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: Gaworare Ep 13 FINAL, Love Live S2 Ep 13 FINAL, Marvel Disk Wars Avengers Ep 14 plus my thoughts on some of the Spring shows that I watched

 

Gaworare Ep 13 FINAL: The girls headed to battle the angels however Souta did not want them to risk their lives for him. Akane told Souta that they came to help him because they care for him and she too love him the first time they met.

 

 

 

The main cruise ship suddenly merge with all the angels and started firing at the girls. Souta saw them fallen and decided to sacrifice his life to stop the ship from firing. Suddenly he saw the truth of what really happened during the ship's accident.

 

 

Souta was with Nanami, Akane, Megmu, Kikuno and Rin during the accident. Souta saw a little girl who is called Lapis's Demon but no one else is able to see her. They got separated and Souta saw a man from a cupboard. Souta then got trapped in a pile of rubbles and the man ran away claiming he will get help.

 

 

Lapis's Demon mocked him claiming that humans are selfish and he will die alone. Suddenly the man returned with the girls and they tried to save him. Suddenly debris started falling on them. Lapis's Demon told Souta he could save them if he absorb their death flags at the cost of their memories and he will forever haunted by the accident.

 

 

 

Souta took his chance and absorbed their death flags and suffered from the media and everyone about the accident. In the present, the girls rushed to help Souta and finally destroyed the ship. When Souta woke up, he saw Zero who told him that the world is saved for now and revealed her mask. It was Kagura Bladefield, Nanami's ancestor and she explained that Lapis's Demon and Sakura were originally part of the system that oversee the world. They were plugged out and act on their own. They decided to see if humans are worthy of saving and do they work together for a better future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kagura thanked Souta and left. Nanami entered the room and hugged him as he called her Nee-san. Later, Souta returned to the dorm and saw Akane who somehow does not recognise him. But when she nearly fell into a hole, Souta saved her and she remembered everything about him. The rest of the girls also arrived at the dorm with Nanami welcoming them again...

 

Final Thoughts: We finally come to the end of a rather interesting and dark harem love comedy for this season. Originally I thought this show will be like Noucome (Which I enjoyed a lot) however they did something which resembles Shuffle where everyone has a tragic past and Souta is the center of everything. Souta was rather interesting as he doesn't abuse his powers but rather he cursed himself for having this power at the cost of his friends and loved ones' memories. Furthermore, it left him to be attacked by the media and everyone who blamed him for the accident. But he finally realised that his friends are his greatest strength and is starting life again with Nanami and the others.

 

Nanami and Akane are probably the two female leads who supported him the most. Nanami is immune to his flag seeing abilities which is the perfect opposite for him. Originally she have love attraction for him but when she was "awaken" by Ruri, her position is changed to elder sister and now cared for Souta as a sibling. Akane is the first girl that Souta used his powers to change her fate and because she has an attraction before their current lives, they now shared a bond now together although I could see the other girls are going to try their best to get Souta's attention in the future.

 

Overall, it is a pretty interesting show with some surprising dark moments (The alternative timeline where Nanami, Akane and Kurumi died freaked me out) Although Souta and his friends saved the world for now, Sakura and Lapis's Demon will watch them again to see if they are worthy in the near future. Until then, the inmates of Quest Dorm could now take a break and get on with their lives...

 

 

Love Live S2 Ep 13 FINAL: It was graduation day for the seniors and the girls were preparing for the presentation. Honoka met Nozomi and asked where is Eri. She found Eri at the student council room. Eri thanked Honoka for making her school better and give her blessing to Honoka.

 

 

 

 

 

During the presentation, Honoka gave a speech and together with Umi, Kotori and the juniors, they sang a song for the seniors. After the presentation, Nico nominated Hanayo as the new president of the Idol club with Maki as vice president and Rin as leader of the group.

 

 

 

The girls went exploring the school one more time and when they reached the rooftop, they reminisce the times together. Honoka wrote in water the word "Muse" on the floor and they knew nothing last forever.

 

 

 

The girls started walking back down as Honoka looked one last time and claimed they finally did it! As they walked out of the school, Hanayo received a message on her phone and told everyone to rush back to the club room. The girls do not know what is going on but blindly follow her. (They finished the episode with a music number)

 

If you guess it, the girls actually won the Love Live finals with the trophy and flag hanging in their club room. It was nice to see Honoka and the juniors giving their last tribute to the seniors with some touching moments. By the way, Nico's mother looked and behave like her and it is Miss Sailormoon herself, Mitsuishi Kotono doing her voice. Although what is the news that make Hanayo went fangirl mode and dragged everyone back to the club room?

 

Final Thoughts: When I heard they are doing a second season, I was worried it could be a reboot since I read the manga version which was slightly different from the first season. However, it was a continuation from the first season with the girls focusing on the Love Live contest. They have to overcome many problems like choosing the right song, the various weather conditions and of course, the future of Muse once the seniors graduated.

 

The girls also have their moments like seeing Nico's odd family siblings, Nozomi's loneliness, Rin overcoming her shyness and beating A-Rise to be the best in the Tokyo providence. I enjoyed every moment of this show especially the music score wherever the scenes become emotional and the scene where they spent the afternoon at an empty beach and hugging each other in the train statoon was wonderful.

 

 

As announced at the end of the episode, there will be a movie starting the girls with all new material which I have a feeling the girls are going to have one last hurray together as a group so it aren't over till it is over! Until then, we will see the girls again on the big screen as we enjoyed their performance one more time!

