Unbreakable Machine Doll

I am a benevolent and tolerant guy. But there are 3 things that I cannot stand when it comes to anime: 1) Animes with plot that are hard to understand; 2) Animes that seem promising at first but failed to live up to the hype towards the end; 3) Animes that ends abruptly. Oh dear. Did I just give away my sentiments for Unbreakable Machine Doll (otherwise known as Machine Doll Wa Kizutsukanai in Japanese)? Sounds very much like it but let’s try to keep things positive first. Firstly, the plot. People can use dolls or automatons powered by their magic to fight in combat. There is school in England just for that. A kid from the Land of the Rising Sun enrols here with his goal of revenge by taking part in an exclusive tournament that the top 100 can only take part and attain the best title coveted by all puppeteers (term for people who use automatons – they’re basically like dolls, right?). Secondly, the doll of our hero is close to being like a sex doll. Seductive, flirty, sexually suggestive. If ever our protagonist is of a perverted nature, she might turn into one. In which he isn’t. Say what? A doll that wants to seduce her master? This I got to see. Really.

Facing Cannibal Candy Arc

Episode 1
Raishin Akabane and his automaton, Yaya are heading towards Mechanical City from London by train. However the train won’t stop at the next station and continues to go full steam ahead. Raishin and Yaya jump out and head towards the front to stop the engine. With Yaya’s incredible strength, she becomes the brakes before the train smashes into the final stop. Because of Yaya’s obsession of being Raishin’s wife and equivalent (read: the perverted kind) to not let get other women near him, it makes other girls feel disgust with Raishin. I know what that dark swirling feeling inside him now… The duo arrive outside Walpurgis Royal Academy of Machinart, the world’s greatest education institute of magic. Once they go in, they won’t come out for a while. Raishin is here to seek revenge and his goal is to be the top 100 for the Evening Party and be Wiseman (title for the greatest puppeteer). However when he gets his aptitude test, he is ranked 1,235th and this makes him the second last in the rankings. There goes his plan… Because he keeps ranting about Shouko this, Shouko that, it’s like a taboo word for Yaya and she is about to kill him when the academy’s advisor, Kimberly becomes their homeroom teacher. She advises him to start earning credit points but all he is interested in getting admission into the Evening Party. It is where the top 100 scores are invited in a mad conflicting cut throat competition against each other until one is left standing. Being Wiseman means getting special treatment and you’ll get to learn even forbidden techniques and will be coveted among the military from other nations. Because in wars, men are now able to use mechanical magic, expanding military use of magic by producing talented puppeteers in large numbers is the purpose of this academy. Thus the same reason the Evening Party is held. She hints that a guy like him can still enter if he defeats any one of those in the top 100. Raishin is thinking who he should target but all Yaya wants is to get horny with him.

And so Raishin chooses Charlotte Belew AKA Tyrant Rex and ranked number 6 and challenges her to a duel. You know, I thought he should have picked a lower ranked number like 99 or 100… As Charlotte and her automaton, Sigmund begin their attack, they are rudely interrupted by attacks from others. It seems there are other guys who were planning this for some time but Raishin jumped the queue. Raishin and Charlotte cooperate to make those guys know their place. Charlotte wants to resume their fight but Raishin has lost interest and won’t continue. Seems Sigmund realizes Raishin has noticed his injuries and cannot battle like normal. He needs 2-3 days of rest. Yaya is slightly damage so she takes this sly chance for some physical activity with Raishin, using the excuse that automatons recover faster in direct contact with their puppeteers. I don’t know why Raishin seems to be eating with Charlotte now (perhaps she’s being a tsundere and he likes it? Oh wait, she is). Then Raishin spots Magnus, the academy’s number one. Instantly he and Yaya break through the window just to confront with him.

Episode 2
Raishin believes Magnus was the one who burnt down his clan and killed his sister, Nadeshiko. Though, Magnus thinks he has got the wrong person. Before Raishin can give him something, all of Magnus’ automatons move in. He didn’t see them move. What Raishin wanted to give was a little bottle. Yaya is distraught that Raishin got a little wound on his neck. Yeah, he is in no mood for her horniness. Next day, Raishin meets Felix Kingsfort, the academy’s disciplinary officer. He wants to discuss something with Raishin and it involves qualifying entries to the Evening Party. Raishin got even the guts to not pay attention in Kimberly’s classes. He is certain Yaya is the best automaton in the world because she is built by Shouko. That name again… Later Raishin meets Felix and as the latter explain, 26 students have gone missing from the academy in an incident known as Cannibal Candy. Some of their automatons were completely destroyed and magic circuit stolen. He wants Raishin to track and take down Cannibal Candy because Raishin cannot be the culprit and he is very strong. Felix’s assistant, Lisette Norden comes in to report another case of a half-eaten automaton by Cannibal Candy has been discovered. As they investigate on scene, Raishin notices that this automaton was one of the guys he fought during Charlotte’s match. Speaking of which, Charlotte is there too. Felix mentions he did try asking Charlotte out many times but was rejected. He’ll try again once this case is closed. Raishin is willing to help but will do it his way.

Lisette speaks to Raishin alone (Yaya not happy about this but is made to wait back in their room) and wants him to be careful around Charlotte because her automaton is a Ban Doll, automaton that was built using organic parts. Because she believes Cannibal Candy is also a Ban Doll user. Back in the room, insecure Yaya is accusing him of adultery and wants to get horny with him when Charlotte knocks on his window and requests to go on a date. He agrees. Yaya is so pissed. So on their ‘date’, this is part of Charlotte’s plan to use him as bait so when Cannibal Candy appears, she’ll ambush the culprit. But why ask him? Does she have any other friends? Guess not? And because she’s being tsundere, Raishin is done playing detective and wants her to take responsibility of asking him out on a date. Yup. They need to go out for one. So this leaves Yaya reduced to tears (little beads?) and is being left with Sigmund. During the date, Raishin explains of targeting her to gain entry instead of an easier foe. Because he was trying to steal qualifications, it would be unacceptable unless he put himself at risk. Raishin also possesses some martial arts knowledge and he only became a puppeteer 2 years ago. When they return to the academy, they think Cannibal Candy has made his move and Raishin fears Yaya may have fallen victim.

