MetaFap: Fall ’14 – 03 [NSFW]
Yuuji’s on first, Tigre’s on second, and Aika’s gone all the way to home base.
Ore, Twintails ni Narimasu
“Dix-Neuf, come!” (Holy crap, that’s the 2nd episode in a row I could make a Diebuster reference using Aika)
As expected, we got Aika receiving the Tail Gear and becoming the 2nd twin tailed warrior, Tail Blue. From her transformation and attacks, her motif seems to be ice/water/wind, in contrast to Tail Red’s fire imagery. Plus those gravity/anti-gravity powers that apparently follow from Bloomer Affinity (well, I guess an affinity for bloomers does cause certain things to rise…). Not that these things really matter, since the villains so far haven’t had any counter to the attacks Tails Red and Blue have thrown at them. The action has been seriously uninspired, and when every attack by the good guys works perfectly, it’s hard to care which “cool” looking attack they use to win.
Aika’s looking awfully Hatsune Miku (snow princess version) here.
But I’m loving the direction the story is going in. The show is making a big deal out of Tail Red’s new celebrity status, causing twin tail mania to spread out through the world. I suspect all humans loving twin tails is going to be a major plot point later on in the series a la Goku’s all-Earth Genki Dama to dispatch Majin Buu in Dragon Ball. Exactly the right direction for a show all about twin tail love to go in. I love how even Souji is put off by the public’s response; his “Leave me alone! Go investigate Ultimegil instead!” had me cracking up. The world is being terrorized by aliens, and the media is more concerned about how cute the mysterious girl who comes to save the day is than it is about the actual source of the terrorists and how to stop them. Absurd comedy or incisive social commentary?
Other than that bit, though, I’d like to see Souji playing the straight man less often. He started out as the twin tail-obsessed fetishist, and he’s at his best when he’s doing that instead of inexplicably being annoyed at girls wanting to have his babies. Like his bit of feminine self exploration in this episode, or his inability to attack a simulacrum of himself due to his love for twin tails. Those are when he’s at his funniest. Fortunately, I have few complaints with how Aika and Thouars are shaping up. As long as the former remains abusively violent and the latter remains abusively seductive, things should be just fine.
One of the best “WTF is this shit” rxn faces I’ve seen.
I’m still a bit puzzled why Souji is so much the chaste straight man considering he’s a hopeless pervert with respect to twin tails.
L-lewd! They allow this kind of filth on TV in Japan?
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Madan no Ou to Vanadis
Loving seeing Eleonora in her formal outfit, which admittedly has a couple things in common with her battle outfit (click for stitch).
Politics, politics, politics. That’s proving to be the primary source of the story in this show, which has been a pleasant surprise. You’ll have to forgive me for having entirely different assumptions about this series based on its visuals and its light novel heritage. So in this episode, we got to see Eleonora and Tigre deal with the fallout from the former’s invading of the latter’s territory. I’m not sure how much time passed, but I’m assuming at least several days, to give Tigre time to go around finding allies while Eleonora traveled to and from the Zhcted capital to explain her actions to her king. Have I mentioned yet how much I appreciate the show’s snappy pacing?
We also saw a proper introduction to war maidens in this episode, of which Eleonora is one. We’ve already seen that she is basically a one-man army thanks to her powers, so the 7 of them should naturally become important players in this political game. I really like that we’re being taught about them now, because I could easily imagine this series starting with an overlong voiceover explaining the setting and and the war maidens and their significance, how many of them, and how important they are, etc. Instead, we got to see one in action first before being taught through the actions of the main characters and the war maidens just what they are and why they’re so important. Maybe I’m being overly impressed with such simple, effective storytelling, but I guess that’s what happens when you set your expectations low.
Speaking of low expectations, how awesome is it that the 2 war maidens introduced in this episode are not obvious new entries to Tigre’s harem? They actually act like people with motivations and desires and the political (not to mention physical) power to accomplish them. Shocking from a light novel adaptation, I know. Yeah, we see them get petty over breast size like the average vapid haremette, but after seeing Sofya step in during Eleonora’s meeting with the king and Ludmila make her move at the end as an ally of Thenardier (the force that our heroes defeated last episode), I’m just as excited to learn of their story as of Tigre’s and Eleonora’s. You might even say that they’re actual characters in this show. Even Limlisha, who I expected to immediately be tsundere for Tigre, is showing just a little bit of tsuntsun and absolutely no sign of deredere. In fact, she’s acting an awful lot like a person might in her situation, working with Tigre under Eleonora’s orders but maintaining a calculated distrust for him. This is just so far beyond my expectation that I’m not sure how to handle it.
Lim’s slow reaction speed means Tigre gets to raise the flag for her route (click for stitch).
