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「暁の帝国篇I」 (Akatsuki no Teikoku Hen I)
“Akatsuki’s Kingdom I”
The penultimate episode is here and we’re offered a literal peek into the series’ future. With what seems to be Himeragi x Akatsuki’s daughter warping in Terminator style—armed with a golden spear no less—I gotta say, that future looks pretty darn awesome, and it’ll be a darn pity if we never get a second season for this series. Because if there’s one thing that’s been obvious throughout the series’ run, it’s the fact there’s a whole lot here to work with. It seems like we’ve barely scratched the surface in regards to the Strike the Blood universe, and that’s only considering the present day. Add in time-travel elements and bits from the future, and well, let’s just say that’s a whole other universe to explore on top of it all.
Indeed, the thing here is that while I’d like to stay in the present and talk about what happened in this episode alone, it’s quite clear that this week was all about looking forward to the future. There’s an obvious set up here for what could be a potential second season, and it’s something that I quite like—even if it’s not written in stone that there will be one. There’s a thing to be said about properly leaving things at a satisfactory point and it’s something that’s generally a hit/miss when it comes to shows that still have source material to adapt. Thankfully, it looks like Strike the Blood will be more of a hit than anything, as it looks like the last episode will revolve around Himeragi’s recall to the Lion King Organization and what looks like an attempt by her friends to stand in the way of that. All of this looks like a great formula for giving us something more concrete on the Himeragi x Akatsuki relationship they’ve been building up slowly all this time, and here’s looking forward to something more definite to end this first season with.
That said, it’s interesting to note they’ve already started that process with the reveal of someone that’s obviously their kid, but it still doesn’t change the fact it’s always better to see how the whole thing developed instead of just the results. Even if she’s someone that possesses both Himeragi’s skills and Akatsuki’s immorta—okay I admit it. I want to see more of her just as much as I want to see the relationship develop, but that’s just because she kicks so much ass. Seriously, what’s up with these kids being so awesome these days? Mana from Kara no Kyoukai already fulfilled my quota of bad-ass descendants to grace the screen lately.
But yeah, there’s not much else to say here except that this episode also had a lot of the “usual.” By now you guys know exactly what I mean though, so I’ll let the full-lengths tell the rest of the story. Just remember though, Vatler’s quite intrigued, and great things happen when he’s intrigued. Let’s just hope we’ll be able to see some of what that entails past next week’s “final” episode.
Full-length images: 08, 09, 20, 24, 30, 36.
Author’s Note: Apparently they held a Strike the Blood gallery a few weeks ago. Amiami covered it on their blog, so here’s a link to their entry if you’re interested. Let’s just say I wish I could’ve been there.
Preview
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ohh yesh i was hoping this “arc” would get animated but wasnt sure since it was just a “one shot” .. still is awesome! haha.
PS: ok lol i actually started humming the Terminator theme back then … hehe
looking forwards to next week! (sadly it is gonna be the last episode x.x)
They sure picked a unique way to confirm Kojou x Yukina lol
Their daughter is awesome though xD
I like this ship but it isnt Yukina that ended up with Kojou I was rooting for La Folia xD
Anyway they sure are picking an interesting arc to end it on. I’m hoping for a season 2 but it should be a fantastic end to the series next week 🙂
Doesn’t mean La Folia is out. He could have more kids with other women. Plenty of other familiar like abilities to spread around like how Himeragi’s kid has.
Kojou…. Blue eyes + light blue hair
La Folia…. Blue eyes + silver hair
Kanase Kanon…. Blue eyes + silver hair
Himeragi….. Yellow eyes + black hair
Kojou’s imouto…. Red eyes + black hair
New girl…. Black eyes + black hair + Himeragi’s/Kojou’s imouto’s face
Hmm…. Well than…. By all probability of Mendellian genetics, the new girl might either by Himeragi’s or the imouto’s daughter =P
there’s reason why she has red eyes
She called Nagisa “Aunt” though. Which is pretty much confirmation for the most part that she is, indeed, Akatsuki and Himeragi’s daughter.
(It probably is canon since it got animated, but I was thinking why was a story that basically confirmed the main couple relegated to a “one shot” status? Or are we dealing with an alternate future here? Does this count as canon or not? lol, just asking for the shippers’ sake here.)
New girl and Akatsuki both calling Natsuki-chan Natsuki-chan and getting bopped in quick succession made me crack up. XD
They change a little bit the side story but I really like how this has turne out. This will be the push the relationship of those two needs: Yukina has never thought about her future, she belives she can just be by Kojou´s side by only abserving him, now the status quou has shattered and she must make achoice for the first time, being honest with herself and stay with Kojou no matter what Simba says or just obey the Lion King, for the preview we can guess what she chose; Kojou treasures Yukina, no question about it but cannot express it properly and we get the huge misunderstanding. Put the scene where he saw a girl identical to Yukina aparently killed and he worries that Yukina might end up like that because of him.
