Ah memories…

Well about two months ago back in April I should have marked my 2nd blog anniversary but things have not really been normal to say the least. Well I suppose that this post will at least mark the start of my terrible twos in which case quality will plummet as will output (Mwahahahaha). I started the year off by getting my apartment broken into and making E-5. Now that my academic career is at an end it basically fell upon me to make good on my newfound responsibilities at work, which meant having a whacked out schedule of extended hyperactivity every now in then. In July it will be a brutal month as I get to fly to Virginia twice in the same month to the same place, knowing what I know now it basically means four or more red eye flights unless the paper work goes over well. Still I do get to make the traditional after graduation road trip, and hopefully that will be a bit more interesting than the usual. While summer looks to be a hit or a miss at least there is the promise of the Macross Movie (Which will be Gorgeous Delicious DECULCHA!). So here goes the mandatory late as hell rant I am supposed to do at the end of every blog year, which is conversely an opportunity to muse aimlessly in a futile effort to put together a post.

Oh Mazinger Z how I lament that your tale is shrouded in obscurity.

While Impz might have gone from gun monkey to desk jockey in the Singaporean Corps of Conscripts, I haven’t earned the right to chain myself to a desk just yet, to be perfectly honest I am finding just how magical a time being an E-5 is. I get the headaches of an E-6, and the physical exhaustion of being an E-4, but at least I do get a little extra here and there and most importantly I am still low enough on the great totem pole to evade responsibility. I also just lost my other half (partner in crime/co-worker) so I get to have twice the work load until I finish training the E-4, but at least she’s a good learner and I don’t have to baby sit an E-3 with “issues.” All in all I am edging towards the point that I might end up as exhausted as Zeon. I suppose this comes with the territory as I suspect that most bloggers are students rather than overworked soldaten, certainly there will probably come a point where the number of posts per week simply declines.

Also now that college is over and done with I actually got back into my other hobbies, and oddly enough while I have some issues with Valkyria the anime I still love the game to pieces to the point I actually want to do my Imperial Guard in Gallain colors and find some local saint who does resin casting for female Cadians/Kasrkin because I must have a model to represent Jane “Kill ‘em All” Turner (hey if anyone knows one drop a line). It also saddens me that there is very little enthusiasm for Shin Mazinger Z, but I suppose it might be time to bring out the reserves of stuff I have been meaning to watch but haven’t, Guin Saga, Eden of the East, etc. I still need to settle for a format on doing VOTOMS since condensing it into one post per arc would make it tl;dr, not that I think too many people are interested in going back in time to see what mecha was before yaoi, cowards, harem, and idiot soapbox preaching started taking hold.

I suppose it has been good going for the last two years plus some, but it has been a long time since I actually watched a shoujo series since Skip Beat! ended, though I am hoping there will be a point where the anime starts up again. Still the manga is still running along smoothly so it partially makes up for it. I suppose I am growing old if it’s becoming more fun to reminisce about the old days. If nothing else at least when Gundam 00 aired I could placate myself with the additional activity of praising the Immortal Colasour and his marrying above him. Well so far it’s been a good run even if productivity has slackened as of late. I hope that there will be a series that I will genuinely love to pieces that I can put into words come summer. As much as I like Shin Mazinger Z it’s pretty simple and I suppose very niche these days as it lacks modern aspects of mecha. Valkyria is turning out to be a re-interpretation of the game storyline that I don’t find terribly agreeable but it was always meant to be a festival of mediocrity that only fans of the game would stick with to the bitter end. Ah well with a Gundam Unicorn Movie due out within my life time and the promise of a Macross Frontier Movie with 70% redone animation I guess there is much to look forward to. So as a extremely premature celebration of a Macross Frontier largely free of QUALITY animation IMAGE DUMP GO!

There is a correlation…

The point of marching is that you are all in step, Ersatz Corpo Truppe Volontarie indeed.

I have to say episode 9 was just as bad if not worse than the paper thin plot of Selvaria’s DLC. I Say this butter bar Karl is just another bed wetter like Johann. Given how these Imps don’t even speak German it seems plain that they are incapable of bravery or making a half decent plan. Perhaps a Selvaria fan would have liked it more than I would have but it was just disgusting knowing that Selvaria would one day meet her match prove her utter inferiority in the future is hardly mitigated by her ample bosom or the guys cosplaying as Altair. The lack of Alicia goodness was made all the more worse by Maxi-pad putting on a show, and Selvaria whimpering like a lost puppy. The poor girl is not even fit to be a slave in my book, though much of it was due to her being OP even when you were in control in that awful DLC in the role of the Engineer who wet himself. Still with the introduction of Karl who wants to be on a Butterfront and now plans on being a PX Ranger while kissing ass all the way to the top. Maxi-pad’s family sucks ass too in the game you never met the bastards, and for good reason since they came off like Code Geass ripoffs. If nothing else maybe if we are lucky we will see Butter Bar Karl turned into paste. I can only imagine the kind of coaward that would find Karl to be even remotely likeable, that damned Marty Stu, actually since it is butter bar I suppose it is more fitting to call him a Mary Sue since he is after all Selvaria’s bitch. In all fairness though as an admirer of Jane “Kill ‘em All” Turner I have little interest in Imps, other than of course how much lead it takes to kill them. Despite the craptastic episode it seems that Welkin did ask on good question regarding the lonliness of sea slugs…I suppose Kabitizin had better answer.

Hey look it’s the Three Stooges, Karl must be Curly…

For the next bit Welkin and Alicia were trying to have a romantic getaway until some Imp pauper comes along to ruin it all with his stench of fail that seems to emanate from all Imperials. Still it seems that it is a tad sudden for the Alicia and Welkin sleepover and conference about dung beetles. Once again the series writers were sturck by some ideas and cut yet more combat action in favor of parading around some new anime only coward to talk about how war is bad. Boring old message aside, I knew the bastard was coward from the start since he was shot in the back which indicates that he was fleeing combat and not getting into the shit to help his comrades. In effect this Mikhail is a buddy fucker and has violated the covenant that all kameraden share, if he were smart he would have fled to ersatz Canada, but as he was too dumb to use his grenade for a forced entry that idea must have never crossed his mind. Suffice to say I did not feel inclined to pity the dumb bastard, unlike the game where it was some dumb kid who was crying for his mommy in his death throes. Well at least unlike the Sevaria commercial that was episode 9 at least there was a bit of Alicia to mitigate the lose and fail of coward Mikhail.

