Gakusen Toshi Asterisk

Episode 9. In which the plot kind of starts to start again.

So the floor is more fragile than the shields protecting the audience. Well, I suppose that's at least sensible in that way.

Hey, look, they didn't assume time stopped when they were talking.

Nice how everything's moving in slow motion, while they're not.

She looks so sad she lost. I suppose she's got that in common with her puppet.

Random swimsuit scene.

From that award ceremony, seems he won by himself. Come on, there's two to a team.

That's kinda common. Have someone who was previously a difficult antagonist show up in a situation like that.

Why throw it to him if she's sitting down next to him anyway?

Toast! And that's a nice touch. I hoped for more, though. And I accidentally typed "more" as "moe", which I suppose wouldn't be entirely inaccurate either.

Early outro.

Well, that was... not entirely unexpected, although not specifically expected.

... You know, I had actually completely forgotten that they were in a school.

It doesn't help that the representative for their school is Claudia. Have we even seen anyone?

As in actual adults? Nope. School may as well be run by Claudia tbh.

Episode: Time for some well earned vacation.

Why do all vehicles have Tron lines? IS it because it's future?

I get the distinct feeling that people of Lieseltania are quite fond of their princess.

Those kids with carton copies of Julis hair thingies were adorable. What are those things anyway?

Guess everyone in the country is curious about their princess totally-not-boyfriend.

Julis brother seems pretty nice, a surprise really given that the average older brother in anime tends to be sinister as heck.

The smiles Ayato and Julis exchange were hilarious. Also, obviously her brother is also curious about Ayato.

Liseltania history lesson. So there a lot of magic meteorite there. Also it's quite a bit bigger than I imagined.

Who knew Saya felt so much guilt.

Time to form a team for Gryps fiesta. Ayato still has his priorities straight. Thankfully Julis sees no reason to not agree.

Seems like there is quite a lot of powerhouses that didn't take part in Phoenix fiesta. Will keep next tournament exciting.

The traditional, "guy gets stunned by how good the girls look in formal dresses" moment. To be fair, they do look good.

Ayato has no idea how to link arms. For some reason I find this hilarious.

Yep, Julis brother is bit of a fop. Also, wow, they sure want to keep tabs on him, given the amount of women they sent him.

So someone doesn't want Claudia to succeed. Suspicious.

Ayato beats down a chimera with his bare hands. And then Julis burns it away. That was awesome. I wonder if all parties at the palace are this lively.

Seems it's not the end of big troubles in little Lieseltania.

Pretty good episode. It was a nice change of peace and a chance to see the characters in a different scenery. Some good character stuff and worldbuilding, setting things up for the future, and even a bit of action at the end. If someone was afraid the show would just limp to the end of the season after Phoenix Festa ended, this episode should dispel those fears.

This episode was great. That cold open was hilarious with Julis' interruption and Ayato's stunned looked throughout most of it.

I swear Flora's voice is even more high pitched than it was before. I'm surprised my window didn't break. Also, I still have no idea if her cat ears are just a headband or real or what.

The OP's kind of out of place since the tournament is over.

Julis' brother seems nice enough. A lot of this situation reminds me of Issei meeting Rias' family in High School Dx D. Of course, Julis' brother is nowhere near as amazing as Sirzechs but that's to be expected.

That smile between Ayato and Julis when her brother called Ayato her hand-picked partner was both sweet and kinda funny. Saya's depressed look was neither.

Yay worldbuilding! I had completely forgotten that this series takes place on Earth. I wonder what else I've forgotten.

Wow, Saya has guilt for days. At first, I was mildly worried but then Ayato flashed back to his promise to Julis before accepting Saya's help so it's all good.

Team's set. I really hope that this gets a Season 2 because that 5v5 action is going to be insane.

Ayato looks really weird with his hair combed back like that. I can't tell if he looks like Draco Malfoy or Vergil. Either way, I'm not sure if I like it.

I'm agreeing with Shlugo regarding the girls and the arm linking. I think Claudia was wearing the best dress.

Was that Flora speaking in a normal voice?

So Julis' brother has a harem. This does not bode well. While I'm okay with harems, I really want Ayato to only be with Julis and vice versa.

Super secret spy assassin summoner trying to take out Ayato so he can't partner up with Claudia. My money's on him being hired by Fat Douche or Chairman Evil.

Man, fuck that chimera. I knew Ayato had some skills in hand-to-hand combat but damn. That chimera got wrecked. And then it got nuked by Julis and Saya for good measure.

Some major shit's probably going to go down next episode. I'm looking forward to it.

Episode 10. In which they dress up. Way up.

The camera still wants us to know that Julis has nice legs.

I like Julis expression after the scene flip. Satisfied and kind of not actually smug but something like it. Kirin's expression, on the other hand... Well, it's also funny.

CG plane.

Sure like neon green.

A little bit excessive.

Nice reaction when he brought up she hand-picked him.

So that's where it is. Part of Germany and Czech Repuplic, and a little bit of Poland. Prague would be in it. The justification for why it exists doesn't make a whole lot of sense, really.

I find Saya more selfish than compassionate here.

Well, have to have them all fight as a team at some point.

"Compliment us, compliment us, because we're selfish and insecure brats who need the approval of the MC." As if standing there in stunned silence isn't enough of a compliment. A compliment that is demanded is far less complimenting than one offered because it's genuinely felt.

Claudia has the best dress. Julis's isn't far from it, though.

She got a lot more self confident when she realised he didn't have a clue about what to do. It's a nice change from just being oblivious to that.

I like that voice Flora used better than the other.

There's a difference between "having it hard to talk with others" and "not liking to talk with others". This is really more of the latter.

Suddenly, hair change.

Interesting contrast between their combat dialogues. One is somewhat more informal than the other.

