Strike the Blood – 06
From weapon to maid. By anime standards, this is probably a promotion.
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Once again, it’s a shame that I wasn’t taking my Shakespeare analysis course last year while blogging Zetsuen no Tempest. I put off writing this post for a thesis paper on the Tempest (as opposed to the other way around, which is how it normally works). …Maybe I could have multitasked and felt like I was being really productive. Oh well. |
I… really don’t have a comment about Sayaka’s character yet. She exists and seems to hate Kojou. Let’s see if her character develops anywhere, or if she’s just another plot device to show us how great Yukina is. I should have seen this coming though. No, not the addition to Kojou’s harem (I kind of saw that one coming, though that caption in the last episode was more of a joke than anything). I mean the fact that Sayaka is overly attached to Yukina. …I guess my BL detector is more sensitive than my GL one. This is good since it’s not the organization messing with Yukina more than they already are, but once again, it looks like Kojou has gained another abuse partner. Sure he’s got a harem in the making, but they all seem to like taking out their anger on him (whether he deserves it or not). Admittedly, Yukina’s only tsun some of the time and she usually has a valid reason, and I don’t think Asagi has ever hit him or anything, but still. It feels like Kojou gets more anger directed towards him than he deserves, and Sayaka isn’t adding anything new to that formula other than being a hindrance so far. At least Vatler has a thing for him. …Which probably isn’t a consolation.
Though Kojou’s obliviousness level seems to rise and fall with each episode’s whims. I’m just going to attribute this to that disease that seems to affect almost every harem protagonist. You know, the one that makes them all stupid (Harutora from Tokyo Ravens and Ichika from Infinite Stratos seem to be affected this very season).
This is how doujin get inspired.
I’m surprised with the fact that Vatler isn’t as much of a straightforward antagonist as I had assumed he would be. No, I’m not going to even bother with his first name anymore unless I see it somewhere officially. Now that I think of it though, a lot of him seeming like a villain was the fact that Sayaka seemed rather hostile (well that, and the fact that every scene with him thus far has him overlooking the city, much like any other anime villain would do). It’s a nice mix this way, since he’s not totally a friend and not totally an enemy, but somewhere in between. …Or maybe he’ll be more of an enemy later, since he seems to have absorbed/devoured/whatever’d vampires before (…by the way, since when has that been a thing? Though I guess that’s what happened with Avrora and Kojou). If Vatler really believes that Kojou absorbing Avora equals him being her, then maybe he might want Avrora to himself later using some borderline yandere logic. He’d be formidable too, since he seems to be pretty clever and/or manipulative. That discussion where Yukina offered to go after Christoff, Vatler only ever implied things, you totally could see his real intentions, and he still managed to get what he wanted out of it without having to lift a finger. And if it hadn’t been Yukina being cornered into doing it, Kojou would have felt obligated.
Anyone want to bet on if this weapon’s inevitable appearance will be CGI animated or not?
But for now, we have the Black Death Emperor Faction (…this anime and it’s organization titles) and Christof Gardos. Demented priests, and now terrorists. Itogami just can’t catch a break. Or at least they need better security, since these people seem to be able to just walk right in. Though I guess they touched on that, so once again the author proves that he’s at least aware of how these plot conveniences seem, but damn it all, the story is going to have them anyways.
LOL romantic misunderstandings. I should give Yukina more credit. From that conversation about blood drinking, Yukina may be more forward than I thought. On the other hand, Asagi is still trying her best, which is… something. Maybe with Yaze’s interference, she’ll become more plot relevant. This seems like this would be the arc for that, since she seems more involved with the plot than she knows, since I assume the BDEF is either having her translate things for them, or have the intentions of having her translate for them. (Silly Natsuki, assuring Kojou that nobody can decipher the secret behind the Nalakuvera. What the experts fail to do in anime, a teenager is always ready to outshine them on every level.)…Plus there’s the ending with her walking in on the middle of a battle. That’s going to be hard to explain away, and while she’s a little behind on the plot, Asagi isn’t stupid. As for someone who is in on the plot though, Yaze definitely seems to want Asagi to be involved with Kojou for some undisclosed reason. He’s giving away an awful lot of information and keeping a closer eyes on things that you’d expect from someone who was doing this for fun. …Or maybe he just has a lot of free time.
