Bushou Shoujo Machiavellianism OVA

Feel that the original series did not have the obligatory hotspring scene? Also, there wasn’t enough fanservice when we have a decent bevy of beauties? I figure this was the reason Bushou Shoujo Machiavellianism OVA was created for. Now you can put away all the stuffs that is related to the plot and go with these much needed scenes since you paid your worth for the BDs.

Exciting! Five Swords’ Inn Trip
Taking place after that clash with the Empress, Yoshino calls upon the Five Swords (minus Tsukuyo) to talk about this. As each of them claim they are personally responsible for this, Yoshino believes that had they worked together, the outcome would be different. Hence to foster cooperation among them, she will send them for a school trip to the hotspring. Doesn’t make sense but whatever. It is rumoured that they can bring a student along with them. I know who that lucky guy is. And they know who they want to bring but cannot say it because of pride and obviousness and thus waiting for the other to say so or circumstances to let them. I don’t think they’ll be able to say it… Meanwhile Nomura sees Tsukuyo and since he has become her disciple, he undergoes some sort of training. Nomura receives a painful surprise from her palm. He thought it was her spirit bullet but it is actually just her putting lots of force into her movement. Tsukuyo is disappointed after a few moments of training and he claims he hasn’t recovered from the fight yet and needs a vacation. You don’t say… Meanwhile for the other Five Swords, they are still hoping but this time their sisters hope they would bring them. The situation just got worst. Just in time for Tsukuyo to come in and suggest Nomura. Everyone agrees since he defeated Amou. However Yoshino says he cannot go as he has yet to take his exams (for transferring in). If he fails, he will have extra classes and cannot go on the trip. Hence our quintet become his teachers for the day. Too bad they are arguing who should be teaching him and decide the one with the highest overall score should do so. Unfortunately all of them have the same score. A draw. Yeah, should have taught him together. Uh huh. It took the whole day to decide this and now Nomura is gone. In fact he is back at his room with Masuko coaching him! Fat tranny better than beautiful snobs.

I take it that Nomura has passed because he gets to go with them to the hotspring inn. The girls are happy and why isn’t Nomura? Because he has to carry their bags. I believe this isn’t just the reason why they want him around. Warabi being cheeky has Nomura choose a girl he likes to be with. So which did he choose? He starts to imagine… Amou! Naked sexy Amou washing her body and tempting us!!! YEOW!!! Yeah, he likes strong girls. So the rest are curious of who he imagines and it is damn if he does, damn if he doesn’t if he picks either one or none. Oddly, Nomura is having food all by himself in a small room whereas the Five Swords are like enjoying theirs in a spacious hall. Doesn’t it feel a bit lonely or empty? Heck, even their sisters are being civilized eating dinner together. Just lots of sighing they could have been with their onee-sama. Then they hear rumours that the first to enter the bath will have their wish come true. Hence Five Swords (minus Tsukuyo who just goes to eat elsewhere) fighting among themselves. Yeah, can’t they all just get along instead of being selfish b*tches? Look, even their sisters are enjoying the bath together. Our first fanservice finally when Warabi cuts off Rin’s robes to stun her when her underwear is exposed. With Satori defeating Mary due to her fencing limitations, Warabi rushes off first. Satori is close behind and both girls strip naked at this point. Does less clothes means faster and less resistance? Hell yeah, fanservice is all I know. Before Warabi could jump into the hotspring, Satori knocks her out with her sword and ‘wins’. Tsukuyo isn’t rushing as she notes there are 2 baths and can enter one that isn’t empty. Too bad she enters the men’s section where Nomura is right now. Despite being blind, she gets super embarrassed to know he saw her naked loli body. You know she is scary when she opens her eyes. Oh, there goes Nomura into the sky. He crashes into the women’s section where all the girls are now. But he is all over Satori and this was her wish: To bath with him. Now the rest gets embarrassed and get ready to kill him. Yeah, this guy can’t catch a break and this trip made it worse.

Unarmed By Clichés
Uhm… I am not sure whether I should feel let-down or not because this hotspring and fanservice cliché wasn’t cliché enough. Because for one thing, Nomura doesn’t feel like the main character here and he is tossed aside for the most part. I was expecting the Five Swords to tussle over him but that didn’t really happen. Good in a way because they have stooped low enough in the TV series that having them stoop even lower would make the obvious seem so much more obvious. But it is bad because it takes out the fun to see those farcical Machiavellianism b*tches get owned by him. So we’ve got a slight distraction of Five Swords trying to coach Nomura but never got the chance. It feels that this part wasn’t even necessary and as though they needed to add some more scenes to the running time or else this OVA would be shorter. For the hotspring inn scenes, the main draw is the girls supposedly fighting each other and the fanservice is for the ‘reward’ for sticking to the end. And Nomura becomes a tool of comedic convenience because he was so dominating in the TV series that they now need to make him as mini punching bag. Yeah, that’s it for the hotspring scene. Just like that. Like, did anything get better? I doubt they would cooperate even further. Perhaps all just a ploy from Yoshino just to make their lives interesting by throwing Nomura in the mix.

Overall, this OVA feels a bit disappointing because it doesn’t lead anywhere and it is just something extra and light for fans who really love the series. Not that it would have been a lot better if it did. Yeah, damn if it does, damn if it doesn’t. It doesn’t break any new ground or development either since it tows the line with some of the most cliché of clichés like the hotspring fanservice and the guy being struck into the sky after being blamed for seeing their oh-so-pure-bodies even though common sense and circumstances says he isn’t. Yeah, the guy always gets the blame in this kind of situations no matter how strong or intelligent you are. Perhaps this is the Machiavellianism of the series. Forcing upon us such clichés after clichés, seasons after seasons. It never ends. Hmmm… Not so bad after all. Maybe I can live with this kind of anime Machiavellianism.

