I take it the one on the far right is Kuran but who are the other two?
And is the blue knight actually a big deal in a political sense? Or more like does it have any relevance that mc is blue knight?
I take it the one on the far right is Kuran but who are the other two?
And is the blue knight actually a big deal in a political sense? Or more like does it have any relevance that mc is blue knight?
The picture isn't showing properly since you hot linked a wallpaper site.
But fixed that for you:
Spoiler:
Those two are Flair and Karis, the ancient Fortorthe version of Ruth and Yurika/Maki.
Flair, or Flairaan Nye Pardomshiha, is the direct ancestor of Ruth (Ruthkhania Nye Pardomshiha) and the guardian knight of Alya, just like Ruth is to Theia.
Karis is one of the royal magi who was initially sent to spy on Alya's. Koutarou accidentally caught her when he first reunited the stranded Alya with Ruth and co. She was loyal to the head magi for raising her from an orphan, but defected after realizing that they were willing to poison an entire town including her in it.
MC being Blue Knight is relevant to a little too many things to explain here.
Most of them revolved around Harumi and especially Harumi, and then Theia and Ruth, and Kuran.
But his trip to the past also touched on the plot around Kiriha, and Sanae.
His actions in the past also resulted in the elements for the plot around Yurika and Shizuka.
And the most important thing: himself (yes Koutarou has his own plot *points at episode 1*).
In the political sense, supposedly the Blue Knight has power almost equal to the emperor. But that hasn't been explored in the novel yet since they aren't on modern Fortorthe (yet).
its hard to follow the all question and answer without knowing when and where it happen... >_> can we please have a summary please per volume? overall summary or small summary or at least a chronology of what will happen.
its hard to follow the all question and answer without knowing when and where it happen... >_> can we please have a summary please per volume? overall summary or small summary or at least a chronology of what will happen.
Vol 1~7, which may be covered by the anime, open at your own cost
Spoiler for Vol. 1~7 key points:
Vol 1
- Meet the girls
Vol 2
- Girls come to school
- Marathon. Harumi and Yurika became friends.
Vol 4
- Introduction: Harumi and Theia
- School play for the drama club. Kuran attacks. Theia knights Koutarou in his sleep.
Vol 5
- Introduction: Yurika
- Mysterious transfer student, Maki.
Vol 6
- Introduction: Kiriha
- Meet the Sun Rangers! A date with Kiriha. Koutarou learns of Kiriha's true goal. And the first invasion of subterranean forces.
Vol 7
- The first climax: Theia and Harumi
- Kuran attacks again.
- Koutarou and Kuran disappeared after the dimensional bomb exploded prematurely, and reappeared after two minutes, with significant changes in attitude towards each other.
Vol 7.5 & 8.5
Spoiler for the Blue Knight arc:
Vol 7.5
Beginning of the Blue Knight
Spoiler for heavy spoiler:
Spoiler for Before the beginning:
She was in a 'sleep' state before the universe had begun.
She sensed Koutarou's presence as he fell through the gap of time and space into the void.
His presence somehow triggered her awareness, as she began to recall the concept of 'self'.
She became curious on Koutarou as he was the 'first' other being she'd ever met. She felt that she and Koutarou had met somewhere and she liked his presence somehow, likely in the future. But since time had not reach that point yet, she was forbid to directly access those memories. In any case, she felt that somewhere, sometime, her 'loneliness' was soothed by his presence. She proceeded to send Koutarou back to an existing timeline, and wondered if she could meet him again.
We see her began "weaving the fabrics of universe and the strings of time". At the end of the scene, she created her first star, a star that shines blue as Koutarou's armor.
(Me: OMG Koutarou you triggered the birth of the universe!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Koutarou and Kuran were sent back in time from the explosion.
Shortly after regaining conscious, he ran into and rescued a cornered Alya from a group of attacking mercenaries. Kuran regrouped with him almost immediately afterwards. Realizing who the person he saved was, she scolded him (in horror) that he might have screwed up history by saving Alya because it was supposed to be the Blue Knight's job. The two of them decided to play along until they find the real Blue Knight to correct the timeline.
Koutarou and Kuran escorted Alya as she rejoined her group and met Alya's younger sister Charledrissa (Charlu), guardian knight Flairhan (Flair), maid Marleritta (Mari), high priest Faona and alchemist Lidis. Gosh Fortorthe names are a pain to translate! Koutarou also accidentally caught Karis, a royal mage who was ordered to spy on Alya. Koutarou noticed that these people looked almost exactly like, in order, Theia, Ruth, Shizuka, Sanae, Kiriha and Yurika.
As they were traveling along with Alya and co, Alya confessed to Koutarou that she felt unfitted to be a princess. Even though she wanted to avenge her parents' death, seeing the people who were seemingly living well and unaffected by the coup, she wondered whether the villain was better suited for the throne. She didn't want to start a war that would destroy this peace.
Soon after, Alya and her group, and the people in the town they stayed in were poisoned, which Koutarou and Kuran were personally prepared to deal with based on historic records. To their surprise, however, unlike the documents' description the poison was spreading in an unusually accelerating rate. Kuran then discovered that it was actually a virus, and a deadly one never seen in records at that. Also worth noting was that, Koutarou was unaffected and Kuran was only partially ill from the virus.
The enemy forces showed up. The enemy commander demanded Alya to surrender in exchange for the cure. Against her escorts' wish, she complied. The commander then revealed that there was actually no cure for the virus. Koutarou arrived and after a rough battle he defeated the commander and saved Alya.
Enraged by the enemy's methods, Alya declared that she would retake the country and asked Koutarou to aid her, to which he complied.
Meanwhile, Kuran worked out a cure to the virus by re-engineering the patients' genes using Koutarou's as a basis. As she worked to treat the townfolks, she then realized: How did the Blue Knight managed to save the town in history? The virus was impossible to cure with the technology level at the time. If she and Koutarou weren't there, the town would have been wiped out. It was then she realized that, the Blue Knight was Koutarou all along.
Vol 8.5
Legacy of the Blue Knight
Spoiler for heavy spoiler:
With Alya now determined to fight the rebellion to save her country, Koutarou and co led the resistance force in battle for several months.
During one of the nights, Alya asked if Koutarou would stay by their side after the war ends. Koutarou replied that he could not, because he had promises to fulfill. Koutarou confessed his true identity to Alya. Saddened but understanding his choice, Alya asked him one last question:
Spoiler:
"Koutarou-sama"
"If I had met you before them... If I had needed your aid before them... What would your choice have been?"
She knew very well that such a world does not exist.
But, if she had...
If she had met Koutarou sooner, would he be willing to stay by her side?
"If that were the case... then I would have certainly served you for the rest of my life, your majesty."
Koutarou replied heartfeltedly.
Upon learning that it was only a simple matter of first come first serve, Alya felt satisfied. Koutarou chose to leave not because he didn't realize her feelings. Knowing this fact was good enough for her.
"Koutarou-sama, if there is ever such a chance, please allow me to be the first to meet you..."
"Yes, my princess."
Tears began flowing from Alya's eyes.
Despite knowing the truth, Alya still couldn't help but to silently let her tears flow.
Spoiler:
(Remember who among the girls was the first to meet Koutarou?)
As they were closing towards the enemy capital, the lead villain sent Alnaia the Fire Dragon King to attack them. Koutarou, Kuran and Karis managed to knock it out with combined effort, but Koutarou passed out from injuries and fatigue. Alya soon learned that it was actually the villain's ploy to weaken Koutarou so they could assassinate him. Kuran and Flair managed to interrupt the assassination, but Alya took a major hit from shock.
Feared for Koutarou's life, Alya unsealed the holy sword guarded by the Fortorthe royal lineage, which she named Signartine (temp romanji). Unknown to Koutarou, she enhanced the sword by sacrificing most of her own life, making it one of the most powerful artifact in existence. She gave the sword to Koutarou and asked him to promise her that he will take the sword with him when he returns to his time, so that the sword's existence would no longer be a source of conflict on Fortorthe (And she was right, as it turns out the villain's true goal was actually the sword all along. The whole coup and war was just a ploy to push Alya to break its seal.)
In the final battle, Koutarou fought Alnaia the dragon again and destroyed the binding gem on his back, knocking the dragon out again. In the end, in an attempt of stopping the villain's country wide suicide attack (using the same plague virus they poisoned the town with in 7.5) he had Kuran activate the dimensional bomb she used in Vol 7 and banished them to another dimension. One of the demon slipped away, but was swiftly incinerated by a freed Alnaia, who was grateful towards Koutarou and co.
After the war, Alya became the new empress.
Alya froze most of the magi quarters (under the supervision of Karis who was appointed the new head mage) and destroyed most documents related to magic, in hopes of a future where the people will no longer need it. She continued to employ what's left of the magi, but she stopped recruiting/training any more of new magi. This is why magic eventually died out and by Theia's time nobody even knew that magic once existed on Fortorthe (It was heavily implied that Alya altered the historic records to protect Koutarou's identity and hide the existence of magic).