 

 

Marvel Disk Wars Avengers Ep 14: Hikaru, Chris, Ed and Jessica are playing a Marvel Super Heroes Smash Brothers kinda of video game and Hikaru beat all three of them. Suddenly the power went out and they could hear Akira's screaming.

 

 

 

Hikaru rushed to him by destroying the doors and realised it was just a malfunction. Hikaru was over concerned for Akira which Jessica commented he is treating like a mother to a son. The next day, Hikaru asked Thor about his relationship with Loki and he told him about how Loki tried to become the next ruler of Asgard but Odin choose Thor instead which lead Loki to a path of evil.

 

 

 

The team assembled after a new disc has been located. They arrived at an abandoned lab and realised the disk is behind a locked door. Hulk wanted to smash it but Iron Man advised not to as the room is filled with unstable chemicals. Hikaru suggested using Thor's lighting to start up the power when suddenly Loki appeared in their communicator and taunt Thor to a fight.

 

 

 

Hikaru realised it is a trap to draw Thor away and instead send Chris, Ed and Jessica to confront Loki. Tim appeared and realised he was dumped too but called out Whiplash to attack Iron Man and Thor. Everyone started fighting and Iron Man knocked Whiplash to the wall while Thor used his lighting to electrocute Whiplash and activating the locked door.

 

 

 

Tim and Loki retreated after Whiplash was sealed by the kids. Later Jessica tried to beat Hikaru in the video game again and using Akira as a weakness. However Hikaru won every match, leaving Jessica speechless...

 

Similar to the Thor movie, Loki is obsessed with powers and tried to gain the throne from Odin. But because he is adopted, Thor was blessed by Odin instead. Hikaru and Akira's relationship is understandable since they lost their mother and Hikaru has to take up more responsibilities in taking care of Akira. Although he was a bit overbearing but he know when to step back and trust Akira more. Furthermore, Hikaru is the brain of the group and he is able to figure out Loki's plan immediately which stunned both Loki and Tim. (Loki, a kid beat you in your plan! Hahaha!)

 

Although the kids sealed Whiplash and got an animal type disk from the lab, Loki has caught hold of many of the disks in his lair using his tracker. Next episode, the next disk is in Jessica's mansion!? Plus is that Doctor Octopus?! See you next week!

 

Here are my thoughts of some of the Spring shows that I watched!

 

 

 

Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin: A pretty interesting show with Juugo trying to solve various puzzles and treasures left by Nanana's ghost and with a few twist plot like Juugo belong to a family of master thieves and why Nanana refused to find out about her own murderer's identify. The ending left leave more questions asked leaving this show a pretty mediocre series. 

 

 

Black Bullet: A pretty dark show about prejudice over a group of red eyes girls who possessed powers similar to the Gastera and Rentarou trying to hold on his sanity as he see death and despair every corner. The final episode left a bleak future as his best friend died and the girl he admired is a total psychopath. Just hold your stomach as some scenes are pretty graphic and questionable.

 

 

Mahouka Kouko no Rettousei: Despite all the techno babbles about how magic and science can perform amazing feats, it is still about prejudice against those who have magic and those that doesn't. Anyway Tatsuya is still a badass and he has quite a female following however his sister, Miyuki is pretty obsessed about him...

 

 

Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou: I enjoyed the crazy antics of the inmates of Kawaisou despite a male lead who get pushed around and an introvert female lead who love her books. I wished for more wacky moments but to contend with the manga version instead.

 

 

Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu Ka: This is cuteness at it's best. The girls are sweet and wonderful as their interactions in a coffee house make you feel warm and fuzzy every time you watch.

 

 

Captain Earth: Although we have passed the 13 episode mark, I love the sci-fi plot and the friendship between four friends who has to protect Earth against an alien invasion. Furthermore, the main robot-Earth Engine is a well designed robot and l loved the combination sequence each time they head to space.

 

 

No Game No Life: Shiro and Sora are probably the smartest characters who outsmart more intellect beings in an alternative reality where humans are being cast as the lowest class. Love the planning and the execution when they battle their opponents.

 

 

Kenzen Robo Daimidaler: One of the most ridiculous fan service shows and a plot twist in the middle where the main character is removed for a cute heroine and the enemies who are talking penguins may not be what they seems.

 

 

Hitsugi no Chaika: I could foresee that cosplayers performing Chaika and carrying a large coffin or sniper rifle. I also enjoyed the adventures between her and her companions and why there are multiple Chaika running around with different purposes. A second season is confirmed for the Autumn season and I can't to wait see more of their adventures.

 

 

Mangaka San to Assistant San: I loved Aito's open pervert mind which leave his female assistants fear of him. But yet so how, he is still a pure hearted guy and the girls opened their hearts for him. However they changed their mind after he does something silly. A good comedy however it is too short for a 15 minutes episode.

 

 

Soul Eater Not: Although the main three girls' friendship are all right, it is nice to see the original Soul Eater Cast appearing in full HD glory. It may have started with a girl trying to fit into her class in the beginning but it ended up being a fight for survival to stop a powerful witch from destroying the city.

 

 

Atelier Escha & Logy-Alchemists of the Dark Sky: Based on the Koei Tecmo game of the same name, there were some good and touching moments. Although the story felt similar to the games, I was kinda of disappointed that the climax was underwhelming plus Escha and Logy's relationship remain the status quo. (If you know what I mean)

 

 

Seikou no Dragonar: I realised that after watching 13 episodes that I am watching the censored version as there are scenes of some of the female characters in questionable situations. So if you want to watch this show, watch the uncensored version plus the story felt like Zero no Tsukiman with Dragons thrown in it.