“Why didn’t you fight to the end?”
Impression
Well. I had an inkling there might be a tournament-style layout (a la Girls und Panzer) and here we are! A high school airsoft tournament! Contrary to what I expected, though, it’s not going to be a focal point of the series, and won’t take up every single episode from now on. Today’s entire tournament was wrapped up in just one episode, after all. Most of it was pretty standard stuff – the C3-bu wear armbands to distinguish their team, the entire playing field’s been scaled up in size, and the stakes are high. Oh, and the featured game was “capture the flag tank“.
The first few games must have gone really smoothly for the C3-bu, especially in the first one – I don’t think any of the members sustained a hit, and even Yura-chan managing to take someone out by flailing wildly xD I thought the whole game ended in an anti-climactic manner, even if Sonora and Karila were both really good. While they did rise through the tournament ranks fast, I’d have liked to see a bit more of each match than just still shots. Getting a bit lazy, Gainax? However, I do understand that most of the first half was to set things up for the match against Meisei Girls’, a primary rival for our C3-bu. Kinda like Shiraitodai in Saki or Hokuo in Chihayafuru. These girls are overwhelmingly strong, and there’s no doubt they’ll be turning up in future episodes, especially as their leader, Haruna Rin seems to be Sonora’s frenemy. Sonora seemed friendly enough…but that’s some strong dislike coming from Rin. They probably have some deep history together from their time in America.
The crux of the episode was the match – or rather, Yura-chan’s decision to forfeit right at the very end, when she was left all alone. I’m mixed about this. On one hand, I can understand her fear – she’s a newbie, who’s been thrown into a high-level match against veterans who took out almost everyone in the C3-bu (including Karila and Sonora) easily. And Rin seems to have this vendetta against Sonora to the point that she’d rather hunt down every last member rather than go get the flag. But then again, the forfeit it really didn’t sit well with me – my first verbal thought was “wtf, she’s surrendering?” There’s that shame associated with giving up, you know? The heroic vitality you usually see in shows like this wasn’t there. I’d actually expected Yura-chan to charge in and somehow take the flag – or at least, give Rin a good run for her money and expose a hidden talent she has for airsoft. But she chose to forfeit instead…I don’t know, guys. I don’t know. Anyhow, Sonora was pissed. It was almost scary how different she was from the usual Sonora. Despite her carefree attitude, it really shows that she does love airsoft, and doesn’t want anyone half-assing any of their games.
No type of warning could have prepared me for this though:
What kind of change is that?! Yura-chan’s lovely hair is all gone ;_;