Strike the Blood

Kojou's friend, Yaze is there as his actual observer, so he probably informed them of Kojou's type and they chose Yukina because she was a match and Kojou matched Yukina's type.

Plus she's in the same class as Nagisa and lives next door to her, so someone with Nagisa's personality would definitely end up befriending a lonely, slightly naive transfer student like Yukina, and someone like Yukina would befriend her back, so even if she was wary of Kojou, spending time with him and his sister in social situations would break the ice.

Oh? That's neat. Anime never said who Yaze was observing for. I sorta got the idea he was an independent info broker type and just sold info to whoever.. Probably made a decent living just observing Kouju

It seems like they weren't looking to control Kouju so much as "keep him from rampaging". Honestly, a stable relationship isn't the worst way of doing that.

Technically Yaze is working for his family, who owns the island, but he's passing info to the Lion King organization.

You make it sound way more sinister than it actually is.

Makes lot's of sense. Th Lion King organization sure set themselves up for having good relations with the Fourth Progenitor.

Hmm, I though Yukina got selected because only she can use Sekkarou.

They obviously needed to give a sweet girl like her a protection.

They make it sound more sinister than it is, what with the way they apparently made her think her job was to kill him if he turned out to be a problem.

edited 2nd Apr '14 5:17:40 PM by Gilphon

I had been thinking Mogwai was acting a bit suspicious, now I really want to know what he is planning

Options:

• Take control of the island
• Find himself a physical body so he can be with his beloved Asagi
• Double agent crap

From what i understand it was only in case if he turned out to be evil, in which case it would be totally understandable.

They were banking on him being a good guy (having info from Yaze) but equipped Yukina on the off-chance that she would actually have to do it.

I'm wondering if Mogwai in STB is the equivalent of Aleister Crowley in Rail Dex.

Two part OVA announced: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-03-15/strike-the-blood-gets-original-video-anime-in-2015/.85982

edited 15th Mar '15 2:45:55 AM by APN

Cool!

I was hoping for a second season announcement, but this will do for now.

Can't say no to some more Yukina goodness.

• Episode 1: The whole vibe this show has reminded me of Index if anything. The Kyo Ani show really wasn't anything like this outside of the immortal protag (and that's really not an uncommon main character power). I like how he gets nosebleeds when he's turned on for plot reasons and I hope the head of the Lion King Organization is named Mufasa. Decent enough fightan' show, seems like.

• Episode 2: So a weird cult decides that having a powerful fourth side in a 3-way stalemate is a bad idea. They then proceed to train a bunch of magic kids strong enough to defeat the fourth side. Now, I admit I'm no expert to this series, but wont the mere action of killing mc show the world that they themselves are stronger than a propagator and therefore upset the political balance by existing anyway? Still, I'm enjoying this series.

• Episode 3: I like how stylish monocle guy was Genre Savy enough to know to flee when the MC's secret power was being unleashed. Also how the show seems to take a few things like collateral damage, showing your technique to the enemy, not being able to control your power, etc. semi-seriously. I've had Index vibes since the first episode but now I'll say that it feels like Index with better characters and fights.

• Episode 4: He fell and -didn't- grab her boob? That's never happened before. Not only that but he used the situation much better than any harem protagonist before him. Slick moves. AND he's questioning whether the villain is actually right instead of self-righteously assuming that he isn't? Man, this guy must have missed all of his main character classes. The action always has such a high frame rate. It looks great. More shows really need to strive for this look. His Touma punch is pretty good for an amateur. "So you're saying you used me as a fluffer?" Line of the season so far...He kinda forgot about his friend in all that. This show gets better with each episode, though. I'm really liking it by this point.

• Episode 5: Didn't really like this episode much. Too much of the stupid "misunderstandings" humor. And the main pair's common sense denseness got really annoying. But at least we got new characters and more talk of the Progenitors we're unfortunately probably not going to ever meet here.

• Episode 6: I'm starting to like Asagi more and more. Looks like she's in the know now...specially given she's the other groups target now.

