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「君の名は（ユア・ネーム・イズ）」 (Kimi no Na wa (Yua Neemu Izu))
“Your Name Is”
It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Charlotte just as much as the next person after seeing the amazing chemistry she had with Ichika, but deep-down inside I have to root for the girl who’s loved Ichika the longest and suddenly had to deal with a swarm of foreigners flocking around him. Poor Houki didn’t have a personal IS to stand on even ground for the longest time and spent the entire beach episode alone, so I was pretty happy when the stars aligned on her July 7th birthday and she got the final moment with Ichika as jealousy fumed from the sidelines.
In reality, there’s almost never a winner in harem anime, but I did like the way they saved Houki for last to emphasize that she is the “main” heroine of the story. Her fourth gen Akatsubaki also has something the other girls’ don’t — the ability to recharge Ichika’s “battery” and get his teenage hormones really pumping. I’ll be the first to admit that when they interfaced IS’s, I was left with a resounding thought that Houki can recharge my “batteries” any day. “Genran Butou” translates to “Flowery Dance” after all, so that could easily be misunderstood as something else. *cough* Combined with her gesture of happiness over Ichika seeing her as a girl, I was almost tempted to say Houki made the most progress overall, but that honor still goes to Laura as the only girl who actually kissed him.
On the IS side of things, the inner voice of Byakushiki (Miyamoto Yume) offering Ichika power had me wondering if there were some contractual terms involved. Luckily it was some regenerative ability that Tabane wasn’t even aware of, and mostly mirrored last episode’s instantaneous moment of understanding, which I’m inclined to believe was something Houki imagined Ichika would say to her, rather than something he actually said and distracted her with during their failed mission. It’s the only thing that seems to make sense in light of how Ichika thought Houki froze because her IS was out of energy, and how Houki feels responsible for having him protect her. In support of that idea, there was no indication that Ichika was aware of what happened when he gave her a new ribbon as her birthday gift, plus he doesn’t seem like the type to simply brush off something he’s responsible for. I agree he’s pretty oblivious to the girls’ feelings for him, but he’s been an otherwise respectable male lead with the way he stands firm for what he believes in. As such, it could very well be that a lot of unwarranted hate went Ichika’s way because of that ambiguous Newtype-like scene.
As for the high-speed action, there was actually a fair bit of new footage outside the inevitable conclusion that we saw three months ago as part of the premiere episode’s cold open. Byakushiki’s upgraded form “Setsura” didn’t really do anything special, so it was mostly the Gospel’s glowing angel wings that made the aerial battle a lot of fun to watch. It was befitting of a finale since everyone got involved in some way, but what actually caught my interest the most was the hypothetical discussion between Chifuyu and Tabane at the very end. Chifuyu implied that Tabane purposely lead Ichika to IS Academy to make it seem like he could operate an IS, only to find out that Byakushiki really did react to him, and went on to suggest that this whole berserk unmanned IS incident was Tabane’s doing to showcase what Houki can do with a fourth gen IS. The latter revelation took away from everything that’s happened, but not entirely because Tabane didn’t brush it off as a mere prank. When a normally carefree character talks in a calm and composed manner, I just can’t help but take notice. (What is Tabane really up to?)
Much like romantic high school comedies are known for, we’re left with another fairly open-ended conclusion. Personally, I’ve never had a problem with it because most of the appeal of these shows come from the characters interactions along the way and not the actual ending. It’s almost like slice-of-life, except with romance as the theme. I’m not opposed to something more coming from them, but I’m never the least bit disappointed when nothing does. In Infinite Stratos’s case, it’s been nothing but good times every week.
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Final Impressions:
There isn’t a lot to sum up with this series, so I’ll simply reiterate the one impression I had that carried throughout the entire season — Infinite Stratos is harem anime done right. All the girls fall into various stereotypes but with subtle differences (e.g. a tsundere who can restrain herself at times), which changes things ever so slightly when they’re all vying for the male lead’s affection. Throw in a high-speed battle twist to that and the end result is a mash-up of two of my favorite genres. The cast is chock-full of some of my favorite seiyuus, namely Hikasa Youko, Yukana, Shimoda Asami, Hanazawa Kana, Inoue Marina, and stars the increasingly popular Uchiyama Kouki at the center of it all. I was very please with director Kikuchi Yasuhito and studio 8-Bit’s work, even though it’s hard to say how much of their previous work on Macross Frontier helped here.
If I were to nitpick on one aspect, it would be the heavy reliance on 3D animated character models for the distant shots of the IS’s, which wasn’t as seamlessly blended into the animation as STRIKE WITCHES 2. In execution, these cost-cutting measures didn’t terribly detract from the experience, but they were glaringly obvious every time they were used. However, that didn’t change the fact that this was my most favorite show of the season. I’m well aware that it’s not a stand-out series and wouldn’t even recommend it to most people, but I loved the characters and it provided endless amounts of entertainment. When it comes to anime, that’s all that really matters to me.
