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「観測者たちの宴篇IV」 (Kansoku Sha Tachi no Utage Hen IV)
“Fiesta for the Observers IV”
It’s the end of another arc and we all know what that means. True to its previous arcs, Strike the Blood gives us yet another spectacular finale, and it’s a testament to how well they’ve grasped the four episode/arc formula. You’d think by now they would’ve screwed up the pacing at some point, but aside from a few minor slips in that regard, it’s been pretty smooth sailing—not only in pacing, but also the execution of its story elements. As per the norm, the light-hearted “fan-service” moments are incorporated flawlessly within the more serious moments, and it’s all the more impressive when you consider how much we get of each this week. Oh yeah, did I mention that they even tied in Kojou’s nosebleed from last week as a key plot point? Just superb.
It’s just another good episode in a series that’s vastly exceeded expectations, and it leaves me without much qualms of which to speak of. Strike the Blood does its genre extremely well, and how can you complain when you have Sayaka stripping herself and making comments like:
“You can’t complain about this!?”
“You mean seeing my panties aren’t enough!?”
“Why are you doing something so cruel!?”
“What was the point is stripping me then!?”
Then you got Yuuma coming in and effectively saying it’s time to have a threesome, which culminates a whole sequence of “HNNGGGGGG” events. I wouldn’t be surprised if people had real life nosebleeds after this episode, and I didn’t even go into Himeragi effectively proposing to Kojou, or the chibi Natsuki we get one last glimpse of at the end either.
But yeah, all of this happens amid a boat load of plot developments too. Interestingly enough, it turns out that the plot isn’t so much about Tokoyogi Aya’s defeat as it is the revelations that came during the fight and after it. Because what this episode essentially hints at, it’s the fact that the world might be someone (or something’s) construct, and much of what people believe to be true may in fact be made up. Combine that with the notion that the Schneewaltzer may actually be “restoring things to their natural state” instead of “negating magic,” and it paints both Himeragi and the Lion King Organization in a drastically different light. Suddenly the organization may not be as good as we’ve thought it to be and Himeragi herself may not be merely the observer she thinks she is. One must also consider the fact that “Paper Noise” (and thus the Lion King Organization) intentionally let our shady ex-Lion King member in Itogami Meiga go, and I’d be willing to bet that it’s not a coincidence he shares a name with the island on which everything takes place.
It remains to be seen how everything ties together—there’s a load of possibilities considering how the aforementioned revelations could literally flip the world upside down—but the fact is that there’s a lot here than I ever anticipated, and I’m just hoping we get enough here to whet our appetites before the series ends. If there’s one thing I fear, it’s that they don’t end up having enough time to get to some of the bigger revelations this series has in store. It’d be a pity to say the least—especially if we don’t ever get a sequel—and I hope it doesn’t end up leaving us on some cliffhanger that we’ll never see the resolution of. Makes you wonder what the sales numbers are… but for now, I guess we’ll just have to be satisfied with some full lengths. I know some of you in particular have been waiting for these. One word of advice though: have some aspirin ready in case you get a heart attack… or something.
Full-length images: 01, 04, 05, 08, 09, 14, 15, 21, 25, 29, 36.
Preview
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Great pics.
https://randomc.net/image/Strike%20the%20Blood/Strike%20the%20Blood%20-%2019%20-%20Large%2039.jpg
Sempai, who’s the fourth girl…?
You mean the one between Sayaka and Asagi? It’s Asagi’s (best?) friend, and she had brief scenes from the past episodes.
that is Asagi’s friend, the class rep from their class (I forgot her name). She made an appearance back in arc 2. All that is known about her from the LN is that her family are non-human biologists, so she knows a lot about non-humans (it is not known whether she knows Kojo’s real identity or has any significant tie to the story other than supporting Asagi’s love for Kojo).
A future harem member obviously :3
Moar Sayaka fan-service please.
Yukina’s spear is Imagine Breaker?
“I will destroy that Illusion of yours!”
I’m sure that all the novel readers immediately picked up the similarity between them.
