Go! Fight! Win!
Finally, the girls have their first try at cheering! Basketball-senpai (what even is her actual name?) goes up to Kohane while she’s with Tatejima and asks her a favor. She and the rest of the basketball team are going to have a match with another school, and Basketball-senpai wants the cheer club to come cheer for them. Shocked by this favor, Kohane passes out but Tatejima passes on the message to Uki and Arima. As Tatejima leaves, Kohane wakes up and is back to her ditzy self.
Tatejima stops for a moment and ponders about joining the cheerleading club, that it actually looks like lots of fun. But she pushes that thought out of her mind and runs off, but Uki and Kohane see this conflicted side of hers. It’s obvious for them to see that Tatejima really wants to join but for some reason she doesn’t have the confidence to actually ask them. Kohane wants to cheer for her but gets lost in the endless cycle of to cheer or not to cheer, but Arima, with her sane head, suggests that they go to Tatejima to ask if she would like to do a temporary trial of the club. That’s when they hear the “haunted” piano music and Kohane gets excited to recruit the Ghosties. But of course there was never a haunted music room. The one playing the piano was Tatejima herself. Uki being relieved that their school isn’t haunted, Kohane then switches gears to asking Tatejima about the club. At first, Tatejima thought that they were trying to pass a message through her to recruit Akitsune but freaked out when she realized that they were trying to recruit her.
You know, Tatejima kind of (just a little bit) reminds me of Hanayo from Love Live. Why? I don’t know. They’re both super shy brunettes that are too embarrassed to perform in front of others, even though they have a strong interest in the club. Except that with Hanayo, she’s always loved idols so her little storyline was a little stronger. Like I said, I don’t know why I see Hanayo in Tatejima, but I do.
But I think that’s what kind of disappointed me this episode? Tatejima joined the club pretty easily. I had expected a little more background with her, but all we got was that she’s a super shy girl that is terrified of performing in front of others. She plays piano but even with the piano she can’t perform in front of an audience. I had hoped maybe we would have gotten something of more substance, but that’s pretty much it. Eventually, she did end up joining after watching the girls cheer. I’d like at least a little something else with Tatejima, because she’s a little plain compared to Kohane, Uki, and Arima. Though I have to point out Tatejima’s little fang when she starts getting embarrassed. Usually the mischevious or the hyper characters get fangs, so I thought it was pretty cute that Tatejima has a lil fang. Also, her reaction to Arima during their cheer was priceless.
The cheer at the basketball game was pretty simple. Seeing as how they’re just starting out, they didn’t practice and stunts. Mostly because they can’t because their room isn’t appropriate for it. Which is a big hint that sooner or later they’re going to have to practice on the roof to do their stunts, and that Kohane is going to have to get over her fear of heights in more ways that one. Until then, they did simple cheers and it was cute and fun. It was a good idea on Kohane’s part in getting the other girls from their school cheering with them because it made things more lively, and it made Tatejima realize that cheerleading is a group effort and not something that she would do on her own. So now that Tatejima is part of the group now, they’re one member away from officially becoming a club! Of course the next person to join will be the red-haired girl that kind of reminds me of Nico (there I go again with Love Live). It looks like she already knows Arima, or at least is a fan of her. I didn’t notice if she was also with Arima during that middle school performance from the first episode. Either way, I think she won’t join until much later as she’s not featured that much in the OP and ED. Which is kind of weird.
Let’s see how next week goes with our newest member, with her badass name and all.
