What They Say:
L-elf is held in interrogation but he manages to escape. Haruto makes a triumphant return and is considered a hero by the masses for taking on the Dorssian military. Haruto has a meeting with Senator Figaro.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
I’ve been finding Valvrave to be a very entertaining series, both because I do genuinely care about what happens in the story and also because it manages to deliver its ideas with a sense of fun that keeps me finding some enjoyment when I might otherwise be rolling my eyes a bit. As it continues on, it’s clear that the writing is very solid in this regard, and doesn’t seem to be veering away from that much. Code Geass is one of my favorite anime, and all of this is very similar to it, which isn’t surprising considering the writer and studio are the same for both of them. This isn’t to say it’s as good as Code Geass – it isn’t remotely close – but that’s not saying much, so I’m just happy that it can be good enough in its own right.
This episode brings the aftermath of Haruto’s epic debut, entering him into a world of instant fame for playing the part of the savior like he did. Among many other privileges, this allows him to meet with an important senator and they have an interesting little chat. He had returned with L-elf his captive, but the talented soldier manages to pull off some very impressive moves to make his escape and make his way right back into Haruto’s life by the time the episode ends.
This episode felt a bit more focused on the plot rather than showing off anything fancy, so it does require one to care about said plot a bit more than the series had prior. It feels strange to say that, but I think up to now watching the series simply for its silliness has been perfectly valid as well. Still, most viewers who had favored that aspect of it (myself possibly included) have likely been drawn into the actual story enough by now for this episode to at least interest to some extent. It does have lighter, more fun moments as well, though. Haruto’s sudden celebrity status is pretty amusing to watch in general. Then again, the overwhelming response may actually be more realistic than most series would show; fact is stranger than fiction in how people love to worship others when a particularly impressive feat is pulled off. L-elf’s disposal of his interrogators is one of those cases that require you to forget realism and just appreciate how awesome this character is, but it’s highly unlikely that anyone watching would be new to that kind of scene, so I doubt someone would find it too unbelievably over-the-top, especially with everything that had happened in the episodes before it.
And of course there are a few moments that you just have to smile at and remember to have fun with this series. Dramatic scenes of students recovering from disaster include a young man lovingly holding his erotic body pillow, Haruto’s sudden popularity prompts random girls who likely wouldn’t have paid him any mind beforehand to give him their addresses, and in perhaps a not terribly unrealistic portrayal of the Internet of the future, one post from the returning hero gets him millions of “friends” in seconds, the president included.
In Summary:
Valvrave delivers a relatively unremarkable episode in comparison to the huge scale of the previous episodes, but it offers some important plot progression and does so pretty well. The show’s silliness isn’t lost either, so it still has a good mix.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Toshiba Satellite L655-S5191 PSK2CU-1C301U Notebook PC.
