Soukou no Strain

[Zati]

Episode 1 - Shinsen (http://bt.shinsen-subs.org/%5BShinsen-Subs%5D_S-Strain_01_%5BAAFB1263%5D.avi.torrent)

In the distant future, the mankind is divided into two powers; Union and Deague. They have continued long war that no one is sure when it began. Union uses manned weapons, Strain, as the main military power, while Deague uses unmmand weapons Tumoru.
Sara Viereck, a daughter of a good family, is a Union’s 16-year-old girl who goes to Grapera Space Armed Soldier Academy locates in Cranial Solar System in order to become a full-fledged Reasoner (a pilot of Strain).
Her brother, Ralph Viereck, was sent to the front line 130 light years away to accomplish a special mission when she was 11 years old. It takes 400 years of objective time even by the fastest sub-light speed space craft of Union. However, according to relativist theory, it corresponds to two subjective years (the time crews experiences). Therefore, Sara needs to go to the same battle field to meet her brother.
Because they lost their parents when they were quite young, Sara thinks of her brother as a guy dearer than a sibling, and she lives for their reunion.
One day, the planet Sara lives is suddenly assaulted by Deague. Surprisingly, it was her brother Ralph that takes away a mysterious girl sleeping in a capsule.
To search the truth, Sara gets in Strain and runs after him. However, she receives an attack from Ralph, and the Mimic is broken. The Mimic is a copy of the pilot’s brain, and it is an essential part to control the Strain.
Taken from Animenfo

http://anidb.info/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=4556
http://www.animenfo.com/animetitle,3809,pdogfr,soko_no_strain.html
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6829
http://www.s-strain.jp/

[Kraco]

Her brother, Ralph Viereck, was sent to the front line 130 light years away to accomplish a special mission when she was 11 years old. It takes 400 years of objective time even by the fastest sub-light speed space craft of Union. However, according to relativist theory, it corresponds to two subjective years (the time crews experiences).

You would think the technology would be quite obsolete once it gets to the destination after 400 years of travelling... >_>

How was the first episosde? Did you check it out?

[Zati]

The first episode was pretty good, looks like another nice new mecha series, and I was quite impressed. The second half of the episode was unexpected, I was surprised what happened to all her friends in just the first episode, and makes you root for the female lead. If you like Code Geass, give this a try, you might like it.

[Kraco]

DF should have a look at this. While Sara's not Saber, she's still a blond and voice acted by Ayako Kawasumi (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=525)...

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/2702/nosaberbutsomethingjs6.jpg

Anyway, it looked like a decent series although I'm not the greatest fan of characters suffering from serious brother (or sister) complexes. It's just simply annoying and feels like a plot device, no matter how tragic and orphaned childhood such characters might have had. Perhaps it was natural for little Sara, who had nobody else left than her big brother, but that she's still like that when she's a cadet already is questionable. Is she dreaming of marrying her brother or what?

Well, fortunately the brother didn't have such emotional problems, and returned her warm feelings by almost killing her...

Edit: The next ep already got released:

Episode 2 - Shinsen (http://bt.shinsen-subs.org/%5BShinsen-Subs%5D_S-Strain_02_%5B71FB2D1B%5D.avi.torrent)

[Zati]

Just released again!

Episode 2 - Shinsen (http://bt.shinsen-subs.org/%5BShinsen-Subs%5D_S-Strain_02_%5B71FB2D1B%5D.avi.torrent)

Edit : The first two episodes were aired on the same day, like a doubleheader/twin-bill opener, which I think more series should try.

[Kraco]

A pretty good episode. A lot better than the first one, in my opinion. Even if Sara hasn't yet spoken aloud her desire to kill her brother, she's otherwise assumed quite a few Sasuke characteristics. She also sounds a lot more like Saber in this episode than in the previous one, in which she was still a somewhat happy and easy-going person, despite her obsessive dream of meeting her far away brother again. Now, when she's at the bottom, deadly determined, and being bullied because of that, I guess the required edge is a tone like Saber had.

[Yukimura]

This show looks interesting, when the main characters friends all die in the first episode you have to give it props. Unfortunately even with that surprise I've still been noticing the trends and clichés a lot more recently, which means I may have finally watched too much anime.

