The fireworks begin as player attacks player in this week of Simulblast!

This week’s challenge: Time to jump aboard! Ship characters to your hearts content!

Wake Up, Girls! (Episode Four)
Player: Kanashimi
Class: Boss

Once again we start with the better opening theme, which honestly is a relief. Both were generic, but at least this one makes me feel like I should be excited to watch. Either way, we start this episode with the otaku from episode one. He’s posting on 2chan about how excited he is over Mayu’s return to an idol group. The comment section is nasty with people claiming she is used and old news. They range from predictions that her previous manager took advantage of her sexually to that she’s simply a trash human being. As dark as it is, it’s painfully realistic.

The girls, however, are practicing their autographs with varying results. At this point Miyu glances up and asks where Mayu is. Since I like Miyu, and Mayu is the only really intriguing character with backstory, I now ship them. I mean, who can resist a cute moe maid? Actually, scratch that. I’d rather ship Matsuda, the manager, with somebody. Yeah, I guess it would be pedophilia if it was one of the girls, but at least he gets something for being talked down to constantly. He worked his butt off for the girls when the president left and just… ugh. He can have a cute moe maid instead. Mayu probably needs therapy anyway after this whole idol business.

Anyway, Mayu is running late while her grandmother and mother argue over this whole idol business. It’s still really unclear why Mayu’s mother is so upset by this. I assume it’s due to the fact that perhaps they moved to a new city? Or maybe all the harassment from departing I-1? Who knows? I literally have no idea at this point.

When Mayu arrives we find out that the girls have scored a daily radio program that’s only a minute long. For someone in radio, let me tell you a minute is quite long for one person, but for this many girls? They can each say a line at the most and introductions have to be very short. This can be difficult because the audience actually has to find out more about your personality through your words. It’s definitely a challenge. Also, they’re getting a new song. Huzzah!

Haha, predicted a pairing. Look at Mayu and Miyu talking about the “god of chance” on the way home. Alone. Miyu surprisingly brings up why Mayu quit I-1, and Mayu replies she was tired; she also shows regret for joining a new idol group, but she seems to be in a depressing funk.

Uh-oh, trouble is on the horizon. This guy researching Mayu is calling about a documentary… I wonder how true it is, but it seems he just wants the scoop on why Mayu left her previous group. Despite having a catch name for the documentary–On The Brink Of Their Break! Country Idols To Keep Your Eye On!–it has trouble written all over it. It’s supposedly a Tokyo TV station, which means it would be national. It is quite a big deal, but are they really going to be tricked so easily? Mayu, on the other hand, looks terrified.

We get a rare peek at I-1 finally. There are about fifty girls or so dancing until someone stops their practice. He seems rather monotone and seems to be the president in charge of this group. He’s talking about their theater in Sendai (which is Wake Up, Girls!’s home base) and which girls will be going there to perform. They are supposedly the very best of I-1, but for the “lower class” girls there’s always 1-2 and 1-3. In addition, he begins to announce who is in this month of rejects. Four girls are told not to come back, and in the same breath he announces four more girls to take their place. The cheer at the end to conclude this announcement is incredibly disturbing, “Don’t rest! Don’t complain! Don’t think!” So many bad feels here…

About four of these I-1 girls are chatting for a break; they seem to be top contenders in the group. While discussing their next performance in Sendai one of them pulls out their phone and asks if they’ve heard of the Wake Up, Girls! Obviously, we know where this is going; she reveals that Mayu is in the group. Oh goody! They deduce she continues because she loves it, but they’re going to crush her next month. Er, okay? It’s not like there’s several idol groups or anything.

One of the girls, the only one that seemed not to be a jerk, sent Mayu a text message saying she saw a video of the Wake Up, Girls! This girl, Megumi, is happy her friend has returned to the business and hopes they can be on the same stage. She even invites her to see them preform at Sendai.

Fast forward to this Suzuki guy who is claiming to run a documentary… he’s in Green Tea Entertainment’s office, and he and his assistant, Yamada, are interviewing the president and manager. Suzuki states he’d like to talk to each girl and ask them individual questions first. He begins down the line instead of targeting Mayu immediately. Finally, the president begins to realize there’s something weird here since he’s shuffling through members so quickly. He’s literally just asking one question, but as soon as he gets to Mayu it becomes a pressure cooker of questions.

