1 There is a certain kinship in the spirit of fun between the two shows. AsoIku is larger in scope and makes use of a tighter story that does not need to degenerate into a farce like Kampfer S1 did; all in all a superior show. But the vibe is very much the same. So maybe that. Or perhaps it's purely random.

2 It goes above the animation studios methinks - the source novels for both series are published on the same light novel imprint, and the manga adaptations for both run in the same magazine.

3 I only watched about four episodes of Kampfer, and at that point it was still looking a bit like the girls were genuinely trying to kill one another. Still, there was a degree of goofiness about the whole business, like the rumor that the girl-form of the protagonist was dating the guy-form.

4 I like how their phone straps are the messengers

5

I'm having a strange reaction today: I don't want to watch the rest of this episode.

Just about everything I saw at the beginning was things I was glad weren't  in the show -- only now they are. Eris is going to attend the high school that Kio and Manami and Aoi are in, and all of them are going to be in the same class. Antonie (the Greek Heiress) is now a regular character, and she's annoying as hell.

I suppose I should have faith in the writers that they'll soon leave the beaten path again.

Last night I thought I'd pounce on it first thing this morning, but it's the afternoon and I don't want to watch it.

6 I'm surprised that something can break your tolerance so late in the season's run.

7 I'm surprised, too. Maybe I'm just having a bad day.

8

On second thought, I remember now that I wanted to quit Toradora after ep.7 and Sekirei after ep.7. Talk about the coincidence! Also, the advantage of blogging everything.

9 The first half of the episode was kind of sub par; the whole school thing was stupid -- but the last ten minutes or so redeemed it somewhat.  It's amusing that Eris is getting a reputation as a workaholic.

Minor spoilers Highlights: the other girls in the film club teasing Manami and Aoi.  Swimsuit follies.  Aoi finally losing her composure with Eris.  Lowlights: Stupid film camps. The rich heiress and her guards. Kio approaching density of neutronium with Aoi and Manami, especially Aoi.

We've got another Illuminati, and this one's magic (or technology masquerading as such).

10 I think it's the heiress and her bodyguards that did this to me.

11 Pete has a response.

12 Haven't seen this ep yet (though I have seen up to ep. six.) But it's worth noting that the Japanese mediascape is not only very intertwined, but openly corrupt, at least by US standards.

Why did such-and-such artist do the seventh OP for such-and-such series? Probably because Sony is a backer/sponsor of the show and the artist is signed to Sony. Sony can afford to lose a bit of money backing a show if it pushes the artist a bit higher on Oricon.

The same small pool of actors appear in most Japanese dramas. Why? Well, if you hire an actor who isn't signed to "Johnny's" you won't be getting a lot of actors who are (unless a bigger player than Johnny's exerts their might, but that's rare in the world of TV dramas.) So they have created "lock-in" where there is no good reason for it.

I could go on longer than I should about the degree to which the Japanese accept overt corruption (in comparison to the covert corruption endemic in the US), but my main point is this: just because you don't know what the connection is doesn't mean that someone isn't pushing this. Or it could be entirely innocent homage... hard to say .