Oooofff this week’s episode was one of the trickier ones to write up. I was surprised by the pace which they had set the tempo, there was never quite a moment when they finally slowed down. So it was pretty speedy from start to finish. I am not really sure if it’s fair to describe it as ‘rushed’ because I also get the sense, had it been any slower, it might have felt sluggish. That being said, it was nice to see Ryohei be the one in the spotlight. Although he’s a very bubbly guy who can be quite ignorant at times, such as making the assumption Minato decided to join the club after all because he was able to ‘fix’ target practice. But despite his wrongdoing, I absolutely respect his character for not only acknowledging how it was stupid to say, but also took the initiative to look into Target Panic so he could try to understand the kind of hardships Minato is going through. Better yet, when Ryohei noticed Minato was practicing the same drills he had read in the diary (which is actually the same copy, belonging to Misaki) that belonged to a friend of a Kyudo shop keeper who shared it with him, he didn’t interrupt him. He let him continue doing his own thing, by taking a step back and let him be.
I also love how he spoke up on Minato’s behalf to Kaito, who for the entire episode, stubbornly refused to acknowledge Minato as a member of their club. He expresses about the struggle Minato must feel when he draws the bow, and how he absolutely believes in him and his conviction that he will be able to to overcome Target Panic.
And then there is Seiya. We finally got some form of insight of exactly how he ‘neglected’ Minato in Middle School. At the time, like Ryouhei and many others, he believed Minato failed because of stress, and would bounce back in no time. But by the time he realized Minato was suffering, he was already too late. This may be the time period Minato was referring to last week, when he felt Seiya didn’t react soon enough. In the end, Minato quit the club and was left to deal with this problem on his own. Only then Seiya probably started doing research of his own.
Now since Minato decided to join the club on his own terms, Seiya has (thankfully) made the wise decision to take a step back and let him do his thing. It is an understandable why he was so surprised to see Minato join the club sooner than he had anticipated, but had he not done so, would Seiya truly have let him be? Honestly, I can’t help but feel little iffy about that because he manipulated a situation with the club demonstration, by setting it up so Minato would demonstrate through peerage pressure. Fortunately we’re past that, and Minato is open to asking Seiya for his assistance in helping him do the exercises as part of the recovery routine. And frankly, this is the best way for Seiya to ‘atone’ for the self-inflicted guilt he is burdened with. Simply support him.
The main source of conflict this week was really about the tension between Kaito and Minato. Kaito is super passionate about Kyudo, so he can’t stand anyone who does it half-heartedly or as a passing interest. The guy has a hard time being honest with others about his feelings, but it does surprise me how, despite hearing Minato’s and Seiya’s discussion and learning that it has been Minato who been preparing the dojo hall every morning, it took Ryohei to speak on his behalf to finally get Kaito to understand Minato is serious about Kyudo.
Overall this was an okay episode. It served more as an important stepping stone of explaining to the audience more about Target Panic, and how some archers begin their recovery process. Minato will not be magically cured overnight, it will take weeks and likely months, if not longer for him to truly overcome it. The pace of his rehabilitation is a curious thing given there is a prefectural tournament coming up in the future, and it makes me wonder if the team will actually enter to win, or go in with the mentality of giving Minato the opportunity to be put back in the situation where the problem began in the first place, and potentially overcome it. But if while the pace of the recovery is not the same for everyone, I am definitely curious to see if Masaki’s presence as the club’s official coach will serve as an incredibly resourceful motivation. Interestingly, it appears Kaito is also a huge fan and also knows of Masaki as well. With that said, I do wonder how Seiya will feel when he learns this is the guy who helped Minato find the courage to fight for what he loves. Either way, I am super psyched to see he will be involved with their club activities!
After this episode, it is really hard to say whether or not I am comfortable with blogging this. I am actually quite surprised with how much I wrote considering how the words weren’t flowing through me as they usually do. At this point, I’m just going to leave it up in the air and wait to see how the next episode turns out for me. If I can find my mojo, then it’s likely I will continue the coverage from there on out, and if I don’t release an entry next, that means I will just stick to watching the show instead.