Staying up till 3:00AM paid off. Nice to see your post
Considering all that went on, I still have a sliver of hope for a second season.
i wouldnt want a second season with a lame storyline where most of the time, characters do some non-sensical stuff. The crazy visuals/animation are wasted on this anime.
though Id like to see an OVA where I can see more charlotte xD, but alas, the world world can be cruel sometimes. -_-
At the very least, it wouldn’t surprise me if they did come out with some short OVA bits (like 2-5 minutes long) involving Ichika and a girl(s), sort of like how Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls has been doing a bit.
I think we can all agree on something…that singles can learn a thing or two from that lucky bastard (yeah, you know who I’m talking to). Yoko Hikasa did Houki and her tsundere character splendidly, although I’d like to see her in a different voice variation just like Aya Hirano did with Konata. And the story feels rushed, as expected from only a dozen episodes. The Silverio Gospel arc ends in just a few episodes and it only took Laura one episode for a complete attitude overhaul. And I hope that they stop relying on fan service and other stuff (but that’s just my opinion).
It’s a shame to see this come to an end. Although I seriously have doubts of a second season, you can’t shake off that small bit of hope.
Anyway, I wish Charlotte had more screentime towards the end, but I guess the Houki scenes were all for the best. It worked out well in the end 🙂
This will get a second season because of sales , the dvd\blu ray have huge amount of per orders so there nothing to worry about.
It also base on light novels which they only cover 3 so far i think but 6 are out so far.
Novel 7 is out now as well, iirc, or will be in April if it isn’t yet.
IS the anime does not make me want to read IS the light novels. I think the story tried to cram in too much. The harem aspect was enjoyable purely because of Charlotte. I could care less about the rest, including Houki. The school aspect was okay until they did the Silver Gosperio special mission nonsense with gaping plot holes. The mecha aspect was weak IMHO. It’s not mecha as in science based. It’s more like mecha as in magic, kind of like Gurren Lagann, only not as well done. I thought Ichika would be a good protagonist. He may be simple and straight forward, but was capable and not emo. Unfortunately he really didn’t develop over the course of the series, he didn’t make an effort to learn, he was clueless about the girls, and just remained unlikable. So it was okay for a viewing but not for repeated viewing nor for acquiring higher quality versions. I’ll save my disc space for Gosick and Zombie for this season.
i just wish that there will be a second season…
YEAHH HOUKI FTW!
sad face that IS ended… Houki is still my favorite, though Char is just as much adorable… in fact, all the girls are great in this series.
wish they could have throw in more IS aspects and battles, but harem anime done right is a good way to sum up this show overall.
Thanks for the posts and awesomely done pictures, Divine 🙂 and enjoy your season off…
Houki~~~~~~~~ 😀
Well if there is a second season then thats when the real fun starts with the Student president and the truth of his incident during his kidnap. Novel is up to volume 6 so far and this 12 episode only cover 3 volume which means we do have enough mat for another 12 episode.
I don’t care how adorable a character is. Charlotte is still win. She’s so cool 🙁 like a female bishies…which she is!
https://randomc.net/image/Infinite%20Stratos/Infinite%20Stratos%20-%2012%20-%20Large%2033.jpg
She went yandere again. @_@ Those eyes!
This: http://gelbooru.com/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=1102556 is more scary
/runs
Yeah, my cute little Rin complete the yandere transformation =/
Was getting Love Hina vibes from the ending (remember the ending to Love Hina Again?). I wouldn’t really call it a harem done right, more like cliche harem elements just thrown together into an anime. Still, Charlotte ftw~
Apart from the things I was raging on last week, this episode wasn’t too bad. Still, there seemed to be tons of plot holes during the series which I wasn’t really fond off. While there was new footage in the fight scene, most of it was shown in the first episode, so it didn’t really feel that special. Also, the part where Ichika was asking Houki “why are you crying?” *facepalm*…surprised she didn’t blow him to smithereens right there and then…
Must give this show some credit though for having the most internationally diverse characters I have seen in an anime (with probably the exception of Hetalia). Despite all the faults I found with this show, I would like to see a second second where some of the plot holes are answered.
best series of the season period!
“…that honor still goes to Laura as the only girl who actually kissed him.”
SOOooo, Laura WON the game?
i wouldnt say best series of the season but i will say it was a really good one XD
Nice to see you taking the time to wrap up some of the Winter 2011 series, divine. If you need to take the Spring 2011 season off, that’s okay. A change of pace should do you some good.