Busou Shoujo Machiavellianism

Why do I have a feeling that this show is in some ways trying to pander to current feminism? In Busou Shoujo Machiavellianism where a school is run and dominated by females, troublesome delinquent guys from around the country are sent here to be corrected by them. They have to be ‘corrected’ by assimilating to their ways. Or else… No one has succeeded and the ‘peace’ reigns for a long time. Until a guy who doesn’t give a sh*t about all that gets transferred in and fights this system and winning them over in the process. Hey wait. Isn’t this just some action battle harem anime?

Episode 1
The Supreme Five Swords, Rin Onigawara, Mary Kikakujo, Satori, Tamaba, Warabi Hanasaka and Tsukuyo Inaba are discussing a new troublesome transfer student coming in today, Fudo Nomura. He was expelled from his previous school for starting a brawl. Despite knowing some sort of martial arts, he was gravely injured and just released from hospital. Kirukiru Amou waltzes in to warn them about looking down on him. It sounds like she has fought him before. She warns them about his spirit bullets. Rin says she will personally correct him before homeroom is over. Nomura is surprised to see all the girls in school armed and all boys dressed as girls! This fat tranny, Kusuo “Masuko” Masukodera warns him that the only ‘freedom’ they have is to follow the law or you have none. When Nomura enters class, Rin and her classmates immediately pin him down. Since he is unaware of what is going on, cue to explain to us how the Five Swords control the school. A bit of history too when Aichi Coexistence Private Academy which used to be an all-girls school opened up, the girls felt unsafe and were allowed to carry weapons. Thus the custom of arming vigilante groups became a custom to allow 5 girls to carry swords. Over the years, the school has become one in which delinquents from across the nation are sent for reformation in the name of coexistence. Nomura now understands what Masuko was trying to say to him but he is not going to take this lying down. He is given a choice to leave or coexist but he chose neither. He becomes fast enough to escape from his hold and escape but Rin is hot on his tail.

Rin catches and tries to cut him down with her sword but Nomura is pretty agile and adept, using his feet to defend against her strikes. Then there is this Jikishinkage School that Rin came from because she is using her breathing technique to strengthen her muscles, etc. Whatever. Nomura gets his a slash on his side face when his made a rash judgment. He brings out his iron gloves to fight her. When he is backed to a corner, she relentlessly attacks. He is waiting for her to step back and breathe but she knows he is waiting for this moment. But in that brief moment when she does, he manages to place his palm on her ribs. An air gust blasts her away, shocking everyone who is watching. Nomura is pretty confident in explaining this unnamed technique but is shocked when Rin knows it as spirit bullets. Nono Mozunono tries to hit Nomura away from her but accidentally pushes his head down. This means their lips meet! Rin becomes a flustering wreck, trying to hold in her embarrassment. She promises she will castrate him. Did he upgrade from correct to castrate?

Episode 2
Mary thinks it is her turn to teach Nomura a lesson. But her disciple, Choka U. Baragasaki who is part of the Junior Five Swords will act on her behalf. Nomura asks Masuko on how to leave the school grounds. There is a permission slip that he can only get from Rin. Plus, he must get all stamps from the Five Swords. There is also a school store that gets what you need. Of course there is a smuggler who can get you anything you want for a price. Nomura wants a cake. In class, the girls are afraid of Nomura thinking the cake is to trick them into kissing him. He wants to give this to Rin but she is absent and resting in her dorm. Speaking of her, she is mad and confused at what happened. Her temperature is fluctuating. Nomura comes in to give the cake. Now he notices her face since half her demon mask is broken. He thinks she is quite pretty behind it. Why not take it off? She doesn’t want others to look at her without her mask off. Well, you do whatever you want. He requests for the slip but she says that is only for students who are behaving well. When he mentions he wants to see her in casual clothes outside school, she immediately gives the card, hoping this will make up for his visit. He jokes that he could make up the difference with a kiss. Her temperature rises as she faints. As he tries to catch her, Nono walks in and misinterprets this rape scene. Immediately the dorm is on lockdown. Nomura tries to escape this booby trap dorm. Is this really a dorm?

He manages to get outside but is faced with Choka. She took too long in her fancy introduction that Nono catches up. There seems to be some sort of rivalry between Choka and Nono as the latter plays down the former’s fakeness of pretending to be an Italian when she is just Japanese. Nomura dodges Choka’s whip and Nono’s short stick. It might seem he is outnumbered but they claim this is level 2 punishment and the only person who made through this is another delinquent from another school, Amou. She is a rare case of a female delinquent. The duo are not in sync and can’t cooperate well together and Nomura is able to easily use his spirit bullet on Nono who then collapses on Choka. In this dire situation, before Nomura can teach them a lesson, they start crying. Yeah, everyone thinks of Nomura as a bully. In the evening, Rin gives her stamp on the slip to Nomura. But after she learns what happened in the day from her classmates, Sassa Kurasaki and Ui Migii, her temperature rises again. Choka gets her punishment from Mary but she is going to get her revenge on Nomura for laying his hands on her disciple. When Nomura enters class the next morning, all the girls are staying away from him, fearing they would get pregnant by being close. Even you too, Masuko?! With Rin breathing down his neck again, looks like she is going to personally supervise him for the sake of this school’s safety.