For the non-novel readers Show Spoiler ▼
Olivia-san is right with the explanation of Imagine Breaker but Sekarou works completely different: the spear is anchanted to create magical vibrations that nulify almost any magic but doesn´t work that well in the Progenitors, it´s speculated that a Progenitor could break the spear with bare hands without using his familliar; Aya was so deluded for her suffering and crazy dream that she made herself belive that Sekaro is somthing that coul help her with their plans, bottom line: that witch was crazy as hell.
well, it is certainly possible to break the spear, but I don’t know about the speculation that it doesn’t work well against the progenitors. Since the the progenitors have a curse of immortality placed on them (therefore they would never die), the spear can negate that curse, thus effectively kill a progenitor. The only reason Kojo survived so many stabs so far is because Yukina is not aiming for the heart lol
Could of had more with Sayaka but I guess there was this crisis to deal with…
I think the sales are good enough for another season. About 6,000+ copies sold for Vol.1 so far and 4-5K copies are usually enough for another season. We just need the author to release about 2-3 more volumes then we’ll have enough content for another 24 episodes~
that thought makes a very happy man, let´s pray for that to happen! I wnat more Kojou and Yukina!.
I really liked this big arc since it was the first time entire 2 volumes of LN was devoted to a single arc. Yuma is a great addition to the story since she did well to flesh out Kojo as well as giving us all those great fan service moments haha. The other main point is of course Itogami Meiga… Even in the LN, he only appeared twice up to this point, so this guy is a complete mystery figure to the whole story. The next alchemist arc was one of my favorite arcs as well (cause of Asagi of course!), so can’t wait for that.
As to the ending, I think it is most likely they will finish the alchemist arc for this season (because of the next two volumes are largely backstory arcs that focus on the events leading up to Kojo become the forth primogenitor) Hopefully there will be a season 2…
thanks for the coverage as always and all the full length 🙂 Sayaka is definitely racking up her erotic points this week haha
In last week’s ep, Vatler asked if Yukina knew WHAT the 4th Progenitor is. Is this connected to the backstory? Because this seems to imply there’s a greater purpose in store for Kojou.
Was Meiga manipulating Aya in the end? Paper Noise didnt seem too concerned about it, considering they are manipulating both Kojou and Yukina at once.
the existence of the 4th progenitor appears to serve some greater purpose that is only hinted at in the LN… though Kojo becomes the 4th progenitor, to me at least, is more of a twist of fate than anything else. (I will share more if they stop the anime at the alchemist arc)
As to Meiga, all I know about his power is that he can erase all special powers (not negate, but erase), given his plan is entirely a mystery, I am not sure how he fits in the story. Lion King org’s intention in manipulating Kojo and his harem mates is indeed connected to this backstory and this main plot line as far as I know. Meiga, based on my understanding of his power, is probably one of the most powerful person in the whole series.
Simba Company is earning my undying hatred really fast, no wonder Yukina resents them, they are crazy! Paper Noise let Meiga walk with an incredible dengereous and DEFECTIVE magical spear just because they won´t be harm!? Whatever Meiga is plannig I hope h burns those bastards to the ground first.
well, that spear is sure crazy… though I feel it is not defective but rather meant for Meiga only. Meiga’s ability and the spear works great together… As to why paper noise let him off, it’s certainly debatable whether that was a good move. But until we know what Meiga has in store for us, I can’t really judge one way or another. I have to say though, I give lion king org credit for one thing. That is to send such awesome girls to become Kojo harem mates. Yukina and Sayaka are both amazing girls for Kojo haha
I need to clean up the mess on my table….
So much blood….
Man that scene in the room…. I just wanted it to just go into a full blown H scene….
But really…. STB is one of the series that I look forward to every week.
You and I both brother, you and I both.
TVTropes trivia suggests that each Familiar is named after stars that form part of their respective Zodiac constellations:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph…StrikeTheBlood
Ex.Alrescha, the mermaid Familiar, is named after the star Alrescha(aka Alpha Piscium) which is part of the Pisces constellation aka the Fish.Which is quite fitting for a mermaid, I think.
Cinereus could be a corruption of Carcinus, the Latin name of the Cancer constellation, the Crab. And historically, various water creatures with exoskeletons like lobsters, have been used to depict Cancer,not just crabs. Which explains the lobster/crab Familiar.