Okay, fine. Asagi was kind of adorable this episode. …But she still seems like an unnecessary add-on right now, since the first 5 episodes have been pushing Yukina and Kojou as the ultimate OTP. Though Asagi did have some fan service this episode and Yukina had none, so maybe the tides are changing. Vatler was a nice change though, and not just for the surprise twist in relationship dynamics. This anime has been rather predictable, so having him manipulate Yukina into taking care of him problems was interesting. He’s obviously used to getting his way, and the plot could do a lot with his character from now on, since he’s kind of in a grey area as far as Kojou is concerned. Actually, this goes for the Lion King Organization as well. I don’t think I’ve ever said this directly, but the politics and power balances in this series hold a lot of interest for me. I hope they do more with that aspect.
But first, let’s see what they plan on doing with Asagi, since she seems more relevant this arc.
About Karakuri
University student and the one at Metanorn who's known for wearing glasses. Likes blood, insanity and plot twists, but also plays otome games and adores cute romance anime. It balances out... somehow.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
I’m seeing that in these 2 current arcs, the antagonists only came to Itogami because of some kind of illegal shenanigans Itogami’s corporate bodies have been doing.
1)Itogami Island admin illegally holds onto a stolen Christian relic for structural stability, prompting the Combat Deacon to retake it by force.
2)Kanou Alchemicals smuggles the Nalakuvera to Itogami for their own private research. An insider(the demon-morph researcher from ep 5) leaks details to the Black Death, prompting its members to come to claim it.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 139 comments
You know, that’s really good point. Why the hell are these things here anyway? Is it just a mere happenstance that what seem like questionable items are just lying here on the island? Perhaps the real purpose of Itogami island isn’t just a research habitat and residential location.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Just look at Academy City in Indexverse. If anything, it will be a surprise if there isn’t any big conspiracy behind the island.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
…Now that you mention that, it makes me think about how we’ve never actually seen the people who run the island.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
I’m expecting a Aleister-like figure running the island.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Yeah. At this point,
I wouldn’t expect Itogami to be run by anyone else other than an upside-down man in a tubeI’m expecting the same.POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
‘…the politics and power balances in this series hold a lot of interest for me…’
Same here. The implied world-building and various factions is very interesting.
I’m also interested to see if they’ll address how Kojou met Avrora and became the new 4th Progenitor. That’s a good bit of backstory there.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Yeah, I want to know what the other Progenitors think of the Lion King Organization or each other. Things like that.
I wonder why they’re holding off on that information, myself. Oh well, we’ll probably find out when Yukina finds out.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Well, the Sacred Treaty was formed between the three Progenitors and the Lion King Organization. So I guess they have some sort of mutual understanding or the Organization has done before what they are doing with Yukina: offering some of their numbers to be the vampires’ partners as a sign of good faith.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Great, we get more Astarte, and she’s demoted to set dressing…Cold world here, cold world.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
And here I thought you would have been enthusiastic. Or are maids not your thing? xD
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Not really? I mean, they should be. Maybe when they twirl?
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Don’t ask me. I don’t fully understand their moe-ness either.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I guess it’s the subservience thing? Not really my bag either. But then Attack Mage Loli probably has about ten different reasons to make her a maid, all of them crazy insane prepared.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Meido >>> loli
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
What happens when you get them together?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
For me, the loli cancels out the meido, unfortunately. I’m pretty strongly anti-loli.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Then you have a maid fetish. Glad to know I’m not the only one that admires a certain thing. Hahahaha!