Though maybe next week after she wakes up from Tigre saving her life by sucking on her clavicle and groping her boobies, we’ll see that tsuntsun turn into deredere. And maybe she’ll perceive Titta as a rival and kill her. Gosh, one can only hope. I’d be perfectly fine with Lim turning into a tsundere moeblob if it meant this.
All I can hear when she opens her mouth is Stocking. (click for stitches)
Not sure what to make of her yet, but she sure has a couple ways of catching your attention (click for stitches).
Titta taking her status as hanger-on quite literally. Why did they have to make her also the ugliest of the female characters? She really drew the short straw.
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Grisaia no Kajitsu
You give love a bad name.
Well that was a weird episode. This week’s Fruit of the Loom focuses on Michiru. And her circumstances are a bit strange. The simplest conclusion to make is that Michiru has multiple personalities. Given the testimony from the other girls that she acts differently at times, it’s easy to think that. But somehow we’re left with the feeling that there’s really more to her than meets the eye. For one, the second time she was on the cliff with Yuuji, her eye color changed. What’s up with that? I suppose it could just be a visual effect to help us differentiate the distinct personalities. But we’re not dumb. Her mannerisms and affectations were totally different so there really was no need to resort to a visual cue.
That’s not the Michiru we know!
Now, if the VN were not voiced, I might pass this off as a byproduct from the source material attempting to convey a change in personality without the luxury of voice acting. It could be hard to tell from text alone, after all. But Grisaia was indeed voiced, so that can’t be the case. Adding on to the mystery, I’m not even sure if the Michiru we saw on the cliff the first time around was the same Michiru that we think we know from episodes past. I am speaking, of course, of the self-proclaimed tsundere. Even though there was no visual cue that first time, the usually energetic but scatterbrained girl definitely behaved differently. I don’t think any of us would have expected her character to ask about the concept of death or even muse about her final resting place coming into the episode. It’s just so out of character for her usual self.
That escalated quickly.
And while we’re on the topic of things that we don’t expect characters to do, how about that kiss? I sure wasn’t expecting one so soon into the show. It’s only been four episodes! KyoAni take note. Seriously though, it appears that Grisaia isn’t afraid to usher in developments typically reserved for some later climax in your typical romance-themed show. We’ve already seen Amane ask Yuuji to be her boyfriend, which was also unexpectedly early. So perhaps this trend of throwing heavy punches around on a whim might continue. Who knows, at this rate Yuuji might just get to home base with one of the girls before half the show is even over. No, I’m not talking about baseball, Michiru. Speaking of which, can any of the VN players tell me if the translation on this point is quite literal, or if there was some localization going on?
Michiru learns about death.
Overall, this was one of the stronger episodes of Fruit of the Loom. While it still technically qualifies as part of the “Yuuji strolls around talking to girls” routine, this time it’s almost entirely focused on Michiru so we lose some of the illusion that we are watching someone play the VN. Also, Michiru’s mystery seems the most interesting out of the rest of the girls so far. From what we’ve seen, the others appear on the surface to have personality quirks and shady histories. Meanwhile, Michiru’s got some weird multiple personality thing going on with perhaps a hint of the supernatural thrown in the mix. Definitely adds a dash of spice to the mix.
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Tags: grisaia, madan_anime, ore_twi
About Tag Team
We live, laugh, enjoy and strictly believe on "more the merrier". When together, we usually come up with very chatty, conversation-based episodics and interesting posts.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
NOOOO!!!!! My kuroneko!!!
As for TwinTails… it’s so bad that its good. Taking the piss out of every known otaku trope. Much like why I liked NGNL: takes the piss out of your tropes.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
May that poor cat rest in peace…
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Geez I just watched that today! I am the lion of sad…
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
Twintails: It’s a bit refreshing to see Aika beat up Twoearle instead of Souji. It’s always the harem MC who gets pummeled whenever a girl flirts with them so this is something new.
There’s really not much to explore on Souji’s girl form so I can’t blame him for going for the twintails.
And Aika was already quite flat but her TailBlue form seems to make her flatter. I can imagine her getting mad when Yellow gets to join them knowing how her transformation goes.
Vanadis: Not quite satisfied with Mila’s voice but I like Sofie’s.
Tigre going to find some allies actually took a week or two. They actually had to do a bit of bandit subjugation before they got Augre’s cooperation but that was cut out which was not a surprise. There was actually a hot spring segment before they got ambushed but I guess they’ll save that for the Vanadi-chu specials.
This was still pretty rushed but they still managed to cover the important points so not complaining much.
Grisaia: In one fell swoop, this episode turned off most of the VN readers and destroying their faith in the show. You could say they were…crushed into 8 bits *badum tss*
This is actually the Michiru route already, super compressed and skipping several events. The eye color change is just in the anime to differentiate between the two. In the VN, there’s no eye color change in Michiru’s sprite when the other Michiru appears. So the one in the cliff at first was definitely the tsundere Michiru. Her attitude there plus this other Michiru will hopefully get covered properly next episode.