Alnaia revealed that most of the dragons on Fortorthe were leaving the planet to find a new homeland, and that he was actually one of the last ones remaining to do the same. As a token of friendship and gratitude, the dragon gave Koutarou a mark and promised that he will come to Koutarou's aide in the time of need no matter time and place.
Koutarou and Kuran then proceed to set up Cradle in preparation for a 2000 year long hibernation to return to the present.
...I think I'm gonna leave out the epilogue. One of my favorite scene in the entire series and I don't wanna ruin it with my crappy English
Vol 8
Spoiler for Vol. 8:
Defrosting Maki "Dark Navy"
Spoiler for heavy spoiler:
The volume begins with Koutarou conversing with Kuran at the school rooftop after the school play. He asked Kuran to keep their deeds 2000 years ago, 20 years ago and 10 years ago a secret. Kuran complied.
Returning to an empty room 106, Koutarou put away a stash of what seems to be items he acquired during his trip to the past, including an old, oriental looking necklace. When Sanae and Yurika came home for tv, Koutarou remembered something and took another item back out from the stash, then proceed to give it to Yurika. It was a staff. While apologizing to her that he didn't believe in magic, he informs her that she can finally become a real magical girl (lol, he still doesn't believe that she was one) with this staff called "Encyclopedia". It has a massive collection of preset spells which allowed even a normal person to perform magic. However, for the same reason it could only depend on its built-in mana source, resulting in limited power for the spells it casts.
On the other hand, the undercover Maki "Dark Navy" received a new order from her organization to investigate the energy stir near the skiing camp their class were visiting. Yurika catching on her acting suspiciously, confronted and battled her. Utilizing the flexibility of "Encyclopedia" along with the power of her own staff (dual wielding), Yurika managed to hold the battle in a stand still, until Maki decided to retreat and slipped away from scene. Later Yurika caught sight of a suspicious Maki again, who was heading into the snow alone. Yurika followed. Koutarou saw Yurika heading into the snow so he did the same (and joined up with her later).
Back to Maki's perspective, it turns out the stir was caused by a stray demon. She attempted to negotiate with it and take it under the wing of Dark Rainbow, but it was for some reason confused and hostile, seemingly frightened of something. It then proceed to attack Maki and struck her with a fatal blow. First to notice what was going on, Yurika put Koutarou to sleep with her spell and casted a barrier on him so he wouldn't get caught in her upcoming battle, but the demon noticed her and promptly froze her into a solid ice cube with a blizzard attack. The demon then caused an avalanche, which washed both Koutarou and Maki a fair distance away.
Disturbed by the repeated blows, Koutarou woke up and found himself next to a dying Maki. He then saw the ice block encasing Yurika near the demon not too far away. Using spirit sight ability given to him by Sanae he determined that Yurika is safe from life's harm for the time being and picked up Maki instead.
We catch a glimpse of Maki's past in her dreams. She woke up and found herself laid down in an emergency shelter. She then noticed Koutarou, who was attempting to treat her wounds using "Encyclopedia" but the damage was too grave for its limited power to be of any effect. Accepting her own fate, she asked Koutarou not to feel bad for her and that it was probably best for her to end that way. Refusing to comply, Koutarou summoned Signartine and prayed for its power to save Maki. In a burst of white light the two of them had a vision of each other's past. Resonating with the other person's pain, they embraced the person they saw in the vision (not knowing who it was). When they came to, Maki's wounds were completely healed.
Koutarou set out to save Yurika and Maki insisted that she would help by acting as support using "Encyclopedia". They then returned to the demon, and defeated it with unusually synchronized teamwork, as though they were lifelong partners with perfect understanding of each others thought.
Epilogue showed Maki declaring towards Yurika (Koutarou had stepped out to buy them drinks) that she didn't want Koutarou to get caught in the war between Rainbow Heart and Dark Rainbow, and asked her to continue keeping their identities as secret from him.
p.s, Koutarou still doesn't know their true identities
Vol 9
Spoiler for Vol. 9:
Ruth's Realization
Spoiler for heavy spoiler:
During their sword practice Ruth noticed Koutarou's dramatic jump in combat skills compared to before the school play incident, as well as he and Kuran's unusually friendly interactions when the latter dropped by to deliver Koutarou some (fancy) training gadgets. In Ruth's perspective, it had only been 3 weeks since the incident, and before that Kuran saw Koutarou as sworn enemy.
Fastforward to a week before Valentine's Day. Ruth received a message from her family: She had a suiter and they were considering this potential marriage and wanted to arrange them a meeting. Back in Room 106, Ruth decided to ask everyone for advice. When she asked Koutarou for opinion, secretly hoping that he would stop her, Koutarou simply expressed that he wasn't in any position to decide for her. Upset by his seemingly nonchalant answer, Ruth ran out of the apartment. Theia went after her. Koutarou reflected that he despite their friendships, Theia and Ruth were aliens from a different planet with their own set of rules and balance of power. The two of them were in the center of political conflicts, and Ruth's decision could drastically change both their future forever. There was no way for him (and the other Earth residents) to know the consequences that would unfold with either decision she makes. Instead of pushing Ruth to either answer based on their own biased perspectives, Koutarou believed that it was best for her to choose her own path and support her decision instead. Though Koutarou secretly felt that there was something amiss in his answer.
Shifting scene to Theia and Ruth. It turned out that Theia had actually considered similar things that Koutarou did. They both loved Koutarou, but it was an unrealistic dream. They and Koutarou were human species of two distant planets: they would be unable to have children. Which means that, if they were to end up with him, they would be giving up the making of new family (and Theia's royal lineage). Not only it would be the same for Koutarou, if Theia and Ruth were to take Koutarou back to Fortorthe as their knight, he will also have to face solitude of being on an alien planet far from home. After realizing what responsibility their love meant, Ruth silently sat through the night with Theia. (p.s. I'll be blunt though: Remember that virus 'cure' in 7.5? *snickers*)
The suiter was known as Eurexis and was the owner and CEO of the Dragon Knight Industry (DKI), a leading technological corporate on Fortorthe with considerable political influence. Everything about this marriage seemed ideal, but Ruth couldn't quite grasp a hold of herself. On one hand she wanted to make sure whether Eurexis was trustworthy and how their marriage would affect Theia's political position, on the other hand there was her own feelings which she need to sort out.
After school, Koutarou apologized to Ruth for what happened the other night, and rephrased his opinion on the matter: While Koutarou couldn't make the decision for her, he still wished that she would choose the path which she would not regret. As long as she could be happy, Koutarou and the others will support her choice no matter what. Overjoyed at Koutarou's true feelings, Ruth became determined to push him away so as not to ruin his happiness (for the reasons above). She put on a cold front and bid him farewell, but when Koutarou stopped her from tripping over, she broke down in tears and ran away. She later showed up in Tia's bedroom on the Blue Knight (their battle-starship) and confessed to Theia that she couldn't let go of her feelings despite how unreasonable it was. Theia comforted Ruth as she sobbed in her lap, and said that she envied Ruth for being able to stay true to her feelings.
Ruth wanted to avoid Koutarou for the time being, so she remained on the starship and worked on maintaining Koutarou's armor suit. On top of the many things that raised her suspicions, she noticed that the top language priorities in the system were set to Ancient Fortorthean and High Fortorthean (ritual language). As Ruth began to piece the clues together, she decided to confront Kuran for the truth. Although caught off guard by Ruth's sudden intrusion, Kuran managed to regain composure and stopped Ruth from asking anymore questions by hinting her the severe consequences if she were to admit the truth. Ruth reluctantly backed down. Kuran then informed her about words received from the Schwaiger clan (Kuran's home clan) that Eurexis and DKI were expanding into the arms industry, meaning that something was up with this sudden marriage. Realizing the possibility of a plot against Theia, Ruth thanked Kuran and sped straight out to find Theia.
Ruth traced Theia's signal but instead she found Eurexis. Realizing what that meant, Ruth confronted Eurexis, but was promptly overpowered. Koutarou arrived (thanks to Kuran) in time to save Ruth from harm. When he saw Eurexis he laughed and called him by the name of the rebellion commander he battled in Vol 7.5 (probably his descendant).
Spoiler:
*Koutarou dodges laser shots*
"Just who in the world are you?!"
"I'm the victim (of the invaders)!" *Critical Hit!*
After knocking out Eurexis, they headed towards Theia's location and saw that she was knocked out and was being moved towards a space transport ship. Believing that there'd be no way for the two of them to win against 5 elite units, Ruth intended to use herself as a decoy to buy Koutarou time. Deciding that his identity's secret was not worth risking Ruth's life for, Koutarou pulled Ruth back and summoned Signartine. Ruth watched in awe as Koutarou curbstomped the enemy units, and later the mech Eurexis piloted as well. Accepting his defeat, Eurexis asked for Koutarou's name before leaving words that they would meet again and retreated like a classic villain.
Recognizing Koutarou's sword and his true identity, Ruth kneeled before the legendary hero in tears of joy as she embraced this overwhelming truth. Worried that the truth might cloud Theia's judgement, Koutarou asked Ruth not to tell her for the time being. Disappointed but understood his reasons, Ruth complied.