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I don’t know if I have a meido “fetish” any more than I would have a fetish for anything else. It’s a cute meme, and can make someone look attractive.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Hey…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Oh, man! Things how gotten prickly. Now you’re telling me a yaoi vampire has surfaced and he has his sights on Kojou. Not even Touma had to deal with this kind of misfortune. Surely he’s shouting “FUKOU DA!” in his mind. Or maybe Dimitrie’s just power hungry after Natsuki shed some more light on his personality and that he’s stronger than he looks. When there’s the mention of a vampire elder, you automatically see it as a big deal and the fact he’s devoured two second generation elders is intimidating to say the least.
At first I thought Sayaka was on the yuri side but now, to me, she’s more like a rude, inconsiderate brat with a sister complex acting as if Yukina is being wronged by the Lion King Organization for her current mission and that she can’t take care of herself. She’s out of control now but something’s telling me there’s an attitude adjustment waiting for her. Judging from the preview, Yukina is going to verbally chastise her. But I couldn’t hold my laughter with her speech confronting Kojou. “Sinking your fangs into that cute, slender neck of hers…” “You slide your lips down her neck, breathe on her, nibble on her flesh…” That was provocative, as if she’d do those things herself.
More praise to Yukina for keeping a level head whenever she walks into misunderstandings. I wouldn’t call her being tsun, more like annoyed at what she sees and hears. At least she doesn’t resort to overreactions and starts hitting but retaliates psychologically with sarcasm and a couple of cold shoulders.
Asagi has stepped up her game making her a worthy rival. I don’t know what Yaze plans to do with her but it’s already been made clear that Kojou is to be paired with Yukina. She’s going to have a fair amount of relevance in this arc thanks to her unknowingly cracking the code for the Black Death Emperor Faction (The price of being a genius/hacker and damn, that’s an ominous sounding group), soon about to be kidnapped and brainwashed and that she’s now exposed to Kojou secret, even narrowly avoiding getting her throat gouged for blood.
Another thing: It seems we’ll being seeing a new Familiar. The last time Kojou was attacked near the stomach, he started glowing yellow which later was revealed as a lion. This time he’s glowing red. I have a feeling he’s going to drink a different girls’ blood for every Familiar that starts to break from his control.
Well, I don’t think such a thing is impossible. Other than blood, vampires crave power. In Moon Phase, there was a short discussion that vampires drink human blood to sustain their strength and abilities but drinking a sufficient amount of blood from another vampire is how they gain new abilities. It’s just that few vampires would share their powers willingly.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Judging by Kojou’s reaction, I don’t think he likes the idea much either.
Oh, I’d still say that Sayaka’s going to be a source of yuri. As soon as she hugged Yukina though, I knew exactly where her character was going in terms of treating Kojou though. I don’t really have a lot to say about her because she’s acting so predictably.
I still like Yukina more than Asagi, so there’s that. Though Sayaka is an unfortunate add-on to Yukina at the moment.
Sigh. Does that mean that we’re getting 12 girls to Kojou’s silly harem? I really hope not.
I can’t really say much for the vampire absorption thing. It feels like they made up that ability on the spot for all that they’ve mentioned it before.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Maybe Sayaka will calm down if she got bit. But if she enjoys that, it could become psychologically addictive.
Yeah, I still prefer Yukina myself. She is an odd one, though. Physically or verbally punishing Kojou for unintended perversion (except when he willingly mounted her in the fourth episode) but openly offers him blood. After the rejection, she said even if he doesn’t use her to feed, he might still do something sexual to her. So I was probably right assuming that having one’s blood sucked is considered sexual.
I doubt that will happen but there are still two girls from the OP sequence that have yet to appear. One surrounded by bullets and another by fire.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
One thing about this series is that it has a habit of throwing some ominous yet badass sounding titles along with its characters and thanks to Sayaka, we have another one. Before Kojou got involved and the story took place, we have the Progenitors (No definite meaning to that one but the name manages to put you in awe).
