|True Strength|

The episode begins with Akane running late to school (sadly, she didn’t have bread in her mouth). While taking a shortcut over the water, her air scooter breaks down. It’s just her luck that she has access to magical technology that allows her to fly, so she promptly transforms and flies to school instead. Because when you have technology like that, why use it solely for fighting off giant mechanical monstrosities when you can use it to make your everyday life better, like quicker commutes? I’m sure someone has had that idea cross their mind.

Of course, Akane manages to crash land on the beach, right in front of Wakaba Saegusa (Yuka Ootsubo), the top female Kendo fighter at the school and class president. A brief misunderstanding has Saegusa thinking that Akane is stronger than her, thus hurting her pride. It’s then by sheer coincidence that Akane transfers into the same class. This whole setup already sounds like the beginning of a romantic comedy (seriously, all that was missing is the bread).

Saegusa chases Akane around the school for most of the day, trying to get a rematch and restore her pride. Akane eventually relents, and they proceed to duel on the beach. But as always, bad-timing arrives in the form of another Alone attack. Akane and Aoi, despite being scolded just hours earlier about keeping the Vivid System a secret, transform right in front of Saegusa and rush off to fight the Alone. I realize that time is of the essence, but even Superman takes a moment to step away from the crowd to change into his costume.

Saegusa is in awe watching Akane and Aoi fight back the Alone. Realizing that Akane embodies “true strength”, she asks to have her own Operation Key and fight alongside Akane and Aoi. I didn’t realize how easy it was to obtain a key. Without hesitation, she dons her suit and joins the fray. When the mystery girl with the bow and arrow powers up the Alone, Akane and Saegusa dock to form Vivid Green, and with their combined powers, defeat the Alone.

As usual, the highlight was the action scenes against the Alone. There’s an appeal in watching ridiculous fight sequences, especially when it involves giant machines, flying girls, and giant hammers. Vivid Green may be my favorite Dock so far, as she manages to keep Saegusa’s cool personality intact. And you know things are getting crazy once you bring out the giant swords.

Still, having Saegusa receive an Operation Key just like that felt extremely rushed. All she had to do was ask and she received. Akane and Aoi had to be lectured about how top secret the Vivid System is, yet they’re so open about it in front of their classmates, especially someone they barely know. Once Saegusa transforms, we once again have a situation where the new member just happens to know how everything works with no explanation, even how to dock. It’s the leaps in logic that this show presents that leave me baffled sometimes.

With a new member on the team, it looks like we’ll have a full roster in just a few short episodes. It’ll be interesting how they handle the team dynamic as the season rolls on.

Lingering thoughts:

• Since when was Akane some kind of Kendo prodigy?
• AGAIN with this ass shot. Is this going to be a recurring motif?
• I like the different ED songs each week, keeps things fresh.
• Can I have an Operation Key as well?