Posted by  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「恋に焦がれる六重奏」 (Koi ni Kogareru Rokujuusou)
“Sextet Yearning for Love”
If the finale back in spring didn’t seem conclusive enough on who won the harem war over Ichika’s heart, then this OVA should definitely clear up any confusion. To that end, this “Encore” OVA episode quickly reminded me of all their character nuances and just how much I enjoyed this “high-speed” romantic comedy, despite the fact that it’s “just” another harem anime. It takes place after the TV series’ conclusion and involves the girls not-so-coincidentally paying a visit to Ichika’s house, hoping to spend some time alone with him. Charlotte acts first with Cecilia not too far behind, and with everyone thinking the same thing, the whole gang shows up before long. Unlikely alliances are formed when it comes to having Ichiki feed them cake and envious stares result over Laura’s confidence, but the best moment during the visit had to be everyone’s dismay over Ichika’s married couple-like relationship with Chifuyu. That was a follow-up to episode ten when Chifuyu staked her claim on her younger brother (for taking care of house chores) and oh-so-fun to watch because of their reaction back then.
Once Chifuyu let the girls fight amongst themselves, their attempt to win over Ichika’s heart through his stomach proved to be more cute than anything else. While they were all secretly competing with one another — and trying their darnedest to prevent Cecilia from cooking anything — it came off as a friendly competition with the “SUPER STREAM” ending theme playing and the sight of them helping one another out. Save for Cecilia’s, the rest of the dishes turned out pretty well and led to a surprisingly normal meal too. Houki’s soy sauce-boiled fish and Charlotte’s assorted deep-fried dish looked pretty darn tasty, as did Rin’s meat and potato stew that she finally got to make for Ichika. Laura’s oden was lol-worthy though, simply because of how she chose to skewer the ingredients together. All in all, the dinner itself felt very epilogue-ish, so it’s almost as if we were given the option to stop watching at the two-thirds mark. Not a bad choice for some viewers, especially if you’re not a Houki fan.
I say that in hindsight of course, as I wasn’t even anticipating they’d push Houki as Ichika’s girl of choice as much as they did. Granted, I can’t really blame the guy after seeing Houki perform the Shinto dance at her “aunt” Yukiko’s (Okamura Akemi) shrine. The setup was perfect too, with Ichika actually complimenting Houki on how pretty she looks and causing poor girl to think she’s just dreaming. From that point on, it was all Hou… err… Ran (!?). I’ll admit that I like Ran just as much as the next person after the “strong” first impression she left, but I was rooting for Houki here after she finally got a bit of a green light from Ichika. Still, it was good to see Ran again and funny how both she and Houki instantly saw the other as a love rival. More importantly, Ran’s appearance seemed to give Houki that last push to make her confess to Ichika. It’s just too bad our dense protagonist didn’t hear it. At least Houki’s happy about growing closer to him and the ending sequence featuring her “Best Partner” song from the ending single — plenty to suggest that she has an edge over the competition. Suffice to say, the Houki ship has sailed.
* In case anyone’s forgotten, I was always on the Houki ship and not the Char one, even though I like all the heroines.
* It’s not quite nudity, but there’s clearly a nip slip in this scene.
* Full-length images: 05, 11, 31, 32.
* Update: See below for live performances from the “Infinite Stratos: One-Off Festival”, where Uchiyama Kouki was in the company of five lovely ladies.
ED Sequence
 |
 |
 |
ED: 「ベストパートナー」 (Best Partner) by 日笠陽子 (Hikasa Youko)
Watch the OVA ED!: Streaming ▼
Dang. This episode is making me go to Houki ship.
I was on board a looong time ago. Much peaceful here too, unlike the overcrowded “Char” ship (which I tried to board).
Finally! Some breathing room in the Char ship. Now if only everyone would abandon ship, it’d be just the two of us. xD
I have, and always will be on the Char ship. I’m too far (sank) deep to ever change! This war isn’t going to end anytime soon…
Was a Houki shipper since long time ago 😀
since the beginning I am still a houki shipper. chifuyu comes in next.
Was there from the very start. 🙂
Chifuyu-nee is the best, I don’t care what anyone else says!
Well, I can understand why some may have liked Houki in this episode as she wasn’t her usual tsuntsun self but was actually nice all the time.