Episode 3
Thankfully it’s not Yaya but Felix had to hurt Charlotte’s feelings that she chose Raishin over him and doesn’t want to see her till the investigations are finished. This way he hopes she will stop acting recklessly by herself. Raishin gives Yaya a big hug when he knows she is alright. The moment she has been waiting for? Everything was going fine till he had to say that name… Also, he disagrees he has fallen for Charlotte and that the date was to make her have an alibi. In such case, she can’t be Cannibal Candy. Plus, Sigmund’s magic doesn’t do such damage. He feels the incident was too convenient, like it was to occur while they were away. Lisette calls him because her roommate Charlotte is not back yet. She thought they are together involved in some carnal desires but apparently not. Then here comes Shouko in the flesh! Her automaton, Irori too. She learns about the Cannibal Candy case and despite Raishin can still walk away from it, he feels he wants to help out Charlotte. Shouko then removes some barrier on Yaya as this automaton has unparalleled super human strength. She warns no matter how powerful the enemy may be, Yaya’s natural enemies are wind and water so take care out there. After Raishin and Yaya left, Irori wonders if it was a good idea to let them go. Flashback reveals Shouko picked Raishin up as he was the sole survivor of his clan. She gave him Yaya, created by Karyuusai, a leading doll manufacturer. Because Shouko had a respectable reputation among the military, she can grant him his wish and even locate the person whom he hates most and dying to kill. All he needs to do is to be hers.

Raishin and Yaya stumble upon Lisette in the woods. The latter reports that the disciplinary committee has discovered lots of magic circuits in Charlotte’s room (though they have yet to match it with the stolen ones) and now she is missing, it makes her the prime suspect for Cannibal Candy. Raishin wants Lisette to cooperate with him. She takes them to a facility housing large number of automatons. Yaya is made to wait outside because of her super power, she can destroy many in a blink of a second. As Lisette takes him inside the lab, Raishin wonders what kind of automaton Felix has. Lisette doesn’t know or seemingly dodges the question. Raishin remembers the talk he had with Lisette. There were some holes in it and Lisette wasn’t too happy he was trying to accuse her as the culprit. Then Raishin rushes off himself to Felix’s locker. He sees Lisette’s preserved corpse and starts to realize. He gets knocked out by Lisette and she reports Raishin is working with Cannibal Candy. Charlotte stumbles into Felix. Yaya seems to be activated and unleashing lots of super power. Felix needs Charlotte to be Cannibal Candy and to have Raishin take her down but he got involved too deep and had to be dealt with. Charlotte breaks down upon knowing Felix is the real Cannibal Candy and framed her so he could eliminate rivals to be Wiseman. Felix is about to kill her but here come Raishin and Yaya to the rescue.

Episode 4
Charlotte’s past is revealed. Her family was a high noble and had many Machinart achievements. But an incident that had one of their dog automatons attacked a young boy noble got them stripped of their title and everything, including all their automatons. Her family went missing while Charlotte was in boarding school. Charlotte’s goal to become Wiseman is to reunite her family and to restore her family to its former glory, she used her scholarship to buy back ‘hearts’ of her family members (those magic circuits in her room). Felix maintains Charlotte is Cannibal Candy but Raishin explains the way Charlotte controls and uses Sigmund that took her a lot of great skill to ensure she doesn’t kill anyone. Felix’s automation is revealed to be Lisette or Eliza her real name. The real Lisette was human but was murdered and replaced. Eliza isn’t fond of Raishin and attacks him. Seems Eliza can use different skills of the automaton she devoured. Raishin and Yaya take a lot of beating but they fight back. Raishin deduces Felix can only use one magic circuit at a time and has been discarding them every time he changed types. He cannot re-use those that are discarded. Felix wants to make a deal with Raishin. Cooperate with him for the Evening Party and he’ll overlook all this. Rejected. He doesn’t want to be his subordinate. Felix then has Eliza turn into her ultimate attack, a mist that corrodes everything it touches. Yaya is going to be done in when Raishin orders Yaya to activate. She counter attacks Eliza and all her fluid is over her. The secret to this attack is Yaya’s blood. When Eliza turned into mist, she absorbed Yaya’s blood with magic. Based on some theory, an automaton cannot have 2 or more magic in its circuit or there will be conflict as the magic will interfere with each other.

After Eliza is defeated, cornered Felix tries to warn him about laying a finger on him. But Raishin doesn’t care and punches him. Raishin apologizes to Yaya for hurting her but she is more concerned about him as she is unbreakable unlike him. He then helps up the tsundere. Kimberly and Magnus have been watching the match. They think if there is any upset in the Evening Party, Raishin will be the one to cause it. Magnus thinks the bottle contains ashes and it is perhaps a custom like throwing down the gauntlet to seek a challenge and revenge. Kimberly notices Magnus’ automatons are Ban Dolls but he replies there are no rules that prohibit the use of such dolls. Raishin has been given a pair of gauntlet by the academy’s headmaster, Edward Rutherford. With these, he is now qualified to take part in the Evening Part, although he is ranked 100. Raishin isn’t fond of this grand celebration of him as a hero but as Kimberly puts it, it is to divert the academy’s attention from Felix’s actions that would create suspicion and doubt. Charlotte continues to be a tsundere as she hands him a charm as gratitude for saving her. And then there is Yaya’s “I’m his wife” attitude to deal with…