Sara reminds me of several different characters, but at her root she's Shima Katase, but with a lot less crying and a lot more attitude and fanservice (both things Shima Katase desperately needed). The bitchy girl and her posse are just as irritating as every other bitchy girl and bitchy girl posse but with any luck our heroine won't be brought down by earning their respect or some nonsense. I foresee that she'll get into that Gundam level suit soon, but she might end up becoming friends with the short girl and backing her up instead (at least it would be a new idea).

[Zati]

WinD release, it's Episode 1-3 batch torrent :

Episode 1-3 - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_01-03_%5BWinD%5D(XViD).torrent)

[Kraco]

I noticed no problems in the WinD release. Seemed like solid subbing work.

What comes to the plot itself, it continued the line of few surprises or anything unique, but according to the preview Sara is descending the ladder to the dark pits of vengeance, so all is well. This looks like a series definitely worth watching, if space scifi is of any interest.

[Kraco]

The third episode did end with a nice cliffhanger, so lets give Sara one more chance to prove her worth:

Episode 4 xvid - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_04_%5BWinD%5D(XViD)%5B9BC10552%5D .avi.torrent)
Episode 4 h264 - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_04_%5BWinD%5D(h264)%5B7D55E37C%5D .mp4.torrent)

Edit: Quite an interesting episode. And another brother complex character... Well, at least she had a bit better reason for that, seeing how her brother was killed, but still. Well, anyway, it was a good fight, and nicely ruthless. And it looks like Sara's fights aren't over even among the crew that's supposed to be her side... It seems her decision to use a fake name was a reasonable one; no doubt revealing the truth would increase the number of her close enemies even more.

[Yukimura]

Wow, even after saving pretty much the whole ship she's still got to deal with the high school drama queen dream team. I was hoping that they'd disband or go away since the blue haired girl bought it, but instead they'll probably do something stupid like threaten her mimic to try and bring her back down to their level. It's sad that such immature mindsets exist in the cadets of their military, but it wouldn't be a drama if there weren't any stupid bullies to pick on the main character.

[Aeon]

This show is freaking incredible. This has got to be the best mech combat I've ever seen. Watching this really makes me wanna play Zone Of The Enders again. I'm surprised nobody com system picked up on Sara calling the enemy suit her brother.

[Besu]

Yeah I would have figured that atleast the bridge would have heard it as there must have been scanning all com channels

[Darknodin]

Yeah I would have figured that atleast the bridge would have heard it as there must have been scanning all com channels

actually, in the ep before, they said communications don't work at that speed. seems like they have to touch one another (or at least be real close) to talk.

pretty good last two eps. my biggest question right now is... what is the blue-haired kid? he seems very important. is it only because of skill or is there something else?

[Besu]

Duh, I should really pay more attention.

[Zati]

Just released!

Episode 5 (XviD) - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_05_%5BWinD%5D(XViD)%5BC11C99C1%5D .avi.torrent)
Episode 5 (h264) - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_05_%5BWinD%5D(h264)%5B95407986%5D .mp4.torrent)

[Kraco]

An interesting episode, although not much action was involved. First they sharpened Sara's solitudinous tendency to the maximum, and then slam it against a wall. Although this episode didn't yet tell if that was succesful, but I suppose it will be, since things like this are not altogether uncommon in anime. While her detachment was kind of cool, it was also taken to a bit ridicule measures in this episode, so I hope she will back down a little bit and start to interact also with other characters than one brain-in-a-can.

[animus]

Is it only me? The h264 releases' audio and video aren't synched. There's like a lag and they don't match up.

Anyways, they keep saying that Sara never used another mimic before. But in episode 1, where her brother destroys her strain and she goes down. She jumps into another strain that's grounded, with the pilot knocked out. I guess it's still "activated" by that other pilot and she can use it? Wtfux. Also it seems like this series a cesspool of random fetishes. Female Harem, Lolicon, French Maid Doll Lolicon, Sibling Complexes, etc. And after watching episode 5, jesus christ, am I annoyed. How anti-social do you need to be?

[Deadfire]

Also it seems like this series a cesspool of random fetishes. Female Harem, Lolicon, French Maid Doll Lolicon, Sibling Complexes, etc. And after watching episode 5, jesus christ, am I annoyed. How anti-social do you need to be?

