First Impressions / Infinite Stratos

「恋スル☆舌下錠」 (Koi suru ☆ Zekkajou)
“Heart Pain Killer”

Why…why am I blogging this instead of Stilts? Oh yeah, he’s busy getting drunk off of hundreds of varieties of beer. Let’s take over this operation then!

Where the first episode served as a transition back into the rhythm of the game, the second episode brings to us a new character, whose shipping power is starting off strong! Meet the Student Council President, the well-endowed and capable Sarashiki Tatenashi (Saito Chiwa) whose primary goal is to shape Ichika from the pathetic thick-headed and irrational fighter that he is into a respectable IS Pilot. Her credentials are as follows: though already visible as Student Council President, she also possibly falls into the category of osananajimi, along with Ling and Houki, which immediately gives her a comfortable advantage in the running. Her skills are superior in close-combat and coercion, as she has absolutely no trouble entering Ichika’s harem and deflecting her competitors’ assaults. It’ll be an intense battle as soon as we get to see Tatenashi man her IS, but for now we’ll have to settle for her swimsuit allure and accelerated flirting with our metal skull of a lead, much to the detriment of the other girls.

At the end of the day though, all the girls can agree on one thing: Ichika is attractive when he tries hard and doesn’t complain much. The amount of praise that he gets may be disproportional to how much he’s succeeding, but it is an admirable trait that maintains his likability. It may makes us cringe when he’s so loved despite being so inferior to everyone else, which isn’t helped when coupled with his near-impossible thick-headed nature. It is forgivable though if he slowly improves throughout the series, which would give meaning to Tatenashi’s character as well as Ichika’s legitimacy as a beloved harem ruler.

All in all, the show did a great job introducing another character casually into the mix, all with that same flavor and ridiculousness that we’ve come to expect from the series. Fanservice is through the roof when Tatenashi is around, but the show doesn’t forget to show the love from all the other characters too. Some occasional hiccups with the delivery of lines were a little off-putting, as well as some animation errors, but the scenes that mattered most were executed well. I was particularly pleased with Laura’s scene as she continued exploring her feminine side–she’s really changed as a character, and as such her screentime is much more rewarding. On the flipside, Houki and Ling didn’t receive much time on the forefront this episode, though I expect their costumes to be displayed with A+ quality next episode along with everyone else. If we don’t get to see everyone in amazing maid material, heads will roll other than Ichika’s.

Full-length images: 16, 25.

 

ED1.2 Sequence

ED: 「BEAUTIFUL SKY」

Preview

94 Comments

    1. Lucky bastard but one stupid bastard: “Sensei I´m late because I was talking with a beautiful girl I never met before”, he´s just asking to get killed! There is no way this guy is going to make it alive to graduation day!.

      haseo0408
      Reply

  4. She came, she saw and she conquered. Tatenashi quickly became top girl for me…errr only slightly above Charlotte. I think…probably…
    But hey, she wants to shape Ichika into a respectable IS pilot? Yes please.

    Catsrofl
    Reply

  6. Tatenashi is an ‘oneesan’, just like Chifuyu. You saw how quickly he responded when she got all AUTHORITATIVE with him. He responds well to the older, confident women. She’s just making use of Chifuyu’s built-in programming. ^^;

    Arakan7
    Reply

    1. Indeed. Chifuyu really brought him up as the wife in the relationship. She or Tatenashi is a good match for him. As for the others, I’m already shipping best girl Charlotte with Laura and the osananajimi duo can go commiserate the suckiness of being in the childhood friend zone together. Sadly, Cecilia remains the 5th wheel in all this.

      iyArashi
      Reply

      1. Ichika is both.

        The reason why Charl works well with him is because she allows him to be the ‘man’ in the relationship. She has more of a ‘guiding/nurturing’ aura to her rather than the ‘controlling/dictating’ aura of the other girls.

        The reason Tatenashi and Chifuyu are so far above the other girls is because they can switch between both at the drop of a hat, or rather, they use both. Chifuyu is ‘nurturing’ him by ‘controlling’ him to an extent while Tatenashi is ‘guiding’ him by ‘dictating’ his training. Of course Tatenashi is doing ‘other things’ outside that scope so take it with a few salt shakers please.

        Arakan7
        Reply

  8. At the end of the day though, all the girls can agree on one thing: Ichika is attractive when he tries hard and doesn’t complain much. The amount of praise that he gets may be disproportional to how much he’s succeeding, but it is an admirable trait that maintains his likability.

    I really wonder if his likability can over-scale his denseness.

