Andou encounters a kindred spirit in a former literature club member.

What they Say:
Episode 3 – “Rendezvous Point.” A group of five boys and girls suddenly acquire supernatural powers. Ready to fight in galactic battles to defend human cause… they are struck by the realization that there are no wars, no conspiracies, no evils empires, no nothing in their high school life. They instead decide to idly have fun by wasting their powers away.

The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers).
Andou gets held after class by the teacher to discuss his most recent test which, in his normal fashion, is simply riddled with archaic vocabulary and obscure kanji. While he’s there, his classmate Sagami arrives to retrieve his “lover,” which is really nothing more than one of the girls in the hand-held galge which was confiscated during class. The two get into an incredibly otaku-specific argument before being kicked out of the office. Later Andou enjoys a tennis-centric club meeting with the rest of the literature club wherein he comes up with a brand new nickname for himself, which he then decides to record in his “Bloody Bible” (or “Bloody Vivre” as the misspelled title proclaims), but it’s gone missing.

The book is still sitting in the club room, but when Andou arrives a mysterious white-haired stranger is reading it. Initially seeming antagonistic, Andou discovers within this “Kiryuu Helldkaiser Luci First” a kindred chuuni spirit whose past shares similarities with Andou’s present. He also happens to be Tomoyo’s estranged older half-brother. The relationship is complicated and she doesn’t feel like filling in all the details, but it seems as if it’s more than just some chuuni tendencies that motivate his attitude.

The next morning, Andou encounters Chifuyu on his way to school, and she states that she’s no longer going to attend elementary school.

With three episodes behind us and the TV series 25% in the bag, I’ve begun to notice a pattern in the way each episode gets me to react. Every episode seems a little bit frothy and insubstantial at first; the gags are cute but not particularly clever, there isn’t really a strong plot thread connecting the episode’s events, and there’s always some sort of mildly fanservicey moment that kind of bumps me out of the correct mental space to really relax and enjoy the things that are taking place onscreen. Once the episode is wrapped-up, though, reflecting on it reminds me of several really satisfying elements that may not have stood out at the time, but which in retrospect leave me with a more positive feeling than I might otherwise have had.

Case in point: Andou’s confrontation with Sagami in the opening scene. Sagami doesn’t seem to serve an important role yet, but the way in which his style of otaku obsession clashes with Andou’s provides a lot of insight into both of their characters, as well as to the way in which “normal” culture reacts to the type of geekiness the two display. To a non-fan, the two boys are just a couple of anime-obsessed nerds, but to someone who’s familiar with the way in which otaku culture operates, Andou’s chuunibyou and Sagami’s enjoyment of galge are at very different ends of the geek spectrum. There’s something to be said about the mirror in which we see ourselves and our hobbies, as well as the pettiness of the arguments we tend to get embroiled in as a result of different fandoms colliding. Yet various geeky groups have shared experiences, not the least of which is they way in which the general public reacts towards their preferred pursuits. It’s a valuable thing to remember those similarities even in light of so many differences. Did I mention this opening scene is only a couple of minutes long?

The remainder of the episode tends to meander across several other topics without really settling on any main point. The “Everyday Life” portion of the translated title seems to be taking center stage for the time being, and while the impression that there’s nothing important driving the action is becoming stronger and stronger, the glimpses that we receive here and there of the characters living their lives, using their powers for frivolous purposes, and interacting with the school mates on both powered and unpowered levels seems to be doing a decent job of building a good foundation. The introduction of Tomoyo’s brother and the complicated home life she’s endured related to his actions and the actions of her father (who in one way or another had children with two different women) seems like something which might prompt even more earnest character development. I also have to believe that Kiryuu will probably end up exhibiting his own powers and serving a larger role in the future(I suspect he was the mysterious figure shown briefly at the end of the first episode). Until then, though, I continue to feel as though stuck in a holding pattern, and as happy as I’ve been with some of the minor choices this production has made thus far, I’m still waiting to experience some major ones.

One item worth mentioning because it seems like a trait that’s missing from so many anime series is the odd kind of respect I’ve seen exhibited in the relationship between Andou and Tomoyo. When she seems to be struggling with her family complications, Andou asks her if she wants to talk about it but then doesn’t push the matter when she says she doesn’t. It probably seems like a minor thing to focus on, but when main characters in many anime (especially those who, like Andou, have “big” personalities and actions that match) choose to “do” without asking in exchange for enduring some physical punishment, seeing something in such stark contrast to that is very striking.

In Summary:
Imperfect as usual, this episode introduces a lot of little puzzle pieces that, while interesting, aren’t yet put together in an obvious way. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but with a quarter of the episodes past us already it’s not clear whether I ought to be expecting a plot, or whether I should settle into a situation with less forward-motion and more light humor. I believe Tomoyo’s older brother will provide some much-needed conflict, but beyond that the horizon is still fuzzy. That’s not to say the anime hasn’t been enjoyable, but I don’t know that it’s got enough going for it for me to recommend it, either.

Episode Grade: C+

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

Review Equipment: Acer P235H 1080p LCD Monitor connected via DVI input, Logitech S220 2.1 Speakers, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560