First Impressions / Gakusen Toshi Asterisk

「二人の休日②」 (Futari no Kyuujitsu ②)
“A Hdoliay For Two, Part 2”

Saya fans rejoice — we finally get a bone this week in the form of a fantastic episode.

Senpai and Kouhai

With a clear lack of Saya after her debut episode, I’ve been awfully curious how the show was going to handle her as a character. Seeing how she has a pretty good back story and a pretty epic weapon that has multiple forms, I thought it was pretty safe to assume that she’d be making an impact somewhere. However, with the Julis and Ayato taking up a majority of the spotlight and Kirin soaking up whatever else was left, I was really afraid Saya might end up with nothing at all. A fear that was completely and happily quelled by the end of this week’s episode.

Who would have thought that the deadpan and slightly socially awkward Saya would be the greatest senpai anyone could ask for? Not only is she able to acknowledge her faults, but when things get rough it was pure bliss to see her step up when the situation called for it. Because at a bare minimum, isn’t a senpai supposed to be someone who’ll fearlessly stand up for you when you might not have the confidence to do so? And in Saya’s case, she definitely went the extra mile by opening up to Kirin and helping her find some self-confidence in herself.

In any case, I thought this episode did a fantastic job at fleshing out her character and upgrading her from being simply deadpan comic relief to a well-rounded (tsurupettan, haha) character who has own responsibilities.

Not Too Serious, Not Too Goofy, But Just Right

After spending some time thinking about what made this episode so fun to watch, I came to the conclusion that this show tends to thrive when the story finds a nice middle ground between being too serious and too silly. From the silly faces to the lighthearted duel (even though it ended with one shot, it was pretty funny to see her slide across the pool), this episode was a prime example of how Asterisk finds it niche in the vast sea of High School Magic Battle animes.

Looking Ahead

With everyone accounted for (except Lester, I WON’T FORGET YOU LESTER) and the teams set in stone, it looks like the Festa is ready to start at any moment! While it remains to be seen just how tough the competition will be, I can’t wait to see what the other schools are hiding up their sleeves. In any case, I’ll catch you guys next week where we’ll hopefully get more Saya. See you!

14 Comments

      1. NO!!! Don’t make gas/chemical jokes of that nature!!! Otherwise, this thread will have more bad gas references worst than **********!!! (Censorship sucks, but being quoted on 4chan or Encyclopedia Dramatica is worst)

        GP1301
        Reply

  4. This episode was largely anime original.

    The end part where Yabuki and Claudia discuss the Festa placements is from Vol 3.

    Violet the skimpy loli comes from a spinoff novel about the Queenvale girls.

    zztop
    Reply

    1. A hearty slap on the back to A-1 Pictures is all I can say. I’m all for original material if it’s short, has substance and doesn’t become a drag on the series. This had all three.

      Ryan Ashfyre
      Reply

  6. Hmmm, there really seems to be a strong friendship theme for anime this week..
    Gakusen ————— Friendship between girls
    Utawarerumono ——— Friendship between guys
    Rakudai ————— Friendship between senpai + kouhai
    Digimon Adventure Tri– Friendship across time (anybody reviewing this one?)

    Techim
    Reply

  7. whats this with so many anime characters who cant swim?
    is it for hooking up swimsuit fanservice shots when someone trying to teach them?
    or even accidental pervert moments sometimes, depending on shows ecchi rating?

    ewok40k
    Reply

  8. //With a clear lack of Saya after her debut episode, I’ve been awfully curious how the show was going to handle her as a character.

    That’s because the anime cut some of her scenes. In the first arc, it was Saya who told Ayato & Claudia about Julis’ position.

    In the 2nd (Kirin) arc, there’s supposed to be a spar match between Ayato+Julis vs Lester+Saya that happened after Lester said his thanks to Ayato. It’s during that spar that Saya displayed her full power for the first time. The shot was powerful enough to make a big hole on the wall. Naturally, the other three scolded her for nearly killing them. But, her reply was ” If someone gets hit, that his own fault for not dodging”. Then, the Allekant girls entered through that hole. Yep, in the original material, Claudia had no intent of introducing them to the main casts. They simply got attracted by the hole that was created by Saya when Claudia was giving them a tour around Seidoukan campus ground. Lastly, when Julis rejected Saya’s intent to pair up with Ayato, she suggested her to team up with Lester just like before. But, naturally Lester declined the proposal saying that he’ll never team up with a dangerous kid who can’t even differentiate between friend or foe.

    It seems that this episode was made to make up for that.

    Ryuutobi
    Reply

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