Kakumeiki Valvrave – 11
Even the coffee maker hates Haruto
Valvrape err I mean Valvrave is back this week on Metanorn! So for those that stuck around and did not drop this series after the events last time you deserve a high-five, but at the same time I can see WHY some would want to drop it, anyway time to get back into the madness that is known as Valvrave!
Politics in space!
Shoko-“They like me! They really like me!”
Congratulations to Shoko who won the election but did anyone really think that she would lose or would it have been more dramatic to have her fail? This week also continues with the overall theme of more drama popping up, especially with the loss of Shoko’s father who was captured by the Dorssians and is now on trial by the 54th military tribunal for assisting in the creation of the powerful Valvraves? I guess if you are familiar with anything Gundam SEED this story is somewhat similar to Cagalli and everything related to her father, but I just have to ask WHO do you think is technically to blame for Sashinami Ryuuji’s death, would it be L-elf, Haruto or the Dorssian military group? Then again Shoko’s dad did develop his weapons in a neutral area so logically he kind of screwed himself by making them in the first place. I wonder what L-ELF had planned with that gun of his? Was he going to shoot Shoko if she did not go through with her mission? I just can not help thinking to myself that L-ELF just screwed everyone and that he actually helped Cain and the Dorssian military invade the school or did he know all along? That said, I bet money that he has something planned to get rid of all the invaders like bombs or maybe he set a trap in the Valvrave hangar? Either way I have my fingers crossed for something explosive next week!
Extra Valvrave fun
Thunder for the win
Akira is so mad! I wonder how many keyboards she has destroyed?
L-ELF-“Awwee yeah girl this my jam.”
Shoko needs a box of tissues.jpeg
End thoughts
At least there was no extra valvrape this time right? Other than the poltics in space we had some interesting drama for Shoko to deal with after her father got vaporized by Haruto’s fire sword! Sadly I have no idea who to blame for his death other than the Dorssian military? I still think her father brought it on himself for developing weapons in a neutral area; however L-ELF still looked kind of guilty with that whole gun thing and what about Akira and her surprise friendship with Shoko? Now we are back to square one with that character and what about Saki and Haruto’s space vampire relationship? I died laughing when he asked her to marry him! I was like well that is nice of you bro but can’t you wait to ask Saki LATER when you are not being invaded by the Dorssians? Sure why not they can run off and get married because honestly I just do not care for those two anymore and no it is not because of the rape stuff from last time I just have little to no feelings towards that pairing.
Preview
Weddings in space!
Time for the final episode! Just kidding we already have a season two in the fall.
About Foshizzel
Is huge anime fan from Florida! who loves to watch anime and also enjoys drawing and collecting pictures, my favorite genre of anime has to be Mecha, there is just something awesome about giant robots beating the crap out of each other! Other than that type of show, I love a good comedy or action series :D
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
One day, L-elf and Cain decided to play this setting’s version of Risk. But they found the boardgame to be rather boring, and decided to use this world’s military, and the Valvraves as pieces. But Cain is reading L-elf’s moves, cause he’s the master. How is L-elf going to pull this out. I don’t think he is in it for the Dorssains, and his true motives are still shrouded; as are Cain’s. I think L-elf did plan on shooting her and staging a cu-de-tat if it came to it. But he did tell her that you need power to protect your people. Harsh lesson.
L-elf looks like he is going to trade in some cards for more armies.
I thought this one was kinda tight; and that proposal was just sooo out there, but it suits the setting. These wacky kids will just ride the emotions.
Saki won’t talk about last episode; look’s like she’s the only one huh?
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
LOL, that was hilarious! 😛 I can see them now with the world as their game board. Those two do seem to be above everything involving their everyone else and are simply playing by their own rules.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
In animes, nothing good ever comes to those who put themselves above others in the long run. It’s a matter of time and a matter of figuring out who gets screwed over first.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Despite the contraversal events from last time, it’s hard to drop something when you’re this close to the end. Like it or not, you’d be tempted to see how it wraps up. I’m glad Saki was able to bounce back a bit from the ordeal. Her personality wasn’t impacted after having that “date” with Haruto.
