IS: Infinite Stratos (OVA Released on 07 Dec 2011)

I knew something wasn't right with Charles XD

Beach episode was great as well. I laughed a fair bit with this one.

God, Tamura Yukari as Tabane Shinonono= vocal ecstasy. Think my ears almost had a orgasm every time she said "Chi-Chan!" Chifuyu's expressions where priceless, lol. Although, seems like series season is coming to end, two more episodes left. Hoping for a nice finish.

- I doubt Houki will be a decisive factor in the Silverio Gospel mission, skill-wise... maybe in other aspects but fighting the unmanned IS, I doubt she'd be as effective as Ichika. I mean, she just got her IS. No practice, no lengthy study session with it (unlike the rest of the group who knows their IS like the back of their hands). As if she's sprout IS skills that quickly (Ichika had many mistakes in his first match as well, but given practice he was able to minimize them). It's a real-world problem, and it's no training ground for someone like Houki. Oh well, up to them, I guess.

- Chifuyu basically baited the girls to see who's ahead of them - but all giddily took the bait. Sometimes in this situation, I think the lead male's not the entire one to blame for being blockheaded in terms of the girls' advances - if none of the girls have the resolve to take him by force (e.g. face-to-face confession) and keep resorting to the typical girl-to-boy advances. Chifuyu's basically saying "I know my brother's a bit of a dull one, but he's a real man, you girls know it, and you won't find anyone like him in this type of society we're in - if none of you are willing to take him by force, none of you will" and virtually pointing to herself as the mark to beat.

at least they're showing Byakushiki's 2nd Shift, Byakushi Setsura(am i right here?) the somewhat "shining finger" Gauntlets weapon we saw at the 1st scene ep1 during the fight w/ the gospel...

Ichika got an Incest flag and like a dozen Death flags triggered in episode 9. So, Ichika, how is that yandere harem treating you? I liked the massage scene and it was nice seeing the red-head again.

Another Incest flag went up in episode 10. Poor Cecilia, not only can't she be fed by Ichika in peace, she can't wear her battle underwear without getting harassed for it. And Tabane turned out to be an amalgam of moe traits. What about her being missing again?

Seriously, why is IS not a straight-up parody series? We have a "Char" and a US-Israeli-developed IS.

- Yeah, Ichika plays the hero again. But it's bit of a quandary there, Ichika opting to shield the illegal fishing boat and breaking off the attack plan. Although I fully support what he did, it's interesting what could have been if he didn't see the boat in the first place, or moreso if the boat wasn't there in the first place.
- Usually it's kind of like that when you give newbies that much power that quickly - they tend to exercise their newfound power recklessly, and they immediately have this peculiar disdain for the less powered. Seeing off that battle, I thought so that they'd fail given Houki's inexperience.
- I see Chifuyu's pretty much torn-up inside - she wants to be with her brother, but she has a critical job and there's no room for abandoning the mission.
- Among the girls in battle, I'd like to have Laura in battle more than the others - in that stressful time, she had less worries than the other girls. Military experience sure is a hard one to get, but once you do, adapting to a battlefield mindset is all gravy.
- Ah, Chifuyu kind of expected the girls to take the initiative. Kind of suave, if you ask me.
- But remembering the first episode's "teaser", anybody can assume Ichika to get up somehow and kick ass.

Episode 12, is next.

Don't they have a so-called "Alaska Treaty", which states that IS will never be used for military combat and that existing IS technology must be equally distributed to all nations, to prevent any one nation from dominating the others?

So Japan, now, has:
- the only male IS pilot
- a prototype 4th-gen IS (Byakushiki), although a prototype but pretty much powerful
- a 4th-gen IS (Akatsubaki) personally made by Tabane, and has this "outrageous speed" and pumped-up specs

Talk about domination, especially noting that 4 representative candidates from other nations are gunning for Ichika's attention. Japan must be pretty stoked with this development.

So ends my little technical soliloquy.

I find Houki much more attractive with her hair down and with, as Rin put it, the "oh I'm so depressed" look.

That scene where Ichika tells Houki that she's neglecting the weak cause she got power made me laugh. It made absolutely no sense. I looked like they were in some parallel time space talking while they were naked. I know that this kind of thing happens in other anime, but it just felt really awkward in this particular scene.

And I still hate Cecilia for some reason. I don't even know why, but I just don't like her.