To summary of volume 6

If you could have a harem full of hot girls, would you consider that having to take your exams twice is too high a price to pay? Natsuru thinks so. Once his exams are over, Shizuku is trying to make him finally accept the truth: he went on a date with her. A date. Not some ploy to fight the white kämpfers. Poor Natsuru. Shizuku stole his first kiss, and now his first date. And to make things worse, the hot S kaichou asks him when he wants to go on a date again. But Natsuru refuses… after all, that’s not the type of relationship they have. Right? She is an evil queen who only wants to take advantage of him.

“Not that type of relationship? Even if we kissed like that”

“Kiss, huh?”

“Do you want to do it here too?”

“We’re in school!”

“If we don’t tell anyone, nobody will find out”

“That’s not the problem!”

“So you want to tell people? I don’t mind! Natsuru, let’s kiss”

But Natsuru is greatly concerned about more important things. I mean, why have a passionate time with a hot woman when you can spend the time discussing how to deal with the white kämpfer, something far more critical? Shizuku, probable exasperated, replies that, if they defeat the white kämpfer now, the moderators might just send in more white kämpfer, so as a result they would be weaker after the battle.

To be honest, I don’t remember very well how the anime went, but I think that given the fact that they didn’t cover too many volumes, the fact that Mikoto, Shizuku, Akane and Natsuru become friends (and rivals in a very different sense!) was a little watered down, but in the novels both red and blue kämpfer have officially become allies. As they discuss this, Shizuku mentions another advantage of becoming allies… she can go on as many dates as she wants with Natsuru. Shizuku warns him, “I never let what I want slip from my hands” Natsuru, you poor thing!

That evening, Natsuru has a very emo moment in his room, lamenting all the unfair things that happen to him—by unfair things, he means going on a date with a hot woman and Mikoto and Akane getting all jealous. The voice of reason, i.e. the Harakiri Tiger makes fun of Natsuru, and tells him that he just doesn’t want to admit he went on a real date with Shizuku. But, Natsuru argues that even if hypothetically Shizuku liked him and he wanted to go out with her, he can’t. Why? Well… because he will go out with Sakura some day… maybe in the distant future.

Seriously, Natsuru fails as a harem lead even more than other characters. Because apart from been absurdly dense, a common trait, Natsuru actively hates the idea of a harem, when it’s within his reach. That is an insult to all healthy males! Even a plush toy is aware that he’s very slow, as he remarks when Natsuru voices his theory that all Shizuku wants to do is to prevent him from approaching Sakura.

As they continue speaking, Natsuru starts to realize that the plush toy is making fun of him, so he asks him if he hates him. The Harakiri Tiger reassures him that he’s his ally. So what if they betray the moderators? Even if that happens, the messenger will continue to be Natsuru’s ally, because he’s his counselor.

“So let’s do our best!”

“You’ve never done anything!!!”

“Oh, please, Natsuru. What do you expect of a plush toy?”

If you remember, I already wrote about what happened in volume 5 when the girls and Natsuru (girl version) stayed over at Sakura’s. Shizuku “kidnapped” and merciless interrogated the Burnt Alive Lion, apparently the older plush toy. He told them that the moderators are beings from another dimension who are divided into two clans (red and blue) and, in order not to have to fight among themselves, they choose representatives on earth (actually, schoolgirls, so who knows what kind of fetishists those people are) who fight in their stead. But since Shizuku wants to unite both camps (and in fact, by doing so, create a harem for Natsuru!), they sent the white kämpfers to destroy them.  Shizuku however doesn’t believe that all the Lion said was true.

If Natsuru is obsessed with their war against the white kämpfers, there is a full-scale war going on behind the scenes, as Akane, Mikoto and Shizuku try to outmaneuver each other. This time it’s Akane’s turn, who is becoming surprisingly bold (even without turning into kämpfer) and she invites Natsuru to go somewhere during the summer, like the pool or the sea. After all, it’s now her turn. And she’s in the lead after Natsuru told her (at gunpoint) that apart from Sakura, he likes a girl like her the most. This has made Akane become really positive and more assertive, and that’s some very welcome character development in the series, since it’s doubtful we’ll get any from Natsuru.

Although I cannot escape from Shizuku’s S charms, Akane is my second favorite girl in Kämpfer. I relate to her shyness, and I love how hard she tries to make Natsuru realize her feelings. In the anime they also did something awesome: she was a closet pervert, something that I haven’t seen in the light novels, unfortunately, because that was the icing on the cake.

Suddenly, Mikoto, Natsuru’s osananajimi, barges in, as she wants to go somewhere with Natsuru this summer, but Akane won’t allow her to approach her boy and tells her that he’s tired and has decided to keep himself cooped up in his house all summer.

Did I mention that there’s an all-out war going out? Some minutes later, Mikoto and Shizuku hold a secret meeting.

“So are we going to disrupt their date?” inquires Mikoto

“Of course not. But sometimes mishaps can happen”

Now, where are they going? Back in the girls’ side, the class rep, vice-class rep and accountant trio are trying to make money out of Natsuru (their plans include making him engage in compensated dating), but the class rep’s sister has given her some tickets for a water park and they are discussing if they should give them to Natsuru, until Akane asks her to give them to her, which is unusually bold, but the class rep. agrees.

While Akane discusses her plans with Natsuru, another rival appears. Boy Natsuru may be popular with Akane, Shizuku and Mikoto, but Sakura is madly in love with his girl version, and she tries to invite him to go somewhere. Akane says, once again, that he is going to stay at home, but Sakura insists. If he isn’t going anywhere, she’ll go to his house. Akane tells Sakura that Natsuru has already decided to go with her to a water park, and although Sakura thinks that is too childish for Natsuru, Akane insists he wants to go.

Suddenly, Natsuru probably has his most brilliant idea ever.

“Sakura-san, what about going with boy Natsuru?”

“Even if you have the same name… no, he’s not a bad guy, but we were together in middle school and he’s plain and boring”

Upon hearing this, Natsuru asks for some rope to hang himself. Akane and Sakura continue arguing, but to no avail and Sakura finally leaves, and she’s very angry.

“Natsuru-san, I think that going on a date with me isn’t that bad, right?” says Akane, “Even if I’m not Sakura-san, even if I can’t be her replacement, I’ll do my best”

Damn you Natsuru, to make a poor girl say that… he doesn’t deserve a girl like Akane.

Kampfer is usually narrated by Natsuru, but the following section had a third-person narrator, which I think is a great way of showing scenes even if the main character isn’t there, a limitation of first-person narrations. More light novels should do the same, in my opinion (hint: oreimo!). So well, it turns out that Mikoto was spying on them and Shizuku joined her. After that, Shizuku managed to get all the information about where Natsuru and Akane are going from Sakura, only to pretend they are going with them as well… although this is the first time Mikoto has heard of that. They invite Sakura to go, and thus Shizuku’s plan to disrupt their date is set into motion. Shizuku is a fearful woman indeed.

Back home, the Harakiri Tiger wants to go with Natsuru but Natsuru refuses. He asks him if he’s coming back that day, and Natsuru realizes that the tickets include a one-night stay in a nearby hotel.

To Part 2