Well, it’s no surprise to see the twins had misinterpreted Haiji’s words of reaching the top as to winning the whole thing. For Haiji, reaching the top means something else entirely, it’s about finding the answer he is looking for. In fact when I think about it, I am a bit surprised how long it took the twins to realize this team and their reasons for running Hakone is not about winning. Of course it’s fair to say that they had no idea the scale of the competition and how fast the other teams were going to be, but at the same time, realistically you would think they would have enough self-awareness to understand just how lucky they were to even make the cut, especially since they are a team of misfits that were put together in less than a year. So it is only natural to see the other teams with better times than them, especially when they have runners who have been training their entire lives with hopes and dreams of being a professional athletes. That’s why I was pretty annoyed with how childish the twins were when they got angry at Haiji and Kakeru, and attempted to bail out on practice.
However much to my surprise, despite the conflict, Haiji didn’t budge much in terms revealing his intentions beyond what we already knew. And truth to be told, I find it a bit frustrating how Haiji has yet to fully open up to the team. He hasn’t spoken much or anything about his history or his injury. It seems to me Hana and her family knows a lot more what’s going on with Haiji than anyone else. We saw Hana tear up today because she knows how hard Haiji has worked to get this far, and how important this event means to him.
And the more I think about it, the more I truly believe Haiji’s reasons for running Hakone has a lot to do with fulfilling dreams that were taken away from him. Whatever happened to his leg, an injury from a freakish accident or while running, there is a chance Haiji had previously been told he may never be able to run again. If that were to be the case, Haiji’s search of what it means to run is not just an emotional journey, but a spiritual one as well.
At the end of the day, Haiji’s search for the answer is connected to why he formed such a unique team in the first place. He could have actively sought out people he knew had running experience, or better athletic abilities. But instead he still chose a variety of people with mismatched backgrounds. This is more about running as hard as they can, doing what they can within their own abilities and most importantly, doing it for themselves, than focusing on the glory of the victorious ones.
However, at the cost of only having ten members on their team, their achievement of even qualifying to run Hakone could be stripped from them should anyone, let alone one person get sick or injured. Sakaki was the one to taunt them about it, which ticked me off. Like seriously, do you always have to bug Kakeru and his friends? Leave him alone damn it. Needless to say, that is also why I am so stressed out about Haiji’s condition, especially since we see him back at the hospital, potentially — and the worst part about it, he hasn’t told anyone about it. GAHHHHHHH! How long is this going to stay in the dark?!
Last but not least, a shout-out to Kakeru’s character development! Seriously, he has quickly become one of my favourite characters in this series. He has grown so much, and today I absolutely loved LOVED the moment we saw that bit of Haiji influence of chasing the twins down with, “LETS GO TO HAKONEEEEEEEE~”. Oh my god, that moment made my day. His smirk was adorable too. He knew the twins would never be able to outrun him.
Next week, it looks like we are stepping up to the starting line of the main event. I’m really excited to see everyone’s role, or at least I hope we get to. There is certainly an opportunity to focus a bit more on some of the other characters, and I really want to see where they will be appointed (as per the sections of the course). Shindo is without a doubt going to be appointed to the steep slope section, that whole area his name written all over it. Of all the members, he will thrive there. It will be curious to see where Kakeru will be placed, as while having the chance to run the “Ace Section”, he said he would be fine in any place! I wouldn’t be surprised if Haiji put him there, but at the same time, I think it would be pretty neat to see him be placed in a spot where nobody would expect him to be, hahaha! Anyhow, I am certainly looking forward to it!
PS: Let’s all take a moment to appreciate how much Haiji has improved as a driver. It’s no longer a ride to hell!
