Live A Hero Midsummer Hero Festival Episode 8

Title card pops up, and this episode is called Goodbye! Fun Summer Festival

It is the last day of the weeklong Hero City Summer Festival, and things tune in at Parallel Flight's beach cafe at the festival stall area. Ryekie confirms that the gas and the water service for the office's stall has been shut off to Huckle, so Huckle checks that off the list and says all that's left is turning the place over to the dismantlers. Mokdai comments on how quickly things went, saying the week was busy but fun. Akashi agrees, saying he only came as a visitor (despite working the business's stove for a while?), but he's picked up a lot of experiences he wouldn't have had if he didn't help with the shop. Pretty stimulating stuff.

Sui giggles a little, noting that Akashi spent most of his time in the kitchen, but when he got to the counter he received fan letters. He also got requests for his autograph, so he asked Ryekie to show him how to do that. Akashi gets embarrassed as he tries to excuse himself, saying it was the first time he had fans ask something like that from him. Mokdai laughs, saying that's proof Akashi's being recognized as a hero and encouraging him to be more proud of himself. Akashi is taken aback at the idea as he says it feels weird. You either take an interest that customers like that came, say you wish you could've spent more time running the shop with everyone, or say Akashi is cool. B gets an extra line of Akashi shrugging but asking why you look so sad about it, though he does note you were the only one doing something different. C gets a different bit of Akashi getting embarrassed again and accusing you of making fun of him. Sui is surprised as she comments on Akashi not being used to being complimented by people aside from her. Then like in B, Akashi comments on you looking sad and noting you were off doing something else.

Mokdai admits he was a little jealous that you could go join the Hero Grand Prix, but he still says you did a great job in it and is glad you managed to get first place with the team. Akashi agrees as he says he and Mokdai were watching from the stands. Pretty crazy you started this week knowing nothing about the festival and ended it taking a team to the crown. You thank the two of them, get a little happily embarrassed, or sigh that it was rough.

Huckle approves of the fact that you gained a lot of experience over the course of the festival, and he hopes that next year the whole agency can participate. Ryekie will be fine by then, and his return to hero duty means the office will have enough members to go in. Ryekie gets excited at the idea and suggests that you guys all aim for the top then, and he tells everyone to be ready for his special training. Sui is concerned at this and wonders if she could keep up with Ryekie's regimen. Mokdai is freaked out as he says he has trouble keeping up with the running he has to do know. Akashi is resigned as he tells them they'll get used to it quick. He has already. You note that Akashi is the only one looking far ahead, wonder what Ryekie makes him do for training, and/or ask Ryekie to go easy on them.

Crowne walks up at this point, asking in surprise if you guys are done closing up shop. She mentions the other agencies are closing up their stands too, so the ones run by civilians are starting to get lines. She suggests checking them out quick as she munches on something, and Mokdai is taken aback to find out she went off buying stuff while she was gone. He also asks about the squid and beer she has, complaining that he wants some too. Sui sighs about Crowne being shrewd.

Crowne tries to placate the two and suggests they go buy some quick. She also tells Sui that the stand that makes that pretty fruit candy she had her eyes on is still open, which causes Sui to hesitate for a bit since she wants some. Huckle chuckles at this and suggests that the rest of the agency go look around the festival too. They never got a chance to go enjoy the other stalls, so they ought to at least go today. In fact, he offers to treat everyone for all their hard work. You get excited at this and thank Huckle, or you can say you love him. C gets an extra bit where it turns out you also go hug him, prompting Huckle to tell you to stop in surprise as he says he's still pretty sweaty.

Akashi gets excited and cheers as he says there's a ton of stuff he wants to eat. Mokdai follows suit and wonders aloud where he or everyone should go. He then specifically wonders about whether a BBQ beef kebob shop is still open. Crowne gets dismayed saying she could've waited a little longer and not use her own money on things. Ryekie laughs and says HE's going to go eat on Huckle's dime at least, but Huckle walks up behind them and informs them he's not paying for them. They're a bit too casual with his generosity so they'll have to pay their own way, causing the two to loudly complain.

Time passes as it starts to get dark out, and Parallel Flight is wandering around through the festival stall area. It's crowded and lively, just like a summer festival should be. Mokdai comments on the crowds, noting it really is the last day of the festival. He also notes on there being heroes here and there, with everyone having fun. Sui mentions that when she comes with Maculata, it's usually also on the last day. She'd always buy the candy she has. Akashi really likes the fries he has and suggests you try one. You either accept his offer and take one, say you're holding off on fried foods, or ask Akashi to feed you. B gets an extra line of Akashi noting that they are a little oily, but that isn't really stopping him from munching on them. C gets a different extra line of Akashi being shocked but agreeing to do so anyway.

Anyways, Ryekie is excited as he shows everyone all the water balloon yoyos he got out of one of the festival games. Huckle is exasperated as he asks what he wants with all the yoyos, saying Ryekie isn't a kid anymore. Ryekie is embarrassed as he tries to say it's fine since he'll play with them all until they're used up. Crowne points out there's only one way to play with them though, and Mokdai gets curious as he notices some people coming your way.

Kyoichi, Shouen, and Toshu turn up in their summer clothes, and Kyoichi excitedly greets you guys as he sees you're all together. He immediately segues into going all "owo wats this" at Akashi until Akashi slugs him, sighing about how he's always doing that every summer. You either comment on how Akashi just went right into it, ask Kyoichi if he's okay, or be amazed to see Kyoichi in street clothes. B gets extra lines of Kyoichi trying to laugh it off and saying he's fine while Akashi sighs about asking him to stop groping him. C has different extra lines where Kyoichi says it's the festival and all, so he figured he'd dress lighter. Akashi points out that Kyoichi is a lot tanner than usual and asks about that, so Kyoichi explains that he chaperones the kids at his school pool.

Toshu sighs at Kyoichi and tells him to be a little more festival appropriate. Shouen doesn't take in what happened to comment on how nice a chilled cucumber is as he eats it, which prompts Toshu to remind him you guys are here. Shouen quickly apologizes and blushes madly. You either compliment Toshu's casual clothes, be amazed to see Shouen in a yukata, or ask where Marfik went. In A, Toshu is surprised but says it's nice to be complimented. He figured he should wear something with good mobility when going to a festival, and he's proud of it looking good. In B, Shouen is surprised as he mentions his sash wasn't long enough when he got dressed, so he was worried about it. But since you think it looks nice, he's feeling a bit happier about it. In C, Toshu needs a moment to process the question before he remembers you saw Marfik at the arena earlier. Shouen answers that Marfik left to go back on his investigations, and Toshu sighs at how busy he is.

Anyways, Ryekie laughs and says it's good how everyone is together and dressed up. Huckle asks the trio if they're looking around the festival, so Kyoichi confirms and says everyone was free because of the tournament. Toshu says he's not really at the age to loudly have fun at one and wonders if he should have said no earlier. Sui then notices something stuck to Toshu's mane on his chin, which Shouen says it's the cotton candy he was eating earlier. Toshu is shocked at this and initially attempts to deny it before just apologizing.

Crowne comments that it's a pretty cute thing for Toshu to be eating. Akashi laughs and comments that Toshu's having a good time too, prompting Toshu to get mad at him for laughing. Toshu then threatens Akashi with an origami shinai, causing Akashi to freak out and point out that they're in public. He also asks why Toshu is only threatening him and not Crowne, so Toshu says Akashi was the only one to laugh. Mokdai starts wondering if Akashi actually wants to piss Toshu off given how often it happens, but Kyoichi opines that it's just a matter of Toshu being that easy to set off. Shouen laughs and says they're still young.

Kyoichi then changes the subject as he remembers that UEHA was looking for you guys earlier and mentions so. He told them you guys might be around the stalls still, but he's feeling kinda bad about that. Huckle is surprised to hear UEHA may be looking for you guys, and you wonder why they would be and suggest going back to where the agency's stall was.

Huckle agrees with the idea of going back and says as much when he ends up bumping into Monomasa. Monomasa doesn't say anything in response to this, and Huckle apologizes for walking into him. Monomasa decides to apologize himself and asks if Huckle got hurt. When Huckle says he's fine, Monomasa says that's fine and excuses himself. Sui is a little shaken by the encounter, saying Monomasa was a little scary, but ultimately a kind person. Mokdai is thinking to himself, and Akashi asks if he's thinking about him when he notices. Mokdai nods in response and says he feels he's seen him somewhere before. You wonder if he's a hero, villain, or stay quiet, and in any case Mokdai is unsure as he continues thinking on it. Scene then briefly follows Monomasa as he meets with Melide on some rooftop. She asks him if something wrong, but Monomasa says it's nothing before commenting to himself about apparently recognizing someone among you guys.

Time passes as the group returns to where their cafe stall was where you find the guys from UEHA waiting around. Okitaka notices you guys coming back, greeting you guys as he says they were looking for you all. He was just about to try calling too. Huckle apologizes for keeping them waiting and says they should've let informed them they'd be elsewhere, but Okitaka waves it off saying they're the ones who showed up unannounced.

Barrel greets the office and notes he saw you only a little while ago. Gammei tells Barrel off for eating and speaking at the same time since he's getting stuff everywhere, so Barrel apologizes and scarfs whatever it is down quickly. Furlong is glad they found you guys in time, adding that there's still time to go buy some stall food too. Victom says it'd still be better to hurry since it might take longer than expected.

You ask what they're talking about, but Ryekie figures it out and remembers that it IS the last day of the festival. Barrel tells him he's right, but Crowne says she doesn't get what they're getting at. She tries asking about what they mean, but Okitaka decides to play coy and says it'll be more exciting to wait and find out if they don't know. Mokdai clues in at this point, so he suggests buying some beer. He also asks if you guys are going to go somewhere else and asks where in particular. Barrel just laughs and says you guys should just follow them and find out.

Time passes as the UEHA heroes take you guys to the rooftop of a building near the festival grounds. Up there you have both a view of the whole festival below and the sea of the night up above. Akashi asks about the spot since he doesn't see anyone else around, so Gammei explains that they're on the police bachelor hostel. His own room happens to be right underneath you guys. Most everyone else residing there is out for the day, so the rooftop has been reserved for everyone there. Sui says it's a nice spot and figures the view from up there would be nice during the day. Okitaka laughs and says you guys are gonna be seeing something nice during the night.

You ask Okitaka what he means, but Ryekie says it's starting and directs everyone's attention to the direction of the sea. Loud explosions start going off as fireworks are launched, shining the surroundings in an array of colors. You are amazed at the display, as is Akashi who says he usually has to see it while in the middle of a huge crowd. Huckle is pleased as he calls the rooftop a special secret spot to watch the fireworks from. Furlong laughs as he says UEHA comes to that spot every year, and Victom prompts everyone to get something to eat before it gets cold.

