「ここまできたら真っ向勝負」 (Kokomadekitara Makkou Shoubu)
“We’re Essentially Playing Head-to-Head”

With the finale nearly upon us and the stakes higher than ever, this second to last episode did a pretty good job at setting us up for a wild finish.

General Impressions

Boy there were a lot of things going on this week that were trying its hardest to set things up for next week. From Claire getting some extra development to Kanata and Haruka really showing us just why they were able to make it as far as they did, it’s a shame that every episode couldn’t have been this good.

Anyways, getting back to the episode at hand, I have to admit I was rather impressed with how amped out things got me this week. With the qualifiers for nationals at hand, I loved how each side had their own way of trying to get things to swing in their favor. Be it Haruka trying a new move to overcome Claire’s blocks or Emily coming in and unleashing an unexpected amount of attacking power, I was loving just how energetic this week’s episode was. If I had to pick a specific thing though, I was fawning over just how much time Kanata was getting. As someone who has had a lot of focus throughout the series on how her short stature was really getting to her, it was really rewarding to see her get out there and defending like a madman. While it would have been nice to see her unleash a spike, I’ll take the pokeys that managed to score against a tired out Claire and Emily.

All that said, the question that I couldn’t stop thinking about was just how things were going to play out next week. At this point I think I’d be perfectly fine with either side taking the win since they’ve all shown an extraordinary amount of drive. However, seeing how one of the main points revolves around Narumi and getting to Narumi requires making it to nationals, it’s a shame that we probably won’t get to see how things conclude with only one episode remaining. That and I really hope that we don’t get some kind of montage that tosses us straight to the end of nationals or something similar to that since that’d definitely feel like a slap in the face at this point.

In any case, I’ll catch you guys next week for the thrilling finale where we’ll finally get to see who makes it to nationals! See you guys then!

15 Comments

    1. They stated two earlier in series and then stated due to lack of qualifiers the number was reduced to one.
      Of course they could have the powers that be change their mind again which will seam Dex in Machina to some but in reality, the powers that be do change their minds, often to much so I feel a writer is being fair when they give a little reality to the story.

      RedRocket
  1. ep 12 (end):

    – an good ending.i spoil you a bit and tell you the episode do not just end when one side lost on the court. i liked the “after play”

    – Also in Sports there is also a bit of the “Samurai” fighting truly, just without shedding blood and such.. like “when i shed my sword it is for killing!” and such.. Sports are rivals.. think about like “Kakashi and Guy” in Naruto, both where rival’s but friends/team when it become serious

    – Nice “female” animations, pelvis and shoulder dimensions and such. Good work mina-san

    Worldwidedepp

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