Theia slowly came to and noticed Ruth by her side. Ruth informed her that Koutarou had saved her from the kidnapping. With added confidence due to the knowledge of Koutarou's secret, Ruth reassured Theia that there was no need to be afraid of pursuing Koutarou, that there are more ways to happiness than creating a family, and that he will be the greatest knight by her side. Last and not least, Ruth will be there to share Theia's weight of responsibility. At the end of the scene, Theia asked whether Ruth could aid her with one task, to which she happily complied.
Epilogue part 1: Valentine's Day (2 days before it actually, since the 14th in here was on Sunday)
Epilogue part 2: As Kiriha was sorting out Koutarou's clothing in the cabinet, she accidentally found the item stash that Koutarou hid away. Among which, she noticed and picked up an old, oriental necklace. She recognized this necklace: It was her mother's keepsake. How...? Does that mean...?
Vol 10
Spoiler for Vol. 10:
10 Years Ago
Spoiler for huge wall of text part 1:
Some time after her mother passed away, six year-old 'Kii' had a fight with her father and ran away from home. She came to the outside world against her father's warnings. To her, the sun and sky were both an unfamiliar yet exciting sight. If only she and everyone could live here happily forever. As she was captivating by the sight of the sinking sun, the stars began litting up across the evening sky. Believing that her mother was among the stars, she searched the sky and caught sight of an unusually bright star... a falling star, which soared across the air above her. Thinking that it could be her mother, she went into the hills where the star landed.
The falling star was none other than Kuran's spaceship "Cradle". She and Koutarou arrived Earth a number of years prior to the 'incident' as planned to avoid Theia and the other Kuran's detection when they first arrived on Earth. This area among the hills was an ideal location to hide their ship as it was undisturbed for as far as Koutarou can remember as a child. After a bit of calculation, Kuran deducted that they need to hibernate for another 10~11 years. Koutarou realized that according to the date, his mother was going to die from traffic accident soon, in a little more than a month. Kuran expressed that she wouldn't mind it if he were to alter history to save his mother, even if it meant that they would never be able to return to their time. Conflicted, Koutarou decided to take a walk outside... and found a curious Kii standing right outside Cradle.
Kii asked them if they had seen a star that fell nearby. Knowing fully that the 'star' was actually 'Cradle' with themselves on it, Koutarou decided that he would keep Kii companied and try to somehow convince her to give up the search. That and he thought it was too dangerous for a little girl to be alone among the hills at night. Kii told Koutarou that she ran away from home because her father wouldn't let her go to the Kabuto King movie (think Kamen Rider), and that she was hoping to find her mother through the fallen star. Realizing the meaning behind that (the mother part), Koutarou was unable to bring himself to convince her to give up finding, so he took Kii back to Cradle to spend the night. Koutarou asked her to promise that she would go home once she completed the two goals, which she agreed to. At the same time, he thought Kii looked familiar, but didn't give much thought to it.
Late at night, as Koutarou was sorting out housework(?) he heard Kii crying for her mother in her sleep. As someone who shared the pain of losing ones mother, Koutarou wanted to do something for her. He knew that Kii had been trying to find her mother through the falling star, if only he could at least allow Kii to meet her mother in her dreams. Then it came to him that he could try using magic, and proceeded to take out Signartine. As he prayed to the sword, Kii was enveloped by a warm, white light. Soon her sobbing was replaced by a faint smile of peace. She had found her mother in the dreams.
Relieved, Koutarou headed outside of Cradle for fresh air, but quickly raised his guard as he felt he was being watched. A mysterious girl who looked to be just a few years older than Kii was watching Koutarou. She responded to Koutarou saying that she was looking for someone and was about to leave. Her tone was calm and unusually mature for her age, and emitted a strong presence that even Koutarou felt a little intimidated. She then asked Koutarou of his doings earlier. Not wanting to be mistakened for trouble, Koutarou explained that he performed a ritual to sooth a child who had just suffered the lost of her mother, without mentioning the word 'magic'. Seemingly approved of his answer, the girl bid him farewell and disappeared into the night.
The mysterious girl met up with a longbow carrying young woman named Kanae, who calls on the her name. The girl was none other than Rainbow Nana, the youngest and one of the most powerful magical girl of Rainbow Heart - the policing unit of magical kingdom Forsaria, and the mentor of Yurika (mentioned by Yurika in Vol.5). It turned out Nana was searching for the mage responsible for kidnapping and draining the spirit energy of Kanae's daughter, who was gifted with high level of spirit energy due to being born in a Shinto clergy lineage of considerable history. The child would have been killed in the process had Nana not intevened, and at this moment the child's life was barely sustained by temporary linking her life force with her father Satarou's spirit energy. They didn't have much time left to spare: They must find the culprit and retake the child's spirit energy before Satarou's ran out. (Satarou? Kanae? Hmmmm *hint*)
Meanwhile, we see the culprit appearing at the household of Shijima Tayuma (the Subterranean radical who was defeated in Vol. 6). The mage, Maya, introduced herself to the man as "Dark Navy". It appeared that she was making some sort of deal with the Subterranean radicals which involved trading her knowledge in magic for Subterranean's spirit technology. As part of the deal, Maya was requested to assassinate the daughter of Kurano Daiha, the head of the entire Subterranean clan (and the leader of the moderates), and make it looked like she was brutally murdered by the surface dwellers, which would provoke the Subterraneans to go to war. In the photo we see a six year old girl who was none other than Kii.
The next day, as part of his promise he took Kii to the Kabuto King movie. They had some time to spare after movie so they visited the theme park near by. At one point, Kii wanted to try the rollercoaster, but was unable to do so as the worker pointed to a measure board and told her that she didn't meet the height requirement. Slightly disappointed, they played on other facilities instead. By evening, as they were on their way back to Cradle, Kii expressed her gratitude towards Koutarou for spending time with her, and said that she should be going home now that she had fulfilled her purposes, as well as upholding her end of the promise. Koutarou gave her his own Kabuto King card as souvenir. He felt a strong deja vu as he watched Kii scribbling her name on it for safekeeping. He then tried to ask her her name, but was interrupted by an hourly notification that sounded nearby. He realized in horror that it was only one hour left before the accident: the accident that took his mother's life.
Spoiler for huge wall of text part 2:
Caught between the choice of his mother's life and his promises to his friends back in his time, Koutarou was at lost what to do. Kii insisted that he should save his mother because she believed that his friends would feel guilty for the rest of their lives if they were to know that they had indirectly caused the death of Koutarou's loved one. On the other hand, Kuran apologized and informed Koutarou that even though Fortorthe's year span was almost identical to that of Earth's, there still existed a small margin of error as she based her calculation on Fortorthe's calendar. She then repeated that she would not blame Koutarou for his choice. Grateful and apologetic towards Kii and Kuran, as well as regretful towards Alya and the girls at Room 106, Koutarou sped towards the scene of the accident that was soon to come (with Kii following along).
However, as they tried to pass one of the alleys, they were ambushed by Maya and her mind-controlled thralls. Koutarou was defeated due to lack of equipments and Sanae + Yurika's buff running out from the war on Fortorthe. As Maya was about to land the killing blow on Koutarou, a pulse of light around him repelled her attack (good grief Alya). Deciding that it was too risky to continue fighting, Maya snatched Kii and escaped from scene, leaving her thralls to slow Koutarou. Nana and Kanae appeared and began knocking out the thralls, and asked Koutarou to quickly pursue Maya.
As Koutarou lost track of Maya, Kuran found him using her recon bots. She said she received alert that the bracelet was destroyed, and that Signartine suddenly started glowing brightly, so she figured that Koutarou must be in some sort of trouble. As Koutarou told her his situation, Kuran pointed out that Signartine must have sensed him in danger and protected him. It also explained why she kept losing to him in battle before, as well as other occasions of white light at critical moments before (during the first 7 volumes). It was because Signartine was already hidden on Earth and it had been protecting Koutarou and the girls all along.
Then Kuran reminded Koutarou one more thing: He only had twenty minutes left before the accident. His mother would most certainly die if he didn't make it, but Kii could also be killed any moment. Koutarou decided that he would save Kii first and then rush back as fast as he could to save his mother.
In an abandoned building, Maya planned to use Kii as a sacrifice so that her corpse would be clean and unscathed. Kii wondered if Koutarou had successfully save his mother. She didn't mind dying if it would mean that Koutarou wouldn't suffer the lost of a loved one like she did. Out of respect for Kii's resolve, Maya promised that she would give Kii a painless death and proceeded to configure the ritual's settings. Incidentally, this bought Koutarou enough time to arrive at the scene. Against Kii's objection, Koutarou told her that he would save both Kii and his mother.
(skipping the battle)
(I'll just mention one small detail: May the force be with you, Master Koutarou!)