Mokdai is surprised to see Victom laying out so much food and asks if they paid for that much. Okitaka says it's fine since they got so much to thank you guys. You ask what he means, so Barrel says it's thanks for both you for leading the team to the championship while Furlong says it's a thank you to Parallel Flight for letting you help them. In other words, it's a party to celebrate everyone's efforts as Victom says.

Ryekie is excited about you guys having a party, and Crowne is surprised to see so much alcohol and soft drinks around. Okitaka says the soft drinks are because there's minors and a lightweight. Sui is curious who Okitaka is talking about if she's the minor, and Akashi realizes in shock after a moment it'd be him as he asks how Okitaka found out about that. Barrel tells him he heard about that from Mokdai some time before, where at this welcoming party Akashi got drunk on the booze. Akashi gets mad at Mokdai for blabbing about this, and Mokdai apologizes in a panic as he says it was an indirect question at the time. You are either mildly surprised at Akashi being a lightweight or get ideas about getting Akashi drunk. B gets an extra bit where Mokdai suggests against that, saying Akashi got so drunk Mokdai had to take him to his own house instead of where Akashi lives. Akashi then cuts him off out of embarrassment.

Ryekie comments that the world takes all kinds of people as he considers which drink to get, but Huckle stops him from trying to get a kiwi highball. Ryekie protests it should be okay for the one day, but Crowne sighs that they'd rather not have to drag his sloshed ass back if he does.

Time passes a bit later where Barrel asks if everyone has a drink, then asks Okitaka and Huckle to lead everyone for a toast. Huckle is shocked at being asked to make a speech too, but Okitaka points out they're the two bosses of their groups as he suggests they just stand together and get to it. He also brings up that they used to fight together and are good friends who exchanged drinks. Huckle says that's true, but he says he's bad at these kinds of things.

Despite his protests, Huckle gets up and doesn't seem that against it as he takes a spot next to Okitaka. Huckle keeps his speech short by thanking everyone for all they've done the past week. Parallel Flight is still a small agency right now, and things may get tough for everyone. But even so, he hopes that everyone will stick it out and stick around. Okitaka applauds his team's efforts and celebrates how UEHA won the crown thanks to you helping out. The top brass of their agency is celebrating it too, and he encourages the two offices to work together more to save the people of the city. And on that note, Okitaka raises his drink to a toast for the day's work and his hopes that their hero work will get better as time goes on. Everyone toasts as well, and all present enjoys themselves on the last night of the summer festival while fireworks continue to fly in the sky. The End.

Live A Hero Midsummer Hero Festival Episode 7

The next day after where we left off, we tune in at the stadium as the O-1 Hero Grand Prix is going through the last battle of the A block team tournament. Toshu signals to Kyoichi, and Kyoichi moves to attack against UEHA Japan. Victom however intercepts and uses his surfboard as a shield to Kyoichi's surprise. Furlong says he'll cover for Victom and sprays his water, which causes Kyoichi to lose his footing. Marfik then intervenes by using his ultimate to summon an old fortress watchtower as a wall for Heroic Educators.

Furlong is surprised by the building suddenly popping up, and Kyoichi thanks Marfik for saving him. Marfik waves it off, but he reminds them they can't turtle away since the wall will only last a few minutes. Also the fortress wall he summoned is from late 1700s Japan and made of wood in the Edo period, so it won't hold up against much attacks either. UEHA is starting to break through as Marfik points out, so Shouen says he'll cast one of his words when it does break. Toshu then plans to charge in after that and continues discussing the attack plan.

On the other side of the wall, Barrel open fires on the wall and says the other team only has this moment to hide away. Cracks start appearing on the wall as he attacks, and Okitaka suggests leaving the wall breaking to Barrel. The bigger issue is what will happen after the walls come down, and he predicts that the other party will attack then. He thinks aloud about how there's plenty of possible plans, but he thinks it's likely going to center around Shouen. So in that case, Okitaka suggests Formation O-F and says he'll be counting on you. You either respond affirmatively or ask Okitaka what that formation is. The latter gets an extra line of Okitaka being taken aback and having to quickly explain using sound effects for the people assigned O and F, even though I'm pretty sure he's just using initials for these.

Anyways, Victom points out that the wall is coming down and that the team needs to get ready. The whole building Marfik summoned fades away from getting destroyed, and Shouen jumps out to writecast "Board." Okitaka sees that he was correct, so he opens up his fan and twists himself around to swing at the word and sends a blast of wind at it. The word hangs suspended in the air while the wind attacks the other team. Shouen is surprised at this, and Okitaka prompts you to continue with the plan. You respond affirmatively and signal to Furlong as you send him a ton of VP. Furlong thanks you as he aims at the word, firing his ultimate to break it. The word dissolves back into ink, which then rains on Team Heroic Educators.

Marfik spits out some of the inky water saying he swallowed some of it, and Shouen is dejected about this turn of events. They've also had their transformations undone, and it's noted Toshu and Kyoichi are down for the count too. The announcer calls the end of the match and declares the winners of Block A to be Team UEHA Japan and going on to the finals. Heroic Educators will be fighting for third place and the rankings will be sorted out then.

You cheer about the team winning, thank everyone for their efforts, and/or wonder if the other team is okay. Barrel cheers about making it to the finals and hugs Furlong. Furlong is embarrassed as he tells Barrel to stop that since they're in front of so many people. Kyoichi is disappointed they lost but notes that you guys are pretty strong and, Toshu admits you guys outplayed them. Kyoichi then notes that the ink is getting sticky and considers just jumping as is into the ocean for a swim, prompting Toshu to yell at him to not pollute the the water. Shouen mumbles that he feels his ink isn't that dirty, so Toshu backtracks in shock about how he didn't mean it like that. Marfik laughs about how the team is the same as always and comments that it's nice to come back to Earth after a while.

Title card pops up, and this episode is called Fight! Midsummer Hero Festival

Scene then shifts to UEHA's waiting room as Okitaka thanks everyone for their work and getting them so far. He also thanks you, saying it was worth it staying up late to come up with so many plans. You either compliment Okitaka, start to say something about what it means to get here so smoothly, or say you're drowsy from sleep deprivation. C gets an extra line of Okitaka being concerned for you, asking if you can hang in a little longer since there's one battle left.

Gammei asks what's going on since it's both weird that Okitaka stepped up to fight in a battle and partnered up with someone who wasn't a veteran Operator for strategizing. And yet despite you joining temporarily for the tournament, he's surprised Okitaka could pull something like the strategy just now out of his sleeves. Victom snorts in amusement.

Barrel changes the subject to ask who the team is going to be going up against, already excited to go. Okitaka checks his phone or whatever, then informs you guys the other finalists are from S&S HEROS. You think on the name on a bit and say you feel you've heard it somewhere before, so Okitaka explains it's the hero agency for heroes who also do work in inns, hotels, and department store services among other things. Them making it up to this point is pretty good proof of their ability to earn Views. UEHA doesn't really associate with them much, so there's not much he can tell you though. Furlong says they usually don't make it to the finals, so he wonders what kind of people they are. Victom says he heard that the team leader is the head clerk from a Japanese inn in the city, and while he only saw the matches in passing he does seem pretty strong.

You start getting your suspicions when you hear the mention of a Japanese inn worker, and at that point someone knocks on the waiting room door. Okitaka is curious about who it could be and goes to answer it. When he opens the door, the visitor politely bows as he comes in. It's Nessen, and he says he came to greet everyone before the final match. He introduces himself to everyone with his full name and a description of his day job and hero affiliation. You either react in surprise at Nessen being there, be amazed at his casual clothes, or treat him as a stranger and note how polite he is. A and B has an extra bit of Nessen being mildly surprised to see you there and says the rumors were true. He then says that while he's going up against you, he hopes that you'll go easy on him.

Nessen peacefully smiles, and Gammei is taken aback at Nessen's demeanor. Barrel is surprised that Nessen is your guys' opponent and feels let down. Furlong asks Victom if Nessen was the guy he was talking about, and Victom confirms, though he seems to be in disbelief as well. Okitaka is also surprised, but he goes on to politely introduce himself back and suggests both teams give their all for the final match. Nessen says he's heard much of UEHA's activities, so his team won't be acting carelessly then.

Okitaka and Nessen shake hands, and the first thing Okitaka notices is that Nessen's hand is wet. Nessen is confused for a second before he apologizes, saying he's both an inn manager and just someone who likes bathing. He went to wash up right after his last match, and he's usually in there for half an hour after every battle, which he's a little embarrassed to admit. You either express shock at that statement, sigh and says that sounds like Nessen, or suggest joining him after the last battle. C gets an extra bit with Nessen being shocked at the idea and Okitaka dismayed as he tells you not to flirt there.

Anyways, Gammei is baffled at the idea of Nessen bathing so often and mentions that there are just some days where all he does is wipe down with a towel. Barrel says that sounds like too little cleaning to him, so Gammei gets embarrassed and blames the city's water bills for being expensive. Furlong says he thought he smelled shampoo earlier and notes that Nessen really likes keeping clean. Victom says Furlong always did have a good nose, though all he can smell himself is Gammei. Gammei is offended and says he washed up the day before even with his leg injury. Okitaka is embarrassed by the team's bantering and tells them to stop acting like that in front of an opposing team member. Nessen just laughs at how lively they are and figures their teamwork comes from how well they get along, but Okitaka apologizes for the display.

Nessen leaves soon after, and Okitaka talks to himself about understanding something just now. You curiously ask him if something was up with Nessen, so Okitaka asks if you're up for an unorthodox strategy based on some assumptions on certain conditions happening. You ask for further detail, and Barrel is surprised Okitaka picked up something from that short amount of time. Okitaka prompts the team to get together so he can explain, saying that if he's right it should lead you guys to victory.

Time skips over to the announcer saying it's time for the tournament title match, UEHA Japan vs. S&S HEROS. UEHA was the winning agency from last year and S&S HEROS has made it to the finals again five years from last time they did so, and the announcer hypes about who the winners will be. Nessen turns to his team and says their agency has been wanting this for five years, so they should do everything they can to win. He is accompanied by trainee mob heroes who are every bit the excitable newbies raring to go as they call Nessen 'young master.' Nessen just sighs that he asked them to stop calling him that, then says they're going with the Goose formation and prompts everyone to transform.

S&S HEROS all move into their designated positions and proceed to suit up. Once Nessen is in hero mode too, he tells you guys that after getting this far they can't hold back. Barrel is surprised at how differently Nessen acts when transformed, though he notes it's not as extreme as Furlong's change. This comes as a shock to Furlong as he says he doesn't go that hard, and Victom remembers that Furlong has no self-awareness of his personality shifts. Okitaka tells the team to can the small talk and get to transforming and signals to you, so you respond affirmatively and hit the button for the whole party.