If you were half the strategist Schlieffen was you’d already have taken the Feddie Capital and overrun Galia by now….

Episode 11 is a clear signal that the anime staff would rather do their own thing instead of follow the storyline that was actually presented in the game, and to be sure since their version of tactical combat was laughable I suppose making this Kana goes to War while tossing out the military aspect might actually be a wiser decision for them in the long run since they were un able to make things exciting, mostly due to the persistent lack of gore and explosions. So it was time to the banquet in which Alicia, Isara, and Selvaria get to strut their stuff which was decent enough eye candy along with a under dressed Cordelia, but the lack of strapless dresses was cause enough to deem the episode to be mediocre. I would go over the ways in which this ep made no sense but by now it think it is clear that for better enjoyment it is far better to not give a shit anymore. Perhaps this is all some clever ruse to preserve the game ending so people would be prompted to buy the game and the DLC. Nevertheless the story to begin with was never that strong and altering now brings it to fanfic levels. After all one has to wonder how much this Ramal is a Mary Sue and what mind could have demanded that they make Selvaria in dress a reality. Still so long as it stays middling and mediocre I think just watching for Alicia and if you’re a lecher Selvaria is reason enough. Personally I am just waiting for a most anticipated showdown, if you played the games and finished it, you know what I am talking about…

Next time it seems we have a high speed chase with tank, here is hoping for some Milita brutality as they pull over the badies and beat them up LAPD style.

Great it’s Ersatz Code Geass…I assume there will be flying tanks in addition to Selvaria being as OP as Suzaku and Kallen.

Calawain’s Commentary

The last 3 episodes have been pretty forgettable. They skipped over the tank battle and contrived some retarded infiltration attempt by Selvaria and the playboy? The cabin scene was made so utterly cheesy and was drawn out way too long. And we also had to suffer through that painful episode on the Imperial side of things. Just goes to show that bad things usually happen when the writers start to make stuff up on their own and change the story. It was nice to see a bit of service with the Selvaria cleavage shots and the other girls in dresses, but meh. I would normally say, “hey let’s hope they don’t trash the rescue scenes too bad,” but now that they’ve added an abduction of Alicia to it I’m pretty much expecting melodramatic bullcrap. Where’s my tactics and just as planned army battles? Rage.

More Screen Caps

Quick take cover behind the stall shield!

How desperate can you get?

Can I get a Sieg Zeon?

Too bad you lied.

Best joke EVAR!

Too bad Karl is neither an Officer nor a Gentleman…

Loli feeding time…

Then get out there and die!

You call that a blood spatter?

Eh you Red Shoulder cosplay needs a red shoulder plate at least…

The only thing more OP would be if she broke out her MG42…

Just like the writers…

Thank you for showing up.

How many men have had this moment haunt them in their sleep?

I feel like Tacos.

Needs MOAR Jane.

Particularly feeding habits…

Because he has no life?

Calling all parents we have a orphan in need of familial love…

Yeah he just took 3/4s of the blanket…

That’s not my hand…

Uh Welkin did you wash your hands recently?

I wish she was holding a knife with her left hand in homage to MGS style CQC…

Defintely a deserter, and a hippie.

Alright looks like the gloves are coming off, time to DUEL!

Hear the patter of running feet
It’s the old Mikhail in full retreat
He’s moving on; he’ll soon be gone
He’s haulin’ ass, not savin’ gas
He’ll soon be gone.

Over on that hill there’s Damon’s tank
A million Galians are on Selvaria’s flank
Mikhail’s movin’ on, He’ll soon be gone
With his rifle broke, it ain’t no joke
He’ll soon be gone.

Million Galians comin’ through the pass
Playin’ burp-gun boogie all over his ass
He’s movin’ on, He’ll soon be gone
With his rifle broke, it ain’t no joke
He’ll soon be gone.

Twenty thousand Galians comin’ through the pass
I’m tellin’ you, baby, Mikhail’s haulin’ ass
He’s moving on; He’ll soon be gone
He’s haulin’ ass, not savin’ gas
He’ll soon be gone.

Something is missing…

That’s it.

Now that is a well dressed course…

Oh look a waiter!

Yeah Faldio did just break wind.

Alicai can smell a rat easily enough…

Don’t for get to steal food off his plate.

Zeon The Empire is EXHAUSTED!

That is one fine cosplay of Countess Alseif…

Finally they decided to give her better facial animation.

You might be Ozma, but she ain’t no Cathy…

Just like everything else, you do catch on slow general…

By the wy my compliments on who ever did your hair, good to see there are areas of competence in the Imperial Army.

Then you should have ditched Karl first…

I knew it! Maxipad only beds menfolk.

Time to move on miss, you chasing a fruit cake was the running gag of the game after all…

Gender reassignment might be possible but the results would ber most unlovely…

I find her smile distrubing…

Alica seems to agree.

Yeah Alicia is here to make sure you don’t get crowned prom queen, especailly with that old man on your arm…

Ah that tank that never fought…well I did have fun turning it into a pile of scrap.

Faldio?

This is pretty creepy…

Yes Gregor does have as many VDs as Blucher…

I like it when she is pissed off.

Don’t worry you were ruined for marriage sometime ago…

Same here.

I see that there is only one person in the militia with balls of steel…

In many ways I am glad I missed out on last weeks episode as it was all about Ramal who is the worst corporal since one Austrian Corporal by the name of Adolf back in WWI, not that Ramal is a monster, just a huge prick. If this were 41st  Millennium GRIMDARK Ramal would have been fragged in short order, a good officer at least knows that there are times when it is better to turn a blind eye. Still Ramal running around pining for Faldio aside it seems the little runt is trying to swing for Isara as well, I cannot wait to see his heartbreak. Damon continues being an ass with his staff which seems to have about as much fight in them as the Vichy French. On the other half I suppose that Selvaria gallivanting around and cutting her self with an over sized knife as Jaeger invited Gregor over for a foursome sort of mitigated the lose and fail that was Ramal. Speaking of Jaeger the man is certainly weird for inviting Gregor to show off his junk. As for the Darscen Calamaity is suppose since the Ersatz Jews were barred from teaching that ignorance reigns, ah well they will get to it in good time.

