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「恋する紅い剣」 (Koi Suru Akai Ken)
“The Loving Red Sword”
Either hairstyles and colors don’t stand out as much as they seem or some characters just don’t bother to take notice, as the secret “Kiraboshi” greeting often leaves me both amused and dumbfounded by the surprised reactions. Take Benio for example: “Oh, so you’re Ivrogne.” Me: “… (lol)” Granted, Keito is in a lower grade than Filament‘s leader and talks much politer when she doesn’t take on her other persona, but I figured Benio would have at least known who the other brigade leaders are. I wonder if there’s some unwritten code about not snooping around unless you plan to formally introduce yourself, much like Takumi did when he realized Marino is Manticore. Anyway, that served as a bit of amusement before things got more interesting with the use of resurrection of destroyed Cybodies for the very first time. After all the talk last time about the use of a Star Driver’s libido and the potentials risk involved, it was nice to see that explanation garner some attention through Benio’s backstory, when Manticore put the pressure on Filament for not having any more Star Drivers. There was also talk about her interest in strong guys like Sugata, plus how she, George, and Tetsuya came from families that had all lost their marks somehow. Altogether, those revelations provided some tangible reason for Benio to become the first guinea pig for the resurrection process and recovery her family mark to repair her Cybody. While not specifically stated, I assume that she would’ve wound up in a coma after plunging into the depths of her mind if she didn’t show the resolve that she did. That was the only thing I perceived as the risk in an otherwise quick recovery.
The subsequent battle between kendo champion Benio and duel-wielding Takuto was surprisingly brief, and came without “Innocent Blue” in the background to kick it off since Mizuno was noticeably absent all episode. Having grown accustomed to hearing a maiden song upon entering Zero Time, I have to say that the lack of one felt like there was something missing in that scene. What I didn’t mind was how their clash was decided with a single blow, since it gave off a kendo vibe and mirrored Benio’s earlier fight with Takuto like it was intended to. Driving that point home was the rematch at the very end, which came with the added bonus of Benio getting all bent out of shape from Takashi pairing her up with Takuto. As the Ginga Bishounen continues to strike the hearts of all the girls on the island, the one thing was somewhat concerning is how fast Benio’s Cybody was resurrected with the Orichalcum Formula and thrown back into the fray. Upon seeing that, I couldn’t help but feel that the writers had just provided a really easy means to keep the weekly battles going indefinitely, rather than changing things up a bit to keep the development fresh. The preview showing Manticore’s Ayingott resurrected seemed to suggest that reaching the third phase isn’t too far off now, which in combination with the quick recovery process, left me wondering if we’re going to be in store for rematches of a lot of the battles we’ve already seen at the new phase.
I’m not completely opposed to that happening to a certain degree, but I was hoping the series would change the format a little as we approach the latter half of it. I don’t know if there’s much that can be done given the closed off space where the battles take place (other than simply not including a battle in an episode), so all the mention of the Day of Departure when they can take the Cybodies out of Zero Time and off of Southern Cross Island is what’s piquing my interest the most recently. At the center of it all is Sugata, whom Head‘s been doing a pretty dandy job sending him subliminal messages about using his powers. The way he spoke about confirming if he can paint again felt like he was trying to entice Sugata into using Samekh’s powers. Since deeming fights at the second phase fruitless and sitting on that bench staring off into the sunset every episode, Head’s been looking more and more like he intends to make use of Sugata’s powers to deal with Takuto and take the rest of the Cybodies to the fifth phase too. Whether it’ll work is another matter, but Sugata didn’t seem to mind that the brigade can repair their Cybodies now. In fact, it was almost as if he was happy about having many opportunities in the future to test his powers.
Note: The STAR DRIVER broadcast is on break next week. Episode 14 airs on January 9th.
Preview
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NOOOOOO…. Where is my bus girl song? Where is monochrome? XD
I like the fight though… although it was brief, it is true skill this time rather than some flashy drill boxing tool or pure awesome shield bits 🙂
So it seems like next episode we will see some more plot advancement with as well as drama club?
err… where was this “skill” you were pertaining to during the fight?
Rather than being annoyed with the same format over and over I feel like I will miss it when it’s gone. Does anyone else agree or is the repetition too repetitive.
Suggestive screenshots like this is what makes it fresh each time. <3
so lonestar, i see your swartz is as big as mine!
Hahahaha, omg! That’s what I was thinking! Did you just watch that today too?! Weird! XD
Sugata: Takuto, be careful, My sword is longer than yours.
Takuto: Okz.
Yeah, you’d expect that Watanabe be noticeable seeing how 1. she is the owner of the Adult Bank and 2. she is the only female with long green hair.
your right, it felt like it was lacking something when they didnt play a song in the background.
its kinda weird now that I think about it, we usually see, sympathize and get more background around the villains of the story rather than really focus on the protagonists.
and it looks like sugata is also having his own harem.
Sorry if this was previously mentioned in previous posts, but what does phase 3 actually mean? I’m really confused whenever they talk about reaching phase 3, phase 5 etc.
