And the match between the first years and their seniors continue! We start to see more of Rukawa’s competitive side and it’s so strong that even Hanamichi has a moment of awe towards his biggest rival. But that is quickly overturned once his jealousy strikes again.
To be honest, there isn’t much more to talk about in this episode. It’s just a continuation of everything from the previous episode, except now Rukawa’s more fired up after Akagi was able to prevent him from scoring. It makes for a more… interesting(?) match. At least as far as Rukawa putting up a fight. But at the end of the day, it’s pretty much just him versus all of his seniors as there aren’t any other first years of note. I’m sorry other first years. But it does give us some entertainment with Hanamichi’s side-line coaching. Imagine if you could just punch, kick, and trip your way to victory in basketball. At least Ayako is there to point out how many fouls he would get.
And hey! Hanamichi gets to watch his first free throw since joining the basketball team and it gives Ayako a chance to teach him just a little bit more about the sport he’s signed up to play. What does he take from it? Make silly faces to distract his rival. Which, in all honesty, was pretty funny to watch. Though, I have a feeling he’s going to completely forget about when free throws are applied in the upcoming episodes. I mean, he doesn’t need to know about it until he can actually get on the court and play. Rukawa is getting all the glory and all of Haruko’s focus. Even though he’s a major pain for the captain, it really would be fair to let him at least show the coach his skill. Even if he has issues as a human being.
Thankfully, Ayako and Kogure also want to give him a chance on the court. Ayako seems to want to put him in his place or for him to realize that basketball isn’t all that he keeps making it out to be. Kogure on the other hand sees something in their rookie and wants to see him in action. So all in all, congrats Hanamichi! You get to show off your skill on the court! But please remember you have teammates. Even if you don’t like them you have to play with them. … Actually, I anticipate that will be a topic in a later episode. Even Rukawa’s not the best when it comes to playing as a team, so I anticipate that the coach will make the starting lineup and then quickly realize there’s just a lot of teamwork issues that need to be addressed before they can even be a functional team.
But that’s another episode’s problem! Hanamichi is ready to show off his slam dunk…. right into Akagi’s head. He’s definitely got the spirit going for him, but everything else needs a bit of improvement. Honestly, this was a great debut for him especially with the coach there. Now we know exactly what kind of people the team has to offer. I’m excited to see how he’s going to shape the team for the future. But I also know there are a few more characters we still need to meet! However, before we can even meet them, Hanamichi needs to go hang out with the Judo team which looks like fun! So I’ll see you all there!
