「手加減してやってもいいかな?」 (Tekagen Shite Yatte mo Ii ka na?)
“Mind If I Go Easy on You?”

Oh yes, without a doubt I’m happy having stuck with this. Although Mobseka won’t be winning any rewards for imaginative thinking or stupendous execution, the ability of this show to eke out fun from some of the most contradictory of concepts (hand-drawn mecha and otome say hi) is a great way to start off the week. And hey, it also now comes with a bit of sibling rivalry for spice!

While somewhat left up in the air the past couple of weeks, this episode effectively sealed the deal: Marie is Leon’s real-world sister. Yeah yeah, she technically could still be someone else’s little sister, but between foreshadowing and her very explicit mentioning of brotherly assistance I think the answer has now been firmly provided. It’s not like it’ll make a major difference anytime soon though; Leon is still wholly in the dark regarding Marie’s true origins, and Marie herself hasn’t yet put two and two together regarding Leon’s impressive skills and performance to date. I expect both will eventually come face to face and learn the truth, but that will almost definitely be a discovery for later. Have to keep the suspense going somehow.

As for Leon’s more immediate mission of competition crushing this week, I dare say the results speak for themselves. While no surprise clunky war mecha trumps frilly gilded twig machines, the, shall we say, nature of the victories definitely got a chuckle or three out of me. Between Luxion’s fantastic sense of deadpan humour, having Leon just tear apart each of the prince’s party in one form or another was a hilarious treat to watch unfold. Hell cannot even blame some of them for their actions to date; all are upper crust nobility, all are used to getting their way, so having someone show them up and humiliate them is worth a few flabbergasted outbursts. The only real surprise for me is that Leon didn’t crush them more thoroughly given he and Luxion were clearly holding back, but I suspect such egregious behaviour will soon be corrected.

After all, next up to bat is the prince himself, and you know full well Leon won’t let the opportunity go to waste.

15 Comments

    1. It’s not really breaking any ground and it’s a ridiculous kitchen sink of a setting, but it pulls it together well enough to be super fun and doesn’t take itself to seriously.

      Leon knows these guys are needed for the game to proceed(remember that it was so difficult he wanted to buy Luxion) he probably doesn’t want to damage them to badly. It’s pretty clear he’s trying to prevent the game plot from going to far off the rails from his question about Olivia.

      Knot
      1. The lack of seriousness is the big sell IMO, the setting is crazy enough that letting the cast run wild with no care for logic or reason helps massively in keeping things entertaining. Really goes to show how much you can get away with by not overthinking things.

  1. To me the most fascinating part is that Leon specifically targets the “five idiots” actual flaws that he found while using their characters in the mecha battles of the game. The idiots complain about his lack of “chivalry” but in an actual war situation that attitude will just get you killed.

    SadOldGuy
      1. Exactly, they’re the typical stuck up brats who’ve never dealt with adversity before. The moment they actually suffer a setback is the moment their complaints emerge and guys like Greg become snivelling messes. Pretty good (and deserved) comeuppance for them here.

  2. I like how there is a lot more “show, not tell’ to the story than what seems to be the case at the beginning of the story. Look at how much of the class bets against Leon, despite knowing that he is the first successful explorer in years and just might, MIGHT, know what he is doing. And the betting idiots blame HIM instead of their own poor judgement.

    SadOldGuy
    1. What kills me too is that Leon may not technically even have the skill needed to beat them fairly. The origins of his mech are left vague enough that it’s possible the mech and Luxion are actually doing everything for him. It’s a nice bit of mystery and will make any legitimate victory on the part of Leon all the more impressive.

  3. Leon won none of those matches; it was his better Armour!

    Surprisingly watchable Anime for me — now I’m curious how this
    will all turn out and if Marie is his sister, how’d she get into the world!
    To me, the story __should__ get better (or die a horrible death) after
    the prince is defeated. I like how I really can’t tell what will happen next.

    mac65
    1. That mystery is what has me curious seeing where this goes next. Much like Hamefura it really seems like the game’s plot will be wrapped up quickly, so how it expands from there will be interesting to see. Particularly considering Olivia hasn’t had much impact yet and she’s a central character.

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