In an act of awesome, Tange literally kicks the guy in the back and he falls over. Matsuda also steps in to shield her and Tange goes in for the punch. Suzuki threatens to sue and the president is just having none of it. After they kick out our latest villains, the president begins to sit down to chat with Mayu in some sort of attempt to cheer her up. The girls are having their own meeting where Miyu shows them the horrible comments on 2chan. Miyu has been doing some research and asking everyone at the café. The otaku there seem to realize it’s lies, but when it comes down to it there is a slight trust issue developing in the group.

The episode ends with Mayu running into a I-1 member named Shiho. The two seem to have a history, and we continue to get into this weird web of Mayu. I sort of feel like the other girls are fodder because the only one given an interesting backstory is Mayu; it’s really somewhat insulting to the rest of the cast. They’ve all had struggles, but this big secret past deal is making me less interested in Mayu as a person because she just seems like a shell for this drama. It just left me wanting to drop the show here and now, but Simulblast! duties call…

Watch Wake Up, Girls! on Crunchyroll or talk about this episode on our forums.

Sakura Trick (Episode Four)
Player: Midnight
Class: DJ

How the season flies when you are watching an anime you actually enjoy. Episode 4 already; I can’t believe it. That’s not important, though; what is totally important is how much I love Yuzu and Kaede as a couple despite the fact that they have shown absolutely no interest in each other. I mean, six main characters, four of them in relationships together; It’s like the show is begging me to secretly ship these two together! Oh yeah, the canon couples are doing things… we should talk about that, shouldn’t we?

Nice, the first part of the episode is pretty much about Yuzu and Kaede spying on Yuu and Haruka to see if they’re getting a little too close for Mitsuki. They sit there all day writing notes on the couple but come up with absolutely no proof that they’re super close. Though Mitsuki seems super happy just finding out little things about Haruka. I think someone has a crush on Haruka. It must run in the family. How about a three-way? Going too far with this whole shipping thing. Need to tone it down.

Anyway, speaking of shipping, I am so glad this part really focuses on the couple I want to happen. It’s not this episode, but one day they will get together. They were so cute this episode with all the citrus-based nicknames that were started by Mitsuki. I mentioned this last week, but this show seems really fond of its wordplay, and it’s going to translate super awkwardly. Gah, I got super discouraged when I just went on the Wiki to look up Mitsuki’s name (I forgot it again.) and found that Yuzu and Kaede aren’t listed as having a “Kissing” relationship! Oh well, totally doesn’t matter. I’ll just go write fan-fics about them sharing Yakisoba noodles and kissing! Nothing will deter me from liking this pairing! Nothing!

The second part of the episode is a test of courage. This is one of those super Japanese things that I’ve always wanted to try. The girls get paired off in the wrong groups at first until Haruka gets all depressed and almost scares Yuzu with her negative aura into switching groups with her. This part of the episode used some really cute animation tricks with manga text that really spiced it up.

Mitsuki followed them, having put glow-in-the-dark paint on both Yuu’s and her own hair ties. Long story short, they mistake Mitsuki for a ghost, and somehow she never admits she was chasing them crying out Yuu’s name, Leaving everyone at the end of the episode to think that there was really a ghost! This part of the episode also totally cements the idea that Mitsuki is totally crushing on Haruka! What’s going to happen? Will she find out that that is her sisters girlfriend, or will she go with a unrequited crush on the girl her sister is dating for the rest of the series!? Find out next time on, Sakura Trick.

Watch Sakura Trick on Crunchyroll or talk about this episode on our forums.

Gundam Build Fighters (Episode Sixteen)
Player: Elk
Class: DJ

Hello everyone! Welcome back to another episode of Gundam Build Fighters! We left off with Sei and Reiji making it into the top 16 of the World Tournament, so it makes sense we open up with a celebration of their victory. But this is a rather odd celebration; Sei is meeting his father for the first time since the series started, and all sorts of mecha are dancing for them. Now they’re flying in the night sky, and Sei’s father got him a present of nippers. They fly into the distance as a Gundam head constellation lights up… Then Sei wakes up. Sei has some weird dreams.

