving criminals? How about stopping the evil mech from attacking innocent people? No?

    K.K.
  18. This episode really felt all over the place, pacing felt terrible.
    That said, I have no problem with Houki “winning” in this adaptation, but Char is clearly the best girl imo. 😉

    ZeruFenrir
  19. Next episode: the EP1 footage gets completely recycled and is half the battle scene. I’m placing bets now.

    Well, that EP was pretty random…and went nowhere. Sorry Ichika, but I’m not sure how saving random illegal fishers by blocking shots is more helpful than stopping the thing shooting in that direction. Or you could attack it from a different direction so the shots wouldn’t stray that way. Or you could’ve just baited it somewhere else entirely. Y’know, a thousand better options than trying to meatshield. I don’t even think he ended up protecting them since the wave from him crashing probably capsized the boat.

    “One hit sure kill”. The whole random Newtype moment. Jeez, by this point the references are just getting sickening…

    Vsin
    1. I could be wrong, but I think it’s the Reirakubyakua ability that generates the shield pierce effect.

      Of course, it’s not like the anime actually explains what the hell Reirakubyakua does, other than make Ichika glow in every other scene. Of course, that contradicts the first episode, where it says the Yukihira’s ability was to pierce shields, but it’s the only thing I can think of.

      Shiden
  20. I’m glad I’m not the only one that felt perturbed about this episode.The plot felt like a cop out for Houki’s character development in a way I am unable to describe clearly.Also, on the otherside, it felt like a cheap way to take a stab at Houki’s character in general, with Ichika pulling the “let’s save everybody” cliche.

    It’s like what the hell are you doing trying to be the hero Ichika? If a bird was falling out it’s nest when the Gospel was doing bullet hell would you try to stop the bullets and save the falling bird too? It’s like wtf?

    Also, the “You got power so you lost sight of the weak” was complete bullshit.I can’t describe why in the way I want, but it felt forced.

    I was very disappointed in Ichika in this episode and as much as I don’t like to support Houki, she didn’t deserve any of that crap.On the side note, I’m glad Ichika’s injured.He deserved that.

    The girls need more screentime anyways.Speaking of endings, I’m hoping for a Hyakka Ryouran Ending where the guy gets no one, but they all still love him anyways.

    anishuma
  21. I see alot of you guys are getting tired of cliched premises in anime but let me ask you all this: if the japanese ever made an “original” character archtype. how long before that character’s personality becomes cliche anyway. Cliches will always be around no matter what form media takes. We can’t have anything “new” because people are going to keep using the idea.

    1. The cliched premises aren’t necessarily the main issue. It’s the fact that said cliches come out of nowhere, and seem somewhat arbitrarily inserted into the plot, then resolved in the same episode.

      the_one092001
    2. I know cliches are usually unavoidable, but this episode employed the usage of unnecessary and actually negative cliches. I mean Super Robot Wars is filled with so many cliches its not even close to being funny, but the creators can make those cliches awesome. The whole SRX team is basically all that represents Gundam and the SRX is such a cliched Super Robot. In this episode of IS
      1. Ichika screams unnecessarily for an automatic equipment summoning program.
      2. Instead of sending the rest of the Personal IS team as back up, they send Ichika, who is still the worst IS pilot that has NEVER landed a shield breaker before, and Houki who is a newb in a super modern mecha in one of the smallest possibilities of success operations.
      3. Instead of taking out the Gospel when Houki disables it for him, he rushes right past it to a fishing boat, completely missing the opportunity to destroy the Gospel, but also attracting stray bullets TOWARDS the boat itself.
      4. Then after calls Ichika out for being an idiot and doing the unnecessary, he calls Houki a coward who bullies the weak, when she is obviously following what most logical people would do. Plus the fishermen are prepared for this danger since they knowingly sailed into the crossfire of mechas that overthrew the military balance of the world.

