MY EMOTIONS! OUR BOY AKANE DID IT! HE WENT FROM THIRTY PLUS MINUTES, TO QUALIFYING 3 SECONDS BEFORE THE THRESHOLD! (In fact, I think he even managed to beat Nico’s and King’s time!!!) I loved how the team came together and his request to have them write “FORWARD” on his arm. It’s the proof of their support, even though they weren’t running with him, he knew he wasn’t alone.
For a guy who was dragged into this against his own will, and couldn’t run even if his live depended on it into someone who became so determined to do his best, from searching for a treadmill, and now training on his own, Akane’s transformation is truly not just a memorable one, but also inspiring. Through his own efforts, and the team’s support, Akane was able to achieve what everyone claimed to be the impossible. And what better place to do it than at Tokyo Sports University. He came a full circle, and managed to succeed during his last opportunity.
Akane’s success is not important to him and the team, but it is also something that is incredibly precious to Haiji to the point he cried. Now that I think back, Haiji never told us why he picked Akane, who at the time who possessed the least amount of athleticism, but I hope we will be able to find out more about it. Perhaps he simply wanted to witness the belief, that if someone tries hard enough, they can even make the impossible possible.
Regardless, the fact all ten of them have officially qualified, means Haiji’s is one step closer to his dream of running Hakone Ekiden. Now their next milestone, is to pass the next qualifiers. Haiji has certainly been trying to drill it into their heads, envisioning how they will succeed. It’s that form of manifesting what your what to accomplish, and it takes complete focus and unwavering convictions, and perhaps a bit luck on your side to make it happen.
But I have to admit, I found Akane’s success a bit underwhelming, only because the episode ended right then. After how far has has come, I certainly wished they didn’t just pan out with Haiji’s teary eyes as he watches the team come together to celebrate and cut it off there. I would have liked it if they delivered a better picture of their emotions, similarly to the time Akane made his first major breakthrough, and they all cheerfully threw him up into the air. Only this time, it would be one where they were undoubtedly be full of tears of joy.
It is also important to acknowledge both King’s and Nico’s success today as well. Both of them were able to qualify in the first meet after the summer camp. Better yet, it wasn’t just the qualification of their times, but we can see how neither one of them have those murky clouds of despair and self-loathe hanging over them as they did earlier on. Nico’s success of consistently making gains in losing weight, and King is more confident in his interviews, especially with the evidence of his training has helped him find a memorable statement, as well proof for the amount of effort he has been putting into.
We were also able to see in ways how other members of the club were finding ways to contribute to assisting the team. Musa turned out to be a talented photographer, and the pictures he has been taking helped them gain traction on their website. Nico’s wired dolls are a surprising hit, and now they are selling them as a means to raise funds, and Yuki has shown his knowledge in science is incredibly useful (which so happened to be one of the reasons why Haiji recruited him in this first place).
Musa teased about making a discovery, something Kakeru hasn’t been able to notice because he is always in the front. I wonder what he is referring to, but similarly to Haiji he teased him along the lines of “Oh, how wonderful it is to be young!”. Sure, the first thing that comes to mind is maybe someone like Hana has a crush on him, but I am more inclined to believe it’s the way the entire team looks at him (or just Haiji haha!).
Last but not least, I really liked the touch of seeing them (with the miraculous exception of Yuki and Akane) all tanned from training in the outdoors. I guess Akane and Yuki don’t tan, or at least burn (though would have been kind of funny and legitimately painful to see them with sunburns though ahaha!). It really helps give us a good sense of how long they have been working at it.
Next week, it looks like we might be seeing the team participate in the second phase of qualification we heard about. This takes place in October. Only a handful can qualify, once they do, they are eligible to run the Hakone Ekiden in January. If so, it’ll be interesting to see how their fare.