Furlong is the first to suit up and drops a line about extinguishing flames with his own hands. Barrel announces his hero mode next and says he's gunning for the crown. Victom says he'll put all his efforts in this time to make everyone believing in him smile. Okitaka says he'll guide the team to victory and to leave things to him. The team takes a moment to pose before getting into position themselves, and Okitaka tells you that the plan is to stick to Formation B-F-V-O until it's time to pull out the secret strategy. If the state of battle turns that way they'll go for it, and he asks if you understand. You respond affirmatively, though you hope it'll work out right. Gammei wishes the team luck, and the announcer declares the start of the episode battle. More happens after that.

 The story tunes back in midway as Barrel fires off at Nessen's team, but Nessen counters by heating his water sword to 250℃. Barrel yelps at how hot that attack is, and Furlong is pressured as he tries to keep the team formation up. Trainee Red attacks with a fire blast to interfere with that, and Furlong frantically attempts to put it out despite the flames continue to appear.

Nessen uses Red's fires to evaporate his water blade to make a cloud, and Green follows up with Vine Whip to scatter said cloud into a cooling mist over the spectators and creates a rainbow. The audience oohs in amazement. Yellow explains to the crowds that this is Orient Spring Resort's specialty, the Jouren Waterfall Splash, and he advertises the resort as 30 minutes by express train from Central Station. Okitaka is impressed they worked an ad into that, shocking Victom into telling him to stop. Okitaka says he knows and notes they've planned for this, so it might be better to scrap the original strategy and come up with something else.

Okitaka thinks to himself for a minute, then calls out to you to change the tactics to go with the Firewall plan. You are taken aback at this and ask what that even is, and narration says it's different than what he came up with in the waiting room. This one is meant for use against a more fire-heavy team. You point out to Okitaka that it's not really the most suited situation to be using it and ask if he's sure. Okitaka tells you it's fine and insists he'll make it work, looking at you with a serious expression as he asks that you believe in him.

You decide to throw your lot in with Okitaka, ask him to do his best, and say you believe. You send cues out to the whole party and split the VP between them. Barrel is shocked at this, asking what happened to the old plan and if you guys are sure. Furlong also has misgivings and says it doesn't have a good shot at working. Okitaka however is sure it'll be fine as he says he believes in everyone's strength, then fans his fan at the party. This is one of his abilities, a morale booster called the Wind of Victory. The rest of the party rallies together and agrees to go with the new plan.

Victom jumps onto his surfboard and rides into the sky with it, then flings his floatation ring at Nessen. Barrel follows up by firing his ultimate at the ring, shooting it with multicolored water. Red is shocked that Barrel didn't fire his attack at them, then shocked at the water that splashes on him. Green initially thinks it's paint before realizing it's colored water. The two are distracted enough by this ploy that Victom and Okitaka take the opportunity to attack them, knocking them out of the fight. Green manages to get an apology out to Nessen as he goes down.

Nessen is concerned for his two eliminated teammates, then tries fighting back by cutting at Victom's ring. When he hits it though, the colored water inside the thing bursts out and coats him, surprising him and Yellow. You either cheer about Nessen falling for the plan, note how wet he is, or comment that it's kinda sexy.

Nessen spits out some of the water and plants his sword into the ground, letting out a bunch of steam from it to evaporate the water. He quickly realizes Okitaka must've come up with this when he shook hands with him earlier. Nessen then comments that it's a shallow plan not nearly good enough to be called an actual counter strategy. Water and sweat drips off him as he stands imposingly in the middle of the steam, unapproachable due to said steam. Okitaka however taunts him about underestimating his planning, and Nessen is surprised as the steam is blown away before someone swoops in.

Furlong is the one charging in close given his innate heat resistance, and he lets loose with his ultimate at point blank range. The force of it blows him away, and Yellow attempts to go help him. Okitaka pops up behind Nessen and declares it's checkmate, using his own ultimate Capture "Wind Change Victory Blade" to slash with his fan. Nessen's suit cancels out, and he admits defeat.

Silence passes for a moment for everyone to process this before the announcer declares UEHA Japan the winners of the O-1 Hero Grand Prix 2221. The crowd roars with cheers and flings confetti into the air, which showers over both teams. You cheer about the team winning and how every effort paid off, and Barrel cheers too as he runs over to grab you in a hug and call you the best Operator.

You react in surprise as you tell Barrel to stop since he's hugging you too hard, but you're still enjoying it. Furlong tells Barrel to stop too as he's getting you soaked, though he also thanks you for all you did. Gammei apologizes for the team idiot and asks you let it go for the day. Victom isn't saying anything, prompting Gammei to comment on him being rather quiet for having won. Victom says he's not the type to go on an emotional rollercoaster when winning, but he does decide to turn to you and holds his right hand out for a fist bump. You either fist bump him back or grab his hand, and either way he says you did good.

Okitaka sighs in amusement about how young people are, pointing out that they have interviews to do later. Nessen walks over to congratulate Okitaka, saying both he and you are strong. Okitaka thanks him, saying they wouldn't have won this time without you and that you did well for how young you are. Nessen says it's indisputable that he lost, and he graciously says it was a good match as he holds his hand out for a handshake. Okitaka is taken aback at this, asking if he's sure since he could read into them again this way. Nessen laughs at this, and Okitaka soon joins him for a bit before the episode ends with Okitaka shaking his hand and saying it was a good match.

Live A Hero Midsummer Hero Festival Episode 6

At the stadium, the announcer is hyping up the O-1 Hero Grand Prix now that the first phase of the competition has been finished up. The top eight scoring agencies have been determined, and they will now go on to the tournament phase which the announcer will now name. Scene then jumps over to Parallel Flight's office as Mokdai excitedly points out to you that UEHA Japan made it in, though he then remembers you would have been told that earlier in the morning. It's still amazing, even if UEHA has always made it to this phase of the competition every year. Since this is your first time in it, Mokdai says it must be pretty awesome. You uneasily thank Mokdai or nod along, which surprises him into asking you if you aren't happy about this. You deny that idea and/or stay quiet, and you look at the email Okitaka has sent you on your phone.

Title card pops up, and this episode is called Meander! Intellectual Commander

Time then passes to the point where you reach UEHA's waiting room at the stadium. Okitaka greets you and apologizes for suddenly calling you over. There's a heavy mood in the air, and Gammei is here with a cast on his leg because of what happened last night. Gammei apologizes for messing up, and you either ask him if he's okay in concern, say you're glad it isn't a serious injury, or ask what happened.

Victom explains that Gammei saw a cat on the road near his home nearly get run over by a car, so he jumped in to save it. He ended up getting hit instead. Barrel adds that the damage is limited to Gammei's ribs and foot, but it'd still take a week for it to all heal. Furlong says the doctors have pulled Gammei out of the competition, though that's to be expected. Gammei apologizes again for putting the team in this position, especially with all the work you've put in.

You wave off Gammei's concern, say he's kind, and tell him to focus on getting better. Okitaka says it is like Gammei to try to save any lives in danger in front of him, figuring he acted on instinct. It's the right thing to do for heroes, so he's not blaming him for having done so. It is a problem to be down a hero right before the final act tournament though. Victom asks what the plan is now since you guys can't stay if you don't have enough heroes, so Barrel brings up the idea of getting a hero from one of the other branch offices in Japan. Okitaka says there has been talks about the branches helping if it isn't a problem, but it's just not realistic to send anyone over on such short notice. Furlong sadly concedes the point, then asks if you guys will have to withdraw. Okitaka firmly states that it won't come to that if he switches out for Gammei. Barrel is shocked at this, and you either express surprise at Okitaka volunteering or ask if he can even fight. The latter gets an extra bit of Okitaka being taken aback at your shock as he insists he's a hero too.

Okitaka says while he is filling in for a blank spot, it's not like he's helpless in a fight, and he intends on showing you guys how the boss fights. Victom brings up that Okitaka hasn't actually fight in almost a year by that point, and despite his position it'd be natural for him to get rusty at it. Gammei agrees, saying UEHA Japan is going to flip its lid if anything happens to him, though it's weird coming from him. Okitaka insists it'll be fine as he laughs about how Victom and Gammei are worrywarts. And on a completely unrelated note, he wants to go get some warming up done as he starts looking at Furlong, and Furlong is confused by this.

Scene shifts over to UEHA Japan's underground level simulation room, which has been set to resemble a city park in a space like a TV studio set. You express your amazement at this, and Okitaka explains that this is a place they use to train their heroes. You can program the stage settings to a bunch of different scenarios, or you can get it to do so automatically. The trees and buildings you see just holograms though.

Furlong starts getting nervous about sparring with Okitaka, so Okitata attempts to point out he's an actual hero, even if he hasn't been doing it that long. He also tells Furlong he needs the courage to go up against any opponent no matter who it is, then challenges him to come at him. Furlong starts psyching himself up with his self-hypnosis or whatever, then asks over his phone to some other Operator working remotely to transform him. Once he gets suited up, he says he's ready to go at any time. Okitaka approves of his determination, then prompts you to transform him now. The window hides Okitaka's code name but tells you the path connection is strong as it brings up the prompt button.

You click on the button and get the transformation rolling. Once Okitaka is dressed up, he announces his hero name as The Commander, posing with his half-transparent fan fanned out. You take note of Okitaka's hero form aloud or say he looks awesome. In A, Okitaka is slightly disappointed you gave less of a reaction than he was expecting, then tries fishing for compliments. In B, Okitaka is pleased as he laughs, then tells you that you can keep the compliments coming.

Anyways, Victom is taken aback at Okitaka's behavior and asks if he knows why he's doing all this.  Okitaka is chastised a little as he says he knows he's here for battle practice. Barrel explains to you that their training battles are viewable only by their channel followers and streamed to where spectating is possible, so you can go on as normal. He also tells you he'll be cheering for you and wishes you good luck, prompting Okitaka to complain and ask if he's cheering for the actual heroes fighting too. 

Gammei tells them this isn't the time for a two-man comedy act and says Furlong is getting impatient. Furlong is surprised by this as he denies the statement, but Okitaka figures it's about time they got started. He once again challenges Furlong to come at him hard since he'll be responding in kind. Furlong says he'll do his best, so Okitaka prompts you to start the battle stream. You comply, and the two start going at it. Okitaka gets the advantage at first, but as the battle goes on it slides into a deadlock. Barrel is surprised Furlong can equal Okitaka in a fight, but Gammei points out that this isn't happening because Furlong got stronger and tells him too look closer. Gammei immediately takes it back but trails off on explaining any further to Barrel's confusion.

Every time Okitaka fends off one of Furlong's attacks, his legs can be seen bracing hard on the ground like he's trying his best to keep Furlong from getting any further. You soon realize that Furlong is starting to overwhelm him and try to encourage Okitaka. Okitaka says he's doing his best to defend and starts saying no strategy he can come up with will turn things around before stopping himself and trailing odd. He looks sad and frustrated, and he jumps back after the next attack. Okitaka calls off the sparring match and thanks Furlong for helping him as he cancels out of his suit. Furlong is shocked at this, as are you since it hasn't really concluded decisively.

