You know, this series actually turned out pretty good. This episode really convinced me to that. The fact that this anime is so incredibly intense did require me to get used to it a bit, but right now, this anime is turning better and better. Also, if you thought that the first episode was intense, just wait till you get to see this one. 😉
We start the episode with Sara, kicking Lotti out of the way in order to fight her brother. It seems that both of them are using special Strains, which means that nobody can really keep up with them. There’s one thing I disliked about this fight: at one point, Ralph Werec has used his Strain to grab Lotti’s Strain. He hits her, but surprisingly, her Strain remains intact, opposed to all of the Strains he wiped out in the first episode with just one blow.
Still, the fight was only meant to introduce the episode. At the end, Sara manages to deliver some small damage to Ralph, forcing him to retreat. She actually wants to go after him, though another Strain pilot stops her (I forgot his name for a bit). She then cries in the same way she did in the first episode, pretty touching. Still, things get even better afterwards, when Lotti meets up with her.
Sara must’ve felt pretty horrible. She’s probably hated by almost each of her fellow-students after this incident. After all, she appeared like she didn’t have a MIMIC, so she had to train extremely hard in order to catch up with all of the Strains. She was already seen as a show-off, but now that she actually appears to be able to fly a Strain, it must seem to the other students that she’s making fun of them.
Lotti also seems to have a very good reason for hating Ralph Werec. She also had a big-brother complex when she was young, just like Sara. It seems that Ralph killed her brother at one point. It’s probably the reason she decided to be a Strain Pilot. We also get to see Ralphs allies for the first time, and our first hints to why he changed. He does work for people, it seems. Whether this is forced or not, I’m not yet sure.
I’m also glad that more blogs have started to speak about this series. Code Geass seems to have gotten a contender of best “mecha-series of the season”. Still, there’s one problem with this series: it’s abundance of fanservice. It seems to do this in order to please the otakus, while it doesn’t even need this. In my opinion, it only hurts the series.
I don’t really mind the fanservice, but I did write about it. And I really thought that Code Geass was the best recent mecha anime already, until I saw S-Strain. This really is a contender against Code Geass. At least there’s a competition, unlike, say, comparing Code Geass to Soul Link, etc. 🙂
I never notice the supposed fanservice you speak of. Being naked in the shower is fanservice? You sure you not missing the real point of those scenes?
The shower scene indeed had a point, though the characters, being portrayed naked in their Strains, the clothing-changing scenes were rather pointless.
But then again, I’ve seen shows which did much worse. 🙂
You forgot to mention the scene in the OP with the nipples shot. :V
I personally have nothing against this though; I guess it’s thrown in just because some people like it.