    †Ɔɹoos†
    Reply

  9. I swear everytime they introduced a new girl, they almost immediately shoot to the top of my list. I’ve already read the LNs and knew this was coming, but to see it animated. Tatenashi… just… DAYUMN!

    Mutare
    Reply

  10. This show would be so much better if Ichika was replaced with an inanimate object. Just imagine the comedic possibilities, and frankly, that object would probably be less dense than what is the case currently.

    Nerve
    Reply

  12. Tatenashi is OP, both in the combat power and romantic power. Her casually deflecting attacks by Laura and Houki just shows why she is really probably the strongest amongst students.
    If I could get a contract on training ground repairs while Ichika is trying to master his gunnery armament, I’d be a rich man. No offense Ichika, but you’re acting like berserker while you need to become a sniper – in perfect control of both own body and IS.
    Meanwhile Laura gets some feminine traits development, and even gets a common sense proposal for festival, denying all the groupies ideas for “fun with Ichika”. Charles is smart enough to push the project further.
    Also, gotta love a little tribute to Onegai Teacher with sensei blushing about double-sided Pocky-eating…

    ewok40k
    Reply

  18. God I hate the Miss Perfect Student Council Pres types and this one might be one of the worst… just waltzing into the story and does everything absolutely perfect, pwning 3 main characters without even breaking a sweat and now the boss of the whole cast.

    Easily the worst character in the show, I am going to use the dreaded word here, but she might be a Mary Sue.

    Raso
    Reply

      1. I wouldn’t say she’s pretending – kind of hard to pretend when she’s actually pawning people left and right. However, I share the same sentiment in that she looks that way now only b/c of the level of competition. With these characters almost always there’s some “upper level boss” let alone “final boss” that comes around and shows that they are not nearly as omnipotent as they first appeared. Maybe that’s what you meant by “pretending”?

        daikama
        Reply

  19. Name the series Infinite Ecchi from now. 😛
    Jokes aside, its only me or there was really much more ecchi than usual?
    I mean when the girls prepared for the training, we got plenty of low angle and cleavage.

    dangreg
    Reply

  20. This episode was really decent. I loved the whole introduction of Tatenashi and how the other girls reacted to her and her antics with Ichika. Definitely a nice balanced episode.

    7threst
    Reply

  22. What I really want to know is how many girls will join the harem by the end of this season. We already have that mystery girl that attacked some IS pilots from the first episode. Still, it’s nice to see that Ichika isn’t just good at everything. I was thinking that he would adapt super quickly to Tatenashi’s training, but he didn’t which is good. Though, it still doesn’t help he’s such a blockhead sometimes. Well, hopefully next episode will have more Chifuyu-nee and Charlotte <3

    dytianquin
    Reply

  24. What this story didn’t needed was a Mary Sue that takes away the balance o Ichika’s harem. This girl is way too perfect, and one questions the flow of events of the first season, in the case that Tatenashi would’ve made herself present. One thing is to trash the idiot (attacking in aikido? Ichika, you twerp!), but to make Laura, Houki and the rest of the girls look like total amateurs? She’s more deus ex-machina than Jesus Yamato! And also bustier than Maya?! C’mon Man!
    Thankfully, the scene between Laura and Chifuyu and glorious stretching from Charlotte and Cecilia saved the day.

    SeedStriker
    Reply

    1. I kind of see Tatenashi as the harem’s “final boss”, no scratch that. Chifuyu is the “final boss” for the haremettes. Make that “lieutenant boss”. At any rate, I have no doubt they will “power-up” in fine fashion to meet the challenge. They needed to ramp up their skills anyway since we are talking about a guy who immune to kawaii situations of even this magnitude

      Besides, while Tatenashi certainly is alluring, provocative, sexy (*starts looking at screen caps*)… wait, what I was going to say? XD. Oh yeah, again, keep in mind the male lead here is Ichika. If nothing else, the other girls, for once, are probably grateful for his benchmark setting romantic denseness. Furthermore, while I wouldn’t bet against it in the future given the show’s harem theme, at least for now Tatenshi seems more like an onee-sama who loves to make her younger brother miserable by relentlessly teasing him rather than an official harem candidate.

      Lastly, IMO, while she’s certainly strong, she is the top IS pilot in the school so she should be able to defeat the other girls handily. I think this hax/Mary Sue only by comparison. In a Tatenshi vs. Chifuyu match, my money is on Chifuyu without question.

      daikama
      Reply

    2. exactly what we needed, some dumbass bashing on a strong, reliable character like Tatenashi. and then calling her a sue because he can’t wrap his tiny brain around the fact that she’s in a position of power for a reason.

      she’s not a sue but she’s definitely best girl.

