IS: Infinite Stratos – 04 & 05

Whoever thought to put fighting robots together with girls was a genius.

As you may have noticed, I was a little late with Infinite Stratos 4, we had a few mishaps in preparation for… things. Things that we shall not speak of until a later date. But for now, let’s head back to the work of IS, where the past two episodes have been nothing short of, well, interesting. We had a speck of actual story and progression, so I wonder if the show will begin to speed up?

As episode 4 begins, we’re thrust straight into the battle between Ichika and Rin, right where episode 3 left off. They duke it out quite gloriously but unfortunately, and quite predictably, Ichika becomes the lesser of the opponents. He’s beaten down quite a bit but fortunately, he begins to remember training from Chifuyu. He begins to try more advanced tactics against Rin, catching her off guard and such. The battle rages on and just before the final blow, a massive explosion rocks the stadium and bursts through the protective shields, forming a giant crater in the middle. Chifuyu yells at the two to fall back, locking the stadium down. They begin to comply, that is until something from the smoke and fire locks on to Ichika.

An IS burst through the stadium barrier and begins to attack both Ichika and Rin. They fight back, unable to get support from any of the teachers. Turns out the IS that burst into the stadium also hacked into the ‘System’ (what the hell else am I going to call it?) and put the entire stadium on lockdown, allowing no one to go nowhere. As Ichika and Rin try to stay alive, Ichika notices something about the IS and how its movements look robotic, precise and how it doesn’t attack when the two are talking. from this he decides to alright to use full force against it, as there is no one piloting the thing.

The stadium is finally evacuated and Ichika and Rin try one last attack against the IS. Rin blasts Ichika forward with her superduper power cannons, charging up Ichika’s IS. He slices through the arm of the unmanned IS, spraying the arena with robot blood. Just as he thinks he’s won, the IS gets back back, knocks Ichika down and attempts to destroy him. That is until Alcott snipes the IS through the face, knocking it down once again. They all celebrate until the IS gets up again and blasts Ichika. He spins around, holds his robot arm up and attempts to deflect the blast while charging towards it with his sword at the ready. Then I assume he blacks out because he’s not a man.

He wakes up in hospital with Rin watching over him. He wonders whether the promise she made with him actually had a deeper meaning and she’s all like ‘Naaaaa’. Alcott and Houki turn up and freak out, and they all start fighting over him. Down in some creepy underground lab, Chifuyu and Yamada analyze the now ‘dead’ unmanned IS. Yamada claims that the IS core used in the machine isn’t one of the registered 467 cores. Chifuyu looks thoughtful. Audience gasps. Episode 5 commences.

We forget any sort of battle with giant robots for a while and travel to one of Ichika’s friends house. He’s off campus for a while and decided to visit. He friend looks like a badass, and when his sister comes in, she’s a little shocked that her brother didn’t tell her that Ichika was there, because she obviously likes him (the lucky bastard…). But then again, he’s oblivious to everything and his friend even mocks him. When he returns back to IS Academy (that is the name, right?) Yamada comes to explain that Houki will be moving to her own room and Ichika will receive a new room-mate. As Houki leaves the room, she makes him promise something. If she wins the Grade Level Tournament, Ichika has to go out with him. Good on ya, Houki! You tell him!

However, someone over hears and the rumor spirals out of control. It’s turned into, whoever wins the Grade Level Tournament will date Ichika, so it’s nice for him, but not Houki. When class starts Yamada introduces a new transfer student, Charles Dunois from France. Another male. And all the girls orgasm over him (not literally). He introduces himself to Ichika just as the girls begin to change for IS class. Ichika and Charles rush out of the class room (hand-in-hand :3) and Ichika explains that they have to change away from the girls. Suddenly they’re attacked in the hallway by every single girl in the school and they make a quick getaway.

They finally arrive in what I assume is their changing room and Ichika begins to strip off, causing Charles to become totally embarrassed. He tells Ichika not to look his way while changing, and then changes super-fast. He also reveals that his father owns a big French IS factory, that make, well IS. And Ichika talks about his penis. Seriously. Out on the field Chifuyu tells the class that they will be watching a demonstration of an IS battle. She calls on Rin and Alcott. Thinking they will be fighting each other, Chifuyu proves them wrong and calls on Yamada. She flies in on an older generation IS and crash lands into Ichika, allowing him a little grope.

Rin and Alcott go up against Yamada expecting to win. Unfortunately, they get their asses handed to them. They learn that Yamada used to be Japan’s IS representative and she can still kick ass to this day. Chifuyu then instructs everyone to pair up with a personalized IS owner so they can be instructed to try an IS. During this instructing of IS usage, Ichika just happens to help Houki into her IS by carrying her in his IS, super-prince style (sounds dirty). She asks Ichika if he wants to have lunch with her on the roof that day and he agrees.

Though he’s a bit of a dick and it seems everyone else comes along as well, cock blocking Houki. Because Ichika is a lucky bastard, everyone wants to feed him food. Alcott tries to feed him some of her traditional English sandwiches (which seem pretty horrible), Houki had made him a bentou and Rin made her special sweet and sour pork. It seems like Ichika is going to die of obesity. In class the next day, another transfer student is introduced (and don’t worry, she’s awesome). She introduces herself as Laura Bodewig from Germany. Suddenly she notices Ichika, walks up to him and slaps his across the face, saying that she’ll never except him as Chifuyu’s sister. Do I sense some history?

End Thoughts

“So THAT’S what that button does. Whoops…”

What’s the next step after Super Saiyan? Infinite Saiyan. You heard it here first.

Excuse me, but please do your pants up.

Apparently this is what happens when you say something about a penis around Charles.

No words, Ichika. No words.

I have to admit, the slight addition of story in episode 4 really intrigued me. The unmanned IS was a total badass and Ichika actually turned into a bit of a badass as well. Then again, a lot of the badassery came from the interesting animation choices. It also showed us that even Chifuyu, the badass woman that she is, sometimes worries about her little brother. Ichika also proves that he can actually pilot an IS pretty well, as he was smart enough to use Rin’s Energy Cannon to charge his suit back up and turn him super-saiyan.

Also, this show has some awesomely designed chicks. Ichika’s friend’s sister looked like a badass (she had cool hair) and then this new Laura Bodewig has awesome hair and an eyepatch. Can you get any cooler than that? I don’t think you can. And who else thinks Charles is actually a girl? Because he seems waaaaaay too feminine. Like, I know that’s who his character is supposed to be, but it’s waaay too suspicious. Or he’s just gay. Very gay. And even Yamada is into Ichika? Does that classify as cougar?

If they start to bring in the story now, and stay focused on it, I’ll be very pleased. They are dawdling with introducing characters for too many episodes. Half the series had already passed and we have only had a hint of story. Hopefully Laura is the last character to be introduced and her connection with Chifuyu will bring all the metaphorical pieces of the puzzle together. I hope they fit.

“My Roommate is a Blonde Haired Gentleman”? Really? The preview didn’t help, so why the hell should the title help me? Stupid anime…