Quick Picks: Gaworare Special Ep 14, Date A Live S2 Special Ep 11, Infinite Stratos S2 Special OAD-World Purge

We had three un-aired episodes for these three titles. However due to time constrict, I am just going to give my thoughts and not a full summary of each episodes. Careful as there are some spoilers if you had not watch the episode!

 

 

Gaworare Special Ep 14: It is a Christmas episode and every girl tried their best to win Souta's heart with hilarious results. I liked that it focus more on the less known girls like Miyuki Sensei and Serika who finally realise that Souta is the one who encourage her when her career went down. There were several fan services moments especially the King's Game which Souta suspected it to be rigged.

 

 

Of course, the episode ended with Souta and Nanami having a moment together but the others barged in and the snow started falling in. Overall, a typical harem Christmas episode and after what has happened in the last few episodes, some light hearted moments was needed for Souta and his friends.

 

 

Date A Live S2 Ep 11: Shido was approached by Kurumi during the Tabate festival and she took him for a date and showed a different side to Shido. If you are a fan of Kurumi then this episode is for you as being the most flirtatious girl in the group who has a hidden agenda for Shido (Whether does she love him truly or she just want to consume him) Shido was taken aback that Kurumi did not show any evil intent and truly want to spend time with him for one day.

 

 

However the truth was revealed at the end that the Kurumi that Shido is dating was actually a different time period of her (with a more kinder soul) and the real Kurumi took her back. Even though Shido knew she is not a real person, her wish for Shido is true as she wrote something on a small note that got Shido all worked up. Otherwise, the whole episode is a Kurumi centered episode and nothing major occurred. From what I gathered, we are getting one more extra episode and it will focus on Tohka.

 

 

Infinite Stratos OAD-World Purge: An attack on the Academy led the girls to enter the IS core to find out the source through cyberspace (Matrix style) However the girls were caught in their own personal desires and getting on with a virtual Ichika. At the same time, the real Ichika rushed to save Sara after she was shot by terrorists and Chifuyu holding off another of the Phantom Task's elite.

 

 

 

Although everything went well in the end, Chifuyu confronted the mastermind, Chole who was seen with Tabane at the last episode and she warned her not to pull any stunts with Tabane. Furthermore, Chole claimed she has no right to see her "elder sister" Laura as she too has the same eyes like her.

 

For an OAD, it is pretty long at 45 minutes. We have actions, fan services and some cheeky moments. The actions is pretty good with Sara and Chifuyu kicking ass especially Chifuyu who rely only on a power suit to take down an IS suit. The girls on the other hand, were living their dreams of getting on with Ichika. I like the Cecilla and Char moments which are both pretty cute and sexy.

 

Ichika also went into the sever and actually discovered Chifuyu's original IS core-Kurezakura resting there. She is also the mysterious girl in white in Ichika's dream. But the biggest mystery is Chole is helping Tabane and her reasons is also connected to Kurezakura. Furthermore, Chole is also related to Laura since they have the same yellow eye. Overall, a great episode compared to the TV series and oh yes, we finally learn that Sara's name is just a title and her real name is...we leave to you to find out that one!    

 

Quick Picks: Date A Live S2 Ep 10 FINAL, Gaworare Ep 11, Love Live S2 Ep 11, Marvel Disk Wars Avengers Ep 12

 

 

Date A Live S2 Ep 10 FINAL: Tohka turned into a darker version of herself and has completed forgotten who she is. Now only desiring to fight, Ellen battle her while Shido tried to talk into her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Mana defeated Jessica after she went out of control while Origami was knocked out and was rescued by the Yamai sisters. Ellen and Issac retreated after she was no match against Tohka but swore to return again. Miku tried to defend herself from Tohka but it make her more angry and tried to kill her. However Shido shielded Miku which touched her. Her control over everyone was broken and everyone rushed to Shido's side.

 

 

However Tohka tried to kill Shido but Yoshino and the others arrived to save them. Kotori told Shido thru his comm that he need to win Tohka's heart which after a long struggle and a kiss to her, Tohka regained her senses and everything went back to normal.

 

 

 

 

Later Miku kissed Shido which sealed her powers. She decided to use her own voice to sing to everyone and they loved it. However Miku proclaimed her love to Shido which got all the Spirits pissed off about it...

 

So that's it? They didn't explain how Miku became a Spirit and what is Issac's motives of turning Tohka evil and why Kurumi is after the first Spirit? Too many questions and too little short a season.

 

Final Thoughts: I enjoyed the first season because Shido played the role of a Love Sim male lead with his life constantly at stake. However he possesed a power which has yet to explain clearly that enable self regeneration and sealing the Spirits' powers. So when this season start, I was hoping we get some answers but instead we spend introducing the Yamai sisters and Miku who are not bad characters but I wish we have more development on the main plot.

