“Like a boatsman adrift…”
Impression:
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THEY WON! THEY WON! THEY WON! THEY WON! THEY WON! THEY WON! THEY WON! THEY WON! THEY WON! THEY WON! THEY WON! THEY WON! /SCREAMS
TAICHI, NISHIDA, CHIHAYA I AM SO PROUD OF YOU THREE! YOU MANAGED TO PULL IT OFF!
AND TAICHI AND ESPECIALLY HAPPY FOR YOU AS YOU FINALLY HAD SOME LUCK! /SOBS IT’S NO SURPRISE THAT YOU WERE BLOWN AWAY AND BRB DROWNING IN A SEA OF FEELS!
Man what a fantastic match this was. It was such a nail-biter, the tension level was soaring through the roof and there was no telling whether they’d win or not. I am so thrilled that they claimed the Best Team in Japan title because Taichi made an excellent point: They only have three years of high school to have this opportunity to play with this specific team. They have one more year after this, and there’s no telling whether they will be able to get as far as they did next year since every year a team will get new players and become stronger. So this victory means the world to them.
What I loved best was that Nishida and Taichi had took what they learned from their Houkou match they had lost back during the Tokyo Regional finals of synchronizing their cards. Seriously they have learned so much from Houkou, that they are so fortunate to have been able to compete against such a team within their region. And it was precisely that what they were able to top Team Fujisaki, as they were a team that was coached more on the aspect of individual strength rather than as a team.
I don’t blame Chihaya for crying and being sad that she still thought Arata didn’t like or appreciate team matches, but lucky for her- he was able to remember that he does care about it thanks to having being dragged into a team match in the first place. And if it weren’t for that, Shinobu wouldn’t have been encouraged by him to watch the team match and be inspired and more motivated now that she sees there are many players who compete in teams who are aiming to claim the Queen title. I hope that Arata will tell her that in words rather than just agreeing by sounds, but understandably it’s an emotional moment. It’s only going to get more heart-wrenching from this point on as we have no idea whether Chihaya will be able to compete in the Individual Match at all this season… And if she can’t, there is certainly an opportunity for Taichi to finally claim his spot in the A Class, as well as us being able to see a long awaited rematch between Shinobu and Arata.
One of the most significant development on both Chihaya’s and Taichi’s part as players during this particular match was that they both decided to follow their own strategy and instincts, or take advantage of the data they have about their opponent. Taichi had decided to take advantage of what he knows about Eromu thanks to Komano’s data. It was thanks to that he was able to trick the guy and make him commit a fault for the very first time in a long time. He also was being very cautious and put together a strategy by taking his sweet time that did in fact tick off Eromu who claimed he was ‘wasting’ time.