      Suppa Tenko
      1. I agree with you on 1 and 3 but 2 and 4. I watched it over and over but where did he call Houki a coward? He just yells “Houki” when she said that criminals can just die and nothing else. Furthermore, Ichika is not the worst pilot (Houki would actually be the worst pilot but she does have an amazing suit to cover up her weakness) and his One-Off skill is the only one that can bypass Silver Gospel’s shield. Did you see how Laura’s super canon had no effect on the shield at the end? Also Houki is in this operation because she has the suit with the highest speed of catching up to Silver Gospel. Thus they chose those two due to the specs of the IS that allows it to have an advantage in this battle.

        Silver
  22. One thing I really enjoy about this anime is the fights. I really wish this anime had more fights like this, I also like the harem and slice of life parts, but I have to say the fights in this anime is awesome!

    Pera
  23. Maybe it would’ve helped if the illegal fishing ship was STILL destroyed by the shots and/or IS crashing because of, as said, Ichika flying right in front of it to “protect it”, despite him and Houki being the targets, lol.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
  24. I loved the flashback part of the episode but the rest… it was completely cheesy to say the least. I was face-palming and having “whaaaaaaat” moments all over the place.

    Justa_Dream
  25. why do we anime fans also hate on “the kind, sincere, and caring” characters? With shojo it’s always the main female lead, with harem it’s the male lead. I understand the denseness of these types of characters can be annoying, but people do act like this in real life. I mean if someone liked me and never told me I wouldn’t understand that they even had a interest in me. What if Ichika acted like Makoto from School Days? then there would be even more hate on him because he would be taking advantage of the girls’ feelings inorder to get sex.

    1. We don’t hate kind, sincere characters, we just hate characters that are TOO STUPID TO LIVE (courtesy of TVtropes) Ichika had demonstrated his stupidity, by not only abandoning the mission and endangering his friend, but also endangering the fishing boat he was trying to protect by drawing fire against it.

      Suppa Tenko
      1. I don’t think he was abandoning the mission. It seems he got distracted when he saw the ship which is why he just rush past. Also it wasn’t easy to protect them all because he Silver Gospel has that wide area attack. An asshole to Houki? No he wasn’t. When I try to help someone because they are going off track, does that make me an asshole? Besides, it seems that he did not really say anything and it was Houki who seemed to understand what Ichika was thinking. Eitherway the mission failed because Ichika got distracted, Houki got slightly arrogant (although it’s understandable and also she seems to be happy as well as being able to support everyone), and a powerful enemy. In a way, this was their “first” real battle where there is no one near to support them unlike the other unmanned IS from before where teachers are near and could come in and save them when necessary. Well at least we all know that Ichika have some other weaknesses too just like each of the girls.

        Silver
      2. I disagree about houki being arrogant.
        if she did become arrogant with her powers, I would understand it more. she got everything under control and was calm and calm, until ichika decided that the ship was more important.

        amado
      3. @ amado

        No I think she did become arrogant although just slightly. The reason why Chifuyu told Ichika to watch out for Houki was precisely that reason. Either way I still think it’s understandable because not only is she finally able to be a match with everyone, she can also finally support everyone and that what also made her a bit to cheerful. Ichika is… well just being Ichika and worrying about everything which was actually unneeded in this case and cuased the distraction we saw this episode. But.. everything has a good and bad to it so that’s how it is.

        Silver
      4. almost everyone is slightly arrogant. arrogant means overbearing pride and overconfidence. slight arrogance would then mean someone who is confident in her abilities and has some pride. that would apply to everyone who isnt a coward.
        houki didnt try to prove she was great, she just did what she was assigned to do and that was to stop the IS. houki relied on ichika as well, why would that mean she was arrogant?

        whats annoying is that houki was really focusing on the mission but ichika made it look like she was intoxicated by her new IS. houki was cool and calm during the mission, she didnt engage the IS by herself and she was letting ichika finish it instead of doing it herself.