Facing Sword Angel Arc

Episode 5
There is this clumsy girl, Frey AKA Silent Roar getting caught in her own net trap outside Raishin’s room. And Yaya is accusing him for cheating on her, etc. What? Frey even tries to give him eat sandwiches with sleeping potion but thing is, it was laced with salt since she ran out of sleeping potion. When that doesn’t work, she wets herself and lies on his bed to seduce him. This is her attempt to assassinate him? As Charlotte explains, Frey is ranked 99 in the Evening Party so it’s no surprise after Raishin’s battle with Felix (who was ranked number 4), everyone is quivering in their boots. Then they see Frey trying to fix an iron cage. So filmsy. So painful to watch. She gets trapped in it. WTF. Frey is approached by her brother, Loki AKA Sacred Blaze. Because she refuses to bow down to him, they send their automatons, Ravi (Frey) and Cherubim (Loki) to attack, only to be stopped by Raishin and Yaya. Both the guys are cocky and you can tell they hate each other. Could have fought if not for Charlotte joining in. Although Charlotte didn’t want to help Raishin investigate more about the siblings, she did. Blame it on her tsundere. Their conversation diverted to boobs. Charlotte was happy that Raishin feels size doesn’t matter when you fall for someone. But jealous wife Yaya had to be the troublemaker and asserts he loves them big and bouncy like Frey. Charlotte slaps him. Raishin is being told of the Evening Party fight format. It is like a royal rumble. The first night begins with 99th and 100th ranked participants entering the fray. The participant is eliminated when their gauntlet is stripped. Regardless of the outcome, the match ends at midnight and the next day, the 98th ranked participant will join in and so forth. The burden will be on Raishin because as the lowest ranked participant, he must fight at least an hour a day so the key is to eliminate opponents fast and limit the number he has to face at once. Meanwhile Frey sees her father who seems to have faith in her in the Evening Party. If she is successful, he will live up to his promise of having them all live together again.

That night, Raishin thought Yaya is again being horny and tries to stop her. But it turns out to be Frey in a sexy catsuit and trying to assassinate him with a knife in her cleavage! All Yaya could see is her master cheating on him. For nothing he gets beaten up by Yaya and then she locks herself up in the toilet crying beads. So Raishin calls Charlotte for help to investigate since he can’t take anymore of these nightly raids. Charlotte tells him about Divine Works, a company nominated to design next line of automatons for the British army. They have some prototype magic circuit designs in which Ravi and Cherubim have as the company are their sponsors. Ravi seems to have gone out of control and attacks Raishin. He uses a stun grenade to knock the dog out. Frey feels guilty for causing Raishin to be injured and tends to his wounds. He is about to question her why she wants to assassinate him but here comes that b*tch Yaya (clad only in a bath towel this time). She is going to massacre every vixen that comes after him to save Raishin from being overwhelmed by those ‘twin lump of fats’. However Frey flees the scene. Before Yaya can continue with her accusation, Komurasaki pops up. She is Yaya’s little sister and this loli too takes a liking for Raishin. Oh brother. Yaya can’t raise a finger to her because Komurasaki knows how she works. If she gets violent, Raishin won’t like her… Plus, Shouko ordered Raishin to carry out the next mission only with Komurasaki. So Yaya, be a good girl and wait in the room. Raishin and Komurasaki apply some stealth to sneak out of the academy and investigate some orphanage. Yaya talks about her troubles to Sigmund who becomes some sort of her counsellor. She wants to be a normal girl but he thinks if she did, Raishin won’t be able to protect her like always. What he needs isn’t a normal girl that you can find anywhere but her. Yaya vows to continue being a doll but still can’t bring herself to terms with Raishin flirting with other girls. As Sigmund puts it, Raishin does treat humans and automaton equally and oddly she is so human-like and the reason she hasn’t won him over is because of her warped personality. Suddenly Yaya is blasted away.

Episode 6
Raishin and Komurasaki meet a talking dog, Yomi who can sense their presence. She admits she is part of the Garm series project and equipped with Sonic circuits. She is also a Ban Doll because she is able to use magic despite no puppeteer nearby. However she has been ordered to be dismantled as she has outlived her usefulness and it is costly to be kept alive. When Raishin mentions Frey wants to kill him and thus came here to look for clues, Yomi has them follow her. She is going to show them something so be prepared. Meanwhile Yaya still lives. Charlotte uses her mana to heal her. Because the shell bullet that struck her didn’t have any markings, they think the enemy is trying to make Raishin withdraw. This means Raishin is also being targeted. Elsewhere, Kimberly sees Doctor and asks for his opinion on Raishin. Seems his recovery rate is slow and his life force being eaten away as he is diverting it towards repairing his automaton. Kimberly makes him sign an exclusive contract with her to mark Raishin. From now on, this academy and the British government will be his enemy. Choose the money or a sniper’s bullet. Yomi shows them Frey’s room. Her parents were part of an American troupe performing mechanical puppet performance but got killed when an automaton went berserk. Frey is a kind and nice girl and they were all attached to her. It is that kindness that consigned her to walk a thorny path. In the next room, they see lots of clones or siblings that look very much like each other. They are Promised Children, those with high affinity for high mana. More shocking in the next room, test tube babies. The alarm is sounded so they have to escape down the sewer. Yomi now understands why Frey tried to kill him. Had she failed, the Garm project would be suspended and all of the series’ automatons will be dismantled and a different model, the Angel series in which Cherubim is will take over. Although the new series has better combat ability, it is harder to control.

Although Raishin gets flesh wounds during the enemy’s attack in the sewerage, Yomi takes a fatal shot to protect him. As they climb up to escape, Yomi wants him to drop the excess baggage. She has had her fun and wants to rest here with the rest of her ‘children’. She drops back down and explodes herself with the enemy. Frey waits for Raishin but wonders why he didn’t turn up. Loki mentions he was snooping around too much on their secrets so father had eliminated him. If so, this Raishin before them must be a ghost, right? Raishin apologizes that Yomi is dead but Frey thanks him that he let her out of her cage. What’s this? Raishin is upset she didn’t get mad with him? But why he didn’t have the same sentiments when Yaya does it? Because although Komurasaki has been left at the military safe house, Yaya is suspicious that loli may have done something to him and wants him to take his pants off! But Shouko is glad he is back. He knows she used him as a decoy to further her investigation on Divine Works. He still feels guilty that someone died but Shouko thinks he is conceited. Even if he had Yaya, it would be unbelievable if he thinks he could save something that was meant to die. As Ravi is a Ban Doll, it is difficult to keep it human parts in it for extended periods. Unless you use it as vessel to sustain the parts. Though Sonic is an excellent circuit, the mana cost is too heavy for normal use but if you can lessen that burden the puppeteer bears by using live parts, then why not? Raishin fears the army plans to wage a war on global super powers but Shouko reminds him he is just a pawn and all he needs to do is obey his orders. His next order is to steal Ravi’s circuit without being noticed. He’ll have the Evening Party for this convenience. Raishin is not too keen because it means killing it. And so the Evening Party commencement ceremony gets under way but Raishin-Yaya faces off with Loki-Cherubim. Yaya is only reduced to dodging since Raishin isn’t giving her his mana to fight back. Since he still feels guilty over Yomi’s death, he uses his own back to protect Yaya from being cut by Loki’s blade.

