Kampfer 11
Natsuru needs car accident to unlock Harakiri Tiger powers
Summary:
Natsuru visits Shizuku at her house where she lives alone as her parents travel around the world on business. She wants to talk about Burnt Alive Lion that she's pinched from Kaede; it's the original Messenger. Shizuku gets the lion explain the what and why of Kampfer - it's a form of proxy combat between two alien powers. She takes him to his room and recovers his memories by kissing him; Kaede ordered it because Shizuku is defying the Moderators. Shizuku is motivated by her dislike of being a puppet but also as revenge for Tamiko-senpai. She asks Natsuru for help against the Moderators. Natsuru visits Kaede to confirm things for himself and Bible Black Eyes Kaede reveals herself, changing Natsuru into Girl Type. BBE Sakura asks a betwitched Natsuru to always stay a girl and to fight for her, saying she needs Natsuru to defeat her friends; Sakura pecks Natsuru on the cheek and promises more if she succeeds. Summoned by Natsuru, the anti-Moderator trio of Mikoto, Akane and Shizuku rush to the school rooftop and ambushed by Team White. The Whites are easily defeated but Natsuru Girl Type shows up and attacks them.
Akane and Shizuku attempt to immobilize Natsuru but their attacks are blocked by a dual-wielding BBE Kaede who easily takes out Akane and Mikoto and then Shizuku with Natsuru's help. Later the trio awaken and Kaede tells them they are to be gotten rid for rebelling, that the White Kampfer were created to defeat them and she will make Natsuru Girl Type her ally. Kaede has waited for them to wake up so that she can have Natsuru, who has chosen to be a girl and thus side with Kaede, to deal the final blow instead. But Natsuru sees the sea slug memento he bought for Shizuku and breaks the mind control. She tells Kaede she loves her but she won't cooperate with her as she has the feeling that he will lose something precious. Kaede sword-charges Natsuru but Shizuku breaks free and intercepts. Team Red-Blue powers up, cheered on by their Entrails Animals, and proceeds to outclass Team White. Kaede turns to Natsuru but the latter turns back into a guy and Team White retreats. Shizuku kisses Natsuru, followed by Mikoto and Akane giving him their first kisses. Things quickly escalate and we get a harem ending for this season.
Reaction:
The 'ending' reminded me a lot of the end of the first season of Asura Cryin' - the pieces are put together and the protagonists see the whole picture for the first time. It then sets up the next season for them to act on their discoveries. I was particularly cheered by Natsuru's straight arrow: I love you Kaede but I won't sacrifice my dear harem friends! What a man! (Even though, like Kaede, I much prefer Natsuru as a woman.)
Overall, a very satisfying pause until the fun and hilarity resumes. At least I now know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Kaede, whether BBE or not, really is a lesbian and I will watch her quest to claim Natsuru Girl Type for herself (and the Moderators) with great interest.
I don't quite understand why Kurogane and Epi have a WHAT reaction to this episode. It is perfectly intelligible (and describable); it certainly makes more sense than, say, the ending of Gundam SEED Destiny or Hellsing (the Gonzo version) or Kare Kano or Mai HiME or *insert random anime*. As for the sudden alien twist, well, haven't we seen it before in Battle Athletes already? That's not an atypical plot twist outside of animu either (see Anagnorisis x Science).
The only thing I did not understand was Kaede's plan to get male Natsuru to sleep with Shizuku - certainly that would distract Shizuku from investigating the Moderators for a while but how would that re-ignite Blue versus Red hostilities? Was Kaede then going to mind-control Natsuru into not calling Shizuku after the morning after?
Fap image of the week: Female Anthropomorphosized Burnt Alive Lion x Harakiri Tiger.
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December 16th, 2009 - 05:29
I am going to tell you what the hell is frickin’ wrong with this finale:
1. The so-called battle between the Whites and the Purples lasts a whole 7 seconds.
2. Tamiko-senpai’s fate is not explained.
3. Sakura’s role is not explained. Why did the Moderators give her such powers if her only objective seems to be bedding female-Natsuru?
4. Sudden unexplained powerup for the Purples.
5. Natsuru didn’t even fight along with his friends in the final battle.
6. Sakura and her team just FLY AWAY (since when are they capable of this?).
7. Cliche harem ending for our clueless and spineless lead. Sigh.
December 16th, 2009 - 08:45
1. Despite its title, fighting is not the point of Kampfer. Kindly adjust your expectations.
2. Please look forward to Season 2.
3. Please look forward to Season 2.
4. Please see Fun and Hilarity.
5. Please see Outsourcing via Harem.
6. Please see Fun and Hilarity.
7. Please look forward to Season 2.
December 16th, 2009 - 17:52
Well, with this kind of arguments you can justify even the most BS ending out there.
Mai Hime? Those girls weren’t really dead, were they? Shizuru apologized, right? All is forgiven!
Having low expectations is not a justification for FAIL. My expectations were raised when Kampfer suddenly became “serious business” (Evil Sakura, attempted Shizuku rape, etc.) but they ruined everything with this craptastic ending. Son, I am disappoint.
December 16th, 2009 - 05:43
Well, sure, you can say it makes sense to a certain degree, as in you can explain what happened. I think it’s the why that’s bothering everyone.
A lot of things are just completely nonsensical. Why/how did Shizuku, Akane, and Mikoto randomly power up? How do 4 Whites lose to 2 Reds and a Blue? How do 4 Whites and a Kaede lose to 2 Reds and a Blue? It’s a giant puddle of deus ex machina, which just completely ruins any semblance of seriousness that the series had. Although trying to say Kampfer is serious is a bit of a stretch as it is, but I wasn’t expecting the end to be such nonsense as it was. Even in fictional worlds with supernatural powers and crazy galaxy-traveling aliens, things need to be grounded in the reality of the fictional world.
