First Impressions / Kakumeiki Valvrave

「サキ・カムバック」 (Saki Kamubakku)
“Saki Comeback”

I think it should be pretty apparent by now that Kakumeiki Valvrave has split the audience to a great extent, and it’s fair to say the latest revelations are not going to make the debate any easier. Before I delve into the episode on its own terms, let me say up front that my adoration for Saki has not budged at all after the latest unveilings – in fact, the admiration that I have for her is now greater than ever! Saki, to put it mildly, is a character who is deeply flawed – not only is she shamelessly manipulative in her attempt to become a superstar, the former idol was also completely in over her head as she challenged the Dorssian soldiers at the front line. But make no mistake about it, the entire shenanigan that she pulled doesn’t make her characterization any less identifiable or engaging – as a matter of fact, the opposite could hardly be more accurate, her moment of weakness was eminently relatable for me and it was such flaws that made Saki seemed all the more human in this large cast.

Let’s not kid ourselves – fictional or not, the world is a crazy place and if the last few episodes were any indication, the cruelty and nastiness of human nature are very well present in this futuristic setting. Saki is a nearly unique character in anime – she is free from the usual innocence and idealism that plague most characters of her age, and her beleaguered past has unquestionably shaped her into the cynical person that she is today. It’s certainly beyond doubt that Saki is a female who is fiercely independent, but as mordacious as the depiction of her character is, she’s not mature beyond her age and the show certainly does not shy away from playing up her vulnerabilities. Like I said, Saki is as human as any character in this show – she cries when she needs to and feels self-pity when her strength fails her, but what’s especially noteworthy about Saki is that for all her obvious faults, she always pulls together when the time calls for it, and no question, it was her quick thinking and bold action that saved Module 77 from Dorssia’s most recent carnage. While Saki was a clear stand out in this episode, it’s also indisputable that Shouko had her moment in the spotlight this week and she was, once again, the one who provided the beam of hope during their imminent threat of failure. Shouko’s sanguinity, in many ways, is a striking contrast to Saki and her role as the cheerleader was no less critical than any of those at the front line – after all, it was her words of encouragement that pushed Saki in the right direction, thereby leading to the defeat of the Dorssia’s bishounen squad. It almost goes without saying that Shouko’s unfailing optimism has proven to be a force to reckon with and if there’s ever a certain someone who can help Saki regain her trust in humanity, that person will undoubtedly be Sashinami-san – and I have a certain suspicion there’s a great friendship brewing in the backdrop over here!

This leads to an interesting question of where the love triangle stands at this juncture and does Saki even have a place as Haruto’s potential love interest. Saki has made it clear that she has no attraction to Haruto beyond the obvious superficiality and I have no doubt Haruto’s eyes are solely fixated on his childhood friend – not to mention the fact that Shouko is indeed a superior match for him! It all seems pretty clear-cut on paper, but I still have my hesitation about the current status quo and whether it is, in fact, the final version of this match-making game – if Okouchi sensei’s previous work is any hint, he’s bound to throw a few curve balls at us before all the dramas are finally buttoned down. Speaking of drama, there’s a different variety of commotion that is surfacing at the Dorssian’s front, and it has become increasingly apparent that L-elf and A-drei will be at the center of it. There’s evidently more to their relationship than that of a simple colleague and I have a feeling A-drei could very well be in the know of L-elf’s grand plan all along. Colonel Cain (Ono Daisuke) is another character that is worthy of our attention and while I have no idea what his Plan B entails, he probably knows more about the Vavlrave than he’s letting on and his role in the overall story could be more influential than it appears at first glance.

Random tidbits:

  • There’s something especially seductive about a girl who plays with her hair. Hyakka Ryouran’s Sen Hime pulled it off marvelously, but Saki’s definitely not too far behind with those sensual hair flicks!
  • I’ve said last week that Shouko’s cup size might be superior to Saki’s. But based on the sneak peek that we got from this picture, there could be a hidden surprise that is concealed underneath Saki’s dress!
  • So that’s how you make them shut up! Shove a Pocky into her mouth.
  • It looks like Carmilla is the Valvrave that excels at speed! I wonder if her Valvrave has a secret move that is similar to that of the Red Valvrave’s “Harakiri” attack.
  • OS-tan seems to be missing from Carmilla’s operating system. Maybe she’s too disappointed at the lack of sexual intercourse!
  • Q-vier (Kaji Yuki) scored some brownie points this week for taking out Senator Figaro. Sayonara “Moses”!
  • You ain’t a gentleman if you hit on idols. They shall remain pure and innocent for all the fans!
  • Social media seems to play a quite an important role in Valvrave.

tl;dr: @SeishunRC – #Valvrave 06: It’s not often you see a female pilot in a mecha series, not to mention one who is such a badass! My adoration for Saki is now greater than ever before #Anime

 

    Full-length images: 09, 10, 18, 22, 35.

     

    Preview

205 Comments

      1. Because Haruto’s the infallible hero (red), Saki is that other independent guy (green), L-elf is the lancer (blue), Shouko is the Lacus (pink), and one of the other students will be yellow.

        Taiyo
        Reply

      1. Man, that reminds me of an old Virtual On fanfic involving a girl who ended up getting into the zone and defeated everyone using a Belgdor.

        Except this time, Saki selected Cypher but had a panic attack until she remembered that she’s being watched. Then she kicked up the Turbos and just razed everything.

        Lurker
        Reply

    2. All thanks to Saki’s trolling. Gosh, she’s so awesome XD
      I wonder how many friends she’ll get after this incident – probably more than Haruto, considering what a cutie she is :3

      Seishun
      Reply

    1. RIP Moses, his legacy will live on in the hearts of… every sleazy politician out there that I know of, which is all of them! 😡
      Also, gotta say, I’m loving Kaji Yuki’s portrayal of Q-vier. A crazy badass shouta, that’s definitely his forte 😉

      Seishun
      Reply

      1. Yep, Kaji for the psycho shota was a great choice! I just cannot imagine a woman voicing him! In the cast interview it was mentioned that Q4 is about to do something horrible… What might it be? Surely, killing off Senator ‘Moses’ Figaro cannot be classified as such!

        SherrisLok
        Reply

  8. Saki is possibly the first overpowered heroine to pilot in mecha history.She just handled those controls like a boss.When she told Haruto that he was just being used, I thought she was about to go Flay 2.0, but that wasn’t the case at all so Saki is still the best girl and is gaining higher ground every episode.

    I spy a loli Saki with a gym uniform, HNNNG

    Real Women Hair Flicks In The Cockpit!

    What are you doing to my body Waifu Saki?!

    Moses gets annihilated, finally.

    Don’t just take the backseat Shouko, you gotta be more assertive!Saki is using her Ginga Bishoujo powers to win people to her side so you gotta find away to stop it!

    Magoiichi
    Reply

      2. I wouldn’t call Kallen overpowered, the Guren is of course, but Kallen herself received training just like Spinzaku while the only “training” Saki has is being an idol ;p

        Magoiichi
        Reply

  9. Mordacious. I see what you did there ^^

    The green gundam valvrave was a nice surprise too. The abilities fit her quite well & were differentiated from the other valvrave.

    FarHorizon
    Reply

  11. As a HarutoxSaki shipper I’m disappointed, I wouldn’t mind if she turned to be lesbian, assuming for how she looked at Shouko later…
    When she showed her true face, I was so sure that she got a death flag, not that I wish her to die ( okay, maybe a bit… ), but I still think that soon we can see her die…
    Also… Hating people, but at the same time wanting their attention? wtf?

