It seems like the older swallow is starting to take flight again, while the younger one is still very hesitant and conflicted. With the help of their friends, each reacts differently from the other.
I had anticipated this. I had expected both Akira and Kondo to look inside themselves and decide what they want to do in their lives. Each of them were confronted by their friends taking part in their passions; Chihiro visited Kondo and tried to give him some advice to continue writing the novel that he had started years ago, and Haruka paid a visit to Garden and told Akira to return to the track team. While it seems like Chihiro got to Kondo, Akira is still turning away.
She’s having some major inner conflicts. While she seems happy, giggling and blushing to herself as she wrote down her shift request for the summer, she’s been racking her brain about returning to track. She picked up her shorts and shoes, but she lacks the passion for it. The passion for it may still be in there but her paralyzing fear may be holding her back. Haruka and the rest of the girls of the team talk about a girl from another school who’s making buzz in high school track history as she’s been breaking her personal records and poses as a rival against their own team, but also a threat to Akira’s personal best score of the track competition. What makes it even more significant is that this girl had the same injury Akira has, damage to the Achilles Tendon. And instead of quitting, she’s been making herself a threat to other teams and is a very talented girl. The rest of the track team want Akira back as well, because if this Kurata girl can return to track, Haruka fully believes that Akira can as well even though she knows that people react differently to injuries. Haruka confronts Akira at work and says what she needs to say, and Kondo overhears the whole thing.
In the end, he seems to really want to help Akira return to track. He noted how many days she requested in a week for the summer, but after hearing Haruka’s plea, he purposely didn’t schedule her for any days, and is kind of hinting for her to return indirectly. But she realizes what he’s trying to do and gets angry at him.
For Kondo, I really enjoyed his scene with Chihiro. Their conversations are always fun to listen to and they have such great meaning. I have no doubt that Kondo is going to go back into writing when it seems that Chihiro lit that fire back inside him again. As for Akira, I don’t know. I honestly think it could go either way. She seems perfectly content, but then again it seems fake too. She’s been expressing some sort of interest in track again, but the way she yelled at Kondo and not running after the couple that left their cellphone, it seems she’s given up. I think what I’m most worried about is that everything has to be resolved by the finale next week.
And by everything, I mean everything. What Akira is going to do next in her life, and the romance. I’ve been enjoying this show immensely, but if I had to complain about one thing, it would have to be about the romance that’s disappeared. I do like that Kondo and Akira have become friends that can sometimes rely on each other, but the series started off as a romance and hasn’t touched on it since the hug scene in Kondo’s apartment. How are they suddenly going to tackle the romance aspect of the show again and deal with Akira’s drama all in one episode, while also giving us a satisfying ending?
I can’t totally express my opinions until next week, so I hope the ending will be enough to perfectly end this anime.