Episode 3
Masuko warns Nomura to be careful now that he is Rin and Mary’s target. Nomura remembers a person who withstood their punishment. Amou or as she is known here as Empress sure did. The way Masuko describes how she defeated them with her lethal hand chops makes Nomura wonder if that is the person whom he fought before. Rin comes early to get Nomura. She checks his bag and despite him trying to be sarcastic if she is going to follow him everywhere including the toilet, she plays it cool that if he wants to, she will. Mary arrives and she is not happy Nomura is under her supervision. Mary has got the wrong idea of Nomura’s rampage at the dorm, though Rin clears this misunderstanding up and assures he didn’t do all that on purpose. Rin tells Nomura to head along while she settles with Mary with a girl’s talk. So apparently as you guessed it, their way of talking is via sword fight. Rin lost since she is still recovering. Choka tries to intercept Nomura with her whip. This time he takes out his belt to render her whip useless. But without touching her, she faints. Oops. His pants dropped. Before him now is Amou. She looks a bit different than before. He tries to confirm if ‘he’ has become a girl because the Amou he knew is a boy and tried to recruit him into his gang. Amou says she is different than that person he speak of and has always been a girl. Not convinced, Nomura is going to punch her and see for himself when he is interrupted by Mary’s scream. Oops. His zipper is down. By the time Nomura looks back, Amou is gone. Amou’s flashback indicates she is indeed that person. She beat him up real good when he refused to join her. She remembers attacking him with the perfect strike that would have made him her subordinate. She wonders if she hesitated. But she will never acknowledge that guy and will kill him the next time he sees him.

Nomura is now fighting Mary through the hallways. However he has a hard time dodging her rapier as it is flexible. Each time he dodges, it can ‘turn around’ and poke him. Since she aims for his nerves, it could be a painful pricking each time. The only way is to charge straight in which as expected she stabs straight into him. However she feels her move did not connect. Thanks to the thick manga inside his shirt. Not a fearsome weapon, you say? He hits her head with it! Enough time to put his palm on her rib and do spirit bullets. Mary admits she has lost and allows him to do whatever he wants to her. Anything. So she’s expecting to be raped? But when he won’t do it, she thinks he views her less charming than the rest! You can never understand how women think! Because seeing Rin, Choka and Nono got violated, if she doesn’t get violated this means humiliation! Hey, she was hit on the head with a book. She tries to give her breast for him to fondle. Not interested? Well, he doesn’t like being coerced into it. He wants her stamp however. But she places it in her cleavage. Now he will definitely have to touch them. However he controls himself. This makes Mary rethink about her impressions of boys. They are not as bad as animals as she thinks. Rin arrives and misinterprets the situation. He is dead meat. Mary clears the misunderstanding. Her condition to give her stamp is that now she has to supervise him. Rin is not happy about this and they argue over Nomura being theirs. Erm, doesn’t this look like some romcom harem argument now?

Episode 4
Warabi just returned from Hawaii. She sees the tomfoolery between Nomura, Rin and Mary and is not pleased the mockery this has become. Therefore in addition to making Nomura her correction target, those girls will also be part of her correction. Nomura is shocked to see Masuko crucified on the flag post. Warabi is responsible for this as she claims he has been smuggling contraband into the school grounds. She then has them participate in her Death Olympics (Warabimpics?) in which they need to make their way through various challenges. If they win, Nomura gets her stamp. Good enough for him. She sends her musketeers, Tsunemi Toko, Kinue Tanukihara and Nico Saruwatari to assist them. Because the first challenge will be a sumo wrestling and they need to put on a mawashi (sumo loincloth). Choka and Nono come attacking the musketeers for embarrassing their sisters but they are quickly defeated. Rin and Mary tell them to step down as they have no choice but to participate. Nomura has no problems putting on the mawashi himself. So can the girls do it themselves? Looks like they need some help… So with each tightening and turning, they must be feeling embarrassed. Or do they like that sensation? And Mary is upset because Nomura spent more time on Rin while hers was like so fast? WTF?! Adding to the embarrassment is that there is a camera crew to film and broadcast it throughout the entire school. Nomura decides to go first. So who will be his challenger? Warabi’s bear pet, Kyobo! Man versus beast! As the match starts, Nomura lunges straight for Kyobo. He does his spirit bullet but the bear is too heavy to take the fall. Not even his hidden bullet from the back with his left hand did any good. He surprises everyone when he lifts Kyobo! Apparently he has been training sumo since young by lifting older and heavier men. Nomura must have really lots of strength if he is ranting about Warabi watching from her high horse while she drags the innocent, hurts and embarrassed others. It might look like he ran out of strength when he puts Kyobo down. Actually, he couldn’t be more thankful to whoever wrapped his mawashi because it now comes off. According to official sumo rules, that amounts to disqualification. Nomura and his girls are encouraged with their first win (though, they’re still being tsundere about the team). Warabi is in shock over this shock loss. She wants he team assembled. The games are cancelled. It’s time for war.

