Kakumeiki Valvrave - 5

"The Singing Sakimori Academy"

Oh you utterly crazy show; I enjoy the heck out of you every week.

You can never be sure what a series that creates a country entirely of school-age children is willing to do, but I have to say that as batshit as Valvrave is, it at least does go to the pains of showing that such a world can't be candy and rainbows all the time. Sure, the kids have next to no supervision and can do whatever the hell they like, but that really leads to a rather anarchical situation; you've got guys drawing naked girls on the asphalt, kids raiding stores (though rather agreeably, I must admit), people driving and operating machinery they really shouldn't, and, of course, the Lord of the Flies breakdown once shit starts hitting the fan. I find it amusing that it isn't just the kids who are being irresponsible though; the few teachers who tagged along without a choice are hardly in control of things. In fact, the PE teacher's decision to overuse the air conditioning contributed to the power outage in the first place.

Reagardless, Shoko and Haruto are quickly finding out that leading a country is really much tougher than the act of declaring independence. When the module starts malfunctioning and goes into "winter mode", all the blame naturally goes to the girl who suggested breaking away in the first place, and unfortunately Shoko is just that, a girl without any real experience in politics. Her father may be prime minister, but it doesn't make her or any of the other students a true leader. Of course, the rest of the students are quick to start playing the blame game; even if they were completely on board earlier, now that their new country doesn't seem like a good idea, they need a scapegoat, and Shoko and Saki happen to be the right people at the wrong time for that exact purpose.

Thankfully, Saki isn't a pushover, and she's more than prepared to retaliate against her snobby and self-justified senpai. She also happens to have been a former idol (she doesn't seem to have enjoyed that though), and Shoko and Haruto capitalize on the opportunity to raise morale by streaming a show for JIOR to let their friends, family, and country know that they're all okay. Of course, things wouldn't be Valvrave if the crisis ended there, and Haruto and Saki eventually discover that his Valvrave isn't the only one in existence; in fact, there are a whole fleet of them beneath the school, waiting for unwilling pilots to transform into body-switching vampires. When Haruto begs Saki to keep the whole thing a secret for the sake of saving innocents from his fate, she agrees; but only if he enters into a contract of sorts with her first.

N.B.: Thanks to Ivan for the wonderful screencaps!