 

 

Origami was totally shelved in this season which is sad as she play a crucial role in Shido and Kotori's plot. But I am guessing they are milking the franchise since it has been announced we are getting a full length movie which is supposedly the third season on the big screen. Overall, this season has the same feel as Infinite Stratos Season 2 ending and I hope they can give a proper explanation on the main plot. (Or just go read the light novel to know what happen next!)

 

 

Gaworare Ep 11: Nanami recognise the girl as Ginyu Serika, a popular idol singer who is singing on the last day of the festival. Souta wasn't really into her but Nanami was a big fan and gave Serika a tour of the school festival.

 

 

Serika thanked them for the tour and she revealed a secret that she nearly gave up being an idol however a teen approached her when she was down and told her not to give up which she did and become a top idol singer. Nanani suspected it was Souta who told her which he admitted. He recalled that he nearly want to end his life and decided to do one good thing which he saw Serika's victory flag. He told her not to give up and in turn, choose not to end his life.

 

 

 

 

After the girls showed off their evening gown to Souta, Serika's concert begin and Souta saw many lights attracted to Serika which are "Hopes" flag. However Zero appeared and told him that this world is one of many virtual worlds controlled by the House of Seven Virtues. Their objective is for Souta to use the power given by Sakura to defeat the Angelus Gemini. However if he choose not to leave this world, it will be erased out of existence the next time.

 

 

 

Souta decided to leave everyone and bade farewell. Later during the ball, Nanami asked Akane about Souta but she does not remember him...

 

Serika is the Bard in Souta's party and he learned a terrible secret about the world he live in. So in a nutshell, this world is like the Matrix and Zero's organisation want Souta to accept his destiny to defeat the Angelus Gemini at the cost of his life. He choose not to tell anyone and everyone forgot about him except Nanami. If that is the case, Nanami could be the wild card and Souta's only chance of saving the world and himself too...

 

 

Love Live S2 Ep 11: Honoka learned that his sister, Yukiho and Alisa has been accepted into their school. Later the group go through their schedule for the oncoming Love Live however they keep mentioning about what will happen when the senior members graduate.

 

 

 

Everyone was worried about it until Alisa told Honoka she wanted to join Muse in her first year. But Yukiho asked her if that what she really want. The next day, they replied to Honoka they will create their own idol group instead. Honoka decided to gather everyone on Sunday and have a good time together.

 

 

 

 

They finally went to the beach which Honoka and the others told the senior members that after the contest, they will disband Muse. Although everyone tried to hold their emotions, Honoka claimed they will be late for the last train and make everybody run to the train station. The girls suggested they take a group photo using an instant photo machine which they did. After that, the girls couldn't control their emotions and started crying for each other.

 

 

Later, the girls began training one week before for the finals...

 

As expected, nothing last forever and even though the girls suggested they could recruit new members after the senior members graduate but it won't be the same anymore and Muse was created because of all nine members. Although it is an emotional journey for the girls at least they could get it out of their system and focus on the finals fully. Whether the girls make it or not in the finals, all will be answered in the final episode next week!

Marvel Disk Wars Avengers Ep 12: Iron Man introduced everyone his DISK tracking system and the kids went to their first location near the desert. Ed is the only one who couldn't catch up and Chris told him to pick up the slack.

They were ambushed by Joel and Absorbing Man who have already found the new disk. Although Iron Man came to a conclusion that Loki has created a tracking system of his own with the help of Nozomu. The Absorbing Man battled Captain America, Thor and Wasp while Akira dragged a scared Ed to chase after Joel.

The three heroes have problems battling Absorbing Man due to his powers but soon overcome it. Akira summoned Iron Man before they fell off and Joel summoned his new disk-The Juggernaut. Iron Man tried to battle him but he was too strong which leave Ed no choice but to summon Hulk. Hulk used all his strength to hit hard on Juggernaut's helmet which left him in a state of comatose.

Ed was given the honor to seal Juggernaut and they all returned to base. Later Iron Man and Pepper analyse the readings on the kids and suspect that they are "evolving.

Our heroes begin their first mission together and they are already facing the Absorbing Man and Juggernaut-two powerhouse villains. But thanks to teamwork and Hulk going all wild, they sealed the villains and learned that Nozomu is still alive. Ed also learned to be more confident as he is now facing real threats and Captain America commented to Hulk that he has change for the better.

Juggernaut might be one tough cookie but next episode, the heroes are dealing with Crimson Dynamo and Graviton!? Things are about to get shaky next week!
 