Episode 5
Warabi will give the stamp as promised. But he must go through the school building to face her at the rooftop. It won’t be easy since they have to get past her musketeers as well as their assistant clones. To save time, Nono and Choka help to fight the assistants. Surprisingly Satori clears a path straight up to Warabi. Despite she hates Nomura, she doesn’t want Warabi to get her way any longer. The final boss fights involve Nomura taking on Kyobo who is well versed in boxing too, Mary holding down the musketeers from reaching the top and Rin facing off with Warabi in their swordplay. Nomura thought the internet has thought him how to deal with bears. Unfortunately he got a paw punch right in his face. Rin gets injured when Warabi uses ‘underhanded’ ninja tactics in her fight. Realizing that nobody is making any headway, Nomura thanks his girls for the help. This is a way to tell them to not be afraid and just focus on the enemy before them. With renewed confidence, they easily defeat the foes. Nomura has used a lot of spirit bullets on Kyobo so the inner damage has slowly been building up. So when Kyobo starts crouching in pain, Nomura finally has a clear shot of her head and one straight punch is good enough to knock her out. The sorority sisters happily reunite. When Nomura wants to quickly put on the mawashi on Warabi as punishment, Rin and Mary are not happy. So they want to monopolize that technique of his? They start chasing him around. Oh, Warabi gives her stamp.

Episode 6
Rin seems to be wearing a different uniform and Mary putting on a new perfume. Trying something? Looks like they’ve got heaps of rivals now. Because every damn girl is fawning over Nomura ever since he looked so cool fighting Kyobo! OMG! Every harem guy’s dream! I guess Rin and Mary are the only ones putting up sour faces. It makes them less cute… Oops. Watch what you say to them. Even more disappointing, he did not notice their change. So they’re complaining and complaining about him. Yeah, it’s sickening to hear them say how they want to correct him. Next morning when they go get him, they are surprised he is waiting for them. Since he notices their difference, I guess it makes them happy and decide to start the correction tomorrow. As they do the usual checking, they find a photo that makes their blood boil. A picture of Nomura and Satomi together in bed. Naked. Scandal! I don’t think they want to hear him out even if he doesn’t remember this. Better run. They’re really going to kill you. Luckily Warabi and Kyobo hide him. After learning what happened, it is obvious this is a trap by Satomi. She is doing this because if she took him out directly, Rin and Mary won’t shut up about it and thus trying to wreck their relationship first. As long as they don’t realize this, she can plot all she wants. Nomura thinks he has a way to clear his innocence. There is a bright light censoring his dick and since he clearly remembers he didn’t have a boner then, he could steal the data as proof. But how is he going to sneak into the girls’ dorm as security has been upgraded tenfold. If he can’t sneak in, he’ll let them in. Warabi likes this plan and goes along with it.

Nomura allows him to be captured by Rin and Mary. Then they torture him to the max although his lips are sealed. When they see a hideous scar on his back, they stop. Then Warabi comes to let him out and they head to Satomi’s room to look for evidence. They didn’t find anything and believes she might be carrying it with her. Right now she is in the bath. Why does Nomura look happy to infiltrate there? Warabi cautions him that Satomi is an odd one. She behaves as though she is a mysterious creature pretending to be human. In the hallway, Sassa and Ui are passing by. Kyobo has to press and hide him against the wall. Remember, Kyobo is female. How does it feel like touching bear tits? Even bears can get stimulated! Almost busting his cover, this time Warabi goes to cover him but her ass is in his face. A little bear diverts their attention for them to escape. That little bear is Domo, Kyobo’s offspring. Searching the changing area, Warabi feels something is off when she doesn’t see Satomi’s sword. Then enters one of Satomi’s masked girl underlings, Misogi. She is said to be Satori’s right hand. Warabi protects Nomura from being hit by her blow dart. Satomi then comes out of the bath. She has expected Nomura to come but didn’t anticipate Warabi to be working with him.

Episode 7
Nomura deduces the masked girls had been tailing him for days and that is how they knew about things and dragged Masuko into this. Satomi disagrees because Masuko was helping all along. Nomura now remembers how Satomi and Misogi snuck into his room when he was asleep. After taking those scandalous photos, he wakes up but Satomi slipped a sleeping pill into his mouth via kiss. The data is in her pouch around her neck. So come get it. Meanwhile Rin and Mary are getting drunk on non-alcoholic beverages blaming a certain man… How disgraceful. Their sisters can only nod and serve. Warabi fights Misogi but the drug is taking effect and weakening her. She stabs herself to stay focus but she is at her limits. Nomura is forced to fight naked Satomi. It’s her plan to distract him. I mean, can you fight with a boner? Nomura is taken by surprise when Satomi attacks are too fast to dodge. He can’t tell what she is thinking from those dead fish eyes of hers. Just when he thought he had figured out her fighting school style, she changes it. And again. And again. He realizes she is from a school that takes a technique from separate schools. Though he is correct, Satomi shows how she could chain those different techniques into one combo. Despite he finds it hard to find an opening, there are times when he notices she gets sloppy. Then it hit him. Might as well take this gamble. He strips naked! True enough she reacts. When a guy shows his dick, girls either focus at it or stare away. Therefore he has rendered her eyes useless. Warabi defeats Misogi using her judo. Once she gets the cure from her, she beats the hell out of her. But she is in for a shock when she unmasks her. Satomi threatens to drop the data in the water. So what is he going to do? He slaps her! If he is going to get expelled, might as well do that with no regrets. She wonders if it is because he got framed, tortured or future plans ruined. No. It’s because he made Rin cry. She is amused by his great reply and finds humans interesting. He says he is human too since the last part she got mad. Yeah, she really does hate you.

