Kakumeiki Valvrave – 03
Are you ready for some hardcore mecha soccer this week! I CAN’T WAIT!
Time for your weekly dose of epic mecha action with Valvrave! So after three episodes are you still watching this or have you dropped it forever? I am certainly having a lot of fun watching this oddball giant robot series, but anyway I am flying solo this week for the review
Secret agent L-ELF!?
L-elf-“You guys are going to get so screwed in a few minutes.” Government dude-“Yeah right.”
L-elf-“Ha! Screwed get it? Oh damn I forgot I killed them all…”
Last week it seemed to be hell for L-elf and his team because they failed to complete the mission to steal the Valvrave and L-elf himself got caught and is now held as a prisoner, but of course if you saw the episode you would know that he easily escaped without breaking a sweat. I just could not stop myself from saying WHAT THE HELL after he used a screw from a chair to bust the light above him! DAMN BRO! You are awesome. While that was an impressive escape I just have one question to ask now, what is L-elf’s master plan now? I assume he is going to strike some kind of deal with local government? I seriously can’t see him returning to the Dorssian Military after being marked as a traitor and the fact that he totally shot his friend in the face, but of course there is a possibility that he could switch sides and join up team Valvrave? Either way I am excited to see what happens next.
Space vampires are emo
Kyuuma-“Dude it says we are totally compatible Haruto!” Aina-“YAY BL TIME!”
Haruto-“Let’s be best friends forever!” Kyuuma-“EHHHHHHHHHH!” Aina-“YES DO IT!”
The legend of Haruto the space vampire continues on and apparently it was revealed that his body can regenerate after suffering any fatal wounds, but with that special power our main hero also randomly enters a blood lust mode that pushes him to attack people around him? I guess that is something that will cause him to stay away from his fiends because he doesn’t want to hurt them especially Shoko, but of course he will eventually learning to control his space vampire powers. While all of that sounds simple enough I am dreading those boring emotional episodes filled with Haruto being sad and depressed because he thinks of himself as a monster; however we have already seen hints of that happening with the last two episodes. For now I feel that his friends will stick by his side until the very end, but I don’t think that this series really going for a friendship theme anyway or are they? I guess things could turn out that way.
Extra valvrave fun
You better hold onto her tight!
Basically you have one million facebook friends that you will never meet.
I will have my fingers crossed for a random beach episode next time!
I heard girls like guys in uniforms is this true?
End thoughts
Well that was certainly a great action themed episode thanks to L-elf turning into a space secret agent and I will just label him as the “badass” character of Valvrave, because damn he used a single screw from a chair to escape the military! Oh and L-elf killed a lot of damn people this time even though those characters are fodder types anyway. This week also introduced us too the three factions found in the Valvrave universe with the Dorssia, Arus and Jior? I am curious to see what faction they label as the main villains and who wants to take bets as to who the real baddies are? I have a feeling it will be the Arus faction, because usually in anime America is marked as evil just like various church groups found in anime that usually tend to be evil in some sort of way. I am really curious to see what you have to say about that subject and was anyone else surprised that this episode managed to sneak in some fanservice provided by some shower time, but yeah we are still in world building mode for the most part.
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Preview
L-elf-“Haruto I want to become more than just internet friends.” Haruto-“……”
Valvrave held hostage?
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 10997 comments
Damn, I think L-elf is running away with the entire show.
I think my only complaint is how muddy the political waters are at the offset. Other than a basic introduction to the three factions, we get nothing. So there isn’t any tension, or hate, other than what we are told. Why do these programs tell more than show?
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It’s most likely a tactic to build speculation. They say “seeing is believing” and since there’s currently nothing to show, you can’t help but guess the situation with no definitive answer. Could you trust anything without some kind of proof?
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
L-elf for the win!
True we don’t really know much about these three factions outside of L-elf’s group of bros and since we are dealing with Sunrise, they always manage to have some kind of political theme going on in the background.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 131 comments
Yeah, I’d like to know a little more about the political climate of the current world, just showing us that the map is almost neatly transected into three tells us nothing, really. It seems too convenient that just as suddenly Dorssia decided to attack JIOR, ARUS is suddenly friends with JIOR. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” shouldn’t be the only explanation; realistically these things are more complicated than that. I hope they explain it better next time.