Koutarou defeated Maya and freed Kii, and proceeded to hurry towards the accident scene. Meanwhile, Maya regain consciousness and found herself facing Nana and Kanae. Exhausted from the battle with Koutarou, she prepared to fight them to the death. To her surprise, however, Nana proposed a deal, and gestured an empty hand towards Maya. Catching on Nana's intention, Maya gave up the spirit gem she used to drain Kanae's daughter and slipped away under a flash of light. Nana explained to Kanae that she didn't want to provoke Maya to use the spirit energy in the gem, which could mean the destruction of Kanae's daughter's life force and her eventual death. In fact, the gem already showed traces of being used. There was the concern of potential problems, but they would have to improvise for now. Kanae worried whether Nana would get into trouble for letting Maya go, but Nana simply shrugged: (sarcastic monotone) Hey, Maya blinded me with a flash of light and escaped, what could I have done? (*Yurika... you have one heck of a mentor there*) Having no more business here, the two returned with the gem to restore the child's health.
Pushing her stamina to the limit, Kii finally arrived at a crossroad amidst of an agitated crowd and ear-piercing sirens, a short moment after Koutarou did. Koutarou was staring blankly at the space in front of him. Following his line of sight, Kii saw a young boy sitting on the road, absently holding onto an unfinished knitted sweater. Before the boy was a woman lying lifelessly in a pool of red. Kii realized what this meant: they were too late.
Koutarou collapsed on the floor as he watched his mother's life fade away - again. His memory came flowing back into him. We get a glimpse of Koutarou's past. Young Koutarou and his father's relation worsened as neither of them were able to deal with the pain of their loss. For the longest time, they were strangers at home, and Koutarou lived a childhood of solitude. It was not until Koutarou met Kenji and joined the baseball team that he had finally begun to cope with her mother's death and made up with his father. Overwhelmed, Koutarou broke down, repeatedly beat on the concrete and cursed at himself for being powerless.
Kii embraced Koutarou and begged him in tears not to abuse himself any further. She blamed herself for all that had happened, believing that, had she not run away from home, she wouldn't have been kidnapped and Koutarou would have been able to save his mother. She told Koutarou that she would forever stay by his side in his mother's stead; that she would learn to cook and take care of housework, everything that a mother would do (Me: No wonder); that she would fill the hole in his heart should he ever feel alone and empty. Kii's crying brought Koutarou back to his senses. He remembered that unlike before, he was no longer alone. The pain was still there, but this time he had support to be able to stand up again. Koutarou thanked Kii for being there for him, whom then burst into (bigger) tears in his chest.
As the three returned to Cradle, Kuran detected a number of people approaching their location, who turned out to be Kii's old butler(?) leading a group searching for her. Sensing no il intent from the old man, Koutarou returned Kii to them and warned them about the enemies who were out for Kii's life. Horrified by what had happened and grateful towards Koutarou at the same time, the old man immediately ready themselves to depart for safety. Kii refused to leave, saying that she had promised to stay by Koutarou side, but he convinced her by telling her that she had done enough for him and that he would never forget the tears she shed for him. Kii then reached for the back of her neck and took down an old, oriental necklace. She told Koutarou that it was her mother's keepsake, and she was now giving it to him as a return of favor of the Kabuto King card he gave her, and her wish that the necklace would protect him for her. Unknown to Koutarou, however, this act of Kii's was in fact a tradition among the Subterraneans for marriage, where the two parties would exchange their keepsakes as an oath of engagement. However, Kii, believing that they might never meet again and that it might had been just a one-sided crush on her part, decided not to tell him that fact and bid him farewell.
March. It's been almost a year since Koutarou met the girls (1 year for Harumi).
We see Koutarou and Harumi preparing for recruiting new club members on the incoming entrance result release day. As much as she like the idea of finding new members, Harumi said that it would mean that it would no longer be just her and Koutarou. Being the dense block of wood he was, Koutarou failed to catch on Harumi's hint and talked about how many more new things they could do with more people. He then continued to tease an upset Harumi, who was making an angry (cute) face. After a bit of fooling around, Koutarou noted how stiff his shoulder became. Harumi then offered him a massage. During which, Koutarou commented on how Harumi was a lot more cheerful and expressive compared to when they first met, and believed that it was due to her participating in the drama club's play.
After school, he walked into Theia, who was staring at a bunch of tulip at a flower shop. He spent some time with tulip reminiscing how they nicknamed each other when they first met. Ruth arrived shortly afterwards. Koutarou decided to give each of them a bunch of tulip as a White Valentine gift, then walked away (embarassed).
Back in Room 106, Kiriha greeted Koutarou (formally) as usual when he came home. Koutarou wondered how Kiriha was able to remain so calm after what happened on Valentine's Day. Kiriha switched to 'Kii''s playful tone for a brief second, then reverted to her formal demeaner and answered Koutarou that it wasn't time for either of them to make the choice yet as there was still the threat of the Subterranean Radicals and other factions. She had to maintain the status quo in the room. That and it wouldn't be fair for the other girls. And she also noted secretly to herself, that there was an invisible wall Koutarou created around himself. There was something in Koutarou that was preventing him from getting close to the girls and she didn't want to force him to make a choice before she knew what that was.
We then see a scene of the usual "Let's pick on Yurika time". Girls of Room 106 came to consensus that Yurika simply could not survive without Koutarou watching over her (lol). They then wondered why Yurika was the only one who got that kind of [mean] treatment from Koutarou. After a bit of er... 'wrestling' Yurika, Koutarou and the girls gather around the table for their daily game. Just as Koutarou was about to sit down, he had a sudden black out and collapsed on the tatami. He sat back up right away and calmed the horrified girls, saying that he got a bit dizzy for some reason but was fine nonetheless. The scene ended with them beginning their game like a family gathering during the New Year's Day.
After the game, Koutarou began studying with Sanae clinging onto his back. Suddenly, Sanae fell through Koutarou. Normally Sanae was able to control who she wanted to touch, but now she wasn't able to touch or feel anything. Horrified, she realized that her hands were fading and that she was losing her ephereal form. Koutarou took a quick look at her with his spirit sight and saw that Sanae's spirit energy was at critical low point and very unstable. Kiriha came in, called out Karama and Korama to stablize Sanae's spirit energy right away, as though she already knew this would happen. She then took out her phone and made a call to her "contact", and received word that they need to buy Sanae time. The dolls had the equipments set up and reported the time left before they run out. Kiriha noticed that they would be about a minute short on keeping Sanae stable before her "contact" completes the work. Koutarou decided that he would summon Signartine, but Yurika volunteered to help stablize Sanae by transfering part of everyone's spirit energy to Sanae using magic. They went with Yurika's plan, and succeeded (just barely).
Vol 1~7, which may be covered by the anime, open at your own cost
Spoiler for Vol. 1~7:
Vol 1
Prologue: Meet the girls
Vol 2
Prologue: Girls come to school
Marathon. Harumi and Yurika became friends.
Vol 3
Prologue: Sanae
Beach episode? Rise of the Beetle Killer
Vol 4
Prologue: Harumi and Theia
School play for the drama club. Kuran attacks. Theia knights Koutarou in his sleep.
Vol 5
Prologue: Yurika
Mysterious transfer student, Maki.
Vol 6
Prologue: Kiriha
Meet the Sun Rangers! A date with Kiriha. Koutarou learns of Kiriha's true goal. And the first invasion of subterranean forces.
Vol 7
Prologue finale: Theia and Harumi
Kuran attacks again.
Koutarou and Kuran disappeared after dimensional bomb exploded prematurely, and reappeared after two minutes, with significant change in attitude towards each other.
Vol 7.5 & 8.5
Spoiler for the Blue Knight arc:
Vol 7.5
Blue Knight arc part 1
Spoiler for heavy spoiler:
Koutarou and Kuran were sent back in time form the explosion.
Shortly after regaining conscious, he ran into and saved a cornered Alya from a group of mercenaries. Kuran regrouped with him shortly afterwards and scolded him that he might have screwed up history by saving Alya because it was supposed to be the Blue Knight's job. The two of them decided to play along until they find the real Blue Knight.
As they were traveling along with Alya and co, Alya confessed to Koutarou that she felt unfitted to be a princess. Even though she wanted to avenge her parents' death, seeing the people who were seemingly living well and unaffected by the coup, she wondered whether the villain was better suited for the throne. She didn't want to start a war that would destroy this peace.
Soon after, Alya and her group, and the people in the town they stayed in were poisoned, which Koutarou and Kuran were personally prepared to deal with based on historic records. To their surprise, however, unlike the documents described the poison was spreading in an unusually accelerating rate. Kuran then discovered that it was actually a virus, and a deadly one never seen in records at that. For some reason though, Koutarou was unaffected and Kuran was only partially ill from it.
The enemy forces showed up. The enemy commander demanded Alya to surrender in exchange for the cure. Against her escorts' wish, she complied. The commander then revealed that there was actually no cure for the virus. Koutarou arrived and after a rough battle he defeated the commander and saved Alya.
Enraged by the enemy's method, Alya declared that she would retake the country and asked Koutarou to aid her, to which he complied.
At the same time, Kuran worked out a cure to the virus by re-engineering the patients' genes using Koutarou's as a basis. As she worked to treat the townfolks, she then realized: How did the Blue Knight managed to save the town in history? The virus was impossible to cure with the technology level at the time. If she and Koutarou weren't there, the town would have been wiped out. It was then she realized that, the Blue Knight was Koutarou all along.