Tabane: “Ah, Byakushiki sure was surprising. I had no idea it had the ability to regenerate and bring the pilot back to life.”
Wait a sec, so you’re telling me the Byakushiki has one of Turn-A Gundam’s hax abilities?!
And Charlotte finally gives in to the “dark side”…as a fellow clingy jealous girl… Damnit Ichika, just have an orgy with them already…oh wait, we got some Rule 34 people working on that scenario… XD (Though not the complete harem as of yet…)
Eh…it’s a bit sad that good things must come to an end, and I’m gonna miss waiting to see Charlotte and Cecilia every week, but it was fun while it lasted. (At least I can marathon the series now.) ^^;
So, how big is his harem in the lastest novel? XD
One more girl, an older one, 2nd or 3rd year. And also that other friend of his Ran, enters to school at some point, and you know she’ll get in. So that’s 2 more than now.
I know this is off topic but when did Tokyo Tosho get seized??
Oh God I just looked at the date…
More IS episodes!! RAWR! :3
I would love to see a season 2! IS is just simply great for this season. 🙂
Oh but Puella is worth watching, too, as well as Gosick. haha.
I’m glad they left the relationship stuff open ended like its supposed to be. Doesn’t screw anything up for when they adapt the next set of light novels.
I DEMAND A NEW SEASON!!!!!
~good job covering this series Divine
some loose ends but it did end with a good closure.
I wish each character had more development time though, with ichika so that them falling for him be a bit more understandable.
and im happy to see that it ended with houki. well, sort of.
The hypothetical discussion between Chifuyu-nee and Taba-nee had left me wondering about the followings:
1) was IS originally intended to move without pilot(s)?
2) does the Cores have AI and self evolution program(s)?
3) is 001 a “Chobits*” class core?
If there’s a S2, the past of a character that i wanted to know more is definitely Taba-nee’s.
*= For those who dunno what Chobits is, you have to watch the anime itself to know.
1) It originally design to assist human in space exploration. AI is most build to imitate human.
2) Every core is different and a mystery.
3) 001 could be could be not ? as mention above
4) Season two look a prospect but we wont know. Sometime good DVD/Blueray sales does not push a series into season 2
@Divine
I like your thinking about that event back in ep11. Ichika got flack from some because he caused, or was thought to have caused, the Houki to stop fighting from what he said which in the middle of a fight/mission was seen as totally stupid.
I think your take on it fits better probably. Also a question on this eps interospect scene, or w/e you’d wanna call it. I think it’s clear that the girl with white hair and the white hat is his IS’s core, etc, but then how does the 2nd part with talking to white knight fit in? At first I thought that maybe it’s the same core? But then why the two differences in how they look? So now I’m thinking maybe the IS cores can “link” in some fashion maybe? Or maybe the 2nd “white knight” vision was just the 2nd shift part of the core?
It’s a strong hint that Ichika’s core is probably the same core of the White Knight. They upgraded the suit around it to be in line with the current generation specs, so that’s why it looks different yet retains the same weapon. Also hinted is that the core’s have their own individual identities and are evolving. The little girl is probably the original innocent part of Ichika’s core and the White Knight the part when Chifuyu was its user. The core is getting to know Ichika and developing its identity further.
ahhh i felt like the characters were rich enough to warrant stretching this to 24 episodes to enjoy more depth and character backgrounds. that’s my only criticism that certain things felt like they were blown through rather than explored. Certainly the fighting scenes were well worth the watch though.
Makes me wish it had a spin off. Not really a fan of harem genre in particular but this was surprisingly entertaining. With healthy sales(IIRC) of the show I guess it will be a matter of time till it gets an S2.
Houki’s golden mode reminds me of God Gundam’s Hyper Mode, and Gospel’s wings reminds me of Wing Zero Custom.
Seems like IS will have a high chance of a second season, with unanswered questions like tabane’s motives & the IS cores.
I’m very much a Charlotte fan too, but like Divine, I also deep down really wanted Ichika to end up with Houki, since she definitely deserves it.
That’s why I liked the ending so much. Despite its open-ended-ness, there’s potential for Houki fans to believe he does like her most. I was almost cheering when they had their moment together.
It was a wonderful series overall. Not amazing, but still very fun to watch.
I guess that i understand why this series was not outstanding for most of the people at the end of the series. It really lacks of a plot that defines an actual conflict related to the IS but it only focuses on character development instead.
Heh Laura may have gotten the only kiss in but Houki’s the only one who Ichika tried to initiate a kiss with :p
This serious ended on a sour note for me all because Ichika was being an idiot in episode 11.
The best parts of this show:
1. CHAR!
2. CHAR!
3. ima ha ii no sa subete wo wasurete
hitori nokotta kizutsuita ore ga
kono senjou de ato ni modoreba jigoku ni ochiru
CHAR! CHAR!