Sadly poor Alicia was sidelined while Ramal went faffing about but at least she made a delightful return when she was the only one smart enough to bring a side arm to shoot her eternal rival. I still find her funny faces amusing and when she was ordering Ramal around reminded me of how much this series is Kana Goes to War. It was sad that no one actually knows how to do reconnaissance since gong out on a lone jeep is pretty much a death sentence; I’d probably go with a standard Heer scout team with attached armor and infantry on foot. Ah well with any luck since we are deviating from the original story by little bits and pieces I hope Varrot goes Cima on Damon and shoots the fat bastard in the head. Next week might be a vomit comet episode as Selvaria will be riding her jeep over a wall and if that stupid blond haired kid turns out to be that cowardly engineer from Selvaria’s disgusting DLC I will be pulling for an actual death.

As for the mission itself Maxipad’s over sized land fortress was a cake walk right until Selvaria showed up and started killing any thing that so much as sneezed. The MG turrets were simple enough to handle only that damned white haired witch was the real source of trouble as she was every time she stepped up to bat. As for the initial security detail I just took a page from Longstreet and smashed the right flank and rolled them up with enfilading fire down the trenches and swept them off the map. The Imp tanks were simply no match for my infantry, I didn’t even have to use Edelwiess. As for Selvaria’s vomit inducing DLC it was sickening as you have to play as the biggest wet blanket in the whole damn army as some loser engineer who loses his nerve if something so much as looks at him funny. The whole thing itself was just otaku pandering and as a game rather boring since Selvaria with MG-34 pretty much sucked out most of the challenge, still getting that MG-34 in the main game arsenal for completing it almost made up for Johann pissing on himself. Calawain has also started playing the game so I wonder how he handled it.

Musings of Calwain

Like Crusader, I have little interest in bisexual tsundere shoutas who can’t seem to relax. He needs to stay the hell away from the pure and innocent imoutou. I found it amusing that the first and second in command of each squad and the only tank pilot all went together by themselves out on an expedition. It reminds me of Star Trek when the away teams would consist of all the top commanders (and when you saw someone you didn’t recognize, there was an 80% chance he was gonna get iced). So in TNG, you’d see Picard, Riker, Worf, Geordi, and Data all going out on away teams. All it would take is one like 20th century landmine and boom! Well, that’s fiction for ya.

I’m going to have to say that having a random country hick nobody be “the chosen one” isn’t exactly new and inventive, but at least they haven’t smothered it on us so far and it was just a small hint in the episode with Alicia (I’m reserving total judgment until I see the rest of the story). I did enjoy Alicia going all rabu rabu over Welkin, I am always a fan of the dere dere and blushing. I did find that episode 8 moved rather slowly, however, the search and rescue dragged on a bit too long for my tastes. By the preview I am not particularly pleased that we have to do the DLC nonsense before getting to the battle against the mobile fortress/tank/gundam that Lelouch is hanging out in. Also, I will have to agree with my comrade that the tank mission was quite a bitch to handle when Selvaria came around with 20 CP and wasted some of my precious squad members. It was an exercise in hiding and praying to say the least.

Screen Caps

To your numerous defeats…

Varrot is too good for this sorry excuse for a fighting force…

I regret that his mother was so obedient as to give birth to his fatass…

I hope you shoot him one day Hauptmann Varrot.

For once I don’t think sharing is caring…

Hey they’re better than rations…

He won’t grow period.

I prophecy to you this the reward for your loyalty to him will be paid for in treachery…

I see she has a penchant for over doing things…

Damn right.

Yeah she looks cuter than you…

Okay then why is that sissy allowed in here?

Don’t worry Edelwiess is still superior.

Oh let me toss Alicia too.

If it were me I’d toss you out of the rubble not into it…

Damn right these boys today lack heroism in the face of danger.

Wait who the fuck is this?

Please hold these droppings?

Yeah it turns out he chick was half deer…

I told you that Welkin fellow was weird…

Of course you didn’t…

And you’re telling Faldio all this why?

I like this funny face the most.

Hear the patter of running feet
It’s the old First Squad in full retreat
They’re moving on; they’ll soon be gone
They’re haulin’ ass, not savin’ gas
They’ll soon be gone.

Over on that hill there’s an Imperial tank
A million Imps are on Welkin’s flank
Ramal’s movin’ on, He’ll soon be gone
With his rifle broke, it ain’t no joke
He’ll soon be gone.

Million Imps comin’ through the pass
Playin’ burp-gun boogie all over Ramal’s ass
He’s movin’ on, He’ll soon be gone
With his rifle broke, it ain’t no joke
He’ll soon be gone.

Twenty thousand Imps comin’ through the pass
I’m tellin’ you, baby, Ramal’s haulin’ ass
He’s moving on; He’ll soon be gone
He’s haulin’ ass, not savin’ gas
He’ll soon be gone.

Easier said than done.

Here here now that’s a girl with brains.

That is why Alicia is BOSS.

Yeah next time you might want to forgo being the tip of the spear and just be the shaft…

I see some one withheld the morphine from Faldio…

Ouch that is one heavy hitting Dear John Letter.

I see Hinano finally got her pay off…

He broke it while thinking of you in a corner…I think you can infer the details.

You guessed right.

I feel sorry for Wendy being stuck in this squad with a hardass for First Sergeant.

Now Edy’s DLC on the other hand that was actually fun.

If you piss in your pants after a mosquito bite, you might be a Johann…

If you are going to unsheath that sword you better use it…

Wait don’t tell this is going to be in the next Selvaria DLC…

I guess these guys will be on vacation next week.

Oddly enough it’s always the the weirdos that get famous, Patton was a weirdo who believed in reincarnation.