Okitaka says it's fine since he's gotten a grasp on where his capabilities are right now, sighing as he smiles wryly. He tries laughing off and preemptively apologizing if the team loses the tournament due to him. He then says he'll go rest since he's getting older, then thanks Furlong one more time and says he'll be counting on him tomorrow. Furlong is still taken aback as he thanks Okitaka for his own efforts, and Okitaka thanks you next, saying your operation made it easier for him to fight. You awkwardly thank him and/or look at him in concern. Okitaka decides to excuse himself, then says everyone should get ready by getting some food and rest, waving as he goes. Barrel is surprised as he says Okitaka is usually the last to leave. Gammei tells him to think about it and expresses regret about getting injured. Victom just watches Okitaka go silently.

Time moves on to the evening as the scene shifts over to Parallel Flight's festival stall cafe, and Mokdai walks up to you to switch places with you for his shift. He also thanks you for coming to help since you have the tournament to deal with too. You can either say it's fine, thank Mokdai, or ask-but-not-really him to let you play with his stomach because you're tired. C gets an extra bit of Mokdai being shocked at you touching him and getting ticklish. Akashi then yells at you guys to get serious.

Akashi sympathizes with you for having been working through things day after day, so he says you should at least get some rest after this. He's been so worried about you he hasn't been able to look away from you, and he suggests you might be overworking yourself. Sui asks Akashi about being as excited today as he was the first day of the festival. Mokdai figures he's happy to be working with you, and he says he feels the same way. Akashi gets blushy and embarrassed as he claims it totally isn't that. You either tell everyone to not argue, casually comment on how well they get on, or be touched as you say Akashi's name.

Ryekie laughs about how it's good to be engaged, but you guys should also be having fun with other people. This is a public place with customers, so everyone should be focused on work. Akashi quickly complies and prompts everyone else to get back to it. Sui agrees, then wishes you good luck for the tournament tomorrow. Mokdai promises to come watch as he wishes you luck too. Ryekie remembers at this point that he has your share of the staff meal, and he says you should eat it in the back before you go home and before it gets cold. It's a bento box of curry in a bag he gives you, and you thank Ryekie and/or cheer about the curry before heading to the back.

A little time later, you comment on the spiciness of the curry, whether it's too much, just right, or not enough. Victom comes by soon after and asks for a moment to talk, so you ask why he showed up. Victom says he heard you were there from the others, then apologizes for taking your time when you're about to leave. He says he has a favor to ask, then sighs.

You ask about this favor, so Victom asks if you'll go see Okitaka. He should be at the training room you guys were at earlier in the day, though since it's inside their agency, Victom gives you a guest pass that'll let you inside. When he hands you the key card, you agree and can ask why he's asking you. B gets an extra line of Victom saying it's because it's specifically you that he wanted to ask. But anyways since you're going to be Master Operator for Okitaka tomorrow, Victom wanted you to cheer him up. He then leaves, and you think to yourself that Okitaka must be depressed then like you suspected.

Time passes as you head straight over to UEHA Japan's underground simulation room, and Okitaka is down there just like Victom said he would be. He's training himself against an automatic dummy with unarmed martial arts in civilian mode, and he eventually stops for a moment to catch his breath and comment to himself it isn't enough yet. You call over to Okitaka and ask if he's doing some self training, and Okitaka is initially surprised to see you there before he figures Victom must have put you up to this. He looks embarrassed as he scratches his head, wipes some sweat off his brow, then shrugs and says it's a good time as any to take a break and asks you to hang around with him.

Some time later, Okitaka laughs in a self-deprecating manner about looking lame there, carrying a Reversi board in his hands. He starts setting the board up for a game and apologizes for suddenly asking you to play it with him. He's actually better at shogi and likes that more, but he figures if you don't know how to play it then it wouldn't be any fun. He asks if you've ever played before, so you say you have a little bit, say you're good at it, or say you know nothing about it. In A and B, Okitaka is excited to hear that and suggests playing that next time, then warns you that he's a strong player. In C, Okitaka laughs and says he figured as much. Then again, kids nowadays don't play stuff like that either. If you have time and interest later, then he offers to teach you since he'd like to play a game of that with you.

Okitaka says it's your turn and that you have a chance to flip a lot of his pieces. You think to yourself about where you should play, say you aren't good at Reversi, or say you don't know much about the rules. B has extra lines where Okitaka is surprised and apologizes for pushing you to play him. He does ask you to stick with him on it, saying that he wants to sort his thoughts and that he'll hold back. C also has extra lines that are mostly the same, though he instead suggests reading the rulebook with you while he thinks.

The game continues on anyways as you place your tile, and your white tiles flip Okitaka's black. Okitaka says that was a good move, but then puts his piece in a spot you didn't think about. He tells you that while he'd be holding back, he'll still go take what he can. He pretty much wins the game there, and he talks about how profound Reversi can be. Learning takes a minute, but mastering takes a lifetime. He stops to take a long drink of something, and when he starts talking again he says he's the type who's good at strategies. In battles he typically discusses the situation with Operators and gives commands to his comrades, and he's always thinking about how to actually win.

You comment on how unusual Okitaka's role is for being a hero. Okitaka says he's often told that, but since he's not particularly good at attacking, it's the position he shines best in. So because of that, it's how he handled every battle he's been in. His experience grew little by little until he was eventually given the post of branch commander. He was always better at directing people so he was happy about the job, and so he was withdrawn from the front lines. He comments that if veterans always get fielded, then newer heroes would never get a chance to grow.

You nod along as you process how a hero became a commander, and Okitaka makes a point of saying he didn't actually hate going out to battle. The position was weirdly comfortable to him, and he's spent years issuing commands and never stepping forward to fight himself. But if he doesn't get out there once in a while he'll get rusty, he notes with a bitter, sad smile. Okitaka sounds resigned as he says it was stupid of him to sub in for Gammei, especially since Gammei has been actively battling. There was just no one else who could take his place when he got hurt, but even so he wants to do the best he can.

You call Okitaka's name sympathetically or stay quiet. Okitaka muses aloud that if he linked up with an experienced Operator, then maybe he could fight and strategize at the same time. But in this case he's either going to be working with you, or somebody over the phone, so there's no way he can fight like normal. Maybe that's why he can't seem to get things to come together.

You stare at the Reversi board, and you note how Okitaka has been steadily winning strategically even if he was holding back. You decide to ask Okitaka why, but a lack of a complete question prompts him to ask you to clarify. You then ask Okitaka why he has to fight like he normally fights. Okitaka is surprised by this, so he explains with it unclear how rusty he is, it'll be impossible to work with you since he doesn't know how well he can do anything himself. He wanted to get back his old familiarity back, but that's turning out to be a bit much. That means as far as he can tell, his only options are to sit back and strategize, or step forward and leave commanding to someone else. And as it is, he has to step forward.

Okitaka sighs about how it's just theorycrafting, and with neither of you two knowing each other that well and Okitaka not knowing his own ability level, he'd rather not throw in more information that would confuse you. You then suggest that the two of you start being more open with each other, surprising him. You ask Okitaka to do what comes easiest to him, say you want to know him better, and/or suggest that you guys win the tourney together. Okitaka is taken aback as he thinks in silence for a bit, but when he speaks again he has a mischievous grin as he warns you that this will take a while and asks if you're okay with that. On that note, the episode ends.

Live A Hero Midsummer Hero Festival Episode 5

Title card pops up, and this episode is called Change! Rescue Hero of Light

We then tune in the day after where we left off last time, over at the food area at the Hero Festival. A store worker thanks you for coming and asks you to come again. You are here with Furlong, who sighs how nice the food was there. He specifically comments on how fluffy the pancakes were and how creamy the ice cream was, just like the social media post he read said they were. Furlong then thanks you for going with him, so you either say he's welcome, ask why he asked you and not Barrel, or say you're happy you went on a date with him. A gets an extra line of Furlong laughing and asking if you had fun. It'd be nice if you had fun with him too. C has a different extra bit of Furlong being surprised and embarrassed as he says he didn't intend for this to be a date.

Anyways, Furlong says he doesn't have many friends he can ask to go with him to places like this. Barrel's taste is more in spicy foods, so he felt awkward about asking him to go with him to get sweets. Due to that, he's really glad you agreed to go with him. You either ask if Furlong's a big sweettooth, comment that Barrel really is into spicy food, or ask Furlong to invite you out more often. In A, Furlong admits as much as he says he often checks social media for info on sweet shops. Eating them makes him happy, he says with a laugh. In B, Furlong says that when he goes to curry shops with Barrel, Barrel usually gets the spiciest thing on the menu. Apparently he developed this taste preference because his grandmother's cooking was spicy. In C, Furlong is surprised but happy. He's about to say he will invite you more, but he worries about not being a fun conversationalist. Then he gets embarrassed that he can't stop his tail from wagging.

In any case, Furlong invites you along for an after meal walk since the day's matchups won't be until the evening, so the daytime is free time. The two of you head over to the beach with its bright sun, cool breeze, and bustling crowd of people. Among all those people Furlong notices someone, and this turns out to be Victom changing clothes on top of a spread out blanket.

You call out to Victom when you notice him, and Victom is surprised to see you and Furlong around. He asks if you guys came on a walk, which Furlong confirms as he asks what Victom's doing. Victom answers that he was swimming and just about to leave for the moment. You notice that there's a wet surfboard next to Victom, so you either comment on him swimming and ask if he surfs, or say it's a surprise to you that he swims. In A and B, he says it's one of his few hobbies. The waves here are pretty nice and calm, perfect for an amateur like him. In C, Victom is surprised and asks what you mean. He admits to not being that good at surfing, but he does it sometimes when summer rolls around.

Anyways, Victom says rescue operations aren't always on land, and that sometimes they need to go into the water. Based on that idea, it can be helpful to practice swimming during the day. Furlong is impressed that Victom would think of that. Victom says practicing was part of why he was doing it, but a large part of his motivation was to take his mind off things. Furlong asks about that, so Victom says he was depressed after what happened yesterday. He thought it'd be a bad idea to carry that mood over to the match today, so he came to deal with it. It hasn't been working, so he comments he's a lot more affected than he realized.

Victom sighs as he looks as down as he did the day before, and you either ask about it or comment that it really was a shock to him. Victom comments after a moment that he couldn't get over what happened with the girl around her age, and you ask why he's thinking about her again or why that matters so much. Furlong attempts to stop you from going any further on the subject, but Victom tells him it's okay since it'd be natural to wonder about that. But that said, he admits it's true he doesn't talk much about his past.

