Rakudai Kishi No Eiyuutan

Episode 2, in which things get funny, deep, and lewd.

I...actually liked this episode, especially after being bored as tears after the last one. The first part was kind of standard harem hijinks (with a dash of incest), but everything after was pretty spot on. Got some nice character motivations and Stella doesn't even try hide her feelings, which is gonna make this go a lot faster.

This got longer than I expected. Well, tell me if I accidentally leave something that makes sense out of context and spoils the episode.

Episode 2. In which there's blood and relations.

Starting off by trying to win sympathy points usually doesn't work well. Telling, not showing.

I think he worries too much. As she says, she was able to do it. It might wear on her if she does it constantly and it really is above her level, but if she's fit enough and just not used to it, she'll adapt fairly quickly.

Interesting that him taking a distance makes her more aggressive in that tsundereish way of hers. I'd probably get better along with her than him.

She's Genre Savvy. And right away they clarify. Good. Hopefully that will also be followed up on. That's two out of three on the right side of the road.

I like that teacher. Probably. We'll see.

That girl behind him isn't at all conspicuous. Well, we've seen her before.

So they can elect to not fight the duels without major penalty. Probably not an option for the highest ranks, but in the middle and lower, it might be good option on off-days. Strategically speaking.

Bloody teacher...

Yeah, of course she'd direct her jealousy at him. I'd think if she pulled him with her he'd actually prefer that.

Okay, two out of three isn't that bad, I suppose.

Various degrees of want. And none of mine for her. I like that everyone disagrees with her, though.

You know, sis, your brother just thanked the princess for pulling you away from him. Get the clue.

Stella is not great at explaining herself in a calm and reasonable manner.

"Who's that cool looking guy?" Okay, that made me laugh.

They get along so well. They're such boobs about it.

Yeah, they deserve that.

Well, it might be true that she'll never fully understand what he went through. But I don't think he's going to hold that against her. If he does, he's an arse, and he's so far shown himself not to be.

Alice is shifty.

She doesn't beat around the bush. And he's not an arse.

Nice to see the lightbulb light up above her head, even if he mentioned that bit just after.

So, in theory, him coming from a distinguished family would at least partially (if not fully, depending on how it's distinguised) justify a relationship with her from a society point of view.

Clearly speaking about herself. Maybe she will understand far more than his sister would guess. Well, not so much "maybe".

I think they make a great couple. That's mostly what I like about this series so far. The two main characters has good chemistry, and while they do fall into some cliché traps, they also sidestep several others.

Alice is wise.

Top notch servants also listen to their masters. Anime girls, however, don't. Because that's her hitting on him under the excuse of serving him, if that needs to be put down clearly.

In theory, that shouldn't drop.

The ED reminds me of Rozen Maiden and Princess Resurrection.

There is some Stupid Harem Antics, but not as much as usual. And if sis gets better, she'll at least be tolerable. Well, so far, what makes her more tolerable is that everyone, including bystanders, point at her as the one being at fault, rather than at the MC, which is the usual fare. Sure, I don't necessarily expect him to get off entirely scot free (which so far seems to be the case, actually), but this isn't bad.

Episode 2 was good, very funny in places with some interesting new characters (I didn't know Hyatt had become a teacher). The series could do with a better budget but they seem to be doing okay with what they have. Also that ending song is great, I always like ALI PROJECT.

The second episode was slightly disappointing compared to the first, more tell than show, but I like the evolving relationship & chemistry between Stella and Ikki. The poor girl though must be starving for affection if she's that quick to offer to wash his back that particular way.

Man, Stella is great! I really love how direct she is with her feelings and doesn't spend time denying them, so refreshing. Apparently her seiyuu described her as 10% tsun and 90% and it shows. I also have to commend Ikki for revealing his back story as early as he did. Stuff like that is usually kept secret way too long. And man, are his parents awful.

Speaking of awful things, Shizuku is all the worst creepy bro-con imouto cliches thrown together and umped up to eleven. Literally writing her any other way would be better.

I like sensei, she's hilarious.

This anime does not disappoint me.

The sensei kind of reminded me of Tomoko, right down to the voice.

edited 12th Oct '15 6:13:05 PM by BlackYakuzu94

Gotta say, I absolutely loved the banters between two heroines.