I find it morbidly funny that Ellet is blonde haired and blue-eyed as that makes her Grade “A” Jerry and it’s up to Alicia to try and thwart what General Sherman would call a spy, though in this age of poncy politeness we call them journalists. I am pretty certain they changed Aisha’s VA as she doesn’t sound 12 years old but at least it seems they allocated a bit more budget to the rest of the gang even if Marina looks the best out of the bunch beating out Edy who actually tried to get all gussied up until Homer told her that Ellet was only doing radio. I think that in many ways Alicia is Kana as she is blowing things way out of proportion with facial expressions that do at times almost reach the same levels as the black bible faces in Minami-ke. In the end it seems that militia being militia that every one wants to have their own 10 minutes of fame and completely disregard Ellet’s efforts to keep on topic in regards to Welkin. Alicia knows full well how underneath it all, Welkin is a weirdo with an animal fetish. Many funny faces were made as Alicia tried to stop Ellet though such a mighty effort was rather unnecessary. I do like how Welkin asked for a big old pile of pork and some real food, as rations generally suck compared to real food. Sadly the pricks from Faldio’s squad were a bunch of pricks who would bite the hand that feeds them. In the end the so called men of 1st Squad get trounced by the girls of 7th squad who basically routed them once Jann showed them the joys of men. Oddly enough Marina hugging Hans is feasible, but more importantly I also found Marina adorable throughout. She is as adorable as she is lethal. Next time Faldio’s boy friend starts acting weird and Jaeger starts messing around with 40 year old women in front of Gregor. Even if the tactical stuff is pretty much dead for the most part I sort of like the military mishap thing they got going it reminds me of the old movie Stripes, sure the odds of meeting a good looking female MP are pretty much nonexistent but the idea of it is still amusing.

Calawain’s Commentary

I agree with her hostilities to the fifth column.

It was not lost on me that Alicia was making several of those Bible Black faces that Kana made in the first season of Minami-ke (something that Crusader touches on above as well). For those of you not aware, Kana and Alicia have the same seiyuu. I’ve said before that her facial expressions carry the show, but I didn’t know they were going to carry an entire episode. We saw “oh shit,” “WTF!,” a shit eating grin, “I’m in despair!,” frustration, dere dere… and that was all in the first 5 minutes. Alicia has managed to force her way into contention for one of the top waifus of the spring season. I’m not sure she can quite reach the level of Hinagiku or Mio, but she’s getting damn close.

“That’s the kind of person nii-san is” *blush*. Isara is trying really hard to get up there in the rankings too. I’m really having fun with the characters in this series, they have been able to display a wide range of endearing character traits, from singing to being flamboyant (watching him with a rage face getting ready to kick some clowns’ ass while wearing lipstick was hilarious). I could do without the wanna-be model airheads, but they don’t get much screentime thankfully.

The truth is, I’m seriously considering dropping the 400 bones to pick up a PS3 to play this game. I already planned to get one in the fall, but I think I’m moving up the timetable here. From what I hear the game is even better than the anime, which is already pretty hot, and add that to the actual gameplay (I’m a big fan of Tactical/SRPGs) for a complete package of Bar Exam review distraction for the summer.

More Screen Caps

He’s a homo homo side character?

I’d keep him away from Hans if I was you…

Not as bad as Damon’s at least…

Why so SERIOUS?

In the sky of despair, storm blows savagely
For whom the future exists
Collapsing is the world, storm blowing through it
The chosen ones WOMEN OF DESTINY

I see your morale is low.

Wait you forgot the rest of your squad consisted of idiots?

I take it that Largo is a poor hunter.

A true musician doesn’t ask they just force people to LISTEN TO MY SONG.

The rap duo Vegetable Bar will not tolerate criticism.

So she can make a face like Haruka’s…

Some secret Jann…

At least some one remebered that loose lips might sink ships…

So I guess these two mistook Ellet for a VJ from MTV.

Better late than never?

Ellet did not have a Fujioka to toss at Alicia.

Dang Alicia missed the boob grab.

It’s dead Jim.

Alicia has heard of Jerry cans…she just never expected to find a Jerry in a can.

Dearest Alicia please tip the drum and roll it down a hill, Ellet and all…

Woah there Welkin it’s a little early for that.

Alicia refuses to hold Welkin’s droppings.

This is bad why?

Time to become a woman then.

I need some one to marry Alicia..any volunteers?

Alicia’s thought of the day: Lame pick up line is lame.

I take it someone is actually eating poop.

I wonder what she was thinking…

Guess who gets to clean this latrine…

Someone looks pissed off today…

Yes where is that delicious Ham?

The only thing missing is the beer.

Valkyria Chronicles = Kana Goes to War

Look buddy just because your patch has a one don’t make you the best…

Okay Susie now isn’t the time to think about pacifism…

To Homer pain is fresh bread, and he wants some mo’

Who says Gays make bad soldiers…

:3

She kicks high…

Oddly enough Salinas started out as an enemy of women…

You’re making it worse…

That’s why your are the Sergeant and she is the Corporal…

Ellet is talking tommyrot.

Talk about low standards…

I like it when subbers have a bit of fun.

]]> http://that.animeblogger.net/2009/05/16/valkyria-chronicles-06-we-all-sang-songs-the-pork-was-free/feed/ 15 http://that.animeblogger.net/2009/05/06/valkyria-chronicles-05-alicias-first-blood-part-ii/ http://that.animeblogger.net/2009/05/06/valkyria-chronicles-05-alicias-first-blood-part-ii/#comments Wed, 06 May 2009 21:07:08 +0000 Crusader http://that.animeblogger.net/?p=17388

You know being an E-5 is a magical time the first time, enough rank to get things done, but not enough to take full responsibility when things really go wrong.

Well it certainly appears as if real tactics will be sparse, but in terms of the game at least it seems that the staff at least did their homework and looked at the gameplay so again in that sense it works. I like how they added Wendy to the roster though if you did get elite shocktroopers you will know how weird it is seeing Edy and Rosie in close proximity. While they added one lancer it’s still rather sad that for whatever reason (animation budget, most likely) that they have not put more effort into character designs or actually trying to use classes other than one lone lancer, scouts, and shocktroops. I could have used a lot less Faldio and Ramal though, still just like in the game it seems that Imp snipers really can’t shoot for shit to save their lives, personally I never had luck with Imp Sniper Rifles since range is pathetic and it’s really accuracy that matters. I do like how they used cover though clumping up is in this universe a good idea for combined attacks since that’s how supporting fire works. (Calawain has finals today and tomorrow wish the poor guy luck)

Welcome to the jungle we have fun and games…

Personally I would have preferred something more similar to the actual mission that it was based on since I would have been most amused if Jane “Kill ‘em All” Turner was gleefully shooting Imps in the back. Nevertheless I simply adore Alicia’s funny faces and Rambo Alicia was fairly enjoyable. I agree about the fear and nervousness thing, though like Captain Speirs said you might as well believe you are already dead. They really hinted a lot about future developments at that cost of special tanks (Lupus and Edelweiss) duking it out, but at least they kept Hans from being the weepy little creature that he is I think they were better off just keeping the hold some shit routine. I still think Hans should be named Ham but whatever. I like how Alicia nearly dinged Jaeger in the face while the guy was gawking at her. Next ep looks to be a filler though I suppose Jann is going to be a barrel full of laughs and Ellet is going to show some cleavage. Alicia will make even more funny faces, and it seems Edy, Suzie, and Aisha (yeah the 12 year old shocktrooper is in on it too) are going to get all gussied up, one can hope that a decent amount of budget will be allocated.