    Shirocat
    Reply

    1. It is actually very common for people that hate the world to want to garner attention.
      There are two main reasons, both present in Saki: it makes you feel special (thus different/better than the others) and getting far in the world that wants to destroy you makes you feel as if you defeated it.
      You don’t want to accomplish much because it helps the world: you want it because it helps you and only you.

      On other hand, people who love the world tend to be humble, less attention-seeking and want to fit in.

      Nayrael
      Reply

    2. Keep it simple boy. Saki did what any average person would be in another body, only played with the emotions of the poor girl being in the body of Haruto.
      With Shouko nothing happens. She just has feelings of gratitude for the moral support and fighting spirit from Shouko.
      Forget the misinterpretations yuri, that’s the job of the yuri fanatics.
      I think like Nayreal about Saki and her conflict “I hate people but I want their attention.” She wants to overcome her past and prove that she is strong.

      Human beings are complicated. We have the misfortune to meet bad people, and ended up hating everyone. That’s a mistake. All we can commit, but still a mistake. If I know a bad Christian, does not mean that all Christians are bad. We are all different. Nothing in life is easy or perfect. Everything has to be achieved with hard work, even being a good person.
      We all seek affection. Although hate everyone, subconsciously seek and desire condition. We all need friends and a person who is with us against every difficulty. For that we are all human beings. We are social creatures, we can not live alone, we need each other. But today we forget the important things, by things superficial and ephemeral, for past stories negative feelings, for selfish desires and defeatist attitudes.

      Shadow74
      Reply

  14. As much as Saki was star of the episode (literally!), the moment she shone the most was when she posessed Haruto (chomp!) and trolled our Queen Bee… DAT POCKY!
    But didn’t I prophesize that Dorssia will use the force anyway? Bluffs can only hold so long, especially against enemies who are descendants of those who used tanks to solve all political problems… Good that Saki went to pilot second Valvrave, otherwise probably Dorssia would have succeeded. And then there is plan B that apparently involves A-3 infiltrating the colony pod and facing off with L-11, which might be interesting to watch… (yay for understatement!)

    ewok40k
    Reply

      2. @SilentCD: so he only needs to persuade her that their actions will make the world a better place (which is more or less what L-Elf wants anyway) and thus she will be forever remembered as “The Revolutionary Saki” 😛

        Nayrael
        Reply

  16. Before the squabbles between those who like this this show and those who hate it begin, I would like to say like many of the episodes before, this one is equally if not the more amazing one. One things for sure, its going to be tough to decide between Shoko or Saki as my favourite. Its a close match, but I would say saki takes the lead for the time being.

    And I’ll just leave this here and don’t bother to wait for my reply as I won’t be here.

    FiveOVER
    Reply

    1. After hearing the complains and whining for the past few weeks, I seriously feel that this show is wrongly judged and misunderstood.

      Valvrave is not about creating serious mood, dread, realities of war, struggles of morality, being emotional, complicated political intrigues, nor is it about complicated tactics or hard sci-fi.

      No, Valvrave is about destroying your expectations and surprising you with its constant twists along the story. It creates a feeling that you never know what’s going to happen next and keep you on your toes. So, why are there complaints about how a character doesn’t turn out to be what you expect how he/she supposed to be or how the turn of events are not what you expect them to be, when this is what Valvrave does best? Being more open minded and having flexible expectations is the first step to enjoying this series.

      Valvrave is about its quirky and amazing characters. Every character have their chance to shine. From the cool and analytical L-11, to the Optimistic and bright Shoko, to the ambitious and strong-willed Saki. It is precisely because they act so weird or goofy that makes them all the more interesting and likeable. Remember, this show is not aiming to create aserious mood, it aims to create an uplifting mood through quirky dialogues and ridiculous behaviours that are meant to amuse the audience and they certainly succeed. Does it make for bad writing or story telling? No, its doing something different from the crowd,not unlike Majestic Prince. So, again, why are people complaining about the writer trying something different. Calling Valvrave bad simply because of not creating agrim mood is simply stating that mechais all about serious war and death, when its not. Please be more adaptive.

      Valvrave is about interesting and amusing character interactions. To the dynamic between Haruto and Shoko, to the bro-ness between A-drei and L-11, to the clash of ideals between L-11 and Haruto, to the multi-faceted relationship betweeen Haruto and Saki, to the awesome dynamic between Saki and Shoko. Why does a character acting quirky or illogical means they’re badly written? There are many sides to a single human, they are even more sides from person to person. So, again,put yourself in their shoes and know that people are different, have different circumstances, and have different histories. The characters acting weird is them being unique, and that shows they are or were in unique circumstances.

      Valvrave is all about over the top events that make you go “what?” or “wow”. Its not about realism or hard science. It doesn’t have to be entirely logical or realistic. In the first place, the ultimate goal of fiction is not to create another reality (take note that I did not say it was not agoal), but to let the author’s imagination roam,and for the audience bask in it. So, I say, screw realism,and bring me entertainment. Ihave to say in terms of impact, Valvrave definitely takes the cake. (Though I have to stress that the majority of events in Valvrave is entirely logical if you bother to think deeper).

      If you can go past those ridiculous actions of the characters or the lack of realism in certain events, you’ll find that Valvrave have good plot progression and character development. The events from the previous episodes have built up the ground work for many plot points from this point on. L-11 doing his research on the Valvraves and manipulating the strings, A-drei going for a confrontation with L-11 and their clash of thoughts and emotions,the dynamic between Haruto, Shoko and Saki, mystery of the Valvraves slowly getting unraveled, finding suitable pilots for the Valvraves and its effects on the students in question, Haruto’s parent being involved in the development , the relationship between the white haired princess, A-drei and L-11, the body-switching ability and its implications, and the list goes on. There are many subtle hints dropped here and there and it really spiced up the story. How can people call the story a trainwreck when it managed to tie so many plot points together and integrate the characters in it so well? Not to mention, all the characters get to shine in all their uniqueness.

      After all that ranting, I would like to say that Valvrave is by far one of the most unique and amazing show I’ve encountered. The story, characters, humor, mecha design,and action are just amazing There is just so many things to praise about it that no essay is going to be enough for it. For now, I’m just going to praise the mecha action. Its one of the best I’ve seen since OO along with Unicorn and akito the exiled.

      P.S. I don’t even know why I bothered to defend this show when so many of the “plot holes” were addressed in the past few episodes. I shouldn’t have wasted my breath trying to explain it to those that say the show is bad because of it and instead should have waited for the show to do it itself. I feel like an idiot.

      FiveOVER
      Reply

      1. I 100% wholeheartedly agree with you but I don’t think you’re going to win this battle and here’s why for starters. For one I don’t think those people you mention (and I know exactly what you are referring to by the way) have even really thought about it to that logical extent, for another I don’t even think they’re listening to anyone so much as drive by posting the daily memes from 4chan and MAL about the show being a “trainwreck” and impossible to enjoy without first declaring how bad it is.

        These people don’t listen to explanations like you’ve written and don’t actually take part in discussions about the course of the show and characters I’ve found over the years, they don’t seem to actually care about enjoying the show at all really, they just want to be their for the big crowds and the shit show of posting and some are more than likely just trying to stir the pot themselves.