God I love anime :p

I'm still undecided on this anime, nice action, nice story (or that part that makes sense), however Sara (Although I adore the voice actress) is starting to piss me off. THis anti-social, win at all costs, nii-san adoring (anyone else note how they make that relationship seem a little too close..or is it just me?) bullshit has to really stop it's alright we got it about 3 Eps ago. Once she becomes better of a charactor or there is more action then I'll love this series.

[kooshi]

Finally got around to watching the 5 episodes that are out so far and this seems like a good series to watch. The only bad thing about the show is (which everybody seems to agree on) is Sara's anti-social and brother-obsession personality.
I really like how they kill characters that are possible candidates of becoming a main part of the story (ie. Sara's friends in ep1 and Isabella). I seriously thought that Isabella was going to stick around for quite a while before either getting killed or becoming friends with Sara for some strange reason. If this keeps up, we'll probably see the deaths of characters who stand out easily almost every few episodes.
The thing that impresses me the most is the CG during the fight scenes. Hot damn, so damn smooth, fast, and kickass! All mechas should follow this format, hahaha.

[Kraco]

More Sara anti-social goodness:

Episode 6 xvid - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_06_%5BWinD%5D(XViD)%5B3209E13E%5D .avi.torrent)
Episode 6 h264 - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_06_%5BWinD%5D(h264)%5B514C204C%5D .mp4.torrent)

Edit: She certainly has a thick and hard wall of ice to break. But it looks like it's being chipped broken little by little. Still, it's good it's taking this long, because that's of course the only way to make it look believable and not just a whim of the plot.

The battle in this episode was quite small scale compared to the previous one, but it was executed just as well, as actually presented some nice if still simple cooperation tactics instead of the lone wolf style fighting.

[Yukimura]

I'm starting to think Sara just has an addictive personality...the way she treats that doll. It might just be because she's lonely or something but I can't believe she was drawing new clothes for her.

On another note it is indeed good she's warming up to the team.

[Board of Command]

I just picked up this series and it's pretty interesting. The opening song could be better if the singer didn't sound like she was on helium half the time.

[Kraco]

Alright. I was certainly missing Anti-Social Sara-chan already.

Episode 7v2 xvid - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_07_v2_%5BWinD%5D(XViD)%5B6B615F03 %5D.avi.torrent)
Episode 7v2 h264 - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_07_v2_%5BWinD%5D(h264)%5BAEB61721 %5D.mp4.torrent)

Edit: Updated links to v2, which were released.

[Yukimura]

Well in addition to non-social doll fetish Sara, we get 100 metric tons of hyper social lesbian Lavinia (though they did managed to squeeze in some plot progression). A very interesting episode.

@Below: Good point Kraco, I forgot how much I hate it when animes pull shit like this. Mischief like that has no place in a military unit, though of course they have to keep it funny so I usually forgive it.

[Kraco]

Lav is bloody evil (in addition to being a hyper social lesbian). She stole and then managed to lose Sara's irreplaceable mimic. Considering they are living in a time of war, that should be a crime punishable by death, because it practically means rendering Sara unable to fight for the rest of her life.

Well, of course they will find it. Would be a strange twist indeed if they didn't!

[Ryllharu]

I really enjoyed when Lavinia's "direct attack" backfired and she turned Jessie into a lesbian. Beyond that, she's pretty much good for comedy relief and in this case, driving the plot along. I wonder where they are going to go with meeting the real Emily. There must be something weird going on that (what I assume) is Emily's Mimic stuffed into a doll works for Sara. Does it have to do with Emily alone, the fact that Emily is close to Sara's brother, or even something else?

Waiting for the next episode will be painful. I'm also eagerly waiting for when Lottie finds out Sara is really Sara Werec.

[Board of Command]

http://img328.imageshack.us/img328/903/bscap0001dv9.png

[Aeon]

What this ep lacked in wonerful mech combat it easily made up with Lavinia comedy.

[Besu]

I'm still crying from the bathroom scene

[kooshi]

I thought this was a pretty bad episode. Most of it tried to be funny, but it was really weak. But then again, to me, the humour in this series has always been weak.