OP break! While this is going on let me say that I once again hit the jackpot in regards to the challenge. Even though this series is fairly light on romance, it’s actually pretty heavy on shipping, and the options are limitless.

So we open back up with Kirara interviewing Cziommer, who tells her Fellini will lose and says that she must have bad taste if she’s interested in him. Meanwhile, Rinko is getting ready to head to the tournament to support her son while fantasizing about being the center of attention and getting interviewed by reporters.

We cut back to the place where Sei and Reiji are staying, and Sei is fixing up the Star build Strike. Sei says Ramba Ral and China will help him fix it and not to worry. Reiji says he’ll help, and Sei wants none of that. In the ensuing struggle they break the head even more. Reiji defensively leaves, and then we fast forward to Ral and China helping him fix the Star Build Strike.

Now we’re in the mall and Aila is in love with soft serve ice cream. She sees a mother and child and gets a little sad, then sees Reiji walking up some stairs. Stalker mode activate. Reiji’s at a hobby shop looking at Gunpla. He’s not sure which one he wants. An old dude who looks kind of like a hobo (henceforth referred to as the hobo) comes up and starts talking Gunpla. He says he’ll choose a model for him. He chooses the Beginning Gundam from the Gunpla Builders G OVA. He also spots Aila and chooses the SD Commando Gundam for her.

Now they’re all at a table, and the hobo suddenly turns into a drill sergeant and teaches them the ways of building Gundam. This is actually a really cool instructional on how to build Gunpla, so if you’re interested be sure to watch this part carefully. Of course beyond the tutorial, it’s also an excuse to have a cute Reiji/Aila scene because they’ve been fueling this ship since they introduced Aila.

Once they’re done he congratulates them on their work and gives them the nippers as a commemorative gift. Hmmm, who else did we see giving the gift of nippers this episode? Hmmmmmmm. The hobo gets serious again and instructs them in the art of panel lining and topcoating.

Nils overhears Baker talking with someone on the phone. She says the assignment is over and is getting more and more angry. The other person is “C”, and it seems like he hasn’t given up on defeating Sei and Reiji. When he hangs up he’s watching Reiji and Aila finish their panel lining. Reiji can’t help but feel the hobo reminds him of someone.

Meanwhile, at Sei and Reiji’s place, China and Sei are being all awkward and blushy around each other because they are the other obvious main ship. And, if you remember from early episodes, the ship that Sei’s mom is the captain of. She is a starry-eyed fangirl whenever she has a chance to push them together. It reminds me of the Morrigan Does A Thing video.

Gunpla completed! I have to wonder how they safely topcoated, though. That area didn’t look too well ventilated, and they didn’t have any masks… The Beginning and Commando look pretty impressive, but the hobo tells them that the way they built their gunpla is only the beginning. Colour changes, modifications, kit bashing; Gunpla is endless (so buy more Gunpla. Don’t forget this awesome series is just one big commercial. And from what I hear it’s a commerical that’s doing very well). Reiji wants to test out his Gunpla, but Aila is more reluctant. When the Beginning Gundam launches, his enemy is the Prefect Zeong who grabbed them in the race. The hobo is impressed by the customized Gunpla and wonders how it got into the automated system.

Reiji takes some damage and understands now how Sei feels every time the Star Build Strike is damaged. Yay, character growth! The hobo is giving Reiji advice, but ended up giving him some bad advice. Just when it seems like it’s over, the Commando Gundam is on the scene. Time for a Reiji/Aila team up. The battle music for this is especially awesome. Two against one, they make quick work of the Zeong; the only downside is now I want to get an SD Commando Gundam. After the fight, Reiji questions her skills since she said she’s never played Gunpla battle before. They have a tsundown, and then wonder where the hobo went.