        Anyway holy shit Saki is too much own and steals the show as always. Sunrise must legitimately know my soft spot for assertive long dark haired girls that just sort of take over whenever they’re on camera all to well cause they just keep exploiting it show after show and have now combined it with super mecha piloting skills and my love of agile mecha. The repeated sassy hair flicks on top of it were just unreasonable. Adults really do never play fair. :/

        Kaioshin Sama
        Reply

      3. Now, now…

        @5over
        You should just really ignore them if you have identified them as shitposters or trolls. Spend one episode then ignore them afterwards. They like to “stir the pot” as Kaioshin says here, only because they know someone will actually answer them.

        The Moondoggie
        Reply

      4. based on the other comments i’ve read here, something tells me that even if this series had an episode where shouko forcibly turned the module into a teenage sex trade, you’d defend that because it “broke expectations”

        anyone can break expectations.

        and “go past those ridiculous actions of the characters or the lack of realism in certain events”? why not go past the entire friggin show? if you close your eyes and ears during all the scenes, it can make as much sense as you want!

        it’s cool that you’re able to find something neat in this show that most people aren’t, but don’t waste the time writing an essay to point out something that just is not there.

        Meatwad
        Reply

      6. @FiveOVER: Wow, that’s quite an essay that you’ve written. I love Valvrave, and I agree that the element of surprise is what makes it stand out.
        It was a good read, thanks for sharing your thoughts and keep them coming 😉

        Seishun
        Reply

  17. 1) I am not a fan of Okouchi Ichiro. And even though Code Geass S1 is one of my all-time favorite tv shoes, animated or not, and has given me numerous thrilling moments and characters, I feel this writer has too many flaws and awful habits for me to look forward to his shows. I can tell from these images and your reviews that Valvrave is probably not going to change my mind. (I especially cannot forgive the pathetic and forgettable job he did on Berserk!)

    Still, I have to say that I love the looks of these girls. The blond, but especially Saki, are gorgeous. Though my favorite long black haired badass of the season will likely remain Yukinoshita Yukino, your forceful defense of Saki has piqued my interest in this girl, too. And because of this, you have convinced me to check this show out.

    Even if the show overall turns out to suck, if Saki turns out to be one of Okouchi’s godly characters, I don’t want to miss watching her.

    2) [It’s not often you see a female pilot in a mecha series, not to mention one who is such a badass! My adoration for Saki is now greater than ever before #Anime]

    She’s more beautiful than Kallen Stadtfeld, but is she more badass?

    Tadaima
    Reply

    1. Just thinking about it… is it really that rare to see a female pilot in a mecha series? I mean seriously think about it.

      Mecha series I can think of that has female pilots include:

      Gasaraki
      Soukyuu No Fafner
      Heroic Age
      Gundam (can’t be screwed listing off all the franchise but I believe most – all of them have female pilots)
      Code Geass
      Broken Blade
      Evangelion
      Full Metal Panic
      Demonbane (okay, they were copilots but I guess you could use this anime on the other side of the argument)
      Super Robot Taisen OG The Inspector
      Sakura Taisen
      Muv-Luv Alternative
      Gurren Lagann
      Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari
      Asura Cryin’ (well… I guess you can call them a pilot)
      Aquarion + EVOL
      Robotics;Notes (lol example…)
      Infinite Stratos (if you count the IS as mecha)

      Anyone care to expand that list for me? Jokes, but I’m more interested if people can list off mecha series that don’t have a female pilot in it.

      Goodwill.Wright
      Reply

      1. LOL, don’t read too much into it, it’s just a figure of speech to show my exquisite adoration for Saki – plus, it’s a catchy headline for the front page! There’s a reason why I didn’t elaborate on that particular point in the entire 900-word text body :3

        Seishun
        Reply

      2. @Seishun

        Sorry, mecha is my niche so I tend to get carried away a bit when it comes to it. But if I had to list off a reason what makes Saki a unique example of being a pilot is probably her involvement as an individual pursuing her interests. While most other female pilots in mecha anime are under the command of a larger organization or at least under the command of a male pilot.

        Goodwill.Wright
        Reply

      4. I agree and that’s what I tried to do in the 900-word post – Saki’s ambitious but she’s no saint, and the many flaws that she displayed made her someone who is very easy to relate to :3
        I’m a huge fan of mecha as well, and I kinda felt bad that I spent so much space talking about Saki that I didn’t get a chance to mention anything about the mecha aspect of the show, especially Carmilla’s combat capability. Next week, I promise! XD

        Seishun
        Reply

      6. Isn’t it odd how life works sometimes. You mentioned Gasaraki while I just finished watching the last episode of it a few minutes ago. I didn’t think many people even knew about the anime.

        Haseo
        Reply

      7. @Haseo

        I don’t think much people did either. It was one of the anime I grew up with back on VHS and one of the founding series for my mecha niche. Still to this day, it is my most favorite mecha anime in terms of the mechs alone. I just love how they are depicted and the meticulate calculations gone into operating them. The pilots and field operators are very conscious on calibration, ammo reserves, geographical placement, mission time, etc…

        Plus animation-wise, I always applaud the amount of effort it takes to hand draw mechs. I find it amazing for them to draw something that detailed once, and in Gasaraki, they are doing it hundreds, maybe thousands of times.

        @Seishun
        Have you seen Gasaraki?

        (Sorry to get off topic… mecha niche kicking in)

        Goodwill.Wright
        Reply

      8. Hahaha well Super Robot Wars has TONS of female pilots. From Busty to tsundere to fairy lolis you name it, they probably have them all. All but missing Saki type I guess XD

        iPong
        Reply

    2. > Still, I have to say that I love the looks of these girls. The blond, but especially Saki, are gorgeous. Though my favorite long black haired badass of the season will likely remain Yukinoshita Yukino, your forceful defense of Saki has piqued my interest in this girl, too. And because of this, you have convinced me to check this show out.

      One of the reason’s I was exited about this show, Hashino sensei does some really great charas.

      Yuu
      Reply

  19. I know some – most people won’t like me for my comment but I can’t help but feel that Saki has raised a death flag… Don’t get me wrong, I think she is an awesome character and I love how she puts things into (her) perspective.

    Overall I’m purely guessing this on a whim.

    Goodwill.Wright
    Reply

  20. Episode 6 of Valvrave should be titled “How to tank a character in under 24 minutes.”

    I loved Saki, until this episode. Her whole wanting to get famous thing comes off as spoiled and self-centered. While I knew she was gonna pilot a Valvrave, I didn’t think it would be under such bitchy circumstances. She paraded into it like it was some sort of game. Which given the crap Haruto went through (thinking Shouko was dead, being pratically killed, killing a ton of people in another guys body, then realizing your some sort of vampire freak and not confesssing to the woman you love), her casual attitude about pissed me off.

    I kinda hope she dies now. And also Shouko gets better and better every ep, glad she didn’t actually die.

    Tikal
    Reply

    1. Comes of as spoiled? SPOILED?! She was raised in an poor, abusive, alcoholic family (and who are likely criminals)… Spoiled is not the word you can get in that situation.
      Shouko and Tanashi are closer to spoiled characters as both are actually raised in rich, elite families and have led, as far as we know atm, pleasant, worry-less lives.

      Is Saki a saint? No. Is Saki Crazy? Maybe. Is Saki arrogant? Likely. Is she spoiled? Definitely not.