Vol 8.5
Blue Knight arc part 2
Spoiler for heavy spoiler:
With Alya now determined to fight the rebellion to save her country, Koutarou and co led the resistance force in battle for several months. As they were closing towards the enemy capital, the lead villain sent Alnaia the Fire Dragon King to attack them. Koutarou, Kuran and Karis managed to knock it out with combined effort, but Koutarou passed out from injuries and fatigue. Alya soon learned that it was actually the villain's ploy to weaken Koutarou so they could assassinate him. Kuran and Flair managed to interrupt the assassination, but Alya took a major hit from shock.
Feared for his life, Alya unsealed the holy sword guarded by the Fortorthe royal line, which she named Signartine (temp romanji). Unknown to Koutarou, she enhanced the sword by sacrificing most of her own life before giving it to him, making it one of the most powerful artifact in existence. She gave the sword to Koutarou and asked him to promise her that he will take the sword with him when he returns to his time, so that the sword's existence would no longer be a source of conflict on Fortorthe (And she was right, as it turns out the villain's true goal was actually the sword all along. The whole coup and war was just a ploy to push Alya to break its seal.)
In the final battle, Koutarou fought Alnaia the dragon again and destroyed the binding gem on his back, knocking the dragon out again. In the end, in an attempt of stopping the villain's country wide suicide attack (using the same plague virus they poisoned the town with in 7.5) he had Kuran activate the dimensional bomb she used in Vol 7 and banished them to another dimension. One of the demon slipped away, but was swiftly incinerated by a freed Alnaia, who was grateful towards Koutarou and co.
After the war, Alya became the new empress.
Alnaia revealed that most of the dragons on Fortorthe were migrating to find a new homeland, and that he was actually one of the last ones remaining to do the same. As a token of friendship and gratitude, the dragon gave Koutarou a mark and promised that he will come to Koutarou's aide in the time of need no matter time and place.
...I think I'm gonna leave out the farewell -> time skip to 'return to present' -> ending of school play scene. It has one of the best lines in the entire series and I don't wanna ruin it with my crappy English
Vol 8
Spoiler for Vol. 8:
Maki arc (And a little bit of Yurika)
Spoiler for heavy spoiler:
The undercover Maki received a new order from her organization to investigate the energy stir near the skiing camp their class were visiting. Yurika catching on her acting suspiciously, confronted and battled her, which ended in a stand still with Maki slipping away from scene. Later Yurika caught Maki's suspicious activity again, heading into the snow alone, and followed. Koutarou saw Yurika heading into the snow so he did the same (and joined up with her later).
Back to Maki's perspective, it turns out the stir was caused by a stray demon. She attempted to negotiate with it and take it under the wing of Dark Rainbow, but it was for some reason confused and hostile, seemingly frightened of something. It then proceed to attack Maki. Yurika put Koutarou to sleep with her spell so he wouldn't get in danger, but she was then promptly frozen into a solid ice cube by a stray attack by the demon. It then gave Maki a fatal blow and blasted her away.
Koutarou woke up later and found himself next to a dying Maki. He also saw the ice block encasing Yurika near the demon not far away. Using spirit sight ability given to him by Sanae he determined that Yurika is safe from life's harm for the time being and picked up Maki instead.
We catch a glimpse of Maki's past in her dreams. She woke up as Koutarou was attempting to treat her wounds without success. Knowing her own fate, she asked Koutarou not to feel bad for her and that it was probably best for her to end that way. Refusing to comply, Koutarou summoned Signartine and prayed for its power to save Maki. In a burst of white light the two of them had a vision of each other's past. Resonating with the other person's pain, they embraced the person they saw in the vision. When they came to, Maki's wounds were completely healed.
They then returned to the demon to save Yurika. The two defeated it with unusually synchronized teamwork, as though they were lifelong partners with perfect understanding of each others thought.
Epilogue showed Maki declaring towards Yurika (Koutarou stepped out to buy them drinks) that she didn't want Koutarou to get caught in the war between Rainbow Heart and Dark Rainbow, and asked her to continue keeping their identities as secret from him.
Vol 9
Spoiler for Vol. 9:
Ruth arc
...need a break. Will continue later.
I have to thank you again for demonstrating the awesomeness of this series.
Vol 1~7, which may be covered by the anime, open at your own cost
Spoiler for Vol. 1~7:
Vol 1
Prologue: Meet the girls
Vol 2
Prologue: Girls come to school
Marathon. Harumi and Yurika became friends.
Vol 3
Prologue: Sanae
Beach episode? Rise of the Beetle Killer
Vol 4
Prologue: Harumi and Theia
School play for the drama club. Kuran attacks. Theia knights Koutarou in his sleep.
Vol 5
Prologue: Yurika
Mysterious transfer student, Maki.
Vol 6
Prologue: Kiriha
Meet the Sun Rangers! A date with Kiriha. Koutarou learns of Kiriha's true goal. And the first invasion of subterranean forces.
Vol 7
Prologue finale: Theia and Harumi
Kuran attacks again.
Koutarou and Kuran disappeared after dimensional bomb exploded prematurely, and reappeared after two minutes, with significant change in attitude towards each other.
Vol 7.5 & 8.5
Spoiler for the Blue Knight arc:
Vol 7.5
Blue Knight arc part 1
Spoiler for heavy spoiler:
Koutarou and Kuran were sent back in time form the explosion.
Shortly after regaining conscious, he ran into and saved a cornered Alya from a group of mercenaries. Kuran regrouped with him shortly afterwards and scolded him that he might have screwed up history by saving Alya because it was supposed to be the Blue Knight's job. The two of them decided to play along until they find the real Blue Knight.
As they were traveling along with Alya and co, Alya confessed to Koutarou that she felt unfitted to be a princess. Even though she wanted to avenge her parents' death, seeing the people who were seemingly living well and unaffected by the coup, she wondered whether the villain was better suited for the throne. She didn't want to start a war that would destroy this peace.
Soon after, Alya and her group, and the people in the town they stayed in were poisoned, which Koutarou and Kuran were personally prepared to deal with based on historic records. To their surprise, however, unlike the documents described the poison was spreading in an unusually accelerating rate. Kuran then discovered that it was actually a virus, and a deadly one never seen in records at that. For some reason though, Koutarou was unaffected and Kuran was only partially ill from it.
The enemy forces showed up. The enemy commander demanded Alya to surrender in exchange for the cure. Against her escorts' wish, she complied. The commander then revealed that there was actually no cure for the virus. Koutarou arrived and after a rough battle he defeated the commander and saved Alya.
Enraged by the enemy's method, Alya declared that she would retake the country and asked Koutarou to aid her, to which he complied.
At the same time, Kuran worked out a cure to the virus by re-engineering the patients' genes using Koutarou's as a basis. As she worked to treat the townfolks, she then realized: How did the Blue Knight managed to save the town in history? The virus was impossible to cure with the technology level at the time. If she and Koutarou weren't there, the town would have been wiped out. It was then she realized that, the Blue Knight was Koutarou all along.
Vol 8.5
Blue Knight arc part 2
Spoiler for heavy spoiler:
With Alya now determined to fight the rebellion to save her country, Koutarou and co led the resistance force in battle for several months. As they were closing towards the enemy capital, the lead villain sent Alnaia the Fire Dragon King to attack them. Koutarou, Kuran and Karis managed to knock it out with combined effort, but Koutarou passed out from injuries and fatigue. Alya soon learned that it was actually the villain's ploy to weaken Koutarou so they could assassinate him. Kuran and Flair managed to interrupt the assassination, but Alya took a major hit from shock.
Feared for his life, Alya unsealed the holy sword guarded by the Fortorthe royal line, which she named Signartine (temp romanji). Unknown to Koutarou, she enhanced the sword by sacrificing most of her own life before giving it to him, making it one of the most powerful artifact in existence. She gave the sword to Koutarou and asked him to promise her that he will take the sword with him when he returns to his time, so that the sword's existence would no longer be a source of conflict on Fortorthe (And she was right, as it turns out the villain's true goal was actually the sword all along. The whole coup and war was just a ploy to push Alya to break its seal.)
In the final battle, Koutarou fought Alnaia the dragon again and destroyed the binding gem on his back, knocking the dragon out again. In the end, in an attempt of stopping the villain's country wide suicide attack (using the same plague virus they poisoned the town with in 7.5) he had Kuran activate the dimensional bomb she used in Vol 7 and banished them to another dimension. One of the demon slipped away, but was swiftly incinerated by a freed Alnaia, who was grateful towards Koutarou and co.
After the war, Alya became the new empress.
Alnaia revealed that most of the dragons on Fortorthe were migrating to find a new homeland, and that he was actually one of the last ones remaining to do the same. As a token of friendship and gratitude, the dragon gave Koutarou a mark and promised that he will come to Koutarou's aide in the time of need no matter time and place.
...I think I'm gonna leave out the farewell -> time skip to 'return to present' -> ending of school play scene. It has one of the best lines in the entire series and I don't wanna ruin it with my crappy English
Vol 8
Spoiler for Vol. 8:
Maki arc (And a little bit of Yurika)
Spoiler for heavy spoiler:
The undercover Maki received a new order from her organization to investigate the energy stir near the skiing camp their class were visiting. Yurika catching on her acting suspiciously, confronted and battled her, which ended in a stand still with Maki slipping away from scene. Later Yurika caught Maki's suspicious activity again, heading into the snow alone, and followed. Koutarou saw Yurika heading into the snow so he did the same (and joined up with her later).