But just because she have gotten better so doesn’t that make me like her more then any of the girls that was good from the start or got better quicker. Charlotte also have the unique honour of actually understanding the guy somewhat and not only wants into his pants.
Really good post there divine.
To be honest this wasn’t what I expected but still not disappointing, I get the feeling the the story here is somewhat incomplete and I don’t mean as in Ichika and one of the girls getting together finally but in relation to the IS, not much on it has been shown nor explained and they didnt explain some of the events that happened following the invention of the first IS.
Followed the book events exactly, lol.
Seems like the first half part of Volume 4 of the Light Novel…
Yes Chifuyu-nee:Show Spoiler ▼
Edit: Scratch my first post: it’s the last quarter of the LN vol 4… Stupid typos…
Was that line in the scene though? The subs I had didn’t bring it up so I thought they left it out?!?!?!
I hope that they give Charlotte another chance! The best reverse trap since Konoe Subaru … Viva la France! XD I want to hear Ichika no ecchi want more time…!
P.s. Anybody knows if there are plans for a second season? Or this is the close that we will get?
best trap? you’ve got to be kidding.
she cant even look like a decent guy and she barely even sticks being a trap at all.
yeah yeah she’s beautiful and all but “best trap” is a long shot for her…
I think he means “favorite trap girl” rather than “most convincing trap”.
Char won…it’s a conspiracy.
BTW divine is that a legit nipple slip or did you redraw that?
it is legitimate… surprisingly, but awesome eye candy 🙂
Sorry, I’m going to Houki now. ;A:
Why do I feel like the only one on board the Cecilia ship
I like Cecilia as a character with her strong sense of honor, but guess she just had too much competition around her… and her high status doesn’t help her with her domestic chore appeal either :3
I’m also onboard the Cecilia ship, even though I know she doesn’t stand a chance. Adorable ojou is adorable.
You are not alone, bro ^_* *Manly-hug*
finally watch the episode… Divine, you are fast 🙂
Houki is definitely the winner here… awesome!!! (I am a bit of Houki shipper myself) although it would be just as nice to see any other girl win I guess… and big sis is always portrayed as “last boss” of sort :3
Ichika is still as dense as any day… but I so envy these anime male lead with the ability to attract so many girls… WTF 2D world 🙁
You will never see Russia animated T^T
There´s a Rusian girl in IS? D: I demmand a pic of her!
also we need moar Ran…
http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/images/f/fb/IS05_004-005.jpg
She’s not Russian, she’s only their representative cadet.
doesn’t representative candidate mean she’s russian though?
hope there is a second season cause i love the way she handle’s ichika and the rest of his harem :p
Too early to say that, IS dvd/bd sales are very good I think so a s2 should be in the works otherwise I doubt we’d even get this OVA ep.
Also russia is pretty win,
Show Spoiler ▼
Need more Ran~!!!!
When will they release this as dvd?
How did Cecilia use 3 bottles of Tabasco into that?
https://randomc.net/image/Infinite%20Stratos/Infinite%20Stratos%20-%20OVA%20-%20Large%2027.jpg
Not gonna watch this episode. Charlotte!!!!!!
Resistance is futile…
That’s just great Divine.. nice way to re-open the Houki vs Char war!
Who was winning again? XD
Charlotte, by a long shot.
Why was Chizuru and Ran not in the poll!!! BLASPHEMY!
It never gets closed!
Show Spoiler ▼
In my poll, heh heh, Chifuyu is winning by a landslide.
Aw no season 2 !?!! 🙁
yes houki wins!
Is there any English subbed version? There’s none yet right?
Yeaa agreed, even though this is a ‘simple’ harem anime, it left an impression on me.
I do wish there’s a season 2 just for laughs though :\
To me, only thing made an impression on me : Charlotte. That’s the reason why I managed to not drop the, otherwise, not-so-good series.
I mean, let’s face it — most of the characters, including the plot or every element in the series are forgetable. The animation is good though
Really? Maybe I played too much Cosmic Break..
There’re a ton of animes out there which I remember the name but forget the characters..
Or maybe I just am too into harem animes.. Oh well o.o
@aco
You play “Cosmic Break”? IGN pls….
I’m for any ship that doesn’t involve Houki.
This is disappointing, I was hoping this Ova would ignore that bs anime ending but now my desire to watch this and watch eps 11-12 are gone.
