L-elf wants Haruto to team up with him and aid in “bringing revolution to Dorssia.” Haruto refuses, but L-elf predicts they’ll contract, and tells him he’ll flash a peace sign when its time. While with Akira, Shouko overhears Senator Figaro planning to abandon the students and run, then manages to convince the student council without telling them about Akira. The students distract Figaro and the guards while Shouko, Izunuka, and Otamaya rescue Haruto, who boards Valvrave, preventing Figaro from escaping. L-elf flashes a sign, but Shouko gets Haruto’s attention first, and comes up with a bold plan to ensure Sakimori Academy’s survival.
Last week was mostly set-up, outlining L-elf’s seemingly precognitive abilities and introducing an ARUS force that looked on its surface to be the school’s savior. But once the Dorssian fleet regroups and takes it to the far smaller ARUS force, and Figaro’s back is against the wall, he decides to turn tail and run, leaving the students behind to suffer subjugation and internment by ruthless Dorssia. This week he shows his true colors, and shows that the students of Sakimori cannot rely on anyone but themselves, including their classmate Haruto, his childhood friend Shouko, and his awesome robot Valvrave, which, by the way, kills anyone who isn’t Haruto who tries to pilot her.
At the beginning of the episode, Haruto sees his new power a curse, and by the end probably still does, but that doesn’t mean he’s not going to use it. It’s just a matter of to what ends. L-elf is the first to suggest the two of them take on Dorssia together, suggesting he may have been a malcontent even before the misunderstanding that got him labelled a deserter. But it’s Shouko who gets to Haruto first, and both he and the school take to her idea with enthusiasm. It’s a sudden, drastic, and unusual step – turning the academy into its own independent state, but with Valvrave on their side, anything’s possible.
Rating: 7 (Very Good)
Stray Observations:
- We like Shoko’s nervous habit of clutching the hem of her skirt when she’s in a spot.
- While it seems a bit ludicrous to literally break the entire Sakimori module off from the rest of JIOR, but as the rest of JIOR is already occupied, it’s not like they have a lot of choices.
- Akira looks cool and collected enough while alone, but as soon as she’s in the presence of another human being she totally freaks out. Her cave fort is awesome, though.
- Haruto seemingly says “fuck you” to everyone in this episode. Not Shoko though…that would be uncouth.
- Wild card Yamada blocks Figaro’s truck – and gets shot in the arm for it. We doubt he’s okay with Haruto and Shoko saving him.
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