Kuroba you fool…. why didn’t you just tell them that your cousin smacked you. But in all fairness, it did lead to him running his mouth and saying some things he probably should have kept to himself and as a result we established his own spark for volleyball and provided closure to Haijima. I was really worried about this episode falling into the “too much drama” pit especially when Yuni and Chika were once again getting ready to oppose each other, but I was presently surprised with how this episode played out!
For a while I was almost convinced that Chika was going to re-transfer back to the school where he came from. But I did find it kind of weird that he and Yuni almost got into a fight and then Yuni just tags along with him to Tokyo as if nothing happened. However, it did lead to a cute moment of Yuni actively trying to get Chika to not chicken out. Even if it was just teasing, I think it was a good interaction between the two. At least for me, nothing seemed malicious and reminded me that they are actually friends. I also think it was just generally a good introduction for Yuni to see where Chika had come from. Of course, at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter what Chika had been through as long as they can play volleyball together 🙂
But BOY when they met up with their old teammates and actually got the story about Sota? I’m really not too sure what to think about it, but I would have been alright if Yuni beat them up. I mean, they just made light of the whole situation that’s been weighing down on Chika for years, and quite frankly suicide as a prank is absolutely not a good idea!! Regardless of the reason it was just a really bad thing to do so I hope Seiin makes it to the spring tournament and absolutely destroys his old team.
Still, I have to admit that I appreciate the conversation that sparked after finding out this information… after Chika collapses. Honestly, at first, I thought Chika collapsed due to the pure shock about Sota… too bad he just passed out due to a fever. Chika please take better care of yourself. You cannot play volleyball if you don’t take care of your body! Anyways! The conversation he had with Sota was a good one, but I’m bummed that this means we probably won’t see him again (I hope he comes to a game in the future though!). It was nice that the two didn’t fight over the situation, and I appreciated the way that Sota described the situation as his “out” as he was being pushed to the edge. Obviously, there were other ways to get out of the sport….. but I can understand if he truly felt trapped with no escape.
I am kind of worried about one of his final comments to Chika about how much he’s dedicated to the sport and how hard he would crash without it. Given this series track record for drama, it wouldn’t be a surprise to me if there was a significant injury soon. But at the very least it looks like our team is able to get back to practice and gear up for their next set of matches. I just hope for once these kids can actually play through a full tournament without having to forfeit because of Yuni. Good Luck Seiin Volleyball Team!
I really dislike this plot twist that the suicide attempt was fake. Had it actually been real, it could have continued to impact Haijima’s character and lead to some character progression. One episode of Haijima deciding not to yell at Yuni when Yuni was having a meltdown on court because Haijima remembered his past mistake is just not enough in my opinion. I find this to be a cop-out and instead of dealing with more mature themes, 2.43 took the easy way out.
I totally agree that revealing the suicide to be fake was a total cop-out and I’m pretty upset by it. Like you said, there was so much potential for Haijima’s character surrounding that. There was just so much more that could happen with it…. but this episode practically said “Lol it’s not real, everything is good now :)” . Also, the “closure” wasn’t even satisfying it was just so boiled down and incredibly short. At this point I really wish they wouldn’t have even brought up suicide at all. Since it was fake… I feel like the story could have been the same if Sota just transferred schools and quit… obviously the implications aren’t as severe, but if they were going to take the easy way out anyways….