Episode 7
Raishin remembers he was thrown out of his house by his father. Nadeshiko was sad but he acted like he didn’t care and this made her hate him. Loki reports to his dad that he cannot kill Raishin or he will be stripped of his qualifications. He couldn’t take his gauntlet because of Yaya. This means the longer he stays in battle, the longer Raishin risks losing his life. Apparently higher ranked members can jump in to participate although this means Loki has to continue fighting till the end or he goes out. He jumped into the battle because Frey is weak and didn’t stand a chance to win. So squaring off with her will show the difference in strength of their different series. Yaya is like a girl in distraught, blaming herself that Raishin got hurt trying to protect her like before. Irori had to calm her down because being stressed out like this isn’t going to do anybody any good. So Yaya prays to God to save him and promises she won’t get jealous if he flirts around or gets a girlfriend… She sounded so jealous in saying that… Raishin is being operated by Doctor and thanks to his devil’s luck, he misses death by millimetres. The Evening Party continues with Loki facing off with Frey. Of course Frey is weak but before she is defeated, suddenly she emits lots of mana. Ravi goes berserk and attacks them. It seems Frey’s mana is being forcibly extracted and at this rate she will die. Charlotte wanted to stop this match but Kimberly tells her it is rude to do so. Besides, there is someone else more appropriate for the job. Here comes Raishin to the rescue. Looks better now but his injuries are still there. The guys start arguing they will be the one to put a stop to this. Do we have time for this? Ravi is like a mad dog. Loki intends to kill Ravi to save Frey but Raishin will save them both. In the end, both cooperate and Raishin makes Frey unconscious so to return Ravi to normal.

Shouko operates on Ravi in the aftermath and extracts the magic circuit. Raishin thanks her for not killing Ravi but it’s too early for that. She explains it was Frey who went berserk and supplied Ravi with more mana than he could handle. Frey has a magic circuit fitted within that allows her mana to be drawn out. She and Loki are those Promised Children, manmade mediums and Divine Works’ guinea pigs. It would be great if they are easily mass produced but the failure rate is high. Just like all those test tube babies he saw. Shouko knows Raishin is mad but won’t let him leave the academy. Besides, he is no match for the chairman of Divine Works, Bronson. He became Wiseman 20 years ago. She reminds him about their bet and won’t let him die a pathetic death. Raishin checks up on Frey and Ravi. They’re both doing well. Frey still blames herself for being weak and useless, the reason everyone dies. Raishin of course doesn’t believe she is the cause. Looks like he is going to visit the orphanage again but Charlotte stands in his way. He views she doesn’t stand to lose anything no matter what happens to him. Oh, it does. He saved her so it is only fitting for her to repay the favour by keeping him safe. I think there is more to this reason. Get the hint? Raishin shows the charm that saved him once so please continue to believe in it and not him. Eh? What? Thanks to Komurasaki, Raishin and Yaya manage to sneak out of the academy and head to the orphanage. The shed is empty so they think they have been dismantled. They are attacked by Angel series automatons. Loki turns up for a showdown.

Episode 8
Kimberly and Frey sneak out to the orphanage. Loki turns on his comrades and fights alongside Raishin. They’re still throwing insults at each other, though. Loki then comes face to face with his father, Bronson and his automaton, Lucifer. Seems Loki has just been pretending to follow his orders all this while. Of course Bronson is still superior as his Lucifer pins down Cherubim. Bronson hints he had a hand in Loki and Frey’s parents’ death since he went all out just to get rare children like them. Bronson also explains his deception to Frey as part of mankind and science’s advancement and progress. That is what the academy, and Wiseman are for so a few lies along the way is acceptable. You think those guys care? Loki follows Raishin’s method to seemingly fuse Cherubim with Lucifer and then scatter heat and make Lucifer go into meltdown. So when Lucifer is out of commission, the guys collapse due to exhaustion. I thought the part they ‘drop dead’ looked funny. But they have enough energy to move their mouth and insult each other to the max. I think this is the best part so far… Bronson knows he is defeated and thinks he will just end this by killing Yaya. Unfortunately he is put to a stop by Kimberly and her fellow hooded friends. They are Cruzada and the watchdogs of the Magician’s Association. She arrests him for illegal experiment and attempted murder and kidnap. She knows about his past. He was once dubbed Angel and when he grew up, he went from wielding swords using telekinesis to relying on a machine. He named it Lucifer for old times’ sake. Thus he is Sword Angel. Bronson thinks if he had become Wiseman then, he wouldn’t have been arrested for such petty crime. Kimberly disagrees because despite Wiseman stands above the magic code, it doesn’t spare him from the arms of the law. Since he forcibly performed experiments on children, not even Wiseman can get away from it. Raishin and Loki are recuperating back at the academy’s infirmary. Yaya as usual playing the naughty nurse and desperately trying to take off his pants. Frey comes in to thank them and looks like she has won her matches so far. She doesn’t want the guys to fight and hints that Raishin could be family one day. I think this just escalates the misunderstanding. Yaya is so going to kill him. As he hides on the rooftop, he sees Charlotte jumping off the edge! He grabs her but because he is still hurt, he falls with her. Just by calling Yaya, his automaton comes rescuing them. And she’s still not happy about it. Charlotte is acting strange. She wants Raishin to take responsibility to kill her or pound her with his might via his carnal desires. WTF. Why do chicks always have to say things that make Yaya want to kill Raishin? Before she can do that, they see Charlotte riding Sigmund blasting down the clock tower. What just happened?