BI-MU kagayaku
FURASSHUBAKKU ni yatsu no kage
CHAR CHAR CHAR CHAR CHAR CHAR
nagashita chishibuki ato de ato de fuke
nerai sadameru ore ga TA-GETTO CHAR CHAR CHAR CHAR CHAR CHAR
ima ha ii no sa subete wo sutete
hitori nokotta shikabane no ore ga
kono senjou de mogaki kurushimu jigoku no honoo
CHAR! CHAR!
BI-MU kagayaku
FURASSHUBAKKU ni yatsu no kage
CHAR CHAR CHAR CHAR CHAR CHAR
hitori de shinu kayo yatsu mo yatsu mo yobu
nerai sadameru CHAR ga TA-GETTO
CHAR CHAR CHAR CHAR CHAR CHAR
BI-MU kirameku kumo wo saku
ikite mitsumeru…
And the ending when Ichika goes in for the kiss but ends up smacking into Cecelia’s Funnels.
…That has the potential to be an awesome AMV. 😀
aww damn
actually i had idea like this too
I don’t like how they made Charlotte just like the other girls in terms of jealousy. I mean before she would be happy and would cheer her teammates on, now the creators realized they need a replacement jealous girl and decided to go with charlotte which I think didn’t do her justice compared to how mature ans sophisticated she was before.
I agree with you. She was the only girl throughout the series who didn’t mind the protagonist doing a harem. It almost seemed like Charlote was aiding him to get into that route.
But to make her a side character at the end ruined everything. They should have let her be they way she always has been. I mean, that is why Haruna from Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka? shines because she has been herself throughout the entire series.
I completely disagree with you. I like Charlotte the best, but she has not been shown to be any more mature and sophisticated than the others. It’s pretty clear that she didn’t understand Ichika anymore than the other girls. Houki is the only who does, which is why she has the best chance.
Well, although it did not go the way I wanted it to go and Ichika probably ends up with Houki (poor Char sob sob:(), it still was the most enjoyable show of the season. A harem comedy with bits of mecha done right and you have a recipe for success. Thanks for all your hard work Divine, you really deserve some time off. Reading your posts was pure pleasure!!
Char wasn’t jealous like the others, she was mad cuz she was worried about him and he was off alone with Houki. It’s not crazy yandere jealousy like the others. Either way, the real fun doesn’t start till the next chick gets there. s2 nao!
I just realized why I loved the last scene so much. Aside from the awesomely cruel tease with Ichika and Houki, it was more or less a total shuffling of archtypes:
Houki: Tsundere–>Deredere
Cecilia: Tsundere–>Yandere
Rin: Tsundere–>Yandere (FTW)
Char: Deredere–>Tsundere
Laura: Kuudere–>Tsundere
im not a houki x ichika person, but damn.. the ending, even charlotte in on the cockblocking 🙁 … blue balls dont feel good girls 🙁
I should’ve known that was the final episode when I didn’t see any previews -_-
oh well, got what I wished for, open ended route!
The amount of G-Gundaming (Houki gold mode) and Xenogears (Gospel, System ID mode and the girl pulling a Grahf “Do you desire power?”) was quite nice.
Like the previous episode, this episode feels so forced and cheesy. Show ended and I feel like the most enjoyable aspect of IS is Charlotte and Laura.
Most satisfying Harem show I’ve seen in ages 😀
Why does Chifuyu never pilot an IS? She doesn’t help the group fight against the unmanned IS either which she probably could have taken out single handedly. We see her holding an IS sword once, but it seems like she doesn’t materialize it herself and just grabbed it off the table. I don’t know why, but throughout the series I was under the impression that Chifuyu could not pilot an IS anymore.
I’m not sure if it was ever stated explicitly, but I think it’s because the core of her previous unit was used to make Byakushiki.
Someone who’s memory is better than mine/has read the LN, please confirm?
I mentioned this before, but it was only hinted at in this finale.
Laura’s line about Ichika not performing his waifuly duties was hilarious.
Man this series was a blast, despite the plot holes and occaisional facepalm moments.
This series was great! It was really enjoyable and it just have the right amount of everything.
Like you said about Ichika, there was a ton of hate in the threads at AnimeSuki so that just shocks me (I actually had no issue with him at all in episode 11) while it was the opposite in the light novel thread of the series. Either way that NewType scene made it really confusing as to whether he said that or not. In the end there are still some people who still calls him a wimp or unmanly for some reason but the last episode pretty much made it up.