      Nayrael
      Reply

      1. Well… inversely you can call her spoiled (to some degree) at this point… I mean… it isn’t everyday you get to pilot your own mecha. Plus with Haruto and Shouko looking out for her… who wouldn’t feel a bit spoiled…

        But that is just me trying to levi out the argument.

        Goodwill.Wright
        Reply

    2. Gonna have to agree. “I’m an Idol, so everyone has to pay attention to me! Even if it’s messing up people’s lives and piloting a war machine! Oh no, piloting is hard!”

      Also gonna maintain that they’re still overhyping this whole bodyswitch thing. Saki uses it with no problems, Haruto uses it with no problems, so what’s the problem?

      Da5id
      Reply

      2. Which is edited barely a few days after the episode after the ****storm that resulted from /a/ and thus makes it all reactionary and poor reference for overall fandom reaction. The more accurate trope would be Base Breaker.

        fragb85
        Reply

    3. Are you disappointed because she got more character development not in the direction you desired? I appreciate that she became more of a realistic character through this episode. She might be offputting as a person, but not as a character. It’s quite refreshing to see 2 main heroines of any show to have some major personality flaws which were introduced on purpose. At first you think that she is a maiden overflowing with virtues and then BAM! – you just got trolled. That feeling… Yeah, no-one is perfect and I thank Sunrise for daring to displease otaku.

      SherrisLok
      Reply

      1. There’s a limit to being the Trolling Creator. I don’t think we’ve gotten there yet, oddly enough, but hopefully this whole self-centered aspect of Saki goes away, otherwise it really WILL harm her as a character.

        Da5id
        Reply

      2. No worries, she will develop past what she is now. She wasn’t cast as one of the 2 main heroines for no reason. Saki staying her present self would be just too boring to watch.

        SherrisLok
        Reply

    4. “She’s not the perfect waifu I envisioned I hope she dies now!”

      God forbid a female character actually be interesting instead of being constructed to pander to others. Its not like she’s a glory-hound for no reason, her flashbacks are an indication that she has a Freudian excuse to it and will be likely be brought up later. This being a Sunrise show its going to be over-dramatic. Also she stepped up when it was things got serious so she isn’t as stupid as you make her out to be.

      fragb85
      Reply

      1. But it’s not that simple.

        If she’s able to use this over-confidence to her advantage in future episodes, that’s all well and good, but her making it all about herself and messing with other people’s lives in order to get more attention is not going to win her more fans for much longer. At that point, she actually WILL be pandering to fans as opposed to being a functioning member of the team.

        BUT I’m here’s hoping she gets over herself soon.

        Da5id
        Reply

      2. It really is simple: People are ragging on Saki because she was less than ideal as they thought her to be. The mean spirited comments like “I hope she dies” or “I hope she loses the ship now” are reflective on that. Rather than be interested on how her attitude problems will turn out later story there is just shallow vitriol piled on her.

        And she already proved herself this episode. She took out her own Dorssian Mobile Armor on her own, in her first battle. Not even Haruto was able to do that.

        fragb85
        Reply

      3. My distate for her has literally zero to do with “waifu” bullshit. I don’t like her because she went from being a lovable outcast to a psycho idiot. It was clear from her reactions in episode 5 that she was abused, which makes for great backstory, but the “development” was dumb.

        I have no problem with strong female leads, or women with tenacity and fierceness. If her same actions were by a guy, I’d want him to die to. Did it every occur to some of you that maybe some of us just don’t like stupidly aggressive characters? The whole episode all she does is cry about being famous so as not to “disappear”. Even though she’s adored by a number of guys, and the girls are clearly jealous.

        I’d much rather have Mikasa from Attack on Titan as my aggressive badass female lead then “gotta get famous like the bieber” Saki.

        Tikal
        Reply

      4. Funny you mention Mikasa, while she is in fact awesome, she’s also as flawless and pandery as you can get.

        How convenient you can to ignore the parts where Saki expressed she did want to save Haruto when she got cold feet and focus completely on the flaws. Especially since you reduced it to wishing for Saki’s death.

        The irony is that Shouko is as much of an idiot as Saki but at least Saki’s flaws are actually getting some context.

        fragb85
        Reply

      5. A couple brief and vague flashbacks doesn’t exactly count as “context”. And even if it did, you can’t exactly balance “stole a mech when he said explicitly not to, stole his body and then played identity thief for shits and giggles, and then continued to be a brat to everyone” and then say “AWWWW WELL SHE HAD A BAD CHILDHOOD SO IT’S OKAY”.

        Because it’s not. It doesn’t justify her behavior here any more than it would in real life.

        Da5id
        Reply

    5. Hoping that Saki will “die” now makes you come across as transparently whimsical and petty.

      Not that you can’t dislike her, it’s fine as an opinion, but going to that extreme is not warranted.

      Camario
      Reply

    6. If it will make you feel better, pilots in Sunrise has bigger death flags than non-pilot characters. But I’ll bet she’ll survive the show anyway.

      And you’re right. Shouko is friendly with everyone and this episode just show how much good she does for her team.

      The Moondoggie
      Reply

  21. This bitch slapped me, so I stole a guy’s body and went to seduce her into stripping down and cheering for me.

    This guy said he’d help me, so I used his body to make a documentary on how awesome I am.

    I find the level of detail where she shuts her eyes and feels something touching her mouth before opening it to allow for the Pocky stick. She totally feel for Saki!Haruto. Its fun to be a guy! You have no idea, Saki.

    The plot for this show may be crazy, but Saki is really so much fun to see.

    Giorno Giovanna
    Reply

      1. Yeah I wonder what her reaction was “So this is what it looks like!”, “So this is Haruto’s?”, *does unmentionable actions in bathroom*, or would she switch back their bodies?

        She is lucky that Haruto was unconscious while she was using his body :p

        agr0n
        Reply

  24. ……Shouko’s got the bigger bust…that’s where all that binge eating goes hahaha…im still camp shoko…she’s just a better person you guys!!! I had already mentioned Saki’s intentions a couple eps back so i was not surprised by her development this ep; But im sure she’s got even more fans than she did before like seishun said.

    sonicsenryaku
    Reply

    1. Shouko would make a better waifu, but Saki’s the superior lover. I just love dem bad girls so much, my mama always said I have horrible taste in woman, I guess that applies to anime as well 😡

      Seishun
      Reply

      3. Nope, saying “Call me Moses and look at me splitting the sea of students” is considered cool 😛
        No you are not getting old. If you were, I wouldn’t need to be explaining all this (especially since there are ten times more wicked villains that make people fanboy and fangirl about them).

        Nayrael
        Reply

  27. I find it kind of interesting that they gave the fourth Valvrave to Saki instead of going in numbering order. That tells me they may be picking pilots based on the RYB model color wheel. Green and red are considered complementary colors that go very well together since they tend to stand out when used together.

    Assuming they actually use this pattern, the pilots for blue and orange as well as yellow and purple should be rather close to each other or at least will get closer as the series moves on.

    Just a theory with little weight at this point.

    Kuntzy
    Reply

  28. There’s a bit of a difference between “wanting to destroy expectations” and “doing things for shock value”. I appreciate that you like the show, but it just seems like it’s simply trying to get attention by pulling all these “major twists”. That doesn’t make them “unique” or “amazing” or “edgy”, it actually makes it more run-of-the-mill. I’ve seen way too many shows do that already to take this seriously (Code Geass and Guilty Crown to name a few). They’re just twists for twist’s sake, and there’s simply not much value in that. It’s certainly interesting, but only to see how over-the-top and illogical it wants to get attention.