He’s confronting “C”, and he rips off his beard and hobo clothes to reveal he’s Sei’s dad, which was pretty obvious the whole time. C attacks Takeshi, but he just sidesteps and sweeps the leg, causing him to fall face first into a urinal. What a way to go…

Reiji is showing off his Gunpla to Sei, China, and Ral. He said he made it on his own, but, when questioned, admitted an old man helped him. When shown the nippers, Sei knew exactly who it was. Unfortunately, his work as a Gunpla… whatever he does… means they couldn’t meet up.

ED break!

Too bad for Takeshi! Rinko closed up shop at the start of the episode so she could go meet Sei and Reiji for the tournament. He shows up at the Iori hobby shop to find it closed and cries about not being able to see his wife. Sad news for that ship; although, given his lack of air time, more people might be shipping Ramba Ral and Rinko. To be honest, before I learned that Takeshi was alive, I thought Ral was going to end up being Sei’s new dad.

Next time on Gundam Build Fighters? Sei and Reiji versus Mao. Also, the next episode preview was voiced by Mao and it ended with “Ready? GO!” Props to anyone who catches that reference to what some (including Christmas) would say is the best Gundam series ever.

Watch Gundam Build Fighters on Gundam.Info or talk about this episode on our forums.

Nobunagun (Episode Four)
Player: Bobby Henshin
Class: DJ

The sirens sound all throughout the training camp. A loudspeaker comes on calling for Capa and Nobunagun to get ready for battle. Episode four starts off with the group heading into an air force helicopter to fly to the coast of Florida, where it seems that the monster is riding a hurricane to get to land. Accompanying us on this mission is good old Jack The Ripper from episode 2 and a new girl who holds the powers of Galileo. Now, before you go and start singing Queen on me, we are told that she is going to be Sio’s spotter in this mission. The mission is to snipe the monster out of the hurricane. Sio can’t seem to stay calm as she is trying to line up the shot. Everyone is telling her to calm down, but her temper is not having it.

While lining the shot she notices that the monster is holding something. Turns out it is holding a large amount of monster eggs. If these eggs make it to land they will hatch with the ability to live on land and destroy all of Florida. This gives even more pressure to Sio, and now she doesn’t believe she can do it. She blacks out for a second as she has a flashback in her mind. Well, it’s actually a flashback of Nobunaga when the Takeda army marched on his home. His advisers tell him that he needs to focus on defense, but instead Nobunaga decides to focus all of his forces on offense. He asks for his drum as he pulls out a fan and does the fan dance of war. This dance is famous for giving good luck and the god’s blessings in the upcoming battle. While this is happening, Sio is in a trance and starts dancing to the beat of the drum. Everyone is confused to see her dancing then are shocked as she jumps out of the plane with a parachute and deploys it to ride the hurricane. That’s right, she is riding the hurricane with a parachute and her gun. This part of her serious nature makes her eyes glow red. Not the normal demon eye glow, but just her eye color. I think I’m going to call this the Nobunaga Mode. This mode lets her think with the same cunning as Oda Nobunaga.

She rides the hurricane till she is hovering over the monster and takes the shot, aiming right between the eyes. The shot is taken and the monster is killed. Or so we thought! Turns out that it wasn’t just one monster but two monsters carrying each other. The dead one broke off and fell into the ocean. The other side rides on carrying the eggs, but decided to fling off 6 eggs into the hurricane to try and get some of the eggs to land. This monster was different due to the fact that it had a hard metal shell on its head that blocked bullets from piercing it. Now here is where I yelled at the screen, because there were a lot of spaces on its body that did not have armor that she could shoot, but she was focusing on the head. Its heart is exposed, dang it! Shoot it in the heart! Jack The Ripper, though, heard my prayers as he grabs Sio and cuts the monster in its weak spots. He then asked Sio to bring out all three of her guns. He asks her to do this so she can propel him towards the eggs to destroy them before they reach land. With this tactic, all the eggs were destroyed and Sio… passes out.

The mission was accomplished and Jack carries Sio to her room to rest. He also gets laughs from the crew cause it looks like he is carrying a princess. Sio wakes up and realizes that she had a hard time focusing. She even starts to blush cause she remembered Jack helping her and carrying her. And this is where we get to the shipping challenge for the week. As you can tell from the episode, Jack and Sio look like they may become an item later on if the series. But we also can’t forget the yuri coupling of Sio and Asao from episodes 1 and 2. Gandhi and Newton look like they may become a couple, too, with the opposites attract theory in mind. Join us again for episode five!