[Kraco]

At last our sweet Anti-Social Sara is back...

Episode 8 xvid - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_08_%5BWinD%5D(XViD)%5B3C6E1EB5%5D .avi.torrent)
Episode 8 h264 - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_08_%5BWinD%5D(h264)%5B4763363D%5D .mp4.torrent)

[NeoCybercoin]

Kraco, may I give you a hug? = )

[Besu]

At last our sweet Anti-Social Sara is back...

Episode 8 xvid - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_08_%5BWinD%5D(XViD)%5B3C6E1EB5%5D .avi.torrent)
Episode 8 h264 - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_08_%5BWinD%5D(h264)%5B4763363D%5D .mp4.torrent)


beat me to it

[Kraco]

Man, this is a funny series. People die like flies all the time. First they, ironically, build a little understanding between Caris and Sara, and the next moment they, apparently at least, off him... Sweet'n'cruel.


Kraco, may I give you a hug? = )
Sorry, but I prefer to have only the opposite sex hug me :p

[Ryllharu]

As soon as they started talking about closer relations with Sara (on a serious level, not Lavinia's "missionary" work) you got the feeling he was gonna die. We even got a bonus of Lotti finding out who Sara really was, just as the two technicians (how old are they anyway?) found out.

I'm already desperately waiting for the next eps.

Sara is a Black Widow. No wonder her brother wants to stay away from her, any man close to her gets an instant death sentence.

[NeoCybercoin]

That must be it Ryll. She's just not telling anyone. And no wonder the brother wants Emily more. That will be his new little sister O-o

[Kraco]

Arienai! Ryllharu prayed to the right God, apparently:

Episode 9 xvid - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_09_%5BWinD%5D(XViD)%5B3041F5EF%5D .avi.torrent)
Episode 9 h264 - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_09_%5BWinD%5D(h264)%5B0DECB5D2%5D .mp4.torrent)

[Yukimura]

Excellent, 2 eps of Strain in one day. And I'm loving (hating) this lack of discipline in this military and its susceptibility to rumors, now obviously it's far too much to ask for realism but it still irks me that as soon as they found out that she was related to a traitor she became a suspected spy. No mention of all the times she'd tried to kill her brother or saved the ship. Nope for the officers it's just Strike 1: You're a traitors brother Strike 2: You lied about your identity therefore we think you might be a spy. And for the students (this is more understandable) You're a traitors brother therefore everything bad that ever happened is all your fault.

Is this a cultural thing or something? I know in the US if you're brother does something retarded you don't get blamed for it and while you may be ridiculed because of the association people won't think that you are exactly like your brother and ignore all you're past deeds.

[Kraco]

Well, the second one wasn't so exciting, being mainly personal history lessons, but I suppose it was, as such, a necessary episode, even if it was saturated with not just one but two nii-san complexes.

Still, Sara's personality is somewhat believable, all in all. She is, or was, really dependant on her brother, and now she confessed she has already decided to kill him. I guess things like that may turn a person quite an introvert. She probably never thought what she could in life after the encountered with her brother was finished, one way or another, and thus wasn't in the slightest interested in socializing. In a way she really followed her brother: Ralph also indicated he has only one purpose and anybody trying to come between him and that objective will be removed.

[Aeon]

How many eps is Strain planned for? I don't see it going more then 13 which is a shame since every time I see them in their Strains I'm impressed. Also the sudden death was shocking, I mean Gantz shocking I seriously didn't see it coming.

And I agree with Yukimura. the military or maybe its just the ship isn't run that well.

[Yukimura]

According to ANN Strain is only 13 eps, it's kindof nice I think since 13 eps is short enough that it'll be easier to remember everything that happened as opposed to a 26 ep where episodes 5-10 are generally pretty hazy by the end.

[SilverSurfie]

I like the series... although they have to have dumb ass b****es like they normally do. Im not sure if its just me but is anyone else annoyed/pissed off at dumb anime girls? Sure lets not defend myself from some stupid arrogant b****es that are about to whoop my ass. She should of sayd yeah of course im not gonna save her (leader of the regular mech girls that dies in the first 30 seconds of engagement), she only gave me endless shit serves her right. Atleast you bring some personality and depth to the character. -_-

Its almost as annoying as watching scary movies and the dude/girl dont run away from the stupid zombie and just stand there like a dumbass...

sorry... end rant.