Man, Shoko is getting torn apart. First she loses the love of the guy she’s interested in and then she loses her father and it was by the hands of said interested guy. I imagine she’d feel even worse if she knew the truth about her father and that her classmates were meant to be lab rats. If she becomes the last Valvrave pilot, this trauma would definitely be her motivation.
L-Elf lost me a bit when he pulled that gun. It’s a safe bet he’d kill Shoko if she gave in to the Dorssians. He’s good at making plans but she’s proved to be the one uncertainty when he’s brainstorming, like declaring the entire module independent for example which is what I’m sure wasn’t what he had in mind at the time.
My previous thoughts were right about L-Elf being Cain’s unknowing pawn. He was just buying time until a big enough opportunity showed up at the expense of other Dorssians. Since he’s there personally, he’s going straight to the room where the new Valvraves are being manufactured. They way things might go, at least half of what’s left of the student population might get killed.
As for Akira, I can say she became a shut-in because she has no faith in people. She’s probably afraid of getting betrayed in the long run and so she keeps her distance. And I also think it’s from the pressure of people’s expectations of her. From what I saw on MAL with the preview clips, it looks like she’ll be the last Valvrave pilot though I’m not sure what her motivation would be to do so.
That sudden marriage proposal went over my head. At the moment, I didn’t know what to think of it because it was shocking. It isn’t sitting well with me because it felt forced and mostly out of guilt to make amends for something he did involuntarily and mostly a slap to the face for Shoko given that he made the proposal after he said he was going to rescue her. Most of all, it’s a contradiction of past events because he sold his humanity in her name after her supposed death so it makes all his previous grieving and anger for her sake pointless.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
I get the feeling Haruto proposed to Saki out of guilt and feels he needs to do that to make amends. Yeah, like any girl would want to marry her rapist. Just shows how dumb he is when it comes to the opposite sex.
However, I do think Saki wasn’t entirely unwilling. If she was unwilling, I can’t see her being able to stand being anywhere near him. I don’t care how strong her personality is or how little faith she has in people, being raped would be totally devastating.
So what is she up to? Why is she willing to go on a date with Haruto? I still think she wants to use or manipulate him in some way. She’s desperate for fame and becoming the supposed girlfriend of the great hero and being a Valvrave pilot herself would certainly be a big step towards her goal.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
I think her lines during and within the movie were rather telling. She just wants to be someone special; to be “chosen”. This used to be on a rather large scale, like being famous. But now it seems she’s narrowed it down to something much more personal. I’ve read a lot of doubt about her feelings for Haruto, and maybe she doesn’t truly love him. But maybe she just needs someone to tell her she’s special to him.
Regarding the rape, I’m not going to delve too much into that because it’s a touchy topic and people will obviously be sensitive depending on their views. I’ll just say that yes, it was undeniably rape. But perhaps Saki realized midway that it was technically rape for both of them, as neither were in control of the situation. This might be why she isn’t traumatized by the very sight of Haruto. He’s just as much a victim as she is.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Hmm, I actually got some different feelings from his marriage proposal. We know what Haruto has felt about his no-longer-human status. We know what he’s felt about Shouko since then. I mean, since then, he has barely talked to Shouko. There’s no connection between them now. But he has spent time with Saki, and he’s also gotten to know her beter. I really think the marriage proposal is less about what happened between his possessed self and Saki, and more about what she said in her movie. I think he actually does care for Saki, almost as much as he did for Shouko.
And then they have their shared curse. Saki knows about it, Saki is affected by it. And Saki also seems to understand how it affects him. I found it interesting how Saki dealt with what happened. I just don’t think that Haruto’s main motivation is guilt or pity. I think it’s much more complicated love than that.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Speaking of politics,what’s up with ARUS?