And I do agree, L-Elf ran away with the entire show! I can’t believe how efficient he is. Intelligent too -he had a good idea of how propaganda can be used, during the evacuation. I wonder what he means by “bring the revolution to Dorssia”. Haruto on the other hand… well, as much as I find his space-vampire tendencies to be hilarious, I don’t find him quite so interesting as a character yet. All I’ve seen him do recently is angst and do whatever he’s told to do (except for using Valvrave, which is his one big act of initiative), so I’m still waiting for him to take charge.
Other than L-Elf, I’m also liking how Rukino is for the past couple of episodes. For a celebrity/student, she picks up really quickly on situations and can form counterattacks against them (not as efficiently as L-Elf of course, but better than your average highschooler, really). A-Drei, too, I admire for not going batshit after getting shot in the eye and choosing to give L-Elf the benefit of the doubt. I really thought he was going for the Yzak route but I’m glad he took his own route. And I’m glad that we’re seeing some of the other highschoolers from the OP, I’d like to know what their roles will be in the plot.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I think you are right on with the political aspects of Valvrave! I remember ORB from SEED/DESTINY as the third party and they of course built weapons, but I will continue to think that the ARUS faction will be revealed later on as being the bad guys of Valvrave xD
L-elf is a badass character and I was like whooooaaa damn this guy is AWESOME, space vampires have feelings I think? I am also wondering what L-elf meant with “bring the revolution to Dorssia” I assume he is going to get Haruto to help him with that and who knows maybe he rigged the school to explode if Haruto doesn’t help him?
Thank god because I don’t want another lame ass Yzak story where he wants REVENGE for getting shot in the face, but I feel the same about the extra highschool characters in the opening and ending! I mean how are they used? I guess Haruto bites them? LOL
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Eh, the political thing is one of the things that I find eye-rollingly hackneyed. It’s a 1970’s James Bond movie plot warmed over, with the Russians vs. the US, told from the perspective of the plucky independent Japanese who don’t want to be miltarily dominated by the Russians or economically dominated by the US.
Meanwhile, I’m watching this feeling like Scott Evil. When you catch the “One-Man Army” who destroyed a force of 5000 by himself, what do you do? You shoot him! “I’ve got a gun in my room, I’ll go get it, we can do it together. It’ll be fun!” Then you say he was trying to escape. You don’t tie him up with ropes, and then all stand around in a little room. “What, you’re feeding him?”
I actually liked this episode more than the previous one, but to me it still seems like this show is trying to play this all straight. It’s not making fun of itself, and it’s just not ludicrous enough to pull it off.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Ahhh! Yeah most of it does make me roll my eyes as well and yes it is used a whole lot in anime especially in most Sunrise anime just like Gundam 00.
ROFL YES Scott evil ahahaha
This episode wasn’t as over the top as much; however all the stuff with L-elf was a bit CRAZY >.>
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 107 comments
There’s no fourth choice for me to pick that says all three are evil.
Being depressed is natural for Haruto. He did sell his humanity to get vengeance and then it turns out she’s alive, meaning he became a monster for nothing. Meanwhile, L-elf seems to have some OCD where he plans all of this out perfectly just to be behind Haruto at the end.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Maybe I should have added an all evil option? Greatest idea ever.
Yep! Being a main hero character in a sunrise mecha series automatically calls for some level of depression right? Also L-elf is awesome with his sneaky skills just like Misaka from Railgun S!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
For now, Dorssian is looking good for the baddie role. Even L-Elf’s proposition is indicating it. There’s no definitive way to determine who’s bad right now because we don’t know what’s motivating each side and they all probably think what they’re doing is the right thing. Assassins and Templar similarity, anyone?
Haruto may be self loathing but he’s mentally stronger than Guilty Crown’s because he isn’t in despair to the point that he breaks down in tears. And he doesn’t whimper at every turn. Compared to L-Elf, he’s the more dangerous one because his new power is unpredictable and it’s needed to reflect off L-Elf as an opposite because he’s in full control of himself. A perfect example of Yin and Yang.
“You attacked him like a vampire!”. Saki’s one sentence summed up the feel of that entire scene. It certainly had me smiling for a bit. Not to mention that for a second Haruto had fangs. Yay, blood lust mode! It seems if he suufers any kind of wound, so much as a cut, Haruto goes feral like a starving beast. It was body swapping when he bit L-Elf but I’m curious to see what happens if he bites a girl instead and if those who have been bitten get infected and not know it.
I’m not putting any in faith in the masses praising Haruto who they previously treated as a misfit. They’re being grateful now because he saved them but if the truth about what he is ever gets out or if he can’t save them all again, they’ll turn on him. In spite of everything he’s done for them, eventually they’ll hate him. To me, they’re hypocrites who have yet to reveal their true selves and are doing what’s convenient for them. The exceptions are Haruto’s friends.