• Episode 7: Sayaka seems to have redeemed herself a bit. seems she was no match for M Cs swag. good ep but a little predictable with Asagi getting kidnapped and forced to help activate that weapon which is just a giant spider mech.

• Episode 8: By all forces of logical reasoning I should hate this show, but somehow it manages keep me invested even though it does a bunch of things I usually hate. At this point the main girl is treating the MC like a full-on rapist and pretty much 100% of the harem hijinks are "oh, someone walked in on a compromising situation at the exact wrong moment!" but somehow they feel so unenthusiastic about it (like they're just doing it out of obligation or something) that I can just roll with it. Sayaka makes no sense. First she was the man-hating lesbian, but in this episode it's like she wanted the D full-on all of a sudden. Also she was pulling that Bleach "I'm an archer who uses a sword!" thing. Be consistent, dammit. I have no idea what to make of her. Asagi gets a lot of points for going straight for it. She's probably as cool as she is because she doesn't seem to be a childhood friend, just a classmate friend.

Episode 9: I like how cleavage catsuit lady had an angel-summoning app on her smartphone. Asagi's all but throwing herself at him but Koujou is one of the thickest harem leads in recent memory. If she doesn't keep being as forward as she was she'll waste that move she made. That'd be a shame. Sayaka is still all over the place but it is kind of adorable that she's keeping him up half the night on the phone. Who was that random girl he was thinking about while he was posing for the painting.

• Episode 10: Blindly trusting them when they were like "sure, we'll take you to them. Just get on this tiny plane to a deserted island." was pretty dumb. They really had that one coming. So it looks like they're beta testing these angel things to be sold to some country or another and their princess was coming in to see the merchandise personally. His friend's "guys, seriously?" reaction to the girls fighting over Kojou was A+.

• Episode 11: That's exactly what I thought was going on. Mass-produced angel dolls they can sell.

• Episode 12: That was blood striking at its best. Two blood-sucking scenes and good fights all around. I laughed when the professor was like "hey, aren't you going to punch me?". They're very aware of the formula here. Man, Asagi, you went and let it amount to nothing. Not like anyone was expecting anything else, but she really should have tried to press on anyway. Though, really, all of the girls are letting that jelly get in their way.

That's it for now. I'm father along that 12 episodes, but I started the series last night so I wanted to wait until I finished all 24 episodes before posting the rest of my opinions.

• Episode 13: Hoh, this is interesting. Body switching, spontaneous portals opening up, and a childhood friend who isn't terrible. Wonder what she became. Looked like she had a familiar, so maybe she's a real witch? Harem-wise the best thing about this show is that some of the girls actually have backbones and, because of the nature of his powers, they have to fool around with him. So it's not just neverending teases.

• Episode 14: LMAO @ the Index nod. Good to see that the show's aware of it. New OP and ED are both generic-but-passable even if the animation for them is really boring. Sayaka's "well, I guess it doesn't count if we're both girls" is a far cry from how she was in her first appearance. I wonder if she can use his familiars? If so they're kinda screwed.

• Episode 15: I have trouble believing that any series would kill off their loli character so quickly. Maybe if this series was either at the end or at some major turning point, but I doubt that this is anywhere near finished. Also, it's implied that Natsuki is a really powerful character, she can't be killed that easily (or at least shouldn't be able to be). The childhood friend though, I doubt she is dead as well, but I don't find it as impossible for her to be killed off.

• Episode 16: LMAO @ the goofy cat cosplay girl being super strong/possessing one of the 4th Progenitor's familiars and "blatantly fellating the popsicle girl" in general. They were hilarious when contrasted with the "seriousness" of Natsuki and the other girl getting stabbed. Of course the popsicle girl turns out to be his mother and Natsuki starts acting like a toddler. And I guess that means the catgirl was his sister, possessed by the familiar or some such thing. She was acting really weird, though. Usually she's all cold and distant when it comes to Kojou. Sayaka certainly has some interesting ideas. I wonder what she's been looking into since she got a crush on Kojou.

• Episode 17: Damn that snake harvest summon was awesomely brutal. Anyway, I really hope this means Asagi will actually find out about Kojou next episode. I mean, I doubt it completely, but I really get tired of those "keep her out of the know bits" for so long.