      Kami
      Reply

  30. Wow, since when was Luara this cute?!?

    I admit that 2 years ago when the first season came out, Luara was my least favorite of them all. She just wasn’t the type of character that I’d like.

    2 years of watching multiple anime with Marina Inouelater, HOLY SHIT I LOVE HER NOW. Just her voice acting is pure win.

    Waffles
    Reply

    2. I was exactly the same when Laura first appeared – easily my least favorite, However, once she discovered/admitted her feelings for Ichika, her character transformed (figuratively) and became really cute/endearing IMO. She’s definitely a favorite of mine now (those neko pajamas!). Not sure if anyone else agrees, but my impression is that Season 2 so far is show casing her and her cute side a little more.

      daikama
      Reply

  32. I feel very bad about Ichika. Nobody understands him. He has a very difficult past. He is in the sights of all because he is only man capable of piloting an IS. He never thought to pilot an IS, he has no talent (except kendo, that matches his IS skills), and still works hard to not give anyone problems.

    I see that with all that following him is not easy to keep up with the demands, expectations and ideals of the girls. Possibly I see it because I know a part of my current person in him. I’m at a stage where I do not reach my expectations, and I am not in the mood to think about love and womens. But I’m positive and I hope to advance.

    Fight, Ichika \(^o^)/

    Shadow74
    Reply

      1. What experience?
        If we speak of girls, I agree that Ichika is dense and not looking among girls that kind of relationship, for now.

        If we speak of IS, he was not practicing with guns so far (a gun that takes away his shield equal to his sword). In addition, he has no military training as some of the girls in the Academy. If not for his skill in kendo, he would have no idea how to fight with his IS. The great truth is that Ichika has managed to move forward with the few skills he has. He entered the academy by his sister, to protect him from the world, not for being a talented pilot like girls.

        I think the problem about Ichika is that many viewers have many expectations on him as the star of action, when his true ability is to fight beside the girls. He is a guy who is just beginning to grow as a pilot, not a exceptionally gifted come from nowhere.

        Shadow74
        Reply

      2. @Shadow74:
        Kind of agree with Germanguy here. I wouldn’t say Ichika’s experience has been entirely useless, but what surprised me was the fact that he lost for the exact same reason he lost his first match – he ran out of shield power. That’s the biggest weakness in his style of combat and something he should have (IMO) by now done a better job of managing rather than “Huh? what happened?” Sorry, but that strikes me as, well, “dense” tactically. I don’t see much, if any, improvement there.

        As for using “guns” (laser or otherwise), he did get a personal, up-close ^^ lesson from Char/Charl (not sure which nick is right) IIRC last season shortly after they first met. Also, I didn’t get the impression that his new “gun” drained shield power like his special attack. Maybe I’m wrong here, but I though he ran out of shields because he started taking hits, and then (as before) used his special attack too long. Not sure if it’s possible, but I think learning how to instantly engage and dis-engage that attack would be helpful. Just wastes shield power having it on when he’s flying around trying to get into melee range.

        Where he has improved noticeably IMO, is in terms maneuverability. Initially, he was dodging shots rather than just letting them hit him/relying upon his shield like he used to do.

        IMO I think it’s pretty clear he is naturally gifted to some extent in terms of IS piloting. Disregarding the fact that he’s the only male able to do so, Maya-sensei remarked more than once about his impressive ability despite lack of training in Season 1. Furthermore, the fact he can hold his own against a national Kendo champ, quickly regaining his skills after a 3 year layoff, indicates to me he also has some above normal physical traits.

        Ichika’s not an “out of nowhere, hax level” character by any means (for which I am very grateful), but I don’t think he’s quite the “ordinary Joe” you seem to suggest either. Has he improved – IMO clearly yes. Could, or even should, he have improved more/in other areas? Given all the special attention/training he’s received, I think the answer is “yes” as well.

        daikama
        Reply

    2. At the same time, it’s nice to have someone like Tatenashi just being frank with him on his skills and abilities with an IS. She doesn’t try to pretend he’s all that to make him feel good. She also uses it as a way to motivate him to train hard while also actually training him while leaving the flirting/teasing for off the field whereas the other girls usually tend to end up a bit distracted when attempting to train him, and even then, the training comes off much more as just an excuse to be around him rather than actually training him to get better.