Uhh, sorry to break it to you man but those anime eps and this OVA are not BS. They’re IN the novels.
Houki all the way!! <3
STUPID ICHIKA, THE WRITERS SET UP A SITUATION FOR YOU TO GET TOGETHER WITH SOMEONE AND YOU COMPLETELY IGNORE IT. YOU’RE AT FAULT THERE TOO HOUKI, REPEAT YOUR CONFESSION AGAIN ELSE YOU SHALL NOT GET THAT MEAT THAT YOUR LOOKING FOR.
On the other hand, I still like Char a bit more, but that might just be from a Super Robot Wars person standpoint. IMO Char has the best IS because its basically equipping more dakka.
also this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T0-SyZmLqY
It’s because Ichika is a big sis-con and really just has eyes for Chifuyu as a real women.
I think Charlotte is the best choice for Ichika.
Unlike Houki, Cecilia, and Rin, who are always quick at getting pissed off at Ichika, it is Charlotte who exhibits the most patience and a temperate personality… and is observant enough to have a clue about what is going on.
That said… I imagine that most guys here will support Houki now that they showed off some nips.
Tits or GTFO!!
Oh wait…
until she catches him about to kiss Houki in 12, then she’s just like all the other girls.
I can’t find anything regarding this OVA anywhere on Tokyotoshokan. Where did you guys find this?
The raws are available, no announced subs yet by this writing: I checked.
Did they draw Houki’s nipples O__o or am I seeing what I want to see
Yup. They did. Just some eye candie to catch some attention. :3
Looks like that’s it for IS? There’s definitely S2 material in the LN but if they haven’t introduced any plot by now, guess they never will?
You can’t say that at all yet, the factor to look at is DVD/BD sales of a series like IS or any series that has more novels to it as a indication of a s2 being possible or not.
Oh yes! I knew the OVA won’t disappoint me! Love all 5 of them! XD
what site did you watched it guys? is it english sub already?
Reports now confirm: Hiryuu Subs will “check” it out first before any announcement. Google the sub-team’s name for more info…
BTW, that was in August.
All sail with Houki! Kinda disappointed not much Rin… T^T
great! now I can let go of my hate for IS. ichika is still an idiot and a moron though…
TITS. *points like a naive child!*
Good OVA though, even though I could’ve watched any other show for the same material.
Yukana is so cute. If Divine didn’t tell me, I wouldn’t have believed (without researching) that she really is 36… She sounds 16! (Cecilia’s seiyuu) Loved the 3rd vid.
Blast it all I was so hoping there would have been a second season announcement at the end of this……
not a smart move, for it will actually sink the HUGE Char ship (biggest in the series, or pehaps in recent harem-anime history).
I am on a chifuyu-nee ship
Hello there fellow crewmate~!
Didn’t know there were other people who votes Chifuyu here. Mostly it’s Charlotte or Houki some other girls in the LN…
I’m with you, big sis is best!
The Char boat is quite crowded, BUT I LOVE IT!
char or houki……. hard to choose!
plus i almost threw my bottle at ichika when houki conefessed…. how daft can he be
but than again…. i was like that once…. =/
I know I’ve said this somewhere before, but let me say it again.
IS is the only series to date I had difficulty in choosing ONE heroine.
After watching the series my vote looked like this: Char > Houki > Cecilia > Rin > Laura
After reading the LNs though, it became: Char > Cecilia > Laura > Houki > Rin
Really pleased with how they produced the OVA :]
I’m going to leave the Ichika X (insert IS girl of choice) to everyone else; and focus on shipping Ran with her brother.
No, chifuyu is the best and I have a feeling that Ichika is not chifuyu’s real brother. Also chifuyu is more of a brocon that what we see her to be. (a tsundere perhaps although hidden in her closet)
If your referring to that:(Warning! SPOILER! DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU ARE UPDATED WITH THE LN TOO.)Show Spoiler ▼
there is no proof of that yet. That incident could go off into a number of routes, I have only listed the top 20 things that might happen since there are so many.
Ugh. I know. There could be so much plot-relevant substance, I just wish they’d animate it.
Show Spoiler ▼
IKR?