        the failure of the mission here was the teamwork, ichika kinda let houki by herself. sure he took the shot for her but who made her vulnerable in the first place by a false accusation.
        and houki had her back on the ship, ofcourse she wouldnt see the boat until ichika pointed it out.

        amado
      5. Perhaps I’m using the wrong word? Houki was getting a bit ahead of herself which is why she was acting a bit too happy. It was also alluded back in previous episodes. Furthermore I don’t think Ichika was accusing anything (that Newtype thing seems to be an internal thing in which Houki understands what Ichika would say) because even if he was, if it wasn’t true then Houki wouldn’t have lost the will to fight (with Ichika not understanding what’s going on and thinking it’s because she’s out of energy). She even rethinking all the things she has done and thought in the past so she must have realized about it for sometime after seeing how Laura was acting.

        What I think the main point of this episode was on the issues of values and what Ichika is getting too is how she had change where she was disregarding weaker people. From what I read of the people discussing about the novels it seems that the anime did not do a better job of explaining her circumstances and how she changed and then Ichika came and tries to bring her back to her true self.

        Of course I’m not saying Houki is bad or anything but I think that what makes her interesting in that she’s complex as well (Actually it seems that all the girls have some complex background but the anime haven’t really worked enough on it).

        Silver
      6. though I agree that houki not minding those people kinda losing sight of the weak, she somewhat had a justification saying that they were illegal fishermen. not really much of a justification but it doesnt really mean that she lost sight of the weak. it would have been better if ichika said something along the lines of “everyone deserves to be saved, even bad guys”, rather than “you lost sight of the weak”.
        and again she didnt notice them earlier since she had her back on them.

        well she did get a bit too happy earlier, but she went calm and controlled when they were confronting it.

        amado
  26. Oh I also noticed that when Ichika was blocking the attacks between the ship and himself, the Silver Gospel was using the wide area attack which is why he couldn’t just move away from the ship. Freaking that thing is rather overpowered anyways. That’s some crazy AI though since it’s so strong.

    Silver
  27. I see thank you Suppa Tenko but you didn’t answer my other question: What if Ichika acted like Makoto from School days? After seeing that travesty of a character and show, I have a WHOLE new respect for the dense harem lead.

  28. I really hope Charlotte gets Ichika because she is the one who connects with him the most. In Shuffle we all thought Rin was going to end up with keade who like houki is a childhood friend but instead he ended up with Asa why? because the author felt like she understood him the most. Maybe the creator of IS will do the same. (I’m not againist the first girl win).

    1. that sir, is the only way to redeem all the stupid directing that this show has

      but just to make it clear, i want that ending just to get a few screentime showing happy Char, it does not mean I like Ichika though

      indr0008
  29. Ichika mounting Houki reminded me of Boku wa Tomodachi Sukunai where Rika talks about her MechaxMecha porn. “Aah, you’re breaking me!! Aaah, your… feels so hot! UNIVERSE!!!!!!!!”

    Chris
  30. I was supposed to facepalm at some of the viewers because they hate Ichika so much, no matter what he does, they’ll say he’s an idiot.

    But after seeing this episode, yeah, I’ll have to agree with them for now.

    paulrenzo
    1. Hehe yeah for now. We all have our stupid moments so it does feel good that he is like that. Otherwise most of the time he’s just so smooth that it’s amazing. Somehow he always say and do the right thing.

      At the same time though it feels that some viewers just really hate Ichika and I don’t understand why. Either way I still like Ichika and he’s also still quite a gentleman.

