Kakumeiki Valvrave - 9

"Dogs and Thunder"

Oh now you're roommates, are ya? I can just smell the fanfiction being written.

I was starting to wonder when the new pilots would start getting into their Valvraves, and I didn't have to wait too long for it to start happening. I think it was pretty obvious that Thunder would eventually rage his way onto a mecha, but I wasn't quite sure that Inuzuka would follow. Though Haruto mentions that he and Aina-chan were "joined at the hip" while she was alive, I don't really remember this being the case. Whether or not my memory is serving me correctly though, the last two episodes have certainly milked that relationship for all it's been worth, and Aina's death has served to let us get into Inuzuka's mindset and really give him some resolve, Haruto-style. As Thunder puts it, "everyone's happiness isn't worth a thing if you're not included in it!"

I find it rather amusing, however, that Thunder signed away his humanity like it was nothing and still has no clue as to what's happened to him by the time he returns. On the other hand, the other Kamitsuki aren't having as easy a time of it. Though Saki hasn't been shown to have any attacks, Haruto has definitely been suffering moments of feral instinct, and it's only L-Elf's badassery and no-nonsense demeanor that are keeping him from biting anyone while in throes. It's interesting to note that L-Elf mentions it's getting more frequent while the other Kamitsuki seem perfectly fine, but then again L-Elf has an unnatural ability to see things where no one else really cares to look. While the school becomes increasingly militarized under his command (supported fully by Haruto as he is), he also seems to have found something interesting; JIOR built the academy for the sake of the Valvraves, and the only people with no clue seem to be the students and the PE teacher themselves.

It's becoming more and more obvious that something is going on beneath this entire war, and it has everything to do with the Valvraves and the lore behind them. Clearly they're not normal technology, considering the Kamitsuki and the fact that the mecha seem to be sentient (Haruto's Valvrave seems rather talkative, though I don't think he's ever noticed her), as well as the snide comments that the Dorssian commander makes every episode. There has to be a reason for why he uses the term "reproduced" when talking about the robots, or why he always seems to know far more than the rest of us about what JIOR has been up to. Even a series as crazy as this one has its own logic; just don't expect it to be subtle.