The VN translation actually takes some liberties in localization as well with some of them being too liberal. The translation there used ‘first base’ to refer to the kiss. I’ll have to get back if the Japanese there was the same as the one used in the anime.
With that said, the agenda now seems to be to cover every route in 2 episodes per girl based on the title next episode and the remaining episodes. I’m not sure if they’ll do a reset like in Yosuga no Sora or if they’ll make it continuous. Either way, it’s not like I didn’t expect this so I’m not that disappointed or angry about it. The order in which they’ll get covered is the question, though I bet Yumiko will be saved for last.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
So 8 bit chose the “make everyone unhappy by trying to please everyone” route, eh? Sounds like time to abandon ship.
More seriously though, this episode of Grisaia was almost all of Michiru’s route? I guess that would explain why it felt like so much more happened here in comparison to the previous eps.
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
The first parts were still the common route but it went to Michiru route when the ‘other’ Michiru kissed Yuuji. There’s a big chunk of stuff cut out from when Yuuji tried to kiss Michiru back to the cat dying, in which they bonded together along with the cat.
And Yuuji actually managed to kiss Michiru in that second time so I dunno why they didn’t go with it.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Oh were we supposed to feel more attached to the cat? I thought it was just a vehicle to advance some plot element about Michiru and her spiel on death and burial.
As an anime only viewer with no preconception of the VN routes, this episode actually makes the show look better than before. Again, mainly because stuff that’s interesting actually happens. Now that I am aware of the potential pacing problems and cutting of material, I am somewhat more concerned. However, I will reserve judgement for when I’ve actually seen how all the other routes pan out.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
My kitty!!!
Seriously, you cannot go down the do all girls route in a short span of time. Unless you rewrite the whole story. Even Shuffle! used 26 episodes to cover all 5 girls. To me, Grisaia is trying to go for the fanservice route instead of doing story.
POWUH: 700-799 and Parkouring Fanboy with 776 comments
Whoa, they skipped over a hot springs scene? Now that’s going too far with the cuts! The Vanadichu specials haven’t exactly had the art to do such a scene justice.
I find the size transformations in Twintails peculiar. Souji has to change obviously because he’s a boy, but Aika and the blonde girl have no reason to, yet their bodies do seem to transform, according to the ED. I find it notable how the height orders completely reverse. Wonder if there’s any meaning to these changes.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
I cannot say why because I made an unwritten promise not to use certain words for a week so…
Twintails is fetish fuel. It is also tropes fetish. Inside every grown man, there is a little girl inside of them. It is basically the reversal of the LOLi-teamkireicensorship- roles. This is how I explain his/her transformation.
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
I was wrong about the hot springs part. Seems like they’ll put it in the next episode according to the preview. I thought for sure they’d skip it as it did happen before the ambush.
So yeah, prepare for some naked service especially from Mila.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Vanadis LN details:
Show ▼
PS. I wonder if the Vanadis ever feel cold dressed like that.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Show ▼
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
The law of anime/manga armour: The less armour you wear, the lower your AC. I still use the old edition rules of AD&D where lower means better AC.
Therefore complete nudity has the best AC of them all if you follow this completely insane logic…
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Twintails: Maybe Souji doesn’t care for those girls hugging him because it doesn’t look like any of them are twintails. Which is taking your obsession with a particular fetish too far. Any normal guy his age would be delighted in that situation.
Vanadis: Still too damn much Titta. I’m liking that the show is exploring the political aspects of its world and the war. Just as good is that only one of the War Maidens has immediately fallen for Tigre. Who would have expected that from a show that seemed like it was going to be a harem?
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Damn it, I didn’t intend for my comment on Vanadis to be in bold italics. What’s the story on the edit function we were supposed to be getting?
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Will is working on some things. I have no ETA to give.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Twintails:
He went as far as to hide in the bathroom and transform just to touch the twintails that came with it. Clearly he needs Professional help.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
I’d say he’s completely beyond profession help. Seppuku would be the only solution… 😛
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
If it will save him from himself, then there’s no other way. 😉
POWUH: 700-799 and Parkouring Fanboy with 776 comments
See, it would be one thing if he sought out those groupies of his who do have twintails. Maybe attempt to set up some twintail harem using them. That would be funny. But he’s just turning into straight up chaste dude with his fetish largely absent when he’s acting that way.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Ore, Twintails ni Narimasu: It’s an unusal feeling knowing the target of a tsundere’s frequent all-out abuse isn’t the lead male. Actually, the lead here isn’t much of a pervert to warrant it. He just has an otherwise unhealthy complex.