Back to Maki's perspective, it turns out the stir was caused by a stray demon. She attempted to negotiate with it and take it under the wing of Dark Rainbow, but it was for some reason confused and hostile, seemingly frightened of something. It then proceed to attack Maki. Yurika put Koutarou to sleep with her spell so he wouldn't get in danger, but she was then promptly frozen into a solid ice cube by a stray attack by the demon. It then gave Maki a fatal blow and blasted her away.
Koutarou woke up later and found himself next to a dying Maki. He also saw the ice block encasing Yurika near the demon not far away. Using spirit sight ability given to him by Sanae he determined that Yurika is safe from life's harm for the time being and picked up Maki instead.
We catch a glimpse of Maki's past in her dreams. She woke up as Koutarou was attempting to treat her wounds without success. Knowing her own fate, she asked Koutarou not to feel bad for her and that it was probably best for her to end that way. Refusing to comply, Koutarou summoned Signartine and prayed for its power to save Maki. In a burst of white light the two of them had a vision of each other's past. Resonating with the other person's pain, they embraced the person they saw in the vision. When they came to, Maki's wounds were completely healed.
They then returned to the demon to save Yurika. The two defeated it with unusually synchronized teamwork, as though they were lifelong partners with perfect understanding of each others thought.
Epilogue showed Maki declaring towards Yurika (Koutarou stepped out to buy them drinks) that she didn't want Koutarou to get caught in the war between Rainbow Heart and Dark Rainbow, and asked her to continue keeping their identities as secret from him.
Vol 9
Spoiler for Vol. 9:
Ruth arc (And Theia)
...need a break. Will continue later.
NOW THIS DESERVED A TRANSLATION!
I thought this was just a gag series, turns out this has a massive plot that encompasses the multiverse. Too bad, not many people are patient enough to wait for the plot to kick in
Vol 1~7, which may be covered by the anime, open at your own cost
Spoiler for Vol. 1~7:
Vol 1
Prologue: Meet the girls
Vol 2
Prologue: Girls come to school
Marathon. Harumi and Yurika became friends.
Vol 3
Prologue: Sanae
Beach episode? Rise of the Beetle Killer
Vol 4
Prologue: Harumi and Theia
School play for the drama club. Kuran attacks. Theia knights Koutarou in his sleep.
Vol 5
Prologue: Yurika
Mysterious transfer student, Maki.
Vol 6
Prologue: Kiriha
Meet the Sun Rangers! A date with Kiriha. Koutarou learns of Kiriha's true goal. And the first invasion of subterranean forces.
Vol 7
Prologue finale: Theia and Harumi
Kuran attacks again.
Koutarou and Kuran disappeared after dimensional bomb exploded prematurely, and reappeared after two minutes, with significant change in attitude towards each other.
Vol 7.5 & 8.5
Spoiler for the Blue Knight arc:
Vol 7.5
Blue Knight arc part 1
Spoiler for heavy spoiler:
Koutarou and Kuran were sent back in time form the explosion.
Shortly after regaining conscious, he ran into and saved a cornered Alya from a group of mercenaries. Kuran regrouped with him shortly afterwards and scolded him that he might have screwed up history by saving Alya because it was supposed to be the Blue Knight's job. The two of them decided to play along until they find the real Blue Knight.
As they were traveling along with Alya and co, Alya confessed to Koutarou that she felt unfitted to be a princess. Even though she wanted to avenge her parents' death, seeing the people who were seemingly living well and unaffected by the coup, she wondered whether the villain was better suited for the throne. She didn't want to start a war that would destroy this peace.
Soon after, Alya and her group, and the people in the town they stayed in were poisoned, which Koutarou and Kuran were personally prepared to deal with based on historic records. To their surprise, however, unlike the documents described the poison was spreading in an unusually accelerating rate. Kuran then discovered that it was actually a virus, and a deadly one never seen in records at that. For some reason though, Koutarou was unaffected and Kuran was only partially ill from it.
The enemy forces showed up. The enemy commander demanded Alya to surrender in exchange for the cure. Against her escorts' wish, she complied. The commander then revealed that there was actually no cure for the virus. Koutarou arrived and after a rough battle he defeated the commander and saved Alya.
Enraged by the enemy's method, Alya declared that she would retake the country and asked Koutarou to aid her, to which he complied.
At the same time, Kuran worked out a cure to the virus by re-engineering the patients' genes using Koutarou's as a basis. As she worked to treat the townfolks, she then realized: How did the Blue Knight managed to save the town in history? The virus was impossible to cure with the technology level at the time. If she and Koutarou weren't there, the town would have been wiped out. It was then she realized that, the Blue Knight was Koutarou all along.
Vol 8.5
Blue Knight arc part 2
Spoiler for heavy spoiler:
With Alya now determined to fight the rebellion to save her country, Koutarou and co led the resistance force in battle for several months. As they were closing towards the enemy capital, the lead villain sent Alnaia the Fire Dragon King to attack them. Koutarou, Kuran and Karis managed to knock it out with combined effort, but Koutarou passed out from injuries and fatigue. Alya soon learned that it was actually the villain's ploy to weaken Koutarou so they could assassinate him. Kuran and Flair managed to interrupt the assassination, but Alya took a major hit from shock.
Feared for his life, Alya unsealed the holy sword guarded by the Fortorthe royal line, which she named Signartine (temp romanji). Unknown to Koutarou, she enhanced the sword by sacrificing most of her own life before giving it to him, making it one of the most powerful artifact in existence. She gave the sword to Koutarou and asked him to promise her that he will take the sword with him when he returns to his time, so that the sword's existence would no longer be a source of conflict on Fortorthe (And she was right, as it turns out the villain's true goal was actually the sword all along. The whole coup and war was just a ploy to push Alya to break its seal.)
In the final battle, Koutarou fought Alnaia the dragon again and destroyed the binding gem on his back, knocking the dragon out again. In the end, in an attempt of stopping the villain's country wide suicide attack (using the same plague virus they poisoned the town with in 7.5) he had Kuran activate the dimensional bomb she used in Vol 7 and banished them to another dimension. One of the demon slipped away, but was swiftly incinerated by a freed Alnaia, who was grateful towards Koutarou and co.
After the war, Alya became the new empress.
Alnaia revealed that most of the dragons on Fortorthe were migrating to find a new homeland, and that he was actually one of the last ones remaining to do the same. As a token of friendship and gratitude, the dragon gave Koutarou a mark and promised that he will come to Koutarou's aide in the time of need no matter time and place.
...I think I'm gonna leave out the farewell -> time skip to 'return to present' -> ending of school play scene. It has one of the best lines in the entire series and I don't wanna ruin it with my crappy English
Vol 8
Spoiler for Vol. 8:
Maki arc (And a little bit of Yurika)
Spoiler for heavy spoiler:
The undercover Maki received a new order from her organization to investigate the energy stir near the skiing camp their class were visiting. Yurika catching on her acting suspiciously, confronted and battled her, which ended in a stand still with Maki slipping away from scene. Later Yurika caught Maki's suspicious activity again, heading into the snow alone, and followed. Koutarou saw Yurika heading into the snow so he did the same (and joined up with her later).
Back to Maki's perspective, it turns out the stir was caused by a stray demon. She attempted to negotiate with it and take it under the wing of Dark Rainbow, but it was for some reason confused and hostile, seemingly frightened of something. It then proceed to attack Maki. Yurika put Koutarou to sleep with her spell so he wouldn't get in danger, but she was then promptly frozen into a solid ice cube by a stray attack by the demon. It then gave Maki a fatal blow and blasted her away.
Koutarou woke up later and found himself next to a dying Maki. He also saw the ice block encasing Yurika near the demon not far away. Using spirit sight ability given to him by Sanae he determined that Yurika is safe from life's harm for the time being and picked up Maki instead.
We catch a glimpse of Maki's past in her dreams. She woke up as Koutarou was attempting to treat her wounds without success. Knowing her own fate, she asked Koutarou not to feel bad for her and that it was probably best for her to end that way. Refusing to comply, Koutarou summoned Signartine and prayed for its power to save Maki. In a burst of white light the two of them had a vision of each other's past. Resonating with the other person's pain, they embraced the person they saw in the vision. When they came to, Maki's wounds were completely healed.
They then returned to the demon to save Yurika. The two defeated it with unusually synchronized teamwork, as though they were lifelong partners with perfect understanding of each others thought.
Epilogue showed Maki declaring towards Yurika (Koutarou stepped out to buy them drinks) that she didn't want Koutarou to get caught in the war between Rainbow Heart and Dark Rainbow, and asked her to continue keeping their identities as secret from him.
Vol 1~7, which may be covered by the anime, open at your own cost
Spoiler for Vol. 1~7:
Vol 1
Prologue: Meet the girls
Vol 2
Prologue: Girls come to school
Marathon. Harumi and Yurika became friends.
