Check-in Station: C3-bu ep1 (so we’re all agreed?)

*groans* I don’t know how I’m gonna do this guys. I avoided Free and stepped into this. This show is pretty embarrassing. And it’s so weird, especially regarding how taboo real guns are in Japan. Then again, I’m hard-pressed to avoid things that are unique. And though I’ve seen plenty of shows with girls with guns, this one is a bit different. I’m guess I’m gonna have the swallow the awkwardness of all this. Besides this is Gainax, or some form of it anyway. I have to see what comes of this.  So let’s all just agree that I’m gonna give my best to give this show a chance, while still acknowledging that in a season full of my personal favorites, it’s very likely gonna be the runt of the litter.

OK, you guys pretty much know the drill if you’ve been here before. I suck at names. But I’m gonna do my best to keep these characters straight, even though not much about the characters made them standout enough for me to immediately remember their names.

The story starts off with a new high school freshman making an appearance near her home of learning. And it’s quite apparent as soon as she gets on campus that she’s horribly introverted. While girls seem to naturally latch onto each other and form groups, she shrinks and disappears into the background with sad and stunning efficiency. Her name is Yura. Yura Yamato. And she is a sad case.

Once Yura makes it to her dorm, she wastes no time getting comfortable. She’s amazed at the spacious, beautiful room. But then when she gets a little nosy she’s shocked and horrified to see a handgun underneath a pillow. Heh. She imagines it must be a replica for some drama club production. But when she gets really nosy and starts going through her roommate’s drawers and closets, she sees a hell of a lot more paraphernalia.

The scenery is then drawn to the club that her roommate belongs. They’re dealing with the problem of recruitment, and competing with the other more popular clubs. Apparently, being a group of girl who like to shoot guns at people is frowned upon in greater society. And while their initial plan to separate and gun down a bunch of students from the competing clubs is entertaining, even they realize that it’s not realistic and give up on it (I would like to see that though).

The two stories come together when one of the girls visits Yura’s room in hopes of meeting her roommate, and sees Yura acting out some drama from a Rambo movie she’s watching in her roommate’s gear. Talk about embarrassing. Yura is wisked away to the C3 club room, where she’s “wooed” as best as can be by these hyperactive tomboys.

Their attempts are dubious as best, as only one of them even comes close to remembering her name (though I think they were mostly horrible attempts at a nickname), and she was basically thrown sweets and information. It is clear that they did more to scare her than entice. But they’ve yet to give up on her.

Back at the dorm, we see more of how Yura’s life has played out before arriving here. I don’t know if she’s exaggerating or what, but it definitely seems as though she’s looked up to the richer, more privileged people in life. And she breaks down when she realizes that she’s already failing to change, and many of her fellow freshman students have already formed friendships.

This melancholy doesn’t last too long though, as she’s “caught” by one of the members of the C3 club and brought back to her… potential suitors?

Somehow, they get her dressed in gear, take her out to a site for competition (you can tell I know nothing about airsoft as a sport), and get her engaged in a war game. I guess it’s called Rambo, I was totally paying attention because I already knew where this was going. Basically, one member gets to hold the heavy firepower, while the others get pistols and the advantage of numbers and communication.

I won’t get into too much detail, but this part of the show did win me over a bit. The “Rambo” was the aggressive blonde, and she used everything she could to her advantage. And seeing the whole group use command and cover, and quickly, purposefully move and fire from cover was a very, very welcome sight.

It’s pretty obvious that this display of what the sport is will win Yura over. The question really becomes whether it’s entertaining enough to win the viewers over.

I think this show was terribly adequate. Why do I use the word “terribly”, because it’s in that dreaded place for me right now where I don’t find anything wrong with the show in particular. I just find it a tad boring. There’s a reason why I’ve avoided shows like Girl und Panzer and Sora no Woto and Upotte. I’ve somewhat had my fill of the “cute girls doing cute things” vibe. So just the concept alone won’t get me excited, despite my love of earlier, somewhat similar works. For this show to resonate with me, it’s going to have to do something, or be something special. God help me. I’ll give this show a five episode test, but I can’t guarantee much more.