One thing I got to say though is don’t you love that last scene with Ichika and Houki talking? I don’t know but the music and the moon illuminated sea just made that scene so wonderful especially when you’re watching it in HD.
the ending was so much like the ending of Love Hina with OTP running away from bunch of jealous haremettes….
other than that they really fleshed out houki so she deserved the win
Tabane indirectly admitting both the incident with White Knight vs the 12 countries missiles and recent events with AI controlled IS was just over the top… she is monster!
I think they’ll produce a second ending sometime down the line, since the novels are still ongoing it would be interesting to see a sequel.
if so many of us are dying for a 2nd season (me included) then all of us should go preorder the dvd/blu-ray, make it a massive jump in sales that can surely make a second season lmao
hoping for a second season, with a second male IS
Did I miss something? What happened to the gift he bought from the jewellery store he went into when he was at the mall with Char? I assumed he was going to give it to Houki, and I kind of assume that’s what the ribbons were, but that doesn’t make sense size wise, or maybe I’m just remembering incorrectly…
Yeah, the size of the box threw me off too. I thought Ichika bought Houki some jewelry, but it turned out to be a huge ribbon for her hair.
Must have been one of those ones that you put in the water and they expand 500% or something.
—______—
Oh, my Cecilia! I am here, hoping for a second season!
As a lot of harems, this one ended open-ended. I am a die hard fan of Charlotte, but of course Houki is still a good choice imo. She actually has a reason why she fell in love with him, and not because he was the only guy in school. Dare i hope for a second season? Atleast Ichika’s ‘preference’ was shown, but if there is a second that could all change. Great anime. Watch if for entertainment and not plot =]
As a side note
Show Spoiler ▼
I loved the characters, but I would have loved it more if they had another 12 episodes in the season to continue building on it. The plot was weak at best, but the characters were very likable. One of the most tasteful and fun Harems Anime’s to date.
Houki’s birthday just hit me. Isn’t 7th of July, Tanabata for japanese? I find it strange that there’s no mention of tanabata, which makes me curious if they have any festival at all in IS-verse? I would love to see a V-Day speical though XD
Btw, found this: http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/886151/-_-brother_and_sister-cecilia_alcott-charlotte_dun
Chifuyu-nee is in the lead :p
After what we had a couple weeks ago, it was clear that Chifuyu was in the lead. It’s just a question of who will be successful in stealing Ichika away from her.
Please, I want to second Season,It need to more episode. I can’t wait!!! That’s very cool.
Love the whole first season. Second Season will be possible due to light novel published.
I guess this was considered a good episode. It had its good moments and it had its bad moments but overall, I guess the show had a good ending. Like almost any other harem series, the main character never ends up sealing the deal with one girl and I’m fine with that. I have to say though, this series fell below my expectations as the episodes progressed. Things got cheesy and Ichika was getting more annoying by the minute. To point out, his voice was different on this last episode, why is that? Then to top it off, Ichika barely blushes when his hand goes straight on Houki’s chest. I’d by blushing like crazy if a girl just randomly did that to me (I wouldn’t resist though). So if they do go with a second season, hopefully things will get better and maybe Ichika will just go out with Houki already. (my vote will always go Charles or Laura first though, and one more thing, hopefully there’ll be more Tabane)
Did I miss something? Because it looked to me that Ichika’s finishing blow on the unmanned IS was this awesome FacePalm of Doom (both in episode 1 and 12), but after pushing him all the way down to the shore, suddenly it looks like he stabbed the bastard through the chest with his sword instead.
I think I read somewhere that it was meant to be a new move… Maybe I read wrong.
I had my share of laughs with this series. At least 4 awesome fight sequences. Oh, and it had Charlotte.
…Yeah, I don’t regret watching this.
facepalm of doom lmao
For the series as a whole… I thoroughly enjoyed the beginning and middle, but the last two episodes, dealing with this berserk IS felt a little too sudden. Sure, there was the encounter in episode 4, I think, but that was treated more like a one-off event, and never mentioned again. The Gospel (despite us knowing it was coming all along) again came out of nowhere. The personal interaction side (up to the sudden Houki end) was done pretty well, but there was never anything that felt like a cohesive plot driving the series.
All in all, a thoroughly decent series, but it could have been much better.
i don’t know what to say, after the introduction of evil furball now come evil moe bunny girl. i wonder what come next? oh and does anyone notice charlotte breast seem to be the biggest of them when they all stand in one line 🙂 ,funny she could pretend for a male student huh
I am really disappointed that this turns out to be a Houki ending. I think it should have been a Charlotte ending. With that said, it still has been an entertaining series for the season. Maybe I should leave it at that.
Funny thing is, it was actually supposed to be an American-tan ending. In the novel, it was revealed that the Gospel wasn’t unmanned but the pilot was trapped inside when its AI run amuck. America-tan reveals herself thanks Ichika with a kiss… and then Ichika’s harem goes berserk and tries to kill him.