At the end it´s comunication problem between the two but with a little of Sayaka (or wake up punch) and a push given by the new visitor as the preview suggets those two should be hnest with one another. To clarify this applies only to Yukina staying because she loves him but I don´t Kojou has realized what he feels for the little Sword Shaman, even less knows what Yukina truly feels in the romantic department.
I’m glad all the other ships were sunken. Now all that’s left is the action, as it should be.
Do people really think this sinks all other ships?
Pfff don’t be naive. Why do you think the arc is called Kojou’s Kingdom? Being that this is a harem anime you should know exactly what that means.
Personally i think it would be pretty stupid for them to just sink all the ships like that because that almost defeats the purpose of a harem in the first place. You can’t just say “oh btw these two had a kid together” and that’s it because doing that is basically like giving a swift kick to anyone interested in other pairings in the balls! AND YOU JUST DON’T DO THAT! IT’S WHAT THEY TEACH YOU IN HAREM 101!
Don’t go blindly say your conclusions just yet. You don’t know he may have another children with another woman in his harem.
Pfft, even if Kojou bangs another girl in the harem, they’ll still be nothing more than concubines, Himeragi is still confirmed to be the top cat, a.k.a. OTP QUEEN. I’m sorry, but Kojou just sunk your battleships!
This calls for DNA testing
Not sure what all the fuzz is all about. I thought there’s been a consensus by now that Yukina is the undisputed Empress of Kojou’s magnificent harem. 😉
Whoever said harem masters aren’t allowed to have a proper wife and still maintain his “fleet” of ships? Araragi Koyomi comes to mind. In my mind, these harem masters are more admirable as they always seem to be able to please the “Empress” while still keeping the other ships blissfully afloat, content that he’s bothered to pay them any attention.
Asagi’s ship is still intact.
When she called Asagi Doc, I was reminded of Doc Brown. She might even have made a time device of sorts too XP
Maybe with the help of Libyan terrorists?
I dunno, but Gold is weaker then Silver when it comes to durability, or not? Not a wise decision this Gold one
Sekkarou can be destroyed in the other the familliar of a vampire continues to exist as long as its master lives, Hasda Aurum is inteligent weapon kind of familiar.
So we got the side story! Groovy.. :3
Also, you gotta admit that’s an interesting way of sinking a whole fleet of ships.
Silly children. You think just because he obviously will have sex with one girl from the harem that means he isn’t going to do anything with any of the other girls? What exactly do you think the term “harem” even means? 😛
So it’s confirmed later on that Akatsuki Kojou will taste blood from another place of the body other than the neck.
No he won’t. Given the vigorous lifestyle of Yukina, there won’t be any blood.
Weird place to have a taste-bud dude… Probably a vampire thing.
Welp, looks like Akatsuki x Himeragi is set in stone now.
But…that doesnt mean we cant still have an harem ending right!? :3
…I really wish I didn’t hear Nyaruko whenever I encounter a Kana Asumi role these days. It can make for a very jarring mental contrast with the actual personality of the character.
You and me both bro. I hear the voice and it immediately fires up alarms that I have heard this voice before. She has a very distinctive voice. x)
Hmm, it’s interesting how the anime has changed the story… in the original, the daughter returned to the future at the point when Natsuki touched her bascially, and the story then shift to the future and we get to see another future person (the identity of that person is a spoiler) so no battle, no vatler,no sayaka, and of course no confused yukina and broken spear. At this point I dont know where the anime is headed, but it seems that they want it to have a solid feeling of clousure… it’s for the good I guess, but I sure want a season two when they give others their proper closure too.
Side note, the golden spear fake Yukina wield is likely an intelligent weapon type of familiar similar to the ones wielded by the female villains in previous arcs. This type of familiar is most common with the third progenitor clan.
And lastly, thanks to the coverage as always!
Hmm? I thought she was sent back during the confrontation with Yukina, due to being hit by Sekkarou. Something about yelling “mother you’re an idiot” as she disappeared, because Yukina insisted on attacking rather than listening; unlike here, where Yukina let Kojou talk her down.
Oh yeah, you are right, lol… it’s been forever since I read the short story. Sorry about that haha
STB Blurays and LNs have currently been selling very well amongst the Japanese fandom. So there’s plenty of financial incentive for a season 2 to be made, in my opinion.
I hope so!!! I want a second season for this anime! ^_^
Volume 10-Bride of the Dark God sold almost 30 thousand copies in just two days and it will hit 50 thousands soo, yeah they have all the incentive in the world!. Go for it!.