In terms of actual military wisdom though in that moment there was no reason not to pursue though Welkin did at least discern that his busting in was all too easy and that he didn’t really kick the shit out of the Imps and send them packing. Rather being cautious was probably a good thing since, if Jaeger is all they make him out to be, Squad 7 would have just chased him right into a kill zone of Jaeger’s choosing. They really are pushing Gregor as an incompetent hack since he was supposed to be elsewhere and getting flanked should have raised some flags with him if he really was worth is rations. I bet Rommel and Patton would be howling mad at Welkin, but Squad 7 ain’t exactly the Third Army or the Afrika Korps, hell I’d have problems sending in a bunch of militia on a going fastest and farthest mission. Mostly since they only have one tank and they have no halftracks, so it be less like Rommel running Frendendall to the ground at Kasserine and probably would have been more like Manstein crushing Popov’s Mobile Group at the Third Battle of Kharkov. Ah well let the good times roll.

Musings about the Game

I think Alicia needs to start sporting a combat knife.

Since there was a game to this I might as well try and talk about the game, unless no one really cares or everyone has beaten the game already.

As for the mission itself I ran Claudia, Alicia, Marina, and Aisha with Edelweiss while Largo, Ramsey, Rosie, and Jane were going to do the flanking. I had to go one group at time while trying to preserve command points in the case of the flanking force while inching up Marina into a good sniping position to ding two lancers. Edelweiss was an excellent decoy that was not too hard for Claudia to repair. I decided to not nip the forward position in the rear and went all the way to the side gate on the base while I used Edelweiss to blast out the medium tank and from the front angle, and stormed the camp. I sent Alicia to recon that AT gun that was over looking the base only to find that it was all by itself, I tell ya aiming for the back of the head execution style never got old for me. Over running the camp was a bit tougher I had to park Edelweiss to block Lupus (special tank shows up later) from intercepting my shocktroops as they crossed open ground. The last camp was more challenging though being able to boost defense on the first one in to lob grenades made things easier. Otherwise I tossed four grenades in all to blow them out of their sandbags. I wasn’t able to blow out Lupus but managed to blow out the treads though it made no difference.

In terms of play style I usually poured experience points into Shocktroops because they are my bread and butter units, with Scouts and Snipers as a second priority, Engineers third (mostly because leveling them up is cheap), and Lancers last since I didn’t use them much in the early turns. Scouts have good range for interception fire, but with a properly placed shocktrooper you can gun down plenty more imps dumb enough to run into to the cone of death. Counterattacking is also much more lethal to Imps so long as you use cover. For upgrades I always upgraded body armor, SMGs, Grenades, and Rifles (in that order). I usually upgraded HP on Edelweiss first before doing firepower upgrades and mortar capacity. I didn’t even bother with radiator upgrades since I was usually able to back Edelwiess into a protected position. I am interested in how other people played since I was real shocktrooper heavy and didn’t really use scouts until I got them to level 11 and got grenade launchers, which are lovely by the way.

More Screen Caps

Show us proof of injury and you get to be SIQ.

Hehe…

Let Hans eat it…

It’s no worse than your pet pig…

You have no idea…

You can tell by the trail of droppings.

Alright they added Wendy “Bomber” Cheslock.

But first let’s roast the pig.

Because you did not make Sergeant Major yet…

No wonder why Alicia gets along with Hans so well…

Let’s be honest now scouts are the first ones in…

I am surprised Largo can not only keep up, but he’s the head of the pack.

Murdock Gregor I am coming for you…

Yeah shut the fuck up Faldio.

You to shouta.

Alicia doesn’t like Ramal either.

It’s your lot in life sadly…

You just have to accept that fact that you’re already dead…

Were you shooting at me?

Poor Edy gets minimal budget.

I like your use of cover, but I hate your stance there Oscar. I suppose that is why you couldn’t hit a damn thing as a sniper.

Clearly Gergor had never heard of Agincourt.

I hope Wendy has a custom demolition chargefor every occasion.

Yeah Imp snipers are terrible, good hitting power, but really what’s the point if accuracy sucks for you one shot weapon?

There’s courage and then there is Alicia’s courage…

Of course Faldio is not ready…

Best uniform EVAR.

All your base belong to us.

Alicia is better than Faldy, Alicia is stronger, Alicia is faster, Alicia is better than Faldy.

It’s your fault for throwing your lot with a Prince who has no interest in women…

Yeah she can shoot too.

I could’ve killed them all. I could’ve killed you. In your camp, you’re the law. Out here, it’s me. Don’t push it. Don’t push it, I’ll give you a war you won’t believe. Let it go. Let it go…

Hey wasn’t there supposed to be some sort of elite tank over here?

At least he realized that he did not kick enough ass to make them run.

Sure I’d love me a roast pig at the tend of hostilities.

HAM.

You make her nuts…

Eh just feed Welklin’s stuff to Hans, Hans will eat anything.

Yes the 12 year old is in on it too.

Yes you let a 12 year old volunteer to be a shocktrooper.

I share Alicia’s mistrust of reporters.

Wait how do you unlock this in the game?

Thank you for being honest.