Episode 8
When Nomura extended his hand to pull Satomi out of the water, she pulled him in as she heard someone coming in. Warabi’s musketeers have arrived and they see Warabi and Misogi out cold. Toko thought she could unmask Misogi but even with her unconsciousness, the grip is still strong. Tsukuyo then comes to clean things up and has the dorm lady, Eva handle the rest while she goes to settle those in the bath. Satomi hides Nomura but nothing can escape Tsukuyo’s ears. She still plays dumb there is no one around. Tsukuyo will speak to her outside in the yard as there is someone she doesn’t want to hear. Nomura comes out of his hiding as Satomi warns he cannot beat Tsukuyo as he is now and will die if he fights her. Because Nomura collapses from the exhaustion of the torture and fighting. Rin cannot sleep because all she can see is Nomura’s face. She sneaks out but bumps into Mary. They freak each other out. They probably had the same idea. Excuses, excuses. So they accompany each other to drink but can’t leave until the other is gone. It gets worse when their sisters join them. Now they can’t leave. They try to outdrink each other but their sisters just want them to quit this silliness. Satomi then comes in to tell them Nomura is resting in the infirmary (she carried him all the way there while he is naked through the dorm). How does she know that? Because he attacked her in the bath. Time for them to blow their top again. Meanwhile Tsukuyo who has a weak body has caught a cold for waiting outside and is now being nursed by Eva.

Satomi assures Nomura he told Rin and Mary the truth. When Rin comes in looking mad, Nomura fears she told them the twisted truth. But when Rin apologizes, to Nomura’s relief that Satomi did actually tell the real truth. Rin feels ashamed after Satori confessed that everything was her ploy. She allows him to do whatever he wants so he has her close her eyes. Getting ready to kiss? Actually he takes off her mask. What’s this? She would rather have him look at her naked body? He wonders why she wears one so she explains her mom told her she is ugly. Dad cheated on her and left the family. Mom must have seen shades of him in her and told her she was the daughter of a demon and to cover her face when she was around. She felt she could live without shame. By the time she left for school, she was already used to it. So when Nomura told her she was pretty, she was happy to hear it. He gives the mask back to her since she needs to decide herself when she wants to take it off. Above all, he realizes she still loves her mom despite it all. Something he will never understand since he is an orphan and never knew his real parents. Some sword obsessed old man took him in and trained him like hell. Can you believe that Rin is crying? Nomura thought it is right at this point they trade secrets. Now Mary comes in. She also heard everything from Satomi and feels ashamed. She allows him to do anything to her body. Woah. She already stripped? Too bad, instantly rejected. When Nomura returns to his room, Masuko asks what he thinks of him. Not in a romantic sense! He must be a terrible person but Nomura already knew he was the one who drugged his dinner. Can’t blame him as he only did it to protect the other guys. He considers that kind of person to be his friend. Masuko did a special service by washing his pillow case. That’s because that is where Nomura keeps his slip and looks like Masuko has got Satori’s stamp for him.

Episode 9
What’s this? Some monster stalking the trannies in the bath?! Who wants to look at them?! When they complain to Nomura, he really isn’t interested. Not sure if Rin calling him out to go to school is even worse. When word that Amou has left her room and is missing, Tsukuyo also reports how she heard she is putting on carbohydrates. With that, the principal Yoshino cancels today’s class! There seems to be more commotion at school. Warabi and her musketeers are looking for missing Domo. She wants the cub found before Satomi as she knows she’ll treat it as a rough toy. On the other hand, Mary is trying to find Choka’s wig. Wait. What?! So those killer drills are her wig? I knew there was something so unreal about them. Mary and Warabi misinterpret each other’s search (I think there are lots of bear and wig puns in it) and once they realize what the other is looking for, they start arguing theirs is more important. But looks like Nomura has got this case solved. The monster terrorizing the boys’ dorm is Domo in that wig. Everyone for the first sees Choka without her wig. OMG! So different! Barely recognizable. So Japanese… With these missing cases solved, the big problem now is missing Amou. Warabi is glad that Domo is found but is suspicious with Satomi’s lack of movement. They discuss about Misogi and it seems that Satomi and Misogi have the same face?!

They are sisters in fact as they both meet. Misogi is worried her cover is blown but Satomi the sadist slaps her for being a worrywart. Amou steps into the picture. She is describing Satomi as a monster who finds pleasure by looking down on others. Something about the need to constantly create new enemies and then take them out. She finds her pitiful. Empty. A ghost. Warabi spots Amou and Satomi’s confrontation and rushes to the scene. The fight is inevitable. Amou is able to detect Satomi’s fast draw and hurt her. Misogi tries to help but also gets attacked. Flashback reveals that they actually switched place! I’m so confused. I don’t know who is who now. It seems one sister loves looking down on the other. But when the other stole her place and everything else, it was the first time she felt how it was liked to be looked down upon others. Since then, the sisters traded place and acted like the other. Even their parents couldn’t tell them apart. Misogi, despite her face, name and future stolen by Satomi, she still loves her sister. For the first time Satomi shed tears but merciless Amou puts them out of their misery. Warabi arrives too late but she is going to clean the mess up. Too bad not even a combo with Kyobo could defeat her. As though Amou’s body is made of steel or something. Meanwhile Nomura sees Tsukuyo. He disregards Masuko’s warning she is the strongest and most feared among the Five Swords. He is going to get the last stamp and casually walks up to her. Can you say he deserves it when he didn’t see it coming, Tsukuyo’s strike at his neck?