I’m still waiting for SilverLink to do a second season of C3 Cube x Cursed x Curious
C3 was a lot of fun, I hope they do a second season for that one as weel but don´t loose hope on this one yet, it has popularity and sales on its side, we just need to cross fingers.
So Natsuki will be an eternal loli into the future…(○o○)
And baldness+fatness in Yaze’s future(ﾟДﾟ)…I mostly blame those power-enhancing drugs he takes…
yaze is heaven canceller in the future lol!
I really hope they do a second season for this series. Unfortunately it depends on the market…that’s why we have “Maken Ki Two”, an useless series, and lot of other good series without a sequel. So we need to hope that this series sell very well on bd/dvd too.
Both DVD-Bluray and the light novel are selling excelently well, we just need to keep our figers cross, Log Horizon already got a second season for next fall so maybe we get lucky as well.
So they put “dragon filler” in this just to stretch this arc to two episodes. In that case in last episode they will show Show Spoiler ▼
Sorry for that.
My reaction to this episode….
https://randomc.net/image/Strike%20the%20Blood/Strike%20the%20Blood%20-%2023%20-%20Large%2005.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuUwW4Wi0-o
I almost expected the newly arrived time traveller to demqand the clothes…
Daughter: Yaze-sempai, is that you? But… you’re thinner, and you’ve got more hair.
Yaze: O_O!!! WTF?! What’s that supposed to mean?!
LOL
And poor Nagisa gets called “obasan”. Even though her VA Hidaka Rina is 10 years younger than the Daughter’s VA Asumi Kana. Asumi is even married to boot. 😀
Legal Loli is still Legal Loli no matter what year it is? Hell yeah!
Notice how only the ladies (his mom and sister) in Kojou’s family ever call him “Kojou-kun”. So that’s another blatantly obvious clue there.
With a title like Akatsuki’s Kingdom and a supposedly time-traveled daughter who inherits the powers from both of her parents, it always looks to be a treat for us viewers.
If we’re really talking about children from the future here, there, everywhere, this looks to be pretty fun. The more immediate point of interest is how Himeragi’s dream seems to be coming true which will inevitably draw the two closer. While it has been obvious from the onset that they were going to be the main couple anyway, the fact that one of Himeragi’s sources of security has been utterly destroyed. Go be the beauty-saving hero, Akatsuki!
And Sayaka is still as awesome as ever. Makes me wonder if the writer’s wanted to make her a semi-gag character with ecchi elements in it.
Poor Kojou. Even his time travelling daughter from the future calls him Kojou-kun.
– a perverted vampire who gets the nosebleeds, just like her old man………….
– i’ve been all for the harem ship probably since la folia showed up, that’s when i realized this is one of the best group of ladies i think i’ve ever seen, but if i had to choose one it would definitely be sayaka (with la folia a close second). i get the feeling that sayaka’s future is gonna be inconclusive, we’re basically gonna have no idea what happens to her. which sucks because she was my favorite girl, no more priceless sayaka facial expressions………………
Psh. Sayaka x La Folia with Kojou as the “local wife” when they visit. Everyone wins.
In the novel, it’s implied that Show Spoiler ▼
So going by this summary of the short story (that’s what this is, right?) the anime isn’t exactly adapting it and is rather using just the beginning and grafting a different story onto it?
yeah, that seems to be the case… It’s an open secret that the editors and the anime production team all love Yukina as their own daughter (after all she was monopolizing the LN covers for 10 volumes straight, even the author complained once lol)… but I am still waiting for the anime to finish the “true” ending to this short story (ie the original) or give us a season 2 with the awesome DVD/LN sales figures
Does anyone know of any english language translations of the LN? Seems like there is an inactive one on Baka-Tsui, only Ch. 1 of Volume 1 was completed.
I thought someone is translating vol.7-8 right now on there… as far as the material goes, you are not missing the main plot, although some details (such as jokes and explanations and some inner thoughts) are lost to save time. So I really hope someone would translate this good series into English.
He´s still translating Strike the Blood but it´s in the bottom of the list, he´s currently busy with Legend of Regios and volume 6 of Black Bullet. Unless one the other translator pick the volumes is going to be a while; good thing I´m patient, with all the atention the series getting sooner or later one of the tranlator will pick it up once their schedule clears up a bit.
Show Spoiler ▼
This vampire girl got an awesome genetic inheritence from her parents:
1.-Vampiric powers form Kojou.
2.-The face of Yukina.
3.-The blues eyes of Kojou.
4.-The atlethic prowes of Yukina. (it might be her vampiric abilities)
5.-Yhe perverted nature of Kojou. (or should I say Momori)
6.-The inspiration to create Hasda Aurum from Yukina.
7.-The big bust mus come from grandma Mimori. XD