      HalfDemonInuyasha
      Reply

      2. You’re the heretic! Elders are to be respected, not lusted upon! Imouto characters are meant to be loved!

        Also Onee-sama is just a step away from Obaa-sama. Imouto’s are forever XD!

        TheMoondoggie
        Reply

    1. At least they maintained the unsettling standard of these girls actually attacking unarmed people with their IS weapons. It fits within the comedy of the series, but makes you wonder what would happen if someone got close to Ichika that wasn’t full of elite skill.

      FlareKnight
      Reply

  37. Why…why am I blogging this instead of Stilts? Oh yeah, he’s busy getting drunk off of hundreds of varieties of beer.

    hahaha I was thinking the exact same thing!! Regardless, you’re one of my favorites Zani, so we’re glad to have you! ^_^

    calytrix
    Reply

      1. Well, it’s not that we have not a “Maid Cafe” seen.. Remember Episode 1? They also use the “Maid Cafe” again…

        Really, as if they dont have any right ideas to introduce the “Enemy”, to push the Story

        Germanguy
        Reply

    1. To each his/her own, but “meh” is not the word I would use to describe Tatenashi (phrase “DO WANT!” comes to mind). TBH, I didn’t think of her a trope while watching, though I suppose she might be. Even so, not like one couldn’t make that claim for other IS characters.

      I think she adds something different to the harem mix. She doesn’t get shy and flustered around Ichika like most/all of the other girls tend to do now. Plus, in terms of training, Ichika did need a push to “level-up”. I wouldn’t want a new character every week, but I think she adds more to the show than (perhaps) takes away.

      daikama
      Reply

      1. No, “meh” is definitely is for her. She’s not unique as a character, though the type of character she is is uncommon in a harem. Also Ichika just responds to Tatenashi better because he’s into older women, like Touma of the To Aru Majutsu No Index fame.

        If you read the novels, you’d know how much “meh” she is as a character.

        TheMoondoggie
        Reply

      2. TheMoondoggie: If you read the novels, you’d know how much “meh” she is as a character.

        Appreciate the suggestion, but it’s a bit late. I have read the light novels (except volume 09 which just came out last month and has yet to be translated). Actually, part of the reason for my opinion is based upon doing so. Tatenashi plays more than just a minor role in things to come, and on point to my previous post – her interaction with Ichika, regardless of the reason, is different from the rest of the girls.

        I really don’t care why Ichika acts differently around her. It is the fact that he does so that I find refreshing rather than continue to only see the same type of interaction (cute though it may be) time and time again.

        I couldn’t care less about the whole imouto/onee-sama debate either. Just because a character is one or the other isn’t dispositive in and of itself as to whether I consider the character “good”, “bad” or “meh”. Her “onee-sama status” has nothing to do with why I like her.

        Frankly, I like all the harem girls to various degrees (reason I watch the show), but one can easily make the same “not unique” argument for all of them. Childhood friend? Like that isn’t common in anime – and we have not one, but two. Yet I still like Houki (particularly) and Rin despite their lack of “uniqueness”. I’m sure I’m not alone in that regard.

        If you don’t like the character fine – as I posted before to each his/her own, but don’t blindly suggest that I have no valid reason to form my own, different opinion.

        daikama
        Reply

      3. “If you don’t like the character fine – as I posted before to each his/her own, but don’t blindly suggest that I have no valid reason to form my own, different opinion.”

        Then don’t go commenting on mine like I don’t have a valid reason not to think she’s meh. She’s “meh” to me and I’m pretty much convinced of it.

        TheMoondoggie
        Reply

  43. I guess I’ll never understand Char’s popularity, never been to keen on him/her since the start.

    This new girl has piqued my interest though, but I’m just going with the flow with whatever route the author decides to take.

    FX102A
    Reply

  47. Took only 1 episode and I’m already liking the new girl alot. Chifuyu will always be my #1, but council prez is possibly taking 2nd for me.

    Bonus point for reminding me of the protagonist female from Ben-To, whose name i cant remember at the moment.

    YanDaMan
    Reply

  52. This.
    https://randomc.net/image/Infinite%20Stratos/Infinite%20Stratos%202%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2011.jpg
    https://randomc.net/image/Infinite%20Stratos/Infinite%20Stratos%202%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2012.jpg
    https://randomc.net/image/Infinite%20Stratos/Infinite%20Stratos%202%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2025.jpg
    https://randomc.net/image/Infinite%20Stratos/Infinite%20Stratos%202%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2026.jpg
    https://randomc.net/image/Infinite%20Stratos/Infinite%20Stratos%202%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2027.jpg

    You know, for kids!
    Reply

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