Souji is too faithful to his fetish! If it’s that easy to incapacitate him, he’ll have a lot of trouble down the road. About time Tail Blue took the stage. Did anyone else facepalm at unfair it was that she got the opposite reaction from people based on her intentions ? Honestly…
That holds some truth regarding society’s priorities. They’d sooner suck up on things about celebrities and gossip than wars and terrorists. At least Souji isn’t a media whore indulging them.
LOL. Is it that surprising? The Japanese are probably the boldest people in the Entertainment industry. They’re not afraid to push the enveloppe. Don’t forget. Grisaia no Kajitsu’s last episode had one of the girls actually pleasing herself while laying on the main guy’s bed, getting high on his scent off of his clothes. If that’s not lewd, I don’t know what is.
So far, so good. The series continues to be fun and absurd to watch.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Grisaia no Kajitsu: That was leading by the nose. I didn’t know what to think of Michiru within the first few minutes. “Acting differently” is putting it mildly. First, my assumptions were she was continuing her “acting” as she said a couple episodes back. Then later with multiple personalities because of her change in speech. That theory won and they made sure to hammer it in with the change in eye color.
That may be a progressive trait. Something that’s happening only recently. I think it was necessary to prove beyond a doubt there’s more than one consciousness inhabiting the body. Looking them in the eye, you’d know who you’re talking to. Easy identification. Now that the circumstances are clear enough, what is there to figure out is how Yuuji progresses with her from here. Plus, it’s clear she’s not aware of her disposition. I’m wondering if the other Michiru will have to be addressed with a different name.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
Grisaia no Kajitsu
How many times did anime kill cats this year? Is this the third? Damn, STOP IT! YOU DON’T KILL CATS! NO ONE SEES WHEN CAT DIES, OK? NO ONE!
These guys… They are just messing with my cat lover mind i.i Guh…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Were animal deaths that frequent this year in anime? Huh, I never stopped to give that any thought.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
The poor kitty in Rurumo. T_T The best and most touching episode of the series. T_T
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
And there was the pseudo-death from the fire cat of Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance, but two episodes later they just revived it. Still, they killed it for one episode. And they made drama with it.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It was unacceptable for even one episode, huh?
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Madan no Ou to Vanadis:
Maouyuu Maou Yuusha had similar surprising traits and it went along nicely. Sometimes it’s good to see a series that isn’t always exactly as it appeared to be.
If someone had to ask me which is the worst period for politics, medieval times or our time, I’d go with the former. The opposition sure don’t have any qualms offing threats to maintain power. Then again, corrupt factions are nothing of surprise so even if the acts became public knowledge, about only a handful of people would be able to do anything about it.
Eleonora got away by the skin of her teeth with her “Better to seek forgiveness than ask permission” approach with the king thanks to Sofya. If Ludmila is the only remaining War Maiden needed for the cause and a reluctant ally to Thenardier, there’s one way of getting her support : Return the favor Thenardier sent for Tigre and get rid of him. Hey, there’s no such thing as a war without casualties. Two can play that game.
The way Tigre went to save Lim from the snake poison and the posture he took was suggestive. There’s about a thousand possibilties in my head as to what that would look like. 😉
I don’t think Titta’s ugly. She’s plain looking but not eye candy material.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
She’s ugly because contrary to what her name might suggest, she’s got no titties.
In all seriousness though, I agree. She’s just plain (and flatter) in comparison to the other girls. But this is a show in which someone like Ludmila is mocked for being flat when in real life her bust would be nothing to dismiss. So anything goes.
POWUH: 700-799 and Parkouring Fanboy with 776 comments
It’s Titta’s hair that primarily gets me. I’ve no problem with twin tails, but the kind she’s got, with that volume and length, not to mention those hideous bangs… just really off-putting.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Just pretend she has a pair of turkey legs stuck to the back of her head or something lol.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
That’s just too absurd to imagine! 😀
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
It’s not Titta’s appearance that I don’t like. It’s her personality. God, is she an awful character. Maybe if Tigre gave her the good screwing she so obviously wants from him she’d be less annoying. But this isn’t hentai so it’s not going to happen.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Hmm.. I don’t find so bad. If there’s anything to reproach in my book, it’s her clinginess.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
And it’s her extreme clinginess that makes her so bad.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It would be worse to tolerate if she was blood related to him.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
I decided to look for some of the LN illustrations, and came across this:
https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/images/3/38/Vanadis_V02_-_004.jpg
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Whoa, it’s even raunchier than I thought. So they were playing it safe with the anime. Tsk!
Cowards!As for one of the possibilities in head, here’s a hint: What’s my title? I’ll get back to you with the other 999.
POWUH: 700-799 and Parkouring Fanboy with 776 comments
So looks like in the book the snake got her closer to the nipple than to the collarbone, AND Lim’s top got ripped during the battle? Shame on you, Satelight for making a mockery with this adaptation. Shame on you.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I curse them tenfold for this insult!!