Oh Imp propaganda…we all know Maxi-pad here is really ersatz Mark Clark

Prince Maxi-pad thinks that by beating up on the Fattest Galian General that he’s hot shit or something, it seems that one of the big cuts that fat fuck made was on body armor as the regulars were actually less well equipped than the militia. After all how stupid do you have to be to be to run around in bright blue uniforms without armor plates or helmets? Still it seems Damon is worse than Winfield Scott who while fat due to gout and rheumatism at least could win battles and translate Napoleonic texts. Welkin is a better man than me because I would have used a potato masher to mash Damon’s fat face and skull fucked him with one of those animal trophies Damon bought because we all know aristocrats and rich people can’t hunt nothing except but drugged up birds. Even then they usually end up shooting their friends in the face…Thank goodness war makes rich fuckers dead fuckers because pogues like Damon get fragged in any army with an ounce of self respect and a burning desire to grasp VICTORY. Selvaria talks a lot about something though I loathe her mostly because she is in all honesty as scared little girl that once fixed, flanked, and surrounded isn’t nothing at all when not glowing blue. Still at least she looks half decent even if as a commander she’s real ho hum. So Gregor massacres Damon’s poorly led and poorly equipped regulars and all of a sudden he thinks he’s tough shit too. Well if the goddamn Imps under Maxi-pad think they are the elite Panzer Lehr with the 503rd Heavy Panzer Abteilung then they got another thing coming.

Apparently one of the Gallian tanks did a barrel roll while hull down…

Poor Alicia gets sexually harassed by that shady Faldio guy…and to no one’s surprise General “the dateless” Damon. Hauptman “Katie II” Varrot send 7th Squad out to do what Damon could not, since the fat fuck forgot to cloak his PaK 38s and got rolled over by a bunch of light Panzers. Faldio decides to bring in 1st Squad, but with a meager roster that lacked the best shock troopers I have little hope that Jane “Kill ‘em All” Turner is ever going to do what she does best. Even if it was Damon getting his ass kicked it was still mildly amusing when Alicia started making funny faces and tried to Bright Slap Faldio only to miss and get a blue on blue with Welkin, who at least didn’t get all catty and weepy on us. Forgetting to cloak the Pak 38 was just icing. Having 7th Squad field day the base was also great since I had to do that too… I feel a bit sorry for my comrade Calawain who lacks a PS3 to play the game and isn’t snickering at the underwhelming rosters. Still if Largo finally gets his Lance then we can hope Marina gets her sniper rifle to be the boogie man and do things “Her Way.” For a set up at least it wasn’t half bad since cleaning up Damon’s mess was plausible though the Regulars weren’t really that dumb. I suspect it had more to do with a lack of budget since all the uniforms are less detailed than they were in the game.

Calawain’s Commentary

Maxi-pad rather play with Damon than Selvaria…

Lelouch sounds like he’s trying to hard to voice the Prince in a very manly fashion. It feels very forced and unnatural, and he is much better at voicing more flamboyant characters. I just can’t see him as a bulky, manly prince when I’m so used to the effeminate lanky version. The character itself is good, I hope that we get some Prince vs. Welkin “just as planned” battles back and forth.

Alicia getting all flustered was pretty amusing. I think she’s going to be all over Welkin’s junk by the end of this show, but it was entertaining to see her embarrassed face. Her wide array of hilarious facial expressions are one of the reasons I watch this show.

Overall the episode was a bit dull, seeing as how we had a lot of action this week and they were setting us up for next week’s fight. Second half of the episode showed some action, but it was rather one sided. I’m looking forward to Welkin and Squad 7 beating the crap out of the creepy old guy and his goons next week.

More Screen Caps

Fixed defenses are a monument to the stupidity of man. What man can build, man can destroy…

You know by this time the real Germans had already taken Paris at this point…I take it by grand you mean slow.

Yeah let’s talk about Selvaria’s childhood…

I’d be mad too if I was you, you’re not the best, and your little Prince is into small boys and his hobbies include crying for mommy.

And Maxi-pad will always pass up the Selvaria buffet.

Oh Damon…having a spotlight in your office don’t make you bad ass.

Surprisingly small yes?

Yeah Alicia never signed up for this!

And Damon is a son of a bitch.

It will be fun digging them out and shooting anyone stupid enough to run.

There there Alicia you’ll be blasting more Imps soon enough.

To be fair I fall asleep when Damon starts jawing, kind of hard to listen while fattie has food particles stuck between his teeth…

Yeah Damon smells like ass.

Had this been an Elite Heer Damon would have been sacked and shot.

I wish Alicia socked him.

Yeah really should clocked him and broke an arm or two…

It will be just like Anzio…

Trust me Largo you really don’t want to go…

Let’s start by changing your family motto…diligence and courage simply will not do. How about Honor and Blood?

Why the hell would you not use you defensive bonus from the grass? It’s like the best cover there is in the game…

Beware of Faldio bearing gifts…

Better yet beware of Faldio period.

Stay wary Alicia, Queen of Scouts.

You really don’t want to know…

You know I bet Damon started out like Faldio…

Alicia isn’t into guys with small tanks.

Regular must be short hand for Regular idiots…who the hell would want to wear those pants to battle? A Kilt would have been better.

Cloak your damn PaK 38 damn it though knowing Damon he must have brought a 2 pounder to the party…

Sadly these guys were in such bad shape Damon out ran them.

Still props for issuing Order No. 227: NOT ONE STEP BACK! So how about Order no. 270: There are no Gallian prisoners of war, only traitors…

Alicia can’t believe Damon could actually run that fast.

General Damon is as clumsy as he is stupid. Gunther land our troops beyond their line and deploy your squad so that nothing gets out of that base. You are in command now General Gunther.

What you talk’in ’bout Welkin?

Marina has heard this all before…

Oddly enough in the game you pay out the ass to get the beach segment, suffice to say I decided to pimp my tanks instead.

Well looks like you might be useful after all Susie…

I see London, I see France…

Once more with feeling Alicia!

I like the use of force…

We’ll have to work on target acquisition though…

She has found her decoy unit…

Certainly this didn’t play out like I remembered but I am rather amused that Largo is now a scout and that Welkin’s team picks were rather ho hum since Jane, Nina, Hannes, Vyse, and Alex were MIA on the roster. So it seems that Rosie is every bit the bigot from the game. Sadly it seems that not much went into actually differentiating the classes as all seemed to have scout armor and not one Lancer was present. Nevertheless it was good to know that the “I never made Sergeant Major” Largo and Jann (the dude with the lipstick) are spooning, while this was more like crossing Washington crossing the Delaware than Pegasus Bridge with a tank. Still poor Alicia gets to be Welkin’s Staff Sergeant since the organizational thing is all out of whack since there is a tank permanently attached. Poor Isara has to deal with a whole lot of hate from people who believe in some fictitious atrocity that is older than memory. Ah well at least the tanks were done right, and to be fair it pretty much looked like how the game had it even if tactical spacing was all fucked up (since the combat system encourages bunching up behind sandbags) and the chance to go higher on the unit cap was scrapped.

