IS: Infinite Stratos – 08
LAUUURAAAA BODEEEWIIIG
Daaaayum son. Just incase everyone was wondering, I don’t live in Christchurch. If you heard about the earthquake and were a little worried, fear not. I’m still here, but everyone send your thoughts to the unfortunate people who lost friends a family. It’s all quite horrible. In any case, let’s dive into the latest IS episode, shall we?
If you can remember to yester-week (that better be a word) the episode ended on the first match of the Inter-Class Tournament. The match up was Houki and Laura vs. Charles and Ichika, and as soon as episode eight begins, coincidently, so does the battle. Ichika charges straight into Laura who stops him with her AIC shield. Charles pretty much saves his life then disappears to deal with Houki quickly. Because both Ichika and Charles see her as the weakest, she’s the first to fall in battle. Once Houki had gone down, the two focus their power of defeating Laura.
As their fight continues Ichika notices a weakness in Laura’s IS. She can only use her AIC shield if she’s concentrating on the thing or person she wants to stop. Using this to their advantage, Charles and Ichika eventually beat Laura down, causing her to have some sort of flashback. Turns out she was created to be the ultimate warrior, shooting targets in the head and beating up black people. Then when the IS came along, she couldn’t understand how to use it and fell behind in ranks. When Chifuyu came to teach her, she admired her strength and became powerful once again. Then Chifuyu left because of Ichika and Laura went pretty crazy. Then out of nowhere a voice asks her if she wants power, which she gladly accepts. Then she and her IS turns into poop or something.
Somehow, Laura’s IS turns into some massive ominous IS that looks like some random woman. It beats down Ichika in a few blows and goes off looking for more prey. Houki stops him running to punch it, but eventually lets him go when he says he has to defeat it. Charles transfers her IS’s power into Ichika’s band and he partially deploys Yukihira and strikes down the giant black IS and frees Laura. She comes to in the infirmary where Chifuyu tells her an illegal IS program called ‘Valkyrie Trace’ was implanted in her IS. It was activated and it transformed her and her IS. She leaves Laura, telling her she should stop trying to be her, and start being herself. How touching.
When everything is back to normal, Ichika pissed off Houki, gets beaten up then Charles and him are told that the newly opened male public bath is available for them. So Ichika and Charles seem to do the nasty in the baths, and Charles says that she’ll continue to attend the Academy as Charlotte. When the class learns that Charles is actually Charlotte (and that Ichika and Charlotte were in the baths together) , Rin rages and busts through a wall in her IS and tries to kill Ichika. Laura pops out of nowhere are saves him, only to turn around, grab him and kiss him in front of everyone, telling him that he’s going to become her ‘wife’. Yeah. Laura is the best character ever.
End Thoughts
GOOD GOD THE EXPRESSIONS
This is some Evangelion shit right here.
Holy shit, she’s actually smiling. Is the world about to end?
Endless Photoshop opportunities.
Comedy gold.
HURF DURF
I’ll admit, Hourou is a hard show to write about. Because a lot of it is fragmented into tiny, tiny pieces that you have to piece together. You have to make calls what to drop and what to, well, what not to drop. That’s why I love IS so much. The scenes are so simple to recall and condense into something readable and writable. And the characters are just so much easier to write about. So predictable! Or so I thought, at least.
That last scene was brilliant and reinforces the fact that Laura is actually the best character in IS. Have you ever seen anyone be so forward? Her and Charles don’t really beat around the bush (thanks Junko for pointing out they were super forward), so they deserve to have more screen-time over Houki, Alcott and Rin. They are all boring. Though, why is it that the female he’ll end up with, is the weakest out of the lot? I mean, Charles and Ichika took Houki out almost immediately in the tournament, she must be feeling pretty bad about herself right about now…
BUT EVEN AFTER ALL THIS AWESOME STUFF TO DO WITH LAURA, THERE IS STILL ALMOST NO STORY WHATSOEVER. Her IS turned into a big black blargh (technical term), it’s defeated and everyone has a bath together and people have a kiss. I mean. What? How does one even interpret that? Maybe I’m expecting too much for a basic harem. Though the mecha in the show points to a little bit of story at the very least! Maybe it’s like Sora no Woto. No story or immediate danger until the last two episodes. Then why wasn’t I annoyed at Sora no Woto?
I don’t have to write a preview. The picture should speak for itself.
About Hato-kun
I'm Hato, born and raised in glorious New Zealand and a self-proclaimed awesome person. I started writing here in July and I'm loving it so far! I'm Metanorn's go-to Moe Man (lol) and the games guru, so don't be shy to say hello!
