Round 2! Giantess Shushu vs. Sleepy Sahara! But female Shuuki lead a demon force to interrupt the contest.
Episode 6 — “Blitz, Sahara, Twinkle”
Hmm.
I present one consumer’s perspective on one annoying narrative device creators think increases tension and curiosity: we can skip ahead or turn pages when creators do this. Did they not realize that? That we can ignore time-wasting techniques to get to the meat? It’s the publisher and editor’s problem if they get paid by the page or word, but their audience will tune out if they do this one thing too many times. Chained Soldier should stop telegraphing exciting things about to happen. Instead, foreshadow events organically. What am I talking about? Three situations in this episode intended to whet our appetites, but only one did so respectfully.
Mild and Not-So-Great Expectations in Chained Soldier
First, the episode explicitly made viewers wait for Mad Sheep, Sahara’s Peach ability, to clash with Shushu’s Paradigm Shift. I enjoy watching girls German Suplex each other, but knowing we would finally see what Sleepy Sahara does on the battlefield mitigated that. An author should maximize every moment of eyeball time for maximum response. I forgot about any wrestling moves after Sleepy Sahara went Super Saiyan. The easy fix would be to delete Shushu’s request to postpone using abilities, and Sahara’s pooping out from mixed martial arts would have been just as funny.
Second, Chained Soldier showed us Shushu articulating her procrastination to confess her feelings to Yuuki. She thought she had to make him like her more before admitting she wanted him as her boyfriend. Were we supposed to read this as a character flaw? Regular adolescent hesitation and fear of rejection? But Shushu’s inner monologue will make the audience filter out her actions toward Yuuki as ploys for manipulation and attention. A simple yet vague claim she wasn’t ready to tell him how she felt would have imbued every subsequent interaction with anticipation: is today the day? I now have a big “meh” reaction to everything until Shushu sits on Yuuki’s face again.
But Chained Soldier gave us something fun to expect after the upcoming violent action scenes. Orgy time! Yuuki has two masters riding on his bare back, so the situation has overwhelmed my curiosity about how the reward system works. Let those threesome fetish freak flags fly!
Heh.
Hohoho. Shushu wants to join this “physically demanding” party. No fair! On to Round 2: Shushu fights Sahara. Chained Soldier will finally answer my burning question: is Sahara so sleepy because she conserves her energy? Haha. Tenka wants a cheering section for Squad 6, too. Yachiho, you’re up! Here we go. What does Sahara do as a melee fighter? Aw. Shushu wants to keep us waiting for the big reveal! Female wrestling moves, let’s go! And Sahara is done. Time for a nap. Nope. Ability time! Ultra Shushu! How does “sheep” connect to Sahara’s Mato Peach Skill? Explanations will arrive later, I’m sure, about Mad Sheep. Wow. Sahara’s Dragon Ball reference woke her up! Ouch! Slap to Shushu’s face!
Ginna explains Mad Sheep has a set timer that Sahara calls out. Boo. Sahara’s power comes with a three-minute cooldown as if she were in a terrible video game. Ow! Punch to the shin! How does Shushu deal with Dragon Ball Mighty Mouse in Chained Soldier? She’s motivated to make Yuuki her boyfriend. She changed her tune from the past. How will she keep Yuuki’s eyes glued to her? Grow bigger! And then Sahara can’t dodge her! That’s not enough to defeat Sahara because Mad Sheep keeps going until the time limit ends. Even when she’s unconscious! But that’s Sahara’s berserker mode, so stand back. Aw. Shushu lost her shirt and the match.
Remember how Shushu blackmailed Yuuki into doing chores for her? Chained Soldier shows us character development! But does she want to kiss Yuuki because Himari did? Maidens’ hearts are mysterious, and their movements never stop. Shushu plans to keep her feelings for Yuuki a secret until he likes her more. That’s a setup for failure, poor girl.
The Chained Soldier of the Demon Defense Forces
Okay, Chained Soldier returns to the premise: fighting demons! Nei found those three demons we saw at the end of last week’s episode. But one found her back in the eye-catcher. The other eye-catcher shows Shushu breaking another alarm clock.
It’s Demon-Clobbering Time! Ginna thinks her Fight Club shield can hold the Shuuki back, but that big, talking one disagrees. Oh. I supposed the brute was an elite Shuuki, like One-Horn, but Kujira, the voice actor (Orochimaru from Naruto), plays Rairen. Chained Soldier is still consistent with keeping Yuuki the male anomaly. No boys are allowed for Peach powers! Rairen likes making lightning puns with her name. Kyouka declares the exhibition match over. Duh. Squad 6 and 7 do all right against the horde, but the “Humanoids” are different matters.
Here we go! Can Yuuki serve two masters simultaneously? Calling out FFM on your sex fetish bingo card! What will that reward party look like? I’m impatient now! Ha. Has Yuuki’s slave form become more facially expressive? Eternal Chains: Slave ⅹ War Cloud. Yuuki literally spits demon fire. The exhibition match ended before Tenka and Kyouka could duel, so they decided to use the demon fodder as their contest. Ginna wanted to see it! Nei-vision can provide a Chained Soldier picture! It’s too much action for Ginna.
The Tenka Show
Good to know! Yachiho can strike her Golden Hour poses with her legs if she loses an arm. That Rairen demon reminds me of Menos using Cero attacks in Bleach. Yachiho can relax. Tenka’s on the job. I mean, she took out all the demons. By herself. All alone. Tenka has heard there were three Humanoids, but she can start with this one. Nice cliffhanger!
Nei-sensei’s omake covers Sahara’s Mad Sheep ability. There must have been at least three minutes before the demons attacked because Sahara satisfied her cooldown period. Next time, my favorite, Tenka, flexes her smile at demons.
Chained Soldier (魔都精兵のスレイブ, Mato Seihei no Slave) streams on Hidive in Japanese audio and English subtitles.
Do you like how the Squad 6 girls have begun falling in love with Yuuki? I’m sure that Shushu’s face-sitting adventure had nothing to do with it. And tsundere Himari didn’t want to do all that stuff that made her and Yuuki feel good. Yuuki will have busy days “taking care” of his dormitory residents. Can he manage? I personally want to see Tenka try to steal Yuuki away from Kyouka. What will that girl fight look like? Let us know in the comments below.
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