Breakthrough
What They Say:
In order to protect their lead, Teshima and Aoyagi challenge Sakamichi and his friends. Their solid teamwork and clever strategy puts the first years in a predicament…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
This episode felt a little formulaic compared to many of the other episodes of the series. We get some more background on the second year students, how they came to know each other and interact and their desire to work together as a team so that they could achieve greatness not as individuals, but together. Teshima has been blocking all attempts to pass him, and figures he has to just outlast Onoda on the hill for 40 seconds and then Onoda will run out of energy and he’ll be able to keep his lead over the first years. In true sports anime fashion, Onoda pushes through, breaking his previous limit of sprinting all out for 40 seconds, and is able to pass Teshima, breaking his spirit somewhat, and allowing Imaizumi and Naruko to catch up as well. It’s a bit cliche, but that’s the way these things go sometimes. The series does so much well that it’s easy to forgive an episode like that where we get to see the main character have a breakthrough and level up his racing ability.
In Summary:
The series is still a quality show, even if it falls a bit into the standard sports hero anime trappings with this episode. The focus on more of Teshima and Aoyagi is part of Yowapeda does so well, using the races to help fill in the background on secondary and new characters. Onoda’s push to victory is a somewhat interesting mirror of the kind of teamwork Teshima and Aoyagi have been using and practicing, with Imaizumi and Naruko giving him a push just like Teshima does for Aoyagi, but it’s really just Onoda powering through, motivated by the words of Imaizumi and Naruko. As I’ve said, it’s a bit cliche, Onoda powering through and Teshima miscalculating how much Onoda would have in him for the uphill battle, but the show is still strong, and the major difference between a scene like this in many other shows and this one – the race isn’t over yet! While Onoda is able to push himself to give the first years an advantage, they still aren’t out of the fire yet, and it’s this kind of tension building that I think the show really excels at. We’ve seen our hero grow and become stronger, but it’s not so sweeping as to allow him to immediately win. Each time Onoda grows, it’s never a decisive victory – it’s always gradual, and he never wins the race so much as push those around him.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Intel Alienware laptop, Windows 7, 25” HP2509m screen at 1920×1080 resolution