L-Elf’s escape and take down of the army was a show stealer but after a while, it feels over the top. No operative no matter how talented can achieve such a feat without getting so much as a single wound. Personally, I would have killed him the minute I heard his name and thought of his reputation. It’s a hazard leaving dangerous things/people alive.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I’m sure the ARUS would have outright killed him if they 1) Didn’t underestimate him. (They state they never knew he was so young, so that might have effected their judgement.) and 2) They state they are going by the New Guinea Treaty, which I guess is this world’s version of the Geneva Convention laws about the treatment of POWs. So, they were going by the book there.
I too had bad vibes as everyone began praising Haruto, you can’t build someone like that into a savior without eventually being let down. They’re putting Haruto on a pedestal even though he’s still human and will one day make a mistake.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
OMG, what is with this show?! Every time I think it’s going one way, it goes another.
We get some backstory on Dorssia, JIOR, and the ARUS, which are basically, with the exception of JIOR, the Axis and the Allies. We see that ARUS has saved module 77 of the JIOR nation since JIOR is an ally of the ARUS (but if they’re allies, how are they neutral? That means they’re are in an alliance with ARUS. No more neutral. You can’t have it both ways Japan!) and they are evacuating the place. It seems that while Dorssia did retreat, they are definitely going to be coming back in force and the ARUS knows this. The ARUS squad isn’t big enough to take on an entire Dorssia fleet, so they are evacuating as many as they can and then making a hasty retreat before Dorssia returns.
However, while doing this, they learn the identity of L-11, and they treat him as a POW and take extra special care. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. L-11 it seems is known as the “one-man army” able to take out thousands of troops singlehandedly and he definitely lives up to his name. L-11 is one of the coolest characters in this, and he doesn’t pull any punches. I mean, cutting a guy’s neck with a shard of glass? Brutal.
L-11 could seriously give Red from Gargantia a run for his money. Last week, someone on a forum called Red an “inhuman machine” soldier. L-11 is WAY worse than anything Red has done. He literally seems to think like a walking machine/computer. Stating his plan in stages to himself, analyzing everything down to the last variable. Empowering himself with indoctrination slogans of the fatherland. I’m really starting to doubt anything could cut through his ice-cold heart.
And yet, we see here that L-11 and A-3 were and are friends, as despite his tirades last episode, A-3 still believes in L-11. That’s an interesting twist from the usual. I hope to see where that goes. A-3 might actually be our “Athrun” for this series rather than our “Yzak”.
I love L-11’s assault on the colony and how he took down the ARUS military. And why is it every time there’s a US-in-everything-but-name military in an anime, none of them can shoot? First The Unlimited from last season and now this?! Why are all the US military trained at the Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy? They shoot tons of bullets but they do nothing?
We also get to see Haruto’s vampire side again. And I think we actually see fangs this time! What’s up with that? Was it the act of Haruto cutting his finger and the smell of blood that brought it out? And he only seems to attack guys so far o_o. What’s up with that?
We also learn little things like, Akira, the redhead hacker, is the little sister of the prissy-boy class president. And L-11 must have the power to see the future or something because he was able to stand right behind Haruto at exactly 3:14. Is he a precog, or simply have the genius mind of Lelouch with Suzaku’s fighting skills? And what did he mean by revolution in Dorssia? To what end does he want to work with Haruto? And now that that last evacuation team can’t leave and the students along with Senator Figaro are stranded, what does this mean? What’s going on? What’s L-11’s plan? What’s his team’s plan?
This episode just seems to garner more questions! And I am loving every minute of it!
I don’t know but a lot of the other students just seem like excess baggage and are just background. For instance, the school gang thug guy who happens to look like the resurrected Kuwabara from Yu Yu Hakusho, why is he even in this? He added nothing and made no sense. And did L-11 just kill him? L-11 has yet to simply knock somebody out, so I’m going to say, yes.
As for good and bad sides, most mecha war shows like to color both sides a shade of grey with both sides being good and bad to a degree. Or sometimes having all the sides be evil and only the main characters and those who agree with their POV as the good guys (eg. Gundam Wing, Gundam SEED). There have only been a few series where the villains have pretty much stayed consistent (e.g. Code Geass, Gundam 0079) where while all sides do tend to do questionable things, one side is just so evil that it’s obvious that they are almost entirely black, making all other factions practically white in comparison. As of right now, Valvrave has that feel.
