You May Get Ready!

(WARNING! Spoilers Ahead! Go to the Conclusion to avoid them.)

Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure: Student Housing takes us halfway through the series, and once again the ride is a wild one. The three episodes on the disc are "Campus Life," "Intrigue," and "Hard Case."

"Campus Life" is a departure from the previous episodes in that there is no combat sequences; in fact, the only appearance of a Core robot in the entire episode is a cameo at the end. However, this isn't a bad thing because in the first volume events are compressed and come quickly after one another.  This episode allows for a slightly slackened pace, which in turn allows for much needed character development on the part of Mitsuki, Kazuki and D. The three of them living together makes for a number of humorous run-ins. The episode ends with yet another complication, as Yayoi (the pilot Kazuki saved in the first episode) has apparently developed an obsession for him that drove her to buy the house next door and build a connecting hallway to Kazuki's room.

"Intrigue"  picks up with this plot thread, and delivers some quality comedic moments as both Yayoi and Mitsuki wage a silent war for Kazuki's affection. Mitsuki begins to feel very threatened by Yayoi, who has insisted on inserting herself into every aspect of Kazuki's life. Not only does she do his cooking and cleaning, but she also got hired as his teacher at school and has been appointed the Core Robot training officer. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Mitsuki takes it upon herself to try and get Yayoi partnered with someone -anyone!- other than Kazuki. Her plan naturally goes awry, much to her chagrin. The second half of the episode contains one of the longer and more interesting combat sequences yet seen in the series. This episode is also very interesting, because it is the first concrete evidence of Mitsuki's feelings for Kazuki. Of course, they were always pretty obvious, but she hasn't acted upon them till now.

"Hard Case" is a well-rounded episode that continues the battle between Mitsuki and Yayoi for Kazuki, as well as the growth of Kazuki, Mitsuki, and D as both a fighting team and a family, of sorts. After an absence, Commander Sanada returns as the source of a good deal of humor in this episode. Overall, I think he is starting to become one of my favorite characters in this series. The second half of the episode focuses on the fiendish RaRa plot to capture Kazuki. RaRa deploys one of his strongest weapons and appears to gain the upper hand. However, the episode ends on a cliffhanger when both the RaRa robot and Kazuki's Core Unit 1 disappear in an explosion behind enemy lines. Rats!

The music and dubbing for this series continues to be very well done. As with the first volume, I found most of the background music to be unremarkable. The English voice actors, however, all seem to be really nailing the emotion of their parts, which is very important in any series, but especially so in a comedy one.

For Vol. 2, Pioneer went with the same selection of extras as on the first disc. That is, there are a few character bios written from Kazuki's perspective and some concept sketches. However, apparently missing are the Easter eggs from the first disc.

Conclusion (Spoiler Free!)

These episdoes were very entertaining. "Campus Life" is a failry light episode, but really helps flesh the story out. The other two episodes are better balanced, and feature a good deal of memorable combat sequences. The events of these three episodes also definitely move Dual! even further into the realm of the romantic comedy. Overall, this is a very strong disc that combines rapid paced action, comedy, romance, and a good selection of extras into a light but very entertaining whole. The only bad part about this disc that it leaves the viewer on a cliffhanger.

By Andy Rucker