Victom seems to hesitate as he thinks for a moment, and when he starts speaking he talks about how it relates to how he became a hero. This gets interrupted by someone screaming for help, catching Victom's attention. The crowd starts clamoring with worry as they start spectating, and you wonder what's happening since you can't see past the crowd. Furlong notices what's going on and points it out to you and Victom, then gives you a boost to see. You can see far into the sea thanks to him holding you up, and you see a parent and child hanging on for dear life onto a banana boat. You either react in concern and horror at this, or you try to tell Furlong he happens to be holding you in an awkward way. C has an extra bit of him taking a moment to process this, then apologize when he realizes how he's holding you.

Victom recognizes the family in the water as the mom and daughter that you guys met the day before, using the zoom in function on his helmet's visor to see. Some lifeguard says he's coming to help and asks the family to keep hold of their boat, and he quickly jumps into the water. Furlong panics and asks Victom if there's anything they can do, so Victom tells him to calm down and informs him that the guy who just went in is a pro at water rescues. If you guys went in too, you could probably make things worse due to being less experienced in this situation. Furlong is reluctant to accept this, so Victom says his helmet also has a radio function and says he saw a call for reinforcements. They're a bit away, so they estimate it'll be ten minutes before they arrive.

You wonder if things will be okay at this rate, compliment Victom for staying calm, and/or comment that Victom's helmet has a lot of functions. One of the random gawkers yells that something is wrong, and the lifeguard can be seen to have trouble staying afloat for some reason. He disappears under the water, and the family starts screaming again for help. Randos start asking why there aren't any lifeguards around, and one guy says he can't swim out to save the family.

You are confused by this change in people's behavior because the lifeguard was just there, but Victom senses something at this point. He stares out into the water, and in the next moment a Monster pops out with a big splash roaring loudly. You are alarmed by the thing appearing, and the beach crowd goes into a panic as they start running around. The family out in the water can be seen clinging to each other in fear.

Furlong says that if regular people can see the Monster, it's grown enough to be a mature type that can physically affect things. He says you guys need to save the family, but unfortunately his own equipment can't reach that far. You agree as you think on it, ask if Furlong can swim, or ask if he can fly like he did during the matches. B gets an extra line where Furlong admits he can't swim more than 50 meters. C has a different line of Furlong saying it only works vertically and only for ten seconds at that.

Anyways, Victom says his setup wouldn't help either since his rope and anchor requires land or a pillar to act as an anchoring point to swing from. You get alarmed at the idea that you guys are unable to do anything, and Furlong asks if the rescue squad is here yet. Victom says they'll be too late by the time ten minutes pass, so he desperately tries to think of a way that you guys can save the day instead.

Victom has a flashback of That Day, and he yells asking if he's stuck watching like he did back then. He's so upset about this that he grinds his teeth and lets his emotions show, at which point your phone starts glowing. The New Path Found window pops up for Victom at an extremely strong connection level, and you recognize it as the window from the day before as you say it might help now. Victom notices the light from your phone now and asks about it in surprise. Furlong is the first of the two to make the connection that it's the same as what happened to Barrel, which quickly clues Victom in. You ask Victom if he's ready and say it's time to save that family, so he agrees to go with it saying he'll take on any form to save them.

You press the confirm button on the window, and Furlong is briefly blinded by the transformation light. This also gets described like a magical girl transformation with the light turning into threads that wrap around Victom's body. Once it's done, Victom is loaded up with a swimsuit, a paddle board, a floatation ring, and a differently colored helmet. Victom reacts in surprise when he sees his new form, and you either are surprised at the board and floatation ring, at Victom's outfit being a lifeguard's, or comment on how sexy it is. C gets an extra line of Furlong being baffled that's the first thing you talked about.

Anyways, Victom says he understands that he turned into a form best suited for water area rescues, so he decides he may as well get started on doing that. He runs off into the water, putting the board beneath himself as he gets ready to paddle out. As he does so blue light starts gathering at the lower end, and Furlong gets shocked as water splashes out. Victom's surfboard starts zooming across the water which Furlong compares to a jet ski, and you start worrying about how to operate like this.

Victom starts connecting to your phone, then asks if you can see him. You quickly confirm you can, so Victom says you guys will keep going like this and places himself under your command. Victom also tells Furlong he has a waterproof auto-follow camera drone in his bag and asks him to get it out. That's what you guys will be using for the camera here, and Victom says HQ has already agreed to stream the video. Furlong takes a moment to grab the camera, and the thing flies off once he finds it. You comment on how prepared Victom is.

Victom approaches the family in the water, which provokes the Monster to start going after him. He dodges around its charge, but the thing follows up by shooting out tentacles from its back at him. Victom is taken by surprise at this, and Furlong yells in concern as the monster drags him underwater. You yell into the phone in concern too, but noise answers you back.

Furlong starts to despair, but then pained monster yells start blaring out of your phone shocking the two of you. Victom contacts you again and asks if you can hear him. Furlong answers you guys can and asks what's happening, so Victom says he cut through the monster's tentacles. He's now in the middle of backing off from it and asks if the camera can see this. Furlong goes to check by logging into their agency's camera network and quickly finds the drone's camera feed showing Victom slightly away from the Monster.

You express surprise that Victom is standing while underwater and ask how that works. Victom tells you he doesn't know, but apparently space magic is letting him breathe down there and move like he's on land. Furlong guesses it might be some trait of Victom's Parallel Weapon. Victom says he can fight freely now and tells you to start the battle. You respond affirmatively, and the monster roars as the episode battle begins. More happens after that.

After the battle, the story tunes in midway to Victom having weakened the monster, but the thing is still clinging on to life. He attempts to finish it, but the thing breaks off and heads for the water's surface as you point out. Victom chases after it, grabbing onto his surfboard and zooming after it. When the monster reaches the surface, it beelines for the mother and daughter still hanging around screaming for help. Victom swears to put an end to the thing, then asks you to give him all the VP you have.

You respond affirmatively as you hit the send button, causing Victom's surfboard to start glowing. Furlong is surprised as Victom creates a water tunnel that has only him and the Monster in it. Victom readies himself as he stands on his board, then charges in to use his ultimate move, Rescue "Lightspeed Phoenix." In this form it works by throwing his floatation ring and essentially turning it into a light chakram, and it proceeds to bisect the monster. The thing dies by turning into foam and water before dispersing, and you cheer about Victom doing it and/or express amazement at how strong he is.

The water tunnel Victom created also disappears in a flash, leaving just him and the family in distress whose boat has apparently also disappeared. Victom gently makes his way over to the two and extends his hand to them, asking if they're okay and saying he came to save them. The two thank him profusely, and the camera shows Victom making a smile he's never shown before. You are surprised by the smile, and Furlong is happy to find out that Victom can smile like that too. The boat reinforcements the lifeguard called for arrives soon after, and the lifeguard himself is saved as well.

Time passes to the evening as the scene goes over to the stadium. The match has ended in UEHA Japan's victory, and the ratings points after that tally up to 126 for UEHA and 104 for Hero Systems. The crowd cheers for Victom, and you congratulate him. Victom thanks you as you two hi five when he gets down from the stage, and Okitaka is shocked at how differently Victom is acting now. Barrel says you and Victom worked great out there and admits to being a little jealous. Furlong laughs that it's natural after what happened yesterday, confusing Gammei into asking Victom about that.

Victom plays dumb as he thinks back to how the little girl apologized for bursting into tears at him and her mother thanking him for saving them. Victom claims it must be the summer season getting to him, shocking Gammei before he clarifies he was joking and promising to explain later. Okitaka is shocked he's telling a joke, and Barrel says it might rain tomorrow at this rate. Victom just smiles while everyone else processes their confusion in their own ways.

Time passes to the evening and tunes in Somewhere in Orient City. Gammei is walking sighing about how tired he is, but he's looking forward to having a drink at home after a long while. He's carrying a plastic bag with a beer and stall sold yakitori. Gammei talks to himself about getting some paperwork done before settling down with his booze, but then he catches sight of a kitten jumping out into traffic. A truck is running towards it, so Gammei immediately does a diving save for the cat. Brakes squeal, and a plastic bag plops onto the ground. Moments later the kitty licks Gammei's face. In the distance, the siren of an ambulance echoes as it draws closer, and so the episode ends.

Live A Hero Midsummer Hero Festival Episode 4

There is no title card for this episode, so for the record the episode title is Anguish! Demon Captain of the Rescue Squad

Things tune in to just after UEHA Japan has won the first half of their rank battles for the day, and the announcer wonders aloud whether they can keep the steam up for the second half. Gammei walks back into the team's waiting room, letting out a huge breath as he comments on managing to win and how hard it is to battle continuously. This is the third day of the preliminary rankings, and you either congratulate Gammei and say he did great, or you comment on how you like his hero suit. In A and B Gammei thanks you, saying he had a hard time out there, but he's glad he found an opening to win the fight. In C, Gammei gets embarrassed as he tells you to stop staring and swears he'll hit you one of these days.

Anyways, Okitaka congratulates Gammei and says he managed to get tons of ratings points in his battle. Gammei is surprised to hear this since he doesn't have any abilities that are visually coded as cool and refreshing like Barrel and Furlong do. Barrel says that from what the comments are saying, everyone likes how sexy Gammei's hero suit is and highlight his body lines. Apparently there's a bunch of his fans in there. Gammei is baffled and questions what his fans are like. You either try to say having fans is great, say it's because of his costume, or say you can't let yourself lose out to them. In A, Gammei reluctantly agrees, but says he has conflicting feelings. In B, Gammei tries denying wanting his suit to look like that, but then confuses himself about how his wish may have made it turn out that way. In C, Gammei is shocked at you getting competitive and begs you to not do anything weird.

In any case Gammei sighs and says it's not all bad, and he starts questioning what would be so attractive about an old man like him before it occurs to him that he should take his suit off. Once he does, he tells Victom they'll be counting on him for the second match of the day. Victom just gives a brief affirmative response as he remains seated on a bench. You wonder if he's in a bad mood, say he's a little scary, or comment that he's so unexcited.

Furlong attempts to talk Victom into loosening up even though he's aware he's not that into these kinds of things, and Victom apologizes for worrying you guys. He says he'll give it his all in the match, then says he'll count on you to operate. You respond affirmatively if still intimidated, but you worry about whether it'll go well at all. Victom then excuses himself to use the restroom and says he'll be back soon. He walks off, still looking stone-faced as ever.

Gammei sighs about Victom's lack of enthusiasm, though he expected as much knowing what his stance on things are. You ask about this stance, so Furlong starts explaining that Victom became a hero who devoted himself to saving lives. If people are in danger, he's prepared to lay his life down to get them to safety, but in an event like this he's not really the type to care much. Okitaka talks about how helping people is the duty of heroes and how those situations are where they show their skills to the utmost. In that respect Victom's philosophy is a valid one, and Okitaka says they don't really have room to argue about it. It's something worth respecting after all, and Okitaka says he at least likes that Victom lives his life that way. You nod and say that does sound like Victom.