So far I see no grey shades yet and it seems very cut and dry, black and white. So, the ARUS used Haruto to help motivate the students and boost moral around the world. It’s no different from what the Allied Forces did in WW2. The ARUS have yet to show any sort of bad side. They helped out JIOR who was their ally, and are evacuating the citizens from a now dangerous zone. The ARUS is not trying to take over JIOR, they are responding to their call for reinforcements they made in episode 1 before Dorssia blew up their command center, and now are trying to get the refugees out.
So far, the ARUS has been a vague presence thus far, not really doing much of anything. Unlike some mech series like Gundam SEED, which introduced main and supporting cast for all three sides in the war in the first episode, and thus letting us see all three sides so we could find out more about them, Valvrave only has main characters from JIOR and Dorssia. ARUS didn’t even come into the picture until last episode and they’re really just background. Dorssia on the other hand, has let you know they’re the bad guys. They forcibly tried to concur a nation and deport and/or kill its people, just because it’s “stronger”. It showed its colors in the first episode.
I’m not saying that this show won’t eventually get darker and show both sides to be grey. But right now, the lines are pretty clear.
I am enjoying this series immensely and I love being surprised on every episode.
I do have some crazy theories for later episodes though:
-Saki is not all she cracks up to be and maybe working undercover for Dorssia.
-L-elf might be related to the leadership of Dorssia, but for some unknown reason he was disowned by them.
-L-elf will propose (order) that he and Haruto switch bodies long-term in order to liberate Dorssia. Haruto in L-elf’s body will return to Dorssia and begin to take the place down from within, while L-elf in Haruto’s body, pilots Valvrave, leading JIOR and the ARUS against Dorssia from the outside.
Well, that’s just some ideas. I am highly anticipating the next episode and all the over the top twists it brings. Until next time:
Blitzendegen!
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I know right? I totally agree Valvrave is so freaking CRAZY right now!
L-elf is an odd character and when he started to predict the future of events I was shocked! Like what the hell? HOW DID HE KNOW? If he is a precog I would laugh my ass off because that would be very helpful in a mecha battle, but in the end he is a badass dude that kills people without asking any question or giving them time to strike back.
As for Haruto’s unique power I guess the smell or sight of blood sets off his space vampire mode somehow? I still think of it as a blood lust thing because he went CRAZY trying to bite his friend, but hey whatever the regenerating powers are a plus right? I would love that xD
Interesting ideas right there especially these two
-Saki is not all she cracks up to be and maybe working undercover for Dorssia.
and
L-elf will propose (order) that he and Haruto switch bodies long-term in order to liberate Dorssia. Haruto in L-elf’s body will return to Dorssia and begin to take the place down from within, while L-elf in Haruto’s body, pilots Valvrave, leading JIOR and the ARUS against Dorssia from the outside.
Sorry I took so long to reply, but as always thanks for your amazing comment <3
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
I’m guessing Haruto needs blood/body switching everytime he heals? It did happen after he had his finger cut… However he was able to get slapped out of it so maybe it is the severity of the injury that affects how much he goes into that “blood lust” trance too?
And dang L-elf is a boss. He broke out and predicted the exact time he would see Haruto again.
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
So everytime he bleeds, he gets all horny and bites someone?
Makes sense.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
@liza: Yeah I assume that is the case here as well? Haruto did bite L-elf afterwards didn’t he and hell ya! L-elf is a total badass.
@belatkuro: That sounds like something Anaaga would say so I approve xD
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Well, it would definitely fit. Other than for food, vampires need a certain amount of blood to heal their wounds. The more severe the wound is, the bigger the blood intake would have to be. But I was shocked that Haruto looked that desperate from just a little cut. He must be hypersensitive.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I think seeing and smelling the blood might set off Haruto’s space vampire powers xD
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
That too is a common trait of vampires. I hope that they explain soon what the Valvrave is and why they thought it smart to make its pilot into an immortal inhuman creature that at the smell of blood with instantly go for the jugular.
Unfortunately, this means Haruto won’t do well in a hospital or on the battlefield.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
He’s preety close to being a true vampire. So why not get close as possible to it with the characteristics?
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
I’m just glad they didn’t make the character a LOLi. Or this war would never end, eh, BB?
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
At least he doesn’t sparkle in the sunlight or has sunlight problems in general(does this count since they’re in outer space? 0_o)
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Space is considered darkness. So I don’t think there should be any exceptions.