Classroom For Heroes – Season 1 Episode 8 Recap & Review

Less Than Human

Episode 8 of Classroom for Heroes begins with the girls finding a robot who is looking for Blade. They find it cute and offer to take it to Blade. Meanwhile, Blade charges up in the arena with Cu, the intention being to save the energy for when it’s needed. Just then, the girls arrive with the robot. Blade is spooked at first sight and uses Dragon Eater to blow the robot to pieces.

The girls are enraged to see this and scold Blade. He tells them it is a Guardian and will put itself back together soon. The next day, the android reappears in a completely different form, looking almost like a girl. She springs up and asks Blade if her new form is pleasing, as she has taken one after analyzing the male psyche.

She hops back and initiates an attack on Blade. Blade instantly unleashes a flurry of Dragon Eater attacks, destroying it once again. The girls scolded him for not having mercy on a girl. The same evening, the android rebuilds herself. She mentions that she is currently in observation mode as she wishes to defeat Blade. Claire requests that she join them, as they will figure out a way to defeat Blade.

They sit down to discuss strategies and start off by asking her why she wants to defeat Blade. She responds that he infiltrated her intimate zone, desecrating her chassis repeatedly. Blade jumps to defend himself, saying he only trespassed in an area she was guarding. He also mentioned that His Majesty himself had given him the master key to the library.

She counters it, saying he didn’t meet all the requirements. Blade clarifies that he only broke in to help Earnest while researching Asmodeus. 

At the meeting, they decide to separate Iona from the mother computer, making her independent and causing her to lose her ability to reconstruct herself. They explain their intention, saying this will cause Blade to rethink before attacking.

The next day, the students gathered around the arena to watch the battle between Blade and Iona. Right before the battle starts, Iona informs Blade about the modification. During the battle, Blade is forced to hold back his strength to avoid destroying Iona. She takes the upper hand and attacks Blade. Having no way to attack, Blade submits and admits defeat. He appreciates her for not letting him use his small attacks.

Later that day, the group sits down to enjoy lunch. The group is surprised to see her able to consume food. Iona explains that she was designed to process organic matter and convert it into energy. She tells Claire about her existential crisis, as in moments like these she would turn to the mother computer for guidance. She feels empty without a supervisor anymore. 

To solve this crisis, she requests Blade to be her master, as every android has a self-destruct system if it doesn’t have a supervisor. She also tells them about the 84-hour self-destruct counter, which begins if she doesn’t have a supervisor. Blade agrees to give it a try and see if it works.

The next day, she takes orders from Blade, bringing him snacks while wearing a traditional maid’s dress. Sophie gets jealous seeing Iona steal her character, and the two end up getting into a competition to see who can please him more.

Sophie dresses up and behaves like a cat to please him, and Iona dresses up like a bunny. The two also engage in an armless fight at the arena but ultimately turn to the use of powers before Blade interrupts and stops them.

Later that night, both Sophie and Iona insist on watching him fall asleep to prove their devotion. Once Blade falls asleep, the two have a conversation where Iona reveals a lot about herself and what shapes her, and Sophie relates to her feelings.

Iona tells Sophie about how she was secluded from society for most of her life and that Blade was the only one who would visit. Overnight, the two grow closer and form a bond.

The next day, as the group gathers around the table for breakfast, Blade commands her to show him the counter. Unfortunately, the counter has slowed down but hasn’t stopped. The students are saddened to see that it hasn’t worked. Iona wishes to stay with them for as long as possible but promises to leave after that as she doesn’t wish to injure anyone.

The students throw a send-off party to cherish their last few moments together, with singing, dancing, and many more activities to make the night memorable. Sophie urges her to enjoy it as much as possible, clarifying that she is saying that as a friend and not as a command.

After celebrating the night, the time finally comes to send Iona off. Iona steps into one side of the arena as it gets concealed by a transparent barrier. Sophie, Claire, and Earnest say their goodbyes. Iona especially thanks Sophie for showing her what being a human is like and gives her regards to Blade before thanking everyone there as they watch the counter tick down to zero.

As the counter strikes zero, everyone expects her to detonate, but she doesn’t. Everyone looks confused. Just then, Blade appears from under the ground. Earnest scolds him for skipping the send-off. He tells them that he had gone to speak to Mother to persuade her to reconnect with Iona, thus exterminating the threat of self-destruction. Iona takes down Blade with a hug out of gratitude. 

The Episode Review

This chapter takes us through the visit of an android as she seeks to take revenge on Blade for breaking into the library without adequate permits. The battle ultimately ends in Blade’s defeat, but he handles it like a champ, and also goes on to save the day at the end of the episode.

The chapter later evolves into a heart-touching story as it has us believing that Iona will self-destruct once the counter runs out after creating a bond with Sophie, Claire, Earnest, and the others. It reveals a robot developing sentience and forming bonds with humans, only to realize time is ticking and it won’t last forever. This leads to a heart-touching moment as they throw her a send-off party and bid their final goodbyes.

Overall, it is a nice, light, happy-ending kind of anime to watch, and there is tremendous value in the bonds that the characters make. However, the over-sexualization only takes away from the beauty of the anime.