Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry – 02
Well, this one’s an openly recognized harem, isn’t it!
I can’t resist the allure of the harem, apparently. And after last week’s impressive premiere and this week’s continuation, I thought I’d go ahead and keep covering this show. So how was the follow-up?
Back to School Time
Yuri-chan is almost at her limit…
It’s the beginning of the school year, the thing that brought Stella to the school in the first place. And that brings some new story setup, helpfully provided by new teacher “Yuri-chan”, who apparently left her death bed to be at homeroom. She was a nice little diversion to help introduce the concept of the school, and give some information about the changes, where now the school will have a head to head tournament to determine the school’s representatives for the Seven Star Battle Festival, instead of selection by the whim of the school administration. Not only that, but the schedule of “a match every three days” is tailor-made for Ikki to use his ability that needs a day of recovery. Yuri-chan manages to get this out before coughing up blood, which seems like it’ll be her character trait. I imagine we won’t see a whole lot of Yuri-chan, but the character provides a bit of comic relief. She’s also significant in that she’s the one who initially accepted Ikki to the school, even though things didn’t go so well from there.
Kagami gets bold
Shizuku gets Extra Bold!
The other back to school things that the show gives us is new students. And a couple of them already have their eyes on Ikki. First is the fluffy-haired megane girl Kagami Kusakabe, who was in the background of one of the shots of the audience at Stella and Ikki’s match (and I figured that she’d be an important character). She’s not the shy character you might have expected from the type, instead hanging on him, making a scene, and talking about her plans to make him the feature of her new newspaper club. But no sooner has Ikki gotten away from her (trying to placate Stella) than his little sister Shizuku shows up with a special greeting and a promise of more. Not that Ikki’s interested in his sister; this is completely one-sided bro-conning. But it still gets Stella’s hackles up (following right on her being irritated about Kagami) and leads to a fight… and then punishment for the two of them, cleaning all the bathrooms in the school. But the slightly-cooled argument between the two of them is pretty funny with their argument about breast size.
“Broken and flat water pillow!” “Overinflated sex doll!”
Getting the Backstory Out of the Way
These two have a good rapport from the beginning
The other thing that Shizuku’s argument with Stella leads to is her learning that he was treated as if he didn’t exist by his family. And here is where, once again, Rakudai Kishi feels like it separates itself from the pack of similar shows. Instead of brooding about it, or letting some half-knowledge of Ikki’s circumstances change the way she acts around him, she asks him directly at the very first opportunity, even though maybe she meant to be a little more indirect. And Ikki responds not with averring, or acting embarrassed, but by saying “I wanted to talk to you about that, is now a good time?” And while it’s not a big secret, and Ikki is no longer embarrassed by his past, it’s still a sign of the growth of their relationship that he’s opening up to her about it. And it resonates enough with Stella, who has a similar resolve to make herself strong.
Everyone’s got a new roommate
Concurrently, we get more from Shizuku’s viewpoint, the person who saw the injustices visited upon Ikki and didn’t like it, and was inspired by his response to it. We hear her version as she’s telling her new roommate, Nagi Arisuin. “Alice” is a bit of a weird duck in what we see so far, calmly waiting for his roommate to arrive, and then listening quietly to someone who is effectively a stranger. Alice is hard to get a read on from the little we see of him, he could go either way, and I mean that in both ways. There’s a little bit of wonder if he’s really a he, being thin and quiet and wearing a blousy shirt. But also the either way could be “good guy” or “bad guy”. I’m hoping that he’ll be a good guy, and even be someone who could end up special for Shizuku. Just cause I think that would be nice.
Bonus Bare Essentials (NSFW)…
This show really covered a lot of story and backstory without bogging down. It introduced the two new girls after Ikki, did the heavy lifting as to why Ikki is a ‘failure’, and brought Stella and Ikki closer together in multiple ways. But what I think I liked the most was Stella’s resolve to act on the things she wants, and to admit to herself and to Ikki. Like she actually says out loud that she wants to have the indirect kiss with Ikki, and then she also decides that she’s going to join him in the bath. She even has the guts to ask Ikki directly if he likes boobs, because he’s been looking at hers (and didn’t seem to mind Kagami’s). I even liked the feel of her ‘excuse’ for going in the bath. There was none of the tsun “I don’t want to do this” posturing. It was all “This is what I want to do” even if she couched it as “I’m doing it because that’s what good servants do.” It just had a more honest, more open feel, even with the oppai sponge. And that’s what I think really elevates this show.