Bobby Henshin was attacked! That means next week he will have to defeat his opponent by overcoming their power. If he fails, he will gain no points during next week’s Simulblast. Bobby Henshin did complete this week’s challenge and will be rewarded an extra 30 points.

Watch Nobunagun on Crunchyroll or talk about this episode on our forums.

Engaged To Unidentified (Episode Four)
Player: Kayarath
Class: Content Provider

I was mistaken last week; this is the episode that focuses on Kobeni’s and Hakuya’s relationship. The focus is so strong, Benio is wrenching from the stench of romantic comedy! Kobeni is so shocked from last week’s revelation, she fell ill! This is quite a concerning event for all! This presents a few problems: who will take care of her, or who will cook in her place? While the rest of the cast argues while trying to survive Benio’s cooking, Kobeni lies in bed, contemplating how to face Hakuya. How can a person forget someone who saved their life? When Kobeni fell down that cliff, Hakuya tried to save her but ended up falling down too. Despite suffering injuries from the fall, he managed to go secure help for them both. After a few days of rest and a scene that confirms that she has the largest breast size of the cast, Kobeni returns to action.

She’s still quite worried about how to face Hakuya though. In fact, she’s still worried when she first sees him. Hakuya is so shocked to see Kobeni in a sad mood that he makes a lighting fast retreat. Kobeni goes off to find him so she can thank and/or apologize to him about the cliff incident. Hakuya apologizes back because he feels that the whole event happened because he failed to protect Kobeni. Heck, even Benio feels guilty about the whole thing because she sent Kobeni in her place during that fateful day. Once they make up, Mashiro appears to inform them that she pulled some strings to ensure that they wouldn’t be late for school.

How does a child like her get into high school and alter schedules like that? And isn’t is strange that Hakuya receives letters from his family by catching arrows with messages on them? While it may be hard to notice with all the moeh going on, there is something afoot with Hakuya and Mashiro’s family. I’m thinking ninjas, but werewolves may be the more likely scenario. What is truth to it all? Only one way to find out; see you next time!

Watch Engaged To Unidentified on Crunchyroll or talk about this episode on our forums.

Log Horizon (Episode Sixteen)

Player: Siege

Class: Content Provider

Alright, so this is episode 16. It’s called Return of the Goblin King. I wonder what happens.

People on a beach are fighting fish people. There’s a lot of ’em. I ship the fish people with the Goblin King. I don’t know anything about any of them, but I ship it. This is what shipping is, yes?

They’re trying to get the kids away while they keep the fish people at bay. I ship the kids with the Goblin King.

Apparently there are a lot more enemies than normal popping up everywhere, and this is a problem. I can imagine as much. I wonder how this ties in to the NPCs. I feel like it must. This is why I ship the People of the Land with the Goblin King. The beast armies are pretty huge and surprisingly organized, and this is also a problem. I ship the entire Goblin army with the kids.

Shiroe is convening a conference among all of the round table in order to overcome the armies, which are at least ten thousand strong. It’s pretty staggering to think about. I ship Shiroe with the Round Table. The Goblin King’s Return was a recurring event in Elder Tale that is now occuring in the world. It was one of the game’s most popular events. I ship Elder Tale with the Goblin King.

The Goblin King would be crowned if no one defeated him before the event ended. The people have been so focused on government and everything else that they’ve forgotten to kill him. Which means we’re in for more MMO stuff. I ship the boring MMO stuff with literally anyone that isn’t me.

As everyone comes to terms with inevitable war and death, the People of the Land prepare for their inevitable (and permanent) deaths. See, NPCs can’t respawn. That doesn’t mean the players want to jump in to the fray either; Shiroe knows that, as the Adventurers are defeated, they lose more of their memories. I ship amnesia with the Adventurers.

Basically, this episode is just people yelling “NO! NOT GOBLINS! WE’RE NOT PREPARED FOR GOBLINS!” Shiroe finally reveals the secret of dying, though. It’s good that everyone knows now, but it feels like such an arbitrary way to give weight to death that I find it hard to get behind. Crusty reveals that he has lost some of his memories from dying, but who cares about Crusty?

