Impression
The first public incident at the Nine Schools Competition has finally occurred – and while there were several victims, Mari and the rest of First High probably suffered the greatest damage. No surprises for guessing that this was all the work of terrorists once again – they were sneaking around the competition grounds after the failure of their suicide crash attempt, and only an organised crime group would have the resources and influence needed to infiltrate something as high-profile as the 9SC. Given that Tatsuya figured out almost everything else surrounding the Battle Board incident (and described it all to us viewers in meticulous detail) it’s a bit surprising that he’s unsure as to who the culprits are. I don’t think it’s surprising that someone’s trying to sabotage First High’s chances at victory, especially if they can profit off something like an underground gambling ring – the girl from Seventh High just happened to be the unfortunate means by which it was all carried out.
To be honest, I don’t feel like there’s all too much to say given that Tatsuya’s cracked the case almost immediately after it happened – the gist of it is that some activation sequences were tampered with, and delayed-activation spirit magic was placed in the water. Mari couldn’t properly receive the impact of the Seventh High girl crashing into her, and bam – both of them are now out of the 9SC. Although the Big Three sound worried that victories have to be secured in both Monolith Code and Mirage Bat in order for First High to come out on top overall, I’m sure we as viewers aren’t that nervous 😀 Miyuki’s movement to the Official Division is ultimately a precautionary measure ensuring their victory.
Meanwhile, the Newcomers Division events have begun as well – and if you thought First High was overpowered before, the majority of the first-year girls have Tatsuya as their CAD engineer, meaning that victory is now frighteningly secure. He seems to have taken the initiative in developing strategies for the players he’s in charge of – I can’t remember whether this is a job an engineer is supposed to take on, but it’s starting to feel like the victories pulled off by girls like Shizuku are more attributed to Tatsuya than Shizuku herself. Of course, Shizuku’s magic power is what makes it all possible, but the anime-only perspective really does make it seem like she just stands there looking cute while pressing the trigger of her CAD. A lot of freedom is actually given to Speed Shooting despite what its name might suggest – there’s no real requirement to literally “shoot” the discs down, and the gun-shaped CADs are mostly aesthetic. It’s perfectly fine to just set a target zone and kill everything inside it like Shizuku has done – although that would be completely pointless had there been an opponent there. There isn’t an opponent to go up against in the prelims, however – I just wish they’d sort of mentioned that at the start.