Episode 10
Nomura is glad he is still alive although for some reason Tsukuyo says he just died. What? I don’t understand. Yoshino entrusted Nomura to Tsukuyo and is only given 2 chances of offence. He broke both by breaking into Rin’s room and then into Satori’s room the bath. His third is ignoring her summons. Nomura learns that she is actually blind but makes up for her sharp hearing and fast attacking speed that cannot be seen by the naked eye. Nomura can tell that fast draw is from a certain school since he was from that school too. And there’s this mumbo-jumbo how she deduced him as a fellow student of that school due to how he fought his opponents. She knows about his spirit bullet from Amou. She thought they were friends because on the first day she transferred, she spoke fondly of him. But she doesn’t see them spending any time together since he came here. But yet he quickly became friends with Rin, Mary, Warabi and Satori. Tsukuyo becomes upset since Nomura ignores her to go see what the commotion is on the rooftop. Amou just finished beating up Warabi’s musketeers. Warabi cannot bear to see this and wants them spared in exchange she will allow Amou to kill her. But Amou doesn’t think an arrogant soul like her can save anyone and slashes her face. An eerie scream echoes throughout the school grounds. By the time Nomura arrives, he sees defeated bloodied girls lying around. He is surprised Yoshino is standing behind him and he didn’t even sense her presence. She attends to Warabi. Her eye sights are still intact but her eyelids are injured and need immediate surgery. She can tend to the fallen but wants Nomura to take care of things happening on the ground below.

Amou now goes to face off with Tsukuyo but Rin and Mary intervene. They are going to make her explain what happened but Amou will gladly recreate that scene with their bodies. The duo are so weak that Amou doesn’t even fight them seriously. Even in defence mode she defeats them. Rin realizes too late that her entire body is one big weapon, a single blade. Now she turns her attention to their sisters. Too scared to run? Tsukuyo steps in. First she asks Nono if she is her friend. Out of fear, she says yes. Tsukuyo’s face lights up because it gives her an excuse and reason to fight and protect her friend. She’s praising Nomura for this somehow? There is this mumbo-jumbo about Tsukuyo explaining why Amou’s bare hand combat is comparatively slower to her sword. Not that I really understand or care. Amou dares Tsukuyo to come at her. In a flash, Tsukuyo cuts her in 3 strikes. Too fast to see what happened. It did some damage to Amou but Tsukuyo didn’t get off scot-free either. She too has taken some damage and her sword broke. Amou has the last laugh because she notices her sword isn’t real and is perhaps a toy sword made out of cheap fake metal. Plus, without her sword, she is literally useless as a warrior. Tsukuyo is indeed cornered but she is blaming this on Nomura somehow? Before Amou can go in for the kill, Nomura pushes Tsukuyo away. Then the 2 rivals start screaming each other’s name. Are they going Super Saiyan?

Episode 11
Flashback when Nomura first faced off with Amou. He managed to use his speed to get up close from behind and touch her. He suggested a truce and Amou was more than happy to have one. They became friends. Apparently that face off was because Nomura wanted to protected his girly guy friend. As thanks, he wanted to show him around school. Amou tried to hijack that role but Nomura turned her down. Angry, she cut down his friend! No more friends then. Now, Nomura looked like he failed to block from Amou’s attack. But luckily his thick manga underneath his shirt saves him once more. Tsukuyo interjects about cutting it. She starts talking like a tsundere perhaps he wanted to be her friend. He dismisses it and that friends aren’t people you ask things of or get particular with. It just happens. Some people you want to be friends with but just didn’t turn out that way. Nomura seems to be hesitant if he could defeat Amou. This time Rin and Mary give him words of encouragement to take her out. This makes Tsukuyo wonder if this is what he meant by becoming friends because the girls used to hate him so much. Amou warns to stall fighting her or she may get bored and aim for others. He rushes head in with his speed but Amou is able to fend it all off. Nomura thinks he is dead meat when he makes a fatal move. He is saved when Tsukuyo’s voice guided him over to her side. She then lectures his hesitation which led to his half-hearted moves. I don’t think he needs this lecture now. She hints that Amou has already told him that something will work against her. Nomura takes it as a move that will dig his own great. But he is going to take it as he has too many great things in this school going for him. Amou becomes sad that he is on their side. All she wanted was him. She viewed the world as grey and bland. Everything wasn’t enough for her so she only cut out parts with vivid colour for herself. But Nomura was bright and coloured everything she had already taken into her control. She wanted him but he may have dyed her in his colour. When did she lose sight of that? If only things could go back the way it is. No it can’t. In that case, she’ll kill him.

Episode 12
Flashback shows after Mary ‘submitted’ to Nomura, Amou saw it and her heart started aching. She messed up her room and in short we can tell she is jealous for him. Knowing she is the same as him and will not submit, she decided if he cannot have him, she will kill him! This is worse than being a yandere! Back to the fight, Nomura bares his top so when Amou attacks it, it allows him to go up to touching distance and blow her away. Of course that isn’t enough to put her down. They start beating each other up with their fists and Amou seems to feel nostalgic of this pain. It makes her forget that burning desire in her heart. I suppose this doesn’t make her a masochist. Well, they both look happy trading blows. Nomura supposedly lost but Amou catches him. She realizes he fights not to win but to show where he stands. Because the victor is already decided. Go ahead. Give it your best shot. This is his last chance. Be hers. Nope. With that, Nomura finishes her off. But right after that ended, Tsukuyo know draws her broken blade at him. It’s time to finish their fight. She realizes they cannot be friends. She is disappointed in the way he fights, his balance and stance. In short, she wants him to be her student! In exchange she can give her stamp. It is a great deal to him but knowing Nomura, he is very well going to decline. Before he can say that, those masked girls are going to take down unconscious Amou. They are quickly defeated by Yoshino as she dismisses everyone back to class.