Facing Elf Speeder Arc

Episode 9
While celebrating the clock tower’s anniversary and before Edward gives his speech, that’s when Charlotte blasted it down. Raishin speaks to Frey and the girl who was going to commit suicide is Henriette or Henri for short, Charlotte’s sister who transferred to this academy. She tried to commit suicide 6 times but all ended in failure. Good or bad luck? Also, Charlotte has been missing since yesterday. Meanwhile Charlotte is seen talking to Cedric Granville. He reminds her that less than 40 hours remain till the promised time. Frey helps Raishin to look for Charlotte. She has her dog automatons smell Charlotte’s panties. It’s for her scent. This causes Yaya to get that insecure attitude again. The dogs find Henri trying to hang herself in the forest. They stop her and Raishin questions her about Charlotte’s whereabouts and if she remains silent, he’ll let the dogs loose on her. She misinterprets he wants to rape her with bestiality and you know, this sets of a domino effect that the girls think he is really a pervert. Oh, Henri got away while Yaya is strangling him. That night, Raishin stumbles into Charlotte who wants him to stop talking to Henri and stay out of this or else she will kill him for real. Funny, didn’t she say she wanted to protect him? Of course he isn’t going to back out after seeing her crying face. Yeah. The foolproof method to get this guy involved in anything. Flashback reveals Sigmund was talking to Charlotte about not being honest of her feelings for Charlotte. Of course she still denies she has feelings for Raishin because if she did, it would make her feel like an easy woman. That’s when Henri came back and Charlotte is glad to see her and finds out her mom is still alive. However Henri is here to play her part: To bring Charlotte unhappiness.

While Raishin waits for his opponent at the Evening Party, Henri tries to slit her throat but Charlotte stops her. How could she bring her unhappiness when she got to see her little sister and know her mom is still alive? She promises once this is over, they’ll live together again. Raishin sees Kimberly for answers. He knows Charlotte isn’t doing this on her own and must be manipulated as she won’t use Sigmund as a murder tool. Although there were no casualties during the attack, it is speculated her target was Edward. Could she have a grudge against him? To only person they can think of is Felix. His family would gain nothing from killing Raishin but if they kill Edward, they might get reinstated with Lord Walter returning to politics and reclaim their honour. As we know, the Belew family had one of their automaton dogs almost killed a boy who turned out to be a royal prince and was stripped of their title. The royal still sees them as enemies. Because public opinion always swings towards the popular, if Charlotte carries out the assassination, Kingsfort family will be able to return to their former status. Telling Raishin to stay out of this isn’t going to help even though what Kimberly said is merely speculation. But there won’t be a problem if he brings proof. That night Raishin talks to Yaya about why he wants to help Charlotte so bad. He doesn’t know it himself but it’s not like he is in love with her. The topic turns into one that has Yaya becoming a horny monster, forcing him to take her as his wife or do it with him now! Next day, Raishin hears rumours that Charlotte being branded a criminal for going against authority and possibly in cohorts with Raishin too because he managed to slip into Evening Party last minute. Raishin sees Edward and his men investigating the clock tower. Charlotte and Sigmund appear and attack. Raishin rushes to save Henri from being killed but the ground collapses.

Episode 10
Charlotte is being attacked by automata but Cedric’s butler automaton, Shin kicks their ass and brings her back to his master. She claims she has kept her promise that she has killed Edward but Cedric argues that is not certain yet. He shows her an interesting surveillance footage that Raishin and Henri are still alive underground. Meanwhile Kimberly brings Yaya to discuss with her fellow Cruzada members about investigating Sanctuary of Fools and protecting the headmaster. They also view Raishin could be the promised one as Father mentioned. Raishin and Henri trek through the dark tunnels but since she is injured, they stop to rest. Don’t worry, they’ll get out alive because Yaya will find him till the ends of the earth as long as he is alone with another girl. Scary. Suddenly one of Magnus’ automatons, Hotaru pops up before Raishin, asking if he is friend or foe. Her mask lifts a little and Raishin could see her face. Isn’t she Nadeshiko? He remembers Magnus took her apart to create a God. Magnus and Edward are also down here as Edward clarifies that Magnus is his bodyguard and wants Raishin to refrain from doing anything rash. Kimberly sees Loki and makes a deal with him. If he can guard a certain man, she will give him this De Organum book. Raishin is attacked by Shin but Hotaru under orders from Magnus fends him off till he withdraws. Once the rescue party finds them and brings them out, Yaya is so happy crying in Raishin’s arms. Not because he is safe but he spent countless hours with that vixen!

So it’s no surprise that back in their room, she’s throwing a tantrum to get him naked and do it with him or it’s a sign that he hates her. I don’t know how Frey outside interprets this. Even more surprising, Raishin has a fiancée! He’s not lying, isn’t he? He never told her as he never had a chance and was afraid. Also, it wasn’t because he didn’t want to ruin the relationship but didn’t want to risk being beaten up. I guess it doesn’t make a difference now that Yaya is pulverizing him. Of course he isn’t going to agree with the marriage as it was arranged by his parents. Although his family is no more, the engagement isn’t officially broken off yet. Cedric shows Charlotte an interesting clip that Raishin and Yaya went into Henri’s room to kidnap her. Charlotte becomes enraged when Cedric insults Henri but was slapped by Shin. He orders Shin to go retrieve Henri and kill Raishin if he wishes. Charlotte wonders why he is doing this. Because it’s fun. Felix is his cousin and he would please him greatly by messing with her. Charlotte feels he isn’t the Cedric she knows and some shadow who altered his appearance to look like him. While Henri is screaming rape, Raishin knows she doesn’t want to die and had no choice. He explains Charlotte was probably coerced to kill the headmaster to keep her alive. Henri breaks down that she tried to kill herself but they always stopped her and can’t escape her surveillance. Raishin doesn’t intend to escape from them. They ‘kidnapped’ her to lure them out as they surely want to take back their hostage. And true enough here comes Shin. Let’s get this party starting.

