Episode 4: Decisive Battle! The Class League Match

ED: “Super Stream” by Youko Hikasa, Asami Shimoda and Yukana

You would have someone's eye out

Ichika and Rin are fighting each other using their IS. Rin begins to use dual swords; after revealing a second. She attacks Ichika who then starts to struggle against her. Cecilia and Houki watch nervously with Cecilia screaming at the monitor. Rin combines her swords to make a staff blade and attacks Ichika. Ichika decides to get some distance from Rin, but ends up getting hit by her shoulder cannons. Rin launches another cannon attack and Ichika falls to the ground. Houki wonders what attack that was and Maya replies it was ‘Impact Cannon’; compacting and pressurizing space and using as a projectile. Maya analyses that the impact cannon can be fired leaving no blind spots. Ichika gets up and dodges several of Rin’s attacks. Ichika thinks back to training with Chifuyu. Chifuyu tells him to try and learn one thing to the extreme. Back in the match Ichika wonders if he could use the barrier neutralisation attack. He then attacks Rin and they begin fighting again. Cecilia suggests that Ichika is up to something. Chifuyu tells them that he is going to uses ‘Ignition Boost’, a manoeuvre that allows you to close up on your opponent however it can only be used once. Ichika continues fighting Rin. He flies behind Rin, but she is slow to react. Using this chance he charges her. However a projectile comes out of the sky, breaking thorough an energy barrier and hits the ground of the arena.

Not exactly in-flight entertainment

Maya reports that the system is damaged and the barrier has been penetrated. Chifuyu tells Ichika and Rin that the match is cancelled and orders them to retreat. The stands of the arena are then sealed shut; protecting the watching students. Ichika wonders what is going on, when Rin tells to return to the pit immediately. Suddenly, Byakushiki alerts Ichika that he has been locked on by an unknown IS coming from the centre of the arena. Rin tells Ichika that she would distract the target until help from the teachers arrives. Suddenly a beam comes out from the smoke and Ichika charges Rin and dodges the attack. Ichika sees the attacking IS and tries to communicate with it, but it doesn’t respond. Maya orders them to leave, but Ichika tells her that he and Rin would hold it off until the students escape. The attacking IS charges them and they both dodge the attack. Rin suggests that she would back up Ichika, while he charges the attacker.

How can she be so wrong...

The enemy IS attacks them and Rin dodges the attacks, they then head into a dark cloud and their battle is obscure from the control room, with Maya desperately trying to contact Ichika and Rin. Chifuyu tells her that they chose to be there, so leave them be and pours a cup of coffee telling Maya that she needs to have some sugar to stop her from getting upset. However, Maya tells her that she had just put a spoonful of salt into her coffee. Cecilia demands to go out and help them, but Chifuyu tells her she can’t and motions her to the monitor. A barrier shield of level 4 is set around the arena and all the gates and doors are locked. Therefore they cannot go out to help them or get them out. Ichika continues to battle with the attacking IS and it attacks him from behind. Cecilia asks Chifuyu to contact the government. Chifuyu tells her they have been trying to and the top students of year 3 are trying to crack the system with the hope of sending in the troops. Chifuyu also adds that Cecilia will not be joining the rescue team as her IS allows her to attack multiple targets, therefore she would a problem for the rescue team. Cecilia complains on why she would be problem. Chifuyu asks her if she has any cooperation training and puts Cecilia off.

Cool!!!

Ichika and Rin continue to battle with the enemy IS. Rin fires her cannons and hits it. She calls for Ichika to attack but he fails to hit it. Ichika notices his shield energy is dropping and thinks that he has only one chance to use the barrier cancel attack. Once again the IS attacks them and then disappears into the smoke. Ichika then wonders if the attacking IS has no one onboard controlling it. Rin then thinks that it is impossible as IS require a human pilot, however she wonders as well as the IS stops when she and Ichika are talking. Ichika suggests if it is unmanned, then he can use his weapon at full-force. He asks Rin to shoot at it with her cannons, even though they may not hit it. Before they can attack, Houki shouts at Ichika from the pit asking if he can win against an opponent like that. This alerts the enemy IS, who then targets Houki. Ichika orders Rin to fired and she begins to charge up her cannons. Ichika flies in direct firing line, prompting Rin to call Ichika being stupid. He tells her to shoot and the attack hits Ichika in the back. The cannons charge up Byakushiki giving the sword full power. Ichika charges the IS and slices one of its hands off, but is then hit with the other hand. On the ground, Ichika is at the mercy of the IS, when he smiles. Attacks rain down on the enemy IS.  The attacks came from Cecilia, with Houki wondering how she got there (I wonder myself…). Ichika tells her to finish it off and she shoots it straight through its chest. Ichika thanks Cecilia, however as they are busy talking the IS reboots and targets Ichika. Ichika gets up and charges the IS as it fires its laser at him as everything fades to white.

One potato...two potato...

Ichika is in the infirmary with Rin. Rin leans over just about to kiss him when he wakes up. Ichika wonders what happen to the IS. Rin tells him it stopped moving and he was the only one that was injured. Ichika looks out the window and tells Rin that on a sunset like this in grade school they had that talk of sweet and sour pork. Ichika thought that promise would get him free food and didn’t think it had any other meaning. Ichika adds that he would like to try it sometime as he liked Rin’s father’s cooking. Rin however tells him that their family do not own the restaurant anymore as her parents divorced. This forced her to go back to her own country. Ichika asks Rin to have some fun some day. Rin suggests it may be date when Cecilia walks in happily, hoping to nurse Ichika when she spots Rin. Cecilia mood changes and demands what Rin is doing with Ichika. She adds that they promised not to get a head start with Ichika, when Houki enters the room and catches Cecilia out that she too had got a head start with Ichika in secret. The girls start arguing when Ichika wonders where Chifuyu is. The girls then wonder as well, as she was with them a second ago. Meanwhile, Chifuyu is with Maya in the lab with the unknown IS. Maya confirms that it was unmanned and it contained an unregistered core and not one of the 467 cores.

An exciting episode with another tournament battle, with this time I thought Ichika was going to win. However this enemy IS just had to put a damper on things. The ED scene has changed as well, with Rin running with them (Ichika, Houki and Cecilia). Ichika is seemingly being fought over by the three girls (Isn’t he lucky!!!) with him still being a brainless baboon. I still say the coolest IS here is probably Cecilia’s Blue Tears, got to dig the sniper rifle.