Ahhh…. I was kind of hoping that the match would start in this week’s episode, but I guess the buildup we got was pretty good. Compared to previous episodes though, this one felt as if it was taking its time. And for that reason, I don’t really know if I have too much to say about it.
Across the board it was nice to see how Kuzu High was preparing for the big game. We got to see Sora and Nabe working together to improve Nabe’s shot, and we got to see Chucky’s new perspective when it comes to defending. So, I appreciated the chance to see how those two were growing and improving individually, because they tend to fall more into the background with the team as a whole. But on that note, I’m actually surprised that Sora / Mokichi / others didn’t convince Kite to rejoin the group practice before the actual match began. Of all the possible, things to “resolve” before the match I thought that one would be a priority. At the same time, I’m actually excited to see what he’ll bring to the game after training on his own this whole time.
I do wish we had a little more content with Madoka before going into her scenes this week. I personally felt that her interaction with Sora was a little bit off. I mean, I’m glad that they had a chance to talk about what happened after the Shinjo game, but I’m struggling to figure out what’s going on with her and where her story fits back in with everything. But based on this episode, it’s a bummer that she’s not going to attend the game (or maybe she’ll catch it near the end). But at the same time, she did have that slight crisis earlier where she realized just how much time she was sinking into Basketball, so perhaps this is her way of stepping out of that comfort zone and doing things like her peers. Personally, I don’t really know where they are going with her story and I’m not sure if it will be conveyed effectively in the remaining 9 episodes, but I’m still hopeful that it will all make sense soon.
I had a lot of fun with the principal in this episode, primarily because of how he dealt with the push back from all the teachers. It was entertaining to watch them all try to come up with excuses to not go and see the Basketball game, but how he just ignores the complaints and tells them to go anyways makes me happy that he’s on the side of the boys. Or at least on the side that really expresses the “Youthful memories”. And even if only a small portion of the teachers showed up, they’re in for a real treat. And a bonus to the Soccer team for helping out, perhaps their youthful spark will reignite as well. One thing that I particularly liked was the immediate shift in perspective once Taiei started warming up! Obviously it’s not going to change the thoughts and feelings of the on-lookers so easily, but even just having them acknowledge that they were impressed by the players warming up makes me excited to see what their reactions will be going forward.
Unfortunately, I don’t have too much to say regarding Kuzu and the lead up to the start of the game. If anything, the only things I have to comment on, is that I like that despite playing on their own court, they are wearing their “Challenger” jersey. To me it signifies that they shouldn’t be too comfortable, and it gives a visual representation that there is something they are fighting for. Aside from that, I just wonder why they were in the storage room for their warm-up, I guess they were doing to prepping of some sort? But I guess it’s a mystery for now. But I am happy that, even though we still haven’t learned much about Yozan, that he and Sora have caught each other’s attention. So, I can’t wait to see how that competition plays out on the court!
So, overall, this was a fine episode. I don’t think there was anything super stand out about it, but it did give us a bridge that lead us right to the start of the match. So now that everyone’s showed up (even if Kite and Fuwa were fashionably late), I’m thankful that the match will finally start next week.
Hello there! First of all, I “apologize” for having said that the game would start this week, but that is because I am a quite logical person…contrary to the story-boarders! Because, yeah, you guessed it right: 48 Pages only this time! I mean, while I do understand the “hype reason” to end that episode there, I then don’t understand why all that rush and skipping from the previous episodes Lol. Anyway…9 episodes only and still a LOT of things to tell…I am afraid
Regarding Toby solitary training, apart from script-writing, another possible explanation lies in the fact that things have been modified/inverted. I mean, (in the manga) the last scene that we saw last week with Sora internal speech/training is chronologically after the Nabe/Sora introduction of that episode 41. What does it change? Well, actually that is at this moment that Nabe makes a shot and we make a transition toward Toby’s scoring against Karasawa (the university guy) that we also saw last week. In other words, all these events are implied to be on the same day/night which is the day before the match (Nabe, Sora & cie training, Toby’s alone for getting over “his wall”). This is even a bit more complicated about scenes inversion but it would be too long. Lol.
But what does matter is that we have the confirmation that Yasu/Momoharu “trouble” has been ditched as that Yasu self-thought that we see is 100% anime-original to compensate for that canceled part. So, as you claimed to read the manga latter on, I will just say that this is related to something that you pointing out in your review of the episode 13 (yeah yeah, memories, so the night of the training camp dispute and Chucky/Nabe leaving). You made the allusion that Momoharu was the guy making both subgroups sticking together. Well, this is actually the exact thing which started to “piss off” Yasu as he’s frustrated that Momoharu is always trying to fix things that THEY (the quartet) are all responsible for. That is a quick summary of the “issue”. So, keep just in mind for the moment that Yasu is very motivated for that match for redeeming himself (I won’t say more…)
Regarding the game and Taiei, I am happy that this time they kept the name’s presentation of Taiei players. BTW, the starting power forward (Tetsuya) is the one who’s telling in the bath to Fuwa to leave the team if he’s not happy (in the manga). Regarding Sei, last time when I was saying “jerk”, I should actually precise that I used that term as it looks familiar to you English speakers if I got it well. Because, me too, I appreciate his sharp tongue and his personality (actually my N°1 character of that manga has a tongue even sharper than that. XD). I just hope that finally, Yakuma will have the exposure that he deserves. Because he’s clearly the player who suffered the most from all that skipped content on the Taiei side so far.
Regarding Madoka, I already warned you long time ago that what’s coming for her is…well…special (and believe me, this is nothing yet). She’s actually our only “guarantee” of a season 2 so far as she has so much to tell. The thing is, yeah she’s still in her “crisis”. Indeed, as I said last week, they removed a scene where she met Yoko (her bball friend) who’s scrambling for setting up a summer training camp etc., while Madoka self-reflects again about how she does not seem to care that much…
No need to apologize! It really felt like that was the direction it was going! I’m happy that they gave us the build up… but I just don’t think there ‘s enough time to include that all in. I mean, there seems to be so much to cover and I’m skeptical of a second season… But wow going from over 100 pages to less than 50. Perhaps as these remaining episodes happen, the amount they decide to adapt will be more consistent.
Ahh I’m consistently conflicted about Yasuhara, he has so much to add even from an anime only perspective… but he’s constantly getting shorted. But all around, I’ve noticed that Kuzu High has just been getting less focus recently. And by that I mean, that they are still the focus of the show, but they all feel like side characters. It almost feels as if they couldn’t decide who to focus on. They’ve focused on Kite a decent amount, but it always feels like an aside to what everyone else is doing, but I may be jumping the gun and we’ll get to see more of his training and growth explored in the match.
I was actually really surprised that Mineta wouldn’t be one of the players and instead an onlooker. It felt strange since we dedicated the time to him in the last episode. But I suppose he served the purpose to get a look into Taiei. Either way, I am excited to see more of these players from Taiei!
If Madoka is the biggest guarantee for a season two, I’m honestly a bit worried. Understandably, her portion of the story happens during the timing of this match, so that’s probably why they put in her story… but I think they’ll have to do a really good job portraying that her story is worth telling. I don’t doubt that it is a good story! Just based on what I’ve read, it seems Madoka has definitely gone waaayyy down in terms of character ranking. But given that it seems they are inconsistent with their adaption, who knows where they’ll decide to end on Episode 50.
Either way, I hope they’re able to do the Taiei match justice!