The fact that Show Spoiler ▼
came as a surprise. She built the Golem series, the mysterious extra IS cores and, in my hunch, the enemy’s IS units. How she is connected with Show Spoiler ▼
is still blurry to me, but my hunch is that Show Spoiler ▼
whatever happens, I am still on the chifuyu boat.I dont mind wincest as long as they are the pair. they are both attracted to each other. (hidden?)(siscon & brocon) – ore no imouto & yosuga no sora anyone?
We love them in wincest, we can agree on that, right? Which is why they must stay as real bro and sis! How is that wincest when they’re not related? D:
Am I the only one who watched the series girls for the piloting skills etc? Laura is here my top ace, with really martial attitude and loads of combat training, with Char in close tow and loads of test pilot experience and great teamwork with Ichika.
Nope: I do too. There’s Cecilia for artillery and sniping, Ling for all around support, Houki and Ichika for close range and melee.
A complete squad. Not even Silver Gospel was a match in the end.
I’d have to disagree; even with all of Laura’s ‘combat training’, her flaunted skill is just to spam AIC, or whatever it was called, with her 3rd gen PERSONAL IS. On the other hand, we have Char fighting on par with all the other girls and Ichika with her mass-produced 2nd gen, changing weapons to suit the battle conditions and dodging and just being awesome, whether it be as a distraction by pinning down her enemy’s movements, or slipping under her foe’s guard and dealing a decisive blow. I’m referencing the Houki/Laura vs Ichika/Char battle, by the way xD
I don’t know how it is in the novels but as far as the anime’s concerned, Char’s the only one among the haremettes that showed true skill (unless, of course, you count Blue Tear’s system, however that works with all the mini canons floating about, as requiring skill).
‘_’ on that thought, it would be fun to see Char with an actual updated IS; I recall the anime mentioning that her 2nd gen Rafael was meant to be scrapped because it is outdated, or something along those lines.
will be hard for her to get a new personal IS right now with her being in trouble with her government for lying about her gender.
@ moondoogie
Yeah, I missed the point. But if there is a possibility that they are not even siblings, the better it is, in a moral point of view. I didn’t expect that you also like the pair? I thought you were a houki or char boat?
If the author introduced chifuyu as a harem character/love interest and not the sister one, I bet many people would bet on her.
Sorry for being ambiguous: Yeah, I’m a Orimura-cest fan….
But if there is a possibility that they are not even siblings, the better it is, in a moral point of view.
True. Well anyway, we still don’t know for certain: the author left us hanging with Ichika on the latest volume…. Show Spoiler ▼
My sentiments exactly!
Its taking way too long…
The girls should just give up on that dolt and have a massive yuri orgy instead.
Arrgh the live performances look great but my DL speed is sooooooo slooooooow >_<
Hikasa Youko/Houki, Yukana/Cecilia, Shimoda Asami/Ling Yin, Hanazawa Kana/Charlotte, Inoue Marina/Laura FTW!!!!!! Asami is so cute on that frozen screenshot of the Encore Medley! :3
Thx for showing us the ” one-off festival” video, Divine. I woundn’t know it existed if you didn’t post it.^_^
can someone tell me if there will be a season 2 and is the manga still on going? TY
Is this really the end of IS or is there still a possibility of a season 2? From the looks of they can easily get another season.
Sigh, Ichika still makes me face palm all the way through an episode. I guess this should be popular enough for a second season. Wondering if the novels have enough material for another season yet/soon…
where can i read the novels?
Baka-Tsuki.. Volumes 1-7 done. No news of volume 8 though….
Yes, I agree. All we have to do is let the author buy some time until Volume 8 is out and I have a feeling it will be released this month in December 23, 2011.
Next, I hope they have season 2 later, 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. By the way, let’s hope season 2 can cover Volume 5-8 like season 1 cover Volume 1-3 and the OVA cover Volume 4.
Third, I hope they have some new characters like Tatenashi Sarashiki, Kanzashi Sarashiki, Utsuho Nohotoke, and Chelsea Blackett.
Last, some returning characters from season 1.
@Minh
Add Show Spoiler ▼
into the mix as Show Spoiler ▼
.
You have a link to a picture maybe? This is quite interesting.
Everything I asked for an OVA of IS is here, its nice to see all the cast together again. I’m in the Char camp, but I also like Houki thought and spending more time with Ichika in this bonus episode isn’t bad at all 🙂
I feel lonely on the Laura ship.