Vol 3
Prologue: Sanae
Beach episode? Rise of the Beetle Killer
Vol 4
Prologue: Harumi and Theia
School play for the drama club. Kuran attacks. Theia knights Koutarou in his sleep.
Vol 5
Prologue: Yurika
Mysterious transfer student, Maki.
Vol 6
Prologue: Kiriha
Meet the Sun Rangers! A date with Kiriha. Koutarou learns of Kiriha's true goal. And the first invasion of subterranean forces.
Vol 7
Prologue finale: Theia and Harumi
Kuran attacks again.
Koutarou and Kuran disappeared after dimensional bomb exploded prematurely, and reappeared after two minutes, with significant changes in attitude towards each other.
Vol 7.5 & 8.5
Spoiler for the Blue Knight arc:
Vol 7.5
Beginning of the Blue Knight
Spoiler for heavy spoiler:
Koutarou and Kuran were sent back in time from the explosion.
Shortly after regaining conscious, he ran into and rescued a cornered Alya from a group of attacking mercenaries. Kuran regrouped with him almost immediately afterwards. Realizing who the person he saved was, she scolded him (in horror) that he might have screwed up history by saving Alya because it was supposed to be the Blue Knight's job. The two of them decided to play along until they find the real Blue Knight to correct the timeline.
Koutarou and Kuran escorted Alya as she rejoined her group and met Alya's younger sister Charledrissa (Charlu), guardian knight Flairhan (Flair), maid Marleritta (Mari), high priest Faona and alchemist Lidis. Gosh Fortorthe names are a pain to translate! Koutarou also accidentally caught Karis, a royal mage who was ordered to spy on Alya. Koutarou noticed that these people looked almost exactly like, in order, Theia, Ruth, Shizuka, Sanae, Kiriha and Yurika.
As they were traveling along with Alya and co, Alya confessed to Koutarou that she felt unfitted to be a princess. Even though she wanted to avenge her parents' death, seeing the people who were seemingly living well and unaffected by the coup, she wondered whether the villain was better suited for the throne. She didn't want to start a war that would destroy this peace.
Soon after, Alya and her group, and the people in the town they stayed in were poisoned, which Koutarou and Kuran were personally prepared to deal with based on historic records. To their surprise, however, unlike the documents' description the poison was spreading in an unusually accelerating rate. Kuran then discovered that it was actually a virus, and a deadly one never seen in records at that. Also worth noting was that, Koutarou was unaffected and Kuran was only partially ill from the virus.
The enemy forces showed up. The enemy commander demanded Alya to surrender in exchange for the cure. Against her escorts' wish, she complied. The commander then revealed that there was actually no cure for the virus. Koutarou arrived and after a rough battle he defeated the commander and saved Alya.
Enraged by the enemy's method, Alya declared that she would retake the country and asked Koutarou to aid her, to which he complied.
At the same time, Kuran worked out a cure to the virus by re-engineering the patients' genes using Koutarou's as a basis. As she worked to treat the townfolks, she then realized: How did the Blue Knight managed to save the town in history? The virus was impossible to cure with the technology level at the time. If she and Koutarou weren't there, the town would have been wiped out. It was then she realized that, the Blue Knight was Koutarou all along.
Vol 8.5
Legacy of the Blue Knight
Spoiler for heavy spoiler:
With Alya now determined to fight the rebellion to save her country, Koutarou and co led the resistance force in battle for several months.
During one of the nights, Alya asked if Koutarou would stay by their side after the war ends. Koutarou replied that he could not, because he had promises to fulfill. Koutarou confessed his true identity to Alya. Saddened but understanding his choice, Alya asked him one last question:
Spoiler:
"Koutarou-sama"
"If I had met you before them... If I had needed your aid before them... What would your choice have been?"
She knew very well that such a world does not exist.
But, if she had...
If she had met Koutarou sooner, would he be willing to stay by her side?
"If that were the case... then I would have certainly served you for the rest of my life, your majesty."
Koutarou replied heartfeltedly.
Upon learning that it was only a simple matter of first come first serve, Alya felt satisfied. Koutarou chose to leave not because he didn't realize her feelings. Knowing this fact was good enough for her.
"Koutarou-sama, if there is ever such a chance, please allow me to be the first to meet you..."
"Yes, my princess."
Tears began flowing from Alya's eyes.
Despite knowing the truth, Alya still couldn't help but to silently let her tears flow.
Spoiler for spoiler comment:
(Remember who among the girls was the first to meet Koutarou?)
As they were closing towards the enemy capital, the lead villain sent Alnaia the Fire Dragon King to attack them. Koutarou, Kuran and Karis managed to knock it out with combined effort, but Koutarou passed out from injuries and fatigue. Alya soon learned that it was actually the villain's ploy to weaken Koutarou so they could assassinate him. Kuran and Flair managed to interrupt the assassination, but Alya took a major hit from shock.
Feared for Koutarou's life, Alya unsealed the holy sword guarded by the Fortorthe royal lineage, which she named Signartine (temp romanji). Unknown to Koutarou, she enhanced the sword by sacrificing most of her own life, making it one of the most powerful artifact in existence. She gave the sword to Koutarou and asked him to promise her that he will take the sword with him when he returns to his time, so that the sword's existence would no longer be a source of conflict on Fortorthe (And she was right, as it turns out the villain's true goal was actually the sword all along. The whole coup and war was just a ploy to push Alya to break its seal.)
In the final battle, Koutarou fought Alnaia the dragon again and destroyed the binding gem on his back, knocking the dragon out again. In the end, in an attempt of stopping the villain's country wide suicide attack (using the same plague virus they poisoned the town with in 7.5) he had Kuran activate the dimensional bomb she used in Vol 7 and banished them to another dimension. One of the demon slipped away, but was swiftly incinerated by a freed Alnaia, who was grateful towards Koutarou and co.
After the war, Alya became the new empress.
Alya froze most of the magi quarters (under the supervision of Karis who was appointed the new head mage) and destroyed most documents related to magic, in hopes of a future where the people will no longer need it. She continued to employ what's left of the magi, but she stopped recruiting/training any more of new magi. This is why magic eventually died out and by Theia's time nobody even knew that magic once existed on Fortorthe (It was heavily implied that Alya altered the historic records to protect Koutarou's identity and hide the existence of magic).
Alnaia revealed that most of the dragons on Fortorthe were leaving the planet to find a new homeland, and that he was actually one of the last ones remaining to do the same. As a token of friendship and gratitude, the dragon gave Koutarou a mark and promised that he will come to Koutarou's aide in the time of need no matter time and place.
Koutarou and Kuran then proceed to set up Cradle in preparation for a 2000 year long hibernation to return to the present.
...I think I'm gonna leave out the farewell -> time skip to 'return to present' -> ending of school play scene. It has one of the best lines in the entire series and I don't wanna ruin it with my crappy English
Vol 8
Spoiler for Vol. 8:
Defrosting "Dark Navy"
Spoiler for heavy spoiler:
The volume begins with Koutarou conversing with Kuran at the school rooftop after the school play. He asked Kuran to keep their deeds 2000 years ago, 20 years ago and 10 years ago a secret. Kuran complied.
Returning to an empty room 106, Koutarou put away a stash of what seems to be items he acquired during his trip to the past, including an old, oriental looking necklace. When Sanae and Yurika came home for tv, Koutarou remembered something and took another item back out from the stash, then proceed to give it to Yurika. It was a staff. While apologizing to her that he didn't believe in magic, he informs her that she can finally become a real magical girl (lol, he still doesn't believe that she was one) with this staff called "Encyclopedia". It has a massive collection of preset spells which allowed even a normal person to perform magic. However, for the same reason it could only depend on its built-in mana source, resulting in limited power for the spells it casts.
On the other hand, the undercover "Dark Navy" Maki received a new order from her organization to investigate the energy stir near the skiing camp their class were visiting. Yurika catching on her acting suspiciously, confronted and battled her. Utilizing the flexibility of "Encyclopedia" along with the power of her own staff (dual wielding), Yurika managed to hold the battle in a stand still, until Maki decided to retreat and slipped away from scene. Later Yurika caught sight of a suspicious Maki again, who was heading into the snow alone. Yurika followed. Koutarou saw Yurika heading into the snow so he did the same (and joined up with her later).
Back to Maki's perspective, it turns out the stir was caused by a stray demon. She attempted to negotiate with it and take it under the wing of Dark Rainbow, but it was for some reason confused and hostile, seemingly frightened of something. It then proceed to attack Maki and struck her with a fatal blow. First to notice what was going on, Yurika put Koutarou to sleep with her spell and casted a barrier on him so he wouldn't get caught in her upcoming battle, but the demon noticed her and promptly froze her into a solid ice cube with a blizzard attack. The demon then caused an avalanche, which washed both Koutarou and Maki a fair distance away.
Disturbed by the repeated blows, Koutarou woke up and found himself next to a dying Maki. He then saw the ice block encasing Yurika near the demon not too far away. Using spirit sight ability given to him by Sanae he determined that Yurika is safe from life's harm for the time being and picked up Maki instead.
