We’re in for some intense beach warfare this time, and of course the proper attire for that is of the bikini variety.
What They Say:
Racing heartbeat and expanding fantasies… After being accepted to her dream school, Stella Girls’ Academy, Yamato Yura is excited to begin her high school life. “Maybe, at this school, I can change!” Then, when she lies down to rest after moving into her dorm, her hopes still high… she finds a Desert Eagle under her pillow! High school girls?! The C³ Club?! A survival game?! A new youth survival story is about to begin!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
If there’s anything more characteristic of Gainax than the head trip we got in the last episode, it’s the Gainax Bounce, and sure enough, we’re off to the beach for this episode, pitting the club against a new team of equally bubbly girls as they spend a couple of days together there, hanging out and having fun for a good portion of it, and spending the rest doing their survival game thing… in skimpy bikinis, of course. As it turns out, there’s really only one signature bounce, but the whole episode is full of the relatively innocent and smoothly-incorporated fanservice Gainax is quite well-known for, as well as more of the standard cute girl fluff that you can see in any number of recent series.
The metaphysical ambiguities of the previous episode are pretty much nonexistent in this one; there are a couple of scenes from Yura’s perspective that transform their bikini-clad beach fun into in-uniform beach warfare and a nightmare of hers which both call upon similar imagery but ultimately seem to be limited to her mind and don’t seem to be doing any blending with reality, although the transformed scenes of the “battlefields” can be looked at in a slightly different light after the discussions of the training episode. This battle also includes a rendition of Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, which seems like a questionable choice coming from the Japanese, but the way it plays out is all in such typical dumb fun that thinking about it for more than a second is really a waste.
Spending most of every episode on these games, especially ones like this that don’t appear to serve much of a greater purpose, is starting to feel a little stale, but at least they do find new elements to inject each one with depending on the environment and team dynamics. This time, there’s also a slightly more subtle look at who Yura is becoming for the team, and while she may seem to have become rather impressive in her short time since joining this club, Sono-chan appears to have some concerns on how she’s developing. This episode only gives minor glimpses at this, but it’s clearly the beginning of something that will progress quickly and become a major focus before long. And if you want to take anything away from the episode besides cute girls having a good time in bikinis (which could also be considered enough for this kind of show), that’s pretty much it.
In Summary:
After some unusual concepts last episode, this one returns to the essence of the show, offering little in terms of plot progression compared to what most of the episodes have somewhat surprisingly brought us, but plenty of cute girl antics, some good old-fashioned fanservice, and a little bit of relatively subtle development of the two main characters and their relationship. This is left open for much expansion in the coming episode(s), but for now it’s the one bit of potential substance in an even fluffier episode than usual.
Grade: C+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Custom-Built PC, Sceptre X425BV-FHD 42″ Class LCD HDTV.