The 5th episode of Upotte reverses all the gains from the last episode and returns to form in the worst way possible. The semifinals of the gun battles take place in this episode where M16 takes on a clone of herself and another bullpup rifle, where she runs into digestive problems. FNC and AR-18 then face off against the modified AKBs which turns out to have a vicious conclusion. Finally, L85 finally makes it back in time for the final match which leads into the next episode with a cliffhanger.
What I mean by back on form is that once again we were treated to jokes that had too much explanation after the punchline. Take the M16’s match against the T91 and the Steyr AUG as an example. There were two visual gags for each of her opponents. The AUG’s was simple and effective because her hair changed in length depending on the barrel configuration. Easy enough to understand and effective. For the T91, the stock once again became the joke. Since she has an adjustable stock, and it shot off by M16 by the end of the battle, you can pretty much guess what happens there. Yet, it had to be suggested that why her panties fell off in the first place. There was also the moment when M16 should have felt some empathy for L85 because she was jamming too, but no, we get another look at L85’s failings for good measure.
Of course, I can’t go through this episode without mentioning Sako getting off in the middle of a fire fight. She’s aroused at the thought of FNC skipping bullets off of the water to hit Galil on the other side of the pond. It was also at this point that the episode took on a rather cruel feeling.
Sako overpowers FNC and has her prone on the ground and blinded. Then proceeds to lecture here on how this is really all about M16 before she finishes off the battle. Then, she continues to fire shot after shot into FNC. I guess this worked because it felt cruel to me even though the girls aren’t supposed to be hurt by the other guns. She eventually had to be stopped by SG550, who arrived with L85 just in time.
Ultimately, FNC turned out to be fine, but the cruelty continued. The relationship between L85 and M16 clearly wasn’t as patched up as it appeared at the start of the final battle as they are pretty much doing their own thing. That also seems to be what the Galil and Sako team appear to be doing as well as far as a strategy. The pivotal moment in this particular battle comes not from what happens on the battlefield, however, but by Sako shooting SG550 from long distance to punish her for the last round rather than going for the easy shot. Her character has clearly been designed to carry a sadistic lust for power and authority, but I wish it was much more subtle than it actually is.
Next week should be the conclusion of this arc. I expect Galil to get involved more since she doesn’t seem like a terrible person. SG550’s headshot carries a bit of a dilemma though. Was it only the hair that got hit? Even if she did get hit, will it really matter as far as damage is concern? I don’t think this show has the audacity to kill off a main character after all, so I’m going for the narrow miss angle. I’m hoping the story
Lower Mid-Table 
Interestingly enough the little bit with the kindergarteners/submachineguns actually comes AFTER the team comp in the manga.
As for SAKO being an utter bitch, it was mentioned (in this episode and in the manga) that she wants to take over as the big Kahuna of the school. With how these things are portrayed in Japanese media, this means taking out (who she thinks) is the “boss” of the school, in this case M16… Which she isn’t, but she *is* one of the more popular assault rifles out there.
So yeah, all this animosity? It’s partly due to misinformation.
I did get that feeling from watching the episode that it was about takeover. I think SG550 was the real target in terms of a powergrab because she would be able to stop her from getting revenge on M16.