We were finally given the the full story of Kakeru’s past and a good explanation about the grudge Sakaki bears towards him. The consequences of Kakeru’s actions resulted the Track Team being restricted from participating any meets, and those like Sakaki who had trained hard for three years lost the opportunity they had been fighting for.
However, while Kakeru did commit a wrongdoing, it is still unfair to say the consequences of Kakeru’s actions entirely lies on him. For starters, had the team been more united and actually looked out for each other, this whole confrontation could have been avoided. Or maybe someone could have jumped in on time to stop Kakeru from landing the punch, just as we saw his team (Haiji, Nico and Shindo) do today to stop him for pummelling Sakaki. (Also can we take a moment to appreciate how PROTECTIVE they are of each other?!)
The root of the problem was the Coach in charge of the high school’s team. He was the one who created this toxic environment the team was being raised in. It was less about making friends, and more about the survival of the fittest. I absolutely despise coaches like this, because under no circumstances should a young athlete be encouraged to push through a bad injury without sufficiently resting. In fact, the coach couldn’t care less about the students’ well being, it was all about what they could do for him, and the fame he can get out of their success. That was one among many reasons why Kakeru despised the man so much, since he wasn’t subtle by the slightest when it comes to boasting about riding off Kakeru’s abilities. It’s also why I don’t blame Kakeru the slightest for punching the guy, and breaking his nose.
It is apparent how nobody realized that Kakeru was in fact a bomb just waiting to blow. It was the unfortunate event of a track scholarship student’s deteriorating condition, and the coach’s response to it, was what pulled the trigger. Throughout the year, Kakeru has constantly witnessed the coach constantly picking on this kid. In spite of an injury, the coach continued to push to the point he couldn’t run in the upcoming meet. It’s such a sad thing because nobody had this guy’s back. And the one time Kakeru finally musters up the courage to tell him it’s okay to not run if he feels he isn’t up to it, the student misunderstands his intent. It breaks my heart because Kakeru was only looking out for the student’s knee injury, he genuinely didn’t want to see it get worse. And when it did, we saw just how alarmed he was. Then when he couldn’t run anymore and is told to quit, Kakeru just couldn’t bear it anymore. It was all too much, and he snapped.
In fact, it doesn’t surprise me that it was Kakeru the one who stood up for the scholarship student. Although he isn’t very good at interacting with others, he isn’t heartless. He’s good guy who is vehemently afraid of repeating his past mistakes.
Having learned all of this only makes me happier to see Kakeru is on a team that is all about supporting one another. I am glad he was able to open up to them about his past, and they were as expected, didn’t judge him for it. They understood while it was certainly not the best way to go about it, he had his reasons. I also really appreciate how Haiji is perspective enough to know Kakeru is struggling but eases his way into helping him open up rather than forcing his way through. He enabled him to speak with the team as a whole, and was able to help him snap out of it when he was blinded by his emotions. Now that Kakeru has finally got the past that has been haunting him all long off his chest, he is able to move forward, and now truly embrace the dream of running the Hakone Ekiden with the team they have formed.
Next week, oh boy I am sure we’re in for an emotional one with the spotlight on Akane. It’s hard to say how many chances are left, perhaps Nico and King will be able to qualify early on next week, leaving Akane to be struggling to make the cut. The team’s fate lies on him, and that’s an unbelievable amount of pressure on his shoulders, and if the pressure of time running out hasn’t started creeping up on him already, it sure will now.