And goddamn Stella is thirsty yo, fuck Tsundere she turned into absolute mush.

Not enough tsun, too much dere.

Kind of reminds me of Alicia in Valkyria Chronicles (actually currently watching an LP of it while otherwise semi-busy). She's exactly the type of character, design included, to be a tsundere. But she's absolutely 100% dere. The anime made her into a tsundere, of course, but in the original game she wasn't. And that made it so much better, because there weren't those usual stereotypical traps.

Now, I'd still say it's an archetype I like (when it's done well, which isn't exactly always), but it's refreshing to see characters who'd normally fall into the regular pace but just don't and remain dere.

>First major antagonist is voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka.

I have to admit, this is some meta shit right here.

He seemed to be getting a ton of protagonist roles for a while after SAO, but he's been getting a bunch of weird roles recently. Like that female that looked like a male in WORKING!!!. So I suppose an antagonist isn't too out there...?

edited 14th Oct '15 5:03:47 PM by HanabiraKage

Its not so much of an out there role for him, but he's playing a Jerkass rival in a LN Harem series...ya know, things where he's usually casted as the protagonist.

Tho he was also Freed in High School DXD, so this would be as second time.

edited 14th Oct '15 5:25:34 PM by BlackYakuzu94

Episode 3. In which they take a trip to the mall.

They really do get along well. And it's a good idea trying to get practice of unknown enemies in while in a safe environment.

Points to her for asking. Points from him for not getting a clue. Points from sis for interrupting.

Sis shouldn't complain that he brought a girlfriend along.

Yaoi flag denied.

For once, that actually is normal between siblings. Or at least acceptable.

Sis is a troll. Points.

Alice is cool. Ikki is dense.

Yeah, I was wondering that myself, sis. At least Stella is consistently unreasonable.

He uses masks the same way heroes use helmets. Except less heroically.

"I need you to stay low for a while." Good luck with that.

So obvious he only does that to provoke a reaction. On the other hand, it's probably not as if he wouldn't do it anyway.

Technically, she achieved her purpose. Buy time.

Where are those bullets coming from? Also, now is a perfect time for Stella to attack.

The narrative really wants us to like that guy.

edited 17th Oct '15 7:37:29 PM by AnotherDuck

The MC or the asshole he has to fight.

And goddamn, that was pretty vicious just cutting his arm off like that. Don't fuck with a man's waifu.

Was that first line a question to my last? Should really be obvious what the answer would be no matter who it is.

I think he'd probably have done the same no matter which character the guy threatened like that. It's just that she's the one who at this point should have the most sympathy with the audience.

This was a very good episode with some nicely funny moments and a good fight (I especially liked the animation when Ikki did his dive). I get the feeling that the Git at the end may have set up the hostage situation so that he could solve it though.

He didn't, if I remember correctly.

But he was hiding there the whole time so he could steal the credit.

A decent episode, that could've been done much worse. Stella's humiliation was handled well, not too fanservicey, I liked Alice, though I'm still not quite sure whether or not she's supposed to be a trans character or something else and especially the fact that all four had a hand in resolving the situation.

Ikki could've had more of a clue about what Stella feels for him though; it's not as if it isn't obvious.

Yeah, relying on the MC to be dense about the girls' feelings to keep the "tension" is one of those much too stale plot devices in harem anime.

He's not really as oblivious as he looks in all honesty, there's a reason he's playing dumb.

Doesn't make it not being a stale plot device, though.

They really do get along. If only Ikki wasn't this dense.

Preparing to fight unknown foes. Stella has shit figured out.

This is so unrealistic. Go on a lame shopping trip with your sister or on a date with the girl you like? That's not even a choice!

19th century fashion sense much?

Suddenly terrorist attack!

I get that Shizuku had a plan, but people were about to die, so Stella judgment was correct.

Did we really need a strip scene in the middle of an action sequence? Kinda brakes the flow.

Okay a note - if you mess with Stella, Ikki will fuck you up.

That is, if Stella doesn't burn you first.

Oh look, Shizuku was not horrible for once.

That guy had "douche" written all over him. Even his voice is annoying!

I wonder how Ikki will deal with this guy, if he had to run from him a year ago.

By being a badass as usual.

By being able to engage him in a fair bout this time.

As fair as it can get, anyway.