Episode 11
Raishin takes a beating and Yaya is no match for Shin. But Shin is forced to retreat when Frey and Loki join in. Frey pecks Loki in his cheek for protecting Raishin. Didn’t see that coming, huh? Shin reports his failure to Cedric but he mentions it was just an act. What the Granvilles want is to back up the Kingsforts but what they want is to show off Shin as to the academy’s brass. Preparations are going as planned as they even revealed the Sanctuary of Fools. Cedric knows Charlotte cannot assassinate Edward since Magnus is his bodyguard. Not even an entire army. So why send Charlotte to do the job? If she succeeds, it’ll be great but if she fails, the blame will be pinned on the Granvilles. As of now, he knows they’re trying to make a secret pact by teaming up to research the 2 forms of God. If a Granville butler were to show up at that time, it would raise suspicions. But it brings happiness to Cedric to see unhappiness of others. Raishin is recuperating with Henri by his side. She’s still blaming herself, please kill her to save Charlotte, blah, blah, blah. Also, she envies her sister, hates her and all that crap. As usual Raishin disagrees and wants to know her true feelings. Which is of course to save her sister. That’s enough for him to help out. But he runs into Shouko who is in foul mood. She gives him 2 choices. Go back to bed or sleep where he stands. He won’t have either. Shouko orders Yaya back to her side but she truly wants to help Raishin. Shouko gives him a slap and warns him never to show his face around her again. Charlotte and Sigmund are preparing for another attack with Sigmund warning her to stop this as there is still hope. She doesn’t need to throw away the happiness she sought in life. And here comes Raishin telling her to stop because if she carries out the assassination, she can kiss goodbye to her family’s revival. Still not convinced? Well, time to fight it out. Raishin wants her to stop confusing her enemies and to let him help her out since she did say her enemies are stronger. He doesn’t care how much of a burden she is to him. All she needs to do is believe in him. I guess those words nailed it. Charlotte feels Raishin is burning up but have no time to help him since Shin is here to remind her about her mission. Raishin gets back up and fight but is still no match. Charlotte thinks a puppeteer is nearby but Shin reminds her automatons cannot produce mana and even if they are Ban Dolls, there is a human part implanted which give them mana. So how does he fight all by himself? Divine Mechanics. A Machine Doll.

Episode 12
More flashbacks on Raishin past. When Shouko found him left for dead, she also gave him a choice to die by freezing to death here or fighting against Tenzen Akabane. If he defeats Tenzen, he wins. Otherwise, she will take his body. Frey sees Henri trying to slit her wrist and stops her in time. She also lectures her about trusting him since he puts his life on the line and never abandons his duty. Back to Raishin and co, they’re having a tough time fighting Shin who claims he is both a machine and a doll, the latter meaning to be human. What? Eventually, they find his flaw and take him down and no matter what kind of doll or automaton he is, his mana will sure run out. Pretty soon, one of Frey’s dogs sniff out Cedric as part of Raishin’s plan. Because when an automaton is low on mana, the puppeteer will be nearby to replenish and the dog will be able to pick up the puppeteer’s smell. Raishin knows Cedric is the Evening Party Executive Committee Chair and wants him to spill everything. But Cedric although impressed, remains a step ahead and counter attacks. Before Shin can kill Raishin, distraught Yaya bursts into flames and turns into something super to fight on par with him. Cedric and Shin had no choice but to escape, though Cedric isn’t upset about this failure as he got to see something interesting. Cedric turns out to be Alice Bernstein in disguise and her nickname is Elf Speeder. She is ranked 87th in the Evening Party and is to take on Raishin in the next round. Charlotte reconciles with Henri and from what I understand, it stems from Charlotte’s jealousy that Henri’s breasts are bigger than hers by an inch. Don’t even ask… Kimberly talks to Magnus about somebody trying to make a Machine Doll 2 years ago although Magnus still considers a Machine Doll as a Ban Doll since it uses human parts. Tenzen is Magnus. Kimberly advises him that creating humans is the greatest taboo for a magician.

Raishin is recuperating in bed. Henri the maid is feeding him. I wonder how Yaya the nurse is holding in. Doctor tries to flirt and fool around with Henri but once he learns she is Charlotte’s sister, he leaves disappointed. Don’t want to mess around, eh? Charlotte is here to apologize but it descends into a misunderstanding that Raishin loves women with big boobs (even Frey got dragged in). Little sister consoles big sister that Raisin loves small ones too and will shower women of all sizes with his lust. That just makes him sound like a sex maniac. Before Loki can kill him for the ruckus and Yaya going to lose her cool, Kimberly comes in to explain Edward’s verdict. The clock tower is to be rebuilt from scratch and the Belew family’s assets are frozen will cover that huge cost. Basically the government will be paying for it and taking the fall. She doesn’t know the entire story either but from what she heard, a certain millionaire negotiated in Parliament about this and his daughter is a student in this school so make sure they don’t get on her bad side. Since Henri’s applications were fabricated, her enrolment is rejected. However Kimberly personally hires her as her lab maid assistant. So that is what the maid outfit is for? Raishin knows this case is far from over but he is sure they’ll be alright in this messed up world. And then cue for Yaya to bug him about making her his wife. Here we go again. The road to recovery is long…

Specials

5 minute specials you get when you buy the DVDs. There are 6 of them in total although I only saw the first 5. Light hearted. No relation with the plot and some for fanservice.

Special 1
Raishin just got off the phone with Shouko at the train station. He thought he saw Nadeshiko. As usual, Yaya is trying to be the flirtiest and most seductive sexual predator to lure Raishin in. Whether it is conquering his ‘Big Ben’ or making every part of him hers or even going to be the main course (he was talking about the Evening Party you dimwit), Raishin won’t fall for her tricks. He remembers he saw the fireworks in Tokyo with Nadeshiko many years ago. Once everything ends, he hopes once this is over, they can return to Japan and watch the fireworks.