• Episode 18: Kinda seems like knocking someone up is somehow tied with awakening the full power of the Fourth Progenitor (since everyone seems to be trying to get him to do that). So Vatler's boat is full of male "admirers". That's just too funny. Even better that it actually lead to someone in the series asking a harem lead if he's gay since he never seems to go for women on his own. Dragon Slayer guy was an obvious reference to Berserk. I really wish he'd just let Asagi in on it since there's really no reason to keep her out of the loop at this point and it's kind of annoying when he's going to such lengths to hide it without cause.

• Episode 19: Good to see that Natsuki-chansensei is finally back to her normal self. In other news, Himeragi's spear is now apparently Imagine Breaker.

• Episode 20: Well, I have been wondering what was up with Asagi's red eyes during full hacker mode. And now we have villains with the color red as a central theme. The alchemist lady will probably save Asagi somehow, maybe she'll turn into an alchemist.

• Episode 21: He's more like the Fourth Procrastinator when it comes to keeping everyone else on the level.

• Episode 22: Himeragi finally grew some balls. I guess it's about time considering how the other girls all have her beat in that regard, but I was kind of hoping that this arc would have more focus on Asagi. I really like the new familiar, though. If he could have finished that sentence he would have said that it's perfect for fighting things that can't die. By the sound of the next arc maybe he'll finally declare his official harem state.

• Episode 23: "this could happen to the real Himeragi at any point." ....so why didn't it, damnit. The last episode is just going to be Himeragi moping around for half the episode....just let her go, Kojo. Also, still being referred to as "Kojo-kun" by apparent family members. Even in the future he gets no respect! I did get a kick out of Himeragi Jr.'s Terminator entrance.

• Episode 24: For the last episode, I was hoping he would say "This is our fight" and Himeragi try to correct him, only to realize that he didn't make the mistake this time. Oh well. So, are we supposed to think that Yukina ends up being his wife and that some of the other girls in his harem are "extras" for political purposes? This episode really elevated Yukina and Kojo's affections to a tier above the rest. I think Yukina as the wife and the rest as concubines (if they remain in the harem) makes the most sense.

Overall I thought the show was good. Almost everyone in the cast is great and inoffensive at worst.

OVA preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAwmBSDzUdM

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-08-14/strike-the-blood-video-anime-promo-video-theme-song-artists-revealed/.91667

edited 14th Aug '15 4:38:15 AM by APN

Oh nice, I liked the water splashing into the city effect at the beginning.

It seems we'll have a Ballroom Blitz situation at hand. With goddamn Vikings as the opponents. Got to love this series.

And of course it wouldn't be Strike the Blood without Kojou and Yukina getting it on. Ah, young love.

Definitely looking forward to it.

The first OAV is out!

So La Foila family and another Progenitor come to the Itogami island... and Kojou thinks he won't get involved. Oh the naivety.

And of course not ten seconds later La foila shows up chased by a Viking dude... her father.

And then they go to Benny's.

Yes, Viking costume, very traditional.

Apparently everyone besides Yukina knows that she's Fourth Progenitor lover.

La foila drops the bomb - she wants to marry Kojou. Not to worry Yukina, there's a place for you in this arrangement.

Time for a party.

"Security is very tight" Oh for god sake, it's patently obvious that dudes with guns are not much of a protection in this world.

Apparently everyone they know was invited. Including Nagisa. Which Kojou didn't know about.

Nice to see that Kannon is doing good.

I loved how all the girls touched their necks at the same time.

A sudden attack saves Akatsuki from an awkward talk.

What did I say? Dudes with guns = useless. Leave it to a group of magic using teenagers like you are supposed to!

But of course all of this was a set up for the evil chick to deliver a... lick of shamelessness on Akatsuki?

It's funny how this spell makes him act like he's always accused of acting. And how the girls have no idea what to do.

"Senpai, as I though you are so dirty" - closes eyes and puckers lips. Oh Yukina.

