天下制覇

Seriously, who uses a monorail?

Impressions:

Despite being ostensibly mecha and having a premise duller than dishwater, I actually really enjoyed most of the episode and I’m pinning almost all of that on Ichika, which is good because the camera never leaves him. He’s just so likeable. He doesn’t lament being stuffed into an all-girl’s school, or whine about… well… anything. Heck, when he sees his roomie in a towel, first he dodges the sword, then catches it, then when she goes for attempt #3, he grabs his own sword. Upon finding her bra on it, instead of freaking out, he takes the opportunity to make a snide comment instead. Would that all protagonists have his composure and quick wit. Of course, the slick CG action at the start did help get things started on the right foot too. I still don’t like CG, but at least this looks good. Well, the monorail didn’t, but have monorails ever looked good?

Not everything was roses though. While Ichika and Generic-Female-Childhood-Friend were both decent, most of the other side characters were pretty annoying and this episode really had absolutely no substance whatsoever. "A boy!" "Now we must Kung-Fu Mecha-fight because I am really really really British, and if there’s one thing the British can’t abide, it’s penises." And that’s the plot. What else is on the checklist here… It’s technically solid, but the CG intro was definitely the high point. The rest of the episode was really nothing special. Nothing notably good or bad about the music really.

In the end, I think that Ichika is either going to make or break the show for most people. It’s really built as more of a comedy than the usual mecha tropes anyway. A lot of it is quite generic in setup, but Ichika so far is a really well written and solid character that has a confidence that you don’t see too much of in the genre. I’m leery of what would happen if/when the focus moves on to other characters, but it definitely won enough of my favor for me to give it at least another episode or two, CG mecha notwithstanding.

Preview:

For the glory of Britain!