Impression:

Whether it is in my articles, on our podcasts, or during the blog meetings, the “Top Picks – The 10 Best Anime Series of 2013” list is getting a lot of attention. I honestly don’t care if no one agrees with me because I know that Kakumeiki Valvrave is one of the best series to come out this year. The mix of a deep plot and constant surprises can keep most people entertained. I only say “most” because speaking in absolutes is usually incorrect. Well, let’s just say that this episode made my day.

The dynamic duo?

L-elf thought up a plan and it is time to take action. The group is going to steal a military vessel from Dorssia in order to escape. The goal is great, but the execution is kind of rough since they are in enemy territory. Luckily, L-elf has decided that they will use spies and that means it is time to call up Saki and Akira. I know that it sounds odd, but they need Akira’s hacking skills and Saki’s acting skills for this mission. If that wasn’t enough, then you can look at the other three pilots for reference. Haruto has to fight in the Valvrave, Yamada can’t keep his cool, and Inuzuka doesn’t seem important enough. L-elf captures some children that are part of army training and makes the girls mind jack them. The plan was to lure the army into a vulnerable spot and take them down as Akira hacks their system. Things were going great until Cain decided to step into action. He is not going to let his prey slip away from him and some new mechs were brought into battle after a battleship or two went down. Yamada is hurt and their only backup is busy revealing secrets to dead girls. Well, Marie would be dead if it wasn’t for the fact that she is also a space vampire. I guess that she is important.

Well, it would have been more impactful if it wasn’t obvious that Marie would recover.

Current Opinion of the Show:

I am still in love with this series. Let’s talk about the story behind Marie. We know that she knew Pino before she lost her memories and that the transformation is probably linked to her memory loss. I am not sure when we are going to find out about her past, but the next episode may be the one to give us the answers. Using the powers of regeneration may be the trick to getting the gears turning up there. I would like to know how much time Haruto plans on spending doing this crazy confession stuff. Yamada and Inuzuka are in trouble with the new mechs here and everything. Haruto’s strength is pretty necessary to this operation. Also, where are the bodies? What I mean by that is the unconscious bodies of both Saki and Akira. They dis mind jack those child soldiers and I assume that their bodies are somewhere. That and the entire covert side of the mission has me intrigued. The mech fighting isn’t where the tension lies if you ask me. Akira and Saki not getting caught is key and that is what is giving me this damn heart attack. There are too many layers to the story right now.

The prince has arrived.

Here is something that is definitely worth talking about. We have met some royalty, but that description only proves that Haruto and company were successful and we already knew that. The deeper meaning in this child is the fact that we finally get a look into some canon couple action. If you look at him, he looks like the child of Haruto and L-elf with the eye and hair color. That is probably impossible, so we should just take L-elf from this equation. It is usually safe to assume that hair color is important when designing the next generation of characters. The other hint is the fact that Akira is the godmother. The only person close enough to Akira and L-elf to be the last piece of the puzzle would be Shouko. Nothing is confirmed, but that is what it looks like. A possible relationship between L-elf and Shouko has been toyed with for a while, but this is the closest thing to proof of canon that I have seen thus far. Do any of you have theories regarding the parents of the prince? I would like some “evidence” to support those guesses. The other thing that we saw in the flash forward was what seemed to be an immortal Satomi. Can we assume that all of the important members of New JIOR were either transformed or at least given the option to do so? It would make sense with the way that the Magius work. This could also serve as foreshadowing for an event that would force L-elf to allow the revealing of information to the council members of New JIOR. That would be a cool episode.

I need to see more, but I am not a fan of the new designs as of now.