Decent episode. A bit heavy on the infodumping, but not too bad.

It's always nice to see how close they are. You would expect blushing or something, but they are way past that.

I dunno, I like the asymmetry of Julis dress.

I was actually surprised to find out that this was what was bothering her.

It's those kids trying to imitate her that really sold it to me.

I was expecting something the size of Luxembourg.

Yeah, something that size, or smaller. It's basically nothing more than a political neutral zone for the involved countries. Which is really about something that should've been a national issue to begin with, since if such an event happens in a country, it falls to that country to handle and benefit from.

edited 5th Jun '16 4:21:37 PM by AnotherDuck

Wut, nobody mentioned that Claudia's dad is apparantly in control of this part of the galaxy? Or that her mum isn't human anymore?

I can't get a read on how far in the future this is all supposed to take place: apart from the superpowers & the floating screen thingies there's nothing really that futuristic about the setting, yet there's a country that's more than another Ruritania taking up a good chunk of Germany/Czech Republic/Slovakia?

I don't know who has the worst high pitched loli voice: Flora or the other one.

I didn't comment on the galaxy thing because I'm currently unsure what to make of it. As for Claudia's mom not being human anymore, I'm willing to be that's more metaphorical than literal.

I just assumed that was a translation error.

About Claudia mother not being human It's not meant physically but rather mentally, as the top management of the foundation undergoes some kind of process that gets rid of their humanity.

Wasn't that established last season.

First half of the season and if not her than it was with somebody else.

Penultimate episode:

So Jolbert finally raises the issue that we knew he would. It was both funny and really showcased how muddy her situation is. I'm really impressed with Julis resolve. She understands perfectly how hard is the path she's taken and doesn't back down. Good thing she has Ayato who will support her.

Speaking of Ayato, his reaction when asked what he would do if Julis wanted to be "Shackled" by him was adorable.

God damn, Ophelia is a monster. This wasn't even close. They'll need to level up before thinking of fighting her again.

That old man again, what a vulture. Good thing Silvia showed up.

Really good episode. Julis situation was explored and we got to see how far she and Ayato came. And it sets hype up for what's to come in the future.

Seems like they are not going for an original ending, which gives me hopes for a next season. Let's see next week.

Episode 12. In which there's confrontation.

She says she's going to do some research, while her eyes are out of frame.

Whatever could he want to discuss. I have no idea at all.

Well, that was about as direct as I expected.

She looks unusually cute when he says he's doing it for her sake.

Therese. Are there ever any characters with that name that doesn't fit that character type one way or another?

The girl in the middle looks like his sister.

This match has way too little build-up for her to win.

Can't stop it once it's started, she said. Right.

About time.

She looks at him with rather open an honest eyes. It makes her look much more genuine than she usually looks.

Fun episode.

This episode was absolutely amazing. CR's player went to shit halfway through so I had to finish it elsewhere, though.

Ayato and Julis continue to be an amazing couple. Julis' situation is a very interesting one, Ayato earns himself some more man points, and then has an adorable reaction to Julbert's rephrasing of his question (Ayato did not say "No.").

Julis playing with the orphans. So adorbs.

Sister Therese (Huh. My spellchecker recognizes that name) instantly pegs that Ayato loves Julis while the other nuns try to get Julis to talk about Ayato. Damn, I really want them to go through a relationship upgrade in the next episode. It's not like it'd change a whole lot between them since they more or less already act like a couple and it might buy Julis more time.

So. Julis' childhood bestie was taken away by Dirk the Jerk and turned into a Witch (seriously, her powers reminded me of them with the way they were animated). That battle was freaky and both of them got their asses kicked. I couldn't help but notice that Ser=Versta wasn't in its flame katana form so it seems like Ayato needs Julis' help in order to achieve that. I like that.

Claudia arrives in the nick of time with a BDH moment! Isn't this the first time we've seen her fight? And then Ayato passes out still holding on to Julis. Speaking of, the animators did a great job by making sure Ayato pulled Julis out of harm's way even if he was in the process of dodging the attack just in case.

Next week, we'll have to pray that this gets a new season and then wait for it. I don't know what I'll until then.

I liked how Julis saw right through her brother's intentions/ That girl has some a good head on her shoulders.

We all know he would say yes.

Really shows how much she cares for her people.

Yeah, I means seriously, those two has been joined at the hip for a long time now. The relationship upgrade is long overdue.

Also, funny thing IEF candidate for Julis is actually Ayato.

Is that something from the LNs? Why would that be the case if the purpose of such a thing would be to grant the IEF more control? Unless this has something to do with what was revealed in a Stinger a few episodes back.

I'm not sure, that's just something that's been spoiled to me. I'm not that far in the novels yet.

You've been reading the novels? Have you been buying them or have you found a place? My usual source turned up nothing, regrettably.

t took a bit of effort after Baka Tsuki took them down, but I managed to find them.

Oh thank god, and here I thought things wouldn't pick up in the finale

Final episode of the season. In which there's a lot of setup for future story lines and they blow their entire budget on what must be one of the best animated fights I've ever seen. Seriously, holy shit, that was beautiful.

There's a lot going on in this episode that's really interesting. Some serious shit is going down and it's only going to get more serious if we managed to get a second season.

Also, no relationship upgrade. I am sad but not surprised.

That battle was awesome! Animation was on point.

So much setting future events up done here. Julis rematch with Ophelia, and saving her country. Ayato's sister, and whatever Claudia's wish is. Really makes me hyped for a second season.

Gakusen Toshi Asterisk was one of my favorite series of the last year, and the best anime of it's type since like, Strike the Blood. It's pretty much single-handily met me regain hope in the genre after a few season of crappy ones beat it into the ground.

I really, really hope this gets a next season. It would be a real shame if it didn't.