I’m surprised on ARUS’s relative inactivity, and lack of presence in trying to prevent/sabotage Dorssian forces from getting too close to Module 77 and the Valvraves, despite all their talk of claiming a Valvrave several eps ago.
Understandably ARUS might deem it risky to send more forces after losing their initial army battalion and Figaro, but I thought they’d try more covert methods to upset Dorssia’s efforts, like long-distance universal hacking and communications disruption to ensure Module 77’s safety, if only so ARUS could steal the Valvraves and its pilots from New JIOR once the module was safe at the Moon.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Basically the ARUS is just there so that Valvrave can have the “three nation” trope that you see in most mecha war anime. Where you have two superpowers at war and third nation that’s neutral and gets caught in the middle. You can’t have Dorssia at war JIOR because they’re designed to be Japan the neutral party and therefore supposedly, the only slightly more moral group.
Therefore the third party was created in the ARUS to be the archenemy of Dorssia. However, this show is pretty much just about Dorssia and JIOR. ARUS has been pretty much tossed to the side.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
You know, I got really annoyed with the concept of “You’re ‘neutral’, so you can’t develop weapons.” That’s just self-serving bullshit on the part of the Dorssians. Basically they’re saying “You guys should have just had no defense whenever we wanted to roll over you, which we did.” Neutral does not mean defenseless. Some people have mentioned ‘pacifist’, but I’ve never heard the show describe JIOR that way, just Neutral. And one of the best ways to stay neutral, as opposed to being some other country’s bitch, is to be strong and not fight.
Anyway, they were going to kill Shouko’s father anyway. They just waited to do it until they could get something out of her.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
This is very true, and I’m also annoyed with the idea. But that’s what every country with power will say precisely for the reasons you cite, so what can you do? As a somewhat related example, the US of A is always condemning other nations for developing nuclear weapons; yet it has the largest active stockpile itself and is the only country to have ever used them in war.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Actually, according to their synopsis on the website, JIOR is a group of nations that did join together because of their pacifist ideals (Which, I have to call BS on by the way, since JIOR includes quite a few countries that couldn’t be called “pacifist” in any version of the word, like China, North Korea, and almost all of East Africa), and I do think I get what their saying, in that while JIOR does have a military they decided to also secretly develop WMDs and a nation that says it’s “neutral” wouldn’t do that. Have a defensive military, yes. But even Takumi-sensei said to a degree that the “neutral” thing was just a cover and that they were using that facade to build these weapons for themselves. At least with ORB, they weren’t the ones building the Gundams, they were simply letting the Alliance use the space.
Now on the other side of that, I think Dorssia is the last country that I think should be pointing fingers.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
With the way humans work, the presence of WMD’s is a valid ‘defensive’ measure, in that the deterrence they pose is an effective factor in keeping others from attacking. That’s the reason why every country in our world tries to develop nuclear weapons. If anyone was going to use them to attack, they would have done it. Instead it’s to keep from being attacked.
I would guess that the word ‘pacifist’ in this case is a misnomer, at least from how I understand it. There are almost no pacifists in the world, and it’s almost impossible for a human to truly be a pacifist.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I guess I would sort of understand if they had already had the Valvraves to begin with, but I guess the fact that they had only begun to build them after the war had started and had done so in secret, was what Dorssia was getting at.
But then again, that trial was pretty much just window dressing. Everyone in that room knew what the sentence would be before they even wrote out the charges.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
True. One can say it was simply a need to be theatrical and I imagine they’ve been waiting for such an opportunity for a long time.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Was there a war at the time? I thought JIOR was neutral at the beginning of the show, and was unilaterally invaded by Dorssia, with the group of spies including L-Elf coming in to basically take JIOR’s defenses away. Basically, Dorssia just says “We don’t like that you guys even had any defenses and made us work harder to invade you, and it’s your fault that we couldn’t steal them in the first place.” Either way, it’s craven posturing on the part of the Dorssians.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
And to expand: I adhere to the Non-Aggression Principle (NAP), but I wouldn’t consider myself a pacifist by any stretch.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Oh wow…so much happened this week.