[Kraco]

I have no idea what you are talking about. Who doesn't defend herself, against whom? Who didn't save whom? Which leader of mech girls dies in 30 secs? Who gave endless shit to whom?

I think you should have inserted some names into that bulk of text. Well, if you intended to be understood, that is...

[Yukimura]

I like the series... although they have to have dumb ass b****es like they normally do. Im not sure if its just me but is anyone else annoyed/pissed off at dumb anime girls? Sure lets not defend myself from some stupid arrogant b****es that are about to whoop my ass. She should of sayd yeah of course im not gonna save her (leader of the regular mech girls that dies in the first 30 seconds of engagement), she only gave me endless shit serves her right. Atleast you bring some personality and depth to the character. -_-


Translation: I like this series, although the show's female characters show unfavorable qualities that are normal in many anime. I'm not sure if it's just me but is anyone else discouraged by female anime characters who show these unfavorable qualities? For Example..."I won't defend myself when my former GAMBEE pilot comrades, who are out for revenge because their leader (Isabella) is dead, try to attack me in a remote storage area". Sarah should have said "Yes of course I didn't save your leader, who died very early in the engagement, she treated me poorly and wasn't a nice person so she deserved her fate." At least this would bring personality and depth to Sarah's character.
End Translation

When phrased this way I can agree with some of what he said. It would be cool if Sara had a typically arrogant male personality, as she wouldn't be taking so much shit. However then she wouldn't be who she is and it would be strange. I have often commented on how terribly undisciplined the characters in the show are and that ties in to the behavior of the girls.

[Kraco]

I have often commented on how terribly undisciplined the characters in the show are and that ties in to the behavior of the girls.

Indeed. I have hard time remembering they are supposed to be the military of a nation in war. Well, the setting is what it is.

I have been calling the main character Anti-Social Sara all the time, but I do understand her personality completely, and I don't find anything disturbing about it in that sense. And I agree totally with Yuki on Sara not being who she is if she acted otherwise. In fact, a seemingly weak and highly introverted personality is a good way to make her brother complex more believable (well, that's a trait I won't ever much like in any series, but it's an important plot element here).

[Kraco]

Let's see what happens next, redemption or damnation.

Episode 10 - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_10_%5BWinD%5D(XViD)%5BD13061F7%5D .avi.torrent)

Edit: Quite an episode. Very fundamental things were revealed, which is of course essential considering we will shortly run out of episodes. Still, I'm not altogether sure what it was. Emilies are aliens of some sort, but why did they look like humans? I wonder if that will be addressed at some point. Or maybe I just missed something, and they are artificial beings.

Nevertheless, it's nice to finally know why Ralph acts like he does. But at this point I can't anymore predict at all how this will end. Now Sara also knows what Ralph does, and it would seem likely she would also try to help Emilies somehow. Yet, she will hardly join Ralph, and the preview didn't suggest anything like that, either. Perhaps she will kill Ralph and succeed in sending Emilies somewhere. And then die. Somehow I can't see this series ending without both Ralph and Sara dead.

[Ryllharu]

That was a fairly grotesque twist I wasn't expecting. So, members of an alien species that operates on a Hive mind and all look the same were being exploited and abused in the hopes that humanity could gain instantaneous communication and potentially teleportation. It's just a coincidence that they look human.

Somehow, according to the chibi-geniuses, Sara doesn't have a human brain, rather an Emilies one or at the least one similar to the Emilies. That's how she can interact with the Emily Mimic.

Ralph will most certainly die, one way or the other. Either Sara will kill him or he'll die from the nasty case of TB he's got. For now, I think Sara will live, but there's no way to know for sure given how they keep killing others off in droves.

[NeoBear]

I really hope this doesn’t have one of those endings wear there is some blinding light and everyone is suspended in it and they talk about feelings or hold hands or some crap like that.