      Silver
      1. something about ichika makes him annoying to me. even more annoying than most harem main characters. I cant really put my finger to it but I think its cause he is too dense.
        most main characters of a harem are dense but they at least understand that a situation or something is embarrassing. he doesnt even understand that laura, who just said to be my wife/husband, is a proclamation of love. most main characters would say something like: “are you kidding?” or “we arent marrying”, or try to dissuade them.

        ive seen harem main characters who understand what love is but they dont think that the girls love love him or dont understand how they can love him, which is much better than this.

        amado
      2. True. That’s one thing about him that kind of annoys me but I think that the reason is he does not think that highly of himself. That does not mean he is not confident. What it means that if on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best, Ichika is confident and very sure that he is at rank 6 even though he is actually at rank 8. He sees all the other people at rank 8 and thus don’t think they would be interested in him. So it’s not a case of not being confident but I think his issues is that he have not self reflected on himself more.

        Silver
      3. he’s so dense that he doesnt know what “be my husband” means.
        even a dense harem lead should understand that. it would have been better if they touched those parts more and see how ichika thinks.

        actually, the more I think about it, I think he needs more characterization. we have seen what the other characters see in him but we barely get to see what he thinks of the others. we need to see more of his thoughts to at least understand his thoughts. thats what this one needs.

        amado
      4. Actually she said “be my wife” so that probably made him go “wtf?” But yeah, I agree that we need to know more what he thinks. That would make it even better. We also need a second season… Also since I just got spoiled about Silver Gospel, I would definitely want to know more.

        Silver
    2. Prior to this episode, I had no problems with Ichika. Sure, he is dense as hell, but he is a good natured person.

      This episode however showed how much of an idiot he really is. He should learn from Touma from Index lol. You can sprout all the morals you want (Touma’s morals are at least understandable to some degree…though not always), then go punch the enemy in the face and save the day!

      Ultimate ending – everyone ditched Ichika after knowing what an idiot he is and a new harem is formed around “Charles” 😀

      Taiakun
  31. Seeing houki’s different side was just FRESH! I loved her since day 1! She is the most well designed character and I love the flow and rhythm of the story! This episode definitely proved houki is the one for ichika ^.^ Great episode!!!!!!!!!

    Frezinator
  32. Well… that fishing ship being around while a “rogue” IS is doing systematic rampaging seemed more suspicious to me considering how American military technology has a history of unorthodox usage/testing ie)Hiroshima, Nagasaki…
    On a completely different matter, my vote is for Houki… imo she’s like designed to be the perfect match for Ichika… despite the fact that Ichika really doesn’t deserve her for his scolding and fail actions… hmm on an end note http://ayakofansubs.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/is09_001_5010.png of Ichika

    AzureDivinity
    1. So he fails because he scolds her? Hehe I think that it’s good those two are together because they complement one another really well. She would scold him for certain things and he would do the same so that they could improve one another. Either way I think “Ichika really doesn’t deserve her” is too strong of a statement. He may have fail actions but his intentions are good for the sake of Houki. I still got to say that Houki is pretty lucky in that she also have good comrades who helps her get back up (Good job Rin!).

      Also, that link doesn’t seem to be working.

      Silver
  33. @Divine: for some time now, i had been thinking that Rin’s shoulder-less uniform is actually a fusion between a china dress and a school uniform. Which fits her perfectly, since she’s a RepCad form China.

    Omega
  34. “starts off with Houki discarding her pride before offering Ichika a good ride up top”

    Bow-chika-bow-wo….Oh, wait….

    Side Note: Haremettes don’t like it when their boy-toy gets roughed up by someone not within their circle.

    Apathy
  35. The Newtype crap did NOT appear in the LNs…..and in the LN it was stated that the ships were in more danger , and the possibility of Gospel being taken out was low…so Ichika chose to save the ships over taking out the Gospel…

    Kakarum
  36. Don’t you find it odd that some IS go rogue and wreak havoc without a pilot? This is only a theory but someone with ten times the brain size is programming the IS to go berserk, just like the one that crashed into the fight between Ichika and Ririn in the academy.

    And hold your horses! I’m not saying it’s Tabane (never mentioned any name until this point), although the brains of the IS is a likely suspect.

    Razgriz
  37. er…..actually…..the Silver Gospel is not unmanned….. Show Spoiler ▼

    Kakarum
  38. Omega

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