Special 2
First bare tits! Shouko, Irori and Komurasaki are soaking in the hotspring. Irori is feeling edgy, worried that somebody may be watching them. But what is such scene if you don’t have girls fondling the boobs of others. That’s what Shouko is interested with Irori’s grown melons. And then something starts molesting them. Could it be somebody is using some high level magic that goes undetected? Shouko won’t get out since she thinks it is a ploy by the peeping tom to see their naked body. But when Irori cannot take it anymore, she freezes the entire hotspring into ice. After the girls go in to get warm, we are left to our imagination what that strange creature that molested them was.

Special 3
Frey wants to borrow Charlotte’s bath since hers is clogged. Although Charlotte likes one of Frey’s automaton dogs, she is not too pleased with Frey’s super nice body and huge racks. And then Frey feels something on her boobs. It’s making her feel uncomfortable. Charlotte thinks it is some magic spirit and casts a spell to ward it off. But this only reveals her humongous boobs. Not happy? Frey says she put on some weight but when she whispers it to her, it’s that sour face again. Not happy too? Charlotte sulks as Sigmund tries to reason with her that muscles are heavier than fats. Which means if they weigh the same, her muscles are more developed than Frey’s. That’s not what she wants to hear and tosses him right into Frey’s boobs.

Special 4
Flashback to Raishin and Nadeshiko kiddie days. They were watching the fireworks when Nadeshiko got lost. Luckily Raishin found her but this means they got separated from their parents. To soothe her, he gives her a sparkly marble he found. Nadeshiko thinks she saw a lost girl too but it turns out to be a spirit and Raishin can’t see it since he has no such powers. She wants to help her look for her parents but is told that she is looking for a sparkly marble. Nadeshiko gives that marble to her. She doesn’t need it since she has Raishin. The happy spirit girl disappears. As they go back, Nadeshiko hopes they can come back and watch this next year. He promises. She likes him. Happy ending when they are reunited with their parents.

Special 5
Despite the title as “Private Lesson: Alone In The Nurse Room With A Pretty Lady”, it is misleading enough to make you think something steamy is going on. In fact, this entire special is just talk. Kimberly brings Shouko to talk to Doctor about magic force. So as he explains about force of gravity and force of attraction as well as other factors such as electricity, Doctor and Shouko are slowly making out a hot steamy passion (nothing explicit for your information)! Unfortunately that was just his imagination and he is snapped back to reality where the talk continues about personification of fairies and its reason of existence. When Doctor mentions about childhood disorder that may bring about the possibility of this case, Shouko goes into foul mood and leaves. Sorry, Doctor. No dinner date for you. And Kimberly could guess right that she realized he was fantasizing about it.

Insecure Machine Doll
I am a benevolent and tolerant guy. But there are 3 things that I cannot stand when it comes to anime: 1) Animes with plot that are hard to understand; 2) Animes that seem promising at first but failed to live up to the hype towards the end; 3) Animes that ends abruptly. Yeah. Back to square one. Unfortunately that really is my sentiment for this anime. I was somewhat looking forward to the Evening Party since it was a royal rumble style. I was expecting Raishin as the underdog to meet and defeat higher ranked opponents as each night passes. However, we only see one proper match in the Evening Party and that is during the Sword Angel arc. Otherwise, smarty pants Raishin goes off and gets involved in other issues, playing detective over a serial killer of automatons, exposing some conspiracy of genetically modified children and trying to save somebody’s sister from killing herself and indirectly foiling the headmaster’s assassination. So you see? How not to get disappointed? Of course there is the problem that if this series was really going to be battle royale style and every episode is a fight with opponents, it would have become a boring and repetitive pattern without any back story, plot, etc. Even so, I personally thought it was better than what was given.

Thus the only thing which I find very amusing is Yaya’s insecurity. Yup. Despite being such an annoying b*tch in bugging Raishin to be her wife or getting down and dirty with her, somehow it never gets tired. At least for me. At least it beats all those confusing distracting storyline which I am struggling to comprehend. I’m not sure if I even do in the end. And thus Yaya is the most amusing character in this series. If she ever really becomes Raishin’s wife, it will be game over definitely. I don’t know if this is really love or lust. Imagine, she already is so insecure of the slightest thing and going paranoid over the silliest things, its exaggeration superbly enhanced and magnified if it involves another girl, by becoming his wife, she will already be even more controlling! Raishin would be a dead man by then. You’re supposed to control your automaton not the other way round. She is so suspicious of him running away with other girls, cheating her, it just shows the level of trust she has of him in terms of their relationship. Besides, she has been with Raishin for so long, she should have known his habits and believe in him. Instead, all sorts of accusations and suspicions are grabbed out of thin air and thrown at him while that poor guy is probably tired of going to great lengths to object.

The other amusing part is Charlotte’s tsundere. I suppose she is fast in establishing herself as the tsundere archetype of this anime. To a point that she is really annoying but we like it. Like a true tsundere, she won’t admit it but we know she likes Raisin a lot because of the numerous times she helps in out in subsequent arcs. With Frey in the fray too (can I consider Henri too?), at the rate this series is going, I thought it would turn into some harem cat fight. Who am I kidding? Raishin has built up a very high resistance to Yaya’s extreme sexual flirtation and with him pretty occupied with helping others in addition to his own goal, romance is the biggest lacking factor in this anime. That guy has no time for it. He’s unbreakable in this sense. But thankfully if you think about it this way, it would be just disgusting to see a human having some sort of sexual relations with his automaton no matter how close she resembles to a human being. In a way, it would make him sound like an otaku loser. Another amusing bit is the spat between Raishin and Loki. It is like they have this tendency to outdo each other’s insults. They want to show he is tougher than the other but I think they’re both just the same hot-headed stubborn guys.

