IS: Infinite Stratos

[Buffalobiian]

btw, the IS voice is really cool

I too was pleasantly surprised. Not only is it a male voice (unlike the typical polite female one), but it's also that unusual deep growl. Wonder if it's that way because IS are made for girls.

Thinking about it, I could forgive them if that horrible CGI from the first episode was used to convey a virtual battle simulation. The battles themselves don't look to be using that technique.

As for design, I'm not too fond of the Byakushiki, but I do dig the Blue Tears. On the other hand, it simply makes no sense for Ichika to be equipped with an opponent-damaging sword. If the whole point in tounaments is to deplete the opponent's shield, and he's only in the school for training, something that can actually endanger the opponent just seems out of place. IS boasts that awesome shield, but it's just thin metal (or a suit depending on where you hit) if you can bypass it like the Yukihira can.

So there was a shikai... cheap trick if you ask me, but maybe I'm just angry I didn't see it coming.

You talking about the Form Fitting? I didn't mind it, but I also don't see why it let him survive the missiles unscathered. It didn't look like it used any shield from his counter (not that I went back to check), and if it did, then it would mean that he would have been saved anyway?

[Ryllharu]

As for design, I'm not too fond of the Byakushiki, but I do dig the Blue Tears. On the other hand, it simply makes no sense for Ichika to be equipped with an opponent-damaging sword. If the whole point in tounaments is to deplete the opponent's shield, and he's only in the school for training, something that can actually endanger the opponent just seems out of place. IS boasts that awesome shield, but it's just thin metal (or a suit depending on where you hit) if you can bypass it like the Yukihira can.

You talking about the Form Fitting? I didn't mind it, but I also don't see why it let him survive the missiles unscathered. It didn't look like it used any shield from his counter (not that I went back to check), and if it did, then it would mean that he would have been saved anyway?

Agree with these sentiments pretty thoroughly. The Blue Tears is a stylish design where the Byakushiki looks ungainly and ridiculous. If his machine is meant for closing and aerial melee, shouldn't it be more streamlined to increase acceleration? They said it wasn't meant for defense, but pure offense. It's very bulky, even in Form Fitted mode.

It seems like a huge hazard for his sister to have given him the Yukihira. The last thing I think the school would want is a student wielding a weapon that is actually capable of injuring another student during a training exercise. Yukihira is a weapon only suited for killing, though I also think it is silly that it somehow depletes Ichika's shield in order to bypass the opponent's. Maybe it would make more sense if they went behind the tech of the shields versus Yukihira, but they did not.

Lastly, I felt that it was stupid that they'd force Ichika to go out into battle without Form Fitting first. Cecilia had certainly Form Fitted to her own machine. They repeated multiple times the excuse that, "they only had so much time on the practice field," but that just came off as a plot device. They wouldn't let him use a practice machine because they wanted to gather data, so they receive delivery and immediately shove him out with it? Sorry, I didn't buy that. For the competition to be fair, they either should have both been in practice machines, or he should have been given at least two hours to familiarize himself with his own personal IS.

There was no legitimate reason that the could not have postponed the fight a few days more (or simply rescheduled).