Evidence or it didn’t happen 🙂
This. This would have been an awesome way to end the season.
Silver Gospel was supposed to be a robot made by Israel. If the pilot’s name is indeed “America,” then such political irony is just too funny.
^ Apparently, in the LN, it was a normal piloted unit that went berserk, instead of an unmanned unit (which makes way more sense). Second it’s “America-tan” in the same way Char is “France-tan”. Nicknames based on country of origin. Third, the Gospel was a joint American-Israeli unit.
quite disappointed with how it ended. i wish the whole big boss thing could’ve just stayed in the academy. say they got hacked or something. oh wells.
Houki won :DDDDDDD *Iz Happy*
I personally think that this is just an april fools joke that Infinite Stratos is pulling..
The same may also go to Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka..
I wouldn’t be saying this is the ending if I were you people :))
I’ve got a big feeling that this isn’t the ending..
If it was I don’t think they’d go for something like this..
It’s just not good enough..
Well that’s how I see it since I myself am writing a manga who’s format is anime style
not really manga style kind of writing a story
I think im glad it ended, it was kinda a mediocre series. Im also mad Houki “won” because I didnt really like her. She didnt have much of a personality, compared to …charles? Laura? Rin? Cecilia? She was just kinda that half-tsundere who you didnt get. IDK thats just me tho
I enjoyed this, wouldn’t mind seeing a 2nd series – maybe some more of Tabane if one was to happen.
Ah my favorite show of the season has ended. I’m guessing for a season 2 because of how popular this show got in such a short amount of time. Thanks for blogging this series!
I gave this show a chance though I have never liked the mecha variety. I did not enjoy it terribly, but I kept watching until the end, so I did not suffer very much either. However, I think this a harem done wrong. The girls were terribly shallow (especially Cecilia and Huang who got nothing as far as a back story) and they were conquered (at least, Cecilia and Laura were) in a most unpersuasive way. I can’t help but compare this harem to Kampfer’s, and concluded that the latter has done a much better job.
Thought i would share this with everyone:
http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/888231/5girls-absurdres-blonde_hair-blue_eyes-brown_hair-
Sweet Dreams XD
I hope they have season 2, because in episode 9 Ran Gotanda says she’ll join the IS Academy and become Ichika’s underclassman.
By the way, I checked it in the Infinite Stratos Wiki.
Laura FTW (but Houki is still <3)! The ending was almost going to turn out perfect, but it would of been even better if they actually kissed and then all of the other girls showed up.
Charlotte’s angry face at the end <3
I'm pretty confused at the whole hypothetical conversation as well. So everything that happened was because of Tabane? SHE SET EVERYTHING UP!!!
yeah, she’s the Aizen of the IS universe.
i’ll never forgive the “childhood friend/first girl wins’ bs, really, like who gives a shit if you knew the guy first, I really hope somebody makes a netorare manga for IS, it deserves it and if it’s reverse NTR then that’d just be epic and would make my day.
enjoyed it! and yes! houki ftw! darn. but she…well, he…was so close. darn it!
and ho…tabane you (evil) genius. XD
loved the action and the general idea about IS.
and although the chance of a second season is slim, maybe OVAs…I hope.
If there is a second season, it should at the very least be story driven with an actual, strong, well developed plot centering around the origins of IS and the international issues.
While the 12 eps were enjoyable, I can’t help but feel at the end of it all that this is the most pointless anime of the year. The characters are well designed, and the merchandise that comes out of this show should be awesome, but this show never really committed itself to being a slice of life, and the “climax” is obviously tacked on with virtually no emotional buildup. When ichika strikes the final blow, it feels like nothing significant has happened.
I think the ending is a bit lacking in many ways, no conclusions here. This series is screaming for a season 2, but like any other harem series, as much as I wish Charles would be the center of attention, it ain’t gonna happen, the same things can be said for the girls. The fight scene in this finale episode is well done, visually I think its similar to the designs in Macross only that in this series I notice no recycled videos which is a good thing!
If I’ll rate IS, its gonna be from 7-8. Their isn’t much to say about the story since the series used a good 2/3 of the episodes to introduce the harem cast, each having a moment on their own but at the same time introducing some elements to move the story along. The visuals is quite impressive with its well rendered action scenes and generally an environment that is well detailed and of course very cute character designs (the GIRLS ruled!). As for my minor complaints, it seems to me that the story has bits of inconsistency and plot holes sometimes affecting my enjoyment of this series. Also to mention is the very obvious inconsistency in the animation of several scenes, but compare to the one in the story, it’s something that I found rather amusing it’s sometimes laughable. Overall, IS is a good series that can be recommended for harem lovers out there.
