Rail Wars 10-11
She made him turn around and not peek to take off her stockings, but then lets him do this?
Final story arc for Rail Wars! this season, even if it’s not the end of the series yet. So how did they handle the “prince”?
Old Friends and New Harem Members
Haruka has to make sure Naoto knows the prince means nothing to her
So the noob defense unit gets assigned to the special detail to guard Prince Bernina from Atela (I could put prince in quotes throughout this post, but that would get tiring). Of course, he wants to ride some special train, and they can’t manage to keep the rest of the world off this train. And I called them noobs, but at this point, D4 probably has as much experience guarding special people as anyone else, after dealing with the guy who came after Noa. And they’ve got an in with the prince, because he was a classmate of Haruka’s when they both were in England. Haruka has to make it clear to Naoto that they were just classmates, tho, and that the prince totally didn’t mean anything to her. I mean, she wouldn’t want Naoto to get the wrong idea about how dedicated she is to him, would she?
The Prince’s Panties (a nice silly song)
I think the least surprising part of this story arc was the revelation that the prince was a girl. I mean, that’s what we expect out of this show (and she even told him not to peep). And of course to have Naoto find out in the most revealing way possible is in keeping with how the show usually goes. Ultimately it doesn’t make much of a difference in the way the show goes, except that now we know that Naoto’s going to have another harem member, this one who shares his love of trains. And they helpfully told us indirectly that Bernina is the same age as Naoto, even though she looks quite a bit younger. But unlike with Noa, they didn’t really overdo the “I love Naoto” stuff at the end of episode 11.
Once again, Naoto ends up with a naked girl
Wiping Out the Whole Royal Family
Aoi makes it just in time for a hug
I actually thought the action in this arc was some of the best that they’ve had. There seemed to be fewer plot holes and more realistic fighting. And the attack on the prince’s family by someone who’s at least the sixth in line to the throne was a somewhat believable plot. These guys even had a well-thought out plan: distract the defense force while you make off with the prince. Of course, we still had Iwaizumi taking on more guys than he should be able to, but that’s his job, right? We also had the strategic holdback of Sakurai, who managed to show up just when needed, even though she could have told them that she’d gotten on the train at the last stop. And the setup for the final twist, rescuing Haruka who had been kidnapped instead, actually used a good return plot in having Naoto dress up as the prince.
Of course they stopped to pick up everyone else…
The action worked out pretty well too, with the retaking of the train engines, but finding out that they were damaged beyond control. There was a little bit of stormtrooper shooting, with guys with automatic weapons unable to hit someone walking down the narrow walkway outside of a diesel engine, but apart from that, there wasn’t much to roll your eyes at. Even the finish, having the Black Bear engines of the Special Response team slow the engines down from in front, was believable, at least more believable than having it crash somewhere like they’ve done with seemingly everything else.
I think this was definitely a step up for Rail Wars! over the previous arcs. Focusing a bit less on the harem and a bit more on the action over these two episodes paid off, as well as having a much more complete plot. They got a little bit of harem-y stuff in, with Haruka reminding Naoto that he’s the only one for her, a new harem member in the “prince” and Aoi almost having a last moment confession to Naoto. Of course, he won’t get it, but I think she’s getting closer to being up front with him. Not that it’ll happen in this series, but at least there’s progress being made. One more episode of the show to go, and this time it’s Iida in the spotlight, although I think it’d take a lot for her to stop being in love with Hitomi and fall for Naoto.
About Highway
Proving that you don't have to be young to love anime, I enjoy all genres and styles of shows. If it's not hurting anyone else, you should never be ashamed of what you like!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Is it just me or does Sakurai’s “I’ll protect you” feel a great deal like Wesley’s “As you wish…”?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Could you expand on that a little bit? I’m not seeing the symmetry much.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Well, the Princess Bride bit is self-explanatory…but too me she said that she will protect him on numerous occasions. She is still trying to toughen him up, but now she has become more accustomed to the fact that he is weaker than her in combat. She accepts it, yet still wants to be with him in his time of need. Feels a bit like a non-confession confession to me.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
You can’t say this series doesn’t have its moments with serious story building. An unnoticed royal attempting to usurp the throne taking out the other living relatives is an old school but always engaging route for a plot because it’s very plausible in the real world. At least, it was a lot more common a few centuries back.
I could tell the prince was actually a girl a mile away. Can some authors try and not makes things so obvious to figure out? It’s like they didn’t bother with trying to test the viewer’s recognition skills.
The appearance of anime characters never seem to go with their ages. In Hitsugi no Chaika, Toru is 20 years old and Chaika is 14. Tokyo Ghoul’s Kaneki is 19 but looks like he’s either 16 or 17 years old.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
They’ve not bothered to try to hide it since Victor/Victoria….the game is the thing.
…or like Shinobu Oshino looks like she’s eight years old, but is really over 500…what is up with that?
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
*Ahem*
It is a way to clear the legal LOLi/SHOTa hurdle. Like “Officer, she looked 30! She can’t be 12!” or “I am eternally 17 *kira*” (someone’s favourite quote). It like how eroge disclaim that everyone is over 18 eventhough they look 8. (Now where did that 1 drop off…)
Shinobu I believe has an explaination.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
And it’s an easy one: Eternal youth and immortality.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Can someone unchomp one of the comments om nom nom’ed by spammy?
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
He’s always been a bugger, hasn’t he?