Takuto’s way of piloting a Cybody is called the 3rd phase
Yeah, the reason why teh Kiraboshi can’t win is because they are trying to use normal Gundams to beat G-Gundams. And that black haired guy who took over Simone’s Cybody would have won if Sugata didn’t pull that super Tenshou Kouyokuken out of his ass.
Phases are different power levels of the Cybodies that can be realized by breaking the maidens’ seals on them. Aside from Tauburn, they’re all at the second phase right now since only Sakana’s seal has been broken all this time.
Wako and Mizuno are the other two maidens that we know of at the moment, but Kiraboshi’s been unable to lay their hands on Wako because of Takuto and Sugata, and don’t know that Mizuno’s a maiden (yet).
The ultimate goal of the brigade is to break all four maidens’ seals, taking them to the fifth and final phase, where Cybodies can be taken out of Zero Time and used in the real world. Each subdivisions has their own reasons for wanting to see that happen.
Thank you Divine for clearing it up. Now i can finally understand what they’re talking about all these time.
Great question. Thanks for clearing that up because I was a little fuzzy on the matter too. I’d give you a thumbs up rating if it were still there. lmao
Soo… what is the 4th phase then?
They can form a close bond with their Cybodies(Interpret that as you will).
They can go into seed mode jk.
I apologize as well but while we’re on the topic, what exactly happens when a Maiden is “broken”? If I knew this, I’d understand how important it is for Takuto and Sugata to protect Wako and Mizuno. D:
I was thinking virginity as that seems to be the most common to be used. It could also explain why Keito wanted to pair up Wako and Takuto a few episodes back.
It hasn’t really been explained in detail, but the maidens do possess some sort of power (much like Wako’s shown). They have the ability to release their magical seal over the Cybodies. It doesn’t involve taking their virginity or anything or the sort. They’re just the protectors of those seals.
Hmm. Yeah I figured right away that it wasn’t related to anything sensual. I guess this is something that’ll answer itself later on in the series. They still have a lot of episodes left so it may be to early to ask these questions. Show Spoiler ▼
Aww, no Mizuno, really? D’x I love her the most. Fish girl stanks compared to her.
Y’know. I thought this series was gonna be just 13 episodes. I checked on MAL and it was twice as much! What the heck are they gonna do with all that extra episode? Personally, I don’t get tired of the transformation as it dazzles me every time I see it still. ;P Not to mention there’s Mizuno who makes it all worthwhile with her awesome fashion sense. (Jumpsuit’s are sexy. Just sayin’..)
Oh Wako, you and your yaoi-fangirl fantasies. XD
I don’t mind the format when it’s actually relevant to the plot (like here) but in episodes where there’s some nice character interaction going on and the story is advancing, and THEN they throw in a battle just to have one, then it’s annoying. Gahhhhh
Oh and Head, how long are you planning on staying on vacation?
I dunno if you all have noticed, but only Ivrogne has been going around interacting with the other heads without her mask on. There’s probably something up with that.
And another one joins Takuto’s harem. It must be the hair colour. She’s the third redhead.
IT’S A CHALLENGE!
Interesting how Keito knows all about the shrine(where she Kiraboshi’d Benio)… and is there at odd hours of the day
Not following this series, so wanna ask….
…. What’s with the Pulp Fiction-esque hand gesture? Is that the “Kiraboshi” greeting everyone’s talking about.
Must be some sort of trend among animators. Saw it in Ika Musume and Kuragehime as well.
I think in Ika Musume and Kuragehime, they were making fun of Star Driver.
Haha, yeah, the “omg so YOU’RE the so and so pilot.” ….DUH! (Priceless)
The fight scenes are so lackluster I wonder why they don’t bother to at least try to convince us that there’s a slight possibility Takuto might lose. Even so, I like the show because of the character interactions, thus for some reason I won’t let the zero sequences detract from it.
Like Benio said, if she didn’t challenged Takuto IRL before the zero time battle, she’d won already
ironic as well, as she challenged him a THIRD time (the actual second time for everyone else…) and lost again
Since Divine didn’t mentioned it…
Show Spoiler ▼
big shoutout for Monochrome and of all things, “Drive star”, in Takuto’s room
I want to see teh SRX!
Dawn, the reason why Takuto always wins is because this is homage to the original Super Robot shows where the protagonist will always win no matter what.
YOUR GALAXY WILL SHINE!
SHOUT IT OUT! APPURI BOOOO ZUUUU!
it’s so annoying to see a series where one of the main weapon is a sword and they keep relating it to kendo. none of those freakin’ moves are from kendo nor nito. at least make them wear bogu when sparring. better stop calling it kendo if the only (and closest) thing that it represents is a shinai. /end rant
totally agree with the song missing before the fight. actually made me feel like this one is gonna be series defining or plot turning of some sort. it just added to my disappointment when she was defeated with a very lame move.
looking forward to the next episode tho. 😀
lol1 kinda reminds me of gundam wing fowhere for the longest time they vouldnt tell the gundams a part (well not b4 they were all killed anyway)