Time skips to the point where you and Victom are heading to the stage now that it's been cleaned up. Victom is still as stoic and silent as he has been, making it hard to approach as you attempt to talk to him and say you guys should do your best. Victom apologizes for unintentionally putting pressure on you, saying he'll complete his duty and will be counting on your support. You nod and think on how he referred to this as his duty.

When Victom steps up to the stage, his opponent turns out to be Hisaki. Hisaki is surprised to see you but remembers he was there when UEHA asked you to fill in for them. He laughs about the coincidence and asks that you guys go easy on him. You either express shock or surprise at seeing Hisaki on the other side, or you cheer about seeing him. C gets an extra bit of him being surprised as he reminds you that he's your opponent for now. He does kinda like the fact you're happy to see him though.

The event announcer commentates about how the heroes for UEHA and Laborer's Site have entered the stage, which prompts cheers from the crowd. Hisaki starts mugging for the crowd, thanking them for the warm reception as he waves and smiles. He also draws attention to a part of the crowd holding up a banner with his name on it, and he promises to win the match for them. He makes an exaggerated expression as he blows a kiss towards the section, which prompts shrill cheers and the banner to shake. You note that Hisaki's really attuned to pleasing fans, comment that he's used to being in front of crowds, or you accuse him of being a cheater. C gets an extra line describing how Hisaki gives you a teasing smile and a wink when he hears you yelling that.

Victom is baffled and irritated at how Hisaki is acting just before a fight, and Hisaki in turn asks if Victom isn't going to try engaging with the audience since they have the time for that now. He suggests it'd be best for him to keep them in mind. Victom is offended as he says he's taking this seriously unlike him. Hisaki is a little taken aback at this, but he shrugs it off saying there are people who think that way too. Hisaki then makes a point of saying that taking a position like that in a battle like this is going to turn out badly for him, saying Victom might not win against him.

You comment on how confident Hisaki is and/or wish Victom good luck. Victom is personally offended at the taunt and says he'll take him on as he asks you to transform him. You comply but have your worries about how this will go. Hisaki goes through his transformation at about the same time. Once he's suited up he challenges Victom to get started, saying he'll show him how to really rake in Views. Victom rejects the idea that Hisaki has anything to show, and the announcer goes on to declare the start of the episode battle. More happens after that.

The story picks back up midway through the battle as Victom moves himself into a favorable position and pressures Hisaki with his attacks. Hisaki keeps his defense up as he concedes that Victom's strong, what with him tearing his suit up in places. He shows no signs of attacking back, and you either say Victom can win if he keeps this up or get the feeling that something is up.

Victom calls to you to get ready since things will be over soon, and he stops his assault for a moment. This however is what Hisaki was waiting for as he calls for his Operator to send him 30k Views. Victom is shocked as Hisaki's suit gets repaired by the Views sent in, and Hisaki starts creating something in his hands. Hisaki declares a sudden turnaround from behind is the best way of drawing attention, and he kicks off in a blue flash off the ground towards Victom.

You yell to Victom to dodge, but Victom is unable to react fast enough. Hisaki deploys his own ultimate Invention "Opus Creation" to create a beam shield around himself and uses that to ram into Victom. He yells out, and you yell out Victom's name. The force of getting Tech Charged sends him flying away, and when he lands his transformation falls apart from the damage. The announcer ends the match as he calls it for for Laborer's Site. In addition to the victory points Hisaki won, he also gets another 136 ratings points while Victom got 32. In the waiting room Furlong cries out in concern for Victom, and Barrel sadly notes that Hisaki has dominated the match and got a great reception from the audience. Gammei notes that's the part Victom has the most trouble with, and Okitaka is worried for him.

Victom is frustrated by his loss, and Hisaki walks over offering to help him stand back up. Victom however rejects it as he glares and gets up on his own. Hisaki is a little sad at this, but he lets him be on that point. Hisaki then starts talking about how saving lives is a hero's greatest goal, and any other duties can come second to that. He figures that to be Victom's philosophy is, but Hisaki argues that being a hero is not something that can be done alone. To be a hero you need an Operator and those watching and cheering you on, otherwise you'd be unable to use any moves. Neglecting to consider that could impact your ability to save lives. Victom is unable to bring up an argument against Hisaki's reasoning, so Hisaki excuses himself and asks you to join him for tea again sometime. He waves as he turns around and walks off, and all Victom can do is watch him leave.

Time passes to the evening after the matches for the day have ended, with the sun setting into the mountains and the sea dyeing in warm colors. You and Victom are walking together along the beach, and Victom is as silent and stony as ever. You comment that he must be bothered about his loss, and while you're worried about him it's awkward how he isn't saying anything.

Eventually Victom says your name as he abruptly stops, and you react either in surprise or by politely rolling with it. Victom asks you if you think making fans happy is necessary. You say it is to a certain extent, but not something that needs to be focused on that much. He just goes oh at that after a moment, then lets the silence persist a bit longer.

When Victom starts talking again, he talks about how he feels it's a hero's obligation to save lives. He doesn't intend on changing on that part ever, but he admits that this is the first time he's started having doubts about how he should be going with things. You ask for elaboration, so Victom says he knows better than anyone else how unsociable he is, which means he could never behave in the same way Hisaki did even if he tried. There wasn't anything stopping him from doing so, but before he says anything more a beach ball happens to bump into his leg.

Victom picks the ball up out of curiosity, and a little girl runs up thanking him for getting it as she runs over. You figure the ball must be hers and comment that beach volleyball sounds nice. When the girl reaches for her ball she meets Victom's eyes, and the mask ends up drawing attention to his emotional state. This scares the girl to tears as she starts apologizing, shocking him and making you sigh sympathetically as you note it was because of his expression.

The girl's mother comes up at this point, apologizing for her daughter's behavior and scolding her for crying upon looking at the person who picked up her ball for her. The mom takes the ball and bows repeatedly to him, then walks off with her daughter. Victom sighs heavily at this, and you either say he was looking too upset or try to talk to him. Victom mutters to himself that his daughter would be the same age as that girl if she were still alive, and now he feels like he's letting his daughter down. You either turn to him in confusion, ask if he said something, or ask what he said about his daughter. B and C get and extra line of Victom backtracking and saying it's nothing.

Victom thinks to himself for a bit before speaking up again, and he asks you if he's frightening. You either admit that you think he is a little bit scary, or you attempt to deny it. A and B has him quietly put out by that. C instead has him tell you to stop as you don't need to spare his feelings. But either way, Victom asks you if he'd perform better if he started acting like Hisaki. Would that let him save more people? You hesitate to answer or say that might be the case.

Victom says this is the first time he started thinking about wanting to be a hero more people would like. It doesn't have to be a permanent thing, just long enough to last through the summer festival. If he can make that girl earlier smile, that'd be good enough for him. Your phone faintly glows in response with the new path message window, weak connection strength for V-----, and the episode ends with you reacting in surprise and/or silence.

 

Live A Hero Midsummer Hero Festival Episode 3

No title card is included this episode so the episode title is Transform! The Water Gunman of Justice

Anyways, things tune in at night time as Barrel runs up calling to you and apologizing for making you wait. You guys are over at the booth area of the festival where agencies besides your own have set up stalls to put out that specific summer festival vibe. The place is lively, and Barrel is carrying a plastic bag as he comes over. He passes you a bottle of juice for you saying he'll pay for it, and you ask if that's okay since you feel bad about that. Barrel says it's fine since you invited him to hang out, so he felt bad about making you go out of your way to cheer him up. He also bought some food while he was at it, and he excitedly shows you some red rod-shaped thing on a stick.

You ask Barrel what it is he's holding and guess that it's a tomato or something, so Barrel tells you it's the spiciest sausage he bought from a nearby stall. It's got grounded pepper in it that's spicier than any pepper native to Earth, and Barrel asks if you wanna give it a bite. You decline whether it be as casual as you can, mildly freaking out at the idea, or expressing an interest but deciding it's probably too much for you. Barrel is a little surprised, but he accepts it and suggests checking around the place while eating. When he takes a bite of his sausage, he describes his mouth as being on fire but liking it as he smiles and wags his tail happily.

A quick flashback pops up of Barrel sighing and wondering what he should do. He pretended to be cheerful in front of everyone else, but he definitely was depressed. Seeing him so down was what gave you the idea to try inviting him to hang out so he can take his mind off things. Back to the present you think to yourself about how it doesn't address the core problem, but you're hoping he'll at least feel better. Barrel laughs and talks about how the food is great and everyone is having fun, which is why he likes the summer festival mood. It's great how summer brings all that together.

You ask Barrel if he likes summer and/or comment that summer seems to suit him. Barrel responds affirmatively as he says he calls himself a summer man. There's tons of fun things to do in the season like going to festivals, swimming in pools and oceans, and camping in the mountains. Since he likes swimming and playing outside, there's no reason for him to hate the season. He also starts saying it lets him visit a festival with you before he cuts himself off and stops saying any more about it. You ask Barrel if he said something, so Barrel quickly changes the subject by pointing at a shooting gallery that uses large water guns instead of toy guns and has its prizes in hanging bags. You find the stall interesting, which Barrel agrees with as he suggests trying it out.

The two of you walk up to the stall, and Barrel pays the stallkeeper for an attempt. He offers to get you whatever you want there, which you are happily surprised by as you decide to point at something you'll just have to fill in with your imagination. Barrel starts concentrating and lining up his shot, at which point you remember that Barrel is a terrible marksman.

Flashback

Instructor: Welcome to target practice! Fire!

Barrel: Raaaagh! ...wait, what!?

Instuctor: You missed every single shot! God you suck!

Barrel: B-but I was aiming at it...

End flashback

Whenever Barrel isn't in hero mode, he actually has terrible accuracy. His stray bullets don't hit anything either, and he just has no talent for gunplay.

You question whether Barrel will actually get anything and decide to keep your expectations low. Barrel assures you that it'll be fine since he's great at using water guns, and he fires a powerful shot at his target, knocking it off in one hit. The stallkeeper congratulates Barrel, and Barrel cheers about winning. You express your own amazement, especially since he's such a terrible shot otherwise, so Barrel brags he's confident he's never missed with a water gun ever. When he was a kid he practiced with them in his hopes of becoming a gunman, though he admits he'd be happy if he did as well with actual guns and sighs about how they just work differently.