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 10997 comments
“Trenton, New Jersey”
“East Chicago, Indiana”
I kept expecting the string of abuses to go on and on and on…
Indeed, the show really does work out better than average, and I hope they can keep up with the level they are chasing. I feel that the Big Secret was just the first of many, and the guy has a few more that have to be worked on, but will be harder than this one to get out of him.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
If they can keep those two at ‘critical rivals’ without them blowing into enemies, which is the balance they’re riding right now, I think it’ll work between Shizuku and Stella. And I also hope the show can keep this level of performance.
POWUH: iLurker with 3 comments
I am loving this show. for all the material and brevity of bringing a LOT to light right at the outset, it doesn’t feel rushed. and Shizuku’s greeting is a HELL of a lot more ero than stella in the bath, even though I’m a man who’s addicted to those garters :3
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Thanks for commenting! It certainly does get the point across without feeling rushed, but also without feeling like it’s leaving things out. And I guess to each their own – the non-consensual nature of Shizuku’s kiss really moved it into uncomfortable for me. And there was a willingness in the bath with Stella and Ikki that really sold it, much like last season’s Okusama ga Seitokaichou had a similar feeling.
POWUH: iLurker with 3 comments
I don’t think it was necessarily non-consensual, if it was the standard reaction would be for him to stop her or resist in some fashion, but here, aside from the obvious standard ‘taboo’ nature of that route I think the discomfort comes from quite sudden, and overtly passionate actions in public. It’s that discomfort from just being somewhere and the reckless woman starts getting way too friendly way too fast with someone else in your immediate view. should be interesting in either case to see how it plays out :3
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
Er… well… Show ▼
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Honestly, that’s been pretty clear from the start. It was mostly a joke about the nature of these sorts of shows.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Wasn’t expecting an Ali Project song for the ED. Together with Asterisk War’s ED, this makes 2 unusual songs for school battle anime ending themes.
Here’s the sample music video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXBTdMWZttU
Still remember them on Rozen Maiden’s OP?
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
I even liked the feel of Stella’s ‘excuse’ for going in the bath.
Stella slapping Ikki and the loose bikini scenes were anime-original. The bath scene is in the novel, but ends with Stella running away in shame from the bathroom after the boob sponge.
Stella went into the bath to find out Ikki’s sexual preferences:
Show ▼
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Without getting into Stella’s head, a device that the show hasn’t used for anyone, I think they managed to get something like that intent across. And while the bikini falling off was kinda lulzy, having a wardrobe malfunction is, I think, a better characterization than just “OMG I can’t believe I did that!” as far as justification for her getting upset. That’s the kind of scenario and directorial discretion that I think is used well.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 163 comments
I’ll admit to wishing that the author/animators treated Stella with as much respect as Ikki does, rather than exploiting her for fanservice (which – to no one’s surprise – is going to happen again). But, this is a fanservice show after all. I guess it’s silly to be griping about that kind of thing when you knew the kind of show you were watching going in.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
From an absolutist perspective, I agree with you, but I also think that a lot of it can be mitigated by how they use the situations: How they get into them, how they get out of them, what the relative responsibility is, what the reactions are. I mean, we are in a fantastical situation, not only because of the magic and swords, but because of the coed roommates, and the nature of TV as wish fulfillment. With that in mind, I think they haven’t been doing too badly on those fronts.
Of course, some of the things are a bit on the wacky side. Like why does Stella even have *that* string bikini in the first place? Although this is a girl who wears black lace bra, panties, and garter belt, so maybe she’s just that kind of daring, and it would be interesting to me if they managed to play that up in the show as she and Ikki got more comfortable with each other (something like, again, Okusama ga Seitokaichou, or Kaoru deciding to wear her 勝負パンツ (lucky panties) on her date with Junichi in Amagami SS).
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
There used to be an old adage for gentlemen and dress-sense. “Wear the most severe business suit if you must…but sport pink polka-dot boxers underneath”. TV isn’t the only place to express wish-fulfillment…
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 163 comments
Yeah, where did she get a bikini like that? It doesn’t seem like the sort of thing a princess concerned with her reputation would wear to the swimming pool. Your idea of it being one of her “private fun” items is appealing. Certainly, she meant business when she entered the shower room. Girl is head over heels for the guy, and straightforward enough to realize she wants to stake a claim, pronto.