We catch a glimpse of Maki's past in her dreams. She woke up and found herself laid down in an emergency shelter. She then noticed Koutarou, who was attempting to treat her wounds using "Encyclopedia" but the damage was too grave for its limited power to be of any effect. Accepting her own fate, she asked Koutarou not to feel bad for her and that it was probably best for her to end that way. Refusing to comply, Koutarou summoned Signartine and prayed for its power to save Maki. In a burst of white light the two of them had a vision of each other's past. Resonating with the other person's pain, they embraced the person they saw in the vision (not knowing who it was). When they came to, Maki's wounds were completely healed.
Koutarou set out to save Yurika and Maki insisted that she would help by acting as support using "Encyclopedia". They then returned to the demon, and defeated it with unusually synchronized teamwork, as though they were lifelong partners with perfect understanding of each others thought.
Epilogue showed Maki declaring towards Yurika (Koutarou had stepped out to buy them drinks) that she didn't want Koutarou to get caught in the war between Rainbow Heart and Dark Rainbow, and asked her to continue keeping their identities as secret from him.
p.s, Koutarou still doesn't know their true identities
Vol 9
Spoiler for Vol. 9:
Ruth's Realization
Spoiler for heavy spoiler:
During their morning excercise session, Koutarou suggested Ruth to learn using rapier which would be more suited for her physique (secretly teaching her the skills he learned from her ancestor, Flair). During their practice Ruth noticed Koutarou's dramatic jump in combat skills compared to before the school play incident, as well as he and Kuran's unusually friendly interactions when the latter dropped by to deliver Koutarou some (fancy) training gadgets. In Ruth's perspective, it had only been 3 weeks since the incident, and before that Kuran saw Koutarou as sworn enemy.
Fastforward to a week before Valentine's Day. Ruth received a message from her family: She had a suiter and they were considering this potential marriage and wanted to arrange them a meeting. Back in Room 106, Ruth decided to ask everyone for advice. When she asked Koutarou for opinion, secretly hoping that he would stop her, Koutarou simply expressed that he wasn't in the position to decide for her. Upset by his seemingly nonchalant answer, Ruth ran out of the apartment. Theia went after her. Shizuka angrily demanded an explanation. Koutarou replied that he despite their friendships, Theia and Ruth were aliens from a different planet with their own set of rules and balance of power. The two of them were in the center of political conflicts, and Ruth's decision could drastically change both their future forever. There was no way for him (and the other Earth residents) to know the consequences that would unfold with either decision she makes. Instead of pushing Ruth to either answer based on their own biased perspectives, Koutarou believed that it was best for her to choose her own path and support her decision instead. Though Koutarou secretly felt that there was something amiss in his answer.
Shifting scene to Theia and Ruth. It turned out that Theia had actually considered similar things that Koutarou did. They both loved Koutarou, but it was an unrealistic dream. They and Koutarou were human species of two distant planets: they would be unable to have children. Which means that, if they were to end up with him, it would be equal to giving up the making of new family (and Theia's royal lineage). Not only it would be the same for Koutarou, if Theia and Ruth were to take Koutarou back to Fortorthe as their knight, he will also have to face solitude of being on an alien planet far from home. After realizing what responsibility their love meant, Ruth silently sat through the night with Theia. (p.s. I'll be blunt: Remember that virus 'cure' in 7.5? *snickers*)
The suiter was named Eurexis and was the owner and CEO of the Dragon Knight Industry (DKI), a leading technological corporate on Fortorthe with considerable political influence. Everything about this marriage seemed ideal, but Ruth couldn't quite grasp a hold of herself. On one hand she wanted to make sure whether Eurexis was trustworthy and how their marriage would affect Theia's political position, on the other hand there was her own feelings which she need to sort out.
After school, Koutarou apologized to Ruth for what happened that night, and rephrased his opinion on the matter. While Koutarou couldn't make the decision for her, he still wished that she would choose the path which she would not regret. As long as she could be happy, Koutarou and the others will support her choice no matter what. Overjoyed at Koutarou's true feelings, Ruth became determined to push him away so as not to ruin his happiness (for the reasons above). She put on a cold front and bid him farewell, but when Koutarou stopped her from tripping over, she broke down in tears and ran away. She later showed up in Tia's bedroom on the Blue Knight (their battle-starship) and confessed to Theia that she couldn't let go of her feelings despite how unreasonable it was. Theia comforted Ruth as she sobbed in her lap, and said that she envied Ruth for being able to stay true to her feelings.
Ruth wanted to avoid Koutarou for a bit longer, so she remained on board of the starship and worked on maintaining Koutarou's armor suit. On top of the many things that raised her suspicions, she noticed that the top language priorities were set to Ancient Fortorthean and High Fortorthean (ritual language). As Ruth began to piece the clues together, she decided to confront Kuran for the truth. Although caught off guard by Ruth's sudden intrusion, Kuran managed to regain composure and stopped Ruth from asking anymore questions by hinting her the severe consequences if she were to reveal the truth. Ruth reluctantly backed down. Kuran then informed her about words received from the Schwaiger clan (Kuran's home clan) that Eurexis and DKI was expanding into the arms industry, meaning that something was up with this sudden marriage. Realizing the possibility of a plot against Theia, Ruth thanked Kuran and sped straight out to find Theia.
Ruth traced Theia's signal but instead she found Eurexis. Realizing what that meant, Ruth confronted Eurexis, but was promptly overpowered. Koutarou arrived (thanks to Kuran) in time to save Ruth from harm. When he saw Eurexis he laughed and called him by the name of the rebellion commander he battled in Vol 7.5 (probably his descendant).
Spoiler:
*Koutarou dodges laser shots*
"Just who in the world are you?!"
"I'm the victim (of the invaders)!" *Critical Hit!*
After knocking out Eurexis, they headed towards Theia's location and saw that she was knocked out and was being moved towards a space transport ship. Believing that there'd be no way for the two of them to win against 5 elite units, Ruth intended to use herself as a decoy to buy Koutarou time. Deciding that keeping his secret was not worth risking Ruth's life for, Koutarou pulled Ruth back and summoned Signartine from Cradle. Ruth watched in awe as Koutarou curbstomped the enemy units, and later the mech Eurexis piloted as well. Accepting his defeat, Eurexis asked for Koutarou's name before leaving words that they would meet again and retreated like a classic villain.
Recognizing Koutarou's sword and his true identity, Ruth kneeled before him in tears of joy as she embraced this overwhelming truth. Worried that the truth might cloud Theia's judgement, Koutarou asked Ruth not to tell her for the time being. Disappointed but understood his reasons, Ruth complied.
Theia slowly came to and noticed Ruth by her side. Ruth informed her that Koutarou had saved her from the kidnapping. With added confidence due to the knowledge of Koutarou's secret, Ruth reassured Theia that there was no need to be afraid of pursuing Koutarou, that there are more ways to happiness than creating a family, and that he will be the greatest knight by her side. Last and not least, Ruth will be there to share Theia's weight of responsibility. At the end of the scene, Theia asked whether Ruth could aid her with one task, to which she happily complied.
Epilogue part 1: Valentine's Day
Epilogue part 2: As Kiriha was sorting out Koutarou's clothing in the cabinet, she accidentally found the item stash that Koutarou hid away. Among which, she noticed and picked up an old, oriental necklace, and froze. She recognized this necklace: It was her mother's keepsake. How...? Does that mean...?
Vol 10
Vol 11
Updated some details in Vol 7.5, 8.5 and 8. Updated Vol 9.
...To be continued.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EvI
thanks for the summaries!!
but what happened 20 and 10 years back that involved the girls?
Let me take several wild guesses:
Spoiler:
Whatever happened in those 20 years is related to Kiriha, since they hid the ship, perhaps they buried it and came across the dweller's territory. Stuff happened, and that's where Koutaru met Kiriha's mom.
I was waiting for this:
Kiriha: (To Koutaru) Father?
I have to ask what sort of development does Koutarou get?
Quote:
Originally Posted by SineMora
Let me take several wild guesses:
Spoiler:
Whatever happened in those 20 years is related to Kiriha, since they hid the ship, perhaps they buried it and came across the dweller's territory. Stuff happened, and that's where Koutaru met Kiriha's mom.
I was waiting for this:
Kiriha: (To Koutaru) Father?
Spoiler:
Nice guess, but not quite.
@ both points:
I'm finishing up Vol. 10's summary, you'll find out soon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cloud04
lantern has 10-16 left LOL
iirc anime would be in vol 3 now
It's getting harder and harder to summarized by the volume, each one addressing more plot points + throwing out more new ones than the previous... orz
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richocet
So is the anime a pretty faithful adaptation of the LN?
Pretty faithful thus far, with a whole bunch of references to appeal the LN readers. My only gripe is that they cut out the scene of how Koutarou and Harumi met on the first(?) day of school and why he joined the knitting club.
Pretty faithful thus far, with a whole bunch of references to appeal the LN readers. My only gripe is that they cut out the scene of how Koutarou and Harumi met on the first(?) day of school and why he joined the knitting club.
First of all, thanks for the spoilers.
Second, I think it's subtly understandable why he joined the knitting club, when you don't look at the story from the protagonist's point of view.
2014-07-29, 03:57