First Progenitor: “Lost Warlord”
Second Progenitor: “Foregazer”
Third Progenitor: “Chaos Bride”
Fourth Progenitor: “Night Countess of Flame” or “Kaleid Blood”
Then we have the others the series has shown so far:
Attack Mage
Island Guard
Lion King Organization
Black Death Emperor Faction
D-Type
Sword Shaman
Combat Deacon of Lotharingia
War Dancer
If I’m missing anything, feel free to fill them in.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I can’t tell you if you’re missing anything, but just looking at them as a list makes me think it the track listing for the next Tenacious D record. ;-P
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Hah! New concept album!
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
“skylioooonnn, what is the secret of your power?”
“Now it’s time for me to tell you about young Blackbriar, archrival and nemesis of skylion, with powers COMPARABLE to skylion!”
“What powers?” you ask? How about the power of fans. That’s animation, homes… How about the power to tell a vampire from 200 yards away… With MIND READING! That’s telekinesis, boys.
How about the power… to comment.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Wow…that’s kinda embarrassing 😉
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
You know, some things seem like a better idea at 2 AM than they do at 9 AM…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Is this praise? I honestly can’t tell. 😀
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
This is just a tribute.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Nice one.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Some of the titles sound pretty ominous, but the “Black Death Emperor Faction” kind of sounds like it’s awfully close to crossing the line between sounding chuunibyou and sounding badass. Though maybe that’s just my own chuunibyou experiences speaking. OTL
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I like the titles for the last two Progenitors. To earn a title like “Chaos Bride”, that vampire must have done some crazy stuff. And “Night Countess of Flame” makes me think of Trinity Blood’s Astharoshe Aslan, also known as the “Viscountess of Odessa” or rather the “Duchess of Kiev”. Where do they come up with these titles?
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
“Night Countess of Flame” made me thinks of Walpurgis Night. Or maybe its just my inner Madoka fanboy. ^^
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Oh, and I forgot to mention the “Witch of the Void” thanks to Natsuki. I knew I was forgetting something.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Wow, I saw quite a bit of harsh reviews on the forums. I don’t quite get the “yukina personality a mess” complaints either but I can see why ppl complain abt the cliche-ness. Oh well, all I ask for my lunch/dinner time anime is to be entertaining and StB is.
Gay option + yuri yandere = win. I just hope tht she remains a yuri for Yukina instead of falling for Kujou but who am I kidding, Sayaka probably will be a tsundere harem member later on.
Wow, Asagi got it as bad as Himegami Aisa. She finally got some relevance/attention…… only to be used by the arc villain. Being Asagi/Himegami is suffering ^_^; Oh well, at least she is in the “in” group ady by the end of the episode.
So they edited the scene abt Sayaka attempted attack on Kujou which happened be4 they met Dimitrie. Personally I think the “Oops, my hand slipped” works better. And well, I only read up to a little bit of Chapter 2 which the anime is starting to cover so my comparison talk ends here.
PS Gatchamaaaannnnn~
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Hmm, Yukina seems fairly consistent to me. Or at least in terms of her tsun and dere.
…Yeah, I can totally see Sayaka becoming tsundere too. Ah, this anime and it’s clicheness. Though like you said, the fact that it’s cliche isn’t a bad thing.
I remember nothing about Himegami other than the fact that I think that was the arc where Touma got his hand cut off (but didn’t). Hopefully Asagi is just as useful as Yukina… Or else I’m just going to feel bad for her again.
Man, what do these girls see in Kojou?Oh really? They took out that scene?
PFFTAHAHAHA “GO BIRD”! Seriously, that’s amazing.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Himegami finally have some sort of relevance in Daiheiseisai arc….. By being jacked by Oriana ^_^; At least Asagi is way better off than Himegami can ever hope to be.
Well, they somehow kept tht scene in by replacing Dimitrie attacking Kujou to Sayaka shooting forks at Kujou. IIRC amyway.