In the aftermath, Nomura is to be expelled from school. Nomura seems cool with it. He then visits Warabi and Satori recuperating in the infirmary one last time. Rin and Mary tries to convince Yoshino about the circumstances but his expulsion cannot be reversed. Outside he is surprised Tsukuyo is waiting for him. Nomura didn’t like she accepted him as her student when he didn’t give a reply. The he finds out Amou has been expelled and making her way overseas now. He wants to go to her and doesn’t care about the rules since he is going to be expelled but is reminded he is still a student of this school until all the paperwork is done. So Amou somehow got it all done? So Nomura is forced to be her student to get the last stamp to rush down to the airport to catch Amou and have a last talk with each other. She tells him to continue being himself and do what he wishes. She remembers she forgot to say something to him during their fight. She walks up to him and kisses him! She wants him to relay the misinformation to the Five Swords that he is hers. Since when was he hers? The moment they met, he has always been hers deep within her heart. Nomura returns as Rin and Mary wait to get him (they’re dressed like they’re ready to go on a date?). They explain that Yoshino was just joking about the expulsion. Yeah. He can still stay. In exchange, Rin and Mary must tightly hold onto his reins. So they gladly ask him to coexist or leave. Neither. Everyone else is waiting at the gates and welcoming back. Nomura is glad to be back.

Unarmed By Love
And so the entire bad blood with Amou was just simply down to because she likes him?! She needed somebody to take away the pangs in her heart? Who better than the one she likes? Wow. What a twisted way to get the attention of the one you like. So even the big and baddest girl of them all is actually the first one to like Nomura. I had a hunch it would be like that. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be fun, would it? Better to be a tough kickass instead of the typical girly and charming method. Imagine Amou like that. Imagine her being girly and asking Nomura to go out with her like how a shy teen girl in love would. Unthinkable. It would send shivers down our spine. So I guess in the end, it is for the best for everybody. They beat the crap and those feelings out of each other and settle their differences before walking down their own path. After all, Nomura and Amou are so similar that they cannot coexist. That is why the saying goes, opposite attracts.

Sometimes it makes me wonder if the author knows the meaning of Machiavellianism because he might just saw this word and it sounds and looks fancy without fully understanding what it means and thus borrowed and adapted it into this title. Okay, I’m not really 100% certain of its meaning either but I have a gist about it. Because I thought it has something to do with politics but to use it in high school? Yeah well, if you look at it this way, the girls are oppressing and forcing upon the guys using their own devious principals so in a way that could be seen as Machiavellianism. I think. Or shouldn’t it be Orwellian? Whatever the case may be, it sounds like the word gives the setting and everything else some sort of grandeur and intimidating feel. Heck, I think I sometimes have trouble pronouncing and even spelling Machiavellianism correct. The way the plot this series is seen, it looks like there is hardly any Machiavellianism. At least not for Nomura.

In view of that, we see how this Machiavellianism quickly turns into a farce for the girls especially the Five Swords. Instead of correcting Nomura or even dominating him, they got dominated instead and become his ally. I wonder lackey or love slave is too extreme a term for them. This is quickly seen in Rin and Mary as they are promptly defeated as they turn from honourable swordswomen to love struck idiotic teenagers. I mean, when you have a girl who wears a demon mask and an uptight strict noble foreigner suddenly turning into depraves, it looks like they lost their dignity. At least where the school rules are concerned. The duo immediately become running jokes and humiliating fodder to play out ridiculous acts (sometimes to the point of lewdness) that only a romantic harem comedy can have like spending more time arguing with each other over Nomura. Pride won’t have them admit they like him but it is so obvious in their body language. In other words, they lost their fangs when they lost to Nomura. It is a wonder that with the fall of a couple of the Five Swords, why aren’t the boys rebelling or whatsoever? Ah, I see they have assimilated and been corrected so they too have lost their manly instincts and fangs. Hence, I figure it is a reason why a couple of tranny guys who often narrate the next episode preview and make silly puns and jokes, continuing to be the way they are instead of changing back into their former selves.

Rin and Mary might be the most obvious in their conflicted feelings with their code and Nomura but you could have guessed that the other girls of Five Swords will soon follow (because for plot purposes) albeit less apparent. Warabi compared to the duo is still more respectable since she has a pride and doesn’t descend and make a fool out of herself when it comes to matters pertaining to the heart and Nomura. In a way, she is more helpful and an ally even if we know deep down she has taken a liking for him. Tsukuyo might look like she is the ferocious of them all since she is blind and when she opens her eyes, her pupils look scary. But she may be the most misunderstood seeing that perhaps all she wants is to make friends? Because nobody takes her seriously or being afraid of her, no one is long enough to stay and chat to get to know her. And so as you can see, Nomura didn’t have to lift much of a finger to get her to his side. Also thanks to Amou for bringing forward the final boss fight.

Among the Five Swords, I think Satori is the most intriguing and mysterious due to her very alien-like nature. She is lethal and deadly despite her somewhat retarded looks and tone but that itself could be a very scary thing. I believe she is the most dangerous one Nomura had to face among the Five Swords. Even more confusing is her swapped personality and life with her sister. I know it’s simple that the sisters switched place but it still feels confusing for a dumb person like me to just think about it. Nono and Choka feel as useless as their sorority sisters ever since Nomura came into the picture. Because all they ever do is get into trouble and then the need for their sisters to get them out or exact revenge for them. In conclusion, all of the girls have their own set of issues and personal problems to deal with. It is nice to know about their backgrounds and perhaps that sad past of theirs made them closed their hearts until the right man came along.

