Some weeks ago Joe (the boss) asked me what show I wanted to blog episodically. Before this I’ve never blogged a show episodically before and I wanted to try it out for a bit. To his surprise (and exasperation) I chose Vividred Operation. The sucker never should’ve invited me to write here.
Vividbutts is a fun show. I have some minor complaints which I blame on time constraints, but it manages to pick itself up towards the end and has a satisfying conclusion. I chose it because I’m a big fan of the Nanoha series and this seemed like it would be kind-of-sort-of-maybe like that, except to more extremes (and by that I mean fanservice). Well, I was right on all accounts. Vividred includes a lot of butts, yuri, tropes, mecha. I couldn’t ask for much more. Except for a sequel. Give me a sequel.
I still owe you some episode posts, don’t I? Here’s the quick rundown.
Episode 10
Rei apologises to Akane for crushing her tomato. They make up and become friends, only to find out they were enemies all along. This episode sets up the final arc and it was really nice in a lot of ways. Rei gets a lot more substance. She also finally becomes lovers friends with Akane and they spend the night together. But it turns out Red had been sleeping with Blue so she feels betrayed. I thought that was a great performance by Uchida Maaya there at the end. I’m guessing she’s fairly new as a voice actor? Her other big roles are Sanka Rea and Rikka from Chuu2Koi.
Episode 11
Akane sets out to rescue Rei because… they’re friends? I guess that’s a valid reason for breaking someone out of top-level security imprisonment. Of course, the always awesome grandfather has foreseen everything. More surprising is that Aoi just lets Akane go out. Or is she proposing a h-harem plan? …TLRD antics aside, the end of the episode was a bit surprising to me. In the end it’s just another trope (captured princess, lieutenant turned final boss, not even my true form) but I didn’t expect the crow to eat Rei. That’s just gross.
(only Akane is allowed to eat Rei)
Episode 12
The grand finale. A lot of lasers, transformations and friendship. The ending was kinda… cheesy, but about what’d you’d expect from a final episode. There’s a lot of Eva vibes coming from this episode, but fortunately they keep it mostly to the visuals and away from the plot. Just like in episode 8 and 11, I’m kinda sad they don’t do more to create a rival tension between Aoi and Rei. I mean, they’re both canoning with Akane, right? Where’s the clashing? Where’s the jealousy? Where’s the drama?
(I’ll restrain my yuri fanboyism for the future, I promise)
What’s in a butt?
In the end, Vividred Operation is a cute show. That’s all it manages to be, and really it doesn’t need to be any more than that. I think of it as the logical child born from a love for mecha and magical girls. Nanoha is the big player in this area, but overall it’s just otaku culture that creates this kind of show. And although I liked it, a lot, I’m just sitting here craving for more. How much better would the show have been with a few episodes extra? I liked the fast pacing, but it comes at a price. I liked how I knew what to expect, and am sad it didn’t surprise me. Maybe it’s too much to ask, but that’s what makes Vividred a cute show. And nothing more than that.
Yup, a Nanoha ending. \o/
Anime Audiolog 
Fully ship rei x akane