Quick Picks: Date A Live S2 Ep 9, Gaworare Ep 10, Love Live S2 Ep 10, Marvel Disk Wars Avengers Ep 11

 

Date A Live S2 Ep 9: Kurumi continue to hold back the enemy forces while Shido was rescued by Miku. She claimed she want to add Tohka to her collection and not helping Shido. Origami arrived and together with Mana battle Jessica and Ellen.

Shido then hit the jackpot as he suspected that Miku is a human that got turned into a Spirit. She explained that she used to be Idol singer Yomachi Tsukino. She enjoyed singing and was popular for a while. However when she refused to sleep with a TV producer, she was framed with a fake scandal and all her fans left her which is why she hated humans.

Shido told her that not all humans are like that and he will listen to her song to support her. They continue to move up as they keep on arguing with each other (and fighting the soldiers at the same time) When they finally found Tohka, Issac appeared and a glass mirror blocked both sides. Shido suddenly got stabbed by Ellen which triggered Tohka's emotions to go out of control. Issac finally claimed that the "Demon King" has returned...

We finally know why Miku despise humans and treated them as playthings due to her past. But Shido being the nice guy, will definitely win her heart when the time is right. But now Tohka has went out of control and as seem in the opening, she become Dark Tohka and is preparing to destroy the world. Can our heroes reach her heart in time before all is lost?

Gaworare Ep 10: Hakua joined the class as a transfer student and was welcomed by everyone. Later Souta was tricked into recommending the girls into joining the beauty contest during the school festival.

Although everything is going for the festival, Souta still fear about his own death which got Nanami worried about it. During the beauty contest, the girls tried their best to impress Souta who got dragged as a judge. During the confession contest, Nanami told Souta that she love him despite all his problems and want him to share his problems with her. The other girls got touched (for no reason) and awarded Nanami the winner.

Nanami and Souta spend the day together in the school festival as a reward. Suddenly a girl in dark glasses asked Souta to hide her...

Beside having a beauty contest during the school festival which showed the girls in wet t-shirts and swimwear, Nanami who is probably the most observant know Souta is hiding something from them. She unintentionally told Souta that it is ok to tell his problems which make him realise that he is not alone in this. Anyway, we have a new girl that is meeting Souta and company in the next episode and she looked like a familiar idol singer in the first episode...

Love Live S2 Ep 10: It is New Year's Eve and the girls went to the shrine to welcome the new year. They met A-Rise who congratulated them on winning the contest and entering the Love Live finals.

Later the girls were thinking for a catch phase for the fans to know them better since there will be 50 idol groups entering Love Live. However they don't know what make their group unique and special after all these time together. Even Tsubasa from A-Rise who asked Honoka her secret of winning which she is unable to answer.

Honoka suggested to everyone that they make sweets for the whole school for their help during the contest and the school thanked them and wished them well for the finals. During their training, Honoka saw the wish placards hanging on the shrine and they were wishes for Muse. Honoka then realised the driving force of their group is that everyone work for their dreams together. They finally came up the phase and saw it during the announcement of the finals..

So the girls won and is entering the finals. A-Rise congratulated them although Honoka is unable to answer Tsubasa their secret of winning but now they finally know working towards to their dreams is the driving force and the secret of the success. With the finals approaching however Eri, Nozomi and Nico have something they have yet to tell the others which I am sure it is drop a bomb during the finals...

Marvel Disk Wars Avengers Ep 11: Chris, Ed and Jessica started exploring Tokyo on their own while Iron Man is instructing Akira on repairing the DISK system however he isn't good with it and got scolded by Iron Man.

Later Pepper came by and she was instructed to create a rocket skates for Akira. He took for a test run but realised that the skates doesn't have brakes and it keep on moving non-stop. Hikaru and Thor learned from Pepper what has happened and rush to stop him. However Akira is moving too fast for Thor to catch him.

Akira is heading towards an incomplete bridge and Thor's time limit is up. Akira nearly fell but Hikaru held on to him on the ledge. Akira quickly called up Iron Man and they were rescued by him. That night when everyone is asleep, Iron Man and Pepper completed the DISK searcher to locate the rest of the disks...

Our first filler episode which the kids are taking a short break in Tokyo after all the excitement they went through. Jessica and Wasp were buying clothes, Ed is having a blast at Akihabara and Chris has a sweet tooth after eating bowls of sweet deserts. I think this universe Iron Man is also a bit of a klutz since he forget to apply brakes on the rocket skates which nearly got Akira killed. But now with the DISK searcher complete, they can begin their search for the rest of the disks and it seems they encountered the Juggernaut in the next episode...