    Anyway, that’s just me. Just saying there’s truth in these critiques you’re discrediting.

    Captain Sunshine
    Reply

    2. I don’t know about Guilty Crown, since that was even worse to watch, but I will say Code Geass did pull off much better content than Valvrave in certain places.

      Camario
      Reply

  29. In the last episode was answer my question “valvrave changes color / armor or are different units?” : The valvraves are different and independent units.

    In this episode answered another question “Haruto will pilot all units or there will be more pilots?” : Other cast members will valvraves pilots.

    The series gets better and leaves me wanting more of L-elf. The mystery behind the Valvraves is getting more intense. What macabre experiment conducted in that school?. I’m dying for the next episode lol XD.

    I liked your post Seishun-kun, good job XD

    Shadow74
    Reply

    1. Thanks for your kind words, Shadow74! *blushes*
      Yes, I agree, L-elf has been pretty low-key in the last few episodes, hopefully he gets to become one of the Valvrave pilots and certainly, the show could use more “Eru Erufu” 😉

      Seishun
      Reply

  30. Saki a badass?
    More like retardass.
    Well Imma girl so maybe I look different at her (I love Shouko though, thehehe), but honestly…
    No matter what, her idol-wanne-be-things were kinda retarded.

    Ari
    Reply

  32. Shouko just doesn’t that certain something that Saki does. Saki just feel like a more interesting person to me. Maybe it’s the fact that she keeps combing her blue hair. I would love to see Haruto going for Saki. The slightly reprehensible things she did like tricking blond girl didn’t affect my opinion on her. I like her even more now as she’s a good pilot. I’ll probably like Shouko more if they become friends.

    Rockmanshii
    Reply

  34. REALLY liking ValveGreen’s design, which I hope will be the same feel I have with the rest. The attacks however just seem kinda over-complicated and is that a skirt made of legs? However, not liking the pilot. Saki’s just…a brat. I realize this is unpopular opinion, but her “I like having attention” schtick isn’t exactly winning my sympathies. Hoping she grows as a character FAST.

    Also glad the Dorrsia pilots finally get something to do. Hoping that whole thing with L-Elf is taken care of next week.

    And has anyone else noticed they lifted those guys’ personalities directly from Gundam Seed?

    Glasses-Sting
    Red Hair-Auel
    Blond-Dearka
    White-Yzak (if the eye-covering weren’t any indication.

    Da5id
    Reply

    1. I wasn’t even half as annoyed by Saki as you and others were, to be honest, but I will point out that she did seem to quietly acknowledge Shoko’s help as a good thing in the end. I don’t think she’ll change her own desires, but I believe she might become more friendly towards Shoko (and Haruto, but it’s not like she hates him and Saki did want to help during the battle, when she was already cowering, which the complaints seems to dismiss).

      Camario
      Reply

  36. Granted, people do change when they grow up in bad environments, but you should never let that be an excuse to accept their aweful behavior. Its irritating to see people just say Saki can do this kind of stuff because of the environment she was raised…uh NO! You can’t just use your past as an excuse. Plus, where the hell is everyone getting all of this stuff from about her past? The only thing we know of is that she was bullied as a child (through small reference) was abused by someone (we don’t even know who that guy was) and was most likely outcasted during her idol tryouts due to apparent young age and lack of female body development compared to the other girls and she quickly lost fame, that’s it. In the end Im’ routing for Shouko just because its sad that the only way Shouko could snap Saki back into the fight was basically feeding her ego into thinking she’s the center of the universe, the worse thing is…Saki actually fell for it and went with it! Sure, Saki is flawed but you can’t just admire every single flaw, there’s times when you have to say “Well Saki, you have a flaw that I don’t like”

    SDFSDG
    Reply

    1. Do you know what I dislike about Shouko? That, other than her blind idealism, she has no flaws. That makes her an EXTREMELY boring character to me. Even her accomplishments don’t mean much to me because she didn’t need to change and fight to become a character able to do that.
      On other hand I like Saki exactly because of her flaws. It is interesting to see why she is so screwed, how she will screw others, how she will screw herself and, most importantly, how she will grow from it and how different will she become in the end of her life or series.

      And you say I should dislike Saki for stuff that makes her, and thus the series, more interesting to me? Sorry, but that makes no sense to me.

      Nayrael
      Reply

      1. I’d actually say dislike Shouko for these reason and Saki for what reasons are given in other posts. Sucks when neither romantic lead nor the hero are that appealing as characters OR people.

        Da5id
        Reply

      2. as for Shouko character, I think there is more to her then cheerfulness and laughter and all. The way she holds her skirt everytime she is stressed shows to me that it is very likely that she keeps all her true feelings to herself and acts cheerful to lighten the mood. I think she feels responsible for others and constantly worries about them. In fact I think she is the most serious character of the series.

        Saki on the other hand thinks only about herself and that is kinda retarted, as I said perviously. She pilot Valvrave so she can be famous, she want to stole Haruto from Shouko so she can be famous, see my point?

        Well that is only my opinion, but it’s just what I feel about Shouko and Saki.

        Ari
        Reply

  37. So now we have a crazy ex-idol piloting a mecha and her resolve is powered by Space Twitter. Description like that is why I love Valvrave. Seriously, try using that sentence when talking to your friend and they’ll likely look at you confused.

    This episode changed my impression of Saki greatly. But for the better. She’s now a crazy attention whore of the fun kind. She’s not afraid to strut her herself around and its awesome. No ridiculous angst, giving her robot nicknames (I love it when character do that), and just being FABULOUS with a robot cape. She even has James Bond levels of smooth-talking, expanding Haruto’s harem purely for kicks. Still when it comes to battle she choked a litle but thankfully was able to step up when Haruto needed her.

    P.S. Has anyone pointed out that Shoko’s nickname for her Valvrave, “Carmilla” is basically the archetype for all Lesbian Vampires? No? Just saying…..

    fragb85
    Reply

  38. Overall, ep 6 was more of the flying circus, so I’m sensing major suffering next episode! Funny how I’m looking forward to all the action and drama at the moment, but when they finally come I should miss the goofy school antics…

    I could relate to Saki more after this episode as well. I know that many will begin to hate her from now on, but for me it was the opposite. I started to feel for her, she is so SO immature that confrontation with the harsh reality of war and politics will hit her hard and leave her in tears. Her motives are really childish and she cares little for the feelings of people close to her. She seriously thinks being a pilot of VVV is some sort of a vampire fantasy fulfillment, naming her unit Carmilla nad such… Living the dream, heh. A realistic portrayal of an teenage girl with issues I think :3

    Other than that…
    – A3 turned totally yandere at the end! A massive School Days flashback! (especially because I got one seeing Haruto’s body in ep 1 post-credits)

    – Takahi took Saki-in-Haruto’s-body words literally and dressed as a cheerleader to cheer him on DURING A BATTLE! XD Seriously, those kids are so sheltered, they have no sense of danger and fear! Are they really high school students? They probably never watched any war film. Some of their classmates died during the invasion in ep 1 and they still cannot grasp that their lives might be in danger?

