First Impressions / Medaka Box

「勝って得よ！」 (Katte Eyo!)
“Win Your Earnings!”

I can’t speak for anyone else, but one yen seems a little too cheap to die for. This is not so for the three flying fish of the swim team though! We had several new character introductions this episode – Yakushima, Tanegashima, and Kikaijima, the three ‘flying fish,’ often considered monsters when it comes to aquatic competition. Not just because of their skills in that department either, but because of their sheer recklessness and willingness to go to any lengths for money. Alongside them, we also had the introduction of Aso Tanzaku of the broadcasting club, acting as one of the two announcers for the competitions. To be honest, based on general whisperings in the community, I had kind of expected to meet the final member of the student council this week but I guess that will come at a later date.

The aquatic competition is a great excuse to see some of the side characters from earlier episodes – I was a little worried they would just be swept under the carpet and left there. It should be entertaining to see Nekomi and Medaka go head to head (though the Judo club has already fallen behind and I doubt Nekomi is going to be considered a serious competitor) even if the focus is on Medaka’s battle against the swim team.

Subtle comments on socialism and handicaps for male students this episode! I wonder who decided that there should be a rule handicapping male students given that Medaka is living proof that males aren’t always necessarily stronger than their female counterparts. It gave Nekomi an easy exploit for the first match (which she seems to have failed to utilise given her team’s final score) too! Oh wait… it suddenly occurs to me that this could be a not-so-subtle comment on the supposed buoyancy of breasts… (at least with that logic Medaka has quite the handicap!) I’m not even sure at this point, but it seems somewhat unlikely.

Back to the socialist comment, allow me to lecture you in depth on politics politics aside (I have no intention of turning this into any sort of political debate and politics isn’t exactly my subject of choice anyway), if my memory serves me, this is the second time Medaka has taken a simple, negative phrase and rephrased it to be more positive. The first was during the battle between Zenkichi and Akune – instead of saying ‘Don’t lose!’ she specifically chose to use ‘Win!’ – and this time around, she converted the socialist slogan to ‘He who does work, will eat.’ I have no idea whether this is intended to be a running theme in relation to Medaka’s personality, but it does work – so far Medaka has taken everything in a positive light, or at least converted everything to a positive light.

Random thoughts:

  • Bounce, bounce, bounce… oh hello Gainax.
  • Looks like you’ve finally realised what you got yourself into eh Akune?
  • That’s quite a stash there Shiranui… whoa wrong link!
  • I deliberately want to misinterpret this shot…
  • After the deliberate (and somewhat dodgy) pun on Shiranui’s name, I actually looked it up… this seems slightly prophetic. Why does ‘optical phenomenon characterized by moving, changing fires’ sound like it could be such an accurate statement? Could it be those glances at a seemingly darker personality? My imagination? Who knows! Well manga readers I guess… but no spoilers!

Full-length images: 04, 12, 19, 23, 24, 29

 

Preview

30 Comments

  5. Hachikuji and Illyasviel in the commentary? Oh joy…

    And was Kikaijima this hot? Though her eyes are quite fierce. I prefer her later appearance though.
    And more bouncing from Medaka. Not that I’m complaining. Just…the voice…

    Okay I guess. Though after this is the part where it all ends and everything begins. Nisio’s antics I mean. You’ll see.

    belatkuro
    Reply

      1. I’ve gone to the bottom with a kickboard; those tiny floaters are nothing really. Also, it does help if you do what the swim team did and exhale everything. It is not really particularly dangerous since all you are exhaling is carbon dioxide anyways. Experienced swimmers with good “lung capacity” just means they can operate with low oxygen for longer.

        Ptolemaios00
        Reply

      2. I hear shallow water blackouts are common with experienced divers/swimmers…

        Plus, it’s quite easy to angle your kick-board to dive maybe 7 feet, whereas those floaters are likely to cramp your arms given their position.

        Also, the funny thing with CO2; that’s actually what keeps your lungs functioning. The human body doesn’t actually know how to sense oxygen levels, and instead senses dissolved carbon dioxide, which turns the blood acidic. What this means is, if you do what the swim team here did before diving, your body doesn’t realize that your organs- specifically your brain- doesn’t have enough oxygen because you just blew off all your carbon dioxide, and you end up blacking out. One small miscalculation, and it’s hello lifeguard for you if you get lucky o/

        Just food for thought for people thinking what the swim team did here is viable.

        Beedle
        Reply

  7. Fun episode. Each episode continues to go up and up. Akune and Zenkichi continue to make me laugh and have great scenes. Shiranui always feels like there is something more than meets the eye with her. Enjoyed this first swim event cant wait to see the rest.

    Kevz
    Reply

  8. Show Spoiler ▼

    @Nanatsuya: (If you read the manga up to ch.140 no spoiler) Show Spoiler ▼

    Phantasm
    Reply

    1. Maybe they wanted to add the secretary, which kinda isn’t such a bad idea. Looking at the manga, it actually depicts the group as happy as they are. So adding the secretary in would be nice. Ah, next week is the infamous kissing scene.

      ion62
      Reply

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