Eventually there’s a fight between the kids and a few members Goblin army. Finally, my ArmyXKids OTP is coming to fruition. Long speech about honor and helping those in need, and so ends the episode. I ship this episode with people who actually care about the stuff that happened in it. So, not me.

Siege attacked a player this round and used a 100 points to activate Bonus Stage! This power enables him to possibly spend more or less for a random power on the list. He landed on Can You Come In On Monday? which is an ability to alter a deadline time for an episode summary (this time must not be before the episode airs however) Siege also completed this week’s challenge and is rewarded an extra 30 points.

Watch Log Horizon on Crunchyroll or talk about this episode on our forums.

Kill La Kill (Episode Sixteen)
Player: Knightshade
Class: DJ

How’s it going, internet? It’s Knightshade back again, going insane, and watching Kill la Kill episode 16 yet again. Well, enough stalling, let’s get started, everyone!

Satsuki, exhausted from her fight with Ryuko, returns to her mansion to recover from her battle. Impressed by her daughter’s prowess with Junketsu, Ragyo shows Satsuki a chamber in their mansion containing the original Life Fiber, a parasitic extraterrestrial that produces other fibers to feed on mankind. She then instructs Satsuki to organize a school festival as the final step in her plan to distribute Life Fibers within clothes across the world.

Meanwhile, Aikuro and Tsumugu guide Ryuko and Mako to an undamaged section of their underground base. Aikuro reveals that Life Fibers are what induced humanity’s evolution into Homo sapiens and the instinct to wear clothes. He further explains that Isshin, who founded Nudist Beach, created Senketsu for Ryuko to wear and fight the Kiryuins when she came of age, as she displays a high resistance to Life Fibers. Ryuko becomes outraged that Nudist Beach sees Senketsu as little more than a weapon and takes him off, refusing to let him kill his own kind. Deeming them of no more worth, Tsumugu prepares to kill Ryuko and Senketsu.

This episode started off looking like a recap, and I was very disheartened by that, but they just fast forward through 15 episodes, and I mean literally. I’m not going to lie, I was laughing a good part of the time when I found out it was a joke. For most of the episode, it was exposition. Nothing wrong with that; sometimes you have to slow down and find out the great plan. However, there was one scene that made me a bit… uncomfortable. When Satsuki was in the bath house trying to heal her wounds, her mom comes in crapping rainbows; I swear to god. She then goes up to her daughter and massages her… in a very creepy way. Like “I need an adult” kind of way, but her mom was the only adult there… uh oh. That’s going to stay in my head for a while and ferment.

Can’t see anyone I’d ship in this series as of yet. No, Satsuki and her mom DO NOT COUNT! I swear I need to wash my head out with a power washer. For the record, I don’t think I’m overreacting, I think it’s about right.

Other than that the episode was a bit calm. In this case, it’s not a bad thing and we get to see the super great master desu evil plot of evil. So in the end I’m going to give this episode 8 children restraining orders out of 10. Well, let’s hope the next episode isn’t so… so… so… BYE!

Watch Kill La Kill on Crunchyroll & Daisuki or talk about this episode on our forums.

Nisekoi (Episode Four)
Player: Zero Gravity
Class: DJ

This player did not turn in their episode summary for the week. As such, they will not be awarded 50 flat points or the additional 30 for doing a challenge. Zero is considered a no-show and as such has lost a dollar of his original bid. He has four more chances before he will be kicked out of the competition.

Watch Nisekoi on Crunchyroll or talk about this episode on our forums.

Week 004 Tally

1. Kanashimi: 2,177
2. Midnight: 1,891
3. Elk: 1,658
4. Bobby Henshin: 1,375
5. Kayarath: 1,090
6. Siege: 1,180
7. Knightshade: 1,030
8. Zero Gravity: 710

Next week’s challenge: Find an interesting fact about a voice actor in your show and incorporate it into your review!

Make sure to vote for your favorite review below! You can give your favorite an extra 20 points.