    – X1’s worship of Cain-sama is beyond healthy and I wonder where it may be coming from? It’s amusing to watch, but won’t he get eventually backstabbed? Or hopefully not…

    – Saki’s facebook-powered mecha! Isn’t she getting an information overload?

    – Nerd and Thunder really grew on me throughout the series, which I did not expect as when they first appeared I found them annoying and nothing-new-here. Now I’m hoping they will get even more screen time, haha!

    SherrisLok
    Reply

    1. @ SherrisLok: A-drei’s intention remains an enigma, but I don’t think he intends to cause L-elf any real harm, especially if he can figure out what really happened. Though I gotta admit, a full-on yandere A-drei – one that is voiced by FukuJun, would be such a blast to watch XD

      Seishun
      Reply

      1. My feeling is that he intends to, but once he faces him he won’t be able to.
        I can’t wait for more Jun Fukuyama screaming!
        ERUERUFU! Kimi wo!…watashi wa!… ERUHFUHAUHAUHUA!!! 8D

        SherrisLok
        Reply

  40. An amazing review as always, Seishun.

    I posted my 2 cents on the Saki situation on page 17 of the Valvrave forum on TV Tropes (under the name, Shinn Bidan), so if you want to see it, it’s there.

    It seems that Haruto’s situation of “awesome to awkward then back to awesome only more so” passed on to Saki’s piloting as well. Thanks to good ol’ Shoko, Saki was able to give us the comeback promised in the episode title. Heck, she even did something Haruto hasn’t done yet: she actually DESTROYED an Ideal! And she did it without an actual crazy power-up!

    Anyways, now I’m even more hyped to find out who the other Valvrave pilots will be! Since I’m an impatient guy, I’m already hoping they reveal Three and Five’s pilots by the next episode, no matter how unlikely I know it is.

    P.S. Looks like Saki and Shoko are going to interact a bit in…home economics (which the official website says is Saki’s ), I think? And what is L-Elf doing there?

    P.S.S. I was completely unaware of the story of “Carmilla” before this episode came out. I wonder if Saki realizes the implications of this (and how some people are thinking/hoping that it is fitting).

    P.S.S.S. From what I heard, Q-Vier (whose performance by Yuuki Kaji, one of my Top 5, really 6, Male Seiyuu ever since HS DxD, I applaud) is going to do something terrible, but we’re being asked not to hate him. Doesn’t that make you curious?

    starqo
    Reply

    2. @starqo: Thanks for always saying such nice things about me work :3
      There should be sufficient time for the show to introduce the rest of the mecha pilots in the next few episodes – Bandai wants to sell as many model kits as they can before the second season, so it makes sense from a marketing standpoint 😉

      Seishun
      Reply

  41. Since Saki became a pilot, Im guessing the ones who will pilot the remaining Valvrave blue one Haruto’s guy friend, yellow one their friend with glasses & the violet one is Shoko (sorry forgot the names of the others.

    Though I want see what kind of role will their guy sensei do if he finds out what effect the Valrave has on the pilots! I hope they give insight how the Valrave was made…

    lune
    Reply

  42. “It’s not often you see a female pilot in a mecha series, not to mention one who is such a badass!”

    It pisses me off so much that we’re still talking about stuff like this, thanks to the stupidity of Sunrise.

    The solution to reinvigorating the Gundam series staring at them right in the face and they can’t see it: just make the protagonist a badass female pilot. Instant gamechanger for Gundam.

    Tre
    Reply

      1. There’s an ancient example that stands against this. Aina Sahalin from 08th MS Team. Not sure about how badass you want it, but I think there’s no way she’s insane at the very least.

        Owaranai
        Reply

      1. It’d actually be harder for me think of a female pilot in a Gundam series that wasn’t crazy or incompetent. Or that didn’t immediately turn into a wuss the moment she got a love interest.

        We need more Kallen Koizuki’s dammit!

        Da5id
        Reply

  45. VALVRAVE IS THE BEST EVER ANIME IN THIS SEASON
    HARUTO IS TRUE BADASS HE MORE BADASS THAN LELOUCH
    CODE GEASS JUST FODDER COMPARED WITH THIS SERIES
    HARUTO,SAKI,AND SHOKO IS THE BEST EVER CHARACTER IN THIS SHOW OH YEAH…THE BIG BOOBS SENSEI ALSO THE BEST ONE
    ERUFERU,A-DREI AND ALL DORSSIANS SHOULD GO DIE!!! THEY’RE JUST PEST DISTURBING THIS SHOW GREATNESS
    MECHA,SCI-FI AND POLITICS ONLY A COVER VALVRAVE ACTUALLY IS ALL ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL!!! AND ROMANCES AND CRAZY GIRL
    VALVRAVE IS THE BEST EVER ANIME FOR ALL TIME
    THE ANOTHER PILOT FOR REMAINING VALVRAVE SHOULD BE : BLONDE OJOU,SHOKO AND BIG BOOBS SENSEI TO COMPLETE HARUTO HAREM
    I RATING THIS SERIES WITH 10/10

    Son of greatest troll
    Reply

  46. that dumb irony LOL

    the next chapter will come out L-elf,I wonder if you are talking to the girls, need the socialize, remained in their revolution see

    Saki x L-elf, feels delicious, that girl is desiquilbrad

    Oz
    Reply

  47. An interesting and enjoyable episode, which brings the spotlight firmly onto Saki and finally debuting Valvrave 04.

    I was holding out hope that the other Valvraves would be form changes, just out of personal preference really, but I understand the vast storytelling possibilities present in having more people accept the curse of Valvrave and seeing them deal with it like Haruto. We get awesome new mecha either way, so not much to complain about in the end.

    Valvrave 04’s debut was pretty awesome, and it certainly left a strong impression on the Dorssian’s, especially since it’s the first Valvrave to destroy an Ideal. If I had any complaints about the fight, it’s that Valvrave 01 got curb-stomped and didn’t contribute much. I hope this isn’t the case for when the rest of the Valvrave’s debut.

    As for Saki… just like L-Elf, it seems I totally misjudged her character. She’s a lot more self-centered than I thought, and with a very manic obsession towards fame. So much for her being the “Only Sane Man” of the show. Of course, as evident in the episode, that’s not all to her character. She’s a broken soul whose had nothing but disappointment and betrayal thrust upon her in the world, leaving her with nothing to believe in but the adoration from others. She’s far from evil, and if this episode is any indication, she may very well be on the path to recovery. If not, then I can’t see her quest to have her name be carved into history ending well.

    I’d be lying if I said the revelations in this episode didn’t effect my opinion of Saki. Now I’m back to square one in regards to who I prefer between the two heroines. That’s not to say I don’t like Saki, far from it. Her idol flair and brutal honesty are quite attractive, not to mention I love a girl whose genre savvy and doesn’t take anything from anyone. It’s just I could do without her more negative aspects, though I can understand why she’s as messed up as she is and I’m sure she’ll grow as the series progresses.

    If this episode accomplished anything, it was throwing the romance of the series for a loop. I thought it was a little fast for Saki to develop genuine feelings for Haruto considering how little they’ve really interacted with each other compared to all of Haruto’s moments with Shoko. So her kissing him never really sat quite right with me, and lo and behold it turns out she really was just attracted to his powers and was annoyed by everything else. It certainly puts into question the status of the love triangle, or if they’ll even be a true one at all. Of course the series is far from over, so there’s a chance Haruto’s genuine “nice guy” qualities might start rubbing Saki the right way. Then again, Saki’s shown more genuine affection for members of the female cast than she ever has Haruto… is the true triangle one with Shoko at the center!? Her Valvrave is named “Carmilla” after all. Not that she has much chance of winning either of them.

