Somewhere in Japan there’s a computer that runs an algorithm for generating “harem” anime stories, which I believe was used by Media Factory to create Infinite Stratos. It’s a future in which warfare is dominated by powered exoskeletons which conveniently can only be piloted by women, though when a boy named Ichika is discovered to be able to control the devices, he’s sent to the Infinite Stratos Academy where he’s surrounded by fabulously beautiful girls. All the classic moe character elements can be found in the series: the tsundere childhood friend who’s also a shrine maiden, the British ojosama who speaks in an aristocratic way, a plucky girl from China who’s self-conscious about her flat chest, a “reverse trap” (a girl who pretends to be a boy), an eyepatch-moe warrior girl from Germany, and of course the “generic everyman nice guy” Ichika, who’s not even aware he’s at the center of a harem. At its core, moe is about the little imperfections and personality flaws that make the characters charming, whether it’s extreme jealousy or shyness or yandere tendencies, and this anime has plenty to explore. If you like Infinite Stratos, you might like our English combat ero-RPG Pretty Soldier Wars A.D. 2048, which has a similar story.
The moe-tastic girls of Infinite Stratos. Which is your favorite?