And of coruse just as things start to get good La foila shows up and... proposes a threesome? Damn.

"If Yukina be your other wife I'll be happy." Double damn.

Unfortunately before the OAV can get a 18+ rating the plot rears it's ugly head.

So, Yukina and La Foila are kidnapped, and Akatsuki is controlled, by the evil chick with unknown motives. This is what I call a cliffhanger. Can't wait for the next OAV.

Finally saw the OVA(Part 1):

• Yeah, Kojou's not gonna get caught up in a major event this time.
• Ah right, La Folia's family tree is quite complicated.
• Liked how those three held their necks simultaneously. Wasn't expecting that reaction from Astarte, of all people.
• Come now, ladies. Y'all should've known that a Kojou who's calm, composed and swaggerifc is not the real him. Speaking of that...
• Kojou's now a Combat Butler. Actually, in that moment Hayate's being villainous again.

edited 3rd Dec '15 11:31:15 PM by Diamite

So the second OVA Episode is out. Also first one with much better translation this time.

So the whole plan was a false flag operation. First of, dropping a missile where the leaders of both sides are might tip people of that you are trying to play them. Second I don't think a missile is going to cut it.

Yukina and La Foila escape using some... hair extensions? Who knew that stuff was this dangerous.

Magic robots are cool. Conventional forces are of course useless, leaving Sayaka and Astrate to pick up the slack.

Why is the plane and even the missiles connected to Internet? That's just asking to get hacked! I guess they had to find a way for Asagi to contribute.

In the end the day is saved by... Yukina sweat? Kinky.

Natsuki-chan gets her obligatory appearance.

"This is my fight now!" "No Senpai, it's our fight!" - We all knew this exchange was tomming.

And then they clean up with their respective cool incantations.

Things go without incident after that, beyond King rambling about magical weapons. Oh yeah, and Akatsuki gets in trouble for what he did last night.

SENPAI, NO BAKAAAAAAAAA!

ヽ( ° A° )ノ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHA!

2nd OVA:

• Trine enjoyed herself, flaunting Kojou's servitude in Yukina's face.
• Disrupting a peace treaty was the order of the day. And oho, La Folia and her mom are fashion divas.
• The way Bifrost activated reminds me of Aldnoah Zero.
• Poor Itogami Defense Corps, they always seem to draw the short end of the stick despite being a tad competent. Oh well, Sayaka and Astarte get to flex some muscle. Against magic-engineered robots. .
• As long as there's a Internet connection, there's nothing Asagi can't hack!
• Nice manic face, Kojou.◊
• Getting Yukina all hot and sweaty to set Kojou free, then proceeding to get Trine all riled. Not to mention jumping at a chance to off Vatler^note And while that wasn't her true intent, she probably wouldn't be losing any sleep over a dead Vatler. La Folia didn't throw a punch, but she didn't have to because she's awesome like that.
• Aw, wish I saw Natsuki-chan in action more. Oh well.
• THERE IT IS! The one set of dialogue that needs to be said!!
• Oh, nice choice of words, Kanon. Keeps panic in the dark.
• And so once again, the day is saved. And of course, something had to give. BIFROOOOST!
• So, all of the magic we saw on display was the weakest!? La Folia's country be scary.
• Kojou tried to play the fool. It failed.

New OVA announced: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-05-09/strike-the-blood-gets-new-original-video-anime-series/.101940

On one had... Yay!

On the other... Just give us the second season already!

Strike the Blood II:

Man, global warming really is no joke. 30 degrees in the winter?

Those two really can't go two minutes without flirting.

Man Kojou just get no respect. How did he even let himself get talked into it. The resort is supposed to be free anyway.

Oh yeah, Nagisa fears vampires. Awkward.

So a mysterious Sword Shaman wose evil. I wonder who Yukina will fight next episode.

And of course there's a girl involved in an evil plot that Kojou must protect... and of course she doesn't want to tell them anything.

Sigh, Asagi is as "charming" as ever.

So, a giant sea dragon?

Stay safe Kirasaka.

Mostly a set up episode. It's good to be back.

I'll just skip it then.