And so Nomura can be considered the alpha male of the series because he literally breaks down the pyramid and structure of this school. In other words, no males were manly enough to even defeat one of the girls and even getting up corrected themselves. This shows they have no balls and backbone and thus deservingly get their just desserts. So Nomura like the underdog in most stories, sets out to straighten up everything and the entire plot of this season and reason for him to face off with the Five Swords is just to get their stamp approval to get out of the school grounds. Otherwise, this guy has no reason to actually fight them in the first place if he wants an ordinary and peaceful life.

Therefore Nomura can also be called a saviour, the Jesus Christ to this school as he liberates the rotting and unjust traditions. That is why he is so refreshing and cool that all the girls want him. Don’t you dare get jealous of him since you’ve got no balls to kick ass in the first place. Weaklings like you should know your place! That is why Nomura is such a badass that Amou too wants a piece of him since from a long time. Nomura doesn’t pander to anybody and goes at his own pace. He has his own witty sarcasm that makes him charming in his own way (is it a running joke he often tells others how to pronounce his name especially the accent heavily on the first syllable?). That is why the girls want him. They realize being straight has more benefits than being lesbian! If I was a girl, I would totally fall for him and want this dude to protect me always! Kyun~! And when everything is all settled, they can now fight over him in a shameless harem battle royale. Too bad not this season. That’s why I guess Nomura returned to Aichi since it is a place where he dominates! The only thing that made me wonder was, if he is the kind of guy who freely does things his way, why did he settle to be accepted in Aichi in the first place? This is assuming he doesn’t want to be sent to this correctional facility in the first place. He would have just said no to whoever those adults decided for him and walked away without a care. Maybe he thought it would be the best place for a free and quiet life? Either way, he isn’t regretting his stay now.

The action bits are decent and average, just enough to satisfy. It isn’t that bad but if you want some sort of breath taking combos or super flashy moves all the time, series like Naruto and One Piece fare better (because they have more episodes too). At least each of the fighting characters has a variety of moves that make them unique. Though, I can’t really remember them. Whenever they pull off that move, I would like “Oh, I see… Whatever”. It must be some sort of big deal because each time we are introduced to a new move, we see a huge kanji writing of that move’s name covering almost entirely the screen. Not that I could remember them either anyway. Oh, there are quite a bit of blood too so be warned…

Art and animation are decent, nothing too special. A bevy of bishoujo babes, one bishonen guy and the rest of the bunch as ugly trannies. Everything is also bright and colourful and the character designs unique enough so you won’t get confused trying to make out which character is which. This series is animated jointly by Silver Link and Connect. This isn’t the first time they joined up and produce an anime as they have done quite a few as a team before. Namely, Strike The Blood, Chaos Dragon, Inawa Kuni No Alice and Bonjour Koiaji Patisserie.

What a delight because Mamiko Noto as Yoshino!!! Last episode cameo! It really made my day. Unfortunately I didn’t recognize any one of the seiyuus but if there is one voice acting which I would like to ‘complain’, it would be Kyobo’s. Yes, even this bear has her own seiyuu despite just making a few roars here and there, Saki Fujita (Ayano in YuruYuri). Although Kyobo can ‘exist’ in both chibi and ferocious form, in both forms she sounds literally the same. In other words, her roars sound like pussy. Woah! I am not sure if it is done on purpose because in her original fearsome bear form when she makes that kind of unconvincing weak roar, it just feels so out of place. So unreal. So bizarre. Like as though Kyobo isn’t a bear in the first place. Like as though some little girl is just cosplaying and wearing a suit of a big bear.

The casts of the series include Tasuku Hatanaka as Nomura (Kaminari in Boku No Hero Academia), Yuuki Takada as Rin (Aoba in New Game), Sayaka Kitahara as Mary (Aoi Sorano in Inazuma Eleven Go), Rina Hidaka as Warabi (Airi in Ro-Kyu-Bu), Nozomi Nishida as Satori (Makina Nakajima in Macross Delta), Natsumi Hioka as Tsukuyo (Machi in Kumamiko), Eriko Matsui as Amou (Isuzu in Log Horizon), Akane Kohinata as Choka (Matsuri in Isuca), Miku Itou as Nono (Mafuyu in Mahou Shoujo Nante Mou Ii Desukara) and Tetsuhara Ohta as Masuko (this guy whose profile picture looks like a tranny is the voice of Gintama’s Yamazaki?!). The opening theme is Shocking Blue by Miku Itou. It is a lively piece with lots of fanfare that befits the action spectacle of the series. The ending theme, Decide by Tenka Goken is rock based.

Overall, this series is quite enjoyable even at times when things just seemed silly (why do they even have a bear in here?) if you can cast away your political correctness because if you have that twisted view of feminism, you’re not going to like the fact how strong girls are being viewed as submissive because all they want is the D. Really. A strong guy who would make them submit. And if you think really about it, this series feels like a man hitting women into his submission! So would you still want to watch this? Of course you should. At least this feels a bit like a different harem since Nomura isn’t really a pervert (more of gentleman at times) although if the situation arises for being a lucky pervert, he’ll take it. No matter how strong women are, they still have sensitive and fragile feelings inside and they need a strong man to support and care for them. Treat them like a lady. Because no matter how tough you are trained physically and mentally, genetically you are still a female, a female and a female. Same goes for men. Get over your misguided teachings or do you need Nomura to come kick your ass and correct you? And yes, there are only 2 genders.