Reposted link:http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/YMMV/StrikeTheBlood
I can’t figure out how they named the new familiar. All the previous ones are combinations of stars of the zodiac constellations they correspond to and color. I can’t find any stars that have that name in the cancer constellation.
So she wanted to create something of a dream world. Hmmm,I guess even Aya is Madara.
To me she´s more like Othinus, Index light novel readers will understand that reference.
That’s a huge insult to her. Othinus best girl.
Jokes aside, other than their objectives (remake the world), they aren’t that similar.
Aya believes that someone might have changed the world, or even if that’s not the case the world is screwed up and should be remade.
Othinus KNOWS that someone changed the world, and wants to return it to normal.
Today I thought to myself what I think of this show and I came to the conclusion that I don’t think its like super amazing but, I will definitely miss it when its gone and so far its never let me down and keeps me entertained week after week, but not that like in your face entertainment at face value, its more like that deep feeling…I don’t know if that made sense but whatever(basically this show is like that reliable car you have, may not be the best thing ever but you know it hasn’t let you down yet). My analogies aside, i’m really looking forward to these new plot elements and how they are gonna end it all and of course, my hope for a second season.
Holy s*** man, Sayaka and Yuuma at once…I just died. If La Folia and Yukina joined in…just…damn.
No Fairy’s Coffin, not enough content for S2.
Silly me, I had to watch an anime with ongoing source material.
But for now let’s fantasize!!!….S2 in 2016! :3
I’ve seen many people mentioning Fairy’s Coffin. What is it about?
@Vaan: Fairy’s Coffin is a chapter of STB Vol 7, a backstory volume illustrating the history between Kojou and Avrora, the previous 4th Progenitor.
The entire backstory covers vol 7-8, and someone’s in the middle of translating them at the moment on Bakatsuki.com.
If the Fairy Coffin content is too short, then an OVA would, probably, be in order.
OVA probably won’t happen… since the backstory arc consists of two volumes, and at parts going back and forth between the past timeline and the current timeline, it is really hard to just use an OVA to capture all of that… (given it pretty much involves all the regular cast plus new casts)… I would rather have a new season with enough material to do so
I just fucking realize when I was watching the 2nd ED, Himeragi installed various hidden cameras around Kojou. This is also the reason why she has great timing of fantastic c**kblocks.
Well, she’s his “observer” after all.
Well it´s more like a metaphor, she said she uses shikigamis in the form of butterfly because they more reliable.
the only thing that irks me about this show is when they do the this is my fight.. no senpai.. this is our fight…. every time they fight…..
Or that every enemy that took several episodes to build up is owned in like 30 seconds flat via Deus Ex new familiar? :p Honestly don’t worry about it, the fighting is only here to set up the situations for comedy.
Oh Sayaka, please be kind to my bladder every time you show up on screen.
Kojou x Sayaka x Yuuma 3P FTW. 😀
That said, how does a person become a vampire in this series anyway? All these girls remained human even after getting bitten by Kojou, sometimes more than once.
Who would’ve thought bathwater stained with nosebleed was all that’s needed for Natsuki to make her comeback?
Now Kojou has every right to call Natsuki ‘chan’!!! \(｡･ω･)/
STB bikini scans:
http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=5020370&postcount=1556
Beach Natsuki:
http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=5014682&postcount=1511
God bless you, especially for that Natsuki one :3
Ero Sayaka. Ero. Sayaka. OH GOD.
At the risk of making myself sound like a pervert, Sayaka is fast becoming a favorite female character for me this season, a even though I have this penchant for making non-mains my favorites. The zeal in her combat, the tsundere tendencies and the shy yet bold approach to Mr. Harem lead…simply awesome. 😀 That “threesome” scene really took the cake in ecchi levels – Playing a little bit of subtle then going full-on bold. Good stuff.
Strike the Blood has been stellar throughout, throwing in healthy mixes of cliffhangers, plot curveballs, shocks, ecchi material, high school romcom and good fantasy action altogether.