POWUH: Meta Resident and Yōko Fanboy with 1246 comments
Crazy episode…. but absolutely epic! xD The fighting was done very well and I’m glad Houki doesn’t have to sustain any more of Laura’s harshness during the battle. Although… that VT system is intriguing like hell, maybe it’s got something to do with the other attacker but that was unmanned, this one was just some formed goo which reminded me of Fate Stay Night covering Laura trying to kill Ichika. I’d like to know more about this system and also if there might be a rebellion of a nation in the near future, that could be the plot~?
Charles, or should I say Charlotte has finally shown her true skin which was good now that she can be herself and I must say, Rin’s reaction to it was EPIC! xD I remember someone commenting (could be Hato) about if Houki found out Charlotte was a girl she’d go on a killing spree, turns out, Rin took the spot while Houki looked astonished when Ichika’s knight in shining armor saved him and gave the defenseless princess, Ichika, a kiss while adding on to it, a proposal for Ichika to be her WIFE!!! LMAO!!!!
A VERY “steamy” conversation Ichika and Charlotte had during there hot bath together and I was surprised as to how calm Ichika was even during the time when Charlotte turned around and laid on Ichika’s back, maybe something happened that was cut~~~ Maybe we might be seeing Charlotte in the next episode straight off running away with Ichika or something… nishishishi~~~
“yeah, I’ll go out with you” really? “to the shopping district!!!!!” Dx ICHIKA YOU BASTARD!!!!! HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO MY HOUKI!!!! YEAH!!! KICK HIM IN THE STOMACH!!! *fanboy rage*
POWUH: Meta Resident and Yōko Fanboy with 1246 comments
BECAUSE SORA NO WOTO HAD SOME K-ON LOOKALIKES AND THE ART WAS THE SAME!!!!! xD Pretty good anime, loved the ending to it, got a bit teary I have to admit
Oh yeah, it’s like LATE at night and I’m a lazy guy so I kinda copy and pasted my comment on Sekijitsu onto Metanorn XD soz…. I’d be saying the same thing anyways :\
POWUH: 400-499 and Manly Russians lover with 401 comments
Sora no Woto had more going for it than just the K-ON art!
POWUH: Meta Resident and Yōko Fanboy with 1246 comments
I guess ^^ K-ON will always be better
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
Rin’s reaction was not only epic, it was inadequate! XD She would actually kill him, I swear! And now that I looked into that moment better, Laura said “Yome” didn’t she?? LOL
Charlotte FTW! <3
POWUH: 400-499 and Manly Russians lover with 401 comments
I think Houki’s facials were amazing for that part. It was a perfect blend of ‘I’m gonna kill something’ and ‘Hurrrrrrr’.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
Infinite Stratos is getting THAT episode too. I should have seen it coming ;A; Bud I didn’t!! ><" they'd better not make it a typical beach episode, or I'll die…… T_T
On the other hand….. more awesome fights this episode too ^3^ I just love how Charlotte and Ichika are synchronized. That fight was actually pretty good. Animation and actual fight wise.
I'll also admit, that Laura is 2nd best character in IS. After Charlotte. But she's still epic XD The last scene was priceless!! I had the same reaction as the girls in the anime, screaming "HAAAA?!" when Laura claimed Ichika as her husband. "There will be no objections!" XD
This anime is one of the most simple I've seen, but it's so entertaining! ^______^ Houki gets a check point, for epic Ichika-ass-kicking scene XD
POWUH: Meta Resident and Yōko Fanboy with 1246 comments
You mean, Laura claimed Ichika as her WIFE!!! xD Ichika as the wife… LOLS!!! xD Ichika deserved that kick for doing that to my Houki… *hmph!*
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
XD the world is turning upside down!
Yeah, that was kinda insensitive but… That’s what Ichika is all about ^^ being a clueless chill *~*
POWUH: 400-499 and Manly Russians lover with 401 comments
Houki really did beat Ichika up soooo much. But, uh, Laura is the best character. /fanboy
POWUH: Meta Resident and Yōko Fanboy with 1246 comments
WHAT!?!? PFFT! Charlotte is the best character and Houki scores ‘best voice’ (I do have to admit, Houki isn’t that strong or good of a character in an overall rate but hey, she scores second on my fav’s list which leaves THIRD to LAURA!!!! That’s how it should be mate xD
Oh yeah, did I tell you (this was ages ago) but Danny Choo had a ranking of 2010 and the top 5 anime rated (either outside of japan or only in japan) and like the second ranked anime was Durarara! BUT!!! The anime that took first place was K-ON OOOOOHHH SHIIIIIIET~~~~~ <3 THUMP IT BRO!!!
POWUH: 400-499 and Manly Russians lover with 401 comments
MOEFIST~~~!