I really found Byakushiki’s innner spirit or voice or avatar whatever it may be very interesting and mysterious. First of all, I think I read it in the comments, but the reason why I guess the “spirit” of Shiroshiki (Chifuyu’s IS) was talking to Ichika about power, was because Shiroshiki’s core was used to make Byakushiki? I find it very interesting that Byakushiki would react to Ichika and that not even it’s own creator Tabane knows how it functions so probably cant explain why it reacts to Ichika. I would really like to know the reason why to, I wonder if its explained in the LN.
Anyways, if Im not mistaken then, only Byakushiki is special since it reacts to Ichika, so would that mean Ichika himself isnt really the special one that could react to all IS? So it means if Ichika is paired with a different IS, like one of those training ones, it would NOT react to him?
On a side note, I really find Byakushiki’s inner voice/spirit HNNGGGGG!
This was truly an amazing series. I agree, it combined mecha action with romantic harem comedy perfectly. Each stereotype was well represented, but with nifty little twists to their personalities that made them stand out from that stereotype too. I particularly loved Houki and Char (like everyone else, haha) But they really MUST make a season 2. It would break my heart if they don’t. Some might think it’s boring plot wise, but I think that’s because they sort of set the plot’s pace in such a way where someone could do a season 2.
1 – We never do find out what was going on with that first unmanned IS.
2 – What was up with the Byakushiki/Shiroshiki cores speaking to Ichika? (Personally I think it’s the spirits of Tabane and Chifuyu, because Chifuyu said she poured her whole soul into making Core 001. Perhaps Byakushiki’s core is a composite of Tabane and Chifuyu?)
3 – What about the other IS cores? What’s Houki’s like? What’s Laura’s like?
4 – What is Tabane REALLY doing, eh? Hacking 12 countries computer systems and hacking Gospel to debut her own sister. I can’t imagine it was as frivolous because of the way she was talking.
There’s just so much that can be explored! Lol, So I think this was kinda just a trial run to see how we’d react to it before green lighting a 2nd season. Which I hope they do!!! Besides, it’s entertaining! It’s definitely like Gundam meets Love Hina. Lol.
Denseman Ichika anime ver was killed by Denseman Touma in my mindfic.
This show was ok but no damn way do I want a 2nd season unless there is Seikon no Qwaser level fanservice to balance out the unoriginality and predictability.
Frak……Ichika being so damn dense towards all of them then when Houki appears in a bikini he decides to drop the dense crap and embrace the moment a lot of us didn’t want. Getting involved with Celicia doesn’t seem right, Laura doesn’t make any sense(hopefully just the anime ver), Rin is the same damn boring thing as Houki but flat chested. Only a relationship with Charlotte would sense, can’t believe seeing the girl nude and bathing next to her didn’t produce any results, only delayed the predictable Houki gets Ichika ending.
Shit was just retarded and stupid, so many things that don’t add up, at all. Harem did well? Since when does throwing every fucking stereotypical character + some mecha in it make it “done right”? To each there own but I think it was terrible. I’m not gonna be sad if this was the end of it.
If I want density I’ll watch some pictures or animations of a black hole, I don’t need a 1D character like Ichika. If I want to see interesting mecha fights I’ll watch gundam or some other show that actually does something with them(not saying those shows are amazing as well).
This show made me cry, because it was so bad. Out of the millions of anime I have watched, this is the only one that I will hate, and ive seen some poor anime, but this anime, I KNOW they didn’t even try. They had no originality, no plot, no sense of comedy, no sense of story, no sense of NOT BEING CLICHE, and most importantly, NO ROMANCE. This show has no idea what a good romance is. Its just horrible redundant shit. Im not the type of person to make fun of a show that many people like, but this show…….Im going to find it’s writer and force her to say “gomen-nasai” 1 million times. This show completly insults your inteligence, it doesnt take you seriously at all, everything, and I MEAN EVERYTHING is cliche.
I thought that the fact Ichika was the only man pilot had some kind of deep meaning, but no, it was just a stupid reason to have him become a harem character, when I saw this, I thought it was going to balance action and romance, because I saw robots shooting sutff and I thought it was going to be awesome, the animation and action was incredible….Then this show just shat all over my face. I wanted robots kicking the crap out of eachother, but the story focused on the love life of this uninteresting character.
When I was at episode 12, I truly believed that it would have a 2nd season, because there were many things that were not explained and I thought the 2nd season would finally have plot….BUT NOOOOOOOO THEY ARE SICK BASTARDS, they tied up all the loose ends with that PAINFUL conversation between Ichika’s sister and Houki’s sister, I couldnt believe my eyes, mystery made me hopeful to this show but WOW, they tied up those loose ends so poorly. The ending was complete crap, HE WANTS TO PROTECT THESE GIRLS, YET THERE IS NOTHING TO PROTECT THEM FROM
Ichika:”I want to protect my comrades”
Girl in lake:”Protect them from what??”