Barrel hands you the stall prize you wanted, then stares at the water gun some more as he thinks about something. He talks aloud about how he feels he can win if he could use water guns, so you ask if he wants to use them in a battle. Barrel responds affirmatively, citing that Furlong racked up tons of ratings points in his fight. He likes water and summer, and he brings up that the audience wants something in that vein too. In that case, if he could somehow use them for battle he feels he could do a lot better in the competition. Your phone glows at this point, popping up a search window saying a path has been found for Barrel with a faint connection. You take notice and think on it a bit, which Barrel doesn't notice as he laughs about how it isn't that easy to switch out weapons. He comments on needing to think of something else, but you turn to talk to him and ask if he'd like to try out making his wish come true, surprising him.

Time skips to the first battle of the next day, Refreshing Heroes vs. UEHA Japan, with the heroes of both sides almost about to come to the stage and get things started. Victom asks Okitaka if it really is okay to put Barrel up after what happened in his last match. Gammei admits he's worried too after seeing how depressed Barrel was yesterday. Okitaka says he knows, but you told him you have a secret plan for today you wouldn't explain to him. You did say you wanted to pair up with Barrel though, so Okitaka OKed the idea saying it'll be good if it gets Barrel's confidence back. Furlong gets curious as to what your secret plan can be.

Out in the field, Barrel is confused as he asks you if wishing is all he needs to do. You nod and prompt him to think about what he was wishing for last night, so Barrel concentrates on wanting to do as well as he did at the shooting game, like Furlong did at his match, and becoming his own style of summer hero with a chill appearance and water skills. He speaks aloud about not really wanting to let go of his guns, but he'll be okay with the idea if he gets water guns and wants to do great at the contest as a beachside gunman. Your phone glows brightly as the window says a strong path has now been found for Symphonic Trigger, so you excitedly say it's working. Barrel is surprised and asks you what's going on with the light on your phone, so you tell him it's time to transform and ask if he's ready to be a beachside gunman. It takes him a second to process that, but he says he is as he turns to pose and face off against his opponent.

The mob hero going against Barrel is shocked as Barrel essentially transforms magical-girl style since narration describes the transformation light as weaving into threads that wrap around Barrel, putting him into his swimsuit hero form with accompanying water guns. Barrel announces his transformation is complete before he starts reacting to his new outfit and weaponry in surprise, asking you to explain what happened. You either cheer about this working, be amazed at how bold Barrel's swimsuit is, or say Barrel's new outfit is cool. C gets an extra line of him been embarrassed but pleased.

Over in UEHA's waiting room, Gammei is shocked to see Barrel in an alternate outfit. Furlong notes that it's a swimsuit, which looks a lot like the one Barrel wore when they went to a pool one time. Okitaka is surprised but quickly understands that you've transformed Barrel off of a temporary wish, commenting that you are rather talented. Victom asks Okitaka if all Observers can pull this off, but Okitaka denies it. Apparently only a handful of Observers can do this, so you aren't the first. Okitaka says he's been heroing for a long time, but up until now he's only heard about it in rumors. Victom thinks on this, and Okitaka wonders aloud if Barrel's variant came from him wishing to switch out his guns for water guns. That's going to weaken his attacks, but in this situation it's much better at getting ratings points and a good chance to show off some skill.

Back on the field, Barrel is getting his mind blown as he inspects himself. He starts getting psyched as he says he can win with this, yelling out his thanks to you. Barrel's opponent gets annoyed at him and demands to know how much longer he's gonna gawk at his things, so Barrel remembers he's supposed to be in a fight and gets ready. You wish Barrel good luck, so he smiles as he thanks you before facing the other hero with an audacious grin. He asks if the guy is ready to get wet, and the announcer declares the start of first half of the fourth preliminary battle. Barrel then says it's time to get splashing as the episode battle begins, and more happens after that.

Things tune back in midway as Barrel cheers about how much fun he's having, zooming around the stage and taking pot shots at his opponent while toying with them. The water tank supplying Barrel's guns fill up in response to his excitement to the point that they're about ready to burst, and the opposing hero gets mad at being flexed on as he fires off his own attack. You call out to Barrel that it's coming and tell him to counter, so Barrel obeys and uses both guns to put out the fireball thrown at him.

The trainee hero is surprised Barrel stopped his giant fireball with just one attack of his own. Barrel laughs about it being a drop in the bucket, though he feels he got his expressions mixed up and brushes the thought aside. He figures it's time to end the match, so he points his guns down and blasts water through them to push himself up into the air. Furlong is surprised as he recognizes Barrel as imitating what he did the other day, and Gammei is excited at the idea since it should pick up tons of ratings points. Okitaka says there's plenty of Views too, so he urges you to go on. You call out to Barrel to fire his ultimate, so Barrel yells back affirmatively as he opens up his valves to full blast for Excalibur Vivian his variant ult.

Barrel fires off a giant stream of water at his opponent, deluging him. He's not actually moved anywhere, but once the attack ends the guy is sopping wet and falls to his knees as his hero form cancels out. Victom is pleased to see that Barrel won the match, and the event announcer starts tallying up the points. UEHA gets 100 victory points and then another 216 ratings points while Refreshing Heroes gets 46. They cite Barrel's new form rolling out as part of what led to UEHA outright destroying the other side in this match, and the crowd starts going wild.

Barrel starts cheering like crazy, and you congratulate him, tell him he did great, or say he was so cool. He thanks you saying it's because of you and everyone. When he comes down from the stage still in hero form, he grabs you into a hug to your shock, either because he's getting you wet now or because he's doing this in public. Barrel apologizes, saying he's just so happy he can't help himself. Furlong tries telling Barrel to stop wagging his tail since he's flinging water everywhere with it, and Gammei gets mad telling him to not get so worked up after looking so cool. Okitaka just laughs about how Barrel's so open with his emotions, then compliments both of you for doing so well and showing him something nice. And off to the side, Victom has his arms crossed as he looks at the group, thinking aloud to himself about transformations based on situational wishes and how mysterious Observer abilities are. On that note, the episode ends.

Live A Hero Midsummer Hero Festival Episode 2

The next day, things tune in over at the Hero City Summer Festival's specially built battle stadium, where all the hero offices and branch offices in Orient City compete to see which agency is the strongest in the O-1 Hero Grand Prix. Maculata is up on stage and laughs about how she sees the match ending and flexes with her ultimate on a no name trainee hero. The announcer calls the game, saying Creative Brain wins 100 victory points for winning the fight. Combined with the 76 points she gained on the audience ratings scale, her agency now has 576 points total. The announcer then asks that everyone give both contestants a round of applause.

 

Scene then shifts to UEHA Japan's waiting room in the stadium where you and the others are watching Maculata's match on screen. Barrel is impressed by Maculata's skillful, charming battle style, and you agree that she was cool and amazing, and/or ask how the matches are formatted. Gammei is present as he tells Barrel to not get too excited, then tells him he's drinking Furlong's drink. Barrel apologizes for this in surprise, but Furlong says it's fine and that he's too nervous to care about his drink anyway. Barrel advises Furlong to not get himself too worked up, then suggests that he should pretend the audience is made up of fire instead of people. Furlong reacts by wondering if he can put everyone out before damage spreads, so Gammei tells Barrel to not make Furlong any more tense. Also the correct Japanese way of dealing with nerves in public situations is to pretend they're all pumpkins.

 

Gammei then turns to you and asks how you're holding up for your first participation in the Grand Prix. You either admit to being nervous, say you're actually doing relatively okay, or ignore the question to stare at Gammei in his casual clothes. In A, Gammei laughs and says there's no need to be so stiff. And not to parrot Barrel or anything, but he advises you to pretend the audience is all pumpkins. In B, Gammei is mildly impressed you have more guts than he thought you would, but that's a good thing. In C, Gammei is embarrassed at you checking him out and a little mad you aren't nervous at all, so he tells you to focus on the match.

 

Anyways, Okitaka laughs about how young people are lively as always, then talks to you about how fun the event is. There's one more match after this one before it's UEHA's turn to go out, so he tells you to be ready. Victom pipes up to suggest that the rules get explained to you before then, which Okitaka realizes he should do, so he says he'll do that in order.

Okitaka starts explaining that the competition is round-robin style until the fourth day, at which point the format switches over to a tournament. So for the first phase every team will be competing to earn points for those four days, then there'll be an intermission day for a break. The top eight scoring teams will be the ones who make it into the tourney. During the round-robin phase, each match consists of two battles that are one on one duels. Each of those battles gets the team points, of which there are two kinds. The first is the 100 victory points for winning the battle itself, and the other is the ratings points the audience members watching live and over streams influence with their own reactions to each hero's performance. Both totals get added to the team's count.

Furlong says that the rules change every year, but this year is placing greater emphasis on entertainment for the scoring. Ratings scores used to be less weighted than they are now. Okitaka says it's tricky how the ratings points have no cap to them, but that's how it goes when it's directly based on audience reception. Barrel points out that the bit where it's possible to lose a match but gain tons of audience sympathy or win a match but lose points due to negative reception hasn't changed, so the plan to win and win over the crowd is the same this year too.

Okitaka says that is true, noting that you guys won't know how the score priority changing will really work out until the results are in. In which case, you guys may as well make the first battle a test run to see how that goes. Gammei recaps that once all the points are counted on the last day, it'll shift to a tournament format. The tournament will be a 4v4 battle per match, though the rough part will be in how many points you guys can score before then. You either say you get it, say you only sort of get it, or struggle to keep up. B and C get an extra line of Okitaka telling you to relax. The rules will be explained every time a match happens, so you can just remember the general setup.

Anyways, Okitaka tells you the heroes UEHA is putting up is Victom, Gammei, Barrel, and Furlong. The plan is to have Barrel and Furlong fight in the first and second days, and Victom and Gammei on the third and fourth days. Okitaka asks you to handle operations for Barrel and Victom, as Gammei and Furlong will be handled by another UEHA Operator Space Zooming it in. You notice that Okitaka isn't included in the battle line-up anywhere and ask about it. He's taken aback at the question, then answers he won't be in since he's more a leader. He also admits to getting a bit rusty since he hasn't been out in front much since becoming Commander. You accept the answer and/or think on it, and Gammei stands by quietly.

Okitaka coughs and tries to move things along, saying things should be fine since you get along with your assigned partners. Barrel cheers about being teamed up with you, saying he'll do his best and that you guys should aim for the championship belt. You respond by wishing him good luck, say you're happy to fight together with him, or comment on how motivated he is. In A, Barrel enthusiastically says he's getting fired up all of a sudden. In B, Barrel is surprised and wonders if this means his feelings got through to you. He's happy about it, but also feeling embarrassed about it too. In C, Barrel says of course he is since it's his beloved summer, his beloved competition, and...something he decides to backtrack from saying aloud.