I don’t think she cant interact because she has a Emily brain I think you have to consider the situation when they linked Sara was desperate, they hint and showed that the mimic was alive hell it even had eyeballs. and since the Emily mimic shares a conscious with the other Emily perhaps it knew that Ralph was outside or something to this effect

[Aeon]

Ralph taking over the ship by himself was pretty cool I found it weird that Ralph killed all of those people without remorse till he reached his last victim. I also like the back story they've given all of the characters.

[Kraco]

I didn't find that weird. I'm not entirely sure what Ralph's mental state is, but it's obvious he has plenty of totally suppressed memories and emotions. He might be controlled by Emily in some manner, or he just lost it quite completely after realising he had killed a host of those kids when attacking the ship, and especially after learning how torturous past those (alien) kids had.

He's a possessed man capable of anything, yet not quite stable.

Now that we know his past more or less, I think his character is quite good.

[Kraco]

This is what we have been waiting for!

Episode 11 h264 - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_11_%5BWinD%5D(h264)%5B69516B06%5D .mp4.torrent)
Episode 11 xvid - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_11_%5BWinD%5D(XViD)%5B783D0858%5D .avi.torrent)

[shinta|hikari]

Ralph is just stupid, and weak minded. Humans are cruel, so kill them mercilessly? I dont really get his stand.

[Kraco]

Stupid? He's probably the best Strain pilot, from what we can tell a decent tactician, can control a capital ship alone... If he's stupid, then the standards for smart people would be pretty high indeed.

I think what happened with him was a mix of his own surprise, guilt and above all a hefty dose of telepathy by Emily. Anybody can tell he's not really a mentally stable person right now, and wasn't ever after his encounter with Emily. But yes, he probably has quite a weak will.

I think his character is far better than most crazed villains out there.

[shinta|hikari]

Stupid also has a variety of meanings. It doesnt necessarily mean that he is incapable. What I meant was that he couldnt even analyze the situation well and resorted to a stupid decision to save the aliens at the expense of everything (even his sister). He is also weak-willed because of that.

I hate weak willed characters. Crazy characters are OK though, but I think Mao is better.

[Kraco]

I guess it's a matter of opinion and preferences. I don't most of the time like weak-willed characters, either, in fact I hate them quite often. However, I don't dislike them when they are special cases, like in this series. Despite being weak-willed enough to succumb to Emily's brain-washing, he hasn't been weak-willed at all in his quest for revenge and freedom for the Emily clones. If you really think about all the detestable weak characters out there, most of them are quite different from Ralph, who is more like a man possessed.

[oyabun]

i guess we won't know until ralph explains his motives more clearly, because all we can see is him killing everybody.

[shinta|hikari]

He is possessed, and the reason for that is because he is weak willed. Being possessed is in fact a refelction of a weak will, because the will itself is something you decide on, or choose yourself, because you rationally believe it is right.

Ralph just acts like a raving lunatic. There is no sign of any conscious decision on his part. He is just acting in reaction to the trauma he received from the incident.

I think he was mentally damaged from that, so I guess the issue of him being weak willed NOW is no longer relevant.

[oyabun]

so I guess the issue of him being weak willed NOW is no longer relevant.

you evil you..

[Kraco]

Our conceptions of a raving lunatic differ some 180 degrees, I think. From what I have seen, he has been deadly cold and most of the time totally unemotional during the show. I believe he planned himself how to steal Emily from such a central system of Union, he fought so extremely succesfully against other strains, he retrieved Emily from the space station, streered the space ship into a collision course... It doesn't sound like a raving lunatic to me. It sounds like a man ready to do anything for his goal. Despite having some apparently lethal disease (he's being pretty sickly every now and then). I have no doubt he received some trauma from the incident, but he can still think clearly. He's crazy, no doubt, but thinking far more clearly than many of the sane people in this series (or in general). It's just twisted clearness of vision.

[shinta|hikari]

you evil you..
What??
please limit your posts to something RELEVANT to the thread.

[BananaFob]

From what I see, Ralph was a gentle soul who didn't expect to kill anybody (there might be some arguments to this), and he didn't know he was going to kill these UK Aliens. So when he thought he almost killed one, he felt so much guilt that he wanted to redeem himself to feel better for killing something that looked like his own sister. Emily just took advantage of that feeling and made some kind of contract, and now Ralph is really unstable.