    Can I say how much I’m liking Satomi, the student council president? The man’s a wimp, no doubt, but he’s an entertaining wimp and one with standards and loyalty. Not to mention common sense, which is few and far between for the characters on this show. With Saki being… well, Saki, I think it’s safe to call Satomi as the shows’ “only sane man.”

    The next episode’s title implies we may just start getting answers in regards to the mystery of the Valvrave. In this episode we have L-Elf theorize that the school was meant as a testing ground for people to pilot the Valvraves and so far that’s proven true. And then we have Cain referring to the Valvrave as an “entity.” But considering Valvrave 01 appears to be the only one of the Valvraves with a sentient OS, Haruto and his machine might just be the key to everything.

    Frontier
    Reply

    1. @Frontier: I’m glad you brought up Satomi. That guy is such a joke and I love him for that. He’s just hilarious and Namikawa Daisuke is doing a bang-up job job with the portrayal of his character – using his Waver & Kazehaya voice, no less! XD

      Seishun
      Reply

  49. The instant the insert song started, it was obvious it wasn’t going to end well for X-Eins. Glad he survived though. Can’t wait to see how the other Valvrave’s fight like, and how they deal with things other than missile spamming. I hope H-Neun pulls off something interesting when he appears in his IDEAL next episode.

    Also, anyone wanna bet on the color of Valvrave II (which hasn’t been shown yet: Red is number I, Yellow is number III, Green is number IV, Blue is number V and Purple is number VI)? I’d like it to be orange, but if its a bad guy unit, it’ll probably be black or white.

    Chirisazame
    Reply

    1. I’m hoping for orange as well! I don’t think black or white are likely since the unit number is II and either black or white would be associated more with the first or the last VVV. It would be just strange to have I – Red, II – Black/White, the rest – skittles…

      SherrisLok
      Reply

  50. Somewhat related:

    In Shizuoka Hobby Show 2013 (16-19), Bandai (Sunrise’s BFF) showed all 5 Valvrave model kits. Besides Valvrave I (released few weeks ago) and Valvrave III (next month’s release), there’s Valvrave IV, V and VI. Here’s a complete list of the model its:

    http://bit.ly/10MLatH

    In case you haven’t notice, Valvrave II is missing. Which means there are 6 Valvrave. I suspect that Valvrave II might be a final boss or L-Elf’s unit. What do you guys think?

    Terrorhunt
    Reply

    1. My two bits about Unit 2 is that it’s orange. Think about it:

      1 – Red
      2 – ???
      3 – Yellow
      4 – Green
      5 – Blue
      6 – Violet

      Since it is rainbow themed, orange is logically the answer.

      TheMoondoggie
      Reply

  51. “Her moment of weakness was eminently relatable for me and it was such flaws that made Saki seemed all the more human in this large cast.” The most ironic part about this statement is that we saw her moment of weakness after she lost her humanity 😛

    I would say that L-Elf, that tough guy the one with redish hair, Shouko, and probably either the geeky kid (although he seems more of an engineer type) or some other girl like that computer one, Marie Nobi, or the blonde girl will be potential other pilots.

    agr0n
    Reply

    2. i don’t think shouko will become a pilot because haruto has that ‘i’m no longer human complex’ and it doesn’t really work if they’re both not human. maybe she’ll be the last pilot. blegh idk

      happio
      Reply

  52. I was in the Saki ship until this episode.

    And now the on LI I approve to Haruto is L-Elf.

    Shouko is too naive and stupid (I liked Shouko from ep3, but she keeps doing stupid things). Saki is an egomaniac and selfish bitch. I’m disappointed with the female characters in this serie.

    Skllhrt00
    Reply

  53. Before i proceed i just have to say this.

    MOSES, NOOOOOOO!!!!

    ok now, valvrave officially went from weird to downright “turn your brain off” campy for me. But definitely loving it more 🙂

    And saki is now fast becoming my favorite female character (the ERU ERUFU is her male counterpart on my list). Love her manipulative bitch persona. She really adds an interesting touch to the story. Also like her valvrave’s abilities (call it carmilla now cause that’s her name :3 ). The dance-like maneuverability (as described in the ep) fits her idol status. And those extra thrusters actually look like a skirt when in standby mode.

    Oh, and i got to love how she handles those joysticks >:)

    Shouko is losing ground fast. But who knows, she might be getting her own unit soon.

    flamerounin
    Reply

  54. I knew Saki wasn’t normal. Problematic childhood, angry with the world.

    So this week we get to confirm multiple Valvraves, the second that made appearance is piloted by a hard-headed, pragmatic, attention-whoring, edgy, former idol.

    What’s more, naming her Valvrave Carmilla speaks volumes. Since one of the points of the gothic vampire novel Carmilla was the homosexual relationship between the vampiress Carmilla and Laura, many fans now starts to suspect Saki guilty of being a lesbian. And some of the events that transpire did strengthen that: playing around with the ojou, saying she isn’t really interested in Haruto except to increase her own fame, and that look she gave Shouko at the end.

    Now for the other news:

    >Moses says he recognize the teacher as the representative to New JIOR, if that was his own idea or it’s originally from ARUS leaders wasn’t mentioned

    >Moses died anyway when Dorssia sandwiched Module 77 for an attack to mask A-drei sneaking in

    >Haruto breaks the Bro Code because of Saki, gains reputation he never wanted, LOL.

    >Shouko still believes in Haruto, confirms and solidify her throne as “best girl”

    >Carmilla’s specs include what seem to be extra sets of legs, 2 chakrams. It very much reminds me of a Jorogumo(Google it). Edgy like it’s pilot LOL.

    >A-drei sneaks into Module 77

    >L-elf hints of a darker side of JIOR, said that the school may be part of “the plan”

    So now the best question is: who pilots the rest of the Valvraves? Next week, Haruto seems to go dungeon crawling under Module 77, if the title is any indication.

    8/10

    The Moondoggie
    Reply

    1. Not sure it’s best to word being gay as being guilty…

      And I’m hoping A-Drei’s appearance will remind everyone that L-Elf’s been there for god knows how long. That has been bugging me.

      Captain Sunshine
      Reply

      1. I just used the word “guilty of being” to replace is.

        Don’t think of it too much, I was an AB Journalism Major before dropping it to become a CS Major. That’s just how I write to intensify the point of her being suspected of being gay in that line.

        The Moondoggie
        Reply

      1. not likely. L elf said that ‘the school was a plan’ so I’m guessing only people who had attended this school are capable of piloting Valvrave, and therefore not even L elf will be able to pilot these things. I’m seriously hoping it’ll be Shouko.

        Ari
        Reply

  58. Setting aside Saki’s apparent unrepentant shredding of the Bro Code (Anger Fist!), is it safe to presume that all our Valvrave pilots are going to be royally messed up in one way or another?

    Never mind the relative ease with which Haruto seems to have grown accustomed to killing people, but Saki in particular strikes me as a gloriously ambidextrous contradiction wrapped in a riddle.

    Indeed, our dark-haired angel says that she hates the world, and not undeservedly so, yet she wants to be a superstar and acknowledged by the world more than anything else (You say potato, I say… run that by me again?)