Victom just stands there saying nothing, so you either awkwardly talk to him and exchange formalities, or ask if he's mad at you. In the former, he seems surprised you talked to him but politely and stoically responds back. In the latter, he's surprised you think so and denies being mad. Either way Furlong speaks up to apologize and tells you Victom's never been into these events. Victom calls character assassination and says when he's working for UEHA, he fights even if there aren't lives on the line. Since he's here, he'll fight. That's all there is to it. Okitaka sighs about how stubborn and straight-laced Victom is, at which point the PA system tells you guys the field has been set up and asks you to head out the East-3 gate. Okitaka prompts everyone to get psyched since it's go time, saying this year is the year they show UEHA's real strength. Barrel, Furlong, Gammei call back, as go you as you try to fire the team up. Victom however just stands there silently, as usual.

Title card pops up, and this episode is called Fierce! The Passionate Policeman

Time passes to the point you and UEHA get to the battle ring in the center of the stadium, which is a giant square that spans 100 m in every direction from the center. The event MC announces that this is going to be the fourth match up of the day, UEHA Japan vs Independent Heroes, and both sides' heroes have arrived. The stands are filled, and the crowd's cheering is loud enough to make you shake.

You either are taken aback at the amount of people out there and get nervous, or you start getting excited. Gammei notes that there's like 30k people up there, which is a lot for the first day of the battle event. Victom says there's 150k people already waiting for the livestream to start, so they can't put up a bad showing here, which causes Furlong to start worrying about how he'll do. Okitaka suggests Barrel go first since he's raring to go, then says he's counting on the two of you. Barrel agrees and says he'll do his best. You either firmly agree or are taken aback at how quickly things are going. Barrel turns to you, saying you guys should win this for sure before running off breathing hard through his nose towards the stage. Okitaka prompts you to get going too, asking you to give direct commands to Barrel. You acknowledge the instructions and go, asking Barrel to wait for you as you trail after him.

Once you get to the stage, Barrel is looking wide-eyed at his opponent. You ask what's wrong when you catch up, then look at where Barrel is looking to find Gomeisa standing on the other side. Gomeisa is surprised to see you two, but then cheers up saying he's glad to be competing with people he knows. You either react in shock at seeing Gomeisa or remember that he did mention being in the Grand Prix earlier, and Barrel asks if Gomeisa actually understands what he's getting himself into. Gomeisa answers that he does, saying he loves festivals and dancing. He also mentions being told he can dance there as much as he likes, so he invites you guys to have fun with him.

Barrel is taken aback at how Gomeisa seems to be here for something different than what you guys are. He's held back a bit up to this point, but now he decides to go all out even if it is Gomeisa he's up against. Barrel asks you to transform him, so you move to comply. Once he's suited up he yells about getting into this. Gomeisa follows up with his own transformation, noting that you guys look ready and saying it's time to dance together. The event MC notes both sides have transformed, then announces the start of the episode battle. More happens afterwards.

After the battle, the story tunes back in midway to Gomeisa saying summer is the season for trees and flowers to be bright and lively, then asking that everyone stops fighting and dance together. As he dances, motes of light float and flutter and surround Barrel before shaping themselves into leaves. Barrel's will to fight starts to weaken as though he were lying in the shade of foliage a gentle breeze is blowing through, and Gomeisa's visually impressive technique draws in all of the audience's attention as they all cheer.

Barrel tries to resist as he says his power is weakening, but you encourage him to push through it and push back. Barrel resolves himself to win with a brilliant finish, so he can't let himself lose his edge here. Barrel lowers the hammer of both his guns and readies himself, yelling that he's as hot as the summer and won't be stopped by something at this level. He then shoots in every direction, and the bullets destroy the leaves with intense flames. Gomeisa is taken aback at this turn of events, and Barrel says it's the end of the match as he launches his ultimate move at him, firing enough bullets to destroy Gomeisa's weapon. A heat haze forms from the heat coming from Barrel's bullets, which then reflects the light of Gomeisa's suit cancelling out.

Gomeisa cries a little, sadly noting how strong Barrel is. You cheer that you guys have won since Gomeisa's hero mode has cut out, and the announcer calls it in for UEHA's victory and the 100 points that go with it. The audience erupts into cheers, and Barrel is thrilled that he managed to pull through. You congratulate Barrel, but Victom tells you to slow down since the ratings points haven't been added yet. Barrel stops as he remembers, though he has doubts it'll make a huge difference.

The announcer starts going over the ratings scores, noting with surprise that UEHA gets 59 while Independent Heroes gets 178. The team is shocked, Barrel most of all, and the announcer says it's a surprise comeback with a nearly tripled amount of points for Independent Heroes. Gomeisa is surprised and starts thanking the audience, and you get around to expressing your own shock at this.

Furlong says that this does happen sometimes as this system is set up to give a chance to heroes who aren't specialized in attacking. Okitaka says he wasn't expecting the change to the score weight would have this big an impact, so you guys will need to keep in mind the need to play to the audience and show them something impressive. He's pretty sure you guys can win the straight up fight parts of the formula, but the entertainment bit will be trickier to do well in. Gammei thinks on the final score of the round being 159 to 178, which is still not too big a difference but still vexing. Barrel is depressed that he got outdone 3 to 1 on the ratings side and wonders if he really didn't do that great aesthetically, so you try to apologize and cheer him up.

Okitaka also tries cheering Barrel up claiming some responsibility for not advising him on how to handle the change in the scoring rules. He then tells Barrel it's time to come down from the stage so the arena staff can get it ready for the next battle of the day, and Barrel looks conflicted as he steps down while the crowd now starts cheering for Gomeisa.

Time passes as the UEHA party heads over to the side stage during the preparatory field setup interval, and Barrel sighs as he sits down on a bench. His ears are drooping, and he's clearly dejected as he takes a drink. Furlong tries cheering him up by pointing out how hard he fought and how cool he looked. Barrel thanks him, though he's still not over getting almost three times less the ratings points Gomeisa did.

You sympathize with Barrel but wonder why there's such a big difference and say you don't get the scoring rubric. Okitaka agrees, saying at this point you'd have to ask the audience directly about it since it's linked to them. He then hands you a tablet, prompting you to look at it to come up with ideas. The tablet itself has a bunch of social media posts lined up on it in a search result.

You ask if the posts are the audience's thoughts on the match that just happened, which Okitaka confirms. It's a real time feed of posts from the audience, so you guys will have to look it over to think of ways to get ideas for scoring better on ratings points. There's probably gonna be some harsh posts, but skimming through things should be fine. Barrel gets up and asks that you let him see it too. He concedes that Gomeisa made a good show, but he's still bothered by his performance.

You agree to show him and ask that he not hang off you so much, so Barrel settles for putting his chin on your shoulder as you both start poking through the live feed. One guy calls Barrel cool and wants to go gun crazy like him. Another says they enjoyed watching Barrel fight and says he's hot. A third person cheers Barrel on. You note that there's a lot of positivity going on for Barrel and that he's got a lot of fans, causing him to laugh bashfully. Gammei however tells him to stop smiling like that because it creeps him out.

Furlong seems to be reading along too and says there's no clues as to why Barrel lost out on the ratings scale, even though he has a lot of devoted fans. Victom however spots something and directs your attention to it. Those comments talk about how Barrel creating a heat haze in the middle of summer made them uncomfortable, which made Gomeisa look more appealing with his cooler visuals by comparison. And while him going trigger happy was fun to watch, it also made a guy want ice cream all of a sudden.

You go oh as you pick up that people think Barrel comes off as uncomfortably hot, and Okitaka sighs as he says that probably would be off-putting to people when it's summertime. Gomeisa having more cool-themed visuals drawing in more votes makes more sense in that light. Barrel is taken aback at this since he can only fight with guns, and he asks if anyone's written anything that would give him ideas on what to actually do instead. Gammei tells him that the audience can't help with that, and Okitaka sympathizes but agrees that you guys have to be the ones to think of something. Barrel reluctantly concedes the point, and you think out loud to yourself about possible ideas.

The PA system clocks on to announce the stage has been set, so heroes and Operators participating in the second match are being asked to make their way over. Okitaka prompts Furlong to get going, wishing him luck and asking him to do his best to get the audience's attention. Furlong answers affirmatively, then psyches himself up by muttering under his breath that he can do this as he turns to head out.

Okitaka informs you guys that the other Operator is ready to go over space Zoom, so Furlong nods and tells Barrel to watch him work hard enough to make up for his surprise loss. Barrel is touched by this, and you either comment on how bold Furlong got all of a sudden, note that he's totally different from how he was seconds ago, or sigh over how cool he is. Victom just sighs wishing Furlong would be like this all the time, and Okitaka looks up Furlong's slated opponent. He's impressed by the guy being pretty accomplished, about equal to Furlong's. They've also got a decent amount of experience with urban battling, though in terms of matchups it's bad luck for them. Okitaka probably won't need to get involved himself. You ask him what he means, but Okitaka just tells you to wait and see since you'll probably understand right away.

Time passes to the start of the fourth matchup battle starting, and Furlong's opponent takes the initiative. The guy yells loudly about how he won't hold back against an UEHA hero, then charges up his fire power against the firefighter hero. You go 'oh' at that as the mob hero creates a fire cannon with his power, then fires that at Furlong. There's enough of it to completely cover him, but Furlong keeps calm and pulls the trigger on his hose. Water energy splashes around, extinguishing the flames out in seconds. The other hero is somehow surprised by this but attempts to keep the momentum going, though Furlong declares he'll never be beaten by fire as he opens up his water valve to its strongest setting and shoots the guy off the stage. Furlong adds some spins to his movements as well, making the water spiral out and create a rainbow from the drops.

Barrel is amazed by the rainbow, and Okitaka says Furlong came up with a great idea. Furlong moves to finish the match by launching his ultimate move, blasting a jet stream of water at the other hero that causes his transformation to come undone. The other hero falls to his knees, and Furlong poses as he puts his hose away. The announcer calls it in for UEHA for 100 victory points, then reads off the ratings points next. UEHA gets an additional 125 points, and Western Izu Pyrotechnics gets 43.

You comment that in a fight between a firefighter and a pyrotechnician, of course the firefighter wins. Gammei compliments Furlong for blowing the other dude away in points. Victom says that when Furlong's in hero mode, he's got the drive and bearing of a veteran firefighter, so of course he won this battle. Gammei is surprised as he asks why Victom seems so proud of Furlong, so Victom backtracks and denies that he is.

Furlong waves to the crowd cheering like crazy over him, and Barrel stares at him as he gets an idea about water guns being beautiful and refreshing, so maybe he could do something like that. You notice Barrel talking to himself and ask him about it, so he says it's nothing in surprise. He does admit thinking it'd be nice to do things like Furlong did, and Furlong comes back at this point back in civilian mode. He immediately exhales like he's been holding his breath and says he was scared, and Barrel congratulates him with a hug saying he was cool. Furlong mildly freaks out in concern asking him to stop before he gets too wet, and your phone faintly glows after Barrel runs over to him. The window informs you of finding a new path for Ba---- at the weakest connection level, and the episode ends as you curiously look at it.