In terms of tactics a whole lot could have gone wrong with that night attack since this was before night vision goggles and the use of noisy motor boats was pretty damn dumb for a sneak attack. Still at least Welkin used the thick fog and struck where he was not expected I am a tad disappointed in how Edelweiss is a bit OP but I guess having and engineer run behind it all the time would have been rather unexciting. While a tank ought to have nothing to fear from some troops in the back with rifles and SMGs at least it is faithful to the game in that sense that any tank that had it’s rear exposed like that is pretty much dead with exception to Imperial Medium tanks that have an MG turret in the back. I killed off two heavy tanks with Shocktroopers that fired point blank at their exposed engine blocks. I do like the land fortress thing they got going even if the idea sucked in practice, at least it looks impressive. To be honest freshly minted butter bars (2LT) like Gunther get no respect from senior enlisted anyways so the vocal misgivings of a bunch of weekend warriors like Squad 7 was to be expected since they probably don’t follow a strict set of rules and regs.

At least you are his Staff Sergeant.

I thought it was funny how Susie was nowhere to be seen though in truth she only lasted one mission before I booted her out for lack of combat power, only Walker lasted shorter after he got janked by Selvaria after he failed to hit a damn thing in mission 6. It also looks like for now they didn’t use any of the loli-soldaten yet and at least they seemed to have limited the Darscen haters to only Largo and Rosie. Personally I hope shoutaro scarface gets kicked too, worst sniper ever. Next time it’s a filler though it seems Selvaria got’s a bounce to her this time. Sadly Welkin ain’t no Patton and his speech to 7th Squad was nowhere near as great as Patton’s to his Third Army, if only there was a YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DIE WITHOUT PERMISSION sort of line.

Calawain’s Commentary

Alicia’s facial expressions cracked me up throughout the episode, I love her “for fuck’s sake…” face. And once again I’ll point out what an awesome job Marina Inoue has been doing voicing her, giving her a hint of tsundere to go with the tough and assertive side. Mmmm, I think I’m in love. And next week she’s going to be blushing, oh yeah.

I don’t get how these clowns can hate on Isara, she’s so moe. A girl whose not afraid to get down and dirty, and can fix war materiel. She can clean my tank barrel any day of the week. Plus she’s voiced by Hōko Kuwashima. The Germans would never have lost if they stocked their army full of bishoujos and thigh-highs. Rawr.

The tank scene reminded me of one of my favorite James Bond movies of all time, The Spy Who Loved Me. In it, Bond takes one of his tricked out cars (in this case, a Lotus with a submarine mode) underwater to fight some baddies and then comes up onto a beach full of people. Instead of tank shells, Bond had deployable mines and a cloud of oil. I love Bond movies, so any anime that can remind me of them gets a thumbs up in my book.

Screen Caps

Pffft you can’t hide, you lack a Canada.

As if putting Susie on the team wasn’t bad enough he picked these guys…

The person in the back is simply lethal as a sniper, sadly she’s playing scout…

Now scarface over there can’t hit a guy in the head to save his life.

Alicia wants to kill Imps, kill Imps, and kill more Imps.

Where are the recovery teams?

Dude where are the 105mm howitzers to make a mess of that tank lot?

All because Isara’s tank is so much better than Rosie’s

Certainly not about how he can be the fastest and go the farthest…

African or European?

Have you not met Mr. Hobart and his funnies, BMP,  or the new EFV?

Edy is alright.

I’d ber sad too if I was you should have made it permenantly amphibious.

Alicia Crosses the Vasel

Edelweiss apparently has better IR optics than I thought possible.

I see that Welkin ambushed the Ersatz-Hessians…

I am Surprised Susie has lasted this long…

Well they do look bigger…

Oh great Fun with Faldio next week…

Oh shit General Fatass is a lecher too?

Definitely born a treadhead.

Well at least tank combat in this one isn’t bad as the Imperials at least use extensive infantry support for their tanks, though I wonder how the infantry keeps up…could use some halftracks and kettenkrads for some panzergrenadier goodness, but maybe in the next game.

I also like how they used their tanks in even numbers since tanks should always operate in pairs. The town watch is just sad though I guess the Imperials can be excused for not using that much cover since they seem to have some fine body armor. Now that I think about it I think things are bunched up since they are trying to fit every thing on screen since tactical spacing would make every thing a distance shot. I am not sure if it was intentional or not but the blow hard who was put in charge reeked of a loser Austrian corporal whose first name was Adolf I confess I did laugh at times when he called for no retreat and thought his rusted out armor just needed a little maintenance. Add the fact that he was hostile to the Darscens, fought in the First War, and thought his tank was a V-weapon…well I thought it was funny how he was aiming his panzerfaust from a tower at over the 60 some yards (more or less) of the practical range for rocket propelled shaped charges. While the town watch was piss poor at the Imperials had a decent showing in that after Edelweiss proved to be more T-34 than Panzer III, I like how they went for the treads after their main guns could not penetrate. It seems that the Imperials are at least professional in that they kept their cool until a larger opposing formation was moving in. Susie might well be the anchor of the unit in that she drags everyone down, but at least the corporal is dead and Alicia. I still wish they would add some coaxial and top mounted machine guns, preferably MG-34s or MG-42s, at least Edelweiss has a snorkel. Next time it seems that the cast is going to get larger, which ought to be fun.

Calawain’s Commentary

I hope they get around to explaining better the whole racism against the Darcsen or whatever they called Isara. I got the little bit from the narration at the start of the show, but not really enough to understand what the big issue is. Perhaps it has something to do with why she turns the tank around to return fire rather than just have Welkin turn the turret around, keke.

I’m digging the decent animation quality so far. The CG tanks and such are done well and not Gonzo style, they don’t look too artificial. I haven’t noticed any major animation screwups or QUALITY moments, and I like whatever you call that shading style they do on the hair and parts of clothes and the like.

I applaud the generally solid combined arms tactics used by the Imperial Army, keeping their soldiers in close to their tanks and using cover. Overall, the silly usage of tactics (usually by the protagonists) is fun to point out occasionally and make fun of, but it really doesn’t impair my enjoyment of the show overall. If I want a proper use of tactics in anime I’ll go rewatch LOGH. What I could do without was like five minutes at the end of episodes where they talk about their feelings. Yawn.