Ichika:”ughhhhhh shut up”
That final IS was CREATED by Houki’s sister, so there isnt much danger at all, the whole protecting thing is just hased up morals that they are forced to put in a story.
The romance was also stupid, for a romance to work, you have to respect both the male and female, but this show insulted women so much, it made them look like “easily to fall in love” morons, ESPECIALLY British girl. None of them are in-depth or interesting so, why should we even like these girls?
If you like this show, then by all means continue to like it, Im not going to force you to hate it, if you have beliefs, then stick by it to the end, but I have to adress that this show CLEARLY put no effort into ANTYHING, even lovers of this show MUST realize such a thing, I think I personally hate this show because I hate cliche so much, I despise cliche, and since this show is cliche, I dont like it. Besides the animation and Charlotte and a possible kick-ass game, there is nothing original about this show, EVERYTHING YOU’VE SEEN, you must have seen in another anime.
I felt like this show was PARODYING anime.
if you think this was bad, try yumekui merry’s ending.
And this was a show made in like 2011, there should be no reason why it is this cliche, I like this show, but I definatly understand what you are trying to say and I definatly understand that this show went nowhere. Now that I think about it, alot of the stuff was really really painful, this show focused on romance. When you pair characters up with Ichika, you cant help but sub-conciously choose the girl that you look personally. Which is why the romance failed so hard.
For those who love cliche stuff, I recommend this anime, and some parts were kinda funny. But for a person looking for a good romance, do not watch it, it doesn’t really take the romance seriously.
Failed at trying not to be obvious, yet it’s so obvious that you JUST hate this show.
How hard is it just to say these four words: “i hate this show”? Seriously, you don’t have to go one big round.
Well I need to explain WHY I hate it dont I? I cant just hate a show for no reason.
Well, for your case, just those four words and your NAME is more than enough.
Finally someone that agrees, this show was just painful to watch.
Im a complete sadist, and I thought this show was painful, btw why are we using the word painful? How about over the top, misleading show? It wasnt really an anime but more like, who can fit the most anime stereotypes into a show and make it into a 12 episode anime. Stereotypes and cliche really sums the show up.
Its one of the best anime ive ever seen, IM DYING for season 2 “INFINITE STRATOS ROCKS “!!!!!!!!!
Need more Episode each season maybe 35 episodes or more would good 🙂
It was a boring show with lots of cliches. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t really like it either. It wasn’t memorable. The minute I finished this series. . .I forgot about it and I can’t even remember what is so good about it. The fights were not epic i mean if you want a show with mechs, action and romance. . .I recommend Gurren Lagann. As for a good Harem anime show. . .I don’t have one to recommend at all because I hate girls who falls instantly for a an average guy who is nothing special and made it look like he’s the only guy in the whole world.
shows like these are reason why I dont like anime cliches, they are making them like as if it were condition to be aired
When I was younger, I watched alot of harem animes. For some odd reason, I thought they were hilarious due to the situations the main character and his girls get in. It’s been a while since I watched harem anime, and I heard about Infinite Stratos. Since I really didn’t have any series I was watching, I was like “Why the heck not?” So I watched Infinite Stratos. Although I enjoyed IS alot, I think I know why I gave up on harem animes. WHY ARE GIRLS SO DESPERATE IN THESE SHOWS? X’D
I hope they have season 2, because in episode 9, Ran Gotanda says she’ll join the IS Academy and become Ichika’s underclassman. Next, I hope they have some new characters like Tatenashi Sarashiki, Ushio Nohotoke, and Chelsea Blackett. Last, some returning characters from season 1.
Also, I checked it in the Infinite Stratos Wiki.
By the way, season 2 can possibly be in Summer 2011 in July or Fall 2011 in October or maybe Winter 2012 in January.
Yeah, i also hoping for 2nd season as these series are worth-to-watch, furthermore, their schooling life is for 3 years and why not they make the story go through those years until they graduate and so on. . .
again may my wish come true (^_^)
I heard they’re going to have an OVA called IS Encore: Koi ni Kogareru Rokujuusou and it will be released in November 25th.
Next, let’s hope they have season 2 in Winter 2012 in January, because in episode 4, Chifuyu and Maya examines the defeated IS and confirms it is an unmanned IS drone with a unique IS Core that didn’t come from the 467 confirmed Cores and in episode 9, Ran Gotanda says she’ll join the IS Academy and become Ichika’s underclassman.
Third, I hope they have some new characters like Tatenashi Sarashiki, Kanzashi Sarashiki, Ushio Nohotoke, and Chelsea Blackett.
Last, some returning characters from season 1.