Now, granted, expecting any sort of rational, realistic (to the Kampfer world) end was probably being a lot too optimistic. But I think we were all hoping for something just a little bit better than this.
December 16th, 2009 - 08:50
Given how everyone and their dog were surprised that this series was any good in the first place, it now amuses me to no end how the expectations of the aforementioned then proceeded to inflate, like a Bubble of Irrational Exuberance, and then scream like bankers denied their bonuses after the Lehman Apocalypse (sorry, reading Bloomberg now). Come on guys!
December 16th, 2009 - 10:52
Well, see, after reading the manga, I expected something like I saw in the manga. The manga definitely seemed like it focused more on the comedy than the action or mystery of the Kampfers, but it felt like it actually was trying to keep a certain level of seriousness within the humor. Yeah, maybe it was silly to keep those expectations after 10 episodes of what we got, but I was hoping for a little more than a “haha we don’t really know how to end this so here’s some fanservice and here’s to S2.”
Oh well, I still enjoyed it and I’ll stay tuned for S2, just wanted to point out why many people (including myself) were kinda like WTF at the ending.
December 16th, 2009 - 09:59
For this viewer, Kämpfer succeeded as a “guilty pleasure” simply because expectations (nil to begin with) were consistently exceeded in the areas that count. Surely nobody would watch a guilty pleasure for consistent, intricate plotting, or even for thoughtful characterization. What makes it succeed is a sense of liveliness and goofy fun, something that was missing for me from, say, Nyan Koi, which seemed so flat and dispirited that I couldn’t make it past a couple of episodes. Kämpfer entertained me in ways that Nyan Koi (and many other shows in other seasons) could not.
December 16th, 2009 - 12:09
I care not for plot or development for I never expected much on those fronts anyways, more or less I just sat back and enjoyed the ride. Like you I look forward to seeing Dark Sakura try and add every one to her yuri harem.
Shizuku, Mikoto, and Akane are all willing to go for Natsuru Girl-type so I have no problems, it was short but it was fun. I enjoyed every minute of foul mouthed Kampfer Akane, and actually took a liking to Dark Sakura. Shizuku is still top Kampfer though I will always cheer for Akane.
I had fairly low expectations to begin with I just wanted Yuri and I gots it, so I won’t complain.
December 16th, 2009 - 14:18
I was good until the cheering and costume power up. I got the feeling they were leaving it open for a season 2.
December 16th, 2009 - 15:35
Apparently there are 11+ volumes of light novel material so another season (or two) would not be unexpected.
December 16th, 2009 - 19:34
actually,the novel is ending at vol 12
Anyway,Son Gohan, i sympathies with you on your sentiments,it seems that we might have came to this with the wrong expectations.This is the Ikkitousen of this generation of after all.Expect merely fanservice.
December 17th, 2009 - 01:49
Well I understood the ending, I just thought it really, really sucked. Big time.
December 17th, 2009 - 08:59
Ah, so your (and presumably Kuro’s) WHAT was more WTFBBQ.
December 17th, 2009 - 18:09
With a bit of distance, I’ve rewatched the episode again and tried to understand what exactly it was which pissed me off so much the first time. I believe that it’s the same problem I had with the endings of Mai HiME and Claymore, for example: In all cases, a dramatic and fairly serious storyline is discarded for a silly over-the-top “happy” ending. The properly developed atmosphere is ruined, and the intended positive ending feels like mocking of the viewer. “Hah, how could you possibly think that we were serious! You fool!”
Now, Kämpfer wasn’t _entirely_ serious, but it had enough serious elements to keep it out of the “stupid action harem” muck. It particularly hurt that I knew several things about the original novel’s backstory that I was even more inclined to follow the “serious” parts closely, which made the disappointment even bigger for me (compared to someone who didn’t have high expectations to begin with). I definitely would have preferred a “non-resolution” in character with the show over this BS in the second half of ep11, and I’m sure that so would have the vast majority of the viewers.
I’ll wait for the “special” christmas episode, which to be honest I dread after seeing the preview, and then try to coherently sum up the good, the bad and the ugly.
December 18th, 2009 - 08:20
First reaction: It’s like taking your blushing bride home to consummate the marriage and finding out she has a penis.
Second reaction: If (s)he’s as cute as blushing Natsuru Girl Type, a trap is fine too.
SRSBZNS-wise, I think I had a much more positive experience, re: the ending, close-to-zero expectations and not having read *any* of manga/light novel spoilers. I do agree that some form of doramaztic cliffhanger would have consolidated the momentum built up so far much better but I also suspect that there would also have been an outcry from the ‘WRRRY!? I thought this was just a happy trappy comedy!’
December 19th, 2009 - 04:03
I think that even if it ended this way as a bridge to a second season (which I think that if it was the case, the second season would have been announced by now), it sucked. It’s like the screenwriter just didn’t know what to do and took the last half of the script out of his ass.
There are “open endings” and there are “shitty nonsense, unresolved ending” I don’t have any problems with the first one, I even like it.
December 19th, 2009 - 09:39
If you could re-script the ending, how would you have written it?
December 30th, 2009 - 05:27
i on the other hand think there will be a season2, but… it depends on how many dvd-s and bluerays they will sell u know… all about the money… then they will see if there is a point continuing this anime or not, i surely hope so cuz if not i am just upperly dissapointed at the ending, i am just OMFG-ed by it lol, it really does sound like the screenwriter shitted it out cuz it is senseless, even a 5 year old could have written that xD
January 16th, 2010 - 00:00
so is season season 2 coming or this show is juz a prank