異端なる双尾娘 | オートマタ

After a mediocre episode (compared to the other  Chu2koi episodes) to introduce Nibutani, we finally see the plot starting to pick up with the relationship between Rikka and Yuuta beginning to deepen with the whole math test incident. However, before we start talking about how moe Rikka is by the end of this episode or now, let’s talk about something way more interesting/better, that is, Dekomori and her references. We have seen how effective her references to specific mecha shows in stirring the emotions of mecha or former mecha fans like me in episode 3 already. This episode, she not only again shows us her vast knowledge in both anime and game, but has successfully affected Yuuta (former Chuunibyou) and Rikka (fellow Chuunibyou) to blur out some references also. Added with math test being a major plot for this episode, I will pull out some math concepts just for the heck of it.  Without further ado, let’s hairspin.

The episode starts of with showing that Rikka only got 2% on her first math midterm, in which Rikka explains that she did that bad on the midterm was because her mind was running under zero-axioms. Axioms, as defined by Wikipedia, is “a premise or starting point of reasoning”, which in Rikka case, it means that she does not have a starting point of reasoning. In math, or in an axiomatic system, axioms can be seen as a set of rules to derive theorems, with each axioms can be assumed to be correct without proof within the same if the system is complete and consistent (Gödel’s first incompleteness theorem). In proofs using axiomatic systems, as I have learned in my computer science logic class, I would use a series of axioms derive my initial condition to the desired position, and would be considered true if I do get the desired position, since in all steps, I applied axioms, which is assumed/defined to true in the system, and hence the result for every step would be a correct statement, including the last one. Putting it back to Rikka case, having axioms can be liken to knowing the equations necessary for the test (ie if the test was on geometry, her having the proper axioms would mean her knowing the formula to the area of a circle for example). So in short, she is saying she forgot all the necessary formulas and etc needed for the test.

From Danbooru

Returning from the faclty room, Rikka tells Dekomori that they are in an emergency, to which Dekomori brilliantly replies, Blood Type Blue, and proceeds to sing Decisive Battle with Rikka. Obviously this is a reference to when the Angels attack GeoFront, Neo Tokyo-3 in Neon Genesis Evangelion, from the discovery of the Angel, usually by discovering something of Blood Type Blue, to the state of emergency the NERV comes under once they discover an Angel, and finally with the Evangelions sent out fighting against the Angels with Decisive Battle playing as the BGM. This relates closely to when Dekomori referenced to Evangelion when she told Yuuta her age in a roundabout way back in episode 3. With a series as ironic as Evangelion, especially with the third Rebuild of Evangelion movie releasing within weeks, KyoAni is totally banking on us having a good laugh when we recognize this reference. And heck, they did an amazing job at catching the attention of people like me.

Rikka was talking about 4*7 and 7*4 and getting confused by it, even though the answer should be the same. In more technical terms, 4*7 and 7*4 means that the multiply function between two numbers has commutative property. While this is clear and true in this case, it is not always true, with matrix multiplication being one example. Another math related reference is they talked about is the times table, which is basically a square matrix that has the row and column header listed from 1 to (usually) 12, and every cell within the table is just the product of the respective row and column header. It is nothing really amazing, but I hear that students back in Asian countries had to memorize the whole table so that they can get the answer instantaneous. (Un)fortunately, I never had to memorize that…

Around the same time, Dekomori blurred out the phrase “Level Upper“. This is a reference to an incident that happened in Toaru Kagaku no Railgun and the object behind the whole incident. Level Upper was the name given to a sound clip that would let the users to become stronger, usually making the user to use powers one level higher than they are at, (ie Saten Ruiko, a Level 0, was finally to use abilities because of Level Upper because it allowed her to use her Level 1 abilities. The catch is that Level Upper would cause the users to fall into a coma.

After talking about times table, Rikka proceeds to call 7*3 to be Evil Pierrot. You know where else I have heard of Pierrot recently? Smile Precure, where Pierrot is the big bad in that show and his minions are trying to revive him by gathering bad energy. So what does 7*3, or 21 have to do with Pierrot from Simle Precure? Nothing really. However, recall that at first Rikka made the mistake of evaluating (x+7)(x+4) to x^2 + 11x + 29, making the mistake at 7*4. She evaluated 7*4 to be 29, while the correct answer is 28, an off by one error. Hence, if we assume that she made the error of evaluating 7*3 incorrect with an extra 1 in there for no apparent reason, we would get 22. (However, if you think about it, this assumption is just weird. Since if we assume the same % off from the correct for her multiplications, or 29-28/28 = 1/28 = 3.57%, her answer for 7*3 will be 21*103.57% = 21.7497..wait. The idea to put an rule to someone’s error is absurd in the first place, not to mention that she got 7*7 correctly, solving it to be 49 in question 3). And interestingly, the original clock that counts the number of times that Pierrot’s minions has gotten bad energy ends at 22 (new one ends at 18), matching Rikka’s answer for 7*3. Am I just stretching this reference too much? Most likely.

After knowing that Dekomori is a math whiz (which might also be a reference to some main character in mecha shows that is shown to be a mechanical geek even at the very beginning of the show), Rikka falls in defeat, in which Yuuta mentions that she is like someone in Smash that has 300% damage. Smash is a clear reference to the fighting game franchise Super Smash Bros., and 300% refers to both when the character that the player is controlling has sustained 300% damage, meaning that the character can be knocked out very easily, and the sudden death mode where the characters starts out with 300% damage.

Later, when the club is washing/fooling around in the school pool, Dekomori mentioned that she is adjusting firing angle to Gel Dorva. Honestly, this is quite an absurd reference from the original Gundam, mostly because I actually haven’t watched all of the first Gundam but knew of the main events through games. Gel Dorva is the line of defense between Granada and Zeon, and also was the location that which Degwin Sodo Zabi, the dictator of Zeon, and General Revil, one of the leading officers in the Earth Federation Space Force, met to negotiate the end of the war. But due to inner fighting, one of Degwin’s son,  Gihren Zabi, constructed a humongous laser cannon and fired at them during the negotiation, which was along the Gel Dorva line, killing both of them. This actually make sense in the show’s context, since Nibutani was talking with other, or negotiating, before being attacked, Dekomori is firing from a water-hose and hence mildly looks similar to when the huge laser cannon was fired, and lastly, it gives context of the line that Dekomori speaks of afterwards, calling Nibutani a hypocrite both as a reference of Degwin cowering to Earth Federation and for Nibutani going back on her past ways, which Dekomori looks highly on.

And after the swimming pool scene, we entering into the second part of episode 05, where we start to see Rikka starting to open up to Yuuta seeing of how much he cares for her. Frankly, as moe as Rikka as by the end of episode 5, they better not cut Dekomori’s screentime, since she is such a more interesting character to follow and to relate to.

Extra: Potential references

There are parts of this episode where I sense that Dekomori might be referencing something but don’t have a clue on what she was referring to, here are the following:

•  When Rikka and Dekomori was talking about the times table being some kind of a boss, the animation turned as if it was a 8-bit RPG game. Is that game a generic 8-bit RPG game or was it a reference to a certain franchise, I do not know.
• In the pool, when she showed off her Mjollnir Accel move, she mentioned about increasing her abilities by 3.88 times. Surly with a detailed number like that, she must be referring to something…
• Finally when Dekomori and Nibutani are firing water at each other, creating an arc, Dekomori shouted GENESIS. I also have no clue on what she was referring to

Aside from all those, I might be missing some references, if you also think Dekomori is awesome and is looking for references in everything she is saying and found something that I haven’t found yet, please reply, watashi kininarimasu.