    And yet it’s in their abundantly evident flaws and contradictions that I gleam a glimmer of hope that our motley crew is headed towards an abundance of character building despair; which, if L-Elf has his way, seems all but inevitable.

    RyanAshlight
    Reply

    1. As I replied to another post here, it is exactly people that dislike the world who want to stand out, beat the world that wanted to “kill them” and be accepted by the world as better than rest of the world (world being human society) while people who like the world tend to want to fit in and not stand out.

      She is not doing this for the greater good of the world.
      She is doing it for the greater good of herself.

      Nayrael
      Reply

      2. A few arguable points here and there, but I’m inclined to agree with you for the most part.

        In retrospect though, Saki’s still got her priorities backwards. She’s so focused on the world that she’s not really thinking about herself, which you can tell by how easily she jumped into a Valvrave and nearly got herself killed.

        Actually, she’s not all that different from Haruto in that respect. Both seemed to be at quite a lacking with regards to how much they value their lives.

        RyanAshlight
        Reply

  59. Jump for joy I did when I saw Saki in the pilot seat.

    Love the Saki-centric episode, where she trolls Haruto by being…Haruto, literally. Say what you want about her. Love her or hate her, there’s no denying that this girl is complex and makes the show much more entertaining with her presence as well as her character.

    About her past, it is apparent that she has suffered greatly, and those emotional scars certainly run deep along her character and formed who she is today. Does it justify her being apparently self-centered? No. Is it reasonable? Yes. I quite like the complexity of her character, in that she wants to be the center of attention and has an unexpected sense of adventure and childlike glee when handling a giant robot, then soaring through the air, yet shows the normalcy of being a normal person in that she freezes in life-and-death situations. If you ask me, Haruto is probably more abnormal in that sense.

    The one ridiculous scene that got me laughing was when Shouko started yelling and cheering in that room. It looked stupid, but it does compound the fact that it’s simply a representation of how people are showing support for Saki through more visible means (Space Twitter, Spacebook or Space whatever). In a sense, I like what she symbolises – the naivete, the absurdity and positivity-laden part of youth.

    It’s interesting because she seems quite the opposite to Saki, with her cynical outlook and reactions about silly things happening. Got me wondering if those two will be friends despite their differences, or friendly rivals in love somewhere along the line.

    There’s a lot of stuff going on in the backstage that hasn’t been told to us viewers, especially with the untold knowledge for L-elf and Cain. Very interesting.

    Besides, love it or hate it, people just can’t help giving attention to Valvrave. In that sense, perhaps it has accomplish some of what the show set out to do.

    Owaranai
    Reply

    1. @Owaranai: I like that Saki is a character who is deeply flawed too. The characterizations of Saki and Shouko are indeed, quite stark – which probably mean they’re the perfect BFF for each other 😉

      Seishun
      Reply

  60. What an episode! So the Green Valvrave gets to go next! Makes you wonder who the other pilots will be..

    I didn’t quite like Saki at the start since I found that to be extremely bitchy but I’ll just attribute it to her being overly excited over her new powers. Was great to see that she struggled in her first fight (Although she whooped their asses after getting support. Star Power!)

    Haha I’m a Haruto x Shouko shipper right from the start so I think it’s great that Saki doesn’t really care about Haruto now (Although I’m sure there’s a high chance of that changing later on)

    To end off, great to see that 2 Valvraves were enough to force a retreat although they weren’t expecting it. Can’t wait for the next episode!

    WildKaiser
    Reply

  61. It’s a good thing I didn’t immediately jump on board the Saki ship after the last episode like I was nearly tempted to do. I almost got fooled by her facade, though I should’ve known better when there were flags raised in previous episodes. This is why I prefer the introverted ones like Akira to begin with. Now there’s a reliable ship that won’t capsize on you. I hope her and Haruto meet face-to-face soon so he can finally add her to his growing harem.

    And I’ve never really understood why people tend to go for the characters that carry a lot of baggage, like Saki. They’re always a psychology mess and one step away from the crazy house (if not there already), which is never a pleasant thing to witness. There’s enough of those people in the real world already. I prefer not to be reminded of this fact in my anime. Hopefully, she gets rehabilitated soon, or there’s going to be nothing but trouble for Haruto, and he’s got enough on his plate already what with being a body-snatching vampire who’s currently fighting the space Nazis.

    vanfokerdumplestein
    Reply

  63. If we follow the opening scene and some hidden code.. (I LOVE YOU SHOKO, HARUTO)
    VVV1 Haruto Tokishima
    VVV4 Saki Rukino
    VVV3 Raizo Yamada
    VVV5 Kyuma Inuzuka
    VVV6 Akira Renbokoji

    pedobearmatt
    Reply

    1. @pedobearmatt: Akira as a mecha pilot? That would be so much fun XD
      I think there’s a good chance Shouko, L-elf and maybe A-drei will get to pilot a Valvrave too :3

      Seishun
      Reply

      1. There had been speculah and supposed leaked plot about that and that is why Raizo, Kyuma and Akira are the top 3 names in piloting the last three mechs.

        Such as the order they appear in the OP and such.

        TheMoondoggie
        Reply

      2. Here is always been my guess and I’m sticking with it. The first 5 people you see when they show the scrolling of them at the ED. So It’s

        Haruto Tokishima – Red Valvrave
        Kyuma Inuzuka -Yellow Valvrave
        L-Elf – Blue Valvrave and because it has a bow so Elves and bows? come on man perfect choice.
        Shouko – Purple Valvrave
        Saki – Green Valvrave

        SilentCid
        Reply

      3. @SilentCid
        >Shouko
        >Purple Valvrave
        >Purple has sup4h hax0r sk1llz…

        Won’t that be weird to let the genki-baka handle such a bot? If it were me, I’d let the resident hacker have it instead.

        BTW the descriptions of each bot is at the official Valvrave site.

        TheMoondoggie
        Reply

  64. Anyone else irritated by the fact one Valvrave vampire can take over another vampire? It shouldn’t be allowed. I mean, it’s not like vampires suck other vampires blood right?

    Super Shounen
    Reply

    1. > I mean, it’s not like vampires suck other vampires blood right?

      I don’t know if that is true with the old stories, but there ARE instances in modern telling about vampires drinking other vampires’ blood.

      And this is just body switching anyway. Are you just irritated or is there a reason for it.

      The Moondoggie
      Reply

  65. I don’t know how to feel about Saki. Although she has a sad past that has made her into a strong, it seems it might have made her into a whacky person who craves for attention and validity from strangers (or a celebrity/famous/superstar/idol, whatever you want to call her). Which makes sense, given that she was bullied and abused? She wants people to recognize and accept her existence, right?

    It was a curve ball to me when she fessed up about not exactly wanting to date Haruto because she likes him, but rather that she just wants to be known as a result of being his girlfriend. Or does she actually like him? Who knows, but I’m pretty sure she stole his unforgettable first kiss, who also wasn’t his dear Shouko.

    I thought that the Valvraves would have different powers, but it seems to be that the other Valvraves will just turn the pilots into vampire body-swappers. Hopefully not since it would be an interesting aspect to have different powers. At least the structures and attacks are different.

    Whoa at Saki’s finger action on Carmilla. Suddenly got that pro status after getting the encouragement and attention from her fellow students.

    Strange series.

    Jel
    Reply

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