Shoko finds a situation she can’t think her way out of, L-elf has helped them win again, but ends up being out smarted by Cain! And now the school is being damaged beyond repair, the students are under attack and Haruto proposes marriage?!
Okay, Okay first things first. I thought they glanced too much over the events at the end of last episode and I hope they really address that or it will feel as if they just used rape as a shock and awe tactic with not real purpose. Yet, it was slightly addressed by Saki and Haruto going on a sort-of “date” and Haruto proposing marriage to her in the end (which I think is really out of his sense of duty, more than the fact that he loves her or anything).
Next we are faced with the Dorssians charging ex-Prime Minister Sashinami with war crimes (ironic!) and giving him a sham trial with a sentence of death. They try to use this as a way to twist Shoko’s hand, but while highly conflicted, she doesn’t stand down. L-elf by the way, tells her that his plan to defeat the advancing army is to use Haruto’s harakiri attack, however, this will certainly kill her father. Shoko struggles with what to do. L-elf seems though to have no hesitance in actually killing her if necessary, and prepares his gun even as she is trying to negotiate.
However, there is really no way out of this one and time runs out. Haruto does his attack, destroying 74% of the Dorssian fleet and killing Shoko’s father in the process. However, we find out that L-elf has actually fallen right into Cain’s trap, as Cain uses the lull after the victory to attack Module 77 and successfully boards it. It seems Cain was L-elf’s teacher and thus he really knows his student.
However, we have yet to see L-elf’s expression and response to Cain’s invasion and since he left no notes regarding it, I’m a bit suspicious of his motives here. Did Cain really out think him? Or did he know Cain’s plans but deliberately kept them from the students? He seems willing to kill Shoko should it prove necessary, so I’m guessing his not holding too closely with his contract with Haruto. What’s going on here? And does it have something to do with H-neun? We haven’t seen a continuation of what went on with him since last episode, so we’ll have to see.
Other than all of that, we get a little more on Akira. We find out that while she can interact with Shoko and is climbing a little out of her shell, she is nowhere near wanting to socialize with others. She has a panic attack after talking with Shoko and friends and Satomi says that he will deal with it. However, it seems she is too crippled to even answer his calls. We see that her family are posh socialites and this is a nightmare for an anthropophobic like Akira. Now how that will be addressed next episode I have no idea. How the heck are we going to get a girl with this bad of a social phobia to pilot the last Valvrave?
This was a great episode and I didn’t want it to end. However, next week is the final episode of the season and I can already tell it’s going to be a dozy.
I give this episode a 9.5/10. Had to give it slightly less then ten because of the largely unaddressed issue between Saki and Haruto from last week. However, other than that, loved it!
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Well, we also finally have conformation that the pilots of the VVV are all vampires. Also who knew that Valvrave was an acronym?
VAmpire Link Vessel Rune Activate Vital Engine
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Hahahahaha, nice!! Very nice! Thanks for the confirmation. Now I like this show even more. But that’s just a little icing on the cake after what we’ve already seen. Like the use vampirism by biting, animal instincts and rapid healing and its symbolism when Saki named her Valvrave Carmilla who turned out to be the first official female vampire.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
This was seen when looking at the preview for the next episode; it is printed on the Valvraves underneath their symbol in small letters. However, we haven’t seen it clearly until now.
However, that would mean that each pilot is a vampire along with Haruto, so will they eventually start getting more bestial symptoms too? I guess will have to wait and see.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Wow. That’s pretty cool. Friendly pacifist neutral nation my sweet heiny. No one is like that if they place the word vampire on their mechs.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
A vampire is a predatory species so “Friendly pacifist neutral nation” flew out the window the moment the cat was out of the bag. These people were building an army. The whole thing seems like artificial vampire mass production like what was used in Hellsing and that means every student in the module is capable of becoming like Haruto and the others.