Don’t worry XD I like her
That nip slip made this whole this whole episode feel more wrong when I remembered Chifuyu saying the girls are 15…
no 15 yr old is sooo developed, they are hiding their real age!
Seeing Chifuyu in casual clothes and that dress later on was awesome.
Laura also looked very nice in her dress. Only other time we see her out of her (custom) school uniform was the beach, but seeing her in casual clothes was also great. She pretty much had my eye all through the first 2/3 and then, of course, Houki in the last bit.
Seeing these characters again made my day! Where is my season 2!?
I know! The first season covered 3 novels, and they have enough to make a whole other one, plus a 4 part OVA!
They absolutely need to do Rhapsody of Two Kittens.
@Jif
The opening scenes for “Open your Heart!” would be glorious!
Show Spoiler ▼
There are currently 7 novels out and the novel 8 is under works, the author said it will take some more time finish it and it´ll be out fot the first quarter of the next year. Can´t to see the new charaters.
Ichika is such a dense bastard, he has six beautiful girls who are madly in love with him and he hasn´t realize anything yet, I think he´s trying to make competition to Touma Kamijo from To Aru majutsu no Index, there has to be something wrong in the heads of those two idiots.
That being said, I have the feeling that Ichika has indeed fallen in love with Houki but at the same time holds feelings for all the girls of his international harem. It´s a little more obvious in the novels but I think that discussion is not going to be about who has he fallen for but who is he going to pick at the end, if he ever picks a girl. I have to admit they look really cute having together. The main candidates remain Houki and Charlotte, expect to see more in a possible second season.
Well you see, if he picks one the story ends XD.
The comedy is much more interesting when he is being surrounded by six, or more if you had read the LN.
Ichika’s actually a genius. His harem is too overpowered, and he’s the only thing stopping World War from breaking out.
We can actually blame him if a war did break out. XD Example…
Person Involved: French Representative (Name of representative is classified)
Event: WWIII (France, China, Japan, Germany vs Britain theater of war)
Cause: “Orimura-kun dated Cecilia! Not me!”
No, no, no, we all know it’d be the world against Japan because Ichika went for Chifuyu…
…and Japan would win. XD
Still not on the Houki ship. Was never on the goddam Char ship.
Kinda forgot some stuff already, but it came back to me.
For some reason, I like all the heroines in the series, but can’t go crazy about any particular one. 🙁
Too bad no, “Ichika no echhi!” moments.
My vote remains with Laura/Ichika/Char. Threesomes solve everything!
Though I was heartily amused once again by how canon Chifuya/Ichika is.
I thought Houki’s ship has already sailed during S1’s finale but seems like the first half of the OVA brought back some hope for the others.
Houki’s nip slip… mmmmm…
after watching this ep, I believe Charlotte is still the best.
Why can’t more series do different endings like Clannad. I would like to watch a Charlotte route/ending. Houki does not even dance in this ep: it is just a moving picture (no animation).
Houki is pretty but next to Charlotte, she is average.
Yeah, the dancing was kinda lackluster. I expected them to do some nice animation, but was disappointed with that moving picture.
Good OVA episode. Hopefully a 2nd season is in the making once more new LN is available.
I probably will never continue watching Clannad, considering that I have been spoiled regarding the depressing last eps. of the 2nd season and I am not into that.
Aye, very disappointing considering that was supposed to be the actual turning point in Ichika’s feelings for Houki. Not animating that suggests that their budget probably isn’t looking too great, which is one point that leads me to believe there won’t be an S2. Quite sad, because the overarching story gets really good for just being a harem. A less parsimonious explanation is that they’re saving it all for a big S2 premier! But I’m not holding my breath on that one.
Char ship has already long sailed and arrived =)
man, i didn’t know there was an IS OVA. but meh,, i dun care who wins Ichika’s heart. i hate his guts. And damn, Chifuyu x Ichika I DO NOT WANT!!! incest is just…pathetic.
Chifuyu-onneesama is still the hottest no matter what happens XDD
I challenge you sir!
And incest is quite satisfying… if played right. AFAIK IS hasn’t played it wrong yet… even now that THAT happened.
Not really a fan of Houki. Kinda made a bad first impression when first introduced and never really made up for it. Not really a shipper for any of the characters, but was kinda releaved Ran showed up. Before Houki went all tsuntsun and ruined things.