But from a *good* anime perspective, K-ON is horrible. It’s just entertaining to watch.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Yōko Fanboy with 1246 comments
KYOKAI!!!! IP BAN HATO THIS INSTANT FOR SPEAKING TABOO ABOUT K-ON!!!!!! *major fanboy rage!!* xDD
POWUH: 400-499 with 428 comments
Last scene=EPIC WIN~! Seriously, I didn’t expect that out of the blue and my reaction involved falling out my chair and rolling around like Victorique.
It was great to see more action this time, though the Laura Bodewig monologue was a bit out of place, though i can’t really complain since it just sweeps it under the carpet to move onto the next episode, which involves the BEACHU~desu
Swimsuit competition anyone? Just don’t blow away the beach, okay?
POWUH: 400-499 and Manly Russians lover with 401 comments
I think her monologue was pretty awesome, but that’s just me talking. It was standard evil military girl set-up, which was disappointing, but still badass.
Oh God the beach, I’m actually not looking forward to this episode…
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 339 comments
CHARLES, I LOVE YOU.
POWUH: 400-499 and Manly Russians lover with 401 comments
WRONG
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Favorite episode so far! The ending was probably the best ever with Laura’s entrance and kiss haha “I will make you my husband” Best line ever xDD
Fight scenes were great! Wasn’t to crazy about all the mid battle flashbacks or the omg suit absorbing the pilot lol felt so much like 00 gundam movie.
And of course Charles! Guess she can’t room with Ichika or they will let her xD
POWUH: 400-499 and Manly Russians lover with 401 comments
I will make you my wife! My wife!
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 83 comments
First of all, Laura is the best character in the show? I beg to differ *coughCharlottecough*
Anyways, the episodes have been climbing in entertainment value since episode 5 (which happened to be the episode Charles enter, haha 😀 ) The battle scene this episode was really good, though it’s pretty funny that we haven’t really see a REAL battle finish without evacuating the arena or having someone almost killed or disqualified.
As for Charlotte, ARGH, WHY YOU GOTTA GIVE UP YOUR ADVANTAGE OF ROOMING WITH HIM? @#@$ASDF@$#s@n@#
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 339 comments
Charles fans unite! XD
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 107 comments
EHHHH, does she give up rooming with him? O.O I WON’T ALLOW IT!!!!!!!!!
POWUH: 400-499 and Manly Russians lover with 401 comments
WHY DOES EVERYONE LOVE CHARLES SO MUCH.
Then again, everyone could say that about Laura…
POWUH: 600-699 and Romance Expert with 652 comments
meh, I was hoping houki would show some badass moves despite having a normal IS.
I think im the only one who hasnt jumped the charlotte bandwagon. I admit she’s cute but houki is good, one of the few tsundere characters that I like.
POWUH: 400-499 and Manly Russians lover with 401 comments
Well, at least you don’t like Charles.
I find it funny how no one likes Rin or Alcott!
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
For people like me who get spoiled ahead of time…
We have been waiting for this episode!
When the ep came out, we shouted “ITS HEREEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!”
since we know Laura is not a tsundere…she is a MEGA DERE!!
Next episode will also show how moe Laura is XP
Charl and Laura becoming the only reason for me to continue this series 😛
POWUH: 400-499 and Manly Russians lover with 401 comments
Thank you for admitting that Laura is awesome.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
Thus, the quantity of reasons keeps increasing XD
POWUH: 400-499 and Manly Russians lover with 401 comments
Seconded!
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 107 comments
Allow me to add more to the list of CharlesXIchika events.
6) The work together during the fight and actually beat the crap out of Houki and Laura – Aka Epic teamwork
7) Charles was supportive and offered a viable suggestion to Ichika
(While Houki was just being useless and spouting stuff like ‘what can you do??? there is nothing you can do!!!’)
8) They bath together,
9) and Charles hugs Ichika from the behind,
10) while naked,
11) with Ichika blushing – but not moving away
I officially will not stand Ichika ending up with anyone other then Charles. HOUKI NEEDS TO DISAPPEAR INTO A HOLE.
Plot wise, I kinda saw the “Sure I’ll go out (shopping) with you” coming. Hahas. But I still feel kinda bad for Houki though… ^^”
Oh, and the battle scene this episode was VERY SATISFACTORY. For once, Ichika actually used his head instead of rushing into everything and getting himself owned. Of course, Charles being there and them COVERING FOR EACH OTHER, made it aaaaaallllll better~
P.S charles need to do some epic french kissing now!
POWUH: 400-499 and Manly Russians lover with 401 comments
WELL LAURA NEEDS TO DO SOME EPIC GERMAN KISSING (?)!
It sucks because we all know that Ichika will end up with Houki. It makes us all sad.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 107 comments
AHHHHH!!! Don’t remind me!!!
Houki no longer deserves the role of the main girl anymore!
Look at how she was mowed down by Charles in a few moves. PFFFFFT 8D