Screen Caps

Eh…I would have gone with Kurt Knispel.

Alicia is the tank commander.

At least they use hand signals.

Could use a hull mounted MG-34.

I wonder why they rarely ever use that hull mounted gun even howitzer rounds will rattle the enemy crew.

That ain’t no Javelin buddy that ain’t even a RPG-7…get closer if you actually want to hit it.

That’s one redeeming factor.

I hope those are tank commanders scoping out the town.

This is just sad…they knew the heat was on and yet only now do they bother with maintenance.

Oh lord the Corporal thinks he’s a Michael Whittmann…

Not one step back eh?

As a corporal…

I like how the over sized tank platoon commander has to ride out in front with his wireless set.

I like the use of infantry support.

Pity I as hoping for at least one light MG.

I take it there was no manual way to traverse the turret…

That’s pretty damn light considering this was urban warfare…though there were no snipers.

I take it there is no air support…damn I was hoping some one would break out the IL-2s.

They need to bolt on a MG-42 or a .50 cal to that cupola.

I would have staggered the column given the size of the street.

Your 2 Pounders are useless.

Some disarray, Alicia, at least this guy has the right idea.

Wow so the Militia did give the town watch the same stuff…certainly it wasn’t thier fault the Corporal let them rust.

At least there are motorized infantry…I’d still go with half tracks though.

I like this combination, everything is better with thigh highs.

It’s fine the Militia seems only mildly military…

Is that you Katie?

Fresh meat for basic hehe…

Aww…no LSTs?

Yeah no air support…

Yeah I’d be sad too if I was you rookie, real disappointed in how you did out there…

Well while Valkyria has lost plenty of points for realism I suppose that since it is based on a turn based game with mild real time or so I have been told I suppose it is inevitable that the action isn’t going to be as frenetic as Company of Heroes. At least they do act like militia and by that I mean doing it wrong. Susie seems to be in the wrong line of work since she seems to be scared shitless and probably should be relegated to medic duties or digging fox holes. Alicia might learn to be a good shot, but her stance is wrong and it seems everyone doesn’t know how to use cover although the Imperial grunts seem to have some instances of brilliance. Still there is some promise as while the infantry are of the turn based RTS category, the tanks should liven things up a bit. If nothing else there are potato masher grenades and the Ersatz-Germans were rolling through the Ersatz-Ardennes in Ersatz-1940, though Ersatz-Erich von Manstein either seems to have been more cautious or this slow pace might be due to lack of Ersatz-Erwin Rommel and Ersatz-Heinz Guderian. I suppose it is in line with the game in that it’s not going to get GRIMDARK this quick, but here’s hoping that these guys start learning how to use cover.

Thank goodness finally a competent and orderly evacuation, best of all no Shinn Asukas were made.

Uh shoot first…seeing as you ain’t a bro feel free to taz’em.

A lot of things, Alicia next time do not let the prisoner turn and face you, keep him kneeling and let your shoutas pat him down next time, and for goodness sake never let him dig his own pocket.

Well these rookies at least have one thing going for them…thigh highs.

So the setting is in Ersatz-Holland which from the Ersatz-Adrain helmets might be Ersatz-France in which case things look bad though they at least have Ersatz-M-14s though it seems the Imperials got some Erstaz-Gewher 43s with carbine variants…So yeah it seems that they are sticking to the game more closely than to reality which is fine, but I just left like being nitpicky since I want Alicia and her team to improve over the couse of this, at least the Imperials are doing a better job with hand signals fire teams and having tanks operate in pairs. So there might be hope yet for the green horns even if they don’t rely on cover and blind fire. Still the idea of girls with rifles running about with tanks and bullshitting when surrounded does tickle my fancy a bit if they do get tactical I hope that at least within the context of the game it will look semi-plausible. It helps that the Imperial Prince looks mildly like Reinhard, maybe it will be so, but at least Alicia’s Milita uniform incorporates thigh highs now that is a uniform choice I approve of. Still drafting 15 year old kids is a bad idea, but here’s hoping the Gallian Defense Force evolves into something on par with the IDF in terms of raw military power. Imperials being mildly German will at least forgo Intifada and go for the more effective Blitzkrieg minus Stukas and other aircraft.  At least with cartoon violence we will be spared the crying over dead civlians since they at least happened upon the brilliant idea of getting them all out and putting up a vanguard to cover their flight, in that regards they already beat out just about many wannabe commanders barring some of those in LoGH and Macross.  Hooray for evacuation!

I think we found our Blithe…but we’ll fix her.

You hesitated why?

USE COVER!

At least these Imperials have it down.

We’ll have to work on your method of entry…

My only complaint is the use of rivets instead of welds…

I approve of the use of potato mashers…

Yes use cover!

We’ll get you your Field Kitchen Assault Badge real soon.

Behold the upgunned Panzer III…that is no 50mm long.

Oddly enough these look like Japanese Tanks…not very German if you ask me.

Calawain’s Commentary

Despite the paltry small squadron tactics that Crusader pointed out (such as turning around in the open and returning fire while standing straight up), I rather enjoyed the first episode. It has an obvious RPG feel (which should not be surprising considering what it is based on), and that’s something I usually enjoy being a huge RPG fan.

Marina Inoue (Alicia) is one of my favorite seiyuu (Matsurika from Maria+Holic, Kana from Minami-Ke and Chiri from Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei as some examples), and I could certainly listen to her kicking some ass this season. Susumu Chiba (Welkin) is fine and I rather enjoy Houko Kuwashima (Isara), so the voice cast looks pretty solid.

I’ve always been a big history buff, especially of 20th century warfare, so I’m excited to watch something that is at least roughly based on the World War I era. The whole invasion of a small neutral country to possibly get at your major enemy does give off hints of the German invasion at the start of the First World War. One wonders if it will fare better than the poor Schlieffen plan. Although it is highly unlikely the Belgian militia was full of such delicious bishoujos. Crusader pointed out to me that with all the windmills, perhaps they were instead trying to reference the Netherlands. That gives a higher priority of bishoujos indeed.

Fight onwards militamen, I for one shall follow your gallant journey to defeat the Schlieffen plan with moe and sketches of fish!