As you mentioned, it was a very nice touch to make use of stuff that seemed minor (especially a scene that was supposed to be part of ecchi material) to be used in the story itself. Makes one wonder if Natsuki might actually be a first-rate actor with her ‘kyun kyun’ earlier on and brilliantly execute her plan of surprising Aya.
Like other episodes, this one didn’t fail in throwing us a tidbit of information that potentially could develop further as a story. Unlike certain series this season, this gives a sense of continuity and gets us voracious viewers wanting more. Meiga would most certainly fit the criteria to be the next big villain to take centrestage and despite the cheery previews, I might not be too surprised if the writers pull another shock on us to take the story forward.
Awesome episode. And Ero Sayaka. Ero. Sayaka. I could die happy now…Unless there’s more. :p
Oh dear, LOL
http://2cat.or.tl/~tedc21thc/live/src/1393043859358.gif <— NSFW, be warned
It’s rare to see service blend so well. Sayaka is the best, with La Folia not far behind I’d say.
Zephyr
I knew you would make it for us.
I’m starting to feel bad for Asagi. Seems like every time she shows up it’s only for a tiny bit, and she’s so far behind just about everyone else – if anything, just because she *still* doesn’t know about Kojou being the 4th Progenitor. Sadface.
While I admittedly feel bad for Asagi not being in on everything, as things stand she’s really his only tie in to the ‘normal’ world. If/when Asagi finds out Kojou will be surrounded by people in on the secret–while I think things will still be awesome, we (as viewers) will lose that connection to ‘normal’. That’s not a bad thing, but it’d be sort of sad to see Kojou lose his grounding to the normal world–considering he just wants to live a normal, peaceful life. We know he’ll never get his dream, but considering what we already know about his family, Asagi finding out who he is will push him completely into the magic/demon world.
well, Asagi is not as “normal” as you would think… she is certainly linked to a major plot line that is still on going in the latest volumes/arc, so while I agree that she should receive more attention and love, I wouldn’t be quite sooo sad about it. Plus, Asagi doesn’t possess any real combat abilities, so it is hard for her to charge in like the rest of the Kojo harem can. Even with that, our “cyber empress” is still one of the best girls in the harem!!
Sayaka is the biggest perv of them all… those strings so she can strip easier!
So the Schneesturm Wolfin is “bringer of the natural order”? So maybe Aya was right, and it is OUR world, bereft of magic and supernaturals that is how things should be?
THOSE THREESOME BITES! DAT KISS! Also, DAT PROPOSAL!
I am safe to say, more blood loss occured amongst the fans than from Kojou biting his haremettes.
I read somewhere that the reason Sayaka wears silk ribbon panties is so that she could store her magic arrows under her skirt (tied in a belt around her right upper thigh) without having to worry about them getting tangled with the fabric of a normal underwear.
yep, in the LN Kojo asked why Sayaka wear the string underwear, and she said she had to because of the arrow belt on her legs. With the strings, she can remove the underwear without having to take off the arrow belt, which is her lifeline.
You know, I can’t get enough of the eyes. They look so full of life and just draw you in. The rest of the art is just as great, especially considering the length of the show so far. I really, really hope they don’t mess this up.
I think I may have died a little during this episode…
I mean everything was going perfectly fine, and then *BAM* I wake up with my head lying in a pool of blood on my desk. Might need to go see a doctor ’cause I don’t really think you’re supposed to lose that much blood through the nose.
Dem full-lengths though… You have done me a great deed once more. In the almighty words of Jean Havoc (english dub version though) “You’re a miracle
MustangZephyr, I’ll follow you for the rest of my life!”If Himeragi wasnt cute and pleasant to the eyes, I’d probably be just as annoyed with her as everyone else seems to be when she steals Kojou’s spotlight everytime he’s about to time, or always making the Observer excuse.
I can’t stand anymore series like this one. It was great at the first few chapters, but then all the cliché things I came to hate in all these years appear, so I said to myself “Enough.”
Have fun those who really take joy in it. Bye and excuse me for my little rant.
And here I was really hoping that Kujou will finally take a bite out of Natsuki-chan and making her a part of his harem. Does she ever get her blood sucked or joined his harem in the novels?