Infinite Stratos IS Gundam
New winter season anime Infinite Stratos sure is unoriginal, as most anime fans see it. Some said it is a Strike Witches/Busou Shinki copy but Gundam’s mecha musume would be more appropriate. But hey, who cares? There is no Gundam series with hot chicks in majority. I won’t be elaborating much on the plot so, no worries on spoilers. But, I will share some of the interesting mechs.
As a short intro, you have male protagonist Orimura Ichika as the only male enrolled in an all-girls school (there will be a second male later in the series) involved in training pilots for mechs called IS – Infinite Stratos. Why all-girls school and no guys pilot the mechs? Apparently only females can operate it, with Ichika the only exception. Makes me wonder whether the powerplant of the mechs is Oestrogen/any other female sex hormone. LOL. The rest is up to you to watch it.
(Strike) Freedom Gundam is the obvious star here instead of the Ichika’s IS, as almost everyone could identify it at first glance even in the opening song video below. Well, it’s codenamed “Blue Tears”, piloted by a self-conscious and ego “ hot chick”, a typical stereotype of female character in most anime as a supporting character. This time around the pilot is British chick Cecilia Alcott which looks like a Japanese with blond hair to me.
Ironically, the anime is not called Infinite Stratos for no reason. Blue Tears pilot Cecilia is a Lockon Stratos wannabe with her long-ranged IS armed with a beam sniper rifle very similar to Gundam Dynames. Physically, with those remote weapons, no doubt it is a Strike Freedom lookalike but if you change the colour scheme to green, Cherudim/Zabanya Gundam will be more appropriate.
Ridiculously, you get a very similar sniping scene of Dynames Repair. Both the head of Dynames and Cecilia has large aiming scopes, both have large rifle aiming scopes and both have “binder shields”.
Oh, yes, not to forget Blue Tears look even more like Freedom for another reason – it also has waist “railguns”! But, they fire guided missiles.
The next one is Protagonist’s IS, Ichika’s personal suit codenamed…….. Byakku Shiki. Oh heck, we have Hyakku Shiki in Gundam Zeta and also a Byakku Shiki in Gunpla Builders Beginner G (a grey Hyakku Shiki). In appearance Not a hyakku shiki lookalike, but a mix/composite. Looking at the picture below, The binders are like those of Abyss Gundam and the legs, Dreadnought Gundam. Hey, I have sharp eyes. Even minor copies can’t escape my eyes.
In First Shift Mode, Abyss Gundam lookalike binders transforms into that similar to Freedom. Can I assume First Shift Mode = HiMAT mode? XD
More WTF scenes, as Ichika tries to imitate the moves of Banagher Links who pilots Unicorn Gundam.
The last comparison is also equally ironic. Piloted by a typical gal that would poison me, twin tailed moe from China, Fan Rinin (Actual Chinese name is Huang Li Ning), or simply Rin, her IS is a composite mix. You get SRW’s Dygenguard lookalike here – the legs are similar in design and the shoulder binders are just inverted, with similar design. Why did I insert a Shenlong Gundam picture in the comparison below (inset)? Because this IS’s name is Shenlong. =.=;
Not only Gundam and SRW is involved, as Code Geass’ Gawain knightmare, Lelouch’s personal knightmare joins in the fray, in the form of Gawain’s shoulder Hadron Cannons.
It would have been better if I could find pics showing both the IS and the knightmare shooting their shoulder cannons. The name of the IS shouldn’t be surprising considering Rin is from China, but what surprised me is the lack of creativity in naming. BTW, if you would notice, the IS Shenlong has the same colour scheme as Epyon Gundam.
This is a similarity between an unknown IS to Unicorn Gundam. Well, i mean the artwork pose.
Ichika’s another childhood friend other than Rin, Shinonono Houki’s IS is not yet revealed so far, but the name is AkatsuBAki… *cough cough *Akatsuki… But, “Akatsubaki” and “Akatsuki” are totally different words and meanings in kanji writing.
Even so, there is no doubt I love this anime, especially the fighting scenes. I highly recommend you watch it. It is also the first time I see 3 Tsundere gals going for 1 protagonist guy. IMO, 3 tsunderes is either a formula for disaster, or for a harem. =3 Hey, a foursome with a british chick, a Japanese chick and a Chinese chick at once? Count me in!