Looks like Raishin’s goal of defeating Magnus will be a long way and from the ‘adventures’ we have seen in this anime, it is likely he will be sidetracked with more other ‘side missions’ before reaching his goal. He isn’t such a bad guy and has his kind and cool side to it. Probably because of that, he has become the target of the girls making fun of him by being accused as a pervert. Yes. It is like as though they are doing it on purpose just to tease him as they can’t be honest with their own feelings so might as well call this guy a pervert. For example, Frey is a good example of being guilty of this and the other girls like Charlotte and Henri (don’t even mention Yaya’s name) would gullibly believe it. They believe this instead of Raishin’s own mouth that he is not some sex maniac? It’s like they have lots of pent up frustrations and want to take it out on him this way. I can understand Yaya’s sexual frustration but let’s not even go there.

The character development feels okay (sometimes I feel the fanservice that of Yaya makes up for it). Each one had their own personality and back story to tell. Each has a dark and tragic past that made them enrol in this academy with the ultimate goal to be Wiseman. Feels a bit like a shonen anime because opponents that Raishin and Yaya defeated somewhat become their allies (or not a foe if you want to put it in another way) as seen in Charlotte, Ravi and Loki. Can I consider Henri to be part of the gang too since she has been saved countless times from suicide. If this formula goes on, I can guess that Alice would also become part of the gang. Hey, you’d think Raishin would lose in the next Evening Party round? If that really happens, the story would end and there is no way that kid is going to take on Magnus who occupies the very top seat. As the character development mainly surrounds the kids, it makes the adults have this mysterious feel. Like Kimberly and her secret Cruzada organization, Shouko with her Karyuusai name and Magnus’ seems like he has something more than meets the eye. Then there are other automata like Irori and Komurasaki just making their cameo but didn’t contribute anything too much yet.

The action part feels decent. Though they are of decent entertainment value, somehow to me it feels like the spells ordered from puppeteer to the automaton is like as though they pull it out from thin air. I don’t know. It sounds like a lot of mumbo-jumbo. Especially with Raishin whose favourite is some 36 or 48 Fiery Thrusts that sends powered up Yaya into some attacking frenzy. Looks the same to me. Otherwise, each automaton has their own unique combat arsenal. But of course that is limited to just a few variations. I mean, take for instance, you’re not going to see Sigmund breath destructive beams from his mouth via Lustre Cannon and Lustre Flare. Because many of the fights happen at night (it’s called Evening Party for a reason), it may get a little too dark to see anything.

The art and animation style feels different. There is something about the character designs that make them look like standard anime style but yet unique on its own. The characters’ face looks plain and simple enough to easily pass them off like they came out from some cute kawaii moe themed anime. Something like the style as seen in Gochuumon Wa Usagi Desu Ka but half the moe-ness. Lerche, a relatively new anime production studio has only produced a handful of animes such as Carnival Phantasm, Danganronpa and Maji De Watashi Ni Koi Shinasai. CGI is heavily used during the fight scenes as certain automata like Sigmund and Cherubim are fully computer generated. It is smooth but you can still see the difference between the 2D and 3D movements which might be jarring at certain angles.

Although Kana Asumi as Frey is recognizable, she does a decent job making her character sound insecure, weak and in a way monotonous. There is nothing wrong, though. I just thought it was a waste for her not to use her lively ‘joker’ voice like the titular character in Haiyore! Nyaruko-san. Hitomi Harada is Yaya (Himeji in Baka To Test To Shoukanjuu), I like her voice when she goes into that jealous b*tch rage. She sounds so funny… And dangerous. Other casts include Hiro Shimono as Raishin (Keima in The World God Only Knows), Megumi Takamoto as Charlotte (Himea in Itsuka Tenma No Kurousagi), Asuka Nishi as Henri (Shinobu in Kin-iro Mosaic), Jouji Nakata as Sigmund (Giroro in Keroro Gunsou), Nobuhiko Okamoto as Loki (Accelerator in To Aru Majutsu No Index), Shizuka Itou as Kimberly (Hinagiku in Hayate No Gotoku), Yukana as Shouko (Cecilia in Infinite Stratos), Ai Kayano as Irori (Mei in Sukitte Iinayo), Yui Ogura as Komurasaki (Hinata in Ro-Kyu-Bu), Yuuki Ono as Magnus (Moral in Hamatora), Risa Taneda as Cedric (Mirai in Kyoukai No Kanata), Takahiro Sakurai as Shin (Suzaku in Code Geass), Yuuki Kaji as Felix (Alibaba in Magi) and Atsushi Ono as Edward (Giriko in Bleach). My favourite Mamiko Noto plays a minor role as Lisette while Kana Hanazawa is Nadeshiko/Hotaru.

Anicca by Hitomi Harada is the opening theme. The rock pop anime song isn’t bad. But it is the ending theme that feels weird. Maware! Setsugetsuka by the trio of Ai Kayano, Hitomi Harada and Yui Ogura (basically the voice of the 3 automatons of Shouko) is such a strange song that you wonder if it is really right for this show. Just imagine a traditional Japanese song singing at a rap pace! Or you fast forward it twice the speed. Try singing the lyrics like rap too. You have to be close to a robot to pull off those lines without biting your tongue. Then you have the characters spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning… Oops! Got caught in the endless spinning trap, which I think is the highlight of it. And then you got the background voices going “Ah, ah, ah~ Pon!”. But if you cast away your suspicions, this song is fun to hear.

Overall, unfortunately as far as this season is concerned, I prefer to see Yaya and the other girls make silly accusations that Raishin is a serial sex offender instead of seeing some progress in the storyline. Well, if this season actually wrapped up the Evening Party, it shows that there is nothing great about it. Or maybe something more nefarious will take place. So for a great tournament, it takes greater time to get around. Perhaps a second season would do justice to this. In the mean time, have more of Yaya’s amusing sexual harassments and probably a personal wish of mine to see her become a psychotic yandere and kill everyone with her blood. Shameful. But when you have a life-like automaton who can tell you to drop your pants, force you to make love with her and make jokes about breast sizes, for an automaton like her she should be shameful. I know I should be ashamed of myself for wishing such things but I am a benevolent and tolerant guy…