Can't wait until episode 12; I wonder how he's going (attempt to) execute his plan to save the other half of Emily.

[Kraco]

It was quite a death fest as long as it lasted. They probably needed to reserve Grim Reaper exclusively for themselves for the duration of the show. Jolly good.

Episode 12 xvid - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_12_%5BWinD%5D(XViD)%5BAA202B11%5D .avi.torrent)
Episode 13 xvid - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_13_%5BWinD%5D(XViD)%5B5F581501%5D .avi.torrent)

Episode 12 h264 - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_12_%5BWinD%5D(h264)%5B40793E5C%5D .mp4.torrent)
Episode 13 h264 - WinD (http://a.scarywater.net/wind/Soukou_no_Strain_13_%5BWinD%5D(h264)%5BFCF5DE0F%5D .mp4.torrent)

(They had some problems with the #12 h264 encode, thus it'll be delayed a little.)

Edit: It was a fine little series. A solid plot with very sharp characters, perhaps even too sharp here and there, but that certainly gave the series individuality that often is lacking in series. Of course the one trait above all in this series was the ruthless manner of killing characters left and right, from the beginning till the end. You never knew who's going to be the next.

Good bye, Anti-Social Sara and Psychopath Ralph!

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/2405/waitingsarainsnowkj9.jpg

[Besu]

It's over no, it can't be. Argh

[Ryllharu]

It's neat to look at the source material for this series. It was loosely based on A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It's pretty funny which characters are changed and what roles they play.

-Note that "Werec" is an anagram of "Crewe", Sarah's family name in the book.
-Becky the nurse is a bullied, overworked (and probably incompetent) scullery maid in the book.
-Lottie has tantrums in the book as well, and also seeks Sara's friendship. She is younger than Sara is in the book, consistent with her loli appearance in the series.
-Emily is still Sara's doll, and her most treasured possession.
-Melchisidec "Melchie" the chibi-genius, is a rat who lives in the wall in the book. Alternatively, Sara trains him, rather than the other way around.
-Lavinia is evil in the book, hates Sara, but still does pranks on her.

More details here:
Wiki: A Little Princess (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Little_Princess)


I'm just glad this series paid attention to Relativity.

[Kraco]

Ho... That's very interesting, Ryllharu. I read that wikiarticle, and the story was indeed rewritten in an innovative way to suit a mecha series. I guess Ralph suffered the most changes of the characters. In fact, without the similar names, I wonder if anybody would have even recognized this was (loosely) based on the old book.

[Ryllharu]

In another forum I frequent, someone commented that Lottie and the others didn't seem to have aged much when they found her in what was supposed to be 15 years after Sara left the Libertad behind. It brought up an interesting question, and in my somewhat mediocre understanding of quantum physics and Relativity, I attempted to explain it. We know the series does pay attention to Relativistic Flight. Here's what I wrote:

-----------------------
I'm amazed they found her at all. With Relativistic flight, not only could she come out anywhere, depending on how fast or slow she was going, she could reappear anytime.

Assuming that the Libertad was fixed in under a year after Sara and Ralph went to relativistic flight, that means that all the other graduates and crew would have the other 14 years to start looking for Sara. But they really wouldn't have any idea when she would come out. It probably wouldn't be too hard to know she wasn't on any inhabited planet, since we could assume she'd try for some form of communication with the military, which I'm under the assumption they can receive in flight at full speed, since that is theoretically possible.

I'm guessing they just followed her vague vector and created an expanding cone and checked each planet, under the assumption Sara and Ralph were traveling at a fairly constant speed.

If they kept ramping up and down to relativistic speeds, it would take them longer to travel than Sara (who aged only minutes), but not too much more, probably 2 or 3 years.
----------------------

Well, that was my explanation for it. If anyone wants to refute my understanding of quantum physics, I'd love to be enlightened. I wonder if I almost blew a blood vessel thinking this one over. That's my theory, I'd love anyone else's input.

[Kraco]

15 years? Where does that number come from? Sara and Ralph's flight was so short I thought all the time they had landed on a planet in the same system! In fact, it never even occured to me there could have been any significant amount of relativistic time difference generated.

Even more so because those people arrived when Sara and Emily had apparently barely left the mecha behind. I believed they had fired their engines the very moment they got them back online, and followed Sara to the planet she had landed on. And if they really had left the system, I doubt they would have so conviniently found a planet with entangled mechas with little steering abilities (as was made apparent by their less than stylish landing).

Now, I have no idea about quantum physics, but if they were in sub-light speed for a minute or two, surely you can't already observe 15 years of difference?

Well, after all these more or less uneducated points, I reassured myself again there certainly was no 15 years there.

[Ryllharu]

There's a Local vs. G.M.T. clock in her Strain. Thumbnails below.

http://aycu22.webshots.com/image/10141/2000143113511794478_th.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000143113511794478)
Timestamp: 16:34
http://aycu08.webshots.com/image/8887/2000127746018269890_th.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000127746018269890)
Timestamp: 20:34

The second image shows that 15 years have passed since Sara took Ralph away from the ship to finish him off. Earlier in the show, episode 11, they say that Ralph is actually still somewhere in Relativistic flight, and the Emily's transported him back to this time.

How much relative time passes depends entirely on how fast you go. 60% of lightspeed to the edge of our solar system and back is about 10 years if I'm not mistaken.

[Darknodin]

When did Ralph find the first Emily again? I thought it was around that time (at the end of the ep)...

and wow on the "little Princess" thing. I don't think it would have been possible to see the resemblance without the names. however, I think it adds to it and makes us appreciate more how the writers made this show. Might even get me to buy that book.

edit: its funny how they just scrambled all the last names... especially Carrisford and Dickon. I think this show is a candidate for a deeper look into why it was made like that.

[Yukimura]

Umm last time I checked 7137 is 124 years after 7013, I don't feel like looking up the equations or anything, but damn... it must be tricky to coordinate an interstellar war if people are jumping forward in time so much. I remember they had a similar system in the later three Ender series books where transitioning to light speed was free, but you still couldn't go any faster so travel between planets meant you didn't age much but years and years would go by relatively while you were in transit.

Anyway, it was a good show, deaths everywhere, cool action, and interesting characters, though I wish Ralph could have come around somehow. I feel like Sara managed to get surpass where was emotionally at the beginning of the show, with the added bonus of her bond with Emily and her stronger bonds with her new friends (as they were forged in blood). Good for her, though I'm sure we'll miss our anti-social Sara I'm glad she turned out all right.

[Ryllharu]

Umm last time I checked 7137 is 124 years after 7013,

Oops, how'd I get into college again? Good eyes.

[BananaFob]

I too, enjoyed the show, but I really didn't like how most of the scenes of Ralph and the Deague ship-captain were always having sex all the time. I liked how it ended without Melchisidec and the vice-captain not dying.

[Darknodin]

Umm last time I checked 7137 is 124 years after 7013, I don't feel like looking up the equations or anything, but damn... it must be tricky to coordinate an interstellar war if people are jumping forward in time so much. I remember they had a similar system in the later three Ender series books where transitioning to light speed was free, but you still couldn't go any faster so travel between planets meant you didn't age much but years and years would go by relatively while you were in transit.




Its not as hard as you think. You only have to care about two things. 1) taking a static viewpoint, how long the ships will take to get from point A to B and 2) taking the ship's viewpoint, if it will take long enough for the crew to die of old age (which shouldn't be much of a factor most of the time). In the end, its just coordinating ships like usual, except that instead of taking two weeks to get to the battlefront, it takes 500 years.

[shinta|hikari]

Just when she gets over her brother complex (partly coz he's dead), all the guys who liked her (and who she kind of liked) are dead. Too bad, but serves her right.

[Kraco]

Too bad, but serves her right.

Serves her right? You have a pretty cruel view of life, don't you?

But that was one of the good aspects of this show; that people died like people should die in a war. You never knew who was going to get killed next. Nothing's more unrealistic than a war story with only "bad guys" dying and good guys time after time surviving.

[shinta|hikari]

Serves her right? You have a pretty cruel view of life, don't you?

Why yes, thank you.

But that isnt the reason I said she deserves it. Im just pointing out that the reason the two guys who liked her died was because of her obsession with her brother, the first while protecting